Saratoga Farmers' Market

lamb

Winter Time Is Stew Time

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By Mary Pratt

In the cold of winter, it’s time for the comfort of warm savory stews. The Saratoga Farmer’s Market has the needed ingredients and ideas from different cultures to spice your stews up. 

Arnold Grant, of M & A Farm, is celebrating his 20th year at the market. Although most known for his family’s delicious breakfast sandwiches, he also raises and sells pork. Stewing pork is versatile; it can be used for Indian curry or French stew. Longlesson, Lewis Waite, Moxie Ridge, and Mariaville also raise pork. Pork butt (a shoulder cut) makes an excellent stew, as does fresh pork leg.

Christophe Robert, of Longlesson Farm, grows weaned piglets on pasture from spring until the snow falls. He also raises grass-fed beef until they are three to four years old to insure flavorful and marbled meat. Since Christophe is from France, he recommends making boeuf bourguignon, a stew with red wine and vegetables including onions and mushrooms, or a Flemish stew, boeuf carbonnade, with dark beer. He offers cubed beef for stew, but suggests that chuck will make stew that is more moist and flavorful.

Lewis-Waite Farm also raises grass-fed beef. Janet Lampman, who works for owners Nancy and Alan Brown, said it’s important to stew or oven-braise grass fed beef very slowly. She likes shanks or round roast. 

Ann Carnes, of Ramble Creek Farm, offers a variety of chicken. She finds the best cuts for cooking a chicken stew are thighs or drumsticks. Squashville Farm’s Himanee and Jim Gupta-Carlson offer fresh heritage-breed roasting chickens, from which they use leftover meat for soups and stews. In the last ten minutes of cooking, the chicken is added to warm through. Most recently Himanee made a Peruvian stew called Cazuela (casserole). 

Bob and Mary Pratt, of Elihu Farm, have raised lambs for over 30 years. After weaning, lambs graze for three seasons, and eat hay or baleage in winter. The best stew cuts are shoulder, shanks and neck. They enjoy making Moroccan tagine, Indian curry, and osso bucco. 

Come talk with the farmers at the market to get recipe details and other ideas.

Lamb Osso Bucco

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Adapted from a recipe in From the Earth to the Table by John Ash.

* denotes ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market

INGREDIENTS

4 cracked Elihu Farm lamb shanks*

Flour for dredging the shanks

Olive oil for sautéing 

2 cups chopped (½”) yellow onions*

2 chopped (½”) sweet red peppers, chopped

3 cups chopped plum tomatoes

1 cup diced celery (optional)

1 cup sliced carrots (optional)*

½-1 tsp chopped hot pepper, or ¼ – ½ tsp dried Arbol pepper flakes*

2 tbsp chopped garlic*

2 cups lamb or chicken stock (homemade if possible)

1 cup dry red wine

1/3 cup Kalamata or other black olives (not canned), pits removed, sliced or whole

1 tbsp fennel seed

½ tbsp minced fresh oregano*, or ½ tsp dried

¾ tsp minced fresh thyme*, or 1/3 tsp dried

GARNISH

Shortly before serving, make the gremolata, a garnish essential to the success of this dish. Combine equal quantities (such as 2 tsp) of grated lemon zest, minced fresh parsley*, and minced garlic*. 

INSTRUCTIONS

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. While the oven is heating, dredge the lamb shanks in flour, then sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. 

2) In a large casserole or Dutch oven, sauté until lightly browned the onions, sweet red peppers, and optional celery and carrots in olive oil, one or two vegetables at a time, and set aside. Saute the garlic and hot pepper and add to the vegetables.

3) Clean the pan if needed, and sauté the lamb shanks in more olive oil until lightly browned.

4) To the lamb shanks, add the vegetables, tomatoes, stock, wine, olives and fennel seed.

5) Cover and bake for about 2 hours, adjusting the heat so the liquid is bubbling gently. Remove the cover, and bake for 30 minutes more, or until the shanks are very tender. 

6) Remove the vegetables and shanks, and set aside. Degrease the braising liquid if necessary. Add the oregano and thyme, and cook over high heat until the liquid forms a light sauce. Return all ingredients to the sauce. 

7) Serve in large soup bowls. Sprinkle each bowl with gremolata. 

Serves 4. Note: This recipe expands easily to feed a crowd. 

Planning a Summer Supper on the Grill

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

 

A great perk of summer is eating outdoors. My husband and I do this as often as we can manage. About 7 p.m., he gathers up wood and gets a fire going in our old charcoal goal. As the wood burns down to coals, I prep. Then, we cook and eat slowly, sipping wine and beer, watching the sunset and sky darken to dusk.

What goes on the grill? Where does it come from?

Most of what we eat comes from our farm or the Saratoga Farmers’ Market. What goes on the grill depends on what’s in season at the market.

The centerpiece of most of our meals is a meat, farm-raised and brought to an ambient temperature, maybe brushed with a bit of Dancing Ewe Farm’s olive oil, maybe sprinkled with black pepper or garlic, maybe topped with finely chopped rosemary or sage.

The “maybes” are truly that. Options. The meats our farmers bring to market come from animals that feast on the flavorful bounty of outdoor pastures, and rarely require much to enhance their flavor. We rotate between chicken, goat, pork, fish, lamb, and beef, and often grill double portions so as to have leftovers for the next day’s breakfasts and lunches – or an indoor stir-fry or stew for dinner if it happens to rain.

While meat is the main course, the real stars are the sides: vegetables in all shapes, textures, and tastes.

I plan a supper’s vegetables around three basic cooking styles: roasted, sautéed, and right on the grill. Roasted is usually a starch – such as hakurei turnips, trimmed, wrapped in foil and cooked until fork-soft and slightly caramelized. For sautéing, try a bunch of seasonal greens such as tatsoi, tossed into a frying pan or wok with olive oil, lemon juice, and maybe chopped onion, green garlic, or chive. Stir fry the greens for 2-4 minutes until they have wilted. Right on the grill is anything that likes a slight singe. For instance, asparagus, cooked to a bright green, about two minutes.

Summer supper possibilities on the grill are endless. Try your own combinations and stop by the market to share your results.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at High Rock Park. Find us on Facebook Twitter, and Instagram, and check us out on the FreshFoodNY app. E-mail friends@saratogafarmers.org for volunteer opportunities

 

Saratoga Farmers' Market