Coleman Jewett

On a sad note, a long time market vendor Coleman Jewett died last week. He was best known for his Adirondack style chairs which he sold from a booth near the entrance to the Kerrytown shops.

January 19, 2013

You know it has been a mild winter when Dennis Sparr is at the Market with flowers in mid-January.   This is my usual post to announce Spring has arrived.

In this mild winter the hoop houses have performed very well.  Multiple vendors had cold hardy leafy green vegetables, like the kale of the previous post for sale.  Tantre farms had a very nice display of root veggies and squash.  Garden Works was there with many sprouts.

Kale, Carrot, and Mushroom Soup

It is winter again.  I was feeling like some hot soup for lunch or dinner.  The vegetables that caught my attention at the Market were kale and carrots.  I decided to do a simple vegetable soup.

First let's consider a basic clear broth soup.  It just requires a liquid base and some solids.  Here is a ratio that I like for vegetable soups; 1 quart liquid, 2 to 4 cups assorted veggies. The liquid can be chicken broth, vegetable broth, or other base. Noodles or tofu can be substituted for some or all of the vegetables. 

In this particular soup I chose the kale and carrots because both are available at the Market, I like both, and the color contrast makes for a very nice presentation.  The approximate recipe for this particular batch was:

1 qt liquid stock
1 cup carrots cut into 1/4 inch slices (available at the market)
1 cup mushrooms, sliced (seasonally available at the Market)
1 cup kale, chopped and with the center stem removed (from Our Family Farm)

It is basically equal liquids and solids allowing for some boil off of the liquid.  The preparation is to heat the liquid to boiling, reduce to simmering and add the vegetables. Add the ones with the longest cooking times first and then the others.  Carrots take about 5 minutes, so I added them first, I added the mushrooms after about 3 minutes and then added the kale last and just left it long enough to turn a bright green.

For the soup in the picture, I used green tea, ginger and miso for the liquid.  I added the miso and a pinch of crushed dried chilies just before serving.   Those familiar with Japanese cooking will recognize the miso as a common Japanese soup base somewhat similar to bouillon cubes in western cooking.   For those that are not familiar with miso I will do a post on it soon.

Glazed Carrots and Parsnips

The Saturday Market is active in winter but there are fewer vendors.  Also the produce does not change as much since it is things that store well or are grown in greenhouses or hoop houses.  So rather than the usual photographs and comments on new items coming into season I am going to do a few posts on the preparation of items from the Market and the nearby shops.

In this series I am going to present the reasons for doing something in addition to the process of preparing the item.  Hopefully this will be helpful to others in deciding to prepare Market items.  For the first in this series let's discuss the glazed carrots and parsnips that I prepared for our Christmas dinner.

I selected the carrots and parsnips because I wanted vegetables from the Market for a traditional family dinner.  I wanted a dish that my parents or grandparents might have served.  Carrots and parsnips store well, even in a simple root cellar.  The dish had to be prepared on the stove top since the oven would be in use, first for the roast beef and then for the Yorkshire pudding.  Here is a vegetable dish and a method of preparation that meets those conditions.

First steam the carrots and parsnips.  I steamed the carrots for only about 4 minutes and the parsnips for about 2 min.  I chose to possibly error on the undercooked side because I prefer veggies that are still a little hard to those cooked to mush.  The steaming step is not required but serves several purposes.   It allows refrigeration of the vegetables after peeling and cutting without concern they might change color.  I did it the day before so that there was one less thing to do on the day of the dinner. Also, since carrots take longer to cook than parsnips it allows the final step of glazing two vegetables simultaneously that have different cooking times.  

So how do you do the final glazing?  You need some butter or oil, some form of sugar and a bit of acid for a sweet/sour balance.  Here is the approximate ratios I used:

2 cups carrots, sliced into small sticks
2 cups parsnips sliced into small sticks
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons honey (from the Market)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Just heat the butter, honey and lemon juice in a pan until hot.  Add the steamed carrots and parsnips and cook over medium heat with stiring until the sugar in the honey begins to caramelize, about 10 minutes.  Note the color change in the pan and on the parsnips in the photo.

Winter at the Market 2012- 2013

The Saturday Market does not close in the winter, but the Wednesday Market does.  There is a reduced number of vendors but the vendors of meat, fish and eggs will be there all winter.   Vendors with root vegetables, fruit or other produce that stores well will be there all winter or until their supplies sell out.  Vendors with green houses or hoop houses will be there many Saturdays if the weather is not too severe.

Winter is actually a good time to start visiting the Market.  It is not crowded and parking is much easier.  Winter is also a good time for a sample visit to the Kerrytown Shops and the Peoples Food Co-op.   Many items not available at the Market in winter will be available at these shops.

Christmas Dinner 2012

Our Christmas dinner was from the Market, the Kerrytown shops, and the Peoples Food Cooperative; just as it has been for many past years.  The pinwheel appetizers in the above photo were made from sliced meat from Sparrow Meat Market, salmon from Monahan's Seafood Market, cream cheese and tortillas from the Peoples Co-op.  The dinner included:

Standing Rib Roast (Sparrow Market)
Yorkshire Pudding  (Our Family Farm eggs)
Honey Glazed Carrots, Parsnips and Brussels Sprouts (vendors and Sparrow Market)
Mincemeat Tarts (Mincemeat from Sparrow Market)

Here is a link to an earlier post on this blog with a picture of a Christmas standing rib roast.

I often hear people say they would like to see a supermarket in downtown.  This combination is a downtown supermarket, and it is a very good one.  The Market simply has the freshest seasonal produce in town.   In winter it has fresh cold tolerant hoop house greens, local grown green house vegetables, and local grown root vegetables that store well.  It also has local fruit, like apples, that store well.

I think Sparrow Market in Kerrytown is the best meat market in town.   The quality is very good and the selection is quite diverse.   Sparrow Market carries many other products, such as dried Michigan beans, dried chilies, even canned chilpotle peppers in adobo sauce that I could not find at a much larger food store.   They also carry citrus and other non-local fruit.  The emphasis is on the ingredients, not on prepared foods.   This is similar to the Market and complements it

The Peoples Food Cooperative is another very good store in the area of the Market.  Their selection of bulk grains, nuts, flours, spices, etc is outstanding.   They also have a reasonable selection of fruits and vegetables.   As a final note, you do not need to be a member to shop there.  If you shop there a lot becoming a member may reduce your shopping costs, but all are welcome.   Visit and try it if you have not.

There will never be a classic Kroger's; in downtown Ann Arbor; that is, a mammoth store with acres of free parking.   The real estate cost is just prohibitive.  But what we have now, specialty stores that complement each other is better.  I spend far more at the Market and these shops than I do at the Kroger's which is closer to my home.

The Market December 15, 2012

The Market is still very strong this winter.     It is a combination of a mild winter and vendors are more adventuresome in considering their offerings. Here is an example.     Carpenter's Greenhouse is now selling dried Carmen peppers.     Here is a photo.     There should be more peppers in the photo, but, well, I ate about half of them before I took the photo on noon Saturday.

They are sweet peppers, not hot.     Very tasty.     I don't really don't know how to cook with them because I have always eaten them as a snack within a day of the Market.     If you need to cook with them, think sun dried tomatoes with a roasted red pepper flavor.

I very much like seeing vendors like Carpenter Greenhouse extending their product variety with dried or other processed produce.     This will help the Market.    It gives the vendors increased reason to come in the off season.     It also encourages more customers to come to the Market in the winter.