Plymouth Farmers' Market

“No Cook” Heirloom Tomato Sauce with Pasta

Barbara Anglin — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 13:25:14 +0000

Spaghetti with "No Cook" Heirloom Tomato Sauce

By CucinettaNYC, from food52.com

I am wild about tomatoes, especially, heirloom tomatoes. During the summer, I like to keep them in their purest form. This pasta dish is very easy and quick to make, not to mention delicious.

Serves 8 first courses or 4 main courses

1 pound spaghetti
1 pound assorted heirloom tomatoes, cut into chunks
1 burrata (cheese) – if burrata unavailable, you can substitute with fresh mozzarella
1/4 cup olive oil
2 gloves of garlic, minced – use a microplane
1 teaspoon dried chile flakes (peperoncini)
1 handful torn basil leaves

Place large pasta or stock pot of water on high heat and let boil, at which point add a healthy handful of salt (you want the water to almost taste like the sea) and put in the spaghetti. NOTE: never add olive oil to water and never put a lid on pot after you have put in the pasta.
Next add olive oil to saute pan and place on medium heat.
When pan is hot enough, add garlic and peperoncini and cook until garlic nearly dissolves (but does not burn) and the hot pepper flakes flavor the oil, approximately 1 minute.
Pasta should be done (al dente) in approximately 8 minutes. Drain and put in serving bowl.
Coat pasta with warm garlic-chile flavored oil, toss in heirloom tomatoes.
Using your hands, tear the burrata into bite size pieces and sprinkle on pasta and tomatoes.
Mix all ingredients. The heat from the pasta will "melt" the burrata.
Top with handful of freshly torn basil leaves. Season with salt and pepper and serve. Note: you may want to add a little more olive

Simple Sicilian Potatoe Salad

Barbara Anglin — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 13:16:42 +0000

Simple Sicilian Potato Salad

By Naked Beet, posted about 1 month ago

Potatoes and mayonnaise are all well and good, but there's always room for something different, something vinegary. I must admit that I'm a bit of a tang lover; if it's got tang, it's got me. This salad is best served warm, soon after the potatoes are cooked which also helps spread the dressing around.

Serves 4-6

2 pounds yellow potatotes
1 cup pitted and cut Sicilian or green olives (not the pimiento ones)
1/2 large red onion, sliced thinly
3 tablespoons Nunez de Prado olive oil (or equivalent)
4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
salt to taste

Cut the potatoes into large chunks and boil them in salted water until they're fork tender. (You can peel them before or after.) After they cool slightly, cut them into medium, uneven chunks.
In a small bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar and salt until the dressing becomes thick and creamy.
While the potatoes are still warm, combine them with the red onions and olives and coat the salad with the dressing.

Lavender Honey Lemonade

Barbara Anglin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:48:33 +0000

LAVENDER HONEY & LEMONADE*

From Local Harvest, a recipe for making your own lavender infused honey

Herbal Honey
Take 4-6 stems of fresh lavender, or 2 four-inch pieces of fresh rosemary, and submerge in a one-pint jar of honey. Screw the cap on tight and put in a sunny window for two weeks. Every day or two, invert the jar several times. Taste after two weeks and see if the herbal flavor is strong enough for you. If not, repeat for one more week. You may remove the herbs before using the honey, or leave them in.

Or, you can purchase an herbal infused honey…

And with the flavored honey, try making a refreshing lemonade:

3/4 TO 1 CUP QUEEN BEE LAVENDER INFUSED HONEY
1 CUP FRESH SQUEEZED LEMON JUICE
5 1/2 CUPS WATER
1 CUP ICE
Pour lemon juice & Honey into pitcher & stir until the honey is dissolved. Add water & stir. The pitcher has a nice look with lemon slices & lavender flowers inside. Serve on ice and serve.
We garnish ours with fresh lavender flowers from the garden and lemon slices…ENJOY!!!
It is also great if you add Vodka… for a special grown up summer drink.

Paul Camello
Queen Bee Honey Products

Friendship, with Benefits!

Barbara Anglin — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 06:43:36 +0000

This Friendship has *Benefits!

Join A new way to support the cause of Local Foods, along with the Plymouth farmers' markets, to generate our local food economy:

Become a Friend!

For a $25 contribution, Friends receive a card (see example above!)that is the ticket to seasonal and weekly discounts, freebies and seasonal local food opportunities. These special offers Are from the farmers, food makers as well as supportive institutional and business Friends for all 2010 Friends of the Plymouth Farmers' Market. You may check Back here for market specials, Sign up to receive a weekly email or stop by the market tent and see the signs posted on tents each Thursday and Saturday to see what is being offered to Market Friends that day. Send your Friendship by mail, order online or stop by the market! Check out some ofthe benefits this week:

· 2 Whole milk, fresh and probiotic 16 oz Yogurts for $5, at Narragansett Creamery, Thursday.

