Taste of the Market: A Resource for Cooking with Local & Seasonal Ingredients

Armed with an iron skillet inherited from her “GranMary” and a commitment to equipping her community with the skills to eat locally, Courtney Jacobs develops recipes that feature seasonal ingredients sourced from North Texas farmers. She embraces and enjoys the “challenge of eating seasonally”; she loves making dishes that help others achieve “something that not many people are accustomed to anymore”.

Courtney recently visited the Coppell Farmers Market to gather ingredients for her latest creations! Inspired by her farmers market finds she wrote two recipes: Stuffed Pak Choi and Fresh Rolls with Micro Greens. The Stuffed Pak Choi are a play on traditional Galumpkis, or cabbage rolls. They make a hardy meal with a dynamic flavor, and are perfect for warming the body on a cold winter day. Her Fresh Rolls with Micro Greens recipe is one to turn to when in need of healthy, quick and easy– the peanut sauce is to die for!

The Jacobs family has had a Coppell Farmers Market connection across two generations. Courtney’s aunt, Karen Jacobs, was an active member of the Coppell FM committee the last few years of her life. Courtney shares her aunt’s passion for locally sourced ingredients.

For more recipes & to learn how to incorporate fresh produce into your kitchen routine visit Courtney’s blog: http://omnommoms.tumblr.com

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Stuffed Pak Choi 

Note: *ingredients available at the market during the month of February

Ingredients:
*1 large head pak choi
* 16 oz. pound ground, grass-fed beef
* 8 oz. ground sausage
* 2 eggs
* 2 large sweet onions, minced
6-7 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
½ cup cooked brown rice
2 TBS butter or *olive oil
1 28oz can chopped tomatoes
*1 15 oz can tomato sauce
2 TBS apple cider vinegar
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup golden raisins
*1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Set a large pot of water to boil over high heat while you prepare the filling. Wash and peel the greens, keeping stems intact.
3. Melt butter or olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and add onions and garlic to sweat. Once they’re translucent and fragrant, set aside to cool.
4. To make the sauce, combine half the sauteed onion and garlic mixture in a large mixing bowl with the chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, and raisins. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine. Add one cup sauce to the bottom of a large pyrex baking dish and set aside while you make your rolls.
5. Combine ground beef, sausage, eggs, rice, and half the sauteed garlic and onions in a large bowl and mix with your hands to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. Blanch the greens in the boiling water a few at a time for 5-10 seconds. I use the long stems as handles, dunking only the leafy parts. Remove from boiling water, dunk in the ice bath, and set aside. Repeat for all the leaves.
7. On a large working surface, make your rolls. Spread a wilted leaf out on your working surface and use a sharp knife to cut the thick stem off the bottom of the leaf, cutting up in a V-shape if necessary to remove the thickest parts. Add a spoonful of the meat mixture to the bottom of the leaf. Bring the v-shaped incision together underneath the meat if needed as you roll, wrapping the leaf around the meat in a tight roll, tucking in the sides mid-way up (like you’re rolling a tiny burrito). Place the rolls seam side down in the pre-sauced baking dish. Continue with remaining leaves.
8. Once all the rolls have been assembled and arranged in the baking dish, top with remaining sauce and cover lightly with foil. Bake for 2 hours. Serve with mashed potatoes, rice, or corn grits.

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Fresh Rolls with Micro Greens
Note: *ingredients available at the market during the month of February

Baked Tofu
1 (16-oz) block extra firm tofu
1 TBS sesame oil
1 TBS minced fresh ginger or ginger juice
2 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS rice vinegar
1 TBS lime juice
2-3 drops liquid smoke (optional)

Spring Rolls
1 package Spring Roll Skin/Wrapper
*1 bunch fresh microgreens
2 red peppers, sliced

Peanut Sauce
½ cup unsweetened (or natural) peanut butter
1 TBS soy sauce
1 TBS rice wine vinegar
1 TBS fresh minced ginger or ginger juice
zest and juice of 1 lime
*1-2 TBS honey to taste
*pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
½ to ¾ cup warm water

Directions

For Baked Tofu

1. Cut tofu into half-inch slices and arrange in a single layer on top of a paper towel covered cutting board. Put more paper towels on top and another cutting board. Place something heavy on top to weigh it down. This helps get rid of some of the moisture in the tofu so it cooks quicker.
2. Whisk the remaining ingredients together. Add pressed tofu to a shallow dish and cover with marinade. Let sit for 20 minutes to 48 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 400° F. Arrange marinated tofu on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 40 minutes, flipping tofu ever 10 minutes so it cooks evenly. Remove from the oven and set aside to cook.

For Fresh Rolls

1. Fill a large mixing boll with warm water. Arrange the fresh roll fillings on a cutting board and make sure you have a clean working surface. The rolling part goes quite fast, so you want everything to be handy.
2. Soak a fresh roll skin in the bowl of warm water for 15-25 seconds, or until it loses most of it’s stiffness. You still want it to have the strength of wet fabric, though, so don’t let it sit too long or it will tear when you’re rolling.
3. Remove the moist skin to your working surface and quickly arrange your toppings toward the bottom, as if your were filling a burrito. I find 2 strips of baked tofu, 3 or 4 red pepper slices, and a small bunch of microgreens is plenty.
4. Roll and wrap the ingredients inside the skin, tucking in the edges as you roll, like you would a burrito. Set the finished rolls to the side while you make more!
5. Serve immediately with peanut sauce.

For Peanut Sauce

1. Combine all ingredients except warm water in a mixing bowl.
2. Slowly whisk in the warm water until all ingredients are incorporated together and the sauce thins to the consistency of gravy.
3. Serve at room temperature.