Mercado Kitchen

Mercado Kitchen: Mexican Style Grilled Corn

Posted on by Jeremy in Blog, Great Valley Poultry, Happy Boy Farms, Mercado Kitchen, Recipes | Leave a comment

With this heatwave going through the city, we wanted to share the recipe of one of our summer favorites: elote asado or Mexican style grilled corn.

You could use store bought mayonnaise for this recipe, but I find that the homemade version tastes better and is really quick to make. However, when using raw eggs, it’s important to buy high quality eggs that you trust have been handled well. You can get organic, pasture raised eggs from Great Valley Poultry at Mission Community Market every Thursday.

Similarly, you can use store bought chili powder to complete this dish, but upon running out said condiment one day, I realized that I can just use a homemade barbecue spice blend I had prepared for another recipe, and it turned out amazing. Of course, I’ll be sharing the ingredients below to that as well. Take advantage of fresh corn from Happy Boy Farms before the season is over!

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Yields 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 6 ears of corn
  • 3 limes
  • 1 cup mayonnaise (see recipe below)
  • 8 oz cotija, pecorino or parmesan cheese
  • Chili blend to taste (see recipe below)

Mayonnaise

  • 1 large egg at room temperature
  • ½ teaspoon mustard (dijon or yellow mustard both work well)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon sugar (optional)

You can use your food processor or your kitchen mixer (or even your bare hands if you want to break a sweat). Add egg, mustard, lemon juice, and salt to the bowl of a food processor and process for 30 seconds. Now the trick is to add the oil in tiny amounts – a few drops at a time, until you can see the mayo starting to thicken. This usually starts once I slowly added about a ¼ cup of the oil. After that, you can add the oil to the mixture a bit faster, maintaining a very thin stream as you pour it in. Taste it and adjust salt and lemon if needed. I usually add a bit of sugar to it, but it’s completely optional.

You can store it in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Chili blend (recipe adopted from The Chubby Vegetarian’s Signature Memphis Dry Rub)

  • 2 parts chipotle chili powder
  • 2 parts sweet paprika
  • 2 parts smoked paprika
  • 2 parts granulated garlic
  • 2 parts kosher salt
  • 2 parts cracked black pepper
  • 2 parts cumin
  • 2 parts dried thyme
  • 2 parts dried oregano
  • 1 part ground ginger

Mix all ingredients until they are equally distributed and store in a spice jar.

Corn

Clean corn and place into a large pot with enough water to cover. Once the water starts boiling, turn the heat down to medium and cook for 10 minutes. When done cooking, stick them in the oven (in lieu of a grill) and broil them for about 5 minutes, turning them every now and again to develop an even brown color.

Now it’s finally time to assemble your dish!

  1. Rub each corn with half of a lime.
  2. Spread as much mayo on them as your heart desires.
  3. Cover with cheese.
  4. Sprinkle with chili blend to taste.

Enjoy!

Mercado Kitchen: Corn, Avocado, and Tomato Salad

Posted on by Jeremy in Blog, Blue House Farm, Happy Boy Farms, Mercado Kitchen, Moua's Farm, Recipes, Shoup Farms, Tomatero Farm | Leave a comment

This super easy and quick recipe can be summed up in one word: summer. As you have probably already guessed from the title, the main cast in this colorful salad are tomatoes, corn, and avocado.

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Tomatoes are at their peak season which means each bite is packed with a wonderfully delicious harmony of flavors from sweet to tangy. You could use frozen corn in this recipe, but why not take advantage of the fresh corn available at markets right now. Plus, they are quicker to prepare than you’d think (see below). Then there’s the creamy, melt-in-your-mouth avocado which adds an extra layer of deliciousness to this crowd pleasing dish. And finally, it’s all tossed in a lime and cilantro dressing for a bright and summer infused dish. Need I say more?

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You can pick up all the main ingredients from some of your favorite vendors at Mission Mercado and you likely already have the rest in your kitchen.

It’s a fail-proof recipe that’s a perfect addition to a picnic in the park, a potluck with friends or a quick weeknight dinner. Pair it with a fresh baguette or some grilled chicken and you got yourself a delicious and healthy treat.

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Yields 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 ears of fresh corn (or 2 cups frozen corn)
  • 1 avocado, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
  • 1/2 cup finely diced red onion

Dressing

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

  1. Clean corn and place into a pot with enough water to cover. Once the water starts boiling, turn the heat down to medium and cook for 10 minutes. When done cooking, I also like to stick them in the oven and broil them for about 5 minutes, turning them every now and again to develop an even toasted color. Once they’re cooled, cut the kernels off the cob.
  2. Combine the corn, avocado, tomatoes and onion in a large bowl. Mix together the dressing ingredients and pour over the salad. Gently toss to mix and, if you can wait, chill for an hour to let the flavors blend.
  3. Enjoy all the compliments!

