heirlooms

i think one of the best things about summer is the tomato. it represents the season perfectly: juicy, sun-warmed and red. they’re in abundance. big ones. fat ones. small ones. round ones. catch me near the stand and i’m like one of those creepy guys at a bar leering at all the hot chicks. ok, maybe not the best analogy. but you get the picture.

then, there’s the heirloom tomato. these little beauties have been a hot ticket for quite some time. when they’re good, they’re really good. but this year, i’m not sure i agree. i’ve been to my local farmer’s market the last few weeks and they all look a little…well, odd. and by odd i mean completely deformed, misshapen—and not in a good way. they look diseased rather than appetizing. is it me? is everyone else enjoying their succulent heirloom tomatoes and i’m just the schmuck who doesn’t recognize greatness when i see it? or am i the little boy in the emperor’s new clothes that points out the king is nude?

because heirloom tomatoes are open pollinated and not genetically altered, they are probably more subject to disease. that may explain their less than tasty appearance lately. but, as the saying goes, looks can be deceiving. the taste is what counts. anything fresh and unadulterated will taste markedly better than their counterparts on the supermarket shelf that have the overall consistency of the business end of a snow shoe.

i’ve highlighted this web site before. but if you’re looking to find local connecticut farms that grow and sell heirloom tomatoes, go to http://www.buyctgrown.com/. they list all the farms in the area and map them for you.

enjoy what the season has to offer. all too soon it will disappear…

august in connecticut is one of my favorite times of the year. the freshest produce is available at your finger tips. farmer’s markets are at their peak. and it’s corn season, baby! (or cahn as my husband likes to pronounce it in an obnoxiously nasal sotto voce.)

it’s the best stuff on earth. sweet, fresh, and just picked. pair it with vine-ripened tomatoes, which are also in season now, and you’ve got a vegetable symphony. (granted, tomatoes are technically fruit. but whatever.)

we had corn and tomatoes last night for dinner. sweet jesus, that’s good! all you need is a little sea salt—possibly some butter for the corn—et voilà! i could have cared less about the flank steak we grilled with it. i was more enthralled with how sweet those tight little kernels were between my teeth.

(although, i have often wondered: with all this biogenetic engineering, can’t they manage to create an ear of corn that comes with it’s own floss? i mean, really. if you’re going to screw with nature, can’t you at least make it convenient too? but i digress from the true, unadulterated husks of sheer goodness.)

a number of web sites, including http://www.produceoasis.com/ and http://www.buyctgrown.com/, inform you on how to choose the best corn and where to get them here in connecticut. obviously, rule number one is to avoid the store-bought. by the time it even reaches your supermarket, it’s a starchy, old thing best left hanging as an autumnal decoration for your front door rather than a meal time accompaniment. as soon as corn is picked, the sugar starts to break down into starch. you will want to get the ears when they are at their sweetest.

when picking out corn, keep in mind that the outside husk should look healthy as well. if the husks look shriveled or dry, if the corn silk looks like it’s in bad shape or it clearly has worm damage, discard it. you can pull back the husk to take a look at the kernels underneath to check for their freshness. however, there are a number of farm stands and markets that take a dim view of the customer that picks at their corn. really, do you want to take home a bushel knowing somebody else’s fingernails picked at the kernels to determine if it’s to their liking? a little unappetizing. usually, the staff at the market or farm are more than willing to help you out.

well, enjoy the corn season. get ‘em while they’re hot. because as any native nutmegger knows, corn season goes by all too fast…