Texas Farmers MarketMarket Recipe: Hip Girl’s Honeyed Peaches
Recipe by Kate Payne, Author of Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking
Prepare your peaches by bringing a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Depending on peach size, this recipe will use 1lb small (+/-2”) peaches whole or 2lbs larger peaches halved and pitted. For both sizes, drop peaches whole into boiling water and let them sit for as long as it takes for the water to return to a boil (2-3 minutes).
- Drop peaches into an ice bath while you prepare your syrup.
- Place 1/3 cup honey, 1-1.5 cups water, 2 Tbs. lemon juice in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over med-low heat. Remove pan from heat.
- Peel small peaches (or peel, pit and halve larger peaches) dropping them directly into syrup saucepan as you go.
- Once all peaches are in the syrup, simmer for 5 minutes. Skim foam if necessary.
- Place a slice of fresh ginger (optional) or any dry spices directly into one quart jar.
- If water-bath canning is necessary, multiply brine recipe by amount of peaches you have. Leave ½ inch head-space and process quart jars for 25 minutes. Otherwise, loosely cap jar, let sit on the counter to cool for an hour and then place in the fridge. Keeps for about 3 months.
Visit Kate’s blog for canning tips, contact info and recipes: hipgirlshome.com
Cooking Demonstration with Dishalicious: Saturday, July 21st
Come join us this Saturday, July 21st 10:00am -12:00noon at the Cedar Park Farmers Market for a Summer Cooking Demonstration with Dishalicious Chef Louis Singh. Chef Singh will be demonstrating how to roast local seasonal peppers from the market and share some recipes for how to use these wonderful peppers in recipes.
Top five reasons to fire-roast your peppers:
1. Don’t you want a jar of sweet roasted peppers in the fridge that you can pull out to jazz up salads, sautees, sauces, and any of your favorite dishes? The answer is YES!
2. It’s way easier than it sounds…we promise.
3. So you can say “topped with fire-roasted peppers…” at dinner and impress everyone at the table.
4. Quick fire-roasting causes chemical reactions to the sucrose within the pepper, creating complex caramel flavor compounds. Succinctly put, fire-roasting = delicious.
5. It’s a great technique to add to your cooking repertoire. You can fire-roast lots of veggies, peppers are just the beginning.
Now that you’re convinced you need to try fire-roasting, you need fire. For optimal results, you would roast over wood or charcoal, but a gas grill is just fine. If you don’t plan on lighting up the grill, no worries. You can easily roast over a gas flame, like in the photo above. No gas? No problem. You can also coat them in a little olive oil and roast them in a 450° oven. Either way you go, you’ll still end up with tasty results.
Here’s how:
– Rinse and dry your peppers well.
– Place them over the open flame and roast until the skin blackens. They’ll pop and hiss as water escapes from the pepper. High heat works well because you want the peppers to roast quickly so the skin blackens but the flesh doesn’t overcook.
– Keep turning your peppers until they’re blistered and blackened all over.
– Place them in a paper bag, or covered bowl to steam as they cool. This helps release the skin from the flesh and will make cleaning them a snap.
– Once the peppers are cool enough to handle, cut a slit down one side of the pepper and open it up like a book so it lays flat on your cutting board. Cut around the stem and remove it and the seeds.
– Flip the pepper over and use the back of your knife to gently scrape away all of the blackened skin. Remove as much as you can but if you have a few stubborn bits that refuse to let go it’s fine, they’ll just add some smokey flavor.
– That’s it! If you’re going to store, place them in a container and cover them with olive oil. They’ll keep up to two weeks in the fridge, and then you’ll have nicely flavored olive oil as a bonus. Use it to make salad dressing or stir it into dips or hummus.
Now that you have nicely roasted peppers, play with them. Puree them into a sauce for fish or chicken, mix them with goat cheese & greens for a salad, or blend them into a dip. It’s a versatile ingredient to have on hand to add some flair to any of your delicious dishes. Now you have the technique, go and make your own recipes. Get cooking!
Canning & Preserving Local Foods
What’s the point of canning in your home or buying canned foods at a farmer’s market? Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of buying fresh, seasonal, chemical-free foods?
Not entirely so.
There are numerous ways to can and preserve local, seasonal foods, without adding toxins or chemically-derived preservatives.
Methods of Canning and Preserving Foods Include:
- Pickling
- Freezing
- Dehydrating
- Water bathing
- Pressure canning
- Fermentation
Examples of these methods include fruit jellies and jams, pickles, salsas, preserved vegetables and wines made through the process of fermentation. These are plentiful at your Texas Farmers’ Markets.
The Benefits of Canned Fruits and Vegetables:
- The shelf life of perishable foods like fruits and vegetables can be extended to avoid waste.
- Seasonal foods can be enjoyed beyond the current cycle. Pumpkins for instance are common in the Fall, but can be enjoyed in Winter, Spring and Summer when preserved.
- Condiments and sauces are healthier choices when bought local from food artisans.
Canning and Preserving Safety Concerns:
To eliminate the risk of BPA contamination, vendors will usually make use of glass jars as opposed to tin cans. In addition, BPA-free liners and lids are utilized.
Local vendors are most often equipped with knowledge regarding the preservation of foods – the natural and safe way. This includes:
- How to sterilize glass cans and lids
- Avoiding cross contamination between meats and produce
- Exercising proper handling and packaging procedures
- Observing the required food code temperatures
- Distinguishing between acidic and non-acidic foods
In addition, our farmers markets require that vendors obtain a permit to sell preserved and canned foods that include proper labeling and that these foods have been prepared in an inspected commercial kitchen.
Next time you head to your farmers market, be sure to pick up a few healthy and tasty canned foods, just like jams, salsas, pickles and more.
Market Mutt ~ Lady Bird
This weeks market mutt is Lady Bird. Lady Bird is an 11 or 12 year old lab mix. She was adopted 5 years ago from the Blue Dog Rescue (http://www.bluedogrescue.com/). Lady Bird’s owners told us that her absolute favorite thing in the world to do is come to the market and get treats at poochie trends. Lady Bird reminds everyone when it’s market day. Her owners told us that on a typical day her favorite things to do are sleep in and get tummy rubs, but on Saturday morning she gets up bright and early! She knows Saturday is market day and makes sure the whole house remembers too! So look for Lady Bird getting her weekly treat fix at Poochie Trends next Saturday!
Market Sprout ~ Ashton
This week our Market Sprout is Ashton. He is 7 years old and loves coming to the market every week. When we caught up with him he was helping his mom choose a mellon from Two Happy Children Farm. Ashton told us that every week his mom gives an allowance to he and his little sister. They get to bring their allowance to the market and choose any food they want to bring home and eat. Ashton said his favorite thing to get is carrots, but this week he was hoping to discover something new. Look for Ashton next week exploring the market options!
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