Anna Welcome to My Market Menu! I am challenging myself to create a full menu using star ingredients I found at the market! I would love for you to join me and share your own market stars! Personally, with a new little one at home this is going to be quite the feat, but hopefully I will be able to keep it fairly consistent. 😀 Fingers crossed!
Spring is an exciting time for farmers markets! Fresh, local produce is just coming in and berry season has begun! We officially have a weekly indoor farmers market in Battle Ground, and while it’s just getting started, there are tons of gems and treasures you can find!
Without further ado, here’s My Market Menu: May Edition!
At last Saturday’s market I came home with a gorgeous Lion’s Mane mushroom, fresh garlic scapes, cherry wine syrup from a local winery, two kinds of popped sorghum, fresh garden salad mix, and local honey collected less than 5 minutes from my house! It was an eclectic and exciting haul! Since my challenge was to make a menu from what I found, this is what I came up with!
Side: A Delightful Spring Salad
Fresh Tossed Garden Salad with a Garlic Scape Dijon Vinaigrette and Spicy Guacamole Popped Sorghum Bits! Sounds like a mouthful…but its a delicious one! I went very simple with this salad. I added sliced green onions a light sprinkle of flaky salt, and the spicy popped sorghum! The pop of spice and crunch from the sorghum was similar to a crouton! If I had other veggies like tomatoes, cucumber, or spring peas, those would have been delightful, but I didn’t have those in the fridge. Oh well!
There are tons of Dijon Vinaigrette recipes online, but I subbed normal garlic for garlic scapes. It was lightly garlicky and a gorgeous green goddess color! Next time I would opt for a little less mustard or maybe go the full Italian dressing route, but I loved it! Here is my version of the Garlic Scape Vinaigrette.
Garlic Scape Dijon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 3-4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped and flower head removed
- 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard (Next time I would use a little less. Do this to taste.)
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Roughly chop the garlic scapes and remove the flower head. In a blender, combine scapes, vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. Blend til the scapes are pulverized and smooth.
- With the blender running on low, slowly add in the olive oil to emulsify. You should have a slightly thick, smooth green dressing.
Serve the salad dressing on a bed of fresh lettuce, green onion, tomatoes, cucumber, or whatever your heart desires. Top with spicy guacamole popped sorghum or croutons. Enjoy!
Main Course: A Creamy Mushroom Pasta!
I love mushrooms! However, I am not well versed in the mushroom world. my local grocery stores usually carry white button mushrooms, cremini, or portabella if you feel fancy. I had never seen a lion’s mane mushroom in person, but this was a joy to cook with. I loved tearing apart the lion’s mane. It was reminiscent of pulling apart chicken or crab meat.
When you bite into these mushrooms they are meaty, soft, and slightly sweet. They do hold a lot of water, so I sauteed these mushrooms in a dry pan first to remove excess water. As they started to turn golden brown, I finished them off with butter. As soon as the butter hit that sizzling pan, those mushrooms absorbed the butter and became glorious, crisp savory flavor bombs.
Tip I learned from Julia Child: DON’T CROWD YOUR MUSHROOMS! If you want happy, delicious, perfect sauteed mushrooms, give them a personal space bubble. If they are all close together they get sweaty, flabby, and sad. And that is why so many people don’t like mushrooms!
The other highlight ingredient I found at the market were garlic scapes. Garlic scapes are the long flower stalks that grow from hardneck garlic in the spring. Initially when I saw them at her stand, I mistook them for green onions. When I spoke with the grower, she gave me all sorts of inspiration on how to cook with these!
I tasted them raw and the texture reminds me of fresh asparagus…but slightly garlicky. Garlic scapes are mild, slightly sweet, and quite versatile. I used these in a few recipes. For the pasta, I initially sauteed them with the mushrooms. However, I realized that seemed like an unnecessary step since they weren’t ready by the time the mushrooms were cooked. I pivoted and added them to my cream sauce. This was perfect, because they softened in the cream, and brought a mild garlic flavor to the pasta sauce.