 

Blueberries two ways featuring Zuckerman Family Farms

Posted on by Mission Community Market in Mercado Kitchen, Vendor of the Week, Zuckerman's Farm | Leave a comment

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At Mission Community Market, Zuckerman Family Farms is your go-to-spot for asparagus and potatoes. The farm, located in Stockton, is known best for their white potatoes. But summer weather has brought changes to the booth: the season of asparagus, a spring vegetable, is over, and this summer, blueberries have joined the Zuckerman table.

“Every season something new comes through,” says Marvin, a seller for Zuckerman farms. This is his first year selling blueberries at Mission Mercado––in fact, as I speak with him, this is Marvin’s first day as a blueberry seller. The berries have a short season, and don’t come every year.

Shoppers linger around the booth, dipping their hands into an open blueberry container to sample. Marvin says that though the blueberries mostly go in oatmeals and muffins, the fruit is versatile. In fact, I can’t think of a berry more suited to a variety of cooking techniques––blueberries, while sweet, are relatively mild in flavor, and can be baked, grilled, pureed, or eaten raw.

For that reason, blueberries are an effortless summer classic, ready to be packed in lunches, enjoyed during sunset porch–dinners, or floated in drinks. I explored two ways that blueberries could be prepared and paired with corn.

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Blueberries from Zuckerman farms are resilient and warm from the sun; the addition of fresh, locally produced blueberries is what makes the following recipes come to life. I encourage you to use berries from your local farmer’s market––the flavor in international bulk-produced fruit is just not the same.

The full recipes appear after the jump!

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Mercado Kitchen: miniature peach pies

Posted on by Mission Community Market in Arata Farm, Blog, Mercado Kitchen, Palmero Date Shop, Recipes | 3 Comments

Happy Belated Memorial Day! While we may not all be apple-eyed, red-and-white-striped patriots, I’d like to believe that everyone has a connection to pie.

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The flaky bits of crust––the sweetness and warmth of the filling––the possibilities of ice cream melting into the core––pie is celebration. And making a pie can be a celebratory process, too!

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Last Thursday, Arata Farms returned for the summer season, bringing stone fruits in tow. Arata is an MCM staple––the farm has been in operation for 5 decades, and has been bringing peaches, cherries, lemons, and quince to mercado shoppers for years (really––here’s a 2012 recipe for Arata Farm pomegranate-poached pears).

Something about peaches make me dream of the slightly surreal; my elementary school playgrounds, tinted; sleeping in picnic blankets instead of bedsheets. When peaches come into season, I suddenly and simultaneously imagine myself to be a baker, a small child, and a party host.

Over this long weekend, I funneled my peach-dreams into mini-pies. I adapted this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. The lemon juice in this recipe is essential––the tart kick of citrus compliments the flavor of the peaches and balances their sweetness. However, if you make this recipe with white peaches, which have a higher acidity than yellow peaches, consider adding less lemon.

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I was impressed with how the peaches tasted after baking; the finished wedges were soft and full, and burst when you bit into them. However, consider adding more peaches than less––our pies were too sparse on the insides. The crust is a quick and easy recipe, and could be adapted for any pie, sweet or savory. If you are vegan, try a coconut pie crust. If you eat a raw diet, you can even make pie crust with dates from Palmero Date Shop.

This week, head to Mission Community Market to pick up stone fruits for some pies of your own! Try different combinations––I’m thinking of plums and blackberries, or apriums and raspberries. Let me know how they turn out in the comments below, or tweet @missionmercado with a picture of your results. The full recipe is after the jump!

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Mercado Kitchen: Fava Bean Dip

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

Sick and tired of making the same ol’ salsas and dips for summer BBQ parties? Try Mission Community Market’s fun version of a bean dip! Stop by Blue House Farm this Thursday from 4-8pm to grab your bundle of fava beans and impress your friends with this week’s healthy recipe!

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Fava Bean Dip

Fava beans are similar to other beans and contain what many call “perfect proteins.” They are loaded with amino acids and are also rich in fiber and vitamins A, B, C, K, E, PP, and mineral salts. More information on fava beans can be found here.

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Ingredients:
12 larger Fava Bean stalks from Blue House Farm
3/4 Can of black beans
2-3 Cloves of garlic, minced
1 whole Avocado
Salt, Pepper
2 tbs Olive oil

Directions:
Fava beans require a two step de-shelling process. First, remove the large beans from their pods. Once all the beans have been removed, add to boiling water for roughly a minute, then place directly in ice cold water. The second layer of skin should peel off easily. Little green beans about half the size of their skin should pop out.

In a saucepan, add roughly 2 tbs of olive oil. Add the minced garlic and sauté for just a moment. Add the fava beans, black beans, and spices. Stir for roughly 3-4 minutes. Grab a potato masher, add the avocado, and smash all ingredients until a soft bean dip remains.

Serve warm with organic blue corn tortilla chips.