Join us for a Movable Feast! ~ April 7

Thanks to everyone who came out
to our first Movable Feast fundraiser last week. The next dinner
in the series will be at One Market Restaurant, where Chef Mark Dommen will work with Erica Holland-Toll of Lark Creek Inn. The menu will include:

• Spring Garlic Soup with egg and herb croutons
• Marinated Duck Breast with caramelized onions, cherries, brown butter almonds, raab flowers
• Rainbow Swiss Chard Raviolis with porcini mushroom emulsion
• Crispy Skin Steelhead Salmon with braised collard greens, grits, spring onion & dill pickled Maine sweet shrimp

Market chef at Bloomingdales ~ tomorrow

Interested in getting a little mall time after the market? CUESA's market chef, Sarah Henkin, will be demonstrating two recipes utilizing spring vegetables in Bloomingdales' first floor kitchen department in the Westfield Centre on Saturday, March 14, at 2:00 pm.

Get your goat at the market! ~ March 28

Goat cheese is a hallmark of California cuisine, and now goat meat is showing up on more and more tables. The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market celebrates goats at the Hoof-a-palooza on Saturday, March 28 from 10 am - 1 pm. Come find out more about this often underrated animal! The event will include a cooking demonstration, learning station, and a chance to try goat tacos.

Save the dates for two not-to-be-missed events in April   

The Grilled Cheese Tour ~ April 23
On a Thursday from 1 - 7:30 pm, America's favorite comfort food goes sustainable. Travel to Petaluma with CUESA for a behind-the-scenes tour of two beloved Ferry Plaza Farmers Market vendor operations: Cowgirl Creamery and Della Fattoria bakery.

Gary Paul Nabhan ~ April 29
Join us at the Ferry Building for an evening lecture with esteemed author and locavore pioneer Gary Paul Nabhan. He will be discussing his latest book, Renewing America's Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent's Most Endangered Foods.

Tickets and further details (for both events) will be available next week.

Food and Farming on the Urban Edge panel ~ March 24

Slow Food Marin-Petaluma and the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) present "Food and Farming on the Urban Edge," a panel discussion about investing in the San Francisco Bay Area's local foodshed. The free event is at Cavallo Point in Sausalito and requires pre-registration with MALT >

Saturday, March 14 ~ Market to Table

11:00 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Mark Ayres, Highlands Inn and Hyatt Regency Monterey Resort and Spa

Tuesday, March 17 ~ Food Wise Booth

12 - 1 pm - Sarah Henkin, CUESA's market chef, will be giving out recipe cards and samples of a simple meal made with market ingredients. She'll also be available to offer advice on all your seasonal meal planning. This week she's be serving a recipe with an Irish twist for St. Patty's day.

Saturday, March 21 ~ Market to Table

11:00 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Jamie Lauren, Absinthe and Top Chef

11:45 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Treasure Van Dinther, Café Gratitude

All programs take place in CUESA's Dacor teaching kitchen, in front of the Ferry Building on the north side.

Savvy eaters know they don't have to sacrifice sustainably produced food in hard economic times. In fact, with a little extra time spent cooking at home, some shoppers might be surprised by how far they can stretch their farmers' market dollar.

As nonprofit workers with ample access to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, the CUESA staff figured there was no one more equipped to illustrate the money saving power of cooking from scratch with fresh ingredients. So, we thought we'd share recipes for meals we make at home that cost around $4-$6/serving, not including pantry items such as salt, pepper and oil.

Black Bean Chili
Christine Farren, CUESA's Administrative and Events Manager

Sarah's Roasted Chicken
Sarah Henkin, CUESA's Market Chef

Crockpot Goat Stew
Ashleigh Collier, CUESA's Volunteer Coordinator

Nettles, Rice and Veggie Soup
Julie Cummins, CUESA's Director of Education

Arroz Con Pollo
Dave Stockdale, CUESA's Executive Director

Braised Sunchokes and Brussels Sprouts with Christmas Lima Bean Ragu Twilight Greenaway, CUESA's Virtual and Visual Education Manager

Note: most of us are not professional cooks, and some recipes are merely the latest product of frequent experimentation. In other words: cook at your own risk and let us know how it goes!

Related Reading

A Dollar Well Spent
CUESA recently created an in-depth rundown of the value of local produce, including a variety of perspectives from Ferry Plaza farmers. Read more >

Survey Says
Local Harvest, a web site that allows eaters all over the country to learn about and buy locally produced food, did an interesting national survey last fall, in an effort to answer the question, "How does local food compare on price?" See their findings here >

Organize a Cook-off Day
A recent blog post on Civil Eats tells of a group of families who spend some free time cooking in bulk with other parents so they can free up more quality family time during the week. Read more here >

This is the most up-to-date information about which sellers will be attending the market as of Friday. If there are no changes to a seller's status, they will not be listed. You'll find a list of which farmers regularly attend each market here. Please understand that there are often last-minute changes—it's the nature of farming!

Saturday, March 14

In/Returning : Madison Growers, Rainbow Mountain Farm (new to the market, keep your eye out for an e-letter feature next week!), Redwood Hill Farm, Zuckerman Fried Asparagus
Out: Apple Farm, Juniper Ridge

Tuesday, March 17

No changes

Returning, plentiful and/or at their peak this month:
Pea greens, raw olives, English peas, lilacs, fava beans, hyacinth, parrot tulips, rhubarb, spinach, asparagus, avocados, green garlic, spring onions, kumquats, nettles, broccoli, rapini greens, artichokes, baby turnips, carrots, fresh goat cheeses, pastured goat, eggs, plant starts

Winding down/limited supply:
Kiwi, Brussels sprouts, cherimoyas, shallots, lamb, potatoes, some citrus varieties, including Cara Cara oranges, Satsumas, and Fukumotos

Vendor and value-added farm products not to be missed (weather willing): San Francisco Lox Sandwiches (TM) from Cap'n Mike's, celery salt from Allstar Organics, and organic chicken stock from Mountain Ranch Organically Grown.

New farm this month: Rainbow Mountain Orchards will be joining the Saturday market on March 14th with an array of Japanese maples.

Featured recipes for March:

Shaved Asparagus with Smoked Trout and Pistachios from Rick DeBeaord of Café Rouge

Chilled English Pea Soup from local chef Leif Hedendal

Chicken with Arugula, Artichokes and Natural Pan Juice from Keith Hammerich of City College San Francisco

Rhubarb-Almond Bars from Aïda Mollenkamp, food editor at CHOW