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locally sourced ingredients

Ravioli in Olive Oil

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Recipe courtesy of My Saratoga Kitchen Table

Serves: 2

 

Ingredients

All Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market

  • 1 package of homemade ravioli (about 10)
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
  • ½ Tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
  • Optional: ½ Tablespoon of Peperonciono sott’olio from Dancing Ewe Farm

 

Instructions

  1. Bring water to a boil. Add ravioli stirring so it doesn’t stick, and water returns to a boil. Cook pasta until it is tender about 4 to 5 minutes. Test the pasta after 3 minutes if you prefer it al dente. Drain and reserve 2 Tablespoons of the pasta water to create a sauce.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large sauce pan or skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until light brown. Do not burn the garlic. Add the reserved pasta water. Gently mix in the ravioli. Sprinkle in the parsley and basil. If using Peperonciono, top the dish after plating.

 

Notes: Peperonciono sott’olio can be purchased from the Dancing Ewe Farm or add ½ Tablespoon of red pepper flakes when you add the garlic. Top with favorite Pecorino (made from sheep’s milk) cheese, e.g. Pecorino Riserva.

Cheesecake Maker Brings Family Favorites to Farmers’ Market

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

 

Photo courtesy of Grandma Apple’s Cheesecake

Tucked into a corner of the Saratoga Farmers’ Market is a cheesecake maker. To market regulars, she is coming to be known as Grandma Apple.

Grandma Apple is Connie Capasso, owner of Grandma Apple’s Cheesecakes. She handcrafts her cheesecakes from high-quality, locally sourced ingredients and transports them to the market via a portable refrigerator that keeps the cheesecakes chilled and ready for on-the-spot eating.

The cheesecakes are available in individual cups for $4.50 each.

“Customers love the individual size,” says Capasso. “I appreciate that I can bake right in the cup and that the cup itself is recyclable.”

Like many artisanal businesses, Grandma Apple’s Cheesecakes grew from a passion.

Capasso has a large family and often would bake cheesecakes for them, trying out different crusts and flavors. Her family encouraged her to turn the baking into a business, so Capasso did some research, had a commercial kitchen built, and established a limited liability corporation. She joined the Saratoga Farmers’ Market last November during its indoor season and now sells at the Wednesday and Saturday markets and at a market in Albany.

Like the business, the name Grandma Apple has family roots. As Capasso tells it, her eldest grandson – now 21 and one of nine – used to call a number of women in the family “Grandma.” Some of these women were grandmothers and some were great-grandmothers. She knew that he loved apples so she always had them on hand when he would come to visit.

“When he was old enough to start speaking, I became Grandma Apple,” Capasso says. “Now all nine grandkids know me as Grandma Apple.”

The cheesecakes come in several flavors in a range of flavors including some standards such as traditional, chocolate, lemon, and peanut butter. But Capasso likes to experiment and often adds different flavors once her experiments have passed the ultimate taste test — her family’s approval.

“Every so often we have a taste test day,” she says. “It’s a blind tasting. I bring out the flavors, and they give me their feedback.”

Capasso also makes larger cheesecakes, which are available through special order. Visit her at the market, on the FreshFoodNY app, or email GrandmaApplesCheesecakes@gmail.com to learn more.

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 and Instagram, and check us out on the FreshFoodNY app. E-mail friends@saratogafarmers.org for volunteer opportunities.

Adirondack Maple Latte

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Adapted from a recipe by Fox and Briar

Total time: 5 mins

Serves: 1

Upper Hudson Coffee, photo by Pattie Garrett

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS

*Ingredients available at the farmers’ market

  • 8 ounces Roosevelt coffee* from Upper Hudson Coffee
  • ¼ cup milk*
  • 1-2 Tablespoons maple syrup*
  • pinch of ground cloves
  • pinch of allspice
  • pinch of fresh nutmeg

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Add maple syrup and spices to the bottom of a mug, stir to combine.
  2. Place milk in a small saucepan and heat on the stovetop until warm. Pour into a glass jar, tightly screw lid onto the jar, and shake for a few seconds until milk is foamy.
  3. Pour hot, strong coffee over maple syrup. Top with foamy milk. Garnish with more spices if desired. Enjoy!