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

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

Directions:

May 19^th 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 19^th and 20^th 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

This coming market week looks a bit more promising, not only as the weather improves, but as the market fills in with more of our arriving vendors, so stop on by and grab all your favorites!

Get into the Garden!

A Call To Serve Your Market!

Are you a WCM regular looking for a way to help the market? Why not show your support by volunteering for the market. We can always use folks to staff the information booth, especially later in the mornings. If you’re looking for some different types of activities, we’ll be doing several special events at the market this season and could benefit greatly from some willing hands and heads.

If you’re interested please contact Market Manager, Ben Zimmerman, by email atbenjamin.w.zimmerman@gmail.com or at 608-628-8879

Vendor of the Week: Sunnyhill Acres

This season the market will be featuring one vendor (nearly) every week as a way to give our fans a way to get to know all of our vendors more closely.

This week our vendor of choice is Sunnyhill Acres of Cascade. These guys are fantastic, not only because they donate maple syrup to our free coffee at the Information Booth, but because they offer an array of great maple products made from their sap that they cook down into syrup the “old-fashioned” way. It’s that wood fire cooking away for hours in the late winter and early spring that gives their syrup that perfect, classic maple taste.

As you pass their booth get called in to sample some of their delicious maple corn, in a variety of flavors it’s a simply delicious treat to stroll the market with or take home for a great late night snack.  While at their booth have a chat with Geoff King, the man behind Sunnyhill Acres, as you sample some of their savory sheep sausage or peruse some of their pure Wisconsin maple syrup in a variety of sizes to take home and sweeten up your days.

So next market stop by, say hello and take something of Sunnyhill Acres home with you.

You better hurry though, their last market for the season is Memorial Day weekend!

Recipe Corner

Sticking to the veins of maple syrup flowing from Sunnyhill Acres, this week’s recipe utilizes some of of that maple-greatness as the central flavor for a very simple baked chicken breast.  As you pick up your syrup continue down the aisle to the Jordandal Farms booth for your chicken!

Maple-Baked Chicken Breast

(From “A Taste of Québec” by Julian Armstrong)

Makes 4 breasts
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 70-80 minutes

Ingredients:

-4 single chicken breasts
-1/4 cup all purpose flour
-salt and freshly ground black pepper
-2 tablespoons butter
-1/2 cup maple syrup
-1 teaspoon dried savoury
-1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
-1/4 teaspoon dried sage
-1 onion, sliced
-1/2 cup water

Directions:

Dredge chicken in flour seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. In a heavy, flame-proof casserole dish, heat butter until bubbling and brown chicken pieces quickly on both sides. Pour maple syrup over chicken. Sprinkle with savoury, thyme and sage, and pour sliced onion into pan. Pour water into the bottom of casserole. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 F oven for 50-60 minutes or until tender, basting chicken occasionally with pan juices.

As the greens emerge from our produce vendors why not serve these with a side salad tied together with a maple vinaigrette. Below is a simple version that you can spice up to your own tastes.

Maple-Vinaigrette

Enjoy the sweet things!

Oh what a wonderful sight to see. Saturday was a beautiful day for the first market of the season. The sun shone brightly upon the market lane as the smells of fresh baked goods, cut flowers and spring onions wafted out to passersby.

So many wonderful things available from our vendors to brighten up your spring like native plants for your home garden from Indian Trails Greenhouse, or rhubarb for a delicious crisp from Ka Vang, or nectar honey to sweeten your day from B’s Honey. Whatever you choose you’re sure to find something to satisfy those spring market cravings.

May Day this Tuesday

Speaking of spring, did you know that this coming Tuesday is May Day? A traditional celebration of spring across many old European cultures, May Day is a wonderful way to welcome in the spring with a feast, dancing and music. Hold to the tune of the Irish and have a bonfire to say goodbye to the long nights of winter and hello to the warm nights of summer. So as you shop the market this week why not pick up a flower for your May Queen.

Recipe Corner

Do you ever have those days when you’re troubled with the over abundance of radishes? I feel like it happens to me every year. I add a few French Breakfast radishes to my plate at meals, I thinly slice them over my salad of early spring greens, I’ve turned them to relish and even savored their over abundance in the winter. Still, there’s always more than I know what to do with.

This week I noticed this wonderful pile of red beauties at JenEhr’s booth and it got me thinking…

Spring Radish Spread
(Recipe adapted from Quiet Creek Farm)

A great spread to spice up any morning.

