A Very Local Sunday Dinner--Local Food From the Farmer's Market

Sunday is usually the highlight of my week and for several reasons.  One it is a day off from work and second it is a day to spend reconnecting with people I care about.  Last Sunday June 2nd was very much that way.  I was having friends over for dinner and wanted to get as much of the ingredients as I could from The Bernice Garden Farmer's Market which is just a block away. 

Now I know that the local food movement is huge in our country but I haven't always been completely on board even though I understand its importance for us.  Chefs are prone to pretension, spouting ingredients that most people can't spell, pronounce, or have even heard of.  They also like to spend great amounts of money sourcing ingredients in a show of oneupsmanship.  But it doesn't have to be like that. 

The local food movement is big right now and it will continue to be that way until it becomes less of a movement and more of just the way we do things.  A few key points:

1.  If the food comes from the area in which you live then it has grown in soil that is familiar to your body.  You ingest dirt in the air and tiny micro particles from that soil get in your body and it becomes familiar.  If you eat produce from somewhere else your body may encounter something it isn't familiar with.
2.  Local food at a farmer's market is usually sold to you by the person that grew it.  You get it's history, how it's grown, and they look you in the face and vice verse.  It's an honest transaction where you are putting the money directly in the pocket of the person that needs it.
3.  You aren't damaging the environment by having the food shipped long distances.  And if you are lucky enough to live a block from the market like I do you don't have to even get in your car.  Saves you time and money and don't even mention the parking the lot.
4.  The produce is fresh, usually picked that morning.  Shoot, in one case this past Sunday Liz from Bussey-Scott Urban Garden went home 4 blocks away and got more garlic, returning with it soil intact.  Now people, that is fresh if I don't know what is!
So the local food movement, if you will even if you won't, is a positive thing and not just something to be haughty about.

So what did I get and what did I cook?  I thought you would never ask!

For starters I served Ophelia goat cheese from Kent Walker Artisan Cheese which is a wonderful hard goat cheese.  I also served padron peppers from Laughing Stock Farm which I cut in half and use as dippers for hummus.  The peppers are hotter than a bell pepper but not like a jalapeno...wonderful with the hummus.  For the salad I got a lettuce mix from Willow Springs, topped it with sliced strawberries from Barnhill Orchards, feta cheese from Kent Walker, and glazed pecans that I made.  Dinner was smoked salmon served with heirloom fingerling potatoes from Laughing Stock and summer squash from Barnhill.  The bread was wonderful!  Croissant from Mylo Coffee were so good I wish I had bought more.  Of course we had dessert and that was individual strawberry cobblers with the strawberries coming from Barnhill and they were topped with vanilla ice cream from Loblolly Creamery at the Green Corner Store.  Oh and for the table I had zinnias, my favorite flower, from Barnhill!

 

Dinner was so simple but so delicious, and so very local.  The only thing that could compete with it was the company.  A great Sunday in SoMa.

All photography rights shared by Brian Kelley/Imagine Photography