Four journalists. Four foodies. Four markets. For fun.
While all of us are frequent market shoppers who enjoy spending time in the kitchen, we wanted to get a sense of the unique items available at some of the city’s smaller farmers’ markets.
What’s the character of each market? What unique ingredients are available there? Each of us picked one to visit, planning to make a meal with what we found.
Our spending limit was $40, and we included a challenge to the home chefs: one of the ingredients must be unfamiliar, or something you haven’t cooked with before. The result was new inspiration for each of us, and a reminder to venture out of our cooking comfort zones. (And a toast to the Journal Sentinel, which sent its reporters on a similar mission in the Milwaukee area.)
Mayor Dave and spicy peanut sauce on the Southwest Side
By CHRIS MARTELL | Wisconsin State Journal | cmartell@madison.com
Strolling through a farmers’ market on a beautiful day is on my list of life’s greatest pleasures.
But not on a recent Wednesday. It was pushing 90 degrees and the humidity had given me Chia Pet hair. The Southwest Farmers’ Market in the parking lot of the United Church of Christ, 1501 Gilbert Road, which I’d never visited before, didn’t look too promising, either. The market here began last summer, so there are still just a few stands, and a light crowd.
Yet within moments, thoughts of the heat and my hair problem evaporated. I was greeted by friendly women at the information booth, who offered me recipes for produce that was available that day. A violinist and cellist were playing in the tent beside them. And within a half hour, I’d bumped into two bona fide celebrities.
One of them was farmer Robert Pierce, who is six degrees of separation from Michelle Obama through his friendship and partnership with urban agriculture guru Will Allen of Milwaukee. Pierce told me about his All Blue potatoes, which, in addition to their lovely color, are more nutritious that other types of taters. I bought several, as well as Yukon golds and baby reds for a Tri-Color Potato Salad.
I also bought three types of his heirloom tomatoes: Oxheart (“because they look like ox hearts”), Black Brim (“the ones with the belly buttons”) and Brandywine, with delicate purplish lines on its skin. All three were easily the most flavorful tomatoes I’d ever tasted, and, as Pierce promised, the Brandywine was as sweet as its name implies. I used all three types in a recipe for Greek Tomatoes with Feta, a crowd-pleaser I’ve made for years with plum tomatoes.
Kohlrabi was my challenge ingredient. It’s not that pretty with its spiky skin, and I rarely see it on restaurant menus or in cookbooks. But at the market’s information booth, I’d picked up a recipe for kohlrabi pie that seemed promising, and which turned out quite well.
I was urged to try the chocolate peanut butter at the Yumbutter stand, and that’s where I met celebrity number two, Mayor Dave, who was sampling the Asian Jazz peanut spread on a pretzel. I bought a tub and made the Spicy Peanut Noodles recipe provided to me by the stand’s owner, Adrian Reif. It was easy to make, and spectacular.
The rest of the things I bought without particular recipes in mind, and just because I knew I’d find uses for them: cilantro, green onions, eggplant, zucchini, beets and a gorgeous bouquet of flowers.
Some of the vegetables didn’t wind up in the recipes printed here and online, so I used it the way I do all surplus produce, in what I call crustless vegetarian quiches: I take out a big skillet with a cover, dice an onion or two, cook it slowly in a bit of olive oil until they’re translucent. Then I slowly saute all the other veggies, along with garlic and spices, adding them at different stages depending on cook times until they’re tender.
While the veggies cool, I beat a half-dozen eggs, add a small carton of heavy cream and about a cup of grated cheese (whatever type is in the fridge) and bake about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
My excursion at the Southwest Farmers’ Market cost $28, and resulted in three side dishes and a number of entrees, some of which were frozen and will take us through August.
Friendly faces, fantastic produce at Northside Farmers Market
By LINDSAY CHRISTIANS | The Capital Times | lchristians@madison.com
Browsing the Northside Farmers Market, 1865 Northport Drive, is a bit like stepping up to the bar on an episode of “Cheers” — everybody knows everybody else, and they’re always glad you came.
As I gathered raspberries, fingerling potatoes and organic chicken on a recent Sunday, I began to understand all those studies that say people interact more at farmers’ markets than at conventional groceries.
I met Don and Marilyn Dralle of CC Angus Beef, raving about their grass-fed and finished beef bratwurst. The sausages come from cattle raised just south of Mineral Point.
“They’re not highly spiced or peppery,” Marilyn Dralle said. When she makes the dense, beefy brats, she boils then grills them, and serves them on top of kale or pasta. “People enjoy them a lot.”
