Friday, May 29, 2015

Bloomingdale Farmers Market: Strawberry Heaven !


From: "Markets & More" <Markets__More@mail.vresp.com>
Date: May 27, 2015 at 3:39:58 PM EDT
Subject: Strawberry Heaven

Hi BFM fans,

Welcome back from the holiday weekend to strawberry heaven-- EVERYONE now has strawberries at their stands and they all taste different because the farmers plant different varieties and because, as the French say, they have different 'terroir."  

CHEF DEMO at 11
with Mark Haskell, Founder of Friends & Food International, Inc. (FFI),.. Mark is a chef, a culinary garden designer and food consultant and we are excited to see what the market inspires. 
Bike House at 11 as well to help put your steads in steady shape.
The Destroyers are back this week this week too.

NUMBER 1 SONS:  Happy 3rd Birthday! Caitlin and Yi Wah gave a terrific pig roast to celebrate. Every single pickle and kraut and kimchi was there.  Plus grilled kimcheese. Potato Kimchi salad. Kimchi flavored deviled eggs. At the stand Sunday you will find the kicky koshers pickles are back along with half sours and dills.  Huge variety of krauts with Latin American to traditional German flavors. Kimchis and salsa verdes and hot salsa.

MOUNTAIN VIEW ORGANICS: Shawna has been hoarding most of their Sweet Charlie strawberries for the family but she has finally promised to bring them to market this weekend. This week Ethiopian Kale joins their more familiar Winterbore and Lacinato (dinosaur)  Kale parade. New.  I love the Romaine and Little Gem lettuce they grow.  The young collard greens make a terrific wrap--RAW--don't try that with older collards because they need to be cooked.  (We will have the young collards wrap recipe at the market. Young collards leaves wrap smushed chickpeas and scallions seasoned with soy, lime, honey and chile.) Also watercress, Swiss Chard, beets, mustard greens, spring onions, early sugar snap peas and spinach. 

TRUCK PATCH: Bryan is sending their pastured pork for our dedicated grillers and smokers. Bacon too. Chicken this week or next.

TRUCK PATCH PRODUCE: Vegetables this week are baby arugula, mesclun, spinach, chard bunches, red beets, radishes, and spring onions. Truck Patch has the most varieties of strawberries (FIVE) in the market from the tiny, sweet Earliglo that customers came all the way from Takoma Park to find to the Cabots that Bryan swears can taste peachy. Big Cavendish as well. 

Try this arugula salad with their baby arugula.

GARNER'S PRODUCE: His strawberry sale continues. Tons of strawberries for canning and strawberry syruping and ice creaming and sorbeting and scratching granita and freezing for later. Radishes. Summer squash is here again: zucchini, yellow, yellow zucchini. Green, red and Toscano Kale (grill it and serve in a coconut sauce). Savoy cabbage --love those crinkles. Broccoli, Hakurei turnips, Swisss Chard, beets, spring onions, arugula, lettuce, Asian green mix and kohlrabi, the alien vegetable that makes the BEST slaw.  Lots of plants: tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, herbs, flowers.

WHISKED: Getting down with strawberries and rhubarb. Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, Strawberry Lemon Pie, Key Lime Pie, Rhubarb Pie, Apple Rhubarb Pie, Seas Salt chocolate Chess.  And for the quiches: Asparagus and Swiss or Bacon, Cheddar, Onion.  Don't forget that those packs of cookies make welcome host(ess) gifts -- much more original than chocolate or wine or flowers.

PANORAMA:  Two French bakers mean lots of baguettes and croissants but also French takes on whole wheat boules with oatmeal, rye, pumpernickel raisin (toast it and smear with chevre), sour doughs, whole grains, Michel Richard's rustiques, lots of breakfast pastries, muffins, scones, tarts., madeleines, and cookies.

REIDS ORCHARD:  Their strawberries arrived unexpectedly last week and they will be back in force on Sunday.  Connor had predicted they would be all ripe on Memorial Day and miss the market but  they were a day early so we benefitted.  We had no complaints. The pop-up plant nursery is still full of the herbs and vegetable plants you want and need and should have for tasty cooking.  I snagged a rosemary and two small pots crammed with basil starts last week and I still have to be replace my sage and thyme which sadly did not survive winter's long embrace this year. And I will probably convince myself that I need more parsley and chives as well, because I snip them on everything.

KESWICK:  If you have not tried the yogurt, you are missing out on the best partner for all those strawberries we have and the greens as well.  Yogurt creates an instant sauce stirred into just cooked greens.  The new Pub Music is a superb cheese -- it would be perfect with beer and it has a lovely tang and creaminess and a hint of chives and onions.  There are so many choices at the stand --the old favorites like the spicy Dragons Breath and the Wallaby, the Dutch style Vermeer, the English influenced Cheddars and Lesher as well as the fetas and ricottas and Bavarian style quarks.  The Alpine peasant style tommes have rinds that  are washed in a Troeg beer or local cider every week.  Last season's favorite Morbier and Stinky Elf, Keswick's creamy pungent take on Italian Taleggio..  You can sample every single cheese every week.

Mushroom news:  our soon to join us mushroom producer will have FIVE different kinds of oyster mushrooms but it will be another month.
Our new pasta producer will start next week!

Robin, Ted, Ted and Stephanie

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