In preparation for our week away, the Boy and I headed to the Arlington Farmers Market on Saturday to stock up on grill worthy foods.  Since we knew the cabin had both a gas and charcoal grill, we pretty much knew we’d be throwing everything we could on the grill.  With that in mind, our first stops were at EcoFriendly Foods and Smith Meadows Farm to pick up some meats!

EcoFriendly Foods is one of the best known meat vendors on the East Coast.  Known for their humane and conscientious methods of raising animals and their committment to providing quality meats to their customers, EcoFriendly Foods has become a nationally recognized meat supplier.  Bev Eggleston, its founder, was even featured in Gourmet magazine recently, bringing even more attention to the cause of responsible meat production.  I’ve shopped at EcoFriendly Food’s tent numerous times but I’ve never actually met Bev himself until I stopped by on Saturday.  I was looking around for bacon and before I knew it, Bev was in front of me and trying to help us find what we wanted.  He noticed the Boy’s unique Batman shirt and immediately started laughing.  There was a light banter back and forth as we tried to decide what else we wanted.  Bev was more than happy to offer suggestions and tell us about his products.  Bev’s easy nature and willingness to talk with his customers about his meats and how their raised (and slaughtered) completely embodies the reason I love to shop at farmers markets.  I listened to his suggestion and grabbed a package of bacon.  Since I wanted to try grilling pizza again, we opted to add some of their sweet Italian sausage to the bacon before moving along.  Sure Bev accused me of being a shameless flirt (I’m just Southern…Southern girls are friendly) but it was all in jest and I walked away with a smile on my face.

I’ll be honest, after picking up two NY Strips from Smith Meadows Farm (of course we’re going to grill up some steaks, did you have any doubt we wouldn’t?), it became a haze of produce and people.  The markets are always buzzing this time of year and with so many fruits and vegetables to choose from, you start to go into a shoppers haze.  Yes, I do need all of this corn you tell yourself as you pick up ear after ear of sweet corn.  It’s in season, so of course you should indulge!  Peaches were everywhere and I happily helped myself to a few pounds of the sweet ones, with the intent on making some peach jam and grilling some of them too in a cast iron skillet (a trick I wasn’t sure would work…but I was willing to try).  Toigo Orchard’s peaches were big and beautiful (both the freestone and white variety were for sale) and I couldn’t resist.  To go with the grilled peaches, I picked up some vanilla ricotta from Blue Ridge Dairy (vanilla ricotta could easily mask any grilling disaster, right?).

While I was at Blue Ridge, I picked up a ball of their fresh and applewood smoked mozzarella for the pizzas.  I knew I wanted to top my pizza with some carmelized onions and mushrooms, so I picked up the beauties above and some mushrooms from Mother Earth Organic mushrooms.  And since it was my vacation, I decided to buy some tomato sauce instead of slaving over a hot stove whipping up my own.  So we stopped by Cavanna Pasta to get a couple of containers of their Pommorola sauce, a simple, smooth tomato sauce accented with garlic. We were encouraged to add some fresh herbs to the sauce to give the pizza an added depth.  This of course naturally led me to Red Rake Farm, which had a plethora of fresh herbs for sale, including some wonderfully fragrant basil.  I also picked up some chives and garlic for the skillet red potatoes dish I planned to improvise on the grill (noticing a theme of improvisation and grill work going on here?).

Before we left, we stopped by a stand that was loaded down with samples of buffalo steak mini sandwiches.  I learned the stand was for Willow Restaurant, a self described continental restaurant headed by Tracy O’Grady and Kate Jansen.  Willow, known for using fresh, local and in season products, sets up every Saturday at Arlington Farmers Market offering samples and restaurant related giveaways.  On Saturday, they were using some of Cibola Farm‘s tender buffalo steaks atop a seasonal sauce (that I believe included tomatoes…but I was a bit too enraptured of the sandwich to ask many questions) for toasted sandwiches.  The sandwiches were so tasty, it almost made us rethink our entire menu to make room for buffalo steak.  But our bags were getting full and the sandwiches only highlighted how hungry we were.  We had everything we needed for our vacation, so before I bought any more produce, we headed off in search of breakfast.

