Be fruitful...

After last week's cardoon debacle I stuck to the fruits of early fall yesterday. Forgive me, but I blanked out on several of the vendors' names. I've listed them where I can:

The List

Terhune Orchards
seckel pears
bosc pears
empire apples
macoun apples
mutsu apples

Fantasy Fruits
blueberries

other vendors
raspberries
baby spinach
sweet potatoes

Quattros Game Farm
eggs

Heavenly Pastures Cheeses
caraway gouda

Tonje's Dairy
ricotta

Saturday's Brunch Recipes

I must admit, our breakfast yesterday was really fantastic yet very simple. I made a spinach caraway cheese omelette with a fruit and spinach side salad.

Spinach Cheese Omelette for 2
5 eggs
1/4 lb baby spinach
2 oz caraway gouda (shredded or in thin strips)
milk
salt & pepper

Clean the spinach by trimming* and then immersing in a bowl of cold water. (Swish around vigorously and then let the grit settle out.) Drain and pat dry. Beat the eggs with a little milk to thin and pour into a greased heavy skillet over medium-low heat. When eggs have set on the bottom, arrange cheese evenly on top. When cheese is melted, season and arrange spinach and fold eggs in half or by thirds, whatever your omelette style preference. The heat of the eggs will be enough to wilt the spinach and you don't have to worry about the ammonia flavor that sometimes comes of overcooking it. (Although it's unlikely here given the freshness of the greens.) Cut the very large omelette in half and lift onto plates. Seeing the inside makes for a beautiful presentation, and with the salad along side, it was worthy of a magazine cover.

*A note on trimming the spinach: if you buy large leaves with thick stems, be sure to cut the stems out--they can be woody--if you like that, keep 'em in. In my case, I buy baby spinach with the roots still attached (keeps the leaves fresher longer) so I simply clip off the roots with kitchen shears.

Spinach Fruit Salad
1/4 lb baby spinach
1/4 cup blueberries
1/4 cup raspberries
1 seckel pear

Arrange the washed spinach on the plate, sprinkle with berries and tiny slices of pear. One could season this with a little black pepper, or maybe a drizzle of balsamic, but with fresh picked ingredients and the natural contrast of flavors (especially given the relative tartness of late season blueberries) it didn't need embellishment.