Saturday, June 30, 2012

Happy Birthday EGFM

Happy Birthday EGFM - its hard to believe but it was just  one year ago that the East Goshen Famers Market got off the ground - June 30, 2011. My how we've grown in just one year.
This past week  at market we wanted to thank you - our loyal market shoppers - for all of your support of the market. What better way to celebrate than with Dia Doce Cupcakes - 500 of them - free to the first 500 at market!
According to the experts they were delicious.

Some got a bit messy - but everyone had fun!

Center On Central from Paoli was in charge of the kid activities for the day - they helped the kids make cards to wish the EGFM a happy birthday - we just love the little piggies on this card from Emma!

And it was a big day at the market - the first day for corn on the cob from Blueberry Hill - yes, summer is here!

And not to be outdone - Frecon Farms arrived with the truck loaded with the summer's first peaches, plums and apricots! 
Brukholder Organics had marroons - they are red tinted carrots - beautiful - and will be in the blog recipes tomorrow.


Thanks again from the EGFM - it has been a lot of work, but we've had a good time hosting this market for you.  See you all next week - July 5th!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

"Beet" the Heat!

A few more beet recipes to round out beet week - add the ingredients to your EGFM shopping list for tomorrow. This one features:
Mustard Greens
Red Beets
Goat Cheese
The recipe: Red Beet Risotto with Mustard Greens and Goat Cheese - so easy, delicious and very nutritious. The perfect option for a meatless dinner! 

Tonight it was "clean out the veggie drawer dinner" - move out the old so I can buy more tomorrow! The result - a composed salad, a variation of a salad Nicoise.
Steamed asparagus, broccoli,and new potatoes, sautéed mustard greens, a beet / carrot slaw (recipe below), and beautiful jarred belly tuna. Yes, those are grape tomatoes - not local - I slipped. All dressed with an anchovy vinaigrette.

For the Beet / Carrot Slaw - Grate 2 medium beets and 4 carrots. Toss with some of the Anchovy Dressing and salt with that amazing smoked salt from Pureblend - if you haven't tried this salt you do not know what you're missing.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Gimme a Beat - - - er, Beet!

Beets - the focus veggie for the week: 
All of our produce farmers have them in stock - pick up a few bunches - they're delicious, versatile, a chockful of nutritional goodness! Our recipe today uses only the beet root - be certain to save the greens for another use. 


Today's recipe is from the current issue of Cooking Light - Beet and Brown Rice Sliders. I made a few minor changes:
1. I used raw beets - completely unnecessary to cook the beets.
2. I had Birchrun Blue Cheese on hand so I used that in my sandwiches.
They were just delicious served up with Philly Bills Dills - fyi - Philly Bill will be at market this week - stock up - they attend market every other week!


Roasted Green Beans for a side dish - this time dressed with EGFM Peanut Sauce!
EGFM Peanut Sauce
1/4 cup Naughty Nutty Love Naked Peanut Butter
1 - 2 TBSP Chile Spot Chipotle Finishing Sauce (adjust to your spice preference)
1 - 2 tsp Carmen B's Honey
Juice of 1/2 lemon


Combine the ingredients, season with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Dress the roasted green beans with the dressing. Makes plenty of Peanut Sauce - save some for another use.
Roast the green beans in a 425 degree oven until lightly browned.
I added one sliced shallot and about 1 cup of sliced radicchio
 for the last 10 minutes of roasting.
Tomorrow - Red Beet Risotto with Mustard Greens and Goat Cheese - mmmmm!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Market Meal - Great Ideas!

Three great recipes from the EGFM kitchen - chockful of the freshest veggies available at the market. 

 Here's the menu:
Bitter Greens with Cherries and Pancetta
Swiss Chard Tart with Potato Crust
Roasted Green Beans with Lemon, Pine Nuts and Parmigiano

The Bitter Greens Salad with Cherries and Pancetta is from Fine Cooking. I used bitter greens from Burkholder Organics and cherries from Frecon Farm. Here's the recipe:
4 large handfuls of bitter greens, washed
3/4 pound cherries - pitted
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 ounces pancetta, diced
1 shallot, diced
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
parmigiano cheese for topping

In a saute pan, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil, add the pancetta and cook until crisp. Remove pancetta to paper towel, set aside. Add the shallot to the pan and saute until soft. Remove the pan from the heat and add the additional Tbsp olive oil and the vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Place the greens in a serving bowl and add the cherries - I halved the cherries after pitting. Add the cooked pancetta. Season with salt and pepper. Add the warm balsamic shallot dressing - toss lightly. Top with shaved parmesan.
This recipe for the Swiss Chard Tart is so easy - a potato crust - just doesn't get any easier courtesy of The Simple Gourmand blog! My family loved it! The Swiss Chard was from Blueberry Hill, the potatoes from Livengood, the eggs from Lindenhof, and I even snuck in some goat cheese from Shellbark Hollow.

