NEW: Chappaqua Farmers Market: Duck is back, sharpen those knives for Thankgiving!

Three more outdoor markets before we go indoors to St. Mary’s!
by Pascale LeDraoulec

• Music by Jason Waters

First, I want to thank all of you who braved the elements last week to shop at the market.  A couple of our farmers got stuck getting home and probably spent 10 hours on the road that day. So each and every one of your purchases really meant something to the vendors.

We have only three more markets left before we move to our winter quarters, the parish hall at St. Mary’s, next to Bell school, on December 3—so you will only miss seeing your favorite vendors for one week—the Saturday after Thanksgiving when we will all take a much needed break and the farmers can truly enjoy the fruits of their labor.

A few of our vendors come only once a month and this Saturday is your last chance to see them before we go indoors.
Hudson Valley Duck will be here with their panoply of duck products from duck salami (delicious in a baguette with cornichons!) duck prosciutto and duck rillettes, which are as perfect on toast points as they are tossed into a bowl of fresh tagliatelle.

I’m a huge fan of their smoked duck breast, which I add thinly sliced to all of my salads for some gourmet protein on the go: I like it on grain-based salads like quinoa or wheatberry or with bitter greens like frisee, to which I usually add a warm soft-boiled egg.This week I flavored a vat of post-storm baby French lentils with a spoonful of rillettes and it was divine.

Also here this week is Clean Ridge Soap Co. If you are going to someone’s house for Thanksgiving, do yourself a favor and buy your hostess gift from Clean Ridge. What hostess wouldn’t appreciate some herbaceous kitchen soap and hand lotion after slaving over the holiday meal?

Are you hosting? Then DON’T FORGET TO BRING YOUR CARVING KNIVES to the market this Saturday! The knife sharpener will be here this Saturday and Nov. 19th, but don’t wait until the last minute.

Madura Farms has been bringing in some gorgeous cauliflower heads, lily-white, morning-glory purple and grass green. Unfortunately, they don’t stay that color once cooked.  But they sure look beautiful on your kitchen counter until you decide what to do with them…(drizzle with olive oil, add coarse salt and roast at 375 for about 45 minutes to an hour).

See you at the market!

Pascale LeDraoulec, Director of the Chappaqua Farmers Market.