• James Beard Award Winner, Nina Barrett Joins Friends!

    Nina Barrett, an award-winning food writer who recently won a James Beard Award in the category of  show / audio webcast, will be joining Friends of Evanston Farmers’ Markets for a cooking demonstration this coming Saturday.

    Nina hosts Fear of Frying, a broadcast by WBEZ 91.5, Chicago’s National Public Radio affiliate station, explores the fears we have of cooking. She has been a journalist and author for 20 years, and has a professional chef’s degree from Le Cordon Bleu.

    This week, Nina will be visiting the friends’ tent and said she plans on informing “farmers’ market customers about cookbooks and specific recipes that can help them enjoy the produce [that] they find at the market.”

    “My focus will be on four specific recipes from four specific cookbooks I will bring with me to talk about with people, which will allow them to make a wonderful four-course meal, perfect for family, home entertaining, or summer picnics,” said Nina, who is also the owner of Bookends & Beginnings, Evanston’s new independent bookstore at the site of the former Bookman’s Alley.
    The four books and recipes she plans on talking about are the following:
    beetroot
    Jerusalem, by Yotam Ottolenghi-Pureed beets with Yogurt and Za’atar
    cauliflower-cake-copy1
    Plenty More, by Yotam Ottolenghi-Cauliflower Cake
    20131015-269430-cook-the-book-the-heart-of-the-plate-cover
    The Heart of the Plate, by Mollie Katzen-Slaws Beyond “Cole”
    plum-2
    The New Elegant But Easy Cookbook, by Marian Burros and Lois Levine-Plum Torte
    Besides giving tent visitors tips on making these dishes, Nina will be giving out a farmers’ market shopping list for the farmers’ market ingredients that go into these dishes and a 10% off coupon for these and any other cookbook at Bookends & Beginnings, valid this Saturday and Sunday (July 11 & 12).

     



  • Blueberry Torte

    Recipe courtesy of Marian Burros and Lois Levine from ​The New Elegant But Easy Cookbook. The original recipe used plums.

    Ingredients

    1 cup all-purpose flour

    1 teaspoon baking powder

    Large pinch of salt

    1 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon, or more or less,
    depending on the tartness of the blueberries

    2 cups of blueberries

    8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

    2 large eggs

    2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, or more or less,
    depending on the tartness of the blueberries

    1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

    Directions

    1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt.

    2. Cream 1 cup sugar and the butter in a large bowl with a hand mixer (or in a mixer) until light in color. Add the dry ingredients and then the eggs.

    3. Spoon the batter into an ungreased 9-inch springform pan. Cover the top of the batter with the plum halves, skin side up. Sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of sugar and the lemon juice, adjusting to the tartness of the fruit. Sprinkle with the cinnamon.

    4. Bake until the cake is golden and the plums are bubbly, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool on a rack, then unmold.

    Serves 8

    Cooking Note

    Blueberries are available in abundance right now at the market!

     



  • The Market WILL be Open on the Fourth of July

    The calendar isn’t wrong. The Downtown Evanston Farmers Market is open for business as usual on the Fourth of July.

    It seems that other markets in the area may be closed for the holiday, so tell your friends all around Chicagoland that they can get their weekly market fix right here in Evanston.



  • Bring your child to the Spud Club this Saturday!

     

     

    Did you know that the downtown Evanston farmers’ market isn’t just for grownups?

    Every week at the farmers’ market kids can join in on the fun with other 2 to 10-year-olds by registering at the Spud Club Tent. The Spud Club tent is run by our market manager Myra Gorman and our amazing volunteers Cameron English, and Ella and Teddy Lambert.
    The Spud Club is free and offers unique opportunities that can only be found at farmers’ markets.  Last week, our Spud Club members made their own farm and in the past, members made lettuce terrariums, test tube sunflowers and much more.
    When you register your child as a Spud Club kid you’ll receive an ID card for your little one and a badge holder. Every time you bring your kid to the market, they will get a punch on their card. And remember, after seven punches they’ll get a special gift from our market bucket.
    Sign up for our newsletter to see what’s happening in the market and the Spud Club!


  • Fennel Apple Beet Slaw

    Recipe courtesy of Peckish Pig

    Ingredients for the slaw

    • 5 pounds beets, cleaned, peeled and shredded
    • 5 pounds fennel tops, cut of and shredded
    • 5 pounds of apples, sliced thin and tossed in lemon juice to coat
    • 1 pound red onion, shredded

    Directions for the slaw

    1. Place all slaw ingredients in to a bowl, except beets.
    2. Drizzle the dressing over and mix gently.
    3. Chill.
    4. When serving, add tablespoon of beets and mix gently.

    Ingredients for the dressing

    • 3 cups extra-virgin olive oil
    • 1 cup fresh lemon juice
    • 1 cup finely grated orange zest
    • 1/2 cup honey
    • 1/2 cup kosher salt or fine sea salt
    • 1/8 cup freshly ground black pepper

    Directions for the dressing

    1. Mix together in a bowl and chill.