Because I wanted the garlic scapes and lion’s mane mushrooms to shine, I went with a very simple cream sauce base. It let the mushroom aroma and flavor peak through. Since the mushrooms are fairly meaty, I opted for a bucatini pasta. You can definitely use any pasta in the pantry, but if you have a slightly thicker pasta like bucatini, fettuccine, or pappardelle, go for it! It grabs and holds onto creamy, velvety pastas a little better.
Creamy Lion’s Mane Mushroom Bucatini Pasta With Garlic Scapes
Ingredients
- Bucatini pasta
- Lion’s Mane Pasta
- 6 tbsp butter (divided)
- 1/2 onion, chopped fine
- 2-3 garlic scapes
- 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup pasta water
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
- Bring water to a boil and cook your noodles per the package instructions. Don’t forget to salt the water! When the noodles are done, reserve 1 cup of pasta water. Strain the remaining water from the noodles and let them hang out while you cook the sauce.
- Shred the lion’s mane mushroom into chunks. Heat your pan over medium high heat. Cook your mushrooms in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan. Saute the mushrooms about 2-3 minutes until they start to turn golden brown. Don’t move them around too much. Let them get crispy on one side before flipping over. Add 2 tbsp of butter and let them finish sauteing. Repeat with the second batch. Set aside.
- In your hot pan, saute your finely chopped onion, garlic scapes, and a few sprigs of fresh thyme in 2 tbsp of butter over medium low heat til beautifully golden and soft (about 8-10 minutes).
- Add 1/2 cup of heavy cream, 1/2 cup of pasta water, sauteed mushrooms, and salt and pepper to taste. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes until the sauce is glossy and the mushrooms have absorbed some of the liquid. If you need more liquid, add more pasta water.
- Add 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese til melted and toss the noodles into the cheese.
- Serve with more Parmesan cheese and enjoy!
Dessert: A Grown Up Rice Krispy…Minus Rice Krispies
Have you ever heard of the New Zealander version of rice krispy treats? I went down the rabbit hole looking for recipes that focus on honey, and I discovered a recipe from Cloudy Kitchen called Rice Bubble Slices. Imagine if rice krispy treats grew up and became a less sticky, sugary, and more mature versions of themselves! This is what rice bubble slices taste like. Since I came home with popped sorghum and local honey, this was the perfect recipe to try!
Popped sorghum is very similar in taste and texture to popcorn. It’s tiny and doesn’t have a kernel. The end result of my experiment was a honey caramel coated slice that is a cross between a rice krispy treat and a popcorn ball. Definitely a fun dessert to try!
It also uses honey instead of marshmallows! I loved that I could find such a honey-forward recipe!
Popped Sorghum Honey Slice
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 6 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup honey
- 5 cups popped sorghum
- 1 tsp vanilla
- pinch of salt
- flaky salt for finishing
Directions
- Line an 8×8 square pan with parchment paper. Pour the popped sorghum into a mixing bowl
- In a saucepan melt the butter, sugar, and honey and bring to a rolling boil.
- Stir occasionally and let the honey mixture boil for 3 minutes.
- Immediately remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and pinch of salt.
- Pour the honey caramel over the popped sorghum and sir to evenly coat.
- Transfer the popped sorghum to the square pan, and gently flatten them into the pan.
- Let the slices set in the pan before slicing into pieces. Enjoy!
Drinks: Cherry Soda!
This was an exciting find! I came across cherry syrup made with local cherry wine. Since it was made with wine, there was a faint aroma of fermentation, but the syrup was just the right level of sweetness without being overly sugary. Adding this drink to my menu felt fancy, but it was so easy!
There are a ton of soda recipes online, so I just did it all by eye.
Cherry Soda
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tbsp cherry wine syrup
- 6-8 oz sparkling water
Directions
- In a cup add the cherry syrup and sparkling water. Stir to combine and taste. Add more syrup or sparkling water if you want it less sweet or sweeter. Enjoy!
So there you have my market menu for May! I cannot wait to see what I find in June!
~Happy eating!
