Chappaqua Farmers Market: Goat Cheese, Spices and Cherries—Oh, my!

June 15, 2012
by Pascale LeDraoulec

Welcome new vendor Coach Farm!
Rotating Vendors:
•  Gaia’s Breath Farm
•  Flourish Bakehouse
•  Kontoulis Olive Oil
•  Spice Revolution
•  Bombay Emerald Chutney
~ Knife Sharpener returns 6/30.
~ Music: Joe Gramando returns with The Mighty Few
~ Yoga at 9:00 a.m.

Cherries at the market? Already? I had to do a double take last week when I saw them lined up at the Orchards of Concklin table!

Honey Locust Farmhouse had some, too, spilling out of a bucket on its side, with a hand-scrawled sign inviting shoppers to scoop up a carton for $3. The calendar hasn’t quite made summer official yet, but the orchards and fields have a mind of their own this year. Take advantage of this early bumper crop to dig up some of your favorite cherry recipes.

My standby is cherry clafouti – so easy, so rustic, so French! My mother used to make this cake/pudding with studded with suspended cherries all the time when I was growing up. And my father likes to tell the story of clambering over his neighbor’s stone wall in the south of France to pilfer low-hanging cherries for his mother’s clafouti — which he preferred to eat for breakfast.

Now, when my girls go to visit my parents in California every summer, my mother makes it for them. Sometimes with plums or apricots, but mostly with sweet, fleshy ruby-red cherries. My favorite picture is one of my daughters standing in their bikinis and on their tippy, tippy toes staring through the wall oven door to see if Mamie’s clafouti is ready!

Below, find the recipe, from Julia Child, naturellement!

Of course, cherries are also fantastic in salads – especially salads made with goat cheese, pistachios, arugula and sliced chicken or duck breast. You’re in luck: COACH Farms – the famous goat cheese purveyors from Chatham, New York are coming to the market this week. They will be bringing fresh goat cheese discs, plain and dusted in herbes de provence and aged goat cheese logs as well as their award-winning triple cream tower with the textured rind. They will bring a small amount of goat yogurts and milk but are happy to bring more if there is a demand.

So – if you’re interested – don’t be afraid to ask!

And speaking of cheese…sometimes it’s easy to get stuck in a cheese rut. For a long time, for example, I was hooked on the Chaource from Amazing Real Live Food Co. Then I tried the Tomme and wondered what took me so long. To lure you out of your rut, the folks at Amazing Real Live are discounting all of their cheeses by a $1 a pound this week. So splurge and try and few!  What dad wouldn’t want a fantastic cheese tray on Father’s Day?

Don’t forget to stop at Gaia’s Breath for some great cuts of pork and veal to put on the grill – including some crazy delicious veal rosemary garlic sausage. Stone Barns also has an entire panoply of pork, chicken and lamb to put a smile on dad’s face this Sunday.

Between the two of them, Bombay Emerald Chutney and Spice Revolution should have some interesting condiments and rubs to jazz up your Father’s Day feast.

This Saturday is the day Kontoulis Olive Oil comes to visit.  if you still have your bottle from last month bring it with you to market and save a little cash while you’re saving the planet.

Some housekeeping:

We want to remind you that when other farmers markets shut down or cut back during the winter, we are the market that stays open 52 weeks a year, always at the ready to provide you with fresh local greens, cheese, pastured meats and fresh fish and all this with a smile and a welcoming atmosphere.

Please continue to support your favorite vendors during the summer months, too. We can only be your year-round market if we get your year-round support!

Cherry Clafouti

Ingredients

      1 1/4 cups milk
      2/3 cup sugar, divided
      3 eggs
      1 tablespoon vanilla
      1/8 teaspoon salt
      1/2 cup flour
      3 cups cherries, pitted
      powdered sugar, for garnish

Directions

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

  Using a blender, combine the milk, 1/3 cup sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and flour, and blend.

  Lightly butter an 8-cup baking dish, and pour a 1/4-inch layer of the blended mixture over the bottom. Set remaining batter aside.

  Place dish into the oven for about 7-10 minutes, until a film of batter sets in the pan but the mixture is not baked through. Remove from oven (but don’t turn the oven off, yet).

  Distribute the pitted cherries over the set batter in the pan, then sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Pour the remaining batter over the cherries and sugar.

  Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes, until the clafouti is puffed and brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

  Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm.

  Servings: 6-8 for dessert, 4 for breakfast.

~ Pascale Le Draoulec
food writer/ author/ farmers market director