Saratoga Farmers' Market

Saratoga Farmers' Market

Submarine Sandwiches with a Mediterranean Twist

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

 

Sabreen Samman of Petra

Sabreen Samman stands by a panel of windows at the Lincoln Baths Building in the Saratoga Spa State Park. In front of her are serving trays holding her savory Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, made with lamb and beef, ready to be topped with onions, peppers, and melted cheese.

A customer approaches. With a smile, Samman fills the order.

“I like cooking and I like feeding people,” she says. “When people come back and tell me how much they enjoy the food, I feel good.”

Samman calls her business Petra, after the ancient city in Jordan, where she is from. She started the business as a farmers’ market enterprise and joined the Saratoga Farmers’ Market in 2018.

Petra is an ancient city, known for beauty and historical significance. For Samman, it is like a taste of home.

Samman’s early work years were at a desk. She left that life and in 2014 started a restaurant, the Falafel Den, in Saratoga. The long hours of restaurant work tired her out, so she sold her share in the business to her partners. Still, she wanted to keep cooking.

As she developed Petra, she realized it was a perfect fit. She could cook in a creative way, with more time for herself.

She initially began offering pocket pies, which were modeled after a food common in and around Jordan. The pies, like the accompanying recipe, were made with pizza dough; filled with combinations of vegetable, cheese, and meats; seasoned with spice blends of the Mediterranean; folded at the top, and then baked.

Samman has always liked to surprise market goers with different ingredients and styles of snack or lunch foods. Along with pocket pies, she has brought salads and gyros to the market in the past. She looks forward to mixing things up with sub rolls and fillings and plans to offer chicken and vegetarian combinations this spring.

Response to her Philly steak sandwiches has been quite favorable, she says.

For her, the cooking and the selling come together as a pleasurable experience. “It’s meditative and soothing,” she says. “And when I’m done, I feel refreshed.”

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at the Lincoln Baths Building in the Saratoga Spa State Park through April. The market moves outdoors to High Rock Park in May. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Maple Syrup Pudding

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Adapted from the recipe by Schoolhouse Maple, shared by My Saratoga Kitchen Table

Serves: 4

 

INGREDIENTS

*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market

  • ⅓ cup dark maple syrup*
  • 2 cups milk*
  • 3 Tablespoons corn starch
  • 1 large egg* yolk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 Tablespoon butter*

 

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Whisk syrup, milk, cornstarch, and egg in a saucepan. Cook on medium high heat for 8 minutes while continually whisking. Remove from heat and add vanilla and butter.
  2. Pour in 4 individual dishes. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

 

NOTES:

Top with whipped cream:

1 cup whipping cream (heavy cream*)

3 Tablespoons maple syrup*

Beat cream until soft peaks begin to form. Add maple syrup and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

 

Celebrate National Peanut Butter Lovers Day at the Farmers’ Market

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By Kristin Cleveland

Popular Peanut Butters. Photo by Pattie Garrett.

“I wonder how many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I’ve eaten in my life?” my spouse often asks as he smears a thick layer of nutty goodness onto a slice of bread. Considering he has eaten one for nearly every lunch since he had a full set of teeth, and he’s now in his early 50s, I calculate approximately 17,167, though I do know that some of those sandwiches were PB & honey. I think that still counts.

Joe is one of the many people for whom March 1 was designated National Peanut Butter Lovers Day; according to the National Peanut Board, about 94% of American homes contain at least one jar of peanut butter. And it makes sense — whether eaten on toast for breakfast, in a sandwich for lunch, as a savory sauce for dinner, or with celery or apple slices for a snack, peanut butter is not only delicious, it’s also packed with protein, healthy monounsaturated fats, vitamin E, folate, and a variety of minerals, which combine to make it a particularly heart-healthy high energy food. 

Saratoga Peanut Butter owner Jessica Arceri.

And here in Saratoga Springs, we have even more reason to celebrate: our very own Saratoga Peanut Butter Company! As a young adult Jessica Arceri, a physical education and nutrition expert and health-conscious parent, began crafting nut butters for her family and friends. In 2005 she started selling her creations at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market and in local groceries. Now Saratoga Peanut Butter is in stores throughout New York State and can be ordered online. But with over a dozen flavors, including some seasonal specials, it’s particularly fun to go to the Saratoga Peanut Butter table at the Farmers’ Market and enjoy a sample.

Combining easily with many flavors, peanut butter is a versatile food. On Arceri’s website, yopeanut.com, you’ll find recipes for entrées such as Pad Thai and spicy sauté sauce, sweet treats including three varieties of peanut butter cookie, and a range of breakfast foods like low sugar, high energy granola bars, smoothies, pancakes and oatmeals. Because of Arceri’s focus on fitness, all of her nut butter ingredients are sourced in the USA, she never uses palm oil, refined sugars, or other additives or preservatives, and she uses no or low amounts of sodium.

Sydney Robyck shares some SPB favorites.     Photo by Pattie Garrett.

Stop by the Farmers’ Market on Saturday to celebrate National Peanut Butter Lovers Day. In addition to samples of freshly made local peanut butter, you can pick up regular or gluten-free peanut butter cookies from The Chocolate Spoon, Grandma Apple’s peanut butter cheesecakes and cheesecake pops dipped in Saratoga Chocolate Company’s Velvet chocolate, and recipes and ingredients for more delicious meals and treats!

Fruits of the Sea: Fresh fish at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

Eight years ago, Captain Rick Lofstad joined the Saratoga Farmers’ Market with Pura Vida Fisheries Inc.

The customer line stretched around his tables and beyond. Fish lovers and others were entranced by the opportunity to obtain seafood freshly caught almost in their back yards. The interest was so high that a year and a half later, Lofstad opened a retail store, Moby Rick’s Seafood, on Lake Street.

Today, that demand for fresh fish remains strong at the market, where Pura Vida offers a variety of fish and shellfish weekly.

Sardines. Photo by Pattie Garrett

“I grew up in New England and when I moved here, I thought we were too far inland to get fresh fish,” says Kenny Bourbeau, a personal chef. “Then, I heard about this guy who was selling fish at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market. I had to check it out.”

Bourbeau now sells fish for Pura Vida and Moby Rick’s, and helps make the chowders and other prepared foods that are also available. The store offers fish from throughout the world. However, the producers-only ethic and local emphasis of the Saratoga Farmers’ Market means that what Pura Vida brings to this market are solely those fished from New York waters, mostly off the coast of Long Island.

In other words, says Bourbeau, about as fresh as seafood gets.

Among the local fish available at the market at this time of year are grey sole, winter flounder, sand shark, black sea bass, porgy, skate, monkfish, weak fish, blow fish, sea scallops, cod, tuna, and squid. Lofstad’s boats go out several times a week. The catch is transported to a facility in Hudson, where it its filleted and then transported to Saratoga a day before market.

Littleneck Clams. Photo by Pattie Garrett

When asked what was his favorite winter catch, Adrien Johnson had to think. He likes all of it. Finally, he settled on scallops – from both the Long Island Bay and Peconic Bay. The icy cold seawater sweetens their taste. The scallops are great sautéed in olive oil or butter with some garlic and black pepper, or can be cooked into a stew (see accompanying recipe).

For more suggestions, visit Pura Vida’s table at the market.

Growing Love on the Farm

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

Ann and Josh Carnes met in September 2015 at a fire department pig roast near Josh’s farm in Laporte, Colorado. Ann was growing edible flowers and herbs in nearby Wellington. Josh had just retired from the fire department and had a handyman business and a garden on a three-acre homestead. They fell in love and began farming together the next spring. 

In November 2017, they uprooted their lives and moved to New York to start Ramble Creek Farm. They joined the Saratoga Farmers’ Market in 2018, selling mushrooms, pork and poultry. Late last summer, amid preparations for their first autumn on the new farm, they married.

Their story highlights an important but not always talked about aspect of farm life – its reliance on interdependence. Nine out of 10 farmers farm as families, often as couples. While hard work and low profitability can strain such relationships, these factors also can make the romances more resilient. Nationwide, farm couples divorce less than others. Shared commitments to making farms grow often also help such relationships grow.

For Ann and Josh, that has meant a division of roles alongside frequent consultation. Josh does most of the animal care and the “building and fixing of things.” Ann’s creative talents put her in charge of marketing and branding. She represents Ramble Creek at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market. Josh once a week rises at 2:30 a.m. to drive to New York City for the Union Square Greenmarket.

Both love the work and try to not let it take over their lives completely.

Josh and Ann Carnes on their wedding day

Their wedding illustrated that. 

It took place on their farm on the last sunny weekend before the turn toward cooler weather. They said their vows in what they now call “the wedding pasture,” before friends and family from all over the country. A friend officiated, and as Josh put it, “we all drank, ate, and danced our butts off.”

“Neither of us are sure why we decided to stack a wedding on top of starting our new farm and everything that comes along with that,” says Ann, “but we wanted to make it official.”

“And here we are,” adds Josh, “doing our best for our land, our animals, and ourselves.”

Red Carpet Winners at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market

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By Kristin Cleveland

Roll out the red carpet! Oscars season is approaching, but you don’t have to wait for the announcement of nominees to bring the stars into your home. Move over Lady Gaga, make room for prize-winning pickles, cheesecakes, yogurts, whisky, milk, mushrooms and more, all available every Saturday at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market.

Award winning pickles, photo by Pattie Garrett

Just over a month ago, at the 21st Annual Rosendale International Pickle Festival, longtime Saratoga Farmers’ Market vendor Puckers Gourmet won two ribbons, placing first in the sweet pickles category and second for pickled vegetables. This past summer, Grandma Apple’s Cheesecakes won the President’s Choice award at Saratoga’s All-America Dessert Festival, and at the 2018 Ballston Spa Chocolate Fest last February, her cheesecakes tied for first place in the Judge’s Choice category and won the Fan Favorite Award.

Gold medal yogurts, photo by Pattie Garrett

Several of the Greek yogurts made by the Argyle Cheese Farmer have taken the gold medal at the New York State Fair in recent years, and their Amazing Grace aged cheese won a silver. Another local dairy, Nettle Meadow Farm, has won multiple awards for its soft cheeses made from combinations of goat, sheep and cow milks. These include a gold medal at the 2016 World Cheese Championship for Nettle Meadow’s Kunik, and a first place award at the 2017 U.S. Cheese Championships for its Briar Summit cheese.

At the Great American International Spirits Competition held in May of 2018, Saratoga County’s own Yankee Distillers took medals for its malt, rye, wheat, and bourbon whiskeys. Battenkill Valley Creamery is a recipient of the Highest Quality Milk in New York State award, and Saratoga Apple was lauded by I Love NY for the cider it makes from a blend of apple varieties. 

In addition to individual vendors’ awards, the Saratoga Farmers Market itself is a winner! In 2016 the market was named the “number one must-visit farmers’ market in New York State” by I Love NY. It has also earned the American Farmland Trust’s award for number one market in New York State and second in the entire country, and it regularly tops polls of regional customers.

Best of all, these winners can be enjoyed close-up! Come to the Saratoga Farmers’ Market on Saturdays from 9 am – 1 pm year-round to sample these award winning pickles, cheeses, cheesecakes, whiskeys and many other tasty local treats.