Makes 2 cups
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

-8 oz cream cheese, softened
-1 tablespoon chives or spring onions, chopped
-1 teaspoon dill leaves, chopped
-1 cup radishes, finely chopped
-1 tablespoon prepared horseradish (optional)

Directions:

-Mix all ingredients together, cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Serve on your favorite crusty bread, baguette, bagel or as a dip for those radishes that just didn’t fit into that 1 cup. Enjoy!

The Information Booth has moved!

Many of you market goers noticed a change in layout this past week. For those who couldn’t make it, the Information Booth has moved down to the Segoe Rd. side of the market. Stop down to say hello and grab your free cup of coffee or hot chocolate.

Change is a good thing.

See you Saturday!

We’ll be at the Hill Farms Dept. of Transportation Office parking lot (Segoe Rd. and Sheboygan Avenue) on Madison’s friendly west side every Saturday from 7 am to 1 pm through November 3, 2012. As always, there’s free, easy parking, free coffee, friendly vendors, and all products sold are from local producers.

Soon....

Madison Sourdough

Even “the best market in the universe” needs feedback!  Even though the season has ended, you still have time to take our customer survey…click here. It’s quick and easy and we’re eager to know what you think; this is your chance to tell us what you like or how we can improve.

This is how we started the market last April..bundled in layers to shed as the sun comes up.  Madison Sourdough has been with the Westside Community Market since the wilderness days; treat yourself to lunch in the charming shop on Willy Street.  The MSD Facebook fanpage is regularly updated with menu changes…it’s too bad that the photos can’t be scratch n’ sniff.  (Today’s recommendation is house made chai tea and a brownie)

Dolci's Italian American Sweets

You don’t have to wait for spring to see Sandy Hunter of Dolci’s Italian American Sweets.  You can find the cookies at Metcalfe’s and Fraboni’s  or call her (241.5445) for special orders.  Be the hero of the next gathering and bring one of her Italian cookie cakes.

Veggie and flower artisans at Ka Vang

Herb n Oyster

Herb n Oyster will be at the MadWest market.  You’ll need mushrooms for the Thanksgiving gravy.

The next generation of cheesemakers at Schroeder's

You've seen Ed at two vendors: Happy Valley and Black Earth

Can't have a market without dedicated volunteers! Jill will be at MadWest market too.

Isabel helps out a lot

Natalie's Greenhouse

Yang family

Get Honey Bee Bakery goodies at MadWest

Jordandal: MadWest, DCFM et al

Primrose will be at MadWest at the Lussier Education Center - Gammon Road just north of Memorial HS

Pecatonica Valley: at MadWest also

Stella's: at MadWest and everywhere

Tomato Mountain will be at DCFM

Do you have a stack of Murphy's yummy little breads in the freezer?

get fresh tortillas every week at MadWest and DCFM

Flyte Family Farm

JenEhr Family Farm

Bonde Bee

RP's Pasta

Kelly Lor flowers and veggies

Lor Chang

Countyline Produce

Green's Pleasant Springs Orchard

Wetherby Cranberries

Edelweiss Creamery

Blue Moon Community Farm

One more market to get the root cellar stocked or to fill in the gaps of the Thanksgiving menu.  (Thanksgiving is only 23 days away…yikes!)  Most of the veggie vendors have good supplies of winter squash, and it’s time to take yourself by the seat of your culinary pants and try a new variety.  Try Moregold in a butternut recipe or Delicata as a pie filling.

(Don’t have a root cellar but really want one?  Get the neighbors together for a community project and build this. Or begin digging on your own and the neighbors will be over even faster.)

This is also the last week to graze the market for breakfast  from Stella’s, Honey Bee Bakery, Dolci’s Italian American Sweets or Madison Sourdough (click here for a photo of Madison Sourdough’s new toasted barley bread) with your cup of complimentary(the vendors treat you) coffee or cocoa from Metcalfe’s.  When you get your coffee at the Information tent, please take a minute to fill out our customer survey.  You can also tell us what you think in our online survey…click here. (All confidential, of course)

You can still visit Jordandal and Pecatonica Valley at the new MadWest winter market at the Lussier Education Center; Hawk’s Hill Ranch will ship their products …ask Cherie for details when you pick up some of their popular smoked elk sticks.

