by Tom Yates
Chef Tom’s Food and Cooking Column appears on page 13 of the Ace Weekly print edition. Text and Photos by Chef Tom.
The Tuesday/Thursday Farmers’ Market on the corner of Maxwell and Broadway can be an overlooked little jewel. With fewer crowds than the downtown Saturday Market, it’s a great way to start an early morning work day. Right now, during peak season, it’s still peaceful enough to chat with vendors and neighbors while shopping locally. Granted there aren’t loads of food vendors, musicians, or bustling patio bars serving summery cocktails. Even without those well founded perks, it’s convenient, accessible, and fabulous.
While I try to shop leisurely and responsibly at our farmer’s markets, most of the time it doesn’t happen. I’m constantly blown away by fascinating and unfamiliar stuff. Introduce me to something special and all bets are off. Reason flies out the window. Grab, go, and think about it later. It happens a lot.
So, how do you make an unlikely mishmash of market fruits and vegetables play nice together? Stick them.
Makers Mark Bourbon Peach Barbecue Sauce.
I’m certainly not a pit master or a barbecue guru, but I do prefer scratch-made sauces over most commercial varieties. Fire. Coals. Barbecue. After teaching the Culinary Arts Bourbon Cooking School at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival for a couple of years, I knew I could play with bourbon and fire.
Stick It.
After cutting the tough outer portions of the fennel bulb from the root end, I trimmed away the fronds (reserved), quartered the bulb, removed the core, and dropped the quarters into salted simmering water with 4 halved purple candy onions. While they softened for the grill, I sliced the chicken breasts into 1 1/2″ pieces and sliced the remaining peaches into small wedges.
With everything on deck, I poked and prodded everything onto pre-soaked bamboo skewers in alternating layers: chicken, zucchini, fennel quarters, halved onions, peaches, and tomatoes.
Fire.
With smoky vanilla undertones, the Makers Mark peach-infused barbecue sauce sealed the chicken with caramelized sweet zing. While the collapsed tomatoes and melted peaches packed a fruity punch, the fennel quarters balanced their charred sweetness with a savory anise-flavored crunch. Unadorned, naked, and raw, the fresh zucchini rolls and tomatoes provided clean contrasting textures to the sticky meat, fruits, and vegetables. No forks needed.
Farmers’ market on a stick.
With bourbon.
Enough said.
This article also appears on page 13 of the September 12, 2013 print edition of Ace. Click to subscribe to the Ace e-dition (delivered to your inbox every Thursday), and read more of Chef Tom’s Ace food columns.