Saratoga Farmers' Market

eggs

Buttery Breakfast Casserole

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Recipe by Melissa Clark of New York Times Cooking
Serves 6-8
Prep & cook time: 1 ½ hour, plus 4 hours of overnight chilling

Ingredients:
*Ingredients currently available at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market
● 1 pound croissants* (about 5 to 7), split in half lengthwise
● 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, more for baking dish
● 1 bunch scallions* (6 to 7), white and light green parts thinly sliced, greens reserved
● ¾ pound sweet Italian sausage*, casings removed
● 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage*
● 8 large eggs*
● 3 cups whole milk*
● 1 cup heavy cream*
● 8 ounces Gruyère or other smooth-melting, creamy cheese*, grated (2 cups)
● 1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt
● 1 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation:
1. Heat oven to 500 degrees. Spread croissants on a large baking sheet and toast, cut side up, until golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes (watch carefully to see that they do not burn). Let cool, then tear into large bite-size pieces.
2. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add sliced scallions and sausage meat; cook, breaking up meat with a fork until mixture is well browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in sage, and remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, toss together croissants and sausage mixture. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cream, 1 1/2 cups cheese, salt and pepper.
4. Lightly oil a 9- x 13-inch baking dish. Turn croissant mixture into the pan, spreading it out evenly over the bottom. Pour custard into pan, pressing croissants down gently to help absorb the liquid. Cover pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
5. When you’re ready to bake the casserole, heat oven to 350 degrees. Scatter the remaining grated cheese over the top of the casserole. Transfer to oven and bake until casserole is golden brown and firm to the touch, 45 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Garnish with sliced scallion tops before serving.

Squash Pie

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Recipe by New York Times and Bake from Scratch, prepared and shared by My Saratoga Kitchen Table
Makes one 9-inch pie

Photo by Pattie Garrett

Ingredients
*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market

Pie filling:
● 2 large eggs*, plus 2 egg yolks
● 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
● ½ cup dark brown sugar
● ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
● 1½ teaspoons ground ginger
● 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
● ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
● pinch cayenne pepper
● 1½ cups roasted squash* puree (butternut, honeynut, tetsukabuto, hubbard)
● ¾ cup heavy cream*

For gingersnap crust:
● 2 cups gingersnap crumbs
● ¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
● ½ teaspoon kosher salt
● ¼ cup unsalted butter*, melted

For maple whipped cream:
● ½ cup heavy whipping cream
● 2 Tablespoons maple syrup*

Instructions

Pie filling:

  1. Combine eggs, vanilla, sugar, salt and spices in a food processor and process until smooth. Add squash puree and process until smooth. With machine running, pour in heavy cream and process to combine.
  2. Scrape into pie crust and bake for 20 minutes at 300 degrees. Then turn up the oven to 325 degrees and continue baking for another 20 to 25 minutes until the filling is set 2⁄3rd of the way in from the perimeter and center still jiggles. Tent edges loosely with foil if browning too quickly.

    For gingersnap crust:
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together gingersnap crumbs, brown sugar, and salt. Add melted butter, stirring until well combined. Using the bottom of a measuring cup, gently press crumb mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9 inch pie plate. Bake 10 minutes. Let cool completely on wire rack.

    For maple whipped cream:
  4. In a bowl, beat the cream and maple syrup at high speed until stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes.


    Notes: To make butternut squash puree, coat 1 peeled, seeded, and quartered butternut squash with 1 Tablespoon olive oil. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast in a 400 degree oven until soft, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let cool completely. Scrape out the pulp. Transfer pulp to a food processor and process on high until pureed.

Cauliflower and Butternut Squash Carbonara

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Recipe featured on damndelicious.net, adapted by My Saratoga Kitchen Table

Makes 4 servings
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min

Ingredients
*All ingredients are currently available at the farmers’ market
● 8 ounces spaghetti*
● 2 large eggs*
● 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan*
● 4 slices bacon*, diced
● 2 cloves garlic*, minced
● Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
● 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves*

For the roasted cauliflower and butternut squash:
● 16 ounces cauliflower florets*
● ½ a butternut squash*, peeled and cubed
● 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil*
● 3 cloves garlic*, minced
● 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves*
● Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray.
  2. Place cauliflower florets and butternut squash cubes in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Add olive oil, garlic and thyme; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Gently toss to combine.
  3. Place into oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until tender and golden brown; set aside.
  4. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; reserve 1/2 cup water and drain well.
  5. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and Parmesan; set aside.
  6. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes; reserve excess fat.
  7. Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to low.
  8. Working quickly, stir in cauliflower, pasta and egg mixture, and gently toss to combine; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add reserved pasta water, one tablespoon at a time, cooking until desired consistency is reached.
  9. Serve immediately, garnished with thyme, if desired.
Photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

Slate River Rekindles Family Farming Roots

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By Elizabeth Horgan

Slate River Farms made its debut at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market in May, with eggs, poultry, and beef. A few weeks later, predators ambushed their flock, causing them to lose half their egg layers.

