The summer heat has broken, at least for a little while, and Frank Bowman is one Eastern Iowan who isn’t complaining.

The chef and owner of Linn Street Cafe in Iowa City is the second local chef to take part in our Farmers Market Challenge. He has created a beautiful and tasty three-course spread of fall-inspired dishes.

His $20 went a long way….

You might also be interested in:

• Check out Saturday’s Downtown Cedar Rapids market and start cooking
• Farmers Market Challenge: Her Soup Kitchen
• Farmers Market Challenge: Motley Cow

All recipes by Bowman:

Butternut Squash Soup

2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 large butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
5 cups vegetable stock
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons honey
salt and white pepper to taste
Combine first four  ingredients in a large pot and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes. Add squash and sauté for an additional minute. Add stock, bring to boil and then reduce to a low simmer until squash is completely cooked and very soft, approximately 40 minutes. Put into a blender and purée until smooth, add the heavy cream, honey, salt, and pepper. Makes approximately 2 quarts.

Cornmeal Crusted Eggplant with Lamb-Zucchini-Tomato Ragoût

For the ragoût:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 onion, medium diced
1 bell pepper, medium diced
1 pound ground lamb
3 small zucchini, medium diced
2 pounds Roma tomatoes, medium diced
1 tablespoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste
Combine first five ingredients in medium sauce pan, sauté until lamb is fully cooked. Add zucchini and tomatoes and let simmer for approximately one hour. Cook ragoût until very little liquid remains. Add the sugar, salt, and pepper to taste.

For the Cornmeal Crusted Eggplant:
2 eggplant, peeled and cut into ½- inch slices
Kosher salt
cornmeal
oil for frying
Sprinkle salt over eggplant slices, this draws out some of the vegetable’s moisture. Larger, older eggplants have brown seeds that contain a bitter liquid. Salting eggplants removes some of this liquid and improves their flavor. It’s generally not necessary to salt smaller eggplants since they have fewer seeds than larger eggplants. After 10 minutes rinse slices and pat dry. Dredge slices in cornmeal until well coated and fry in oil until lightly browned, turning once. Remove from oil and let drain on paper towels. To plate, top eggplant with ragoût.

Pear Crisp

2 pounds pears, peeled and cut into a small dice
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 stick butter
1 C flour
½ C sugar
½ C oatmeal

Combine first three ingredients together and divide into four  individual baking dishes.
Combine remaining ingredients together with fingers until mixture has a crumbly consistency. Mound on top of pears and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.