I went to the Ballard Farmers' Market today with the intention of making a meal based entirely on market goods. It was a beautiful autumn day today, lots of sun with a nice chill in the air. We were putting a bag of knobby looking multi colored potatoes into our bag when we looked up and saw Erica and Charles. So, one of the coolest things about going to the Ballard Farmer's Market is that we often see friends there. Hooray for friends!
So we went to several stands but I want to give props to the Alvarez Family Organic Farm for giving us a free squash. Then, I went online and found out that they're an extra special awesome. From their website: "Almost 25 years ago when Hilario Alvarez came to the Yakima Valley in Washington, he went to work for local farmers. He leased some land to farm in his 'off' hours and with his savings was eventually able to buy 25 acres. Hearing about the Cesar Chavez movement in California and the dangers of pesticides, Alvarez decided to farm organically." Seriously, the guys that worked there were probably the most friendly I've encountered at the market. Well, maybe they're tied with the guy at Skagit River Ranch. But free food bribery will get you everywhere, free bacon next time please?
So we bought some green beans and a little green and white squash from them, some amazing looking salad mix with little edible flowers in it, mixed braising greens, nubby carrots that look like witches fingers, potato mix, and some pork chops from Skagit River Ranch. We also bought some cider from Rockridge Orchard. Noms!
After grabbing some herbs from my very sad looking herb garden (the squirrels keep getting into the sage, and probably more disastrous, I keep neglecting all of the herbs), I decided to try to make this an entirely local meal. My oil is not local so I used bacon fat and butter to broil the potatoes and carrots. I was concerned the carrots wouldn't be sweet enough so I sliced up half a pear and threw it in the pan with them. I added garlic to the potatoes, they were perfect. The pork chops were dredged in the herbs from the yard, garlic, and then left to sit in a bath of Rockridge Orchard's Hopped Apple Cider. The pork chops were pan fried, the marinade reduced to a nice gravy and I threw the green beans in to cook at the last minute. I ran into a very important hitch that made this meal not completely local, salt. Oh well, whatever. It tasted amazing!
Okay, I mentioned something that you might not have noticed so let me make you notice. You've read this far so pay attention. Rockridge Orchard's Hopped Apple Cider. I asked the lady at the Rockridge Cider stand if it was gluten free and she emphatically explained that not only was it gluten free but it was kinda their version of a gluten free beer. So, I love hops and have loved them ever since I smelled raw hops when I was brewing my first batch of beer 4 years ago. While most commercial gluten free beers contain hops, they're at the crowd pleasing disappointingly low levels. This cider only has a hint of hops but it's really good and the hops are prominent enough to know they exist, in harmony with the apples. Very crisp, very earthy, dry, and tart.
