Dear WCM Shopper,

Photo by Linda Nelson

Saturday is Market day and Sunday is Mother’s Day, such perfect timing so you can pick up everything you need for a special breakfast and also shop for the perfect hanging basket, potted plant, bouquet or other treat for Mom.

Shoppers this week can expect to find more morel mushrooms, oyster and shiitake mushrooms, asparagus, greenhouse tomatoes and cucumbers, spinach and various greens including sorrel, pea tendrils, turnips, bok choy, potatoes, green onions, shallots, fresh mint, rhubarb, eggs, cheese, meats, dry beans, bread and other bakery, specialty products and more.

For moms who garden, you could find something special for sunny, shady or dry gardens from the hardy native plants sold by Kim Reinke of Pasque Flower Farm of Pardeeville, who notes that her shooting star and prairie smoke plants will be blooming for Mother’s Day. Or pick up a large pot at the hardware store and fill it with various herb plants, which Blue Moon Community Farm of Stoughton and Kopke’s Fruit of the Bloom of Oregon staff agree should do fine outside except for basil. Wait a few weeks before exposing that herb to the elements.

Vendors selling the beautiful hanging baskets can help you choose what you need, whether your Mom would put it in a shady spot and would do best with impatiens or petunias — or needs plants that tolerate full sun, such as such as geraniums, lobelia and verbena. The helper for Indian Trail Greenhouse of Martinsville cautioned that overnight temps should be at least 50 before you leave the baskets out overnight, although Natalie’s Garden and Greenhouse of Oregon has been leaving plants outside during this fickle spring.

If Mom has a sweet tooth, among your shopping choices are TerraSource Gourmet Chocolates of Madison for dark chocolates made by Josie Pradella, Murphy Farms of Soldiers Grove for quick-bread mini loaves (pumpkin, raspberry, lemon-poppy seed and so much more), or Dolci Italian-American Sweets of Madison, where you can buy a mixed bag if you can’t pick just one of Sandra Hunter’s biscotti flavors (sesame seed, wine, double chocolate and other temptations). If Mom’s tastes tend to savory, surprise her by putting together your own basket of cheese and Potter’s Crackers of Madison. The crackers come in multiple flavors, but classic white or wheat would be best if you’re packaging it with something like Rose Blossom fresh goat cheese with a blooming rind, the latest in the “Rose” series from Dreamfarm of Cross Plains. Diana Murphy of Dreamfarm explains that she named the series in memory of her mother, who died in a car accident.

If you’re more of a heater and eater than baker and cook, wow Mom with pasty from Jordandal Farm of Argyle, such as the Breakfast Sausage Pasty with sage pork sausage, potatoes, onion, bacon, Cheddar cheese and more. There are two frozen pasties per box to bake – straight from the freezer – in under an hour and serve as is or with ketchup or hot sauce. Jordandal also sells savory sage breakfast sausage, Canadian bacon and cottage bacon – which looks like thin slices of a shoulder roast – frozen for those who want to let it thaw overnight in the fridge and cook Mother’s Day breakfast from scratch.

That bacon would pair nicely with the Fondue Blend – 60 percent Emmentaler Swiss and 40 percent Gruyere – from Edelweiss Creamery of Monticello for quiche Lorraine, which is simple to make when you start with a prepared frozen pie crust. Bruce Workman of Edelweiss also noted that the grated cheese would be a great addition to a fresh spinach or asparagus quiche and also is “unbelievable” on pizza, whether that’s a simple tomato-basil-cheese pizza or shopper Cheryl Busuttil’s Westside Community Market Spring Pizza using vegetables from your choice of vendors and ground elk from Hawks Hill Elk Ranch.

Thanks to Cheryl for that recipe and another shopper,Trish Orabi, for her asparagus-tomato pasta salad recipe! They’ll find $5 gift certificates waiting for them at the WCM Information Tent. Anyone else with a recipe to share is invited to send it to kalliosandra@yahoo.com or leave it at the Information Tent.

(About that rhubarb muffin recipe last week: It called for 12 ½ ounces of cake flour, which weighed out and measured comes to 3 ¼ cups plus 1 tablespoon.)

Recipe Corner

Westside Community Market Spring Pizza

(Cheryl Busuttil builds a pizza with Market toppings on her own whole grain crust, although she notes that Boboli or other prepared pizza crusts work well, too.)

Olive oil and butter for sautéing
Chopped fresh spinach, about 2 cups
Diced green onion, at least one or more green onion
2 large fresh heirloom tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves of crushed garlic or more to taste
Dash of kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon each dried oregano and basil (until the fresh is available)
4-6 large mushrooms of your choice, thickly sliced
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar (optional)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (optional)
¼ pound ground bison or elk (optional)
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper flakes
1 tablespoon dried sage (until fresh is available)
Pizza crust of your choice
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
4 ounces of your choice melting cheese, shredded

Sauté the spinach, green onion, tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper in olive oil; add oregano and basil. Sauté mushrooms in butter until lightly browned, then add to other vegetables, cooking the sauce until it’s thick and bubbly. If desired add 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil.

Fry ground bison or elk; add cayenne pepper flakes and sage, then season with salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Top pizza crust with the vegetable mixture and the meat. Add cheese.
Bake in oven according to pizza crust directions. After removing pizza from oven allow to cool for 5 minutes before slicing. Enjoy.

Trish’s Pasta & Vegetable Salad

(Trish Orabi provided a recipe for a pasta salad using Market vegetables such as asparagus and tomatoes.)

1 pound penne pasta, cooked al dente, rinsed, and drained
Olive oil (enough to lightly cover bottom of large fry pan)
½ large red onion, diced
1-2 tablespoons garlic, chopped
Asparagus, as much as desired, bias cut in 1-inch pieces
1-2 bell peppers (green, red or yellow), cut in strips then in about 1-inch pieces
Banana pepper to taste, chopped
Basil to taste, roughly chopped
Tomatoes, as much as desired, cut in bite-size pieces
Italian dressing of your choice

Put cooked, rinsed, and drained pasta in large bowl.

In large fry pan, heat olive oil.  Add onion and garlic and cook just until onion is slightly translucent; add asparagus, bell peppers and banana peppers and sauté only until asparagus is warmed through but still crisp.

Pour sautéed veggies over pasta and mix together; let cool just a little. Add chopped basil and tomatoes; mix again.  Add Italian dressing a little bit at a time, tasting as you add.  (I like just enough to taste it, but it adds a little extra zing to the salad.)

Serve this salad warm or cold.  Refrigerate leftovers and enjoy until it’s gone.

Note:  You can also grate some Parmesan cheese into the salad.

Quiche Me Quick, Lorraine

Deep-dish frozen pie crust
1 cup Fondue Cheese (grated blend of Emmentaler Swiss and Gruyere)
Several pieces of cooked bacon, roughly chopped
1 cup heavy cream or whipping cream (not half-and-half)
3 eggs (4 eggs if they’re small)
Pinch of salt

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place pie crust in its pie tin on a baking sheet. Spread cheese on bottom of crust, then top with bacon. In a small bowl, mix cream, eggs and salt and pour on top of the bacon. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until custard puffs up, browns a bit and tests done (stick a knife or skewer in the center to see if the custard is set or still wet). Remove from oven and let stand at least 5 minutes to set up before slicing.

Variation: To make a vegetarian quiche, cook 1-inch pieces of asparagus in a small amount of water until cooked but not mushy; drain well then mix cooked asparagus with the 1 cup grated cheese, place in the crust and add the cream-egg mixture.

Invite your friends and neighbors out for a cup of coffee Saturday morning, then bring them to the Market: 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. 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.

As a special treat for these early season Saturdays, the WCM is offering free hot chocolate as well as coffee. The hot chocolate will be available from about 8:30 a.m. until it’s gone. When you are at the WCM Information Tent, fill out a chance to win the raffle and win a $5 WCM gift certificate.

Until next week,
Sandy Kallio
for the Westside Community Market

Send recipes to: kalliosandra@yahoo.com