Local Seasonal Eats

Sweet Peppers - Photo:Chad

I went to the Dane County Farmer’s Market this week, excited to get home and start the pickles I had been planning on doing since Wednesday.  I knew it would be just me this week, and that our garden was starting to produce some good-looking produce, so I kept it rather light.  I was excited to see the peppers and, knowing mine wouldn’t be ready for a few more weeks, decided to give them a try.  It was also cool to see the Door County cherries and apricots in the stands.  I thought I would continue the weeks intentions of “making the most of” summers bounty, by drying them for easy snacking.

Saturday afternoon was to be a whirlwind of prepping and preserving, so I took a quick jaunt down State St. for Maxwell St. days, and called it a day.

Here’s what I ended up with.

• Prairie Farm Produce – Broccoli and Lettuce
• Palm Mushrooms Cellar – Baby Bella Mushrooms
• Peterson Produce – Multi-Color Sweet Peppers
• Sutter Ridge Farm – Garlic
• Canopy Farm – Grape Tomatoes
• Door County Fruit Market – Apricots
• Grassy Way Organics – Beef Hotdogs

In the next post I’ll tell you about the pickling process and how that went.

Pickling Cukes - Photo:Chad

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been watching a lot of Good Eats.  A recent episode on traditional dill pickles really piqued my interest, as I fondly remember my grandma’s pickles, which were always the high heat, jarred with vinegar kind.  Well in his method, Brown uses fermentation and an open air ceramic vessel to make some garlicky, kosher dills.  Looking at the cucumbers starting to take shape in our garden gives me hope, but in that far off way (at least a few months).

That’s why when I saw pickles by the bucket next to oversized bunches of dill at the Nesity Garden stand at the Wednesday Dane Co. Farmer’s Market, I started getting excited.  I picked up the ingredients and a few other goodies to make it through the week including some grillable meats from Pecatonica Valley and rushed home.  In the end my list was short this week:

• Basil – Deerfield Family Farm
• Cukes and Dill – Nesity Garden
• Sweet Corn – Heck’s Market
• Shallots. Onions. Carrots. – Va Family Garden
• Beef, Chicken, and Pork – Pecatonica Valley Farm

When I got home, I immediately checked out Amazon.com and after searching extensively for a ceramic crock, settled on a nice glass one.  It’ll be here Friday, and pickling should start Sat., after the Farmer’s Market.  I’ll keep you posted.

Raspberries - Photo:Chad

On Farmer’s Market mornings, the last thing I want is to wake up to a heavy rainstorm and, in such situations, putting it off until a nicer day or maybe just heading over to the grocery store would seem like a more sensible thing to do.  My experience over the last few months, from buying most of my groceries from market vendors, has changed my outlook considerably.

I know that many of the farmers and merchants drive long distances to bring their produce and other goodies to all of us Madison foodies and, if they can be there rain or shine, so can I.

Even though the weather report called for rain all day, I was able to leave my umbrella in the car, and get my shopping at the Wednesday Hilldale Farmer’s Market without even a touch of rain.

The vendors I talked to were upbeat, and said that they were able to sit out most of the storm, and had to move very little of their product out of the rain (which could be considered a pre-wash).  Some enterprising vendors made the best of the slightly lower than average turnout by having sales. The owner of Earthly Edibles was offering a couple bucks off her shitake mushrooms, so I picked up a ¼ lb. of mushrooms and will dry whatever I don’t use this week.  I wasn’t even planning on getting any mushrooms, but who can turn down a sale?

As for what was actually there this week, I saw broccoli and cauliflower, squashes and zucchinis of all sizes, onions, beets, tomatoes, potatoes, radishes, some salad greens, lots of beans, and new (for me at least) raspberries.

Beans - Photo:Chad

Strawberry season is so short, painfully so, that having raspberries follow up right away softens the blow somewhat.  I’m not sure if the berries I picked up will be made into a recipe or just eaten raw.

Here’s what I ended up with:

• Raspberries from Farmer Bob’s Produce
• Bacon from Bruman’s Natural Meats
• Broccoli from Nehmer’s Produce
• Potatoes and Zucchini from Saomas Garden
• Shitakes from Earthly Edibles
• Green Beans from Xay Lo Garden
• Radishes from Xong Garden

I also picked up a bottle of dressing from Sasha’s.  These locally crafted “sweet” dressings are great for those days you don’t want to whip up a vinaigrette.  Not only are they available at the Hilldale market, but also at Hy-Vee or through their website.  Lindsay and I highly recommend the Sweet & Savory.

