BostonZest

Seasonal Farmers Market Opening Dates 2019 Summer to Fall

Here is our round up of the summer farmers markets opening dates around Boston. We visited the Copley Market's opening day today and it reminded us to share this list with our BostonZest readers.

Early in the market season, we enjoy dishes like “Asparagus Two Ways.” Here it is roasted and starring in a simple salad of shaved asparagus, fennel, and capers.

Boston Public Market News
The Boston Public Market (BPM) headquartered at 100 Hanover Street, will have outdoor markets in three locations. In addition to their popular Dewey Square market (near South Station) they will have a market on City Hall Plaza and in the Seaport.

What Is There to Buy at Early Markets?
You can expect a selection of storage, greenhouse, and hoop house produce at early farmers markets: mushrooms, potatoes, scallions, spinach, lettuce, and greens. In June we can hope to see strawberries, asparagus, beets, bok choy, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, peas, and radishes.

Naturally we’ll also be offered meat, poultry, seafood, maple syrup, honey, dairy, cheese, and eggs which are not seasonal in the same way as plant-based goods.

Here are opening dates for the 2019 area seasonal markets:

Boston Public Market: Open daily, year-round 

May Markets
South End/SoWa: Open Market: May 5th (Sundays)
Copley Square: May 10th (Tuesdays & Fridays)
Egleston Jamaica Plain: May 11th (Saturdays)
Central Square, Cambridge: May 13th (Mondays)
Boston Public Market at Dewey Square: May 14th (Tuesdays and Thursdays)
Cambridge Center (Kendall MBTA): May 15th (Wednesdays)
Davis Square, Somerville: May 15th (Wednesdays)
Jamaica Plain (677 Centre Street): May 18th (Saturdays)
Union Square, Somerville: May 18th (Saturdays)
Boston Public Market at City Hall Plaza, May 21 (Tuesdays)

June/July Markets
Roslindale/Adams Park: June 1st (Saturdays)
Boston Public Market at the Seaport (85 Northern Ave.) June 5th (Wednesdays)
Brookline/Coolidge Corner: June 6th (Thursdays)
Harvard University Farmers Market, Cambridge: June 11th (Tuesdays)
Charlestown: Thompson Square at Main & Austin Street, June-October (Wednesdays)
East Boston/Central Square: July 3rd (Wednesdays)

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2019 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

(Adapted for BostonZest from one of our Fresh & Local newspaper columns.)

Ginger Goes Mainstream

In an interview with NPR, food writer Nigella Lawson said, "I think ginger has a heat, a warmth that is often not fully understood because I think people use a small amount. And if you use quite a lot, you really see that it’s like reaching for another form of pepper.

As more of us acclimatize our palates and enjoy foods with stronger flavors and heat, ginger is showing up in unexpected and delightful places. One of Ed’s favorite ginger discoveries is spicy ginger limeade. 

It's always part of our order from Bon Me, and we make it at home with local ginger or ginger syrup from Old Friends Farm.

Each season we buy a supply of local ginger and the ginger syrup made from it at the Atlas Farm stand at the Copley Farmers Market. They bring it to Boston for their neighbor Old Friends Farm. We use some fresh, clean and freeze some, and even make our own pickled ginger!

Using More Ginger

These days we buy ginger in larger quantities. In dishes where we once used a touch of ginger, we might now add a pile! We use it fresh, pickled, and juiced. Penny has become a pro at peeling it with a teaspoon but, in some cases, she’ll just give it a scrub and use it peel and all.

At least half of the homemade chicken broth we make contains ginger along with scallions, star anise, soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine. We use this to make quick, pho-like noodle soups and to add to stir-fry dishes in place of a more basic chicken stock.

And, don't limit yourself to savory uses, pour ginger syrup over ice cream, rice pudding, and other desserts.   

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2015-2018 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

(Adapted for BostonZest from one of our Fresh & Local newspaper columns.)

Farmers Market Asparagus Ragout à la Jacques Pepin

We have had Asparagus Ragout for supper repeatedly in recent weeks. We visited the Provincetown Farmers Market on a recent trip to our favorite spot on the tip of the Cape and bought a bunch of asparagus from Silverbrook Farm. We didn't want to turn on the oven in our rental apartment to roast it, so Penny remembered a Jacques Pepin cooking technique for cooking fresh vegetables in a little water and a bit of butter. We both loved the result. 

After returning home, we located a Jacques Pepin video with instructions for what he calls Asparagus Ragout. (This dish is first up on this the program.)  

Via Wikipedia we found this about Ragout, "The term comes from the French ragoûter, meaning: 'to revive the taste." The Italian ragù (the word being borrowed from French) is a sauce such as Ragù Napoletano used typically to dress pasta."

