BACON bag! Blueberries! Cherries! Oh my!

beingreen took a bunch of FANTASTIC photos (all below) today at the market. I, like BG, got gifted with an “I Love Bacon” bag that I will cherish and wear with pride. Just a quick note: blueberries are here along with cherries! Philips & Keenan have blueberries, but Keenan’s are less expensive than Phillips. Near Keenan is a farm stand with cherries at $5 per pound. Fantastic! That’s it for me - the rest is all beingreen.
~baconbit

Today is my lucky day! As I sauntered through the market this morning, I was lured to Tamarack Hollow by the sight of sausages. Mike sold me on the Maple Breakfast sausage, which he says is a rare find because it is difficult to make. Say no more, I had to try it… and with my purchase he gave me a bonus “I Love You Bacon” bag that I will cherish forever. Hurry over to get your bacon while supplies last! ~bg

The next delight that caught my eye were the CHERRIES at Locust Grove Farm. These are the first cherries of summer at the market, as far as I can tell, and they are GOOD. ~bg

Blueberries have arrived at Kernan Farms, and so have the mounds of summer squash which are exciting to explore once again… ~bg

And Kira’s garlic and mixed greens are fabulous at Evolutionary Organics. Last night I had blackfish and greens sauteed with a whole bulb of Kira’s fresh garlic… early in the summer it is more tender and mild than late summer garlic, so don’t be afraid to eat a lot of it! The green mix has bonus “wild greens” ie, edible weeds, from Kira’s farm, such as wild spinach and purslane. I love adible weeds and believe that they are truly good for our health and have no nutritional data to back this up. ~bg

Another exciting farm is the French Vegetable and Green Farm (for lack of knowing their name) that has great greens today. Chervil (I have no idea how to use this yet… send us your ideas please) is hot, and I received a recommendation from a fellow shopper for the french baby leeks. I promptly purchased them for a sautee this evening. Will report back. The wild arugula here looks precious. Definitely requires a special preparation… beyond salad. ~bg

Berried Treasures has nice looking red potatoes and Tristar Strawberries! Tristar are a cross with a wild strawberry…the taste is so much sweeter! ~bg

Migliorelli Farm has buckets of fresh basil for your salads and shell peas are $4 per pound now.

And lastly, Cherry Lane Farms has greenhouse heirlooms! So early!

Market Monday

Greens galore! The market is chock full of greens- in every imaginable shade. Yuno’s look truly lovely. I am now receiving a Community Supported Agriculture farmshare in Brooklyn on the weekends, so I’m trying to resist buying greens during the week (never fear I will still report on availability and of course will continue shopping for meat, seafood, eggs, grains, and dairy). The fragrant basil at Yuno’s stand beckoned me, and I could not resist. The smell just shouts summer to me. There are also lots of other herbs available. I noticed John Madura’s stand had expanded- baconbit frequently reports on his mushrooms- in addition he now has a variety of greens, spring garlic and green onions. Prices seem to be varying pretty widely for produce, so be sure to shop around a bit if you are watching your wallet. Bread prices at Bread Alone have gone up again. Also available at the market today: grass fed beef, seafood, breads and cookies, eggs, pretzels, plants, jams, honey and more! That’s it for now.
~dq

Five Dollars? Really?

I usually don’t go to the market on the weekends - I live uptown, and the market is downtown, and well… there you go. I stock up on Friday and eat off my purchases until Monday. This Saturday I happened to be in the vicinity and stopped by to ogle the produce and pick up some kind of animal protein. 

On Saturdays - the meat at the market is much more varied. I got some duck breasts (which I am cooking tonight) and better yet: duck eggs & pheasant eggs! I decided I’m not a big fan of the pheasant eggs - but duck eggs? WOW.

I saw some of our same vendors - and a few who seemed to have higher prices than they do during the week. Perhaps it’s an issue of supply and demand - and certainly farmers aren’t rolling in the dough, so it’s difficult to whine too much. But I was still glad that I’d bought my veg on Wednesday.