“We still do not know exactly what happened, but we believe that a pack of coyotes essentially ambushed the flock in broad daylight,” says Nellie Lovenduski, who owns the farm with her husband Eric and father-in-law Paul. “Not only is that super sad for us to lose so many animals all at once, but that also seriously cut into our egg supply for the summer.”

The family, however, regrouped, and Slate River now offers its eggs and meats regularly at the Wednesday market.

Photo courtesy of the Lovenduski Family

Risks of such loss are realities of farm life, and the Lovenduski family has lived with them for generations. The family began farming more than 100 years ago, after Joseph Lovenduski arrived in Burlington, New Jersey, from Poland. The farm saved his struggling family of 16 children through the Great Depression. Later, Eric’s grandfather moved to the Finger Lakes region of New York and farmed more than 2,500 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, and other crops. Eric’s uncle and father continued that practice for decades.

In 2016, Eric, Nellie and Eric’s father decided to re-invent the farm with a goal of providing high-quality meats and eggs to local markets. They acquired land in Easton and began what Nellie calls a “back to our roots” approach, focusing on intensive rotational grazing as the core of their practice. Such a method allows a herd to graze in a section of the pasture one day, and then another the next, rotating so as to allow the pasture time to regenerate.

Nellie Lovenduski of Slate River Farms, photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

At Slate River Farms, cattle live outside all year, eating grass from the pastures summer, spring and fall, and during the winter eat hay from their own field as well as organic minerals and sea kelp to boost their health. Chicken spend their days outside and at night are placed in shelters to protect them from predators.

Slate River Farms has received certifications from A Greener World as Animal Welfare Approved and as Certified Grassfed, as a result of their practices. The family takes pride in this achievement.

Carrot Souffle

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Recipe by The View from Great Island, shared by My Saratoga Kitchen Table
Serves: 6

INGREDIENTS
*Ingredients currently available at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market
● 2 pounds carrots*, peeled, trimmed, and cut into one-inch slices
● 1 cup buttermilk or whole milk*
● 5 large eggs*
● 1 teaspoon salt
● 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter*, softened
● 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
● 1½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese*
● ¼ cup all-purpose flour
● 1 teaspoon baking powder

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter 2-quart souffle dish.
  2. Steam carrots until tender. Place in a colander to drain liquid.
  3. In a bowl, blend buttermilk, eggs, and salt.
  4. In a food processor, blend carrots, butter, and sugar, until smooth.
  5. In a large bowl, combine buttermilk and carrot mixtures together. Stir in cheese, flour and baking powder. Pour into the prepared dish, spreading out evenly.
  6. Bake for an hour or longer, until puffed up and beginning to brown. It shouldn’t jiggle in the center or look wet inside the cracks.
  7. Serve hot with snipped chives.
Photo by Pattie Garrett

How to Buy an Egg

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By Mary Pratt

When shopping for produce or meat in supermarkets, there’s often no information about the origin of those products or how they were raised. At Saratoga Farmers’ Market, customers can easily get the “where and how” from our farmers.

One exception in grocery stores is the overwhelming amount of information on egg cartons. Some information is based on USDA definitions; some is advertising. Farm locations are often on the back of the cartons.

Ramble Creek Farm, photo by Pattie Garrett

According to USDA, farms can raise egg-laying hens in various ways. If a carton states nothing, this probably means the hens are in “battery cages,” 67-76 square inches per hen, smaller than a standard sheet of paper.

Other housing methods are cage-free, free-range, and pastured. “Cage-free” hens live indoors, with no requirement for the amount of space for each hen. “Free-range” hens have access to the outdoors, but that area may be very small and covered with concrete.

Otrembiak Farm, photo by Pattie Garrett

Although USDA hasn’t defined “pasture-raised,” pasture for hens should contain young grass and plants in addition to standard feed. Hens will also catch earthworms and insects. Research done by Mother Earth News and Penn State University concludes that these eggs are higher in Vitamins A, E, and D, and Omega-3 fatty acids, and lower in saturated fat and cholesterol.

Cartons labeled pastured eggs in winter should come from states where grass grows year round such as Texas, California, Georgia, Arkansas. In the Northeast, there is no pasture once the snow falls, until spring comes.

“No Hormones” on cartons means nothing because the Federal government
doesn’t allow hens to receive hormones. “No Antibiotics” means farms add none to the hens’ feed or water.

For eggs to be labeled ‘local’, the 2008 Farm Bill requires flocks to be less than 400 miles from processing, or within the state where eggs are laid and processed. Those eggs may be shipped anywhere in the U.S. By contrast, eggs at our Market come from farms less than 30 miles away.

These are the farms that provide you with delicious, fresh, and truly local eggs: Elihu (Sat.), Gifford (Wed.), Kokinda (Sat.), Longlesson (Sat.), Moxie Ridge (Sat), Old World Farm (Wed./Sat.), Otrembiak (Wed./Sat.), Slate River (Wed.), Squashville (Wed.)

Elihu Farm, photo by Pattie Garrett