October 5: Vashon Farmers Market Fresh Sheet

October 5, 2012  

Guest essay coming from Tom Conway,

VIGA board member and author of the TallCloverFarm.com blog 

Potato-LeekSoup: Autumn by the Spoonful

I have crop envy. My pals at Island Meadow Farm grow leeks the size of lodge poles . Joe and Celina from Sun Island Farm offer up tender baseball-size turnips with the sheen of a polished pearl. On the east side, Greenman Farm does just about everything right, while Hogsback Farm can produce an heirloom tomato that makes me weep. When it comes to shallots, figs, and apples, I look no further than Pacific Crest to stock my larder. If that’s not enough, Plum Forest Farm grows too many great things to name. Vashon is blessed with some gifted farmers, and thanks to their growing talents (and occasionally mine), the soup is always on! And this time of year, that goes especially for my favorite, potato leek soup, a creamy blend of earthy flavors well suited for sweater-wearing weather and a hearty warm-up. The recipe, adapted from Alton Brown, is simple, satisfying, creamy, and delicious.

Potato Leek Soup

Ingredients

• 1.5 pound leeks, cleaned and dark green sections removed
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1.5 pounds potatoes, peeled and chopped small
• 1 quart vegetable broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives

Directions

1. Chop the leeks into small pieces.
2. In a large stock pan over medium heat, melt the butter.
3. Add the leeks and salt and sweat for 5 minutes.
4. Sweating is to cool very slowly without browning, basically turning the leeks into a soft textured slurry
5. Decrease the heat to low and cook until the leeks are tender, approximately 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Add the potatoes and the vegetable broth, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and gently simmer until the potatoes are soft, approximately 45 minutes.
8. Turn off the heat and puree the mixture with an immersion blender until smooth.
9. Mix heavy cream, buttermilk, and white pepper and then slowly pour and stir into leek potato mixture
10. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired.
11. Sprinkle with chives
12. May be served cold or warm.

Here’s what on offer this week at YOUR ever-bountiful Vashon Farmers Market:

