Potato Soup to keep you warm in January!

This recipe from the Lexington Farmers Market sounds like a January supper that you might want to try!

Roasted Garlic Potato Soup
 

• 6 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup whole milk
• salt to taste

  

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1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Place potatoes in a shallow roasting pan and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sprinkle with pepper; stir to coat. Bake for 25 minutes, or until potatoes are browned. Reserve 1 cup of roasted potatoes.
3. In a 3 quart saucepan heat remaining oil; saute onions for 5 minutes. Add potatoes and garlic and stir in broth and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Spoon half of broth mixture into a blender; blend until nearly smooth. Repeat with remaining mixture; return all to pot. Stir in milk and season with salt to taste. Ladle into bowls and top with reserved roasted potatoes.

Sweet Potatoes Are Everywhere!

If you want to consider sweet potatoes for your holiday meal, consider something beyond marshmallow-topped dishes this year.  EatingWell has some great suggestions for special day and any day sweet potatoes without a marshmallow in sight!  Take a look at some of the side dish and main dish uses they suggest at http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/collections/healthy_sweet_potato_recipes.  Here's a suggestion to go with your Friday night supper:

Oven Sweet Potato Fries
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/oven_sweet_potato_fries.html
From EatingWell:  EatingWell Serves Two
Making oven fries out of sweet potatoes brings out their inherent sweetness.
2 servings | Active Time: 5 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into wedges
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of cayenne pepper

Preparation
Preheat oven to 450°F. Toss sweet potato wedges with oil, salt and pepper. Spread the wedges out on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until browned and tender, turning once, about 20 minutes total.

Who's coming to Montevallo's Fall Market on Saturday, October 15?

BB's Bread, Dixon Family Farm, Honey Hill Farm, Dixie Homecrafters, Cheeky Maiden Soap, Karen Ross, Wanda Anderson, Inviting You Designs, Knight's Farm, Erin Rawson, and more will be there Saturday, October 15, 9 a.m.-noon.  Shop that day on the parking lot behind 1st Baptist Church and enjoy the music of the Dulcimer Band 9-10 a.m. and then Pea Ridge Senior Singers 10-11 a.m.  Honey, fresh eggs, produce, arts, and crafts for shopping and a cool morning to remember our summer at Montevallo's award winning farmer's market will be a great chance to see your friends downtown!

Montevallo Farmers’ Market Named as one of Top 20 Favorite Farmers Markets

Montevallo Farmers’ Market was recently voted as the 8th leading farmers market in America’s Favorite Farmers Market in the boutique category.  In this year’s contest more than 90,000 farmers market shoppers voted for more than 1,700 participating farmers markets in American Farmland Trust’s third annual contest.

The Montevallo Farmers’ Market is located behind Montevallo First Baptist Church at the corner of Main and Middle Streets downtown.  Follow the market on facebook and on the market’s blog: montevallofarmersmarket.blogspot.com.

Here is what one voter for the Montevallo Farmers’ Market had to say about why it should be named one of America’s Favorite Farmers Markets:

The Montevallo Farmer's Market is centrally located in a tree-shaded area in the center of Montevallo's historic Main Street. It has ample parking, handicap access, friendly coordinators, and wonderful farmers who bring us fresh fruits and vegetables, homemade breads and jellies, and cut flowers and herbs each Monday during the summer. Montevallo wouldn't be the same with them!The signage in downtown Montevallo reminds everyone that Monday afternoon is the time to enjoy the Farmer's Market.

Yes

According to the recent release of the updated U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s farmers market directory, the number of farmers markets across the nation increased by 17 percent between 2010 and 2011. Support for farmers markets helps to provide income opportunities for farmers. The rising interest for local food from nearby farms highlights the value of protecting farmland to meet demand.

The America’s Favorite Farmers Markets contest is a part of American Farmland Trust’s No Farms No Food® campaign, which raises awareness of the dangers of farmland loss by making

Warm soup for a cool day!

This week's Lexington Farmers Market Newsletter included a recipe for roasted tomato soup and I thought it was a great reminder that local farmers still have tomatoes for sale.  Joyce Darby continues to sell to the public on Mondays 3-6 p.m. and her CSA includes tomatoes too.  These cool days we've had since tropical storm Lee came through Shelby County are making all of us think soups.  Let's make Roasted Tomato Soup and don't even consider leaving out the heavy cream or half and half!

Roasted Tomato Soup

• 1 1/4 lb. Ripe Tomatoes (about 4 Large Tomatoes)
• 1/2 Medium Yellow Onion
• 3 Garlic Cloves
• 1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tsp. Sea Salt
• Fresh Ground Pepper
• 1 Tbsp. Chopped Parsley
• 1 1/2 Cups Low Sodium Vegetable or Chicken Broth
• 1 Tbsp. Tomato Paste
• 1/4 Cup Heavy Cream or Half and Half, optional
• Fresh Oregano + Basil for garnish
• Fresh Grainy Bread
• Mozzarella Cheese 

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Cut the tomatoes and the half of an onion into wedges. Use your finger to push out some of the seedy parts of the tomatoes, but this is not a huge deal, just get out the big seedy parts, a bit intact is fine. Spread them on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle the salt, a generous amount of pepper, the chopped parsley and gently toss it with your hands. Tuck the garlic cloves somewhere in a tomato, so they don't burn. Roast on the middle rack for 30-40 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down and reduced to about half their size. Remove and cool slightly.

2. Warm the broth and stir in the tomato paste to dissolve. Add the all of the ingredients from the roasting pan into the broth and let it gently simmer for 5-10 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the bowl, or with a food processor or blender. The soup should be smooth, with some texture. If you don't like any texture at all, you could run it through a fine mesh sieve. Return it back to the pot, and add the cream to taste, if using. Taste for salt and pepper.

3. Serve with some toasted bread, or broil a few slices with a piece of mozzarella on top. Garnish with fresh chopped basil and oregano.

See Montevallo Farmers' Market on the LocalHarvest Website!

Montevallo Farmers' Market is now added to LocalHarvest's website at http://www.localharvest.org/montevallo-farmers-market-M47039?ul.  It's a great spot to read about other markets and to see the full list of produce and other items available during our market's season.  Even though our 2011 season is complete, we're planning for the market's reprise during our Fall Market on Saturday, October 15.  You'll see several of our summer season growers with fall produce and added to the line up will be some arts and crafts vendors.  With a beautiful fall Saturday, you'll get the day started by seeing your farmer friends and doing some shopping!  Be sure to save the date! 

Vote for Montevallo Farmers Market Today!

Montevallo's Monday Market has had a great second season.  We're a family of customers and vendors that have enjoyed our new site behind 1st Baptist Church.  Music, fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables, and baked goods that make you smile have made this a happy summer at the market.  Vote today to make Montevallo's Market one of the nation's best!