Mercado Kitchen: Sugar Snap Pea Soup

Posted on by Mission Community Market in Blog, Blue House Farm, Great Valley Poultry, Mercado Kitchen, Recipes | Leave a comment

This past week Blue House Farm brought MCM a lovely spring treat: Sugar Snap Peas! These peas traditionally are eaten raw, in a salad, sautéed, or steamed.  But why not warm your hands over a simmering pot of soup during the rainy days upon us? The warmth of the soup, the subtle flavors, the deep hearty broth with a touch of velvety coconut all combine to make a wonderful afternoon meal! Come by the market 4-8pm this week to pick up some of your own peas please!

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Sugar Snap Pea Soup

Ingredients:

Basket of sugar snap peas from Blue House Farm
Bundle of carrots from Blue House Farm
2 eggs from Great Valley Poultry (beaten, as though for a scramble)
2 tbs. Garlic (finely chopped)
1 tbs. Ginger (finely chopped)
1 Lime
Handful of buckwheat soba noodles
4 Cups Vegetable or Chicken broth
Spices: Salt, pepper, chili powder, basil, coriander
2-3 tbs. Coconut oil

Instructions:

In a pot, sauté slivered carrots and snap peas in coconut oil and stir for roughly 5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger. Stir for roughly 2 more minutes then add the entire 4 cups of vegetable/chicken broth. If desired, add a cup of water to balance out the broth.  Wait until the broth begins to simmer before adding spices. Season to taste. After the broth simmers for roughly 5-8 minutes, add soba noodles. Gently drizzle the beaten eggs over the simmering broth. Stir for roughly 3 minutes or until the noddles are fully cooked. Serve with a sliver of lime.

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Spotlight on Grandma’s Homemade

Posted on by Mission Community Market in Blog, Good Eggs, Grandma's Homemade, Vendor of the Week | Leave a comment

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As you travel though the market each Thursday, you may notice a man with an electric smile. Staged before him are a variety of colorful jams, arranged neatly in rows. As you approach the stand, you may notice his smile growing wider as he hands you a taste of one of his homemade jams. Each of these jams has been hand-crafted by Fadi Malouf  and his products are always free of preservatives. How Fadi Malouf arrived at making jam helps one understand the true passion that lies in each of these jars.

“Fruit and sugar fuels the energy between the people and me at the market, with only a jar in between”

After suffering from a near fatal accident as an industrial-fuel engineer in Lebanon, Fadi retired early and traveled to San Francisco merely ten days before 9/11. Initially just visiting family members, he was captured by the beauty of the bay and made the decision to stay due to the impending wars in the Middle East. Each Saturday, Fadi visited a local farmers market to connect with the farmers, the city, and his community. One Saturday he came across a large box of figs which was sold to him for a mere $20. Fadi said, “this box spoke to me, I don’t know what it was, but I just knew I had to buy it.” From this one box, Fadi made 43 jars of fig jam with the assistance of his grandmother via telephone in Lebanon. As a young boy, Fadi would help his grandmother make jam for sale at local markets which enabled her to make extra money during World War II.

These 43  jars were dispersed among family and friends who then inspired him to continue making jam to sell at his cousin’s cheese boutique. Customers started to inquire about the jam and eventually his jam reached a customer who happened to organize the Artisan Markets for Williams-Sonoma. He began to travel all over the Bay Area selling his jams at these Artisan Markets and now, three years later after that first fig purchase, Grandma’s Homemade jam is sold at twenty-one stores, six farmers markets, and is also available for purchase through Good Eggs.

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For Fadi, the act of making jam is nostalgic and comforting, as most of his recipes having been passed down for generations and now grace our own community market! Currently he has twelve flavors, the newest being Ginger jam! Take some of Grandma’s Homemade jam home today to truly understand the love and care that is put into each jar. To hear his story firsthand, stop by the Grandma’s Homemade stall at MCM each Thursday from 4-8pm or check out his Facebook page for more information.

Mercado Kitchen: Strawberry Frozen Yogurt with Jam Swirl

Posted on by Mission Community Market in Blog, Grandma's Homemade, Mercado Kitchen, Recipes, Yerena Farms | Leave a comment

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Spring is here and strawberries are available at the market! What better way to enjoy the warm weather than with refreshing strawberry frozen yogurt made with strawberries from Yerena Farms and amped up with a swirl of jam from Grandma’s Homemade?!