While this farm fresh asparagus did not need reviving, this method of cooking it certainly results in great flavor complete with a light sauce. (Naturally, Ed selected his favorite utensil – a slice of fresh bread – and sopped up every drop of the sauce remaining on his plate.)

When we returned to Boston, we bought more asparagus at the Atlas Farm stand at the Copley Square Farmers Market and had a second supper of lovely, local asparagus.

We do peel the stalks and this time we had watched the video and followed Jacques' method. If you have the time, you can make an asparagus soup from the trimmings. 

We highly recommend this quick and easy cooking method for many of the fresh, local vegetable you'll be gathering at local markets this summer. 

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2018 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

Gravenstein as Our Local Apple-a-Day

This is another occasional post on the local apples we are including in our afternoon fruit plate snack. The Gravenstein is part of the Orange Pippin family and has a decided tart side to its personality that Penny loves!

 

Here it is cut up for snacking. Ed says it reminds him of Sauvignon Blanc with that wine grape's snappy tart bite. Penny finds it a great balance of snap and sweet.

Oddly enough, when this apple arrived from the kitchen to our snack table, Amy Traverso was on the television, in an apple orchard, tasting apples. So we had to include our rave review of her The Apple Lover's Cookbook in this post. The woman knows her apples and can tell you exactly how to use each one.

Related Posts:

The Apple Lover's CookBook by Amy Traverso

How About a Different Apple-a-Day While Local Apples Are In Season?

Fruit Plates Are Our Favorite Afternoon Snacks

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

How About a Different Apple-a-Day While Local Apples Are In Season?

As you may have noticed, we've been enjoying an apple-a-day as part of our afternoon pick-me-up snack.

(For more on this, see our post, Fruit Plates Are Our Favorite Afternoon Snacks.)

With the first of the season local apples appearing at farmers markets and farm stands, we are trying to add apple varieties to our daily fare.

The Zestar Is New to Us

Meet the Zestar, a relatively new early variety we picked up from Foppema's Farm at the Copley Square farmers market. The farm describes it as, "crisp, sweet, & tangy." It was a hit with Penny because she likes tart apples. Ed loves sweet, but while it was not as honeyed as he likes, he did admit it was, "... not tart enough to make you pucker."  

Here it is sliced and ready to eat. This variety seems to brown rather quickly so cutting it in this manner, keeping the pieces together with the cut side down on the plate, will protect the cut surfaces of the largest segments.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

Grilled Cheddar Cheese with Onion, Thyme, and Tomato on a Rustic Bread? "Yes, Please!"

The lunch in the photo above was pulled together from what was left in the house before farmers market day. The sandwich is grilled cheddar cheese with onion, thyme, and tomato on a rustic bread.

 

Thanks to a tip I follow from David Leite, I had a jar of sautéed onions in the refrigerator. I always sauté extra, since I bought the New Portuguese Table, years ago. (Here's more about that in our post: Cook's Treasure: Sautéed Onions and Garlic.)

Since I was being lazy and trying to make a quick lunch, I don't think I would have sautéed an onion to add to these sandwiches. But since I had these softly sautéed onions all ready, I sprinkled a few on each pile of goodies as I prepared a platter of grilled cheese. The thyme came about because I keep a vase of herbs on my counter right where I do food prep. 

My other helper in making this meal was my induction burner. It makes controlling the temperature of the pan, to get just enough toast on the sandwich, easier. Since I added this to my kitchen, I seldom use my stovetop. Induction gives me faster heat, better control, and a much easier clean up.

My electric stovetop has become extra counter space and the place where I setup my induction burner, since that puts it under the kitchen vent. I place a large wooden cutting board under the induction burner and a full sheet pan covered with newspaper or parchment over the burners next to it. This makes clean up a snap!

 

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

Fruit Plates Are Our Favorite Afternoon Snacks

Working from home can be dangerous to your waistline, unless you're careful about snacks. At about three every afternoon, we both need a little pick-me-up.

Our snack of choice is fruit. Some days it's just an apple. But, when our fruit basket is full of delicious ripe berries and peaches, they will make an appearance.

Occasionally, when the cheese drawer has a perfect match like this cheddar, a bit of cheese will join the party.

We have added fruit to our cheese trays over the years and now have quite a few favorite combinations like these bits of brie with figs. 

When the stone fruit season is at its height, it can be fun to taste the contrasts. On this plate we had a sweet, luscious Saturn peach, a tart apricot, and a plum that was right in the middle of the other two on the sweet/tart scale.

The blueberries were on the plate to add color. We eat with our eyes and the contrast makes the plate of healthy fruit as attractive as a fancy and high-calorie fruit tart.

 

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino