The Covington Farmer’s Market takes place every Wednesday at the Covington Trailhead from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and every Saturday at the 600 block of N. Columbia Street (at the Covington Police Department) from 8 a.m. to 12 noon.
Charlene LeJeune of Abundant Life Kitchen sends out a weekly newsletter on Tuesdays detailing each week’s Covington Farmer’s Markets:
Happy Tuesday, friends! There’s a lovely day at the market for you tomorrow, full of music and fresh veggies and wonderful food. Take some time to have lunch with us. Feast on an old favorite from Kandy – a shredded cabbage salad with shredded carrots, shrimp, red onions, cilantro, and mint all lightly seasoned with a side of fish sauce. Incredible! Frankie is planning a perfect, almost-summer repast of chili cheese hot dogs, served with her potato salad and a mixed fruit salad. Fabulous! Mr. Houston will be there with potatoes and corn and squash and much more. Kristen’s happy hens have been hard at work supplying fresh yard eggs. And, you know Jerry’s blueberry jam will be awesome!
I am planning for a lovely Saturday with blue skies smilin’ all over and tunes from Chris Talley bouncing out from the gazebo. Grab your coffee and shop around. If you haven’t tried a breakfast of Erica and Nathaniel’s veggie pancakes — phenomenal! or a slice of Norma Jean’s lovely quiches—stupendous! or Spanish R Us’ breakfast “burrito” —legendary! or Jennifer’s egg & hash brown tart — epic! or Suzie’s fluffy egg croissant—amazing!, I think you’re missing out.
Stop by Norma Jean’s table; she is planning to make the perfect Salade Nicoise using the bounty of the Covington Farmers’ Market. And bounty we do have! Last week, Nick put out baskets of harcourt verte, and were they ever tasty. There’s plenty of yellow and white squashes to be had and I’ve included my mother-in-law’s famous (in our family, at least) squash pudding recipe below.
The Bardwells are back with matador peppers (large, long, mild green peppers). Since I had taken advantage of Jubilee Farms’ ground meat special, I used some of that bounty to stuff those grand lovelies. My family was in heaven. J.R. also has jalapeños and banana peppers, red potatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, white squash and he says he should have green eggplant for next week. Tessier Gourmet is making the most of the zucchini abundance with an herbed zucchini soup.
Mr. Houston still has sweet corn; grill them up along with your Jubilee Farms Italian sausage, and perhaps a few tomatoes, green beans, and peaches, too. AND, James has leg quarters which are a natural for the BBQ pit. However, I will be making salsa chicken with mine for tonight’s feast. I’ll simply brown my chicken and remove it from the pot (I like my cast iron for this). Then add 2 tbsp olive oil and a tablespoon of flour and let it brown up as you scrape the tasty bits from the bottom of the pot. When the flour is browned and before it starts to burn, add as much Spanish R Us salsa as you like. Stir it around to incorporate your flour and tasty bottom bits, then return the chicken to the pot, mix with the salsa, and cook on low heat until done. If you prefer, you could leave the browning flour part out and just skip to adding salsa to the tasty bottom bits. Just don’t leave out the tasty bottom bits – lots of flavor there. Homemade cole slaw (we do have cabbage at the market) or sweet corn, or roasted potatoes, or roasted green beans wrapped in Jubilee Farms’ bacon, or sautéed golden scallopini squash (Nick) would really complete that meal.
Happy Flour is using their own crop of blueberries to create a wonderfully delicious blueberry almond cookie (of course, I tried them) and their coffee cake. Fal-awfully Good provided our demo last week with their homemade falafel on homemade flatbread, hummus, and slaw. They will become a regular vendor. Check ‘em out.
What will make your market merry? Mushrooms (James has plenty), raw honey (can’t beat Blood River), avocado salsa (Spanish R Us take me away..), special treats for your pets (I personally don’t indulge), muffins and cookies (I definitely indulge) all wrapped up in a glorious Saturday morning! I know, I know…I can hardly believe it myself. If you’re not there, you’re gonna miss out.
Lots of love,
Charlene LeJeune
Abundant Life Kitchen
The Covington Farmers’ Market is open each Wednesday, rain or shine, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Covington Trailhead, 419 N. New Hampshire and every Saturday from 8a.m. to 12p.m. on the side lawn of the Covington Police Station, 609 N. Columbia St. Call (985) 892-1873 for information or visit www.covingtonfarmersmarket.org
