This Week at
the Market |
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A Fifth of Funk
Strawberry Festival
Hollywood Library
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Tip of the Week
To keep warm weather vegetable starts extremely happy all summer follow
this simple procedure:
Prepare soil. Before transplanting, place a
large, black garbage bag down. Put dirt, bricks, or rocks around the
edges to prevent the wind from taking it away.
Punch a hole in the
middle and plant your tomato, pepper, squash, cucumber, melon, eggplant,
etc.
The plastic mulch will keep the roots warm, maintain even
moisture, prevent weeds, and keep the fruit cleaner.
-- Vicki Hertel,
Sun Gold Farms |
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| Featured Produce
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Part
of the beauty of farmers' markets is that our produce changes with the
seasons. Stay current with weekly produce highlights here!
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Deep Purple Spring Onions
(Persephone Farm)
Victorio Fennel (Gales Meadow Farm)
Asparagus
(Thompson Farms)
Fresh Dutch Shallots
(Deep Roots Farm)
White Vienna Kohlrabi
(Big 'B' Farm)
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This Saturday, check out the Hollywood Library's Summer Reading Kick-Off, and don't forget to come down for the Strawberry Festival.
We'll have fresh strawberries to sample, free recipes, and strawberry temporary
tattoos. We are also partnering with Hollywood's Loaves and Fishes to offer free strawberry milkshakes, donations accepted to
benefit Loaves and Fishes.
To turn in your savory or sweet entries for the cooking contest bring them in by 11:00am for judging. If you have hair to bring, come at 11:30am. Entry forms for the contest are available on our website, or at the Info Booth on Saturday morning.
Have you been wondering what happened to Jacobs Creamery? Don't fret- they're still at the market bringing you the creamiest locally-made dairy products from yogurt and pudding to havarti and cheddar cheeses. Jacobs Creamery has a new location along Hancock Street between Gales Meadow Farm and Classic Foods. Please stop by to say hello- Vanae's been a little lonely in her new spot. You can even buy fresh milk from Jacobs Creamery- it's one of the main ingredients in this Saturday's strawberry milkshakes!
Other vendors who have recently moved around the market include: Pine Mountain Ranch, currently located along the east row of the market; Laurel Ridge Winery, who can be found in the center aisle; Dante's Garden Pesto, now along Hancock Street between Fleur de Lis Bakery and Winter Green Farm, and Hot Lips Soda, who has set up shop in the south row of the market across from Happy Harvest Farm. We are very appreciative to these vendors who have so graciously moved to make room for returning vendors as our market reaches it's fullest point. Please stop by and say hello this weekend!
See you this Saturday at the Strawberry Festival!
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Strawberry Risotto
by Chef Robert Reynolds
Robert Reynolds, of The Chefs Studio,
performed a cooking demonstration last Saturday
at the Hollywood Farmers' Market. Stop by the market this Saturday to
pick up the ingredients and try the recipe at home. Hard copies are available at the Information Booth.
I prepared risotto as I'd once eaten in the region around Venice. The
Italians, like the French, use the early berries like vegetables,
because with their lack of developed sugars, they're more acidic and
like a tomato.
When the risotto is finished, I let it sit and rest for a few minutes
before serving. I slice strawberries, fold them in carefully and divide
it among the bowls. The final gesture before sending the dish to the
table, is to drizzle an excellent syrupy Balsamic vinegar. This is a
dish you've been saving that very expensive vinegar for.
Pass a bowl of Parma cheese for each person to scatter on top.
Particularly good Parmesan cheese will often have a fruity quality,
making it marry perfectly with this dish. Drink a white wine from the
northeast of Italy, a Soave from Stefano Inama, or Zuani from Feluga. The wines of the region will harmonize perfectly.
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup small dice of shallots (or yellow onion), cut to the size of the grain of rice (Persephone Farm)
1-1/2 cups Arborio risotto
1 cup white wine (optional) (Laurel Ridge Winery)
1 to 1-1/2 quarts of heated brodo, chicken stock, or water and a bouillon cube
1 pint of strawberries, sliced (Unger Farms)
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan per portion
1 or 2 teaspoons Balsamic per portion
Select a 2-quart pan with a heavy bottom. On medium heat, melt the
butter first, then add the olive oil. When the fat is hot, add the
shallot or onion, and a pinch of salt. Saute for about a minute to
soften the onion without browning. Add the rice and stir to coat the
grains with fat. Cook for a couple of minutes, still without browning,
until the grains look opaque. Turn the heat up and add the wine, if
using, and stirring again, allow it to evaporate. Next, add enough of
the hot broth, water or stock to cover the risotto, and turn the heat
to just below a boil.
