Famers' Market Finds
Today was the second time I went to the Jacksonville Farmers' Market. What is interesting is when I tell people I'm going they always ask "the one over on (what ever) street"? And then I politely correct them as to which one. But to be fair, there are a lot of Farmers' Markets in the area. None as neat as the one in Greensboro, which is really sad since this is such a large city, surrounded by lots of farm land.
Anyway, the first time I went was back in April. I got a good haul. 5 ears of white corn on-the-cob for $2, artichokes for 3/$5, the zucchini were $2 for all four of them, the eggplant was $1, the plums were super sweet and I got all of them for $2.
I blanched, wrapped and froze the corn for future use. Then I picked up some pine nuts and a red pepper to add to what I already had.
My recipes also required some mushrooms, lemon juice and anchovies. Since I couldn't find anchovies, I used anchovy paste instead.
I made a stuffing for the artichokes using the pine nuts and anchovy paste.
I sort of stuffed the artichokes. Aside from the fact that I had over cooked the artichokes prior to stuffing them, they were really good.
I added the red pepper, some tomatoes, onions and garlic to the zucchini and eggplant and made a pot of Ratatouille.It is a French provincial vegetable stew.
I eat it by the bowl fulls, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and with garlic toast on the side.
I went back again today, turns out I was 3 days off from it having been an entire month since my last visit. I got blueberries that are sweet and super fresh. They are going into my pancakes for Sunday breakfast. The mangoes smell incredibly sweet. The portabellas were $2 for the pair, or I could have gotten 6 of them for $5. Plaintains with tinges of green still on them, perfect for making chips or grating, shaping and frying up as Tostones. But the real scores were the scallops and the smoked salmon.
The scallops look fantastic. I asked the man if they were "dry" scallops and he said that 3 weeks ago he had no idea what a "dry" scallop was, but yes, these are "dry" scallops. I bought 1/2 a pound for Saturday's supper. He did mention that they are in a watered down orange juice mixture to keep them fresh. Can't wait to grill these babies tonight.
As I browsed around at other stuff this booth had, I spied some smoked salmon. They smoke it themselves, in a corner of their booth. He suggested that, if the salmon made it home, I pop it in the microwave for maybe 45 seconds just to barely warm it up and bring out the flavors. It made it home but only because I took the highway. Once in the door I dove right in, hence the missing section. This stuff is out of this world wonderful. I ate half of it cold for lunch and will heat up the other half tomorrow.
The fish man is the only one at the market. They also have fresh caught fish which they will clean for you, and right off the boat Mayport shrimp - which means really local and super fresh. He also sells snow crab clusters and calamari rings that are the size of onion rings. This booth alone is worth the trip.
Anyway, the first time I went was back in April. I got a good haul. 5 ears of white corn on-the-cob for $2, artichokes for 3/$5, the zucchini were $2 for all four of them, the eggplant was $1, the plums were super sweet and I got all of them for $2.
I blanched, wrapped and froze the corn for future use. Then I picked up some pine nuts and a red pepper to add to what I already had.
My recipes also required some mushrooms, lemon juice and anchovies. Since I couldn't find anchovies, I used anchovy paste instead.
I made a stuffing for the artichokes using the pine nuts and anchovy paste.
I sort of stuffed the artichokes. Aside from the fact that I had over cooked the artichokes prior to stuffing them, they were really good.
I added the red pepper, some tomatoes, onions and garlic to the zucchini and eggplant and made a pot of Ratatouille.It is a French provincial vegetable stew.
I eat it by the bowl fulls, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and with garlic toast on the side.
I went back again today, turns out I was 3 days off from it having been an entire month since my last visit. I got blueberries that are sweet and super fresh. They are going into my pancakes for Sunday breakfast. The mangoes smell incredibly sweet. The portabellas were $2 for the pair, or I could have gotten 6 of them for $5. Plaintains with tinges of green still on them, perfect for making chips or grating, shaping and frying up as Tostones. But the real scores were the scallops and the smoked salmon.
The scallops look fantastic. I asked the man if they were "dry" scallops and he said that 3 weeks ago he had no idea what a "dry" scallop was, but yes, these are "dry" scallops. I bought 1/2 a pound for Saturday's supper. He did mention that they are in a watered down orange juice mixture to keep them fresh. Can't wait to grill these babies tonight.
As I browsed around at other stuff this booth had, I spied some smoked salmon. They smoke it themselves, in a corner of their booth. He suggested that, if the salmon made it home, I pop it in the microwave for maybe 45 seconds just to barely warm it up and bring out the flavors. It made it home but only because I took the highway. Once in the door I dove right in, hence the missing section. This stuff is out of this world wonderful. I ate half of it cold for lunch and will heat up the other half tomorrow.
The fish man is the only one at the market. They also have fresh caught fish which they will clean for you, and right off the boat Mayport shrimp - which means really local and super fresh. He also sells snow crab clusters and calamari rings that are the size of onion rings. This booth alone is worth the trip.
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