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Nina & Family Garden Farm
Article By Jamie Priti Srivastava-Gratrix

While shopping at the Northside Farmer's Market you may have passed the Nina & Family Garden stand. This week I stopped by and spoke with Nina's daughter Tiffany. Tiffany told me that this was their third year at the Northside Farmer's Market and we discussed all of their items.

Nina & Family Garden carries a wide variety of produce along with freshly cut floral bouquets. Their family farm is located on five acres in nearby Verona, WI. Everything on their farm has been cultivated by hand by one of their nine family members. When you stop by the market this Sunday be sure to swing by their stand to say 'Hello' and check out their great selection!

Roasted Strawberry - Pistachio Baklava
An Original Recipe by Angela Trentadue

This dish is surprisingly easy to make. It’s not necessary to roast the strawberries, but the extra effort heightens the flavor. When using phyllo dough, keep the sheets covered with a damp, but well-wrung dish towel to prevent drying. And don’t worry about any rips or tears along the way. They just disappear in a dish like this.

To roast strawberries:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium size bowl, toss:
1 pound strawberries, washed and destemmed
4 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons red wine, vodka, kirsch or water

Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. Arrange the berries in the sheet pan in a single layer and drizzle with accumulated juices. Roast in oven until they’re bubbly and begin to collapse, about 5 minutes depending on size and ripeness of berries. Remove from oven and set aside.

To make syrup:

In a medium size, heavy bottom saucepan, mix together:

1 1/3 c sugar
1 1/2 c water
2/3 c honey
1 cinnamon stick
zest from one orange

Bring to a boil to dissolve sugar, remove from heat and allow to cool.

For baklava:

Thaw 15 sheets phyllo dough
In a small saucepan, melt:
1 c butter
Brush a 13x9 baking pan with melted butter

In a bowl, gently combine:
3 c roughly chopped toasted pistachios (Hand-chop, do not use food processor)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pound roasted strawberries

Fold 1 sheet of phyllo in half to form 12x9 rectangle. Place folded sheet in buttered pan. Brush with melted butter. Repeat with 4 more folded sheet, brushing top of each folded sheet with butter.

Spoon half the strawberry mixture over folded pastry sheet in an even layer. Top with another folded pastry sheet, brush with butter and repeat with 4 more pastry sheets.

Spoon the remaining strawberry mixture over this layer and top with 5 more phyllo sheets, brushing each with butter.

Using a sharp knife, make 5 evenly spaced, diagonal cuts across phyllo, cutting through top layer only. Repeat in opposite direction to form a diamond pattern.

Bake until golden brown, about 35 minutes.

Strain syrup. Spoon 1 cup syrup over hot baklava; cover and chill remaining syrup.

Recut baklava along lines, but all the way through the layers.

Let stand 4 hours or overnight. Serve with remaining syrup

Angela, author of these recipes and an NFM supporter, would love feedback on her recipes – too weird, too hard, too simple, just right? Send us an email to: nfmvolunteer@charter.net

*This week is the last week to donate new, or used tools to local community gardens*

Market Update
Article by Chris Moore
Photo by Cathy Perry

Weather and time are cooperating, allowing us to have fresh, seasonal veggies at the market two weeks ahead of normal! For the next market Jimmy Hudson will have zucchini and yellow squash. He also has collard greens, kale, beets, and romaine lettuce.

In the works at Natalie’s garden are broccoli and spinach, which will be coming to the market in the coming weeks. They also have head lettuce, sugar snap peas, mixed lettuce, and spinach. Youa Lor plans to bring raspberries and cauliflower to the next market. They also have kohlrabi, swiss chard, beets, and carrots (which went very fast last week!) Juan Torres has some “Basil Napolitano” and butterhead lettuce.

A few vendors still have some asparagus left - so enjoy while you can. You will also find at our market callete (from Nina & Farms – tastes like spinach), red and Yukon gold potatoes, rhubarb, red striped beets, white beets, zaub Qaig (a green that can be stir fried), radishes, chives, and cilantro.

While many of our vendors follow organic practices (they don’t use pesticides, etc), some of our vendors have taken the additional step of becoming organically certified. Joining Equinox Farms and Keene Organics next week is our very own local Troy Community Farm! And remember, if you want to know how your veggies were grown, just ask the farmer selling them!

Still need to add to your garden? Drop in to talk to Rich Pederson (Pederson Produce). He has Hungarian hot wax peppers, dahlias, sweet thai basil, butterfly weed, rhubarb, German winter thyme, and moon flower vine for sale - among many other types of plants.

Polly of Polly Jane Jams is experimenting with infusing jams with spices: try her ginger plum jam and spiced rhubarb jam! She also said to let you know that two weeks after a veggie comes into season, you should expect her to have it pickled for you to try.

In spite of warm weather, many of you still prefer your morning cup of coffee. However, if you are feeling a little warm during these summer days, stop by Tui’s and have a fresh cold drink to cool off.

At the market this week, we will have music from Dixie Horizons. So come down to our “Sunday Morning Meeting Spot” to shop for fresh veggies, enjoy locally made products, and have a chance to meet friends in a relaxed atmosphere!