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Weekly Market Notes Library

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Weekly Market Notes for October 22, 2009

Hello Market Friends:

Our growers bring us many vegetables that are quite unlike their trimmed-down supermarket kin. Greenfields' kohlrabi this summer risked breaking the "don't eat anything bigger than your head" rule, and when you buy Ted Thorpe's celery these days, you get an armful so generous it hardly fits in the fridge. The solution to this abundance, perfect for this time of year? Soup stock! It's a thrifty way to get all the goodness out of the extra bits, lovely to have a pot simmering on the back burner when the weather is cool, and the results can be used to make simple or elaborate soups, stews and sauces, or frozen in measured amounts for a handy ingredient later. Here's a recipe adapted from The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison. It's hugely flexible, so don't worry if you're missing some ingredients; try it with whatever market bounty you've got on hand.

Vegetable Stock
Proportions: roughly 7 cups vegetables to 8 cups water yield 4-6 cups stock, depending on how long it is cooked.

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 onion, diced into half inch squares
1 cup leek greens, roughly chopped
2 medium carrots, diced
3 or 4 outer stalks celery plus some leaves, diced
1 cup winter squash, cubed, or squash seeds and skins
1 cup chard stems, cut in 1 inch lengths
1 medium potato or 1 cup thick potato peelings
half a celery root, scrubbed and diced
any or all of:
6 branches thyme, 2 bay leaves, 2 handfuls borage leaves, chard leaves or nettles, 3 sage leaves
10 branches parsley, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tsp. salt
8 cups cold water

Stew everything in the butter or oil with half a cup of water over medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Add the cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer, partly covered, for 30-40 minutes or a bit longer. Pour the stock through a sieve and press out as much of the liquid as possible. Use as is or reduce further for richer flavour. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

Greenfields is back! "We got all our Garlic planted last Thursday, sorry we missed you. A great selection of vegetables will be at our table this week. The first of our Jerusalem Artichokes will be here. Also our Lutz Beets will be available along with Golds and Chioggas. Lots of other goodies to be had, see you there." Mark

Unfortunately, Dan of Seldom Seen wrote this week to say he will have to withdraw from the market for the time being due to a family illness. We're grateful for the excellent lamb they've provided this season. Lamb will continue to be available at the market from Best Baa.

Deer Valley will have fresh venison this week.

Alli Harris will be making Conkey (excuse my spelling if it's way off) with Ted Thorpe's Jamaican pumpkins and other sweet and savoury ingredients. If you don't know what Conkey is, you know where to find out....

See you at the market!
Anne Freeman

P.S. Don't forget Night of Dread this Saturday evening!

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