Fall means you can dust off your soup tureens and wear your favorite socks. It also means that confectioner Shimon, of Raw Chocolate Love, can come out of "hibernation" with his exquisite, organic, hand-crafted chocolates. His chocolate, which doesn't take well to heat, is for serious choco-connoisseurs only, as it's made with PURE cacao and little else.
We are so happy to have Shimon back as his smile lights up any market he is in.
The same could be said for Hector, from Don Carvajal Cafe, despite the crazy year he's had – pandemic aside. Between trying to build a new roastery in a dilapidated building in the South Bronx, to applying for and securing grants from both Oatly and Nike (!), to a flooded warehouse (thanks, Ida), he's been burning the candle at both ends. So when he asked to take a week off from markets this week, we happily obliged. Fortunately, Cano Coffee was thrilled to step in. Carlos Cano imports beans from his family’s coffee estate in Colombia and roasts them in Maspeth, NY. They offer whole bean bold, medium and mild roasts. Their cold brew growlers are quite popular. You can also pick up a cup of hot or cold brew to sip as you shop the market. Try something new this week. Let us know what you think!
My daughter is having a rough week, what with working on a big English paper, college applications, a complicated science project, and physical therapy for a torn ACL. When asked what I could make for dinner that would sustain her, she had one request: this fall soup, a perennial in our fall dinner rotation. Roasting the vegetables and then pureeing some of them makes all the difference. This soup has the added benefit of making the house smell so very, very good.
Since I was roasting a head of garlic anyway for this soup I threw in an extra head to smother over some SOVA Farm chicken breasts I had marinated in olive oil and Berber spices before roasting. Their chicken is SO tender. SO flavorful. SO much better than most chicken I've eaten, it didn't need the garlic. And I'm usually a thigh gal. I'm so glad they've finally started displaying their chicken because I think many of you have been missing out – distracted, no doubt, by their bountiful cheese display. Pick up some thighs or breasts this week, but don't dawdle, because now that shoppers can see how pretty their packaging is, they're selling out. Also, one of our board members has started buying chicken feet and carcasses from them too to make her own uber-flavorful stock. Follow her lead!
For a whole chicken of course, it's hard to beat the plump birds at Premier Pastures. I'm always looking for new tricks to roast a whole chicken. This recipe which calls upon the fall spices you'd normally reserve for apple pie, or mulled wine, sounded intriguing. The picture of the finished product sealed the deal.Trying this over the weekend.
Broken Bow Brewery is bringing their pumpkin spice Oktoberfest lager. And Blondery is packing lots of her pumpkin blondies.
Fort Hill Farm and Wright's are bringing their misshapen, lumpy, bumpy and beautiful decorative gourds. Grab some for your kitchen sill to put you in the fall mood, since the leaves are taking their sweet time to turn this year.
The CFM is looking to hire one or two "assistant market managers" to help set-up and break down the market each week in addition to staffing the market table, selling merchandise and assisting shoppers and vendors as needed. If you know someone who is energetic and looking for a fun Saturday job please reach out to our board member, Nancy Silver, at info@chappaquafarmersmarket.org Thanks!
See you at the market!
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