What's for Dinner? Country Market Has You Covered

With my insulated Cubs bag in one hand and a shopping list in the other, I set off for the Oswego Country Market on a warm Sunday morning faced with my greatest culinary challenge yet: preparing an entire meal using only ingredients from the market.

As a self-taught cook with an arsenal of recipes pulled from magazines and a journal filled with recipes to try from my favorite Food Network shows, the thought of walking around the farmer’s market, randomly selecting items without a specific recipe in mind, made me nervous. But, after doing some online research on the Oswego Country Market’s vendors, I had a better idea about the type of meal I could prepare.

One thing I always wanted to make was a panzanella salad, the perfect summer salad that melds vegetables (grilled or blanched) and rustic bread broken into cubes, garnished with cheese and an olive oil dressing. I also heard people rave about grilling fruit and decided to try that for dessert.

The greatest challenge seemed to be coming up with an entrée. Should I make a vegetable panini with roasted eggplant? Or perhaps gazpacho with homemade croutons would pair nicely with the panzanella salad? But I became intrigued when I learned the Oswego Country Market has a vendor who sells free-range chickens. After reading on food blogs how flavorful these chickens are, I knew roasted chicken with roasted vegetables and potatoes would be the perfect way to round out my meal. 

Whenever I shop at a farmer’s market, I often find it helpful to chat up the vendors for their advice on the best way to use the ingredients they are selling. When I stopped by The Bread Smith of St. Charles, I told staffer Nicole Weber that I was looking for a crusty bread to use in a panzanella salad. She recommended the rustic Italian bread because “it’s soft on the outside and crusty on the inside; a good fit for a salad,” Weber says.

Next, I visited Mary Maly, owner of Ferndell Farms, to learn more about pasture-raised chickens, which means the chickens are “out on the grass, mimicking natural life,” said Maly. “We use certified organic feed which has no animal by-products added to the feed. The more varied an animal’s diet, the more nutritious and flavorful it can be.”

Intrigued, I asked Maly for a few chicken breasts I could throw on the grill. Alas, Maly only sells whole chickens. For a moment my heart sank. How the heck does one prepare a whole, uncut chicken?

Sensing my trepidation, Maly reassured me that all I needed was a good pair of poultry shears to accomplish this task. To cut the chicken, Maly recommends turning the chicken breast side down, then cut on either side of the backbone and cut the spine out. Then turn it breast side up and use your palm to flatten it. Thinking that didn’t sound too hard, I happily purchased the frozen whole chicken.

Surprisingly, milling around various stands selling produce ended up being more fun than I thought it would be. I discovered marble potatoes – little pearls of red, white and purple.

I also picked up some asparagus to roast; red and green peppers, onion, zucchini and tomatoes for the salad; and peaches for dessert. As I went from table to table, I asked the vendors for their advice on picking fresh produce.

“It’s important to educate yourself on the growing season,” said Angela Houston, co-owner of Norway Farm Produce.

For instance, tomatoes don’t ripen around here until August.

“If we ship something in, we’ll put the state by it so shoppers know,” she adds.

When I mentioned I wanted to grill peaches for dessert, Houston suggested cutting them in half first before grilling them for a few minutes.

With my arms starting to feel weighted down by my bounty, I decided to grab some olive oil and cheese to finish up my salad fixings. I explained to Mario Olivi, owner of The Olive Tap in Downers Grove, that I needed an olive oil versatile enough to use as a dressing for the panzanella salad as well as to roast a chicken, asparagus and potatoes. Olivi recommended the Tuscan herb olive oil since it already contains seasonings.

As for storage, Olivi says, “Be sure to store olive oil in a cool place. And don’t refrigerate the oil or it gets solid.”

To top off the panzanella salad, I asked employee Rich Olson of Stamper Cheese in Chicago for his thoughts on a cheese.

“Blue cheese or an Italian cheese, like parmesan, would be good for a salad,” Olson says.

Because the chicken needed 24 hours to defrost, I received a temporary reprieve on attempting to cut a whole chicken. The next day, after searching through every drawer and cabinet in my kitchen, I discovered that either I never registered for poultry shears or, if I did, I got rid of them since they had never been needed in my six years of marriage.

With a deep breath, I opened my Betty Crocker bridal edition cookbook to the step-by-step photo illustration of cutting a chicken and grabbed my largest knife.

Despite my best attempts, I could not manage to maneuver the knife with the same ease as the photos depicted. So, I began to twist and turn the bird with my hands and manually break the chicken apart. Seriously, if you’re going to try this home, invest in a pair of poultry shears and follow Maly’s instructions.

As I preheated the oven to 350 degrees, I drizzled some Tuscan herb olive oil over the chicken along with a little salt and pepper (the only ingredients from home I allowed myself to use). Roast the chicken for about 45 minutes or until the chicken gets to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Meanwhile, I cut the marble potatoes in half and placed them in a pot of boiling water. After bringing the potatoes to a boil, drain and place the potatoes on a baking sheet. Drizzle Tuscan herb olive oil plus some salt and pepper and roast in a 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes.

When the potatoes were done, I put in the asparagus, after I had cut off the bottom and drizzled with Tuscan herb olive oil, and roasted for 20 minutes.

Using the boiling water from the potatoes, I slit an X at the bottom of each tomato and submerged them into boiling water for 10 seconds before placing into a bowl of ice water to slightly cool.

Next, cut the peppers and zucchini. Place in boiling water for one minute, then transfer in the ice water to slightly cool. Take the crust off six to eight slice of rustic Italian bread and tear the bread into cubes. Assemble the panzanella salad by placing bread cubes in a large bowl then add vegetables and drizzle with Tuscan herb olive oil before tossing the salad. Garnish with Parmesan cheese before serving. 

Overall, this experiment resulted in a wonderful meal. I learned a lot more about the offerings of a farmer’s market. But, most of all, I developed a greater appreciation for the butcher at my local grocery store.