Ingredients:
3/4 lb. Swiss chard
1 lg clove garlic, very thinly sliced
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
2 lg high-starch potatoes, unpeeled & scrubbed clean
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1/2 heaping C freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 lg eggs
1 C ricotta cheese
1/2 cup chèvre

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Trim the stems from the chard, wash the leaves thoroughly, drain and dry. Coarsely chop the chard. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp of the oil over medium heat. Add half the chard and half the garlic and cook, stirring frequently. As the chard cooks down, add the remaining chard and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring until chard is just tender. Tilt the skillet to the side and blot up any excess liquid with paper towel. Let cool.
To make the crust, slice the potatoes very thinly. It's fine if some of the slices are smaller than others - the important thing is to make them fairly uniform in thickness. Create a thin layer of the potato slices on the bottom of the pie plate (preferably glass), slightly overlapping them to create a solid bottom "crust." Gently tuck potato slices along the edges to create a border up the sides of the pie plate. Drizzle 2 Tbsp of the oil over the crust, swirling the pan slightly so the oil spreads between the potato layers and drips to the bottom. Sprinkle crust with 1/2 tsp of thyme, some salt, and pepper, and a heaping 1/4 C of Parmesan cheese.

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl and whisk in the ricotta, the remaining teaspoon thyme, and the remaining 1/4 C Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cooled sauteed chard and mix well. Pour the filling into the pie crust and press down lightly.
Bake the tart for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for another 10 minutes. The potato crust should turn brown and crisp, and the filling should feel solid and firm when gently touched with your fingers. Let cool about 5 minutes before cutting into wedges.
And finally - the Roasted Green Beans - I will be repeating this side dish often - it was simply amazing! Here's the link to the recipe on Fine Cooking's website. The green beans were from Peg at Blueberry Hill - they were a healthy size - perfect for roasting! Who needs French fries when you can have something this good!

Friday, June 8, 2012

Allow Me to Introduce You to Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi
What is it?


Take a look at this alien like veggie. The big bulb at the bottom is actually the stem of the kohlrabi. It has a mild, sweet flavor similar to cabbage or broccoli; and is crisp and juicy. It gives a beautiful crunch to salads. The leaves are edible as well - use them as you would your favorite greens. One cup of kohlrabi comes in at about 35 calories and its chockful of a number of important vitamins and minerals - its a nutritional superhero! 


Today's recipe is a yummy alternative to cole slaw with far more color, crunch, flavor and nutritive value. I think you'll enjoy it!

Kohlrabi Beet Slaw with Lime Mint Dressing
1 large kohlrabi, peeled, julienned (save the greens for another use!)
1 bunch radishes, julienned
2 spring onions, chopped
2 medium beets, peeled, julienned


Dressing Ingredients
1/4 cup mayonnaise, I prefer light mayo
Juice from 2 limes
1/4 cup chopped mint
2 Tbsp honey
Salt and papper to taste


Prepare your vegetables for the slaw. For presentation purposes I like to keep the beets separate, tossing at the table. The color is so dramatic.
I have one row of beets, then I layered a row of kohlrabi, radishes and spring onions.
Mix the dressing ingredients together. Drizzle the dressing over the veggies about a half hour before serving. Just before serving, toss the veggies with dressing. 
Its beautiful, delicious, and ever so healthy! Hope you try it, and hope you enjoy it! Let me know!

EGFM Celebrates our Market Kids!

Yesterday at the EGFM was East Goshen Elementary School Day - in the spirit of welcoming "school's out summer" EGFM welcomed EG Elementary School students to the market for a free popsicle! We met lots of new folks and hope to see them at the market every week. Thanks to Mompops for working with us on the special give-away for the day.


The market started with a line of about 100 kids excited to get their free popsicle!
Everyone enjoyed their special treat! 
Everyone said "thank you"! - - - You're more than welcome!
Everyone wore a big smile!
And this little guy passed up the popsicle for a pickle
from our newest vendor - Philly Bill's Dills - amazing fresh made pickles!
Meet Julia - she is our intern for the summer - you're going to see her at the market working on a number of very interesting projects for us. 
Meet Julia!
Notice the banner in the background - the students at East Goshen Elementary made this to celebrate the EGFM visit to Earth Day at the EG Elementary School. It is on loan to us all summer.
She will be working with the Penn State Extension to conduct a survey of the market in July. Julia will also be coordinating a food drive for one of the Chester County food banks. As part of this project, Julia will write a series of blog posts on hunger in Chester County - time to take the blinders off. And if all goes well, Julia will be coordinating a documentary session at the market on the politics of food in America - we're really looking forward to this!


Last week our "kid-tivity" at the market was hosted by Julia and some students from Fugett Middle School - they had a great time playing with red, white, and blue glitter to celebrate Memorial Day. Many thanks to our "kid-tivity" volunteers last week!


A glitter project - outside - its a beautiful thing!

