market
Hey folks! We tend to get a lot of "wow, you guys wake up early to get here" when we arrive at market. And yes, thank you, we do! We appreciate your noticing same as we appreciate your coming by to support local farms in your family's diet! However, we look at getting up and going to market to meet with you guys as the "icing on the cake"! For every hour we're set up at market are TONS of man-hours working to grow, harvest, sort, and stack produce - divide it up for our different markets. That's the real work, folks. And here are a few pics of what's going down on the farm on this "typical" market prep Friday!
Consistently, when I need food inspiration and great ideas, I can look no further than you guys - our customers and friends at market. Such was the occasion this fall when I ran into Courtney and Kate at Headhouse in October.
They came in raving about a recipe they’d found in the New York Times Food section - a Trinidadian recipe called Trini Chana and Aloo. They’d used one of our ‘Moruga’ Trinidad Scorpion chilies (how apropos?). They raved about the heat, the flavor, and the pungency. I had to look it up and replicate this recipe.
But here’s the rub - I’ve never cooked with these super hot peppers. I know what you’re thinking but the truth is, hard to believe I know, it’s a lot of hard work growing all this stuff and sorting it for market. For the most part, I have cooked with everything we have and at the least I’ve learned HOW to cook with this particular ingredient.
Enter Josh - pepperhead, scovillifile, and purveyor of the seeds that grew these super hots. He’s looking to do fermented hot sauce on a commercial scale (coming to a store near you, hopefully) and wanted to have a local supply before he found us at Headhouse. He’s the master of high spice chilies and he’d told me all about these beasts.
So! This recipe is super fun and so is preparing it - INCLUDING the super hot chilies. Here are some tips if you’ve yet to take the plunge. In applications such as this warming Trini curry, you’ll be SO glad you did. Added bonus, your whole house will have this sweet aroma long after the meal is finished. I tried to take pictures to document the proceedings. The first shot, left, was all that was left by the time I made it the first time. The second shot, right, was so pleasing to the smell that I'd hogged down quite a few bites before I remembered a picture.
SUPER HOT PEPPER RULES FOR BEGINNERS!
- Start off small. I was cooking for me AND my girlfriend Amanda, who has a much lower heat tolerance. I chose the chocolate ghost chili - half the heat of the Moruga Scorpion. I used about a third of one pepper for this recipe.
- Use gloves. This is a must! Food grade latex is good but even plastic bags will work, so long as they aren’t broken! Don’t remove the gloves and toss them until you’ve thrown away all the seeds and stems etc. Then wash hands right after just to be safe. I was intimated at first - I had no reason to be. Wear the gloves and you’re fine.
- Have a backup plan! In respect of Amanda’s lower spice threshold, make a cooling yogurt sauce in case my first hot pepper dish got out of hand, heat wise. Luckily, this one didn’t but the yogurt sauce was tasty and cooling just the same. I just used complimentary flavors, mixing lime juice, cilantro, and turmeric into greek yogurt.
In the end, I was incredibly satisfied with the food, incredibly happy to have conquered my fears of cooking with these peppers, and eager to make it again - it wouldn’t have been the same without it! We made it again without it, just so find out. It’s one of my new favorite vegetarian recipes to make at the house and it’ll likely be in the rotation for a very long time. Thanks Courtney, Kate, and Josh!
How's this for a fun thing to pass along - our very first FARM DINNER! Talented Chef and fried of the farm Brian Ricci has opened this new spot on North 12th between Callowhill and Vine. We've talked about doing something together for quite a while now and we're pleased to announce this Three Springs-inspired tasting menu is going down Tuesday September 15th. Mark your calendars! All the details can be found below - it's a sure bet to make an otherwise ordinary Tuesday evening the highlight of your week. We're thrilled and proud to have this opportunity.
Brick and Mortar Three Springs Fruit Farm Tasting Menu- vegetarian options available
Tuesday September 15th (FB event page)
Time: 5-10pm, during normal dinner service
Cost: $45, includes drink pairings (wait, are you serious? Four courses with drinks = $45?!! Ok, I'll take it. Tax and gratuity not included of course)
Reservations: recommended by calling (215) 923-1596, or http://www.bamphilly.com, OR OpenTable
Yes, Farmer Ben will be there hanging out - might even have some tricks up his sleeve!
It takes a lot of good people to make us successful. And certainly, Shane is a big part of our success at market! When you see Shane and Lauren at market, thank them for their hard work and see what he's "arted" from our produce this week! Also, check out his Instagram feed for updates on produce art , it was recently featured in American Fruit Grower magazine!
Thank you all for the awesome feedback on our peaches so far this year! We've been tough to live with sometimes, with all of your kind words - we're trying not to let it get to our heads. And the pictures have been super! Here's a week's worth of the pretty pictures our customers have sent us with their market haul and, in some cases, the impressive things folks have done with our produce! Enjoy and thank you so much - all of you!
Your last chance to mold our little fruit stand at your favorite farmers market in accordance with your will! It'll only take a moment - I'll leave it up for a few more weeks and then share the results!
The internet can be a pretty weird place sometimes. If you ever lacked proof of this, two seperate websites had videos of me (of all people) gabbing about this and that in two weeks time!
Crop Life America wants to get the word out on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) - a passion shared by all of us here at Three Springs Fruit Farm. This seven minute video is shot during bloom season at the farm and gives you a close look at how IPM is performed in our pretty orchards. Sorry, I think my bias came through there a bit at the end.
At the time this video was shot, we were under the impression we'd be at Bethesda on Saturdays. Now we're at Silver Spring Farmers Market instead - the subject of the video posted below. Good background tunes - I need to bribe the Silver Spring buskers down to our end of the market! We've got yummy strawberries...
update (6/3/10)
Local Washington DC News 8 coverage of the FRESHFarm Markets Health & Human Services Market Grand Opening!
