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Athens Locally Grown
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Recipes

Beet Slices in Creamy Mustard Sauce

For this recipe, tender cooked beets are sliced and warmed in a creamy and delicious mustard sauce. If you cook the beets ahead of time, this becomes a low-fuss, high-impact side dish you can prepare and serve almost instantly. From Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt On Vegetables.

Serves 4

1 1/2 pounds beets, scrubbed, trimmed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup chopped shallot or red onion
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock
1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons prepared Dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper
chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Place beets in a small roasting pan with 1/2 cup water. Cover with foil and bake until beets are easily pierced with a sharp knife, 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on size. Allow beets to cool slightly, then run under cold water and slip off their skins. Slice the beets in half; cut each half into 1/4-inch wedges.
3. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the shallot or red onion; cook, stirring, for 4 minutes. Add flour and stir constantly for 2 minutes. Whisk in the stock, milk, and mustard. Cook and stir the mixture until slightly thickened. Add the beets, continuing to cook and stir until they are warmed through, about 10 minutes.
4. Remove the skillet from heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste and garnish with parsley.

Market News

Last week was really a test of our “new” space at Ben’s Bikes. The sales total rivaled that of the heart of summer last year, and blew away all previous records for Spring. And to make the test real, it even rained on us much of the evening. And the results were… it all seemed to work. There were a few difficulties. For instance, four different growers left things behind they meant to bring. Having even one do that is a rare thing, and having four really had our volunteers scrambling. Thank you all for your patience, and if anyone was charged for something they didn’t get, lease let me know.

Everything fit inside, including you all, so I think we’ve got the inside space as efficient as we can make it. I’ll focus attention now on the outside, making it a great place for us all. The gravel was a start – it’s nice not to have to jump the mud puddles anymore. The next thing I’d like to do is give us some cover, to give us more space to work. I’ve found an inexpensive solution that will let us put about 720 square feet under cover just outside the two doors we use. You can see pictures similar to what I have in mind here. It looks like we can get all the materials we need for a bit over $1000, and should be able to put it up in an afternoon. Once that’s in place, on nice days we can have you all, our order filling tables, and the cashier outside under the canopy, and spread out the produce even more inside. That’s one idea anyway. We’d put the space to use for sure.

I’ll buy the needed materials out of the operating budget for the market. If you’d like to contribute to the fund, you’re more than welcome to. We’re not organized as a 501©3, so I can’t offer you a tax deduction, but it would make things easier. Just let our cashier know when you pay for your order, and she’ll put the contribution aside for this purpose. And when it comes time to put the thing up, I’ll call for volunteers to help out there too. Shouldn’t be hard, but many hands and all that.

And speaking of many hands, we set the schedule for our annual “Farmer for a Day” program of tours and farm workdays last week. If you’d like to make reservations for any of these events, you’ll find them listed under the “Event Reservations” category on the website. Here’s how they work in a nutshell: we arrive at a farm at 10am on the Saturday or Sunday, work together on projects the grower has waiting for us (no experience or tools necessary) until noon, have a provided lunch on the farm, and then take a tour of the whole operation led by the grower. It’s a great way to see first hand how your food is produced and give the grower a hand with projects that would otherwise have taken them days or weeks to do on their own. There is no charge and even the lunch is free, but space is limited. So, please make reservations if you’d like to come!

Here’s the schedule (also available on the website):

MAY 15, Saturday
Darby Farms (Walton County) Daniel Dover

JUNE 13, Sunday
Sundance Farm (Madison County) Ed and Kim Janosik

JULY 11, Sunday
Veribest Farm (Oglethorpe County) Todd Lister and Dale Wechsler

AUGUST 7, Saturday
Flatwoods Farm (Elbert County) Tim Heil

SEPTEMBER 4, Saturday
Burnell Farm (Hart County) Tammy and William Burnell

OCTOBER 23, Saturday
Boann’s Banks (Franklin County) Eric and Chris Wagoner

Look at the listing for each event for full details. Many thanks go out to our volunteer Marc Tissenbaum for organizing these events for us!

Thanks so much for your support of Athens Locally Grown, all of our growers, local food, and our rights to eat it. You all are part of what makes Athens such a great area in which to live. We’ll see you on Thursday at Ben’s Bikes at the corner of Pope and Broad Streets from 4:30 to 8pm!

Coming Events

Farmer for a Day: MAY 15, Saturday, at Darby Farms (Walton County)

Certified