the Friday Feeding; VOL. 97

Boo!  October is here and whether you are a kid proper or one at heart, this month brings on a little heart-thumping excitement. Nature is putting on its final show of color and we humans ramp up with our own.

The store loves October because we are putting out our bounty for the season leading towards the year-end crescendo of special offerings. Because there are more of you who shop here this time of year, the more we can sustain the variety of offerings.

Our bake case expands this time of year too. Pie slices, cakes slices and warm focaccia pizza each week-end and Dave’s meat loaf sandwiches will reappear when the weather cools.

Local focus

If you are farmers market shopper you will recognize Lee and his special olive oils.  We carry them too and he was in this week explaining his process to us.

Lee lives in Manchester, NH but maintains a 4th generation olive farm in Lakonia, Greece where he spends most of his winter.  He leaves for there again this month to harvest olives and press the oils to return home to Manchester, NH in late winter/early spring after pruning the trees.  Home again he stores the oil in large tanks and lets them sit for a bit.  This sitting process allows the solids to settle to the bottom in a self-purification process while still maintaining the flavor and bite of a truly fresh olive oil.  

Traditional olive oils are strained and purified for a long shelf life but Lee’s organic extra virgin olive oils are timed to be used fresh.  He keeps our shelves stocked this way. 

He makes two varieties; one from the traditional small Koreneiki olive producing an oil that is dark green in color with a grassy robust flavor and that peppery finish of a fresh olive oil. The second variety is from a kalmata olive not generally used to olive oil making.  He presses the smaller more flavorful kalamatas to produce an oil that is lighter and more buttery than the traditional oil and still with that peppery finish of a fresh olive oil. All his oils are organic and cold-pressed which preserves the healthy healing benefits of good oil rich in linoleic fatty acids.

All olive oils, and especially a fresh olive oil, have a lower smoking point than most cooking oil—325°—so frying and cooking with them means not blasting your heat source.  Still, Lee fries chicken and french fries in his oils so 325° is proven to work for most applications.  I asked about roasting in higher heats.  Because the oil is not directly in contact with the heat source it can sustain a much higher temp.  He said his grandfather is famous for his roasted dishes using their oil.

But simply eating the oil fresh poured over a salad or drizzled on to finish a pasta dish or anything roasted, you get the tremendous benefits of the healthy healing properties of good olive oil. Its delicious.

Baking with olive oil?! I do and so do the Italians and Greeks!

Citrus Olive Oil Cake

Our delectable Lemon Olive Oil Muffins are the #1 favorite with our customers so I thought perhaps you might enjoy this easy recipe that has a similar taste using good olive oil instead of butter.

Mix together by hand or in a mixer:

• 1 tsp lemon or orange essential oil (we sell these) OR 1T fruit rind zest
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup + 2T Lakonia Kalamata extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs

Add to the above mixture whisking/mixing until smooth:

• 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp table salt

Spoon into a greased and floured standard size loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto a rack to cool. If you care to glaze the cake, place the rack over waxed paper or parchment to catch the drips.

Citrus glaze

Mix together:

• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 2 tsp boiling water
• 1/4 tsp lemon or orange essential oil
• Tint with yellow or orange food coloring if want a Halloween vibe!

If you want the glaze to be more frosting-like let the cake cool completely. Otherwise the glaze will soak in making a more moist sticky type of cake. Serve by the slice.

Stop by the store this week-end to sample lemon curd and cheese!

See you soon,

Jane and Dave