Grapevine January 27 2008 Market

this week - What's Coming To The Market This Week? - Cooking Ideas - Zuppa Bastarda

Looks like we've got a cold market day this Sunday. No problem. Zbeanz will have plenty of coffee while Tastebud and Savory et Sweet will have something hot for you to eat. Farmers are thawing out their equipment and harvesting today and tomorrow. There will be plenty of locally grown, raised and produced foods for you to buy. What's a little snow?

See you on Sunday!

Eamon Molloy
Market Manager

What's Coming To The Market This Week?

This week's cold weather makes harvesting very difficult. Winter greens will be limited this week but there kale, mache and field salad will be available. Root vegetables like potatoes, celeriac and turnips should be in good supply. Draper Girls Farm still have apples and pears and will be bringing cider. Honeyhill Nursery is coming back to the winter market this Sunday with a nice selection of hellebores. Nonna's Noodles is back this Sunday too. Check the availability list for the complete list of who's coming this weekend and what they expect to be selling. As always, be sure to check the list throughout the weekend.

IN
Crabapple Company
Honeyhill Nursery
Nonna's Noodles

OUT
Blossom Vinegars (back in April)
Copper Crown (back Feb 24)
Gales Meadow Farm (back in February)
Happy Harvest (back in April)
Rick Steffen Farm (back in February)
Stephens Farm (back in April)
Tastebud (back Jan 27)

Cooking Ideas - Zuppa Bastarda

I was struggling with what I could write about this week. I was thinking about parsnips until Tuesday's Oregonian came out with a good article by Leslie Cole. So I started contemplating writing something using cabbage until I read Mark Bittman's recipe for cabbage salad in Wednesday's New York Times. I gave up on vegetables. A hot dish llke a soup or stew sounded good for a winter weekend. Then I remembered a recipe Ayers Creek Farm sent a few weeks ago based on a recipe Anthony and Carol were given by Cathy Whims at Nostrana. Simple, flavorful, and filing Zuppa Bastarda is a great winter soup. Enjoy!


Zuppa Bastarda "Bastard Soup"

Anthony Boutard's explanation of this soup's name:

Bastard soup is so named because it uses black beans, which are called fascistini in honor of what Elda Cecchi calls "that black shirted bastard who brought Italy to the brink of destruction during WWII." On the positive side, it is very easy to prepare. "All you need," she says, "are good fascistini beans, some stale bread, and-above all-some exceptionally good extra virgin olive oil. Il gioco e fatto!" The game is won.

1 ¼ cups dried black beans, soaked
7 cloves garlic, peeled
1 medium red onion, peeled
2 tsp dried crumbled sage
8 ¾-inch thick slices peasant bread, stale or toasted
Salt to taste
4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
4 Tbs basil pesto

1.Drain the beans and place in a soup pot along with 5 cloves of the garlic, the onion, sage and enough water to cover by 2 inches. Heat to boiling over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 1 ½ hours. Add more water if necessary. Salt at the halfway mark.

2. Cut the remaining garlic cloves in half. Using half a clove for each 2 slices of bread, rub the bread with the cut sides of the garlic until the bread is perfumed with the odor. Divided the slices among 4 bowls and top each with 1 Tbs of the basil pesto.

3. Pour the bean soup into the bowls over the bread. Serve hot.