Lisa Giraldi - once a butcher and baker, she now grows and preserves in Warkworth, Ontario. She resides with her boyfriend Derick and their barn cats Kitty and Marlboro.
Derick and Lisa at Sorauren Farmers’ Market
Lion's Mane 'Salad'
One of my favourite things about farmer's markets are the food conversions - with customers and fellow vendors alike. I love consuming a well written cookbook, but there's something equally delightful about discovering food through personal connection. One summer we were selling mushrooms at Codrington Farmer's Market and our friend Tina shared the following recipe with us. We both ooo'ed and ahh-ed over her recipe - and then we went home and made it later that week. It was just as delicious as she described. This recipe is delicious on bread or toast or with lightly sauteed kale.
A knob of butter
1/3 lb Lion's Mane mushrooms, very finely diced.
A good scoop of mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste.
Working with a medium-hot skillet, fry the diced Lion's Mane mushrooms in the butter, until crisp and brown. Depending on the size of your skillet you may need to do this in batches (if there are too many mushrooms in the pan they will steam rather than fry). As they cook, add a good shake of salt and pepper. When they have finished frying, remove them from the stove into a bowl to cool. When they are cool to the touch, add the mayonnaise and mix together until it forms a chicken-esque or egg-esque salad. Taste a little and adjust the salt and pepper, as you wish.
Lion’s Mane mushroom Hericium eranacious at Codrington Farmers’ Market.
Pablo's Tomato Sauce
Many years ago I was an intern at Wheelbarrow Farm. There were five interns and a baby that year - and all of us loved food. Many of my fondest memories from that summer were meals shared together around the picnic table (mid-day: hot, sweaty, dirty) or around the kitchen table (later in the evening: tired, sore, with a drink in hand). One intern, Pablo, was a particularly good cook and this recipe (passed along to him by an old friend) was one of his simplest yet most memorable. Pablo described it as the 'mac & cheese of pasta sauce'. Over a decade later, I still believe it is the best way to celebrate the first tomatoes of the season (and many others after that!). This tomato sauce wants to be eaten with pasta, a thick slice of sourdough bread or brown rice vermichelli.
Photo: Lisa Giraldi
A Good Handful of Tomatoes, maybe 5-7. (Paste tomatoes make wonderful sauce but I have used many other varieties with great success - I would only avoid the green varieties of tomato here.)
1/3 c butter (either unsalted or salted is fine, just adjust your seasoning accordingly)
Half an onion, diced
Salt and pepper to taste
Throw everything into a pot and let it simmer gently on low for an hour or so. The butter will melt, the onions will soften and the tomatoes will gush into each other - you can leave this for up to a few hours but be careful to stir occasionally as the tomatoes sometimes burn to the bottom of the pot and the clean-up that ensues almost diminishes the beauty of the sauce itself! Remove from the heat and season as you like - here I always add salt and pepper, sometimes fresh garlic, basil or thyme, sometimes a little smoked paprika - and blend it with a hand blender or leave the tomato and onion bits chunky, whichever you prefer. It will keep in your fridge for a few days (if you can bear not to eat it all that night!)
Lisa and Derick at Summergreen Farm