You might want to bring extra bags or more muscle to help carry all the good things still to buy at the last market: Wetherby cranberries, sweet, white, blue and red potatoes, apples and pears from Pleasant Springs Orchard(cider too) or Future Fruit, all of the root vegetables (you must get some of the cover-of-the-seed-catalog perfect  leeks at Happy Valley), and slip in a few packages of GittOrganic tortillas which freeze well too.

Don’t forget to pick up more pinto bean flour.  A special newsletter and  blog post are coming with our recipe innovations.  You still have time to get your recipes included. Send to :  cravingsymmetry@yahoo.com

Making a Meal of the Issues? Here are some meaty ones:

NPR’s food blog, The Salt, discusses offal here.

Slate magazine’s “Explainer” section asks a difficult question about horses, here.

Slate also wonders about  food stereotyping here.

The Chicago Tribune has the full story on what’s crawling around with the kids in fast food playgrounds.

Recipes!

As promised, here the recipes from Chef Kevin Appleton’s demonstration last Saturday.  (I’ll have a few copies at the Information Tent )  Kevin said that he would make them available at Vom Fass too.

If you’ve been waiting to pick out the best Halloween pumpkin, this is your weekend!  Country Bloomers lines them up for your inspection and easy selection.  They’ve brought a few warty ones; check out Countyline Produce for even stranger pumpkins that make us wonder what’s going on out there in the squash patch.

Chef Kevin Appleton from Vom Fass will be with us one last time this season beginning at 9:30 am; he’ll stroll the market to choose ingredients for his signature recipes. Don’t miss this chance to talk foodie with the Chef and sample his creativity.

Some vendors offer you the chance to pick your own brussel sprouts from fat stalks like these at Real Foods. (Other vendors have them nicely packaged in grab and go bags if you prefer.)  Here’s the link to that honey mustard glazed roasted brussel sprouts recipe from Edible Madison magazine in case you missed it a few weeks ago.

Have you tried kale chips yet?  Even the most kale resistant  people will love them…really!  I give my bundle of kale–and other organic greens–a dip in a sink full of salted water to remove any wee beasties, then dry and tear into pieces.  (Remove the stem of course; it’s good chopped and sauteed later.)  A light spray of cooking oil or a toss with a tablespoon of olive oil, sprinkle with crunchy salt and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  I put parchment paper on the baking sheet because I’m a busy(lazy) cook.  (Also, my baking sheets are decades old and now look like something I couldn’t put under the dog’s dish without camouflage.)

You certainly could use a seasoned salt–I tried a batch with garlic and celery salt…yum.  I saw 4 ounce bags of kale chips for $6.79 at one swanky grocery store this week.  Shameful, given how inexpensive kale is at all the veggie vendors right now.  (Sandy at Dolci’s Italian American Sweets brags that her convection oven finishes kale chips in 10 minutes.)

Black Earth Valley gets bragging rights for this beautiful celery with stalks big enough to stuff with cheese from Edelweiss, Schroeder’s or Dreamfarm.  (This is will be Dreamfarm’s last market day, so be sure to visit the stand one more time.  Dreamfarm cheeses can be found at Willy Street co op, east and west, through November; after that, you can add Diana’s goat cheese to your spring anticipation list.)  Or you could make a celery-scooping dip with cottage cheese from Murphy’s or Sugar River Greek style yogurt.

Don’t forget to stop by Dolci’s, Stella’s, Madison Sourdough, or Honey Bee Bakery and ask which which of their sweet treats freeze well.  You’ve got some freezer space for goodies between Vivian Green’s cider and Wetherby cranberries.

One of the topics in spring bird chatter is the housing shortage; stash a few of these gourds in the basement, and they’ll be dry enough for making bird condos by the time you feel a rush of cabin fever crafting.

This is the next to last Westside Community Market for 2011 at the Sheboygan and Segoe site; several WCM vendors will be at the new MadWest Market inside the Lussier  Community Education Center, 55 S. Gammon Rd.  More details about that in next week’s newsletter and a definitive list  of where to find your favorite vendor during the winter months.  Meanwhile, do take a minute and ask the management of your regular grocery store to carry your favorite vendor products.  Create a little buzz and encourage them to support your local foodshed.

