Jalapenos, okra and tomatoes by Linda E. Nelson

Dear WCM Shopper,

My house smells so good, as I’ve been simmering a box of tomato seconds I got from Dan Deneen’s Black Earth Valley Produce of Mazomanie, to which I’ve added Sassy Cow Creamery  butter and onions from the Ka Vang family of Madison.

The recipe is a classic: Core tomatoes, then blanch them so that they peel easily. Fill a heavy stockpot with cored, blanched tomatoes. Add a quarter pound of butter and one whole peeled onion. Stir often over five hours or more until reduced to the desired consistency. Remove the onion (great to eat as a side dish). Serve sauce over thin spaghetti or other pasta of choice and top with lots of finely grated Parmesan cheese. Freeze the extra sauce for a taste of fresh tomatoes when you really need it during the winter.

Among the finds last week were fig millet bread from David Lohrentz and Andrew Hutchison’s Madison Sourdough  (so good toasted!); bitter melon from the Vang Family Farm of Windsor (recommended for stir-frying);  rabbit from Kay Jensen and Paul Ehrhadt’s JenEhr Family Farm of Sun Prairie; Black Earth Valley mushrooms (scarce in recent weeks because of restaurant demands); butter from Bruce Workman’s Edelweiss Creamery  of Monticello, which is made from the milk of grass-fed cows, hence the natural color; and lard from Todd and Amy Carr’s Pecatonica Valley Farm of Hollandale. Downtown restaurants buy more of the lard than Market shoppers, although it makes a wicked good pie crust.

Shoppers this week likely will find apples, beans, beets, blueberries, bread and other bakery, broccoli, butter, cabbage, cantaloupe, carrots, cauliflower, cheese, cherries, chicken, crackers, cucumbers, dry beans, eggplant, eggs, fennel, fish, flowers, fresh-cut herbs, garlic, green onions, greens, honey, ice cream, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, meats, milk, muskmelons, okra, onions of all sorts, pasta, patty pan squash, peaches, peas, plants, plums, potatoes, radishes, raspberries, summer and winter squash, sweet and hot peppers, tomatoes, turnips, watermelons, yogurt, zucchini and specialty products.

Keep in mind Market vendors such as Jerry and Cheryl Mayr’s Country Bloomers of DeForest – especially if your hanging baskets wilted during the summer heat or while you were on vacation. They have hanging baskets of vinca or spider plants, which do well into October.

With all those choices, shoppers must have recipes to share. Today, check out a cheese-chicken-peach quesadilla recipe from Cheryl Busuttil, a pasta recipe from Erin Freiberg and a watermelon-feta treat from Susan Skubal. Each of these shoppers will have a $5 Market gift certificate waiting at the Information Tent at the Market. If you have a recipe using Market products, send it to kalliosandra@yahoo.com or leave it at the Information Tent with your contact information.

Baby news: Kelly Lor of Cottage Grove has another grandchild: Sophia Lor. You won’t see the new mom, Naly, arranging flowers at the Market for a while, because, as proud Uncle Kenny Lor explains, the Hmong culture dictates that new moms and their babies be secluded so they don’t get sick. Naly won’t even touch cold water during that time, and she will eat mostly chicken and wear a sash tied around her waist for support.

Winners’ circle: Joel and Cheri Espe of Hawks Hill Elk Ranch  of Monticello took first place for their jerky, first place for snack sticks and best of show for their snack sticks at the 2010 North American Elk Breeders Association competition in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Vendor events: Sassy Cow Creamery’s August Ice Cream Extravaganza is noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21, at W4192 Bristol Road, Columbus. The creamery, as well as Eric and Carrie Johnson’s Jordandal Farms  of Argyle will participate in the REAP Buy Fresh Buy Local Madison Locals event from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 22, at the Madison Club, 5 E. Wilson St. Tickets are $30 through 255-4861.

Eat local tip: Lindsay Christians, who wrote about taking the Eat Local challenge in an Aug. 13 story in the Wisconsin State Journal, lamented the lack of stone fruits grown in Wisconsin. Obviously, she’s shopping at the wrong market. Come on over to the Westside Community Market, Lindsay, for Barnard Farms’ peaches and plums. Jim and Crystal Barnard of Egg Harbor plan to bring both this week.

The Recipe Corner
Monterey Jack, Chicken, and Peach Quesadillas

“The original recipe uses pepper jack cheese instead of Monterey Jack with jalapenos, but I prefer more heat than what is normally in a pepper jack cheese,” says Cheryl Busuttil.
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 cup sour cream
4 whole wheat flour tortillas
3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup cooked and shredded skinless, boneless chicken
1 cup thinly sliced firm ripe peaches (you can peel but I leave skin on)
Chopped fresh jalapeno slices to taste
Chopped fresh cilantro to taste
Spray oil

Combine honey and lime juice in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir sour cream into honey mixture; cover and chill until ready to serve. Place tortillas flat on a work surface. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons cheese over half of each tortilla; top each tortilla with 1/4 cup chicken, 1/4 cup peaches, jalapenos to taste and 1 teaspoon cilantro. Fold tortillas in half. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Place 2 quesadillas in the pan, and top quesadillas with a cast-iron or other heavy skillet. Cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until tortillas are crisp and lightly browned (leave cast-iron skillet on quesadillas as they cook). Remove quesadillas from pan; set aside, and keep warm. Repeat procedure with the remaining quesadillas. Cut each quesadilla into wedges. Serve with sauce.

Watermelon Feta Salad

Susan Skubal wrote, “I just made this combination and it is perfect for the hot weather — cool, sweet and salty.”

Cut some ripe watermelon into bite-size pieces (remove seeds). Crumble in some nice salty feta cheese. Tasty additions to consider are: chiffonade of mint; sweet mild onion or red onion that has been soaked in lime juice; olives, or whatever fresh herbs or produce that appeals to you.

Summer Vegetable Pasta

Erin Freiberg uses RP Pasta for this dish and writes, “I made this last summer after a wonderful morning at the market and immediately sent the recipe off to all my friends.  Use other veggies as you wish, but don’t leave out the cherry tomatoes. They truly make the dish!”

• 1 package RP Italian Herb linguine
  1 package RP Garlic linguine
  1 tablespoon canola or other oil
  Sweet onion (medium)
  3/4 cup red bell pepper strips
  3/4 cup zucchini
  1 cup sliced mushrooms
  6-8 cherry tomatoes, halved
  1-2 cloves minced garlic  
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  1/4 teaspoon pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil to dress
• Parmesan cheese (optional)In a large skillet, heat the canola oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion for a few minutes until it starts to soften slightly. Add the pepper, zucchini, and mushrooms and sauté until just tender, 5-7 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes and garlic, salt and pepper and cook for 1-2 minutes. In the meantime, cook the pasta according to directions. Toss the pasta and veggies together with extra virgin olive oil and top with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Invite your friends and neighbors to the Market: 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays at Hill Farms State Department of Transportation parking lot at the corner of Segoe Road and Sheboygan Avenue, one block south of University Avenue and one block west of Hilldale Shopping Center.

WCM offers free coffee for shoppers and invites all to stop in at the WCM Information Tent to fill out a chance to win the raffle for a $5 WCM gift certificate.

Until next week,
Sandy Kallio
for the Westside Community Market

Send recipes to: kalliosandra@yahoo.com