Blueberries by Linda E. Nelson

Dear WCM Shopper,

I was munching on s’mores made with Potter’s Crackers while camping last weekend and missed the start of the sweet corn season. But I hear that it was available from Vivian Green at Green’s Pleasant Springs Orchard, Stoughton; Adam and Carrie Flyte at Flyte Family Farm, Coloma; and Bill and Cathy Mayr’s Countyline Plants and Produce, DeForest; and Mike and Cassie Noltnerwyss at Primose Community Farm, Cross Plains.

While the first three vendors had the usual yellow and white speckled supersweet varieties, Primrose was selling Mirai, an all yellow variety known to be very sweet and juicy. The Japanese name is a play on words meaning both “taste” and “the future is almost here” so maybe it means “taste the future.” In any event, it’s even good raw and is said to keep longer refrigerated.  Cassie Noltnerwyss says it’s so good she eats it as is – no butter or salt needed.

Last week, shoppers arriving after 10:30 a.m. were out of luck. This week, beyond the four vendors who had corn last week, Jay Vree of Vree Farm, Randolph, who usually carries both an all-white variety and a speckled, will be on hand. Several additional vendors also may have some corn, which means you can sleep in and probably still find an adequate supply later into the Market day.

Sweet corn is best eaten the same day but will last refrigerated in a perforated plastic bag – husks on – for another couple of days. If you wait too long, the sugars turn to starch and the corn is better for use in recipes than eating as corn on the cob.

One simple way to cook it is to remove the outer husk and silk and rinse the corn off, cutting away any sign of a corn borer at the tip. Then put the ear into boiling water for 4 minutes or until still a little crispy but done. To grill instead, soak corn in cold water 15-30 minutes, then pull back husk just enough to remove silk. After removing silk, replace husk and twist or tie to close it up. Grill on medium heat for a few turns, before moving to indirect heat until done to your liking. For Mexican corn on the cob (elotes), husk the grilled corn, spread with mayonnaise, roll in crumbled Cotija cheese (or Parmesan if you can’t find this dry grating cheese), sprinkle with cayenne pepper and serve with wedges of lime to squeeze on the corn.

Some of us could live on sweet corn for a while, but shoppers also will find the first muskmelons from Green’s Pleasant Springs Orchard, Stoughton, and the first yellow watermelon and a few cantaloupes from Primose Community Farm, Cross Plains. Shoppers this week likely will find apples, beans, beets, blueberries, bread and other bakery, broccoli, butter, cabbage,  carrots, cauliflower, cheese, cherries, chicken, crackers, cucumbers, dry beans, eggs, fish, flowers, fresh-cut herbs, garlic, green onions, greens, honey, ice cream, meats, milk, onions of all sorts, pasta, pattypan squash, peas, plants, potatoes, radishes, summer squash, tomatoes, turnips, yogurt, zucchini and specialty products.

Just had a great curry cucumber salad dressing at Kabul on State Street. Anyone have a similar recipe? Any good pickle recipes? Cucumber salads? Any other recipe using Market items? Send recipes to kalliosandra@yahoo.com and you’ll get a $5 Market gift certificate.

Vendor event: James and Robert Baerwolf, owners of Sassy Cow Creamery, are inviting families for the 1^st Annual Sassy Cow Farm Olympics from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 24, at the farm, W4192 Bristol Road.  They’re planning a straw bale toss, seed planting race, farm animal round-up and more. The $5 registration per family member includes a T-shirt. But registration space is limited, so call right away to see if there’s any space left: 608-445-2010.

Recipe corner

Cold Pasta with Sweet Corn and Tomatoes

Pick your favorite fresh pasta from Peter Robertson’s RP’s Pasta Company of Madison, such as Tomato Basil Rotini or Lemon Linguini, for this dish, which is good for a picnic since it’s served cold.

• 9 ounces fresh pasta of your choice
• Cooked fresh corn kernels cut from 3-4 ears
• 2 pounds tomatoes, diced
• ½ cup vinaigrette of your choice
• 8 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions then rinse in cold water to stop the cooking and drain before transferring to a serving container. Combine remaining ingredients and toss well with cooked pasta. Serve at once or refrigerate if serving later.

Corn-Black Bean Salad

• 3 cups cooked fresh corn kernels
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 2 celery sticks, diced
• 1/3 cup vinaigrette of your choice

Toss ingredients together well and serve at once or refrigerate if serving later.

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.

Tell them to bring the kids to play along with Moldy Jam, the Market house band that plays in fair weather at reasonable times (not before 9:30 a.m.).

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