Dolci’s Italian American Sweets are also available at:

Fraboni’s, both the Monona and Regent St. locations; Gino’s Deli on Verona Rd; & Metcalfe’s.  Sandy also takes special orders: call her at 241.5445

Jordandal (link  for upcoming events) is also available at: Dane County Farmer’s Market, (Monona Terrace and the Senior Center); Metcalfe’s; Hy-Vee; and the new MadWest Winter Farmer’s Market.

Making a Meal of the Issues?

The New York Times reports on another way to get fat on Wall Street  here.

Emily Dickinson fans probably know all about her baking talent.  NPR blog, The Salt, story here.

Did we have to have the British tell us  it’s the deep fat fryer that gets us into trouble, not the potato?  BBC story here.

There’s a lovely audio essay from poet Katharine Jagoe and Wisconsin Life called “Fall Leaves” that you absolutely shouldn’t miss.  Listen here and let the words lift you up where you belong.

Recipes!

Several of us having been working on Flyte Family Farm’s pinto bean flour recipes.   We have developed some great ones…so many that I’ll put them in a special blog post soon.  Meanwhile, you’ve still got time to have yours included : send to  cravingsymmetry@yahoo.com.  (Or any other recipes using vendor products that you want to share.)  The pinto bean flour sold out quickly last week…hurry!

Sandy Hunter  (Dolci) sent in these recipes…and another… sweet potato pancakes… that will be in the blog posting

GOAT CHEESE AND BEET RAVIOLI 8 servings

For the Filling:

6 to 8 ounces beets, scrubbed

¼ cup fresh goat cheese (choice of your flavor) (Dreamfarm)

1 small egg lightly beaten

1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2-3 tablespoons finely chopped leeks (Happy Valley)

1 minced garlic clove

Salt and ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.   Wrap the beets in heavy-duty aluminum foil, place in a shallow pan, and roast until fork-tender, 45 minutes. Remove and let cool. Peel the beet, cut it into small chunks, and puree in food processor along with the goat cheese, egg and Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Assemble the ravioli:

Beet Filling

1 pound Wonton Wrappers (or RP’s pasta sheets)

Brush the edges of wonton wrapper with water and spoon 1 tablespoon beet filling into the middle .  Place another wonton wrapper on top of filling then; press the edges lightly together with a fork.  Set aside.  Repeat with remaining wonton wrappers.  NOTE: to make smaller ravioli’s — brush edges of one wonton and spoon a little less than 1 T beet filling in its middle then, fold the wonton in half making a half circle; pressing the edges lightly together with a fork.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in the ravioli, quickly return to a boil, and cook until tender yet firm, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving the pasta water.

1/3 cup fresh tarragon leaves coarsely chopped

1/2 cup unsalted butter cut into 8 equal pieces

Just before the pasta is done, ladle 1 cup pasta water into a large sauté pan. Add the chopped tarragon and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the butter, one piece at a time, whisking until melted before adding the next piece. Continue until the butter is mixed well together making a creamy sauce.  Slide the drained ravioli into the warm sauce. Toss gently into the sauce, adding more pasta water if needed.

FRIED APPLE PANCAKE RINGS 4 servings

To make hot apple cider syrup:

2-3 cups Apple cider

1 Tablespoon Lemon juice and 1 Teaspoon Lemon zest

½ Teaspoon Cinnamon

Stir apple cider, lemon juice, zest, and cinnamon in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the liquid by half, to a syrup consistency.

1 Cup Bisquick Baking Mix

1 Egg

1/2 Cup Milk

1 Teaspoon cinnamon

Zest of 1/2 Lemon

Beat baking mix, egg and milk until smooth. Add cinnamon and lemon zest to batter mixing well.

2 Medium (unpeeled) Apples, core & cut apples crosswise in 1/8-inch slices

Using a toothpick dip slices into batter. Cook on hot griddle until golden brown, turning once. Serve hot with apple cider syrup.

Web Extras!

Try a  borscht recipe from Kitchen Gardeners International to use some of the beautiful market beets.  While we’re thinking of beet soups, here’s the link to a charming cooking series on You Tube called Feed Me Bubbe.  Bubbe is not at all like my grandmother(s) and somehow exactly the same.  After a long day in the hard old world, it would be so nice to sit at Bubbe’s kitchen table…  I bet you will like her too.

The Splendid Table features two soup and two dessert recipes here.

