This time next week (and the week after that, and the week after that…right up ‘til the end of the year), our pantry will be chock full of farmers market goodies! Saturday, April 9 marks the opening of our favorite outdoor market – the Peachtree Road Farmers Market, held each Saturday from April through December outside Buckhead’s Cathedral of St. Philip. It’s the largest producer-only market in the state (meaning that the folks selling you stuff actually produced that stuff), with over 65 vendors this year. You’ll find fruits, veggies, eggs, organic meats, baked goods, cheese, yogurt, pops, ice cream, Savannah-caught shrimp and all kinds of basking-in-the-sun Saturday market enjoyment. PRFM also hosts weekly Chef Demos, seasonal events like the Slow Food Ice Cream Social, Halloween Parade, and Holiday Artist Market, plus special events and live music. I love Peachtree Road Farmers Market so much that I write their blog. Check it out for opening day details – and get excited for all things good, fresh food!

Image courtesy of Peachtree Road Farmers Market

Location

Tomorrow, Slow Food Atlanta is taking part in a National Day of Action, raising awareness for Slow Food USA’s Time for Lunch campaign to bring real food back into school lunchrooms. Below is a letter to the editor that I wrote this week, explaining why I’m participating tomorrow. The day begins at 8:00 a.m. working in the gardens of Coan Middle School & Edgewood Community Learning Garden, followed by music, cooking demos, sign making, a parade and bring-your-own picnic lunch at Piedmont Park. Hope to see you for what promises to be a beautiful Saturday!   

To the Editor:

From starting a school garden, to restocking a food bank, to lending a hand during harvest, thousands of folks are coming together this weekend to break ground on local projects and help create a world where food is good for you, good for the grower and good for the planet. At the end of the day, we’ll break bread to celebrate our efforts.  This Saturday, September 25, Slow Food Atlanta is joining hundreds of other chapters around the country for Slow Food USA’s first-ever “Dig In!” Together, we’ll be sending the message that it is time to change our food system for the better! Together, we’re creating a food system that is good, clean and fair.

I’m supporting Atlanta’s “Dig In!” because it’s time to get real about the food we’re feeding our kids at school. In the classroom, they’re learning about literature, math, science, world history and more. But in the lunchroom, they’re learning about high sodium, fat and poor health choices. It’s time to create a food system that works. It’s time to get back to the basics of whole, fresh and fair. It’s what our kids deserve.

Part of Slow Food USA’s Time for Lunch campaign to bring real food back into school lunchrooms, Atlanta’s “Dig In!” will engage the community through volunteer garden workdays at Coan Middle School and Edgewood Community Learning Garden, followed by a gathering and picnic lunch at Piedmont Park. Park activities will include sign making, a parade and kids cooking demonstrations. Won’t you join me and thousands of others this Saturday to celebrate good food for all?

Sincerely,
Jennifer Maley
Atlanta, GA

There are a few things that you have to understand if you’re going to enjoy food events like last week’s Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival or this week’s To Live and Dine in Atlanta. Wednesday’s To Live and Dine event, put on by The Atlantan magazine to celebrate their annual restaurant issue and to benefit Georgia Organics, was an evening of sultry summer fun worthy of the usual food fest suspects:

1) Lines. It should come as no surprise that you’re not the only one interested in sampling the creative small plates of the top chefs in the city. Nor should it shock you that you’re not the only one whose thirst begs to be quenched by a carefully crafted cocktail from the best mixologists to pick up a shaker and a stirrer.

2) These things take time. If you want a hot-off-the pan duck-beef burger graciously topped with a delicate quail egg from Canoe, please get in aforementioned line and experience what it feels like to look forward to something for a minute or two.

3) Do not, under any circumstances, try to count calories or any such nonsense. The most glorious part of these events is the chance to try many of the best restaurants on offer, all in one evening. This night, there were over 20 chefs from restaurants including Bistro Niko, BLT Steak, Bocado, Canoe, Craft, Empire State South (opening Aug. 30, can’t wait!), Miller Union, Pacci, Park 75, and Valenza, just to name a few…Desserts were in force courtesy of The Hungry Peach, Bakeshop, and Antico Pizza (the Food We’ve Eaten team should not be presented with a plateful of canoli, but we somehow carried on).

Actually, we had a ball. I have to say that my favorite part was the presence of food trucks (The Good Food Truck, Westside Creamery, and Yumbii Truck), waiting outside the entrance, beckoning us to look up into their little windows and place an order for something magical (like a Good Food Truck hot dog, hugged by a french toast bun, dressed with apple slaw, mustard and maple syrup, of course). And the next logical step is a cocktail, right? Icy concoctions were on hand thanks to of One Flew South’s Jerry Slater and JCT. Kitchen’s Lara Creasy.

So, what about those lines, with their waits and caloric impossibilities? My recommendation? Take them with a grain of salt. Or two.

Check the photo gallery for our favorites from To Live and Dine:

We’ve been busy, y’all. In this post:

• Ice Cream Sandwiches at Miller Union
• Brownies Thanks to my HomeGirl
• Attack of the Killer Tomato Fest

You Had Me at Ice Cream: Only at lunchtime does Miller Union offer up ice cream sandwiches. And, while I give due respect to savory sandwiches and quite enjoyed my creamy farm egg salad & watercress between soft white bread, there is a special place in my heart and stomach for a good ice cream sandwich. I mean, seriously, cookies and ice cream in one portable package? I love you, inventor of the ice cream sandwich (one small step for street food, one giant leap for deliciousness). Miller Union takes the humble frozen treat to another level, with flavors like Earl Grey Tea and Mexican Chocolate. My Mom and I shared a classic Cherry sandwich – you’ll see in the photo that they’ll cut it in half for you. I probably could have eaten a plateful of these if not for following my Mom’s example of moderation (it didn’t hurt that half-size was pretty cute). Thin, chocolate-y cookie with a thick slab of cherry ice cream between, like a frozen chocolate covered cherry. Yum. 

Square Goods: Sometimes I forget about brownies. When I’m called to make a dessert for a dinner party or potluck, I generally pick a recipe that I haven’t made before, something exotic and challenging (exactly what one shouldn’t do, by the way – if you want a recipe for anxiety, follow this rule). I think that I do this because, if I’m going to invest time and energy into something, I like using that time to try something new. All that’s to say, this summer has kicked my butt and I’m super busy. So, when it came time to bake something for a potluck, I remembered the crowd-pleasing, multiple-serving dessert, brownies. No cookie scooping or cake icing, just simple, glorious squares of goodness. Next time I forget about brownies, I’ll try to remember just how tasty that batter is, too…But I still couldn’t resist trying a new recipe, so I looked to Virginia Willis for inspiration. The resulting Georgia Pecan Brownies were out of this world. Fair warning, 12 ounces of chocolate takes a minute or two to finely chop, but the tired arm is totally worth it when you take a bite into these dense chocolate pecan squares. We love the added depth that sea salt brings to chocolate and will definitely be making these again. It’s hard to make a brownie that’s both chewy and moist, but also has that nice cakey top. This one’s a keeper.  

When Tomatoes Attack: This weekend, we were very excited to attend the Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival, benefiting Georgia Organics. We even hydrated for the occasion. There’s nothing else to prepare you for an afternoon of tomatoes and booze, after all. Angie Mosier was MC for the festivities and The Spazmatics rocked out with their socks out. The stage was set to celebrate summer’s most beguiling fruit.

Our favorites from the region’s top chefs and mixologists included: The Golden Ticket cocktail from Miles Macquerrie (Leon’s Full Service) – Oronoco Rum, Sungold Tomato Jam, Pineapple, Lime, Cynar, Black Pepper Syrup, and one big ol’ ice cube – a sweet but spicy drink perfect for GA hotness; the Electric Boogaloo from Cara Ludino (Miller Union) – daiquiri-like with fresh ground pepper; Hugh Acheson’s (Athens’ Five & Ten and soon-to-be-Atlanta’s Empire State South) Tomatoes with Pickled Shrimp, Field Peas and Boiled Dressing; Carvel Grant Gould’s (Canoe) Warm Goat Cheese Cheesecake with Bacon Crust and Tomato Fig Jam; Chris Hastings’ (Birmingham’s Hot and Hot Fish Club) Tomato Salad with Fresh Corn, Field Peas, Fried Okra, Bacon & Chive Aioli; Linton Hopkins’ (Restaurant Eugene, Holeman & Finch Public House) Heirloom Tomato Corn Dogs with Brandywine Ketchup; Gerry Klaskala’s (Aria) Grilled Cheese Keaster with Roof Top Dried Tomatoes, Bacon & Chipotle Dipping Sauce; Eddie Hernandez’s (Taqueria del Sol) Tomato Cruda in Habanero Vinaigarette on a Tostada topped with Southwestern Crema and Caviar; Joe Truex’s (Watershed) Tomato Pie – cheddar tart with cherry tomato center; and Mike Lata’s (Charleston’s FIG) Heirloom Tomato Tarte Tatin (warm tomato compote over thin, delicate pastry) with Fromage Blanc. For sweet somethings, we appreciated the creativity of Ford Fry’s (JCT. Kitchen & Bar) Killer Tomato Jelly Donuts and Kevin Gillespie’s (Woodfire Grill) Tomato Ice Cream Sandwiches. But our favorite tomato dessert was definitely Keira Moritz’s (Pacci) mini ice cream cones – flavors changed on the half hour and we liked them so much that we made it over to sample three – basil with a hint of tomato, peach tomato with a yummy candied heirloom on top, and strawberry tomato. It was pretty serendipitous when The Spazmatics started playing “Just Can’t Get Enough…”

Judges Andrew Knowlton (Bon Appetit magazine), Kate Krader (Food & Wine magazine) and Carolyn O’Neil (local dietician and author) had their work cut out for them…for a summary of the cocktail winners, check out this nice post at Food & Wine; and for food winners, check out their other post! I knew I waited a day to write about this thing because of more than just fullness…I had a plan, see…

Shouldn’t every season have its own Thanksgiving? This summer, I’ve given thanks for blueberries and melons, arugula and cucumbers, corn and peppers…and for an incredible event called the Southern Chefs Potluck, held last month under the pavilion of The Inn at Serenbe. Imagine an idyllic summer day in the country, complete with the requisite afternoon downpour. Then imagine that day filled with 5 or 6 farm tables brimming with dishes from the region’s best chefs – Anne Quattrano, Hugh Acheson, Billy Allin, Steven Satterfield, Joe Truex, Kevin Gillespie, Linton Hopkins, Shaun Doty, Ford Fry, Marie Nygren, Dan Latham, Hilary White and Michel Nischan – accompaniments to White Oak Pastures beef prepared by Jim-n-Nick’s BBQ and fried chicken legs from The Farmhouse at Serenbe. Oh, and another four farm tables of dessert potluck. Last, whistles were wet with Farmhouse mint tea and “Shine On Punch” (yes, that kind of ‘shine) mixed by Greg Best of Holeman & Finch.

I couldn’t help but think of it as a southern summer Thanksgiving. And it was an event where the giving was just as important as the receiving. Hosted by Serenbe, the Southern Foodways Alliance Skillet Brigade, and Georgia Organics, the Potluck benefited Wholesome Wave Georgia, a non-profit founded to encourage and support increased production, availability and access to fresh, healthy and affordable locally grown food for all communities. I was really inspired by Wholesome Wave’s Double Value Coupon program – it doubles the value of Federal Food Stamps when used at participating farmers markets nationwide. Especially in the middle of such a bountiful and beautifully prepared harvest, I was moved by the important work Wholesome Wave is doing to make local food an accessible option for everyone.

You'll notice a few things in the photos: 1) I couldn't say no to a dish at this potluck (favorites included Ford Fry's gooey mac & cheese, Kevin Gillespie's creamy potato salad inspired by his granny, Steven Satterfield's bright succotash, Anne Quattrano's fried okra, Marie Nygren's peppery fried chicken and Jim-n-Nick's juicy sliders made with White Oak Pastures beef). 2) I LOVE dessert. It is a beautiful thing.