I met Jimmy Hudson, Jr., up from his 13-acre farm in Monroe with such a wide variety of peppers, potatoes, tomatoes and beans, I marveled that it all came from one farm.
“I got different types of stuff,” Hudson said. “Jersualem artichokes, horseradish. A lot of fruit trees, but I don’t bring ‘em — cut flowers, perennials in the spring. Wild raspberries. I just sold this morning about 60 pounds of tomatoes.”
Hudson had help from his wife and two granddaughters, but Heidi Heimerl was working the stand for her father’s cheesemaking operation, Saxon Homestead Creamery, on her own. After sampling Saxon’s hard, raw milk cheeses, we ended up with a wedge of Pastures, with a creamy texture and a deep flavor. Cheese course? Check.
On the other side of the market, a grinning Polly Reott of Polly Jane’s Jams recommended jam to go with our cheese, a sweet one made with local plums and a healthy kick of ginger. Mix the plum jam with the Asian Jazz flavor of Yumbutter, as touted by Chris Martell, and it makes a fantastic salad dressing.
It was Reott who gave me the idea for the fruit I challenged myself to cook with. Ground cherries are small golden fruits encased in papery husks. At home, I shucked them, cleaned them, sliced each one in half (this was fiddly work, but worth it). I simmered them slowly with onions, basil, a little white wine and butter, then spooned the cherries on top of some big, beautiful chicken legs and thighs, also found at the Northside market.
The sauce, slightly sweet with a rich finish, was a highlight of our market meal. With the chicken, I made fingerling potatoes tossed in sunflower oil (made in the Driftless region of Wisconsin) and kale massaged with olive oil and tossed with dried cranberries and almonds. With the meal, we sipped a slightly sweet cava sangria from the new September Bon Appetit, nibbling on peaches and fishing for berries with tongs.
After our cheese course, we topped a local raspberry and rhubarb tart with old fashioned vanilla ice cream made by the Chocolate Shoppe. Sweet-tart and rustic, it was fantastic, something I’ll return to often — just like the Northside market.
A pizza created on the fly in Fitchburg
By SUSAN TROLLER | The Capital Times | stroller@madison.com
By Thursday evening, the simplicity of pizza always sounds like a perfect solution to that never-ending question: What’s for dinner?
For the market challenge, I chose the Fitchburg Farmers’ Market at the Agora Pavilion on Cheryl Parkway because it’s convenient, has some excellent farmer/producers and has a friendly, neighborly feel with musicians playing and little kids dancing along with the beat. And because the market takes place on Thursdays — 3 to 6 p.m. — it was inevitable to think about making homemade pizza using fresh, local ingredients.
I’m no pizza purist. I like any combination of complementary ingredients, from the conventional (sausage or pepperoni) to the quirky (blue cheese, beets, arugula and candied walnuts, fig and prosciutto, or even watermelon, black olives, feta and mint).
When it comes to the crust, our family often uses an all-purpose recipe from Marge Snyder and Suzanne Breckenridge’s “Wisconsin Herb Cookbook” that’s easy to mix up in the food processor. But it’s even easier and inexpensive to buy a ball of dough.
Raw dough for pizza from Gino’s on Verona Road is good, ditto Fraboni’s on Regent Street, Buck’s on University Avenue or Trader Joe’s on Monroe Street. Depending on size, dough balls range in price from under $1 to around $2. I bought three smallish balls of dough for $.75 each at Gino’s for a tasty base for three very different pizzas.
In August in Wisconsin, vine-ripened fresh tomatoes and basil are incomparable. There’s a huge variety of tomatoes available, from the sweet little Sun Gold tomatoes to the often mis-shapen but delicious heirloom types like Brandywine and Cherokee Purple. I scouted the market, and bought a range of sizes and colors, spending $4. I also bought a fragrant spray of fresh basil ($2) and some fresh mozzarella ($4) from Farmer John to make a classic margherita pizza.
In the Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough cookbook, “Pizza: Grill it, bake it, love it!” I found a recipe for a vegetarian Pizza Melanzane which layers eggplant cooked with garlic, olive oil, oregano, garlic and white wine or vermouth over tomato sauce and three kinds of cheese: ricotta, mozzarella and hard grating cheese. At the market, I found three beautiful little globe eggplants ($3), and I already had the cheese at home. For lovers of eggplant, this is an unusual, winning combination; even better the second day (if there’s any left!) when the flavors have combined and mellowed.
For the third option, my intention was to try something new: a BLT salad-style pizza, created from a recipe in the pizza cookbook. But Shoe and Sal’s, which sells organic meat at the Fitchburg market, was out of smoked bacon. I struck out with greens, too; by the time I arrived at the market at 5:30, there were only cabbage and mustard greens — no fresh lettuce.
But cabbage, and pizza? It sounded like a culinary challenge, so I bought some beautiful red onions ($3), purchased eight spicy Hungarian pork sausages ($9.75) from Shoe and Sal and went back to Farmer John for a chunk of smoked gouda cheese ($5.75). The combination, along with tomatoes and homemade tomato-based pizza sauce spiced with caraway seeds and sweet ground paprika was appealing in theory. Luckily, unlike some other culinary surprises, it was actually better on the plate than in the imagination. The cabbage, sauteed in butter, was sweet and tender, and paired well with the smoky cheese, caramelized onions, assertive sausage and spices.
I’ll make it again in a couple of months, when the assertive flavors and savory sausage could take the chill out of a late fall or winter evening.
Lion’s Mane mushrooms and summer butter on the East Side
By KATIE DEAN | The Capital Times | kdean@madison.com
I scanned the website of the Eastside Farmers’ Market for ideas ahead of venturing to the market located at the corner of Jenifer and S. Brearly Streets. The market is open from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays — my busiest work day — and I knew I wouldn’t have time to lollygag like I do on visits to the Saturday market Downtown.
My plan? Find the fixings for a quiche — a mealtime staple that I had never made before. I’m capable of throwing together a frittata with just about anything, but making a beautiful buttery crust was a feat I hadn’t yet attempted and was intimidated to try. This was my chance to conquer the crust phobia.
The market is modest — a handful of stands in an L-shaped parking lot — and attracts a crowd of neighborhood regulars, many of whom knew exactly what they were looking for. All of the vendors were friendly and helpful, offering advice on cooking techniques and ingredients.
I picked up a carton of beautiful brown speckled eggs ($4.50) for the quiche and a pack of jalapeno and Cheddar sticks (made with beef and pork, $5) for snacking on ahead of the meal, both from Trautman Family Farm in Stoughton.
At Bauman’s Natural Meats & Pheasants stand, Kalton Bauman, who also runs a catering business that will host your next pig roast, sold me a package of delicious smoked bacon.
I bought rainbow chard and basil ($1 each) — both potential quiche additions — plus a bouquet of zinnias ($3) for the table from Wendy Landau of Prairie Hill Farm in Cambridge. She then pointed me to the Nordic Creamery stand, which sells tubs of summer butter, something she buys and keeps in her freezer during the winter.
“It’s something special this market has,” said Landau, who operates a small CSA and only sells at the Eastside market. “It’s a deep yellow color and perfectly salty and delicious.”
Cheesemaker Al Bekkum and his son Torger, 12, were manning the Nordic stand, offering samples of butter and cheese. I purchased Al’s own invention, Capriko cheese made with goat’s milk, for the quiche, and the renowned summer butter.
“We only make it in the summertime when cows are on pasture,” said Al Bekkum of Westby, who also sells his products at the Green City Market in Chicago. “Anything grass-based tastes better.”
(Nordic’s products have attracted the attention of the chef at Sixteen, the restaurant in Chicago’s Trump International Hotel & Tower. The restaurant will host a farmers’ market there on Thursday, Sept. 2, and Nordic Creamery has been chosen to participate.)
As soon as I saw Kari and Joe Landis’ mushroom stand, I spotted my challenge ingredient: Lion’s Mane mushroom ($4). The poufy white fungi looks a little like cauliflower florets; it’s also called a Pom Pom mushroom.
Kari Landis said adding a little butter to the sauteed mushroom will “bring out the lobster meat flavor.” That sounded worth trying. The mushroom pulls apart easily, sort of like string cheese.
I picked up some Dave garlic ($1) — named for Dave Andrews of Arena — a mild garlic that I added to the mushroom saute. Kit Schmidt of Rio was selling make-your-own bouquet flowers and the garlic, which her husband Russ Hunseth grows.
I opted to make the mushroom dish as a side because I wanted to experience the unique flavor without other ingredients overwhelming the dish.
The quiche, made with onions, the rainbow chard and bacon, was a success, though I made a rookie mistake with the crust, which shrunk a bit in the oven as the dough wasn’t pressed over the side of the pan. But made with the summer butter, it had a wonderful, rich butter flavor.
A carton of raspberries, oyster mushrooms, shallots, leeks and a semolina baquette from Honey Bee Bakery ($3) also ended up in my market bag. The total came to about $30; enough for a quiche, more eggs and bacon for breakfast, plus the foundation for more delicious entrees and sides.
