Farmers' markets have everything under the sun

Weekends are the time for farmers markets. Here are some of my finds from recent trips and what I've done with them. I'm lucky to live across the street from my community's farmers market. It's also on Friday mornings so I can go to neighboring towns' markets on Saturdays. To find a farmers market near you, go to www.localharvest.org.



Sheesh! Blackberries are expensive! Ads in our local paper range from $15 to $18 a gallon. I paid an indulgent $7 for a quart at the market. Next time I'll just pick them myself. But these made a lovely cobbler with my mom's crust recipe.

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup Crisco
3/4 cup milk
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9-by-9 glass baking dish. If you have enough berries to make a 13-by-9 pan, double the crust recipe.
Rinse and pick over berries. Sweeten with sugar as desired (maybe 1/2 cup). Stir in cornstarch or tapioca -- I'm bad at estimating this and my filling is always runny.
Mix the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar together. Cut in the Crisco until well-blended. Stir in the milk until the dough comes together. Knead on a floured board until smooth. Separate into 2 balls. Roll one to fit in the bottom and up the sides of the dish. Put it in the pan. Put berries in crust. Roll other ball of dough to fit on top of pan. Place it on top of the berries. Bake for 30-40 minutes until crust is browned and not doughy in the bottom.





ZUCCHINI BREAD
3 eggs
2 cups grated zucchini
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon allspice
3 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup coconut
2 cups flour
1/2 cup chopped dates
1 cup nuts
1 cup oil

Beat eggs, sugar, zucchini and spices together. Add all remaining ingredients. Mix until blended. Pour into a greased floured 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.



FRIED GREEN TOMATOES
3 medium firm green tomatoes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup milk
2 beaten eggs
1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs mixed with 1/3 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Cut unpeeled tomatoes into 1/2-inch slices. Sprinkle slices with salt and pepper. Let tomato slices stand for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, place flour, milk, eggs and bread crumb-cornmeal mixture in separate shallow dishes.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Dip tomato slices in milk, then flour, then eggs, then bread crumbs. In the skillet, fry half of the coated tomato slices at a time, for 4-6 minutes on each side or until brown. As you cook the rest of the tomatoes, add olive oil as needed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Comments

Kerry said…
The blackberry prices are crazy! The zucchini is HUGE! And the fried green tomatoes are wonderful looking!

I'm hosting a Farmer's Market Report. Maybe you'd like to submit this post? Come on over and check it out: http://toeverymeal.blogspot.com/2008/08/farmers-market-report-august-23rd.html
Kerry said…
Thanks for submitting your post. I'll have this week's Farmer's Market Report up tomorrow by 10AM. Hope to see you then!

www.toeverymeal.blogspot.com

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