farmers market

Hi BFM fans:


Just TWO more weeks left to stock up on all the wonderful local foods at the market. Sunday will be sunny and cool so wrap up and come on out.

((Check out this lovely article about BFM by Stephanie Willis at DCfoodies.com
http://www.dcfoodies.com/2008/11/bloomingdale-fa.html?cid=139163382#comment-139163382))

New Asbury's meadow lamb, Truck Patch's beef and pastured pork, Painted Hand's humanely raised, pastured veal, goats and beef will last for months in your freezer. Winter Squash will stay perfectly in a cool room nearly all winter.

Have you reserved your truly grass ranging Thanksgiving CAPON from Truck Patc?. ( I am ordering two Ten pounders for our feast).

Pastured Lamb is back for its final week of the season at New Asbury. If you have never had this very tender, very mild, yet very flavorful Loudoun County lamb, you' re in a for a treat. Lamb stew samples and plenty of legs, loins, roasts, chops, sausages, stewing meats and ground. Raised on 12 acres of rolling pastures, this is truly the best lamb I have eaten in DC. ((A perfect meat loaf or burger uses ground lamb, pork and veal or beef!)).

Reid: A nice selection of eating apples including Honeycrisp, Gala, Fuji, Cameo (an improved cultivar of Red Delicious), Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Braeburn, Nittany, and the just-picked Pink Lady. PLUS an entire table for tart eating and baking apples like Granny Smith, Stayman, Winesap, and York that are just what you need for pie baking. There will also be apple cider, apple-cherry cider, and apple-grape cider.

Apple cider and butternut squash make a really good Fall soup.

Many apples will last for months in your fridge. Just ask Caitlin which are the best "keepers." And did you know that you should keep them away from the carrots because carrots kept right next to apples turn bitter.

Caitlin Reid says: stock up on her Apple Butter! She loves it on toast or pancakes plus it can makes a really great holiday gift. A good gift( instead of wine or flowers) to bring for Thanksgiving if you are going as a guest. I will take some to France this Xmas as stocking stuffers for French friends who love it. It doesn't exist in France.


Keswick says: We FINALLY! have all our hard cheeses to bring to market- Cheddar, Lesher, Vermeer, Wallaby and Dragons Breath. Limited amounts of Dragon's Breath and Blue Suede Moo- come early because they are so popular that I have to divide them up among all my markets so early risers at each market get the best pickings). The rainy and cooler weather has inspired a................

CHOCOLATE PUDDING SPECIAL this week: cups 2 for $3, 1/2lb tub 2.25 and 1 lb tub 4.50. Great for kids and the kids in us of us! Plus lots of yogurt, feta, quark, ricotta.

Painted Hand Farm: Several people have emailed me questions about the veal. This veal is from calves who are all humanely raised -- NEVER crated, never caged. They are hand- fed milk and milk-based food and then let out on pasture until they are about 300 pounds. NOT like industrially raised veal. But then it would not be at BFM if it were! Sandy will tell you all about her raising methods. Plus try her tender and tasty kid goat, grass fed and finished beef. And get there early for her eggs. She will have more next year.

Truck Patch: White and Green Cauliflower (Green has 25% more vitamins than the white), Broccoli, Romanesco, Brussels sprouts, turnips, green cauliflower, red and savoy cabbage. Heirloom tomatoes, curly kale, French Breakfast radishes. Arugula, mesclun, lettuce mix. All cuts of pastured beef and pork.

GRASS FED BEEF AT TRUCKPATCH: There will be a lot of tender steaks this week! Brian actually prefers the sirloin for steak as well as roasting in the oven. Sirloin is NOT as tender as other cuts but it has wonderful beefy flavor. But it is only for lovers of rare or medium rare -- never well done. He also like the rump and the cross cut for roasting. Brisket, chuck and many other braising and stew cuts this week. Brian's philosophy is: if the cut is not tender, he tells the butcher to turn it into ground meat.

Cooking Tip Brisket from Truck Patch or Painted Hand make a great stew and is easy to cook in a slow oven or in a crockpot. I bought some recently and made a stew of chopped onions, carrots, chopped greens, garlic and brisket. I added the remains of a bottle of cheap shiraz. Popped the covered casserole in a 250 degree oven until the meat was tender. It was delicious. The greens just melt into a sauce that is very flavorful. This takes about 10 minutes of prep time and can be ignored while it bakes for several hours in the oven. Variation: If you like a whisper of heat, add a whole hot pepper. For more heat, chop it. The smaller the pieces, the hotter the heat.

Chez Hareg: French butter cookies, of course. Vegan and Sugarless cookies, Pound cakes. Pies, maybe. Freshly baked dog biscuits. Italian biscotti.


Panorama Artisanal Bakery: Loic got a nice call- out in the City Paper today!

Part of the reason these chefs are buying from Panaroma is the same reason they first bought from Furstenberg: personalized service. "Mark was still incredibly hands-on with what was going on at Bread Line when he was there," Ziebold says. Since Furstenberg sold the business, however, Ziebold says he's "had probably six different managers I've had to talk to in the past three years.ŠYou're not able to get that micromanaged product now like you could when Mark was at Bread Line."
The change of culture has been visible to the deans of fine dining for some time now. Richard, for example, switched to Panorama before Bread Line's wholesale operation shut. Richard likes the individual attention he receives from Loic Feillet, the owner and baker at Panorama. "Michel found that he could work designing bread with Loic, the way he used to work with Mark Furstenberg," notes Mel Davis, PR coordinator for Citronelle via e-mail. "Loic was passionate about making a great product, and he was really trying hard to supply our needs."

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=36481


And he is passionate about supplying our farmers market as well so let Emmanuel and Phoebe know if there are breads you want him to bake for us! (( We got that great Pumpernickel because I asked for it)). Sunday you will find Walnut Wheat. Sourdough. Brioches, baguettes. Multigrains. Croissants.. Muffins. Danish and those Rustiques that he bakes for us and Citronelle and Cityzen. And lots more....

Garner: Bernard has lots of everything veggie: Greens. Cabbages. 5 kinds of Winter Squash. Beans. Sweet Potatoes both red and white. (I really love the white ones!) Potatoes. Peppers. Swiss Chard. Lettuce. Romaine.Turnips. radishes. beets. mustards. spinach. Pie pumpkins.

See you Sunday.

Robin, Ted, Ben, Jess


--
Robin Shuster
Markets & More
14& U Farmers Market
Bloomingdale Farmers Market

email: marketsandmore@gmail.com (sign up for our weekly market email!)


The 14&U Farmers Market:
Day: Every Saturday May 10- November 22nd,
Time: 9am - 1pm
Place: On the sidewalk of the Reeves Plaza, at the NW corner of 14th and U Streets NW.



The Bloomingdale Farmers Market:
Date: Every Sunday May 18th- November 23rd,
Time:10am - 2pm
Place: In front of the Big Bear Cafe on First and R Streets NW.


We Welcome WIC and Senior GET FRESH checks at both markets.