Cooking with Carol

Tune into KSN on Tuesday about 12:15 to learn how to make farm-fresh deviled eggs a la Phil. It's simple, easy and tasty. For those of you who don't know, Phil is my husband and is an amazing cook. But since he pretty much does everthing by taste, he and I will be making deviled eggs ahead of time on Sunday to determine the portions so I can be a little more precise on television than "a little of this and a little of that!"

The pavilions are taking shape!

The inside gables of the two original pavilions are framed in and decked. Above, workers with American Construction work on the south gable of the south pavilion.

The new central pavilion is also taking shape.

Winter Market News

Winter Market is this Friday, but at a slightly different location. It will be on the road to the Praying Hands, so instead of turning east at the Kneeling Miner, turn west. Customer parking is just south of the temporary market location.

We're expecting all our usual Winter Market vendors on Friday except the Palmers who usually bring pecans and jams and jellies. They're visiting family.

The market will be open from 11 to 2 on February 20th.

Love that pig!

Tom Hartman dropped by today with an issue of the New York State Conservationist magazine sent by regular market customer (and his cousin) Charles Hartman of Sarcoxie. It had a terrific article on eating locally which I certainly wouldn't have seen otherwise. It will be added to the market's lending library so look for it when we re-open for the regular season.

And what a great pig picture in the article! Important information, too - "Meat and dairy produced and purchased locally carry much less risk of disease, mostly due to smaller herd sizes."

What's going on at the market pavilions?!!!!

Looks a little scary now with all the de-construction, but when the park board is finished, the pavilions will have new, more structurally sound gabled ends and new roofs.
Plus, the Perry Foundation has agreed to supply the materials for a concrete floor from one end to the other. The City is supplying the labor to install the concrete.

And, if all goes well, there will also be a new pavilion between the current two, giving us more useable space and a dry way to get from one to the other, AND the park board plans to move out the brown barn which will improve traffic flow and parking.

So we hope to open with a tremendously improved facility, thanks to the park board, city and the Perry Foundation. We're excited!

During the construction, the Winter Market will move to the Praying Hands road west of the Kneeling Miner. It will be adjacent to the parking lot by the street car tracks. Same good local products - just a tad further west than usual.

Blogging from Arkansas

We're a bunch of market groupies down here in Fayetteville at the Arkansas Farmers Market Association annual meeting. (I'm not crashing the party. I'm showing lots of pretty pictures of our market tomorrow and talking about recruiting and retaining vendors - I'm no expert, but if they want to feed and house me and teach me about markets, I'll pretend.)

The Winter Market today was lovely. It was so warm that Resa Amos could come with her honey!

Yum, yum - pork loin with cranberries

I'm printing below the recipe I did on KSN tonight with Carol Parker. (I'd include a picture, but we ate every bite!) You can find pork loins at the market on the 1st & 3rd Friday of the month at Madewell Meats.

You can follow the recipe exactly and do pork medallions - or roast the whole pork loin and use the drippings from the roasting pan to make the sauce. Either way - it's yummy!

Pork Medallions with Cranberry Sauce

· 1 1/4 pounds pork tenderloin, sliced into 1/2-inch thick medallions
· 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
· 1/4 teaspoon pepper
· 3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
· 2 tablespoons chopped shallots
· 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth/stock
· 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
· 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Season the pork medallions with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over a medium-high heat and cook the meat until there is just a slight blush in the center, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the meat to a plate and tent with foil.

Add the remaining teaspoon of oil and the shallots to the pan and sauté until they begin to soften, about 1 minute. Add the chicken broth/stock, balsamic vinegar, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt and the cherries and cook until the liquid is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour the sauce over the pork medallions and serve.

New Market Vendor - Isadora's Wonderful Things

Be sure to stop by our new vendor this Friday (2/6). Bethany and Michael Kiele, owners of Isadora's Wonderful Things, will have some brand new products for the market.

We expect to see Jerusalem artichokes, hardy seeded spelt bread, granola, spinach pumpkin seed pesto, and hummus. Bethany makes a ready-for-the-oven bruschetta sheet, as well as a toaster-ready good-for-you waffle that is high protein and has a full day's fiber.

Look for cookies and a hot chili pepper mix (if you're offered a waft of the mix, take care. Michael wears a respirator while preparing the mix from the peppers he grows and dries - it's that hot!)

Growers Food Safety Workshop

We were really pleased with the turnout for the Food Safety Workshop on Saturday. Over 70 growers participated. The presentations are available in PDFs. If you would like them emailed to you, please give me a call at 417 673-5866 or email eileennichols@sbcglobal.net