Yesterday our "kid-tivity" was hosted by Center on Central from Paoil - the kids loved their parachute fun! Thanks so much to the folks from Center on Central - we're hoping to have them visit with us again this summer.

And now we need to reach out to our readers - we want to have a "kid-tivity" every week at the market. If you have an interest or a lead for an interest, please see below.

COMMUNITY SERVICE AVAILABLE!   
"Kid-tivity" Coordinator
 at the East Goshen Farmer's Market
East Goshen Park
 Thursdays 3 - 7 pm

Responsibilities
  • work with manager to plan and supervise activites for children ages 3 - 7 each week at the East Goshen Farmer's Market
  •  coordinate and oversee a staff of volunteers to run the activities
  • Position is perfect for a high school student looking for community service

To apply contact Vicki or Lisa via email.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Gotta Love Greens!

As promised more recipes for greens! Pick up all of the ingredients at market today so you can try them out at home this week.


Our first recipe - Kale Slaw with Peanut Dressing from Martha Stewart - just click on the link to go directly to the recipe at Martha's website. I made this for dinner last night and it was a huge hit, adults and kids alike. I had to make one change - one of my diners was allergic to carrots - I used raw julienned beets in place of the carrots - it was a tasty and beautiful substitution. The kale was from EGFM, of course, as well as the beets - I added the beet greens to my kale salad as well!
Kale Slaw with Peanut Dressing
This next recipe has become a favorite in my household - Pesto - made with mustard greens, not a smitch of basil - I actually prefer this to the standard basil version. Mustard greens are bright green, and have a distinct mustard-y flavor, a bit spicy.
You can use this pesto just as you would a pesto made from basil. Its one of my most requested recipes! This is a recipe for Mustard Greens Pesto on Pasta with Shiitake Mushrooms from Bon Appetite - I think you'll love it! Dwain at Livengood Farms had beautiful mustard greens last week.

And finally, this recipe is perfect for a quick Friday night dinner with friends - quick and easy, but impressive - Sausage and Clams with Greens and Chickpeas from Cooking Light Magazine. Pick up some delicious turkey sausage from Axel - EGFM's turkey man at Lindenhof Farm!  

Next week - this guy:
Alien monster or vegetable??? Its kohlrabi, and its yummy. Follow the blog for some great recipes featuring this odd looking fellow!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Kale - So Good For You!

Meet Kale - in this case purple kale.
 Today's recipe - Kale Chips!
Submitted by Scott and Tatiana Field
Thanks!

First order of business - wash and dry the kale;
Then, remove the rib from the center of the leaf.
The rib contains a lot of extra moisture - your chips won't crisp up if you don't remove it.
Its easy - just slice down either side of the rib with a sharp knife.
 You need to coat your kale leaves with oil
Olive oil is the oil of choice. 
You can place them in a bowl and toss with a tablespoon or two of oil
or give them a spritz with olive oil.
 Arrange leaves in a single layer on baking sheet and
sprinkle with sea salt and your preferred seasoning. 
Scott and Tatiana suggest crushed pepper, paprika, parmesan cheese, or lemon zest.
I used some smoked sea salt from Pureblend and a light grating of Parmesan.
Bake for about 15 minutes until crisp in a 325 degree preheated oven.  
Watch closely not to over bake!
Here they are ready for munching.
They're too fragile to dip, 
just put the lemon kale hummus in the photo - its kale week after all!

Friday, June 1, 2012

Smitten!

As promised tonight's recipe features the Meyer lemon pasta from one of our newest market food artisans - Vera Pasta - meet Joe from Vera Pasta!
Joe, showing off his handmade pasta!
So here's all you need, with a few tweaks:
Asparagus - all of the produce farmers have a healthy supply, Shellbark Hollow Chevre, Sorrel Leaves , and Meyer Lemon Penne from Vera Pasta.
The recipe calls for lemon - whoops - forgot to pick on up. I did have sorrel on hand from Burkholder's Organics - perfect - sorrel is a lemony green that will make a great substitution for the lemon.


I also picked up these beautiful shelling peas at the market from Peg at Blueberry Hill Farm.


Sure shelling your own peas takes a little more time than using frozen,
Just getting started!
But you just can't compare the flavor - 
Worth the effort - relaxing too!
Today's recipe comes from one of my favorite food blogs - Smitten Kitchen - Lemon Pasta with Asparagus and Goat Cheese (and in this case - sorrel and fresh shelled peas as well). Click here for the recipe. If you want to give my variations a try just add a handful of chopped sorrel leaves in place of the lemon, and throw in a handful of peas when you add the asparagus in the recipe. The chèvre mingles and melts into the pasta - pulling all of the ingredients together! Quick and easy, and so delicious!
Yum - a simple salad completes this meal!
Dessert - some of this amazingly tart lemon buttermilk ice cream from Zsa'a Gourmet Ice Cream with strawberries.