As to $5 - sugar snap peas are $5 across the board at the market today. Everywhere I looked, $5, $5 - however shell peas are $3.50 *except* at Philips Farm, who’s shell peas are also $5. Hmmm.

I bought mine at Maxwell’s for my frozen peas project, along with extras for salad over the next couple of days. 

Yunno’s still has chiogga beets - and today they had fava beans for $4 a pound. I’ll peel them tonight and blanch them. YUM. I don’t like favas dried, but fresh? They are truly lovely. Need inspiration? Habeas Brûlee has a recipe for favas with seaweed poprocks. If that is too exotic for Monday night dinner, try them with furikake instead.

Speaking of furikake - yesterday I made popped corn. I had gotten the grains from the market in the fall and am still working my way through them. I do my popped corn the old fashioned way on the stove top! I don’t like butter - and didn’t feel like salt. Instead I dressed my popped corn with dark sesame oil and furikake. Fantastic! Do try it sometime.

~baconbit

Lovely Friday and samples at the market

Hello. I had a chance to scoot through the NW corner of the market on my way to work this morning. The market is in full swing. Still lots of strawberries, greens, herbs and spring onions. My favorite lately is mint. I’ve been tying with yarn and hanging it up to dry. Once dried, I keep it in a glass jar for really fragrant mint tea all year. Eve’s Cidery is at the market today. They have really delicious ciders- stop by and they will gladly give you a taste. I also spotted the Bobolink Dairy with their popular grass fed cheese and wood fired bread. They also are happy to give you a taste of their cheeses. I love their cheddar, but find that it’s best consumed the day I buy it. Perfect for adding a little kick to a lunch salad. I also spotted DiPaola Turkey Farm. I’m addicted to the spicy turkey sausage. So flavorful and delicious. And, you guessed it, they have samples! That’s all for now. Enjoy your weekend.
~ dq

Strawberries Galore

Almost every berry vendor has strawberries right now… buy a few quarts, and when you get sick of eating them, freeze them for January! You will be so glad to have them to help chase the winter blues away!

Summer at last

Something in the air has been making me awfully lax this past week - first I was traveling on Friday, and since I got back I’ve been having trouble stirring myself into action - or timeliness! I’m out again *this* Friday - but I hope to get back on track with you all on Monday morning.

As to the Market - this morning I did my usual circle round but did not see Honey Hollow at all - but I think he mentioned he’s taking two weeks off. Mid June is not an ideal time for mushrooms apparently - and even mushroom hunters need time to catch up on all the rest of the farming season!

I did see a new-to-me meat vendor, the Van Glad Family. I’ve forgotten the name of their farm - just their name is on the card but not the farm name. Whoops! However, they were on the West Side of the Market, near the garden and fountain, if that helps. They have a cute wood-burned sign and sell whole and half chickens at $4.50 a pound. They looked lovely, and Mr. Van Glad was friendly and chatty as I bought a chicken from him. Just now I was chatting with DQ, and she mentioned that she bought a half chicken as well. You can expect at least a couple of perspectives on it soon.

I really don’t have much to say except this: SUMMER has definitely arrived! I can’t even begin to describe the multitudes of produce I saw this morning - it was as though the perfect point between spring and summer had been reached: plump radishes of every color, bright red beets, gold chard, white sweet turnips, parsninps, carrots, tomatoes, lettuces of every description, a plethora of cooking greens, snap peas, shelling peas, sugar peas, baby potatoes, bright red tomatoes, wildly priced strawberries (from incredibly cheap to offensively expensive)…. Today was a harvest of perfect early summer bounty at the market.