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Making this strawberry frozen yogurt with a jam swirl is super simple – puree yogurt with sweetened strawberries and spin into frozen yogurt, then layer with a jam of your choice, such as albion strawberry or raspberry. While it’s easiest to use a home frozen yogurt and ice cream maker (for example, the Cuisinart ICE-21 works great and is under $50), this recipe also includes basic instructions without using a machine.

Pick up some strawberries and jam at the market this week and give making homespun frozen yogurt a try!

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Strawberry Frozen Yogurt with Jam Swirl

Adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Leibovitz; instructions without machine from I Scream Sandwich! by Jennie Schacht

Makes about 1 quart

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh strawberries (from Yerena Farms)
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp vodka or kirsch (optional)
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Jam of choice (we absolutely love albion strawberry or raspberry from Grandma’s Homemade)

Instructions:

Rinse and hull strawberries and slice into small pieces. Stir with sugar and vodka or kirsch (if using) until sugar dissolves. Cover and let stand at room temperature for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Puree the strawberries and their liquid with yogurt and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until smooth. Optional: press the mixture through a mesh strainer to remove any seeds.

Refrigerate for 1 hour, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions (see below for alternative instructions without a machine). When ready, spoon a generous amount of jam into the bottom of a container and top with a layer of frozen yogurt. Repeat, alternating generous spoonfuls of jam with the rest of the frozen yogurt. The frozen yogurt will be fairly soft when first out of the machine. If you prefer, keep in the freezer until the frozen yogurt firms to your desired texture.

If not using an ice cream maker, chill the yogurt-strawberry puree in a heavy-duty zipper-top bag with a reliable seal in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Nestle the sealed bag inside a larger zipper-top bag filled with ice and rock salt. Tightly seal the outer bag, then shake, toss, or roll the two together until the frozen yogurt freezes to a soft-serve consistency. At this point, move to a container and layer with jam as described above. Freeze until firm if desired.

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Mercado Kitchen: Spring Strawberry Salad

Posted on by Mission Community Market in Achadinha Cheese Company, Blog, Home Made Ravioli, Marla Bakery, Mercado Kitchen, Recipes, Winters Tree Fruit, Yerena Farms | Leave a comment

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Spring is here! Cherry blossoms are beginning to bloom, the sky remains light into the evening, and the temperature is rising. However, spring means more than just beauty, rebirth, and an end to another wonderful winter, it also means strawberries! Mission Community Market welcomes back Yerena Farms to our Thursday market. Come by this week to grab a basket or three of this season’s freshest organic strawberries!

Spring Strawberry Salad Recipe

Processed with VSCOcam with p5 presetIngredients:

Basket of fresh strawberries from Yerena Farms
Feta cheese from Achadinha Cheese Co.
Roasted Almonds from Winters Fruit Tree
Spring greens from Blue House Farm

Balsamic Vinaigrette: 1 part balsamic, 1 part organic olive oil, dried basil, and a dash of truffle salt to cut the acid

Directions:

Wash and dry the spring greens. Gently sliver the strawberries to display their beautiful insides and sprinkle on top of cleaned salad. Add crumbled goat cheese and chopped almonds. Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette and enjoy with a side of buttered sourdough from Marla Bakery or a pasta dish from Home Maid Ravioli!

Share the [Common]wealth!

Posted on by Mission Community Market in Blog | Leave a comment

Dine out for a cause this month! We’re excited to announce that for the third year in a row, MCM has been chosen by local restaurant Commonwealth as one of their non-profit beneficiaries.

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Throughout the month of April 2014, Commonwealth restaurant will be donating $10 to the Mission Community Market for the sale of each tasting menu purchased. Commonwealth is a Progressive American restaurant located in the Mission at 2224 Mission Street (cross-street is 18th). Every month they choose a local beneficiary, and so far, they have raised over $222,000 for local non-profits! Bravo!

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We’d like to extend our deepest gratitude to Commonwealth for all their support, and to all the diners whose tasting menu purchases will benefit MCM. Make a reservation today to support MCM and the benevolent business model at Commonwealth!