The Arlington Farmers Market is located right next to the Arlington Courthouse parking lot, adjacent to the Courthouse metro station.  It’s open every Saturday from 8 am to noon!

I was lucky enough to get out of work early this afternoon, so I headed over to Penn Quarter Farmers Market.  My co-worker James was along for the ride, as he wanted to pick up a few things for himself.  I had a list of things I wanted, including the new Ricotta Vanigla from Blue Ridge Dairy and blueberries (oh how I love blueberries) for a weekend batch of crepes.  But as often happens whenever I shop hungry, I ended up with a bit more than what was on my list.  And thus this quick, yet delicious pasta dish was created.

Even if I plan on going to a Saturday farmers market, I always make a trip to Penn Quarter on Thursdays after work to pay homage to Red Apron Butchery.  Chef Nathan Anda’s created quite a buzz around his house cured meats and the bacon alone lives up to all the hype.  I could easily shovel it down by the package full and have been known to steal a piece or two from the Boy’s plate (hey, if you’re going to leave bacon unattended in my presence, you suffer the consequences).  And don’t get me started on his hot dogs!  When I saw he had prosciutto last week, I snapped it up without even thinking twice…and wasn’t disappointed.  The prosciutto was a wonderful mixture of salt and pork goodness without any distracting spices to confuse the natural flavors of the cured meat.  So it was no surprise that I was back at the Red Apron tent this week, asking if there was anymore prosciutto.  Nathan pointed to a bin near the cash box, saying they only had 2 packages that week.  Being the greedy, evil child that I am, I bought both packages (and thanked my lucky stars I got there early enough to get them).

I continued on my merry way to pick up the rest of the items on my list but was heartbroken to find out Blue Ridge didn’t have any Ricotta Vanigla.  The vanilla infused ricotta was a fairly new item for Blue Ridge Dairy and I was curious to try it as a crepe filling.  To console myself, I got some crimini mushrooms to go with the prosciutto, along with an onion from Mountain View Farms and a big bulb of fresh garlic from another stand (there is never a sign but I always have a lovely conversation with the lady who runs it).  I made a pit stop at Cowgirl Creamery for a block of their Parmigiano Reggiano and some linguine and then headed home to experiment.

While I was being jerked about on the Metro (gotta love that manual operation) on the way home, the idea of a creamy mushroom sauce came about.  By the time I made it to the house, the entire recipe had been formed and I got to work almost immediately (hunger is a strong motivator…and a bitch until satisfied).  After reading the directions on the back of the Pasta Abruzzese, I opted to follow their suggestion and toss the pasta with cheese before adding the sauce.  When all was said and done (a mere 35 minutes later), I had an amazingly simple but flavorful dinner.  And a nice glass of Sangria to toast my success (it’s a holiday weekend…I can drink on a Thursday night).

Linguine with Creamy Mushroom Sauce and Prosciutto (4 servings)

1-16 ounce package linguine

1 container crimini mushrooms, sliced

1 large clove of garlic, diced

1 small onion, chopped

8 ounces prosciutto, sliced lengthwise (I simply shredded mine with my hands)

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 to 1/2 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Approximately 1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano, shredded

Bring a large pot of water to boil, salt it liberally and add the linguine.  While the pasta is cooking, get started on the sauce.  Make sure to stir the pasta periodically to prevent it from burning and clumping up.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium high heat and add the garlic.  Cook for about 2 minutes, or until the garlic takes on a golden hue.  Add the onions and cook until soft before tossing in the mushrooms.  Stirring constantly, allow the mushrooms to reduce and release their juices into the butter.  Start slowly pouring in the heavy cream, adding enough to cover the bottom of the pan.  If you like a thinner sauce, use closer to 1/2 cup of cream.  If you like a thicker sauce, use closer to 1/4 cup of cream.  Continue stirring the sauce, allowing it to thicken slightly.  Once it reaches your desired consistency, remove the sauce from the heat.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Drain the pasta and pour it into a bowl.  Add the grated cheese and toss.  Add the shredded prosciutto in four batches, tossing the pasta after each batch is added.  Add most of the mushroom sauce, reserving a bit to top the pasta.  Toss the pasta once more, making sure the sauce evenly coats everything.  Serve with a small spoonful of the reserved sauce on top (and a grating of the cheese if you wish…which I usually do).