That said, here’s a little something to dress all those fresh veggies with:

Strawberry Vinegarette
5 plump strawberries
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 a bulb of spring garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Put all your ingredients into a vessel and blend at high. I like to use a stick blender, but a food processor is fine as is an old fashioned blender. Blend at HIGH until everything emulsifies and you get a frothy, creamy, pink concoction. Serve with your fantabulous salad. I enjoyed it in a salad composed of shell peas, tender beet slices, poached shrimp, and crispy cucumber. Garnish with a strawberry on top

~baconbit

Another late report

My dearest, most patient, readers. I’m sorry to report late again - that pesky thing called “work” got in the way of my duties to you - and to veggies. Friday, I had to go out of town to attend a wedding! Mazel tov to my darling cousin and his lovely bride!

I did peruse the market this morning however, and saw many delectable treats. Plenty of shelling peas - though this morning they were $3.50/lb at Maxwells, but $5/lb at Yunno’s. I bought them at Maxwell’s, along with almost too ripe strawberries at $6 a quart. I ate the whole thing for breakfast, and got another for home. The market was FULL of strawberries this morning. No missing out for anyone anymore - we are at the height.

At both Yunno’s and Maxwells - and a few other places - I saw my favorite beets! Chiogga beets are also known as “Candy Stripe”. They are bright pink outside. Steam gently and keep al dente. Thinly sliced they reveal rings in alternating pink and white bands. You can eat them raw too as long as they are quite thinly cut - use a mandoline if you have one.

I saw plenty of mushrooms from John Maddura, and Tello’s still has the lovely tiny and delicous pullet eggs at $2.50 a dozen. A bunch of sweat peas and fresh lavender, salad greens, and cucumber, rounded out my purchases. This is salad weather for sure.

Asparagus are becoming rare though you can still find it. The weather this week will likely make today and Wednesday the last day for it. The vegetable we eat is really the shoot of the herbaceous perennial Asparagus officinalis. When it gets warm, those shoots begin to really grow into the full plant, full of feathery foliage.

Try to keep cool all. And drink lots of liquids! See you Wednesday.

~baconbit

Fresh pasta report

I’m reporting back on the fresh pasta I picked up from Knoll Krest Farms yesterday. Delicious! I highly recommend it. I pan cooked their chicken breast in my cast iron skillet with garlic, lemon, butter, salt and pepper. My husband pulled the meat off the bone with two forks (he swears by this method) and we tossed it with plain fresh pasta, sweet peas and arugula. Yum, yum, yum. I’m so glad there are leftovers for lunch. So check out the pasta next Wednesday.
Cheers ~ dq

Early June

Today at lunch I couldn’t resist a quart of strawberries from Phillips Farms (above), and as their sign says, its a good idea to eat them with fresh cream from Ronnybrook. Also of interest are Kira’s vitamin greens at Evolutionary Organics. They have a slightly bitter taste that I think would also be nice in a cream sauce. And I am glad to see Keith’s Farm is back!

Tip for next Wednesday: Kira at Evolutionary will have the first garlic scapes for sale!

Knoll Krest Farm

Today I picked up chicken at the Knoll Krest Farm stand.  They have whole chickens and various “parts”.  I opted for chicken breast on the bone (I prefer the bone for flavor and nutrients) and I’m trying some of their homemade, fresh pasta for the first time.  They also have a variety of eggs (sizes and colors) and very friendly staff.  I’m going to make lemon chicken pasta with arugula tonight.  Arugula is courtesy of Max Creek Hatchery.  They also sell smoked rainbow trout.  I was holding out for Red Jacket Orchard’s apricot jam, but they were sold out on Monday and aren’t allowed to sell jam on Wednesdays (other vendors sell jam today and Red Jacket sells juice), so I decided to try Phillips Farms Apricot Preserves- www.phillipsfarms.com. I’m hoping it is tart with just a hint of sweetness. Peas, strawberries, salad greens, butter, half & half and yogurt rounded out my purchases today. I agree with baconbit ~ it’s nice to not have wilted greens by noon. I pray the cool weather sticks around a bit longer (that’s the Oregonian in me talking for sure!)
~ dq