Stir occasionally to ensure the risotto isn't sticking to the bottom of
the pan, or stir often to get the risotto to give up its starch, a
technique that creates a creaming texture in the finished dish. Allow
the liquid to evaporate, replenish it a second time, still stirring the
risotto. Season with salt as you go along; if the liquid in the rice
tastes good, the rice will as well. Test a grain of rice at the end of
the second reduction. You're looking to judge whether the center of the
grain yields and is tender, or whether it's dry and undercooked. Add
more liquid and continue simmering until the grains are soft and
yielding, but the center still has a little resistance.
Turn the heat off, and allow the risotto to sit for a few minutes. If
the risotto dries out too much, you can always add more liquid to it
until it is moist enough. Some people like it creamy, some prefer it to
mound and hold. You can mix the sliced strawberries into the risotto at
this point, or you can garnish the finished risotto with them.
Put a portion of the finished risotto onto a plate or bowl. Top it with
a grinding of pepper and a drizzle of the balsamic vinegar. Pass the
risotto along with a bowl of grated cheese for each person to add as
they desire.
Special thanks to the following vendors for donating ingredients to the cooking demonstration:
Riesling: Laurel Ridge Winery
Shallots: Persephone Farm
Strawberries: Unger Farms
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Featured Vendor: Riley and Sons Blueberries
by Cara O'Neil, HFM Volunteer
The unassuming little blueberry has been attracting a great deal of
attention in recent years - turns out, these delicious summer fruits are
truly a "superfood," loaded with Vitamins C, E, and an abundance of
antioxidants that help people stay healthy as they age.
No doubt this is what the dog was thinking when he raided the
blueberry flats stacked under Ken Riley's table at the Hollywood
Farmers' Market some years ago. No longer do the folks at Riley and
Sons Blueberries store their market berries within reach of hungry puppies,
but each year they continue to bring freshly harvested berries to the
Hollywood Farmers' Market for loyal customers and newcomers alike.
Riley and Sons Blueberries is a family owned and operated farm located in
Aurora, about 25 minutes outside  Portland. Blueberries are their
specialty, so you will find the Riley and Sons booth active from late
June through August, coinciding with the Oregon blueberry season.
Ken
Riley advises people to look for the best blueberries right around the
fourth of July, which is usually the season's peak.
The Rileys also provide the market with strawberries, harvested
from a neighboring farm. Their very own spray- and pesticide-free
blueberries can be obtained at the Hollywood Farmers' Market or at the Rileys'
farm itself through their long-running U-Pick program, or by call-ahead
order.
Three generations of the Riley family help on the farm during
blueberry season, from Marie Riley-one of the farm's founders, working
there since around 1965-to her son and daughter-in-law Rick and Maggie,
to their sons Ken, Andrew, and Eric.
Having grown up around this local farm, Ken has gotten to know many
loyal customers over the years. He relates how the Rileys welcome
families who return to the U-Pick blueberry fields summer after summer,
and consequently he has seen their puppies grow into dogs; children
into young adults. The Rileys have also been regular attendees at the
Hollywood Farmer's Market for years, since before it existed in its
current location.
The Rileys offer information about different varieties of
blueberries and also strawberries at their farmers' market stall. If
you're not sure what blueberries are good for, besides pie or muffins,
the Rileys offer all sorts of berry recipes. Best of all
are the fresh Oregon blueberries themselves, eaten straight from a
carton at market or off a berry bush at the Rileys' farm.
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Community Booths
Learn more about the organizations tabling at the market each week in our community booth column.
Hollywood Library
The Multnomah
County Library is coming to you. Sign up for the Summer Reading Game
at the farmers' market. Kids and adults can sign up and get a game board, a
sticker and a button. We'll bring some great kids books too that you can check
out without your library card. Just bring 'em back when you are done reading
them. Amy, Nina, and Andrea, your local
youth librarians will be at the community booth to say hello and launch you on a
summer full of great reading. We'll be looking for your vintage summer reading
T-shirts and lots of smiling faces bright and early on June 20th. |
The Hollywood Farmers' Market is open Saturdays, May through October from 8am - 1pm and November 7, 14, and 21 from 9am - 1pm. We are located on NE Hancock Street between 44th and 45th Avenues (one block South of Sandy Blvd).
For more information, check us out online at www.hollywoodfarmersmarket.org.
See you Saturday!
Hollywood Farmers' Market
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