• Pacific Crest Farm is coming with lots of summer favorites, including tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, squash, sweet onions, cucumbers, berries and more! We will have plenty of everyone’s year round staples like salad, kale, chard, beets, carrots, cabbage and head lettuce. Don’t miss our great fruit selection with apples, asian pears, strawberries, raspberries, figs and plums!
• Sun Island Farm (Pictured at right) will bring sweet corn, melons, sweet peppers, tomatoes – salad, sandwich and cherry. Basil, beautiful new beets, both red and gold, Spaghetti Squash, greens, some kale and chard, cucumbers, strawberries and their beautiful salad mixes. And likely more, too, when they check the harvest, so visit your Sun Island to see what they find!
• Plum Forest Farm is proud to announce they are now Certified Organic, and will have: Many varieties of incredible organic heirloom tomatoes – including: tomato tasting winner Blush – plus Brandywine and Pink Brandywine, Black Prince, Cherokee Purple, Prudens Purple, Stupice, Amish Paste, Opalka, Orange Banana, Black Cherry, Jaune Flammée; Indigo Rose and Sungold tomatoes, luscious Raspberries, Gourmet Salad Mix, Plums, Basil, Green and Yellow Beans, Purslane, Carrots, Desireé and German Butterball Potatoes, Swiss Chard, Cucumbers, Summer Squash, Eggplant, Peppers, Bodacious Sweet Corn and Beets.
• Hogsback comes bearing Cherry Tomatoes, Red Slicing Tomatoes, and various Heirlooms as well. Multiple types of string beans, onions, early wonder beets with stellar greens, carrots, two types of heirloom radishes, red and green cabbage, and a few peppers.
• Greenman Farm (Pictured at right) will be bringing FRESH PICKED SWEET CORN! Also heirloom and beefsteak tomatoes, tri-color mixed pole beans, outrageous romano beans, Asian cucumbers, Indian cucumbers, heirloom cabbage, delicata squash, summer squash, french fingerling potatoes,  hot and sweet peppers, rainbow chard, beets, leeks, sweet onions, farm fresh eggs, and plenty of recipes to go with them all. For farm crafts, they’ll have upcycled “feed” tote bags, adorable organic cotton produce bags, and beautiful veggie watercolour greeting cards. For those who want to enliven their walls with gorgeous art, check out Will’s gorgeous original veggie watercolour portraits as well as gorgeous little framed prints of the same.
• Hilltop Garden will have, under that bright yellow umbrella this week, lots of tomatoes, potatoes and kale, some beets, carrots, peppers, eggplants, spartan apples, and Russian quince.
• Island Meadow Farm is back after a week off, bringing: Arugula, Ancho Poblano Peppers, Beets, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Chard, Chocolate Peppers, Garlic (By the bulb or buy the braid), Hakurei Turnips — Back for a short time! Red Tomatoes, Hot Hungarian Peppers, Kale, Leeks, Mixed Flower Bouquets, Potatoes — Desiree, Yukon Gold and Fingerlings, Red Bell Peppers, Tomatoes, Red Onions, Sauerkraut, Shallots — Check out the lovely braids!, Bloomsdale Spinach, Summer Squash — Green Zucchini and Costada Romanesca, Sunflower Stems, Sweet Frying Peppers, Sweet Onions – Ailsa Craig and Walla Walla, and Wild & Fancy Salad Mix.
• Midlife Crisis Farm (Pictured at right) will be bringing USDA lamb, grass fed ground beef, lean and healthful bison plus Swedish potato sausages for the grill, more of that delectable ginger pear pork sausage as well as brats and German sausages.
• Quality Seafood will be there with tasty Columbia River salmon, Spot Prawns from nearby waters, Red Snapper and Alaska halibut, and delicious Smoked King Salmon for the best imaginable hors d’oeuvre.
• Vashon Winery (which for all intents and purposes is also a FARMER, growing their own apples for cider and harvesting several acres of grapes for their wine) is sampling their newly released 2010 Semillon, a dry white wine with crisp citrus notes perfect for celebrating the end of summertime. Plus 3 reds from their reliable stable… And a HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS to Ron Irvine, named by Seattle Weekly as the best Winemaker of 2012 in their Best of Seattle awards!
• The Farm Coop Booth is always a place to find lots of surprises. This week, get your fix of cabbage, eggs, strawberries, purple potatoes, baby broccoli and green beans, along with lots of other delicious Vashon Grown produce.
• Anu Rana’s Healthy Kitchen (Pictured at right) is a big hit with their delicious healthful treats, now presenting their products in new biodegradable packaging – including their Flourless COOKIES: Almond Brownies, Almond Dates Coconut, Almond Mango Cashew, Almond Fig, Almond Basil Pine nut, Almond Ginger Molasses, Almond Oatmeal Raisin, Almond Sesame seed, Almond Peanut butter, and Flourless HEALTH BAR: Coconut Pistachio Brazil Nut. Try a sample. You’ll want a week’s supply!
• Tease Chocolates returns from the Northwest Chocolate Conference, featuring three signature candy bars: Salty Mermaid, Geishas Pleasure, Spicy Mayan; 3 seasonal bars: PBNJ, White Coffee, and Cocomels; Cookie bark, Pistachio Butter Crunch, Ginger Lips, Hand-Dipped S’mores, and the Signature Truffle Box, which includes: Bee’s Knees, Cinnamon Girl, Pear and Blue Cheese, Carol’s Little Black Dress, and Ghost Chile Truffle.
• King Caramels redefines the candymaker’s art with Hedy’s latest connoisseur caramels. Choose from Sea Salt, Licorice, Ginger, Classic, Brown Rice and Agave. All amazing, all made on Vashon!
• Cliff’s Beer is the coolest brew in town. Delicious handmade beers that always sell out early. Choose from equally popular Alder Smoked Porter and Bitter Ale. And Cliff has launched his American Pale Ale – think American Bitter, but hoppier. Hop off with a bottle of that!
• The VIGA Snack Shack is your “rejuvenation station” after all that VIGArous market shopping, with coffee, lavender lemonade, pastries and sandwiches all made with love by Café Luna.
• Rosie Bones will have many scrumptious treats for man’s best friend, including grass fed beef liver, organic sweet potato, and chicken feet, along with their regular bags of Rosie’s Choice and Chicken Livers and Gizzards.
• Rex Morris will be happy to put a razor sharp edge on your knives, clippers, a treasured machete’ – and anything you might have left out rusting over the summer… And if you’re lucky, he’ll also have some of his smokin’ hot “Face On Fire” hotsauce to share.
• Mik Kulman, aka The Ball Girl, returns to work out those kinks that have knotted up your body lately.

