Shop Local, Eat Fresh at the Saratoga Farmers' Market | Food, Crafts, Music in Saratoga Springs

Shop Local, Eat Fresh

Moxie Ridge Farm

Farmers’ Market Cheese Board

By

By Pattie Garrett

A cheese board is easy and quick to make. Using local products and a little creativity, make an impressive display of colors and flavors.

Cheese: Arrange cheese from different kinds of milk, cow, goat, and sheep, with a variety of texture such as soft, semi-soft, and hard. Include cheeses with different colors and cut them into shapes, cubes, wedges.  Put crumbly cheeses in a small crock or ramekins. Some cheeses are best at room temperature and may need to be taken from the refrigerator an hour before serving. 

Pairs: Although cheeses can stand alone, it’s always nice to offer some pairings such as neutral flavored crackers and baguettes. 

Extras: Fill in the gaps with favorites like fresh fruit, jam, or cured meat. Even granola, bite-sized cookies, and chocolate may work. 

Put It Together: Find a large wooden cutting board, marble or slate tray, even a fancy platter. The surface shouldn’t absorb the moisture from the cheese.  Remember to include small spreaders, spoons, knives, and toothpicks. Leave enough space for your guests to pick from the items on the board.  Add some garnishes, herb, or edible flowers. Let your cheese board show your creative side.

Cheese Board ingredients in the photos: Dancing Ewe’s Pecorino Fresco and Pecorino alle Noci, Argyle Cheese Farmer’s Glory and Basil and Garlic Cheese Curds, Moxie Ridge’s Herbes de Provence Chèvre, bread from Rock Hill Bakehouse, fresh melon from Burger’s MarketGarden, cherry tomatoes from Scotch Ridge Berry Farm, Grapes from Butternut Ridge Farm.

Wandering to the Washington County Cheese Tour

By

 

by Mary Pratt, photos by Pattie Garrett

September is a relaxing month to wander through farm country to the Washington County Cheese Tour, http://thecheesetour.com, a self-driving, free event. The land is full of maturing corn fields, greenest hay fields, and livestock grazing lush pastures.

Four farms (Argyle Cheese, Moxie Ridge, Dancing Ewe, and Battenkill Creamery) also participate in the Saratoga Farmers’ Market. While you visit, tour the farms, sample and purchase products, and enjoy demonstrations

Argyle Cheese Farmer

Dave and Marge Randles, Argyle Cheese Farm, make yogurt and cheeses on their family’s dairy farm, which dates to 1860. In addition to NYS Fair prize winner Amazing Grace, they offer more cheese, gelato, buttermilk, and yogurt smoothies. Try breakfast, grilled cheese sandwiches, and deep-fried cheese curds.

Moxie Ridge Farm, the newest Tour cheesemaker is also in Argyle. In 2016 Leah Hennessy bought her farm from Liza and Dave Porter, former Market vendors. Today Leah continues to make goat cheese and will debut an aged cheese. Watch hand milking, and meet the goats.

While Jody Somers, Dancing Ewe Farm, was in veterinary school, his family bought a farm in Granville. Soon he switched and studied sheep milk cheeses in Tuscany, where he met Luisa. When she came to the US and visited Dancing Ewe, she never left. Today they produce Italian style cheeses and cured meats. You can make lunch or dinner reservations.

Battenkill Valley Creamery

This year, Battenkill Valley Creamery, Salem, has joined the Tour. Don and Seth McEachron produce delicious milk, cream and ice cream. In 2010 they won a prize for best milk in New York State.

 


In addition to the Farmers’ Market members, other places to visit are:

Consider Bardwell Farm, Eastern Washington County and West Pawlet, Vermont. Angela Miller and Russell Glover produce cheese from goat and cow milk. Learn the history of the 1860 cheese cooperative; see cheese making demonstrations.

Victory View Vineyard, Easton. A perfect compliment to the cheeses are red wines handcrafted from their marquette, maréchal foch, frontenac, and other grapes.

RS Taylor and Sons Brewery, Misty Bleu Farm, Hebron. The Taylors built their tap room in 2015. Three generations of the family live, brew, and cook there

 

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is open from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on 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.

New farmer brings the ‘moxie’ to her work

By

By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

 

Photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

Leah Hennessy decided to become a farmer on the day she had her first affectionate encounter with a goat.

Now the owner of Moxie Ridge Farm & Creamery, one of the Saratoga Farmers’ Market’s newer vendors, Hennessy recalls that she was on a business trip as a wine consultant in Provence, France. She had asked if she could visit a fromagerie, or cheese shop. A day with a regional cheesemaker was arranged.

At the end of the day, the cheesemaker took her to the barn to meet the goats. As the animals excitedly approached the equally excited American visitor, the cheesemaker murmured in French to a translator accompanying Hennessy. Hennessy caught the word “bisou.”

 

“I know what that means,” she exclaimed. “It means kisses.”

“That’s right,” replied the cheesemaker via the translator. “They like kisses.”

A yearling goat poked her nose through a fence, and Hennessy bent down.

She was hooked.

Hennessy had worked and lived in Hollywood for eight years. She packed up that life and returned to Albany where she grew up. She poured her savings into farmer-training seminars and courses and schooled herself in goat rearing, herd management, cheese-making, and sustainable agriculture while working at area farms.

In late 2016, through a partnership with Dirt Capital, and assistance from such organizations as American Farmland Trust, the Hudson Valley Agribusiness Development Corp., FARMroots, and the Agricultural Stewardship Association, she acquired the farm formerly operated by Longview Farm owners Dave and Liza Porter.

Cannonball Cheese by Moxie Ridge Farm

In her first year, Hennessy has brought French and other European inspired cheeses to market. She also offers chicken and goose eggs, poultry, goat milk and yogurt, and pork.

The ridge in the farm name reflects the area topography. Moxie reflects Hennessy herself – a tough woman determined to persist. She uses minimal machinery, relies on animals for land maintenance, and loves each and every animal under her stewardship passionately.

“All my life I’ve looked for something that would be meaningful to me and give me complete fulfillment,” says Hennessy, at her farm. “I’ve found it here.”

 

 

As if in agreement, chickens squawk, goats bleat, and a gaggle of geese parade between the farm entrance and her front steps.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at the Lincoln Baths Building in the Saratoga Spa State Park. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.