Welcome To The Westside Community Market

The Westside Community Market – a vendor-run farmers’ market in Madison, Wis. featuring fresh, locally grown, raised or produced: vegetables, fruits, berries, meats, cheeses, baked goods, bedding and blooming locally acclimatized plants, cut flowers, native perennials, dairy, eggs, mushrooms, pickles, preserves, honey, peanut butter and more . . .

Week 4: Spring sunshine, flowers and Moms

This coming Sunday is Mother’s Day and that means it’s time to bestow upon our moms, grandmothers and wives just how important they are to us and our families. Maybe it’s our favorite snack made as a surprise to brighten our week, maybe it’s the push to try something new or maybe it’s just that loving smile that can lift any spirit; whatever it may be, our moms are pretty darn great.

For me in the world of farmers’ markets, my Mom is pretty significant. For it was my Mom who took me to my first markets as a kid and introduced me to the wonderful world that I am so pleased to be a part of today. I remember walking around the market shopping and munching on an elephant ear far too big for me alone. I remember Mom talking to our neighbor, who sold flowers and starts, while I was enjoying all the smells and colors of the summer. On the really special days Mom would treat me with a big fat honeycomb and I would break off a piece and chew the wax all day, savoring the sweetness as we did our other Saturday errands. In hindsight that was a lot of sugar for a young man; more vegetables Mom!

Whatever the story, we all have those important ladies in our lives and they deserve some praise. So why not pick something up for Mom this Saturday at the market. A bouquet of flowers is always a beautiful way to say thanks, though if anyone’s Mom is like my own, they probably wouldn’t say no to some treats from Lil’ Chocolates either…

To all our Market Mothers out there. Thanks for all you do!

Vendor of the Week: Dreamfarm

This rustic looking Rose Blossom goat cheese had a wonderful aroma and by the looks of the diminishing samples I wasn’t the only one who thought so!

For our second week of featuring a vendor from the market, we’ve gone with Dreamfarm of Cross Plains. After witnessing a near constant customer presence at their booth these past three weeks I figured it was time to find about what Dreamfarm is all about. The answer? Delicious organic farmstead goat cheese. With a plethora of different varieties and flavors choose from it’s no wonder they’re so popular.

Run by Diana and James Murphy, Dreamfarm has been crafting certified organic cheeses since 2004. In addition to their various dairy offerings at the WCM they also sell pastured eggs from their laying hens and naturally colored yarns from their own sheep’s’ wool. Apart from their products at WCM they also run a specialty C.S.A. with their products, including some pastured steers and pigs.

Swing by their booth and say hello and you’re sure not leave empty-handed!

Recipe Corner

We’re fortunate enough to have a recipe shared from the folks at Dreamfarm to feature this week. This lovely little egg number sounds like the perfect thing to make for the lady you’d like to show appreciation for this Mother’s Day.

Cheese-Baked Eggs

(From Dreamfarm)

Serves 6

Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 35 minutesIngredients:

-4 oz. Dreamfarm fresh goat cheese
-6 Dreamfarm eggs
-4 Tablespoons whipping cream
-salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
-3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Directions:

Divide goat cheese among 6 buttered muffin cups. Break whole egg into each cup, top with 2 teaspoons cream and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top each egg with 2 tablespoons grated cheese. Set muffin cups in baking pan filled with 1 inch of hot water. Bake at 350o for 20 minutes or until eggs are set. Optional: garnish with parsley.

Morel Risotto

(Adapted from Molly Watson, Author of The Dinner Files)

It seems like we’ve come to the halfway point of spring and that gets me to thinking about what will be winding down in the coming weeks. This season’s morels have been in greater abundance than last year, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be on the way out soon. Pick up some morels from either Black Earth Valley Produce or Happy Valley Farm and treat yourself with this delicious risotto to savor the spring.

Serves: 4

Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
-1/2 lb. morel mushrooms
-2 Tbsp. butter
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-2 Tbsp. minced onion or green onion
-1/2 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
-1 1/2 cup aborio rice
-1/2 cup white wine
-5 cups vegetable or chicken broth
-2 Tbsp. heavy cream (optional)
-1/2 cup fresh Winter’s Rest goat cheese from Dreamfarm, or a Pecorino
-Mint for garnish (optional)
-Chives or green onion for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Trim any dried ends off the morels. Cut them in half lengthwise and rise clean with cool water. Drain morels, cut them into lengthwise slices and set aside. (Meanwhile bring broth to a simmer and cut mint, if you want to use it.
2. Melt the butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Add the garlic and onion and cook, stirring, until soft, about 1 minute. Add the morel mushrooms and sprinkle with salt. Cook, stirring, until the morels release their liquid, about 2 minutes.
3. Add the rice and stir to coat. Add the wine and stir until it is completely absorbed and evaporated.
4. Add 1 cup of the hot broth and cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid is almost completely absorbed. Add the remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, cooking and letting liquid absorb between additions. Continue adding broth until the rice is tender, but still firm , about 25 minutes. You may not need the last 1/4 cup of broth.
5. When the rice is cooked, add the cream, remove from heat and stir in the cheese. Add salt to taste, if you like.
6. Divide the risotto between 4 wide, shallow bowls and garnish with mint and chives or green onion, if you like.
So good, and so worth it!

May 19th is Food Revolution Day!

This year the WCM will be hosting events for Food Revolution Day, a national day of action focusing around all that is great and good about local food. Events will be occurring all around Madison and the country over the weekend of the 19th and 20th and the Westside Community Market is proud to host a table for FRD next Saturday. In addition to info about FDR there will be several fun activities for children including a market scavenger hunt and games in the grass. So stop on down, bring the little ones and share your stories about local food. For more info visit Food Revolution Day’s website here.

Interested in volunteering? Call Ben, the market manager, at 608-628-8879 or email at benjamin.w.zimmerman@gmail.com