Oregon City Farmers Market

The Market

Wow. Finally a really nice day to visit a market. The Oregon City farmers market is a little different. It is staged in a parking lot for the Clackamas County Offices on Kaen Road in Oregon City. The plus is that there is a lot of parking. The initial take away is, it is a parking lot and though there is a very friendly atmosphere, it is a parking lot. There is very little neighborhood feel to the market. We did like the no nonsense rules though. Note: No Smoking Dogs Allowed. Must come with the use of county land. In any case, the market was nicely rounded with vendors, good food and a lively attendance enjoying the great weather. So we went about our shopping hoping to add to our core dinner plans of grilling Mediterranean split chicken. We were happy to find a hummus booth and bought artichoke hummus and pita chips.

We wondered upon a booth selling pasta that that had an interesting flavor. Chocolate pasta. Hmmm. After a discussion with the owner about how it was made and how she recommended preparing it, Lori decided that chocolate pasta would be the fun purchase of the day and become the challenge of our dinner menu. Purchases in hand we headed back for home.

The Table

Some of you have asked that I elaborate on the cooking a little more. So. I will try to do so in this edition. First the chicken:

Grilled Mediterranean Split Chicken 

1 chicken cut in half along the breast bone and back bone

1 cup olive oil

2-5 crushed garlic cloves

3-5 fresh rosemary sprigs loosely chopped

1 teaspoon each dried oregano and thyme

zest of 1 lemon and juice of 1/2 half of the lemon

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

Mix all  except the chicken in a small bowl. Put the chicken halves in a plastic bag and add the marinade from the bowl for 2 hours up to over night in the fridge. Grill the chicken over low/medium heat until the thighs and breasts register 160 degrees on a meat thermometer. Served with the artichoke hummus and a marinaded olive, white bean and mushroom mix from the local grocers olive bar.

Dessert using Chocolate Pasta as a Base

I chose to make a raspberry Sauce. There are many easy recipes online. I usually use: 1 cup of Raspberries, 1/2 cup cold water with a tablespoon of cornstarch, 2 tablespoons sugar, heat to a boil, simmer 4-5 minutes and strain to remove the seeds. Let cool

We made the pasta per instructions on the package. I put the warm past on a dish and sprinkled it with cinnamon, then added a scoop of vanilla ice cream, added a few whole raspberries, and decorated with both the raspberry sauce and some chocolate sauce. The chocolate pasta was not extremely sweet so you may want to add sugar to taste with the cinnamon.

  

Talia enjoys dinner on the patio too.