· Purchase 3 jars of jam or jelly from Walters, get a fourth jar for FREE, Thursday.

· 2 chick lobsters for $10! Fishwife, Thursday.

· Friends enjoy $1 off fresh eggs from Plato’s Harvest Farm each Thursday, arrive early!

· Blue Bucket Special! Friends can find a bucket of discounted breads or pastries from
Artisan Kitchen each and every Thursday.

· Blueblinds Bakery will have a weekly special for Friends, check their table on Thursday.

· Dahlia Farm offers a friend special each week, check their tent for what’s current, Saturday.

· $1 off a jar of jam or jelly at Backwoods Berries on Saturdays, all season!

· Entry into edible South Shore magazine’s drawing to be a guest Food Judge at the eSS Harvest Market, Plymouth Waterfront, Sunday, November 21.

Check online at www.plymouthfarmersmarket.org each week and at the market tent on Thursdays and Saturdays for weekly and seasonal benefits. Also, look for the P sign at each tent that has a special.

.

All friendship benefits are offered as supplies last.

Sign up for an inaugural Market Friendship today! or,
Order online Here.**

"thank you!"
for your help to sustain a vibrant farmers' market in the Plymouth region.

A Hot Dogger Cooks Organic

Barbara Anglin — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 02:32:49 +0000

Friday, June 11, 2010

Day 337: A Hot Dogger Cooks Organic

By Sue Gedutis Lindsay who is a Plymothean, a Musician etc.and local food eater, sometimes.
This excerpt is from her blog about daily practice and the musical life: www.sueandstevelindsay.blogspot.com

Let me begin by stating that yesterday's lunch was a hot dog and Kraft mac & cheese in Sponge Bob Square Pants shapes. With Tostitos.

Now, let me tell you about dinner. Organic chard sauteed with extra virgin olive oil and chopped garlic scapes. Panko chicken (Nature's Promise, of course, rolled in yolk from one little tiny blue egg from a free-range chicken). Mashed potatoes. Organic baby carrots (bought them at BJs). Be still my bleatin' heart. Thanks to Plato's Harvest Organic Farm, suddenly, dinner is fun again.

Wednesday was the official opening day at Plato's Harvest CSA. That's Community Supported Agriculture, and that means an end to a Dark Winter of Hot Dogs. Plato's Harvest is an organic farm in Middleboro, and it's a CSA where I and 100 or so other food freaks pay in advance for 20 weeks of locally grown organic vegetables. They plant, they weed, they pick. We show up once a week and take home fifty bags of lettuce.

But oh my goodness, yummy lettuce. And this week, we also took home 1 lb of gorgeous spinach, 1 lb of arugula, 2 large heads lettuce, 4 small heads lettuce, 3 kohlrabi (what the hell is that, anyway?), 3 white and 3 red salad turnips (sauteed 'em with garlic scapes and mushrooms… ooh la la), 50 garlic scapes (I think actually it's more like 10 million), 1 bunch chard, and pick your own herbs. I didn't pick. I took my leaves and ran. Ran home to Google recipes for vegetables that I didn't even know existed.

Please understand. I also run like hell whenever someone uses the word "organic" more than three times in a sentence. I roll my eyes when someone asks me if I BBQ'ed the veggie burgers on a separate part of the grill. I have been known to eat a whole bag of Doritos in one sitting. I like hot dogs.

But I also like fresh made pesto. Last night, at Farmer Dave's suggestion, I made it with garlic scapes, basil (some of which was from my own pathetic garden), fresh grated parmesan, the juice of one lemon, and a dash of salt. Together with the fresh loaf of ciabatta from Artisan's Kitchen–also part of my weekly CSA share–and the six-pack of IPA you bring when you stop by next, we've got a party.

Thanks, Farmer Dave and Farmer's Wife Sasha. You know what? You can't beat the flavor of your homegrown. Plus you're way more fun to talk to than the checkout lady at Wal-Mart.

Next week, another 20 bags of lettuce? Bring it on!

Posted by Susan Gedutis Lindsay

The Anantomy of a Farmers’ Market

Barbara Anglin — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 02:20:44 +0000

Anatomy of a Farmers Market
Edible Boston, Summer 2010

Part 2: To Market, to Market

By Sara Corbon Porth

Read what it is like to prepare for arriving at the farmers market…from the farmers point of view. Amazing fortitude is required!

Check out these photos taken at member farm Plato's Harvest as they prepare for market season and then for market day:

Seeding Planting

Picking Washing

Spinning Drying

Packing Loading

Setting Up Selling

Then they must pack up, drive home, unload, feed the animals and themselves and finally hit the hay for another day. Whew!