Garlic Scapes Photo:Lindsay

Westside Community Market.  Today we went to the west side community market since we were on a bit of a time crunch.  Chad and I got up later (since we got home a little late last night) and were out there around 10:30am.  A lot of the vendors were starting to pack up, but we were able to snag the following:

• Vanilla Yogurt from Sugar River Dairy
• Lemon Dill Pasta from RP’s
• Tomatoes and Dried Beans from Flyte Farm
• Yellow Onions and a Cucumber from JenEhr Farm
• Goat’s Milk Feta from Dream Farm
• Tuscan Dream and Onion Havarti Cheeses from Edelweiss
• Garlic Scapes from Primrose Farm
• Leeks from County Line Plants
• Beef Chuck Roast and Chicken Wings from Jordandal
• Green Onions from Vang Family Farm

We plan on making some pizza this week along with a latin dish with the beef.  We’ll also give the chicken wings a try!

Snap Peas Photo:Chad

The dramatic changes I saw at Wednesday’s Dane County farmer’s market really demonstrated how rapidly the food season changes around here.  Where only a few weeks ago spinach, greens, and asparagus were covering most of the tables, this week it was all about the strawberries and snap peas.

Of course, you could still find a vendor selling greens, asparagus, and spinach – you just had to really look.  Which was exactly what I did.  You see, I was on a mission to find and preserve some asparagus, since the season is coming to an end.

I found the process for raw pack canning this low-acid vegetable in the Bell Blue Book.  I’ve learned that because of its low acidity, it needs to be cooked to an internal temperature of 240 degrees, which a traditional boil cannot accomplish.  This means I get to play with a borrowed pressure cooker.

As for other things market related, I saw my first beets of the season, and seeing as I’ve always disliked them, I forced myself to buy some.  By doing this, I have to make something I’ll enjoy, and hopefully in the process can change my opinion about these bright red roots.

Here’s a list of what I ended up with:

• Salad mix – Prairie Farm Produce
• Beets – Deforest Family Garden
• Sweet Peas & Radishes – Mcfarland Family Farm
• Whole Chicken – Pecatonica Valley Farm
• Dill – Lee Family Garden
• Potatoes – Heck’s Market
• Asparagus – Lost Lake Acres
• Beef Tips & Greens – Green Barn Farm Market
• Strawberries – Sue Vang Farm
• Cucumbers & Tomatoes – Don’s Produce

As an interesting side note, Summit Credit Union was doing a community service / marketing effort during the market giving people $10 if they promised to “Pay it Forward”.  A few friends and I took them up on their offer.  Stay tuned to find out what we did.

Japanese Radishes Photo:Chad

This week I decided to try going to the Fitchburg farmer’s market instead of the Wednesday Hilldale market.  It’s located in the Agora Pavilion in Fitchburg, which was a fantastic venue since it lets the market go on, rain or shine.  Also, it was easy to decide what to get since it’s laid out in a circle.  I was able to make one entire loop before deciding which vendors to get my produce from.  The market has a few dairy farmers, a number of bakeries, and also included non-food vendors selling things like knitwear.  While the variety was great, don’t expect as many produce vendors as you might find at the Hilldale or West Side Community markets.  Here’s what I got this week:

For more information about the Fitchburg farmer’s market and upcoming events, check out their website.

Strawberries Photo:Lindsay

We returned to the Saturday Dane County Farmer’s Market on the square after what had seemed like a very long time.  Of course, the weather was pleasant, and our continuing attempt to arrive early enough to avoid some of the crowds failed miserably.

Right away, something on one of the tables caught my eye.  There were strawberries, ripe strawberries!  We picked up two quarts, and went on our way, buzzing about dessert ideas and plans of sweet summer salads.  Although not generally available till the first or second week of June, these early berries are great.

With a roast still waiting to be cooked, and a few other meats in the freezer, we focused primarily on veggies. The exception being the last two ingredients we needed to make a batch of French onion soup: Gruyere cheese and a French baguette.  In a world of a thousand cheese curd vendors, finding a local cheese vendor with Gruyere, was harder than expected.  But in the end we succeeded.  Here’s this week’s bounty:

Lindsay told me about a Thursday market she heard about in Fitchburg, so I think I’ll be checking that out this week. Have any experience at the Fitchburg market?  Tell us about it.

Jumbo Leeks Photo:Chad

So I’ve been to the Saturday and Wednesday Dane Country Farmer’s Market, the Saturday Westside Community Market, and Saturday Hilldale Farmers Market, which made my next obvious choice the Wednesday Hilldale Farmers Market.

I set off to the market around lunchtime and found the market to be similar in both number of vendors and customers as their Saturday market.  There was a great coffee van, providing both a cool aesthetic and delicious coffee to the shoppers.  Even live music was there again during the week.  I just needed a few things so I picked up:

• Radishes and Lettuce greens – Thor Farm
• Brown Eggs – Hammerand Farm
• Leeks – Happy Valley Farm
• Cucumbers and Tomatoes – Don’s Produce

I had no intentions for these ingredients until I saw an America’s Test Kitchen recipe for butterflied Chicken with Leek and Mushroom stuffing.  I’ll be rehydrating morels for this and using the liquids in the stuffing… Stay tuned!

Bok Choi Photo:Lindsay

After visiting the Saturday Hilldale Farmer’s Market 2 weeks ago, I got a great recommendation from Nichole over at Madison A to Z.  After reading about my disappointment regarding the lack of coffee the week prior, she suggested the nearby Westside Community Market, where there was FREE coffee.

With the new knowledge of another biking distance market, and this one with free coffee, I was sold.

While we had planned on trying to get over there early, Lindsay’s flight didn’t come in until very late Friday night.  Letting her sleep in, we didn’t get to the market ’til almost noon, missing the free coffee by almost an hour (it’s available until 11, or whenever it runs out).

The farmers and vendors still had plenty of goods available, and much like the Hilldale market, the reduced crowd made for a very pleasant experience and plenty of time to talk to each seller.  We saw some familiar names from both the downtown and Hilldale markets, as well as some new ones.  Here’s what we ended up with:

• Red Onions – Ka Vang Garden
• Pork shoulder and Beef Soup Bone – Jordandal Farms
• Bok Choi – Primrose Community Farm
• Country Sourdough – Madison Sourdough
• Tomatoes – Flyte Family Farm
• Yogurt  - Sugar River Dairy

In addition to picking up our week’s goods, I also got to talk with one of the market’s board members about the history of the market.

As Lindsay and I found out, the Westside Community Market, sometimes mistakenly called the Hill Farms Market, was started back in 2005 when a group of longtime Hilldale Vendors decided they wanted to move locations in response to the new location set out for them at Hilldale.  The vendors established a board made up of member-vendors, and set guidelines mimicking the rules of the Dane County Farmers Market.  This limits the vendors to selling only goods they produce or grow.

The market is car, biker, and pedestrian friendly, with plenty of free parking available.

Overall, we really enjoyed the market and all the great vendors we got to talk to. We’ll definitely go back to the WCM again – but this time I’d make sure to go early enough to score some of that free coffee!

Radishes Photo:Chad

Checklist for a good Farmer’s Market:

1. A good selection of local produce, meats, potted plants, bakery items and, of course, cheese curds
2. A convenient location with parking for cars, bikes, and access for walkers and bus riders
3. Accessibility to other foodie favorites; good coffee and a tasty local breakfast
4. Beautiful late spring weather

Check, check, check, and check!  I decided to head down and check out the Wednesday Farmer’s Market on Martin Luther King Boulevard, just 2 blocks from the Capitol, in between the courthouse and post office.  I couldn’t have asked for better weather, temperature in the 70s, a slight breeze, and even a few fluffy clouds.

After parking, I decided to start the day off right with a bite at Marigold Kitchen.  I ordered a cup of coffee and a delicious quiche featuring feta and locally sourced arugula.  This is a great place to start off your Farmer’s Market adventure, be it Saturday or Wednesday.  Their chalkboard menu specials always make me skip their printed menu, but I guess that’s OK when the specials are this good.

I hit the market at about 9:30 and many of the vendors were still going about setting out their goods.  No need to be an early riser to get the good stuff here.

It was busier than the Hilldale market, but that may have been due to a group of school age children on a field trip to the market.  I wish we had those kinds of field trips when I was in school.

As always, the vendors were kind and considerate.  Here’s the day’s bounty:

(With photo inspiration coming from Harvest restaurant’s weekly Farmer’s Market bounty pictures)

Farmer's Market Bounty 5/19 Photo:Chad

• Asparagus from Green Barn Farm Market
• Green Onions from Walee Garden
• Whole Chicken and Pork Chops from Pecatonica Valley Farms
• Radishes from a McFarland garden
• “Everyday” Cheddar from Bleu Mont Dairy
• Cilantro from a Deforest Family garden
• Genovese Sweet Basil plant, Kentucky Spearmint plant, and Lemon Verbana plant from Harvest Moon Herbs

If you’ve never made it down there, I’d highly recommend the Wednesday Dane County Farmer’s Market on MLK.  And make sure you stop in for breakfast at Marigolds.