FROM THE STUDIOS

• Empty Nest Studio (Pictured at right) brings a one-of-a-kind, eclectic collection of gemstone and Vashon beach glass  jewelry, including a new product line – Necklace Scarves. It’s a scarf that comes with jewels attached! Tres chic, mon ami!
• Made In Paradise captures artistically one of our most enduring island symbols: The Rock! They use stones collected from seven states to make rustic stone vases & lamps with a Zen quality. The obsidian (volcanic glass) used to make their winsome wind chime is sourced from their very own mine in Southern Oregon. The chimes are not only beautiful to look at but have great tonal quality, from a delicate soprano tinkle to a deep vibrato. Their jewelry is made from collectible old trade beads and fossilized ivory thousands of years old, and beautiful leather work is all hand cut and braided, for key rings, necklaces and rattles.
• Urban Flowers brings delightful jewels for our winter gardens – darling tin flowers, made from repurposed spray paint cans that Julia Anderson finds on her walks along the train tracks. Colorful and ingenious, and kinetic, too!
• KB and Paula (Pictured at right) offer beautifully crafted gifts! Paula got into her coveted wood stash and made a new batch of letter openers and wine stands. Wait till you see the ribboned pink ivory, red heart, and olive woods! She also has a brand new batch of hand-turned rolling pins made from island maple and cherry wood as well as the stand-bys: purpleheart, padouk and teak. And KB brings beautiful new stained glass feathers made from hand blown flat glass – including two stunning eagle feathers. And check out the new dragonfly designs on the bud vases, created from tubes used over 40 years ago from the Bealle Road greenhouses! They have many great classy gifts for any occasion for around $20. Stop by and check them out!
• Treenware - will be there with a new offering: replicas of 16th century tasting spoons (or, as an alternate name, “lip preservation spoons!) in addition to all his other amazing hand carved spoons and salt bowls.
• Bliss Organix brings, in addition to many elegant products for body and skin care, a new Bliss Spritz called Summer of Love with patchouli, orange and lavender. Earthy, spicy and sweet! Spray on body, bedsheets or use as a healthy, fragrant air-freshener. Carol is also featuring her Orange Hemp Mint Lip Balm for $9.
• Reap-It Products Jill is bringing her new “Market Bags”, inspired by the flared shape of French paniers, as well as car bags for use with kids stuff, pet toys, magazines, trash, you name it! Dog owners, bring your dog’s measurements (around the neck, collar to tailbone and around the widest part of the middle) for a custom-made doggie raincoat. Jill will mail the finished product to you. Bibs, aprons, 2-growler totes, sandwich wraps, placemats, wallets, lunch bags.. she’s got ‘em all!
• Rainy Day Garden will be bringing her delicious cupcake soap and her ”White Peach” soap, as close to a fresh, off-the-tree peach scent as you can get! That, along with at least 15 varieties of olive oil based soap, scented with essential and fragrance oils, and including many vegan options, as well as unscented soap for those who are sensitive to fragrance.
• Eileen Mackinson aka The Bird Lady joins us, bringing her beautiful collection of plumage from all kinds of feathered friends.
• Tahlequah Woodworks brings a bevy of marvelous new cutting boards and other woodworking magic Ralph conjures in his shop. This week Ralph will feature cutting boards with one of his favorite tropical hardwoods, African bloodwood, which has a lovely red color.
• Mariposa Gardens brings a collection of new journals upcycled from used books. Come by and turn the cranks on the paper automata. Be the first on your block to make your own automata with a Breaching Orca kit! and NEW: Lacy knit scarves.
• In our nonprofit booth this week, we are honored to host The Food Bank, as well as Vashon Youth and Family Services.