Central Farm Market Bethesda - Know where you food comes from!

Central Farm Market

Arlington Rd., Bethesda MD

Sundays from 9:00am to 1:00pm

http://www.centralfarmmarkets.com/

This is the Culinary Nomad truck. It was exactly what I was looking for when I walked into the Bethesda Central Farm Market on Sunday.

Cheryl, Alex and I headed there around 9:30 to get some breakfast and provisions. Luckily I saw breakfast first....always better to shop on a full stomach.

Here's a link to their website: http://www.culinarynomadeats.com

 I saw this and said, "Yes, please."

While I was waiting for my $7.00 delight I went across the lane to grab some fresh-squeezed OJ. 

 

 Upon my return to the truck I was handed a togo box that looked like a couple of runny eggs over a slice of toast. I was ready to be disappointed.

However, what I didn't realize was that the bread under this was some full-bodied, chewy Asiago loaf that had been griddled and covered with a generous helping of spicy chorizo, then topped with chipotle sauce...the eggs were covering everything. This is the kind of breakfast food I dream about. 

It had heat and chewy-cooked cheese covered in runny-yolked goodness. Now THAT was a breakfast. I ate it sitting in the back of the Liberty Delight Farms panel truck before I headed back into the crowd to do some shopping.

I had to stop back and inquire about the bread....here it is. Available from one of the other vendors at the market.

 My first stop after wiping the egg off my face....literally and figuratively, was my friend Farmer Shane's truck. Liberty Delight Farms.

This guy is a hero of mine. He's a farmer. He loves what he does and cares about it. I've been to his farm in Reisterstown Maryland and seen how he treats his animals. They're happy animals and they taste like they lived good lives. The website is www.libertydelightfarms.com

You can order online, or just go to the stand at Rockville on Saturday, and on Sunday at both Bethesda and Mosaic District.  If you do, you've got a good chance of meeting Shane. Take the time to chat with him. It's good to know your farmer. Tell him I said to stop by and say hello.

 Here's a list of some of the products he carries.

Today I grabbed some skirt steaks, bacon, and sausage. Everything he sells is processed in FDA-approved facilities, vacuum packed, and frozen. You throw the package in a sink of cold water for 1/2 an hour and it's thawed. Ready for the grill/oven or whatever else you've got in mind. His steaks are so good that if you do your job and cook them right they'll bring a tear to your eye.

 There are lots of vendors there with fresh fruits and vegetables as well as flowers.

 Here's me and Alex with Mitch Berliner. 

He's a colorful fellow who happens to own the MeatCrafters operation. They make all kinds of charcuterie. Good stuff. He also happens to own the Central Farm Market concept. He's a good guy and you'll always find him there. 

 Did I mention the mushroom vendor? These looked fabulous!

 

 The artisan cheeses Stoneyman Gourmet are incredible.

And then...to the grill with me for dinner. I rubbed one of the skirt steaks with spices and grilled it for about 10 minutes along with some corn. The salad is from one of the purveyors at the market as well. I rubbed that with a little mayo, tossed on a little fresh-cracked black pepper and some shredded parm.

Nice meal and a nice way to end the holiday weekend.

Thanks for reading...as always, comments, questions and rude remarks are welcome.

Home Cookin' - Oxtails: What do you do with them?

 Liberty Delight Farms

Oxtails

as prepared by

Pleasures of the Table

You may have read about Oxtail before. Some of you may have had it, but it's not a hugely popular dish anymore. I'm not sure why, but it may be that it requires a little more time than some people care to spend cooking. In any event, it's one of my favorite cold-weather dishes to make and eat.

The tails are literally cow tails. The nice thing about them is that the meat, after braising, holds together nicely and there is a huge amount of collagen in the tail-bone that gives the stew a rich texture.

It's a great dish when you've got some spare time to spend in the kitchen as I did when I went to Snowshoe Mountain last weekend. I prepared it over a two-day period. Well worth the time spent.

Here's how they look coming off the truck. Either leave them in your fridge for a day or two to thaw or leave them in the package in a cold-water bath for an hour or two to thaw.

I actually left them frozen and used them as ice-packs in my cooler for the trip up the mountain.

 I used some random vegetables that I brought up with me. Peppers, carrots, parsnips, garlic, shallots, and celery.

I diced up all the vegetables, tossed them and the tails in a little bacon fat left from breakfast, added salt, pepper, and dusted them with flour, then let them roast for an our at 375, turning a few times.

After the tails had browned a bit I added a can of chopped tomatoes, a couple of bay leafs and four cups of beef stock and covered them tightly and left them in the oven for about 3 hours at 325. When I took them out of the oven, the meat was tender and easily separated from the bones, which you discard. Put the meat back in with the vegetables and let it cool, then put covered in the fridge for dinner the next night.

I skimmed a lot of fat before I put it in the fridge, but a lot more will solidify on the top when it's fully chilled. You can easily scoop it off. Don't be too heavy-handed with the removal though as a lot of the flavor is fat-soluble, so you don't want to remove it all.

Heat it back up slowly to just a simmer and stir in some cooked lentils or beans if you prefer, add 1/2 a teaspoon of allspice, a teaspoon of time, salt and pepper to taste.

And there you have it. Hearty, rich, flavorful stew to keep you warm and satisfy hearty appetites.

Thanks for reading. If you try it, let me know how it turned out!