County fair

County fairs throughout Montana highlight the best of what the area has to offer and showcase what lies nearest the hearts of those who live there.

Today I visited our county fair. Naturally, I found the food section first, where entries took up a long table and included canned plums and peaches, applesauce, apricot jam, banana bread, cookies, and 5 plates of chocolate-covered Rice Krispie treats. The treats were made by the elderly folks in long-term care at the county hospital and looked delicious. On Friday night, they and all other entries throughout the fair will be auctioned off to the public. I suspect the Rice Krispie treats will go quickly. Although I must say the lemon/raspberry cake was the most beautiful entry.

When I examined the garden produce (see top photo above), I realized I could have entered my 10-inch, 2-pound zucchini -- and won! Compared to a dime, that baby is huge! Next year . . .

Other fair entries included chickens (below you see "Soots" and her very noisy chicks), large animals, quilts, furniture by high school woodworking students, and informative displays by 4-H kids. Did you know bandages and piano keys can contain sheep byproducts?

I will close with this first-place winner by a young artist. My photo does not show the glitter, but this portrait is still something to be proud of.

Manhattan market

This evening the Manhattan farmers market was in full swing. For a town with a population of about 1,500 people, this market is really impressive. The name of the town reflects the early influence of Dutch settlers. The countryside around here is full of neatly kept farmsteads (often with bright red barns and shining white fences) tucked between rolling green hills. Very scenic.

On average, like today, there are 20 vendors, 50 percent of whom sell produce. There were all kinds of veggies and fruit, including large Walla Walla sweet onions, tulip onions (see photo above), lettuce, beets, rainbow chard, snow peas, herbs . . . and locally grown strawberries!!!

When I got home, I took a photo of the box. Another use for duct tape!

Just a side note: This park is where many of the vendors for the annual Potato Festival set out their wares. I highly recommend this festival, which is a celebration of a truly local product. Manhattan grows very tasty potatoes, and you can find plenty of them at this festival.

Manhattan Farmers Market

Railroad Park, on West Main

June 17 - September 9

Wednesday, 4:30 pm - 7:30 pm

Manhattan Harvest Market

October 17

Manhattan Potato Festival

August 15, 2009

I never saw a purple pizza . . .

. . . until now. I've even eaten it, and it's delicious.

It all started when I bought some beets at the farmers market. I had wanted to buy spinach to make spanakopita, but you can only buy what's there, of course. So I took home beets, wondering what to use them for.

You can roast them, you can put them in soup, you can stir-fry them with potatoes and make red flannel hash. But then I remembered an Idaho blogger who used beets in pizza dough. Her photo is way better than mine, so be sure to go there and be truly in awe.

This dough is lovely to work with, very soft and pliable. The recipe makes two 12-inch pizzas, so I've saved the second bit of dough to play with another day. Purple calzone, anyone?

purple dough is a-risin'

If you don't have a mixer, you can make this pizza dough by hand. To replace steps 3 and 4, put all ingredients in a large bowl, mix until blended, then put dough on a lightly floured surface; I used a pastry cloth. I had no trouble with stains, but you do want to be careful since beets can stain some surfaces. Knead until dough is satiny, about 8 minutes, and pat into a ball shape. Then go on to step 5.

To cook the beets, I washed them thoroughly, trimmed off the leaves, leaving about 2-inch stems, wrapped them in foil, and baked them in a 400-degree oven for about 40 minutes. I was cooking something else, so this worked well. You can also cook them in the microwave, I suppose (I don't have one), steam them, or even use canned beets.

For the puree, I used a blender, so bits of beet were still evident. If you are cooking for a child, I'd recommend using a food processor (or smash blended beets through a strainer) to get a good smooth puree.

You don't taste the beets in the crust, so this is perfect for children. The taste of the sauce really comes through more than anything, especially if you make it with fresh herbs; I used some power-packing basil from my garden.

Be sure to go to the notes at the end of the original recipe and make the sauce. You don't cook it, which is a great timesaver. Also check out the grilling tips in another note. I used a pizza pan with sides, but it probably would have been much better on a pizza stone.

I did use pineapple bits and some Tillamook cheese, but the Canadian bacon is from a local national-award-winning meat processor. The flour, of course, is Wheat Montana. So considering I wasn't really trying (I was simply craving a pineapple-bacon pizza), I didn't do too badly eating Montana-made products today.

Note: I advise you to eat anything made with this dough within 24 hours or so. After that it turns a rather unappetizing brown color. It still tastes OK, but it's not that pretty purple you started out with.