THE ULTIMATE COMFORT FOOD

Last week I mentioned something called “Poutine” that we saw on EVERY menu in EVERY restaurant we visited in Nova Scotia. If you’ve not looked it up and shook your head in disbelief yet . . . .

Poutine is ridiculously simple and the variations and twists on it are ENDLESS. Drum Roll Please . . .

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There you have it. Poutine. We ordered it three times and each time it was a bit different. John’s Lunch admitted they added a bit of clove to their brown gravy. (I know, it was weird). The plate we shared at a local diner on Prince Edward Island included donair (more about that later). The last one was at an upscale restaurant and it was probably the best of the three. But it was still plain old poutine.

Since home I’ve been nosing around on ways to serve a healthy version of this. Here’s what I’ve come up with:

1. Bake your fresh cut potatoes to make your french fries. And you can substitute or include sweet potatoes. True, it’s not the tried and true, but hey, if all the Canooks have their own versions why can’t us southerners include our healthy sweet taters?
2. The old original recipe is reported to have been made with cheese curds. Haven’t saw them since Wisconson, but I saw one recipe trying to turn tofu into cheese curds for a healthy vegan version. That’s just blasphemy. Use a good organic cheese from Working Cows.
3. Brown Gravy . . . .there again . . . Those broth bones from Working Cows and Casablanca make a mighty fine beef stock that would make a mighty fine gravy.

I guess all that’s to say this – popular comfort foods don’t have to be bad for you. I do not deny that this one needs to be enjoyed in moderation due to the high caloric content, but at least now you know how you can prepare it to be delicious, nutritious and almost guilt free.

MARKET CHITCHAT

We hope you got outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather even if you weren’t able to join us for the third Fall Farmer’s Market. We’re very aware that the schedule change due to last week’s weather threw some of our folks off and this was a case where we just ran with what we had.

And we had FUN! The crowd was great, the classes were AWESOME, (at least that’s what we were told!) and it was great meeting new folks and getting to know others better. We hope you’ll make plans to drop in next Saturday on November 11 for the final Fall Market and classes.

Speaking of such – its confirmed now that Mrs. Melody won’t be able to teach Healthy Food Preservation, but she is sharing her lesson plan and prepping some of our other folks to share this topic. That being said, there may be one – there may be three or four teachers next week for Healthy Food Preservation, so if you were planning to be with us at 9:30 am, keep it on the calendar! We promise you won’t be disappointed.

Lastly . . . Our Heart. Susan Avello, aka the Lean Bean Chef, will be speaking about Healing through Nutrition at 11:am. This will be our last class of the year and perhaps the most important one of all. Market at Dothan exists to SERVE our community through providing Fresh, Local, Sustainable and Year Round produce. Knowing that the high quality foods our growers work hard to provide make a difference in the quality of people’s lives fuels our dedication to continue doing so. How you eat DOES affect your health, and Susan is the best qualified person in the area to share about that topic. If you are reading this and struggling yourself or know someone who is struggling, come.

THIS WEEK’S GROWER NOTES

We have the best Growers in the Wiregrass! Please learn more about them on our Grower Page.

AVALON FARMS: Excited to report the very first sugar snap pea blooms! So far, so good. Have not grown these in the fall before. Probably another month till harvest.

You’ll  notice my products are turned off as we are doing a little traveling. When the market starts up again after Thanksgiving we should have broccoli. Followed by a lull and then more broccoli.

Thank you all for traveling this road of sustainable farming with us. It certainly is a learning experience.

BAIN HOME GARDENS: Hey there market friends! What a beautiful week it has been! Unfortunately we hear that some of you have been unwell and we are so sorry to hear that. Know that we are all rooting for a speedy recovery for you.

At Bain Home Gardens, things have been super busy. From expanding garden beds to planning spring beds there never seems to be enough time! With the clock falling back tonight, we will be working even harder chasing the sun!

Let’s talk mustards, Red Giant mustards to be specific. These beautiful greens aren’t green totally green but boast a beautiful purplish-maroon tint on top of a green leaf. We are cooking ours tonight but you can find yours on the market as of today! We will be trying the recipe below courtesy of the Food network channel (a guilty pleasure at the Bain Home).

Coat a large saute pan with olive oil and put on medium-high heat. Toss in the garlic cloves and a pinch of crushed red pepper. Cook the garlic until it becomes golden brown and is very aromatic. Remove the garlic and discard.

Add the mustard greens and season with salt, to taste. Cover and cook the greens until they are soft and wilted. Stir in the vinegar. Taste for seasoning and add salt, if needed. Transfer the greens to a serving bowl and serve.
For exact measurements go to: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/sauteed-mustard-greens-recipe-1922016
If you have recipe that is tried and tested, scroll on over to our Facebook page and share it with us. From your family to ours and back again! See ya next week!

HAWKINS HOMESTEAD FARM: Hello friends! Today we participated in our last Fall Farmers Market. We were set up next to Smith Farms. Their lamb is delicious! Last weekend, we had the pleasure of visiting Casablanca Ranch. Mr. Anderson and his family are such kind and giving people. It’s great getting to know other growers as well as our customers. We have very much enjoyed meeting everyone. There is still one more Market Day to go next weekend so don’t miss out on your chance to meet your growers.

We have some chicks hatching out this Monday so there won’t be chickens for a while to give these guys time to grow and fatten up. We will however continue to have eggs but as the days get shorter, our girls produce less eggs. Not to worry though because, we will be concentrating on hatching out more layers (hens we hope) for the Spring as well.

In our garden we are growing broccoli, collards, and cabbage. Not sure when everything will be ready but we will keep you guys posted. We are also busy saving and gathering seeds for the Spring as well. As always we thank you for allowing our family to feed yours and we appreciate you all!

FOOTNOTES

We would love to hear from you! If you have a favorite recipe, want to write a product review, have an idea or request for an article or information, let us know! You can reply to this newsletter or write marketatdothan@gmail.com.