From Ted McGinn:
Dear BFM Fans:
Full market this week. ALL our producers are back and Lots of new things at market on Sunday:
TRY OUR NEW FARMERS’ MARKET ATM Yep, we now take debit cards at the market! Just come see Holly at the market table and see how it works. You swipe your debit card….. and get …..a farmers market wooden nickel. Really. Except it is worth 5 dollars, it is good for the whole season…. and you can spend it just like a five dollar bill. And get change. With all the producers. Next time you are looking for an ATM machine, stop at the market table and get our market atm tokens.
The Farmers’ Market ATM is part of our new EBT program that the farmers markets in DC have started. You may have read about it the Post on Wednesday. It will allow us to start an EBT food stamp program to supplement our existing WIC and Senior Get Fresh checks at the market to make the market welcoming and accessible to everyone.
New This Week:
*Shelled English Peas — come early!
*Squash Blossoms at Garner
*Baby Summer squash and their larger siblings (zucchini, sunburst, , 8 ball,=2 0yellow),
*Beets and their delicious greens
*Broccoli.
*Spring Onions
*braised beef ravioli at Stefano Frigerio’s Copper Pot
* Broccoli
*Second week for new potatoes…
* New Asbury Lamb
TRUCK PATCH IS BACK AT BFM!
Truck Patch Farms: Asparagus, of course. Strawberries – both Chandlers and my personal faves — Early Glows. Arugula, Spring Mix, Lettuces, Red Chard, curly kale,, chives, garlic chives, tarragon, mint. Black Angus grass fed beef, pastured pork of all cuts and sizes and sausages.
Greenstone Mushrooms, F lowers and Eggs are BACK this week:
They fought off a Loudoun County freeze last Monday, saved their shitakes and their lilies and are back at market this week. As them about their amazing organic chicken eggs….
New Asbury Lamb is Back.
Lots of lamb to grill for this lovely weekend. Chops, steaks, lamburgers, butterflied boneless….Tender young meadow lamb. Stock up for next week because they only come on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of every month.
Arni tou Fournou
An elegant meal that has the convenience of being “one pot”. Perfect for entertaining for the working Mom or Dad.
Ingredients 1 2-3 kilo Leg of Lamb salt and pepper to taste 2-4 slivered garlic cloves 6 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered 2 tsp. dried Rosemary 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes 1/2 cup olive oil
Preheat your oven to 350°F. To prepare the lamb leg, remove any visible fat with a sharp knife. Cut 2 to 4 deep gashes on opposite sides of the leg all the way to the bone. Tuck in the garlic cloves and a lit tle of the rosemary. Place the lamb leg in a roasting pan and drizzle with some of the oil and rub it all over with your hands. Salt and pepper it and sprinkle with the rest of the rosemary. Toss the potatoes with salt and pepper and the tomatoes and arrange them around the leg in the pan. Drizzle some more oil over the potatoes so they will become crisp when baking. Add a cup of water to the pan and roast the leg for about 1 hour, checking that there is always some water in the bottom of the pan. If the leg seems to be browning too much, cover it with aluminum foil. Susie’s Note: The lamb leg can be prepared the night before “marinating” with the spices. Keep the potatoes separate, soaked in water and add them just before it goes into the oven.
Convenient !Common Good Farm is back.
Our most local producer at Gage-Eckington is bringing lots of plants from their schoolyard garden.
Reid: This week Caitlin will have delicious Honeyoe (pronounced ‘Honey-Eye’) strawberries, Reid family fruit preserves and salsas, and lots of herbs. I have three huge pots of their herbs on my deck and I am sure I will buy another pot’s worth this weekend. So far, I have savory for bean dishes, greek oregano, parsley, coriander, lemon thyme, French Tarragon, several kinds of basil, sage, rosemary, chives..
SnowBear: Certified Naturally Grown in the Virginia Suburbs, l LOTS of arugula now that they know you love it. Have you tried their Simpson’s Black Seeded Lettuce (a mild, green leaf lettuce with crinkly edges and a small sweet Romaine called Jericho? Two kinds of spring Onions, spinach, chives, scallions, baby chard, mizuna, kale, radishes, mustards. Plus lots of plant starts: herbs, vegetables and flowers. Broccoli, Strawberries, mustard greens, cabbage, beets, maybe some peas. They grow very good Spring Onions…
Pasta by Copper Pot: Stefano is still coming up with new pastas for us. Last week my husband and I had his Virginia ham and parmesan ravioli. Wow. Ham courtesy of a local Virginia ham producer. We had the gnocchi with smokey bacon and tomato last night. I am saving the cavatelli for my granddaughter who arrives tonight.. We savor the fig and balsamic jam with Keswick quark.
Keswick Creamery: I have been tasting Keswick ch eeses for years and I am really impressed with the depth of taste they now have. Try the cheddars to see what I mean. Rich milk from all Jersey cows that live outside all year round. Great Yogurt, ricotta and feta cheeses, too. German Style Quark. Blue Cheese.
Garner: The first of the season’s peas! SHELLED by Bernard. Baby squash and their bigger cousins: zucchini, 8 balls, summer squash. SQUASH FLOWERS FOR VITTORIO (ask him how he makes them!!), Asparagus, Strawberries, Beets and their greens, radishes and their greens, NEW POTATOES, Lettuces, Chard, Turnip Greens. Broccoli.
Fried Zucchini Blossoms
Courtesy of Rosetta Costantino, this is her delightful rendition of Roman-style fried zucchini blossoms.
Olive oil for frying
12 zucchini blossoms, stems attached if possible
6 ounces whole milk mozzarella
6 salted anchovy fillets, cleaned, rinsed and cut in two pieces
1 medium size zucchini, sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds
Place the flour and salt in a bowl and make a shallow well in the center. Place the beaten egg in the well and mix it into the flour with a fork. Stir in the water, pressing any lumps with the back of the fork to remove. Mix to a consistency that resembles thin pancake batter. When you lift some batter with the fork, it should fall in a ribbon. If the batter is too thick, add more water, a teaspoon at a time. If it’s too thin, add a little more flour. Set aside.
Heat about 1 inch of oil in a Dutch oven or frying pan over medium heat until it is hot enough to sizzle the end of a wooden chopstick (about 365 degrees for olive oil).
Just before frying, rinse blossoms, remove the pistol and any insects that might be hiding inside.
Slice the cheese into squares or “logs” small enough to fit deep inside the blossoms so that you can fold over the petals to fully enclose the cheese. Place a piece of anchovy in each blossom along with the cheese cube and fold over the petals to close the opening.
When the oil is hot enough, dip a flower into the batter and turn with a large spoon to coat. Using the spoon, transfer the battered blossom to the oil, pouring any batter that accumulates in the bottom of the spoon back atop the frying blossom, making sure it is coated. Fry the blossom on both sides just until the batter is cooked through, about 1 minute total. When done, the batter will be lightly golden, not brown. Drain on paper towels and repeat battering and frying the remaining blossoms 2 or 3 at a time without allowing them to touch each other in the oil. As necessary, regulate the temperature to keep oil at 365 degrees while frying. Be careful when turning the blossoms as they tend to splatter when any residual water spills into the hot oil.
Serve immediately with a napkin and a salt shaker, if desired. Be careful of the molten cheese inside when you eat these.
Makes 12 blossoms.
Recipe Tip for peas: saute some chopped spring onions. Add fresh peas and some water to cover. Cook until the peas are soft. Puree. Top with mint and a dollop of Keswick yogurt.Painted Hand Farm: Duck eggs, chicken eggs, grass fed beef, goat meat. Humanely raised, grass-fed rose veal . Ask her about the veal industry and why you don’t want to buy veal from anyone else. All cuts: scallopini, chops, ground, shanks,breakfast link goat sausage, hot and sweet Italian veal sausage, traditional German-style Bratwurst (veal and pork).
Make the ultimate burger: 1/3 ground lamb, 1/3 ground pork, 1/3 ground veal.
Panorama: Loic is in France, perfecting his traditional Parisian baguettes recipe, but we will have many many more of the Olive Oil hamburger buns he bakes for Michel Richard’s hamburgers at Central. They ran out last week after that spectacular review in the Post blog, All We Can Eat, but you should be able to try them this week. Plus the breakfast breads, sticky rolls, pumpernickel, raisin pumpernickel, sliced ryes, sourdoughs, multi grains and the famous Rustiques that are baked exclusively for Citronelle, Central, CityZen and us!
—
Robin Shuster
Markets & More
14& U Farmers Market
Bloomingdale Farmers Market
202 234 0559
202 536 5571
Bates Area Civic Association 