AT LOCAL FARMERS MARKETS
Cooking demos:
4 - 8 p.m. Thursday, July 23. Chefs Sarah Dodge of The Preserving Place or Philip Meeker of Bright Seed demonstrate dishes using market produce. East Atlanta Village Farmers Market, Atlanta. http://www.farmeav.com/
Saturday, July 25. Chef Josh Hopkins of Empire State South. Brookhaven Farmers Market, Brookhaven. http://brookhavenfarmersmarket.com/
10 a.m. Saturday, July 25. Chef E.J. Hodgkinson of King + Duke. Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com
4:30 - 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 29. Chef Kate Christian of Three Squares Kitchen. Decatur Farmers market, Decatur. http://decaturfarmersmarket.com/wordpress/er
Many markets offer chef demos on an occasional or regular basis. Check your market’s website or Facebook page for more information.
FOR SALE
Just coming into season: cantaloupe, edamame
Vegetables, nuts and fruit: arugula, Asian greens, beets, blackberries, blueberries, cabbage, carrots, chard, collards, corn, cucumbers, dandelion, eggplant, fennel, garlic, green beans, herbs, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, Napa cabbage, okra, onions, peaches, pecans, peppers, potatoes, radicchio, radishes, rhubarb, shallots, sorrel, spinach, summer squash, tomatoes, turnips, watermelon
From local reports
Bryan Hager is in his 10th year of full-time farming, although his love of growing food dates back to his childhood. “I’ve been growing things since I was eight years old and had my first garden in Sandy Springs.”
Now he and his wife Wendy farm 5 acres in Carroll County where they grow a wide variety of vegetables and fruits with at least one fruit, such as strawberries, blueberries or muscadines, coming into season each month.
He started growing fresh soybeans, or edamame, five years ago. It’s a vegetable he decided to plant because his family enjoys it so much. “It’s also one of those crops that helps bring people to our booth. They might have walked on by, but when they see edamame, they stop,” said Hager.
Hager is talking about his Crager Hager Farm booth at two local farmers markets. He helped start the Cotton Mill Farmers Market in Carrollton in 2002, and continues to sell there as well as at the Saturday morning Peachtree City Farmers Market. The farm’s produce is also featured in several Carrolton-area restaurants.
He plants his edamame around the first of May and starts harvesting in July. The harvest window is only about two weeks.
“We plant a 150-foot bed that yields about 100 pounds of edamame. The yield is really dependent on the weather. Good rains mean a bigger crop. And the short harvest window is great on the backs of those who are doing the harvesting. It means less time spent bending over to harvest the pods.”
Those doing the harvesting include two apprentices hoping to have their own farms one day. They harvest the pods one week, then go back through the second week and cut the plants down. “Then we can sit in the shade and finish pulling the pods off the plants. It’s too hot in July to be stooping over picking beans. The only other beans we grow are pole beans. Those we can harvest standing up.”
Most of those who buy his edamame already know how to prepare it. For those new to cooking fresh edamame, Hager explains that they cook them just like boiled peanuts, in the shell, with lots of salt. “Then you just shell them and eat them.”
He’s also found that blanched edamame holds up great in the freezer. “You can freeze them in the pod or shelled. Then when you want a snack, you just pull a package out of the freezer and thaw it. Sometimes we drop them back into boiling water.
Chris Johnson’s Korean-Style Sweet and Spicy Glazed Soybeans
Tired of plain old edamame sprinkled with salt or sugar? This recipe from chef Chris Johnson of the Terrace Bistro Restaurant in the Ellis Hotel downtown will improve the quality of your edamame snacking 100 percent. Johnson said he developed this recipe because “ginger and garlic are so harmonious, and I love the flavors of Korean cuisine.” Gochujang paste can be found in Asian grocery stores or at the Buford Highway Farmers Market.
3 cups fresh edamame in the shell (about 3/4 pound)
Salt
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 /2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon Korean gochujang paste
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil
1 teaspoon garlic, finely minced (about 1 clove)
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, skin removed, finely minced
In a large bowl of slightly salted water, cook edamame for 5 minutes. When tender, drain and set aside.
While edamame is cooking, in a dry skillet, toast sesame seeds until fragrant and just beginning to brown. Remove to a bowl to cool.
To the bowl of toasted sesame seeds, add soy sauce, water, brown sugar, vinegar, gochujang paste and sesame oil.
In a small saucepan, heat canola oil over medium-low heat. Once heated, add garlic and ginger. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly to keep garlic from burning. Add soy sauce mixture and raise heat to medium. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce reduces to a glaze, about 5 minutes. Once you reach the desired glaze consistency, add cooked edamame and toss well.
Use tongs to plate edamame. Pour any glaze left in the saucepan into a small dipping bowl alongside the edamame. Makes: 3 cups
Per 1/4-cup serving: 98 calories (percent of calories from fat, 42), 7 grams protein, 8 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 5 grams fat (trace saturated fat), trace cholesterol, 298 milligrams sodium.
About the Author
