Farmers’ Market – Page 7 – Salem Main Streets

Playing with Your Food 2014 – Week 5

Jul 172014

Broccoli Rabe at Heaven’s Harvest Farm – Week 5

“Playing With Your Food” is a weekly post highlighting a few of the many great uses for the wide range of produce and artisan food at the Salem Farmers’ Market. While we can never predict exactly what our farms will be able to bring each week, we do our best to reflect some of the fun items we’ve found recently and what’s likely to be available for the upcoming week. Hopefully this will give you a few new ideas to play with, and inspire you to try some new things at the market.

Some weeks, I have specific recommendations for you based on well-tested plans and recipes that I’ve made with my farmers’ market produce. This was not one of those weeks. Instead, I basically decided to thrown anything and everything I had into a pan and hoped for the best (“Market Surprise”!). But honestly, that’s part of the fun of the farmers’ market, and part of the purpose of this blog series – sometimes you just have to play with the ingredients and see what you like. So let’s see what we played with this week:

“Market Surprise” Pasta – Version 1

– Dried Shiitake Mushrooms from Salem Spice – you can either reconstitute dried mushrooms in liquid or crumble them up into sauce. I had never tried this before, but I took Salem Spice owner Dave Bowie’s advice and let mine soak in a little warm white wine for at least 15 minutes (I bet Mill River Winery’s “Plum Island White” would be perfect for this). When I was ready to start cooking, I threw the mushrooms and the wine they’d been soaking in into a saute pan together.

– Broccoli Rabe from Heaven’s Harvest Farm – I’d never actually cooked broccoli rabe before. When I got home from the market and did my research, it was not encouraging – there were endless warnings online about how to get the bitterness out, apparently those lovely little yellow flowers I’d been drawn to indicate a plant that’s past its prime, on and on. Don’t overthink it; it will be fine. I just removed the thicker, woody stalks, chopped everything into large bites, boiled it for about 5 minutes, blanched it with cold water, then sautéed it with the mushrooms for about 5 minutes.

– Wild Garlic Scape Pasta from Valicenti Organico – we discussed scapes last week. When I saw this new seasonal pasta variety at Valicenti’s stand last week, I realized that garlic scapes have officially taken over the market (not a bad thing) and I absolutely had to try it. Not only is it delicious, but the tangy, garlicky flavor of the pasta also saves you the trouble of having to slice up any other aromatics. Their fresh pasta usually only takes a minute or two to cook in boiling water, so don’t overdo it!

*Fresh pasta tip: after you drain your pasta, add it to the saute pan with your sauce and cook for half a minute more to let the flavors combine.

– Primo Sale from Wolf Meadow Farm – Luca from Wolf Meadow introduced me to Primo Sale cheese (literally “first salt”), and I am now a convert. I grated some over the top of my pasta to add a little extra salt and flavor to the dish.

The only non-market items I used were the wine and a squeeze of lemon at the very end. Just these four fresh market ingredients made for an incredibly complex and hearty meal! What’s your favorite haphazard market dish?

Playing With Your Food 2014 – Week 4

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Jul 102014

Lots of pink and green going on after Week 3 of the market!

“Playing With Your Food” is a weekly post highlighting a few of the many great options for the range of produce and artisan food at the Salem Farmers’ Market. While we can never predict exactly what our farms will be able to bring each week, we will do our best to reflect some of the fun items we’ve found recently and what’s likely to be available for the upcoming week. Hopefully this will give you a few new ideas to play with, and inspire you to try some new things at the market.

This is a big transitional time of year at the market. It’s time to say goodbye to many of our early summer favorites – strawberries and rhubarb are either gone or starting to slow down, snag them immediately if you find them! – but raspberries and other summer berries are showing up and we’re starting to hear rumors of sweet corn. That said, many of our market staples are in full swing! Greens of all sorts, radishes, peas, beets, and herbs are busting out all over the place. Here are a few things we’ve been playing with:

Garlic scapes, herbs, and more at Maitland Mountain Farm – Week 3

Garlic Scapes

When I was first introduced to garlic scapes a few years back, I could swear that I’d never seen or heard of them before. Now they seem to be everywhere! Milder than garlic but with a satisfying crunch, these fun, curly, green shoots can be used in plenty of recipes to substitute garlic. They’re fantastic in stirfry, pesto, sauteed with pasta, you name it. We’re particularly interested to try these Garlic Scape Pancakes – if you’ve made them, let us know what you think!

Radishes

Radishes will be with us for a long time throughout the market, but the lighter, delicate radishes seem to make their appearance earlier in the season (like the “french breakfast” radishes that we snagged from Grant Family Farm this week). We’ll have lots more to say about radishes as the summer progresses, but right now we’re happy to simply sautee them with butter, salt, and pepper.

Shelling peas and basil at Long Hill Orchard Farm – Week 3.

Shelling Peas

Last time we talked about pea tendrils, but now we’ve gotten to the part we were really waiting for – the peas themselves. For me, there’s nothing as sweet or satisfying as those big, fat peas eaten raw right out of the shells, but there’s so many different things you can do with them – from pea puree (to complement your fresh fish from Rowand’s) to a pea-ricotta torte for brunch (especially if you’ve grabbed some fresh ricotta from Wolf Meadow Farm)!

Herbs

Whether from the greenhouse or outdoors, or your own herb garden if you have one, we’re seeing lettuce-size bunches of herbs all around and can’t seem to go through them fast enough. We’ve been drying them, throwing them in any pasta or sauce-based dish we can, adding them to marinades, making simple syrups, and there still seems to be more! What’s your favorite way to use up an abundance of herbs?

Last week at home, we had grand schemes for each of these ingredients – and then decided we’d really rather combine them all together sauteed in butter, salt, and pepper for a fantastic early summer side dish. Happy market hunting!

Sautee radishes, garlic scapes, and peas in butter, then toss with fresh mint for a beautiful side dish!

Thursday, Salem Farmers Market and You!

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Jun 132014

You missed it didn’t you? Admit it. You put it on your calendar that the Salem Farmers Market grand opening for the 2014 season was Thursday, June 12th. And you forgot about it. Don’t worry. It will take place next Thursday and every Thursday until Oct. 23rd from 3-7pm in our Derby Square.

Vegetables by the ounce, pound and bushel await you. Plus a great deal more (eggs, strawberries, apple cider, tomatoes, greens, pretzels, honey, cookies, and cheese). Several of the tables we hear were cleaned out.

The mission of a “Farmers Market” is to enhance the quality of life in the Salem downtown area by providing a community activity that fosters social gathering and interaction.

You the shopper are given the rare opportunity to interact with the person who grew or made the items on the table for purchase. You can ask questions. Where did it come from? How was it grown? How fresh is it based on how long it took to get to market?

According to a survey conducted by Farmers Markets Today magazine, more than 85% of farmers market vendors traveled fewer than 50 miles to sell at a farmers market in 2008. In fact, more than half of farmers traveled less than 10 miles to their market, according to a 2006 USDA survey.

You are supporting local agriculture and producers by providing a direct market for their produce and goods. And believe it or not you are also bringing business to local merchants.

The Farmers Market Coalition reports that a 2010 study of the Easton Farmers Market in Pennsylvania, for example, found that 70% of farmers market customers are also shopping at downtown businesses, spending up to an extra $26,000 each week.

Therefore we invite you to come to Salem for our Farmers Market, and then stay to visit our diverse selection of shops, stores and restaurants. (Photographs courtesy of Social Palates)

TY, Thanx, Thank you

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Nov 102013

Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections once a year, but when you volunteer, you vote every day about the kind of community you want to live in. (Marjorie Moore, Minds Eye Information Service, Belleville, IL, USA

Contributions made by area volunteers at various Salem sites were spotlighted recently at a Volunteer Appreciation Party held at the National Park Service Visitor Center.

Salem Main Streets partnered with the City of Salem, National Park Service, and Destination Salem to honor the over 100 wonderful volunteers from the October Information Booth, the “Shutdown Booth” and the Salem Farmers’ Market. Speakers at the event included (pictured) Kate Fox of Destination Salem, Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll, Kylie Sullivan of Salem Main Streets and Jonathan Parker of the National Park Service. (photo by Karen Scalia)

Besides “thank you’s” being handed out, we also had a number of “fun facts” to share that night.

The Salem Farmers’ Market served over 37,000 shoppers, the Shutdown Booth helped over 13,000 people, and our own Info Booth responded to multiple questions posed by more than 25,000 visitors.

Being a volunteer is a win-win-win situation here in Salem. You are helping your community. You are helping people from outside the community better understand Salem. And you are making yourself feel good about sharing your spare time.

And as a further thank you, local restaurants generously donated fantastic food for the event, creating quite the spread! Donating restaurants included Adriatic Restaurant & Bar, Caffe Graziani, Capt’s Waterfront Grill & Pub, Finz, Flying Saucer Pizza Company, Gulu-Gulu Cafe, Life Alive, Opus, Salem Waterfront Hotel, Village Tavern, and Victoria’s Station.

Don’t ever question the value of volunteers. Noah’s Ark was built by volunteers; the Titanic was built by professionals. (Dave Gynn, Coleman Professional Services, Ohio, USA )

What Do We Do For An Encore?

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Nov 022013

What makes Salem the great place it is to live and work in is that there is always something going on that is different than what just finished. Point in fact, we just closed out the craziness of Haunted Happenings. Before the dust settles we shift to the serenity of fine dining and the casualness of shopping at a winter market.

Beginning Sunday Nov. 3 through Thursday Nov. 7th and repeating the following week Nov 10-14, the 7th annual Salem Fall Restaurant Week offers an invitation to residents, and anyone within driving distance along the North Shore.

Participating Salem restaurants (over 20 at this point) will offer either a prix-fixe two-course dinner menu for $18 or a prix-fixe three-course dinner menu for $28. Some restaurants will offer both course options. Prices are per person and exclude beverages, tax, and gratuity. This event is sponsored by the Salem Chamber of Commerce. Check their website or their blog for an updated list of participating restaurants, menus and offerings.

But what if you are the master chef— your family the only regular customers? Then we have a supply of fresh products for your table, beginning Nov. 7th when the Salem Winter Market opens its doors in Old Town Hall.

It will include produce from local farms, pasture-fed meat, spices, pickles, soup, baked goods, artisan soap, jewelry, wreaths, and more. All items are grown or produced in New England.

“The Winter Market is a fantastic opportunity to support local farms and artisans through the holiday season,” states Kylie Sullivan, manager of Salem Main Streets and organizer of the market. “We’re very excited to showcase so many summer farmers’ market favorites as well as some new vendors in this historic space.”

Current vendors at the 2013 Winter Market include:

Farm Vendors (produce): Clark Farm, Grant Family Farm, Long Hill Orchard & Farm, Wally’s Vegetables

Non-Farm Vendors (not produce): Big Sky Bakery (bread), Fishwives Specialty Foods/Mandy’s Seafood Chowder (chowder), Piper Ranch (meat), Salem Spice (spices, also selling Maitland Mountain Farm’s pickles), Valicenti Organico (pasta/sauces), Wolf Meadow Farm (cheese)

Artisan Vendors: Salem Soapworks, Shine Jewelry/Heritage Industries

This list is still subject to growth.

The Market will run six weeks on Thursdays from 3 – 6 p.m., Nov.7 through Dec. 19. There will be no Market the week of Thanksgiving. Old Town Hall is adjacent to Derby Square where the Summer Farmers’ Market is held.

The market is made possible through the generous support of Mayor Kimberley Driscoll and the City of Salem, the Salem Chamber of Commerce, and Mass in Motion Salem, as well as numerous volunteers. The market participates in the SNAP program and will accept the EBT card at the market.

For more information or to volunteer, contact Kylie Sullivan, Salem Main Streets Manager, at 978-744-0004 or kylie@salemmainstreets.org, or visit http://salemmainstreets.org/salem-winter-market/ . You can also follow Salem Main Streets on Facebook and Twitter to keep current on Winter Market news.

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