Want another bit of advice about perfecting a cup of coffee?  The Serious Eats blog wonders about cleaning coffee filters here. The paper ones.  Yes.

October and April share their weather if not our hopes for the future; the cool season greens come back to market: spinach, lettuce and this pretty Tatsoi at Countyline Produce.  It’s tasty raw, dressed as salad or briefly wilted in a stir fry and beautiful enough to be  floated in a bowl as the table centerpiece.  (Those tiny little potatoes under the Tatsoi need only some olive oil and rosemary to make you look like a culinary master. ) You could begin shopping a recipe for a fritatta or a Spanish omelette from here: potatoes and garlic at Countyline; eggs just next door at Pecatonica Valley; cheese at Edelweiss, and then cross the market for mushrooms at Black Earth Valley. Hey presto!  Saturday night’s supper!

Naturally, all the root veggies are terrific roasted, but try kohlrabi with a Hispanic flair: peel and slice, drizzle with fresh squeezed lime juice, dust with salt and cayenne pepper.  The young turnips just coming back to market are good this way too.  Included on a relish tray next to their brassica cousins–the ubiquitous broccoli and cauliflower who get all of the nutritional praise–snackers will love the flavor they can’t quite identify.

Country Bloomers is bringing  lots of  carving pumpkins to the market–so many that we’ve put them in their own stall between Dreamfarm and Lor Chang.  You can park right behind them and roll your pumpkin to the car!  (The pie pumpkins are in Country Bloomers usual space with the flowers.  Need an incentive to bake a pie pumpkin?  Here’s a recipe for salted pumpkin caramels.  Big bragging rights if you make these!)

An autumn nip in the air makes cranberries fly….out of the market that is.  Last week, shoppers were buying entire cases to stash through the winter; better get yours soon….three market Saturdays left to stock up.  The Wetherby Cranberry Company website has recipes and storage tips for you.  Some shoppers say that they like that weirdy, wiggly stuff in the can, too; you can carve your initials in it and so on.  But it’s not so good for pie or muffins.  Ask Kathy about how she uses the sliced, frozen Cranberry Bits as a waffle topping; you’ll search out that waffle iron that you stored in the garage a decade ago, or at least turn the toaster around to check for the proper frozen waffle setting.

Surely you’ve tried these little sweet dumpling squashes by now.  You can cut the top off and stuff with so many good things….smoked sausage, sage and onions, curried rice or the usual butter and brown sugar.  They’re often called “single serving size” but that must refer to polite people who can resist a second helping of something so tasty.  Delicious cold too, in a lunchbox or as a vitamin A power snack.

Just had to show you what the bees having been making  all summer long.  From B’s Honey while it lasts.

Making a Meal of the Issues?

We’re definitely past the sweet corn season, but I just had to share this amazing method for shucking corn with you.  (Maybe I’m the last person on earth to learn this trick which solves all those pesky things about shucking corn that annoy me.)  The 2 minute video is also good example of how no one is ever to old to use the interwebs.

Here’s another story-from the Chicago Tribune-that we probably shouldn’t giggle over.  A person would have to be plenty angry to waste cupcakes like this.

The next time you turn on the ventilating hood in the kitchen, think about this story from NPR’s food blog, The Salt.

Recipes!

Here’s Jill’s recipe using Flyte Family Farm pinto bean flour.  The fish was “outstanding” she says.  You could substitute chicken or pork chops for the fish.  Send us your idea for using pinto bean flour and win a market gift certificate!  (Soon, though!)  Jill is at the Information Tent from 7 to 9am if you’d like to talk to her about the recipe.

Tortilla Crusted Tilapia

2 tilapia fillets

¾ cup pinto bean flour

2 eggs, beaten

3 cups finely crushed tortilla chips

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1-2 cups Canola Oil

Rinse the tilapia and pat dry.

Place beaten egg in shallow plate or dish.

Place pinto bean flour in shallow plate or dish.

Mix salt, pepper and crushed tortilla chips and place in shallow plate or dish.

Dredge both sides of the fillets in egg to coat.

Dredge both sides of the fillets in the pinto bean flour to coat.

Dredge both sides of the fillets in egg again.

Dredge both sides of the fillets in the tortilla chips to coat.

Fill bottom of fry pan with about 1 inch of canola oil. Heat the oil on medium high heat until hot.

Place the tilapia fillets in the oil. Fry until golden brown, about 3- 5 minutes. Turn the filets and fry the second side until golden brown and fish is done inside.

Bean Advice

*Tasty way to cook dry beans: drain and discard the soaking water.  Cover  with 1-2 bottles of your favorite Wisconsin micro-brew beer (or wine) and then water to 1 inch over the beans.  Simmer until tender and use in your favorite recipe.

*The solution to bean…um…intestinal burbling is to… eat more beans!  Once you’ve established a population of bean digesting microorganism pals,  you won’t have anything to blame on the dogs after dinner.

*Use any hummus recipe with your favorite cooked beans.  Often, it’s the skin on the bean that gives some people digestive issues.  Buzz the beans up in a food processor, and notice how quiet the dogs are.

Here’s a recipe for homemade tater tots from Cook’s Country/America’s Test Kitchen.  Wouldn’t it be great to have a batch of these in the freezer? (Why not use those blue potatoes and scare the kids on Halloween?)

Makes 4 dozen

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 4 cups peanut oil or vegetable oil

Instructions

• 1. Whisk 1 cup water and salt together in bowl until salt dissolves. Pulse potatoes and salt water in food processor until coarsely ground, 10 to 12 pulses, stirring occasionally. Drain mixture in fine-mesh strainer, pressing potatoes with rubber spatula until dry (liquid should measure about 1½ cups); discard liquid. Transfer potatoes to bowl and microwave, uncovered, until dry and sticky, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking.
• 2. Stir flour and pepper into potatoes. Spread potato mixture into thin layer over large sheet of aluminum foil and let cool for 10 minutes. Push potatoes to center of foil and place foil and potatoes in 8-inch square baking pan. Push foil into corners and up sides of pan, smoothing it flush to pan. Press potato mixture tightly and evenly into pan. Freeze, uncovered, until firm, about 30 minutes.
• 3. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Heat oil in Dutch oven over high heat until 375 degrees. Using foil overhang, lift potatoes from pan and cut into 1¼ by 1-inch pieces (6 cuts in 1 direction and 8 in other). Fry half of potato tots, until golden brown and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally once they begin to brown. Drain on wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet and place in oven. Bring oil back to 375 degrees and repeat with remaining potato tots. Serve.
• Make Ahead: Cool fried potato tots, transfer to zipper-lock bag, and freeze for up to 1 month. To serve, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Place potato tots on rimmed baking sheet and bake until heated through, 12 to 15 minutes.

Web Extras!

A candied jalapeno recipe from the Foodie with Family blog , here. (Sounds yummy! Natalie’s Greenhouse and Prairie Farm Produce have heaps of jalapenos.  I’d use a few red ones in the recipe too.  Or what about  substituting those gorgeous little Thai hot peppers from Ka Vang?)  There are many other good things at the same blog.  Here’s the recipe for  Baked Pumpkin Cider donuts.  You could also use any of the winter squashes in place of the pumpkin.

The Splendid Table has big gooey sandwich recipes this week.

The Brown Eyed Baker blog has…oh my!…a recipe for pumpkin whoopie pies with maple cream cheese filling and a link to a recipe for s’more whoopie pies. (I bet that you could substitute honey from Bonde Bee or B’s Honey for the maple syrup.)

In case you thought that vegans were too virtuous for sweet goodies, check out this version of a famous Canadian treat from One Green Planet.

Wetherby cranberries are back at the market which means that it’s time to talk about end of season issues.  We’ll come back to the cranberries in a minute. (The apple in the photo above is the rare Hidden Rose, available–and selling out every week–from Jean and Romy Statz.  It’s more tart than tired old Granny Smith and cotton candy pink all the way through.)

If you build your holiday celebrations around particular roasts or poultry, you need to speak to your vendors soon.  Jordandal has lamb; Hawk’s Hill Elk Ranch has holiday suggestions and can ship if needed; Pecatonica Valley can still talk turkeys with you (but not for long), and you’ll be glad for a stash of their popular smoked sausage sticks to use in baked beans, antipasti salads, lunchboxes etc.  Make this holiday celebration a locavore feast!

Now…about the cranberries.  Certainly you know that they’re not just an accessory to the Thanksgiving table anymore, that you can pile up the bags in the freezer without further processing and that their medicinal and nutritional qualities are legendary.  But now Wetherby’s presents them in an even easier to use form, Berry Bits which are sliced, lightly sugared and frozen in a microwavable container.  You can quickly top waffles, cereal and add a couple of tablespoons to a pan sauce for chops or chicken. It’s the best local convenience food since your veggie vendors started cleaning the spring mix for you.  The boxes stack neatly into a corner of even the smallest freezer.  Kathy brings them to the market in a cooler–her stand is next to the Information Tent–and she has a brochure with a recipe for cranberry salsa.  Don’t dawdle!  It’s nearly mid October.

You could use Wetherby’s Berry Bits to top the thick Greek yogurt from Sugar River Dairy.  If you are trying to get more probiotics into your diet, note that Sugar River has active live cultures.

You can power shop at Westside Community Market;  across from Sugar River Dairy is Dreamfarm where you’ll find artisanal goat cheeses and fresh eggs.  Blue Moon Community Farm is next door with that excellent garlic and the  scallions that you’ll need to make an herb dip with Sugar River Greek yogurt; Potter’s Crackers (the link takes you to a Wall Street Journal article about the tasty crackers) is beside Blue Moon for sweet potato onion crackers to pair with the dip and the goat cheese. (The WSJ wants you to put goat cheese on the grilled corn crackers.)

Country Bloomer mini gardens in a mini pumpkin

You can park right behind the vendors which is good because this week Country Bloomers is bringing a truckload of  just harvested carving pumpkins.  (Here are photos from the Food Network’s Halloween Wars to give you some creepy ideas.)  Bring the kids and stroll around the pumpkins to find the one that speaks your name.   Country Bloomers has another wave of lisianthus, too, reblooming during this gorgeous Indian summer.

New varieties coming! Beans can save the world!

Flyte Family Farm adds several new varieties to their dried bean selection this week: northern, navy, dark red kidney, yellow eye, European soldier and Calypso.  Heirloom beans all carry a story in their names whether it reflects the best place to grow them (northern), where they originated or some anthropomorphic characteristic (kidney, yellow eye.)

The red shape on the European soldier bean is supposed to resemble the silhouette of a toy soldier according to some people. Others say that the name refers to the bean originally carried by the British army  (Redcoats).  Since the variety was  a common baking bean in 18th century New England…well, you do the math.  It does retain its shape during a long simmer and absorbs all the good things you put into the pot with it.

Do heirlooms taste better?  Oh my yes.  Flyte Family Farm beans haven’t been sitting in a dusty warehouse for years, and all the heirlooms have a specific use depending on how soft or firm they remain after cooking.  (Navy beans make the best white bean hummus ever.)  You know how smart and snobby you’ve gotten over those heirloom tomatoes that you used to be so dim about?  Prepare your table and palate for heirloom beans!  (And buy fresh!  Last winter I brought home a sack of great northern beans from a local grocery  that had an extra protein source in the bag… with legs…ewww.)

Also at Flyte Family Farm are some of the most delicious English cucumbers  that you will ever taste–nearly as sweet as melons and selling out fast every Saturday morning.

Beautiful display at Jen Ehr

The cauliflower at Jen Ehr is amazing …both the Snow Crown type and the Mandelbrot romanescoes.  Here’s a great method to cook them both without  gloppy, high calorie sauces. (You’ll love cauliflower steaks.)  Get there early for the frilly red mustard which is yummy raw in salads and on sandwiches, or in a stir fry.  Congratulations to our own Kay Jensen who will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award for Ethical Leadership and Community Service from the School of Business at Edgewood College this Friday. Kay is co-owner and farmer with her husband Paul Ehrhardt  of JenEhr Family Farm.

Who cares for the last rose of summer when you can have these?

Why anyone would begrudge a glorious sunflower for having pollen, I can’t feature, but here are the modern pollenless sunflowers at Natalie’s Greenhouse for those of you who care about such things.   Treat yourself, or gift another to a bouquet of autumn sunshine now….time grows short.  (And two flower holidays are this weekend: Sweetest Day and Bosses Day…if you have the sort of boss who appreciates flowers that is.  If not, how about a sack of fresh heirloom beans with award winning smoked elk sausage from Hawk’s Hill Ranch?)

Making a Meal of the Issues?

Here’s a story about the perils of eating funeral refreshments without an ingredients list.  And no, you are not supposed to giggle. (We might expect this sort of thing to continue as Baby Boomers say goodbye.)

You know that bananas can’t be grown in Wisconsin right?  Time to find local sources of sustainable potassium that aren’t harvested by third world slaves.  Here are a few better ideas.  Still in a state of denial about the banana dilemma? Check out  this book while you’re munching sweet potato fries.

Monsanto slips on its multiple personality disorder in this story from Earthjustice.  (sidebar:  best motto from an environmental organization ever… (say this is a BIG voice)…Earthjustice!  Because the Earth needs a good lawyer!)

Here is THE spookiest video that you might ever see… from Robert Krulwich and his NPR blog about how a virus invades your earthsuit-about 3 minutes long.

Recipes!

Thanks–and a market gift certificate–to Cheryl B. for sharing her savory pie recipe:

Sweet Potato and Steak Pie

PASTRY:

2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon of salt
2/3 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into pats
5-7 tablespoon cold water

For those who are pastry-challenged, store bought pastry works too. (Or the vodka pastry recipe from America’s Test Kitchen)

FILLING:

1 6oz steak, cubed (can be beef, bison, elk, even chicken if you prefer)
1 sweet potato, medium sized, peeled and cubed
1 small yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 small turnip, peeled and chopped
1 15 oz can beef broth (if chicken use chicken or vegetable broth)
1 tsp grated ginger
1-2 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
Fresh ground black pepper

Put flour and salt in mixing bowl. Add butter and cut into flour with pastry cutter. Add water until dough is formed. May look a little crumbly but will hold together when rolled into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and put in fridge
to rest about 30 minutes. When ready to use pastry let it sit on counter 20 minutes before rolling out. This will make two pastry crusts.

Brown the steak cubes, then remove from the pan. Fry the ginger, garlic and onion, followed by sweet potatoes, pepper and stock. Bring to the boil, then leave to simmer for about 15 minutes until thickened. Return the steak to the pan for the last 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Separate homemade pastry into two balls and roll into rounds. Place one pastry in pie
dish. Cover the 2nd pastry with a towel to keep from drying out. Add
the steak mixture to the pie. Top with second pastry and crimp the edges.

Prick a few steam holes through the pastry top then place in the oven for 30-40
minutes until crispy and brown.

Belgian Onion Soup by way of Wisconsin

This recipe, from Epicurious, features beer in the stock and obviously, you’ll want to substitute one of the terrific local brews if you can decide which one to use. Let us know your recommendation and receive a market gift certificate as thanks.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 5 large onions, halved and sliced thin
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 4 shallots, sliced thin
• 750 milliliter local beer
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 4 bay leaves
• 6 sprigs of thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 4 slices Madison Sourdough baguette for garnish
• 1/2 pound Gruyère type cheese from Edelweiss or Schroeder’s for garnish
• Sea salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat a wide pot or cast-iron on medium heat. Add the butter and let it blister.

2. Add the onion and cook uncovered. Let them sit for about four minutes and then stir. Repeat until the onions have all begun to brown, at least twenty minutes.

3. Add the olive oil, garlic, and shallots and stir in the same fashion as before, once every five minutes, until the garlic and shallots have caramelized.

4. Add 2 1/2 cups of the beer and crank the heat to just shy of high. Let the beer boil off until there is half as much beer volume as onion volume.

5. Add the stock, bay leaves, thyme leaves, and white pepper. Cook until the liquid has reduced by about two finger widths. Taste the soup and add salt to adjust. Cook for at least an additional twenty minutes before garnishing. In an ideal world, you would let the soup sit a day before serving it. (Just be sure to reheat it.)

6. Take a slice of  Madison sourdough baguette and cut it to fit your bowl or cup. Set atop the soup and cover with several slices of Gruyère type cheese from Edelweiss or Schroeder’s. Broil until brown and serve hot, topped with extra thyme.

Web Extras!

Here’s an heirloom bean soup from the New York Times featuring yellow eye beans from Flyte Family.

The Splendid Table features a salmon recipe from Jacques Pepin’s new book and a crock pot spinach and lentil soup with Indian influences.

Here’s a list of three ingredient recipes for fast suppers that will come in handy some day.

Monticello’s monthly posting of Mary Randolph’s recipes recreates the pepper vinegar that Thomas Jefferson liked.

Send your contributions to : cravingsymmetry@yahoo.com.  There’s interesting stuff on our Facebook page too.  You can see it without a Facebook account; check it out.  Add to the conversation!