One Year and Counting! (Favorite Marinade & Mixed Pepper Relish)

Roasting peppers at the Carrboro Farmers' Market

Yesterday marked our first year in Chapel Hill.  As you may know, both Steve and I are California natives, as were our parents. So picking up and moving cross-country was no small thing. But we did it.  And despite the fact that we miss our friends we are truly glad we did. 

Slowly but surely we are meeting new people and establishing new routines.  We have learned about the seasons and understand their allure.  The humidity thing wasn’t as bad as it was cracked up to be.  However, I have learned that I am a human magnet for any kind of insect that bites.  Seriously, forget the bug spray – just invite me to your next outdoor party and your guests will be bite free!

Come and get it!

But I digress.  So yesterday was the one-year marker.  It was a beautiful Carolina day. Blue skies, a bit of a breeze. Hotter than blazes, but I still drove around town with the sunroof open and all the windows down. 

As I’ve noticed before, it dawned on me that I smile more here. Winding my way through the farmers’ market, shouting “hey” to my brother I passed him and his family heading to the lake on their bikes, strolling down Franklin Street after getting my hair cut, and waving “thanks” to the Southern Gentleman who let me turn left into the line of cars leaving a shopping center – something that happens all the time here. Yes, Chapel Hill is a happy place for me to be.

We ended the day by breaking in the new deck we just had built off the screen porch.  My brother and his family came over, Steve fired up the grill (I’m finally starting to get used to not calling it a BBQ, which in the South refers to the food not the method of cooking) and we enjoyed a long leisurely evening together. 

Today, I’ll share a couple of recipes from the dinner we served.  I hope you try them and smile.

Enjoy.

Favorite Marinade

(Mainly used for beef and pork, but surprisingly good on chicken)

Ingredients:

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

¼ soy sauce

1 1/2  TBS herbs d’ Provence (if you don’t have it on hand - as was the case for me yesterday - you can actually substitute poultry seasoning – go figure!)

2 cloves of garlic chopped

Big pinch of salt

6 – 10 grinds of black pepper

1 bay leaf

Method:

• Put all ingredients in a large plastic zip bag
• Add meat
• Mush around to coat
• Stash in ‘fridge

(I marinade tri tip roasts 2 hours to over night; pork chops for a couple hours and surprisingly, chicken does well with this but I only marinade it for 30 minutes to 1 hour)

• Grill meat as normal.

For a 2.5 pound tri-tip on a gas grill: sear on high heat and then drop to medium-off-medium  with the lid closed for 30 minutes then check with an instant read thermometer.  You should be at around 140 for medium rare/150 for medium (if you want it well done, skip the grill and go buy some jerky). 

• Tent with foil for 10 minutes then slice thin.

Serve with Roasted Mixed Pepper Relish

Roasted Mixed Pepper Relish

(This one was inspired by Giada De Laurentiis, but she uses only red and yellow bell peppers and does not include garlic)

• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 poblano pepper
• 1 anaheim pepper
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup capers, rinsed and drained
• 1 large clove garlic, grated on microplane or finely diced
•  3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• Salt and Pepper

Method:

• Grill the peppers until charred; preferably over an open flame, but you can also use the broiler.  My farmers’ market has a guy who does this for you – he’s very popular!
• Put the peppers in a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Wait at least 10 minutes.
• When the peppers are cool enough to handle, scrape off the charred skin
• Cut open and scrape out the seeds and the ribs
• Slice into thin strips
• Put the pepper strips, capers, olive oil, garlic and parsley in a glass bowl.  Stir to combine thoroughly
• Season with a pinch of kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
• Cover with plastic wrap and stash in the ‘fridge until It’s time to serve.  

A Sneak Peek at the Future (Tomato, Roasted Pepper and Basil Tapenade)

It’s amazing how much you can accomplish when everything you need is no more than 15 minutes of where you are. Yesterday was one of those days, with a trip to the Farmers Market; shopping for carpet; shower enclosure and stove decisions (can’t wait fire up my new Wolf!), a hair appointment with a new stylist (which kills HOURS) and assorted other errands. Oh yes, and it all had to be done by 6 o'clock so we could hit the annual block party in our soon to be new neighborhood before our 8 o'clock dinner reservations at Elaine’s on Franklin (Chef Bret Jennings participated in the Farmers Market event).

Somehow we did it.

I could write all morning about yesterday’s Farmers Market, which included a celebration of seven local chefs who shop regularly at the Market. Not only did we get our weekly haul of veggies and ridiculously fresh poultry, we also had a chance to chat it up these delightful and talented men and women, taste samples of their work learn more about the Chapel Hill area local food movement. It just makes sense to support your local farmers and in the end it is healthier, too.

The neighborhood block party was also a good experience that gave us a glimpse of our lifestyle to come. The neighborhood reminds us a bit of the two neighborhoods in Brea where we raised Will. Tight knit, but still private. A huge dose of pride of ownership. Add in a lot more trees and a discussions about which plants the deer will eat less of and you’ve got our future home.

I’ve got to admit, it was tough to walk into the cul-de-sac knowing nobody. We arrived fashionable late and our friends who will be our new neighbors had already dashed off to another event. But no sooner had we put our contribution to the appetizer course on the table, that good old Southern Hospitality set in and folks started to wander over to greet us.

We may not be in Kansas, Toto, but everything is going to be more than just Okay.

Here’s the appetizer I latterly threw together in 15 minutes between the appliance shopping hair appointment. It features one of the red peppers one of the local farmers roasted for me at the market. Everything (except the olive oil and vinegar) was grown, produced or baked locally.

Enjoy.

Tomato, Roasted Pepper and Basil Tapenade

Ingredients

• 1 roasted bell pepper, seeded and diced into 1/2 dice
• 1 basket cherry tomatoes, chopped (the easiest way: cut each tomato in half and then cut each half into quarters. Sounds tedious, but if you get a rhythm going it is a heck of a lot easier than trying to actually chop them)
• A big handful of fresh basil, chopped medium-fine
• 1 clove garlic mashed into a paste
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• About 5 or 6 grinds of black pepper
• 1/2 cup of feta, broken into large chunks. (Try to get a block of high quality cheese and break it up yourself. I used a local sheep’s milk feta. Oh my.)
• Pinch of salt

Method

• Mix everything except the feta and salt in a medium sized bowl. Make sure the garlic is evenly distributed.
• Add the feta cheese.
• Mix lightly so you don't mash the feta.
• Taste for saltiness and adjust accordingly.

Serve on sliced chebata or French bread. (I found an amazing seeded chebata that was delicious).

Po-tay-toe; Po-tah-toe (Farmers Market Tapas)

I think I just tasted a potato for the first time. Of course, I’ve had potatoes before – in fact (as my business travel companions know) one of my favorite “go-to meals” is a salad and baked potato. But last night we had a simple dinner featuring a number of the goodies I found during my first trip to the Carrboro Farmers Market, and low and behold the star of the show was the lowly potato.

I hardly recognized them as Yukon Golds ; still covered with earth, and hardly picture perfect. A good scrub, a thick slice, plus a little olive oil, salt and pepper rendered a crispy yet fluffy bite reminiscent of tapas you might have in Spain. Without the jet lag.

The Saturday morning Farmers Market in Carrboro, which is just outside of Chapel Hill, is like no other market I’ve been to. I had to circle it once, just to get my bearings. The little stands are staffed by farm families and what appear to be their employees. Most tend to specialize in one type of item – cheese from local cows and goats (unbelievable), late season tomatoes, root vegetables, etc. Everyone is knowledgeable, friendly and takes pride in what they are selling.

As late summer merges with fall, the colors of the market are particularly vivid this time of year. Our simple dinner last night reflected this fact. The following is not so much a recipe, but a demonstration of what can be done with amazingly fresh ingredients, a little olive oil, and a grill pan. I hope it inspires you to visit your local farmers market sometime soon, and create a meal that comes from the soil near you.

Enjoy.

Grill-Pan Yukon Golds:

Depending on size, for two people you’ll want two or three Yukon Gold potatoes. Wash, slice to about ¼ inch rounds, toss in olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh thyme. Grill on an inside grill pan until crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

Local Sausage Bites

Keep in mind, we are living in the “land of the pig.” Two stands carried their own version of sausage. The one I bought was slightly spicy. I formed small balls and simply grilled them off on the same pan as the potatoes, keeping them separate so the fat didn’t intermix with the potatoes. Not that it wouldn’t have been tasty, but potatoes in pork fat is not exactly the healthiest thing in the world. Once the balls were browned, we drained them on paper towels. Just a few per person added the spicy bite the meal needed.

Grilled tomatoes

I found the coolest little tomatoes – the shape of a Roma tomato, but abut the size of your thumb. We sliced these in half, dusted with a scant amount of salt, pepper and fresh thyme and placed them cut side down on yet another part of the grill pan. These were cooked until they were slightly caramelized.

Caramelized onions and peppers

In a separate pan I sautéed slices ½ of a red onion and ½ of a roasted red bell pepper (I’m sure I’ll post more about these later – they roast them up for you as you wait!) with a scant bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and yes, fresh thyme. I kept this going until the mixture was very soft and slightly caramelized.

Arugula salad

I found a vendor with the youngest and most tender arugula I’ve ever seen, so I bought a bag. Rinsed and patted dry, these spicy leaves were tossed in the juice of half a lemon and a very slight drizzle of olive oil. This was a great complement to all of the dishes.

Dust over the top of all of the dishes

A light grating of locally made asiago cheese.

To serve

Create a plate with a bit of this and a bit of that. Crusty bread would have been nice, but we didn’t have any and it really was not necessary. For true tapas, you’d also make a garlicky mayonnaise for the potatoes.