Thank you to edible Boston magazine and Sara Porth for this poetic description of preparing for market and to Sasha Purpura for an eye opening view. You can see more of Sasha's beautiful photos here.

Celebrate Rhubarb

Barbara Anglin — Fri, 28 May 2010 04:14:53 +0000

Celebrate Rhubarb With A Tasty Gingered Rhubarb Crisp

By Amy Jeanroy

Posted May 10, 2010
on EarthEats

Not many know what to do with this old-fashioned favorite, but Earth Eats contributor Amy Jeanroy gives you a few ideas and shares a favorite recipe

Photo: Svadilfari (flickr)

Rhubarb is one of those neighborly vegetables, because it is usually grown from rootstock. Ask your local farmer if he has a patch that you can dig your own roots from.

Rhubarb is ready for picking on the farm. It seems to grow as we watch, soon taking over any weeds that even consider growing in the patch.

Not many know what to do with this old fashioned favorite. In our home, we put up many pounds of it and always run out before the following spring.

A Neighborly Vegetable

Rhubarb is one of those neighborly vegetables, because it is usually grown from rootstock. Ask your local farmer if he has a patch that you can dig your own roots from. A patch can be divided every three years, and anyone with rhubarb will eventually have extra roots.

Like asparagus, rhubarb should be planted the first year and not harvested. The second year, a small harvest is fine. The third year, you can harvest for 4 or 5 weeks and then allow the plant to grow and die back undisturbed. After that, pick all you want.

In the fall, after the plant has died down, but before deep frost, add composted manure to the area. Rhubarb is a heavy feeder, and compost will help it grow plenty of stalks the following season.

Cooking With Rhubarb

Now, how to eat all this beautiful bounty?

I like to make pies, breads, sauces and juice from our patch. One easy way that everyone enjoys rhubarb is to make a simple crisp. A crisp is sort of a pie – deconstructed. It is a great way to have a fast, delicious dessert with little fuss.

I’m sharing my recipe, but feel free to experiment. Rhubarb tastes especially nice with brown sugar and seasoned with ginger.

Recipe: Rhubarb Crisp

Ingredients:

6 cups of sliced rhubarb
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup unbleached flour
1/4 tsp ginger
1/3 cup butter

Directions:

Mix granulated sugar with rhubarb and place in a 9 X 13 pan
Combine oats, brown sugar, flour, and ginger in a small bowl.
Cut in butter, until mixture is combined and has created coarse crumbs.
Top fruit with crumb mixture and bake at 375 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Serve over vanilla ice cream or top with fresh cream.

Amy Jeanroy lives on a small family farm in Nebraska. She and her family raise organic produce, milk, eggs and meat for sale. When she is not tending to the goats and gardens, Amy works as a freelance writer on gardening and green living topics, with a frugal touch. She is the Herb Gardens Guide for About.com, as well as the author of Canning and Preserving For Dummies, 2nd edition, 2009.

Jewelweed a Local Remedy

Barbara Anglin — Tue, 18 May 2010 13:57:12 +0000

Jewelweed, a Local Remedy

Identifying and Harvesting
Edible and Medicinal Plants
in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places

BY WILDMAN Steve Brill

Local Green Feather Herbs
tells you more about its use for healing poison ivy and other uses

Braised Halibut with Spring Herbs

Barbara Anglin — Tue, 18 May 2010 13:42:49 +0000

Braised Halibut with Spring Herbs
by Charlie Burke

After a meeting this morning of the
New Hampshire Farm to Restaurant Connection in Concord, I drove to the
skating rink on Louden Road where every Friday a truck comes from Sanders
Olde Mill Fish Market in Portsmouth bringing the freshest local fish and
lobsters to our neck of the woods.

I bought a fabulous Gulf of Maine halibut steak which was glistening and so
fresh it has to be less than a day off the boat.

I planted nearly five pounds of peas this afternoon and after that Jo and I
discovered the Bloodroot is in bloom by our brook, and the Trout Lilies and
Trillium are up. This prompted a trip to our herb garden where we found the
recent rain had caused our chives to be nearly a foot high, and the sorrel and
lovage were large enough to permit us to harvest a few leaves. I then knew how
we would cook the halibut: braised in a broth with lovage, sorrel, the last of our
garlic and the first of our spring onions. The firm flesh of halibut lends itself to
poaching or braising, as well as to broiling as we have described in a previous
recipe.

I like to lightly sear the steak until it’s golden but not cooked through, then it
finishes, covered, in and aromatic broth, similar to how we braise meat. Timing
for the fish, however, is very important because overcooking results in its being
dry. Add what you wish to make the broth; ginger and lemon or lemon grass
would work together, as would parsley and fresh tomato. The acidity of the
white wine adds to the dish, and swirling in some butter at the end helps blend
the flavors and moderate the acidity. I usually add some fennel seeds to fish
preparations and like the subtle flavors of coriander seed and peppercorns. The
saffron is a nod to Jo’s having lived in Spain for six years.

For two:

1 halibut steak, at least 1 inch thick and weighing over 1 pound
2 small stems fresh lovage or celery leaves
6 small sorrel leaves, rolled together and sliced across to make a chiffonade (2
teaspoons grated lemon rind can be substituted)
3 small cloves garlic, sliced very thin
2 small spring onions, sliced or 1 small onion thinly
sliced
1 small bunch of chives, chopped
1 Turkish bay leaf
1 teaspoon fennel seed
½ teaspoon pepper corns
½ teaspoon coriander seeds
1 pinch saffron (optional)
¾ cup each: dry white wine, water and chicken stock
extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 generous tablespoon butter (optional)

Heat a sauté pan large enough to hold both the fish and the broth over medium
high heat and film the bottom with olive oil. Season both sides of the fish with
salt and pepper and sear on both sides for 2 – 3 minutes, or just until it begins to
color. Remove fish from pan and add all ingredients except the chives and the
butter. Bring to boil and reduce heat to medium. Cook uncovered until
vegetables are soft and liquid has reduced slightly. Reduce heat so that liquid is
simmering, add halibut and cover with foil or pan lid. Simmer for
approximately 5 minutes, checking after 3 -4 minutes. The fish is done when the
middle is still slightly translucent. If it cooks until the middle is opaque, it will
be dry and lose its tenderness.

Separate the four sections of fish from the bone, plating two pieces per person.
Swirl butter into broth and spoon broth over fish, sprinkling generously with
the chopped chives. We served this halibut with rice and a sauté of asparagus
and leeks, but feel free to choose your own favorite starch and greens. The
acidity of the sauce would be balanced by a buttery chardonnay, but a very dry
Spanish white (Burgans Albarino –Rias Baixas 2003) which we purchased at the
New Hampshire state liquor store in Hooksett was a perfect match. Perhaps it
was the saffron!

About the author:

An organic farmer and avid cook, writer Charlie Burke is the vice president of
the New Hampshire Farmer’s Market Association (www.nhfma.org) and helps
run the Sanbornton Farmers' Market. Along with his wife, Joanne, he grows
certified organic herbs, greens and berries at Weather Hill Farm in Sanbornton,
NH

Spring Green Risotto

Barbara Anglin — Tue, 18 May 2010 13:32:09 +0000

Spring Green Risotto (Ina Garten)

Posted on May 13, 2010

The first recipe for the month of May for the Barefoot Bloggers was chosen by Kimberly of Indulge & Enjoy. This is my first time making risotto, gotta say I actually enjoyed standing by the stove listening to the radio and stirring away for half an hour. I couldn’t get any decent asparagus so I replaced it with frozen broadbeans, aka fava beans. I didn’t think we’d like it but it turned out quite nice, I’m not saying I did a great job but I did ok, which is good enough for me and thanks to Kimberly I’ve made my first ever risotto.

Serves:

4 servings for dinner, 6 servings for appetizer

Ingredients

1 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 leeks)
1 cup chopped fennel
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
2/3 cup dry white wine
4 to 5 cups simmering chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 pound thin asparagus
10 ounces frozen peas, defrosted, or 1 1/2 cups shelled fresh peas
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese, preferably Italian
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
3 tablespoons minced fresh chives, plus extra for serving

Directions

Heat the olive oil and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the leeks and fennel and saute for 5 to 7 minutes, until tender. Add the rice and stir for a minute to coat with the vegetables, oil, and butter. Add the white wine and simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until most of the wine has been absorbed. Add the chicken stock, 2 ladles at a time, stirring almost constantly and waiting for the stock to be absorbed before adding more. This process should take 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the asparagus diagonally in 1 1/2-inch lengths and discard the tough ends. Blanch in boiling salted water for 4 to 5 minutes, until al dente. Drain and cool immediately in ice water. (If using fresh peas, blanch them in boiling water for a few minutes until the starchiness is gone.)

When the risotto has been cooking for 15 minutes, drain the asparagus and add it to the risotto with the peas, lemon zest, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Continue cooking and adding stock, stirring almost constantly, until the rice is tender but still firm.

Whisk the lemon juice and mascarpone together in a small bowl. When the risotto is done, turn off the heat and stir in the mascarpone mixture plus the Parmesan cheese and chives. Set aside, off the heat, for a few minutes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve hot with a sprinkling of chives and more Parmesan cheese