Now there's a headline you don't see too often.
This week, Spain at Home will once again be preparing authentic paella from scratch at the market in a ginormous paella pan, or paellera, like the ones you see at La Boquería in Barcelona.The last time they were at the CFM they could not dish the paella out quickly enough. No surprise, the smell of saffron wafted all the way to the parking lot.
To accompany said paella, we've, we've invited Ed "Ted" Horan, flamenco guitarist, to perform this week under the music tent. This is as good a time as any to once again thank Sari Shaw of COMPASS for her generous sponsorship of our music program at the CFM.
If they run out before you get there and you want to make your own paella at home try this easy Mark Bittmann pared-down paella recipe, easy enough to make on a weeknight. Don't have a paella pan? Use a cast-iron skillet instead. Guaranteed to taste delicious if you use shrimp from Pura Vida. Or, as an alternative, chicken from Sova Farm and/or spicy sausage from Premier Pastures.
Orchard Hill Organics is indeed bringing paw paw fruit this week. They are the only vendor in our market group that grows them and sells them, even though they are in fact native to this region, unlike apples which were introduced by Europeans.
In fact, George Washington was a huge fan of paw paws and loved to eat them for dessert, chilled. The paw paw is a small shrubby deciduous tree that sprouts purple flowers in the spring and produces large oblong fruit that ripen in September. The pale yellow flesh is soft and custard-y, and has a bright, almost tropical flavor: imagine a a cross between a mango and a banana. The fruit is picked when it is soft and ripe and does not travel well which is why you can find paw paws at farmers markets, not supermarkets. The flesh of a paw paw lends itself well to baking.
Use paw paw instead of banana in your favorite banana quick bread recipe.
Or, you can try this NYT recipe for paw paw pudding. If you read the comments you'll see that most people reduced the amount of sugar used in this recipe, fyi. The recipe calls for ground ginger, but remember that Fort Hill Farm sells fresh ginger and using fresh ginger makes such a bright difference. In fact, here's a handy guide for cooking with fresh ginger in general.
Jennifer Hernandez, the goddess behind Aya Hummus is getting into the fall spirit this week with a special pumpkin chipotle flavor. The other day, I was standing in for her at her booth (so she could go buy some paella for her market lunch) and I overheard a customer tell another shopper who was having trouble deciding which flavor to get "just go ahead and get two or three. You'll be glad you did."
And so she did.
Love that.
Love mushroom risotto but aren't patient enough to stand by your stovetop and stir? Hodgins Harvest Mushrooms is now making mushroom risotto kits. You're welcome.
Other rotating vendors this week: 123 Dough, Nahmias & Fils Distillery, Kontoulis Olive Oil and Nutmeg Bakery/Cafe, Cleo's Cauli-Tots, Larchmont Charcuterie, Manor Sangria, and the Poke Motion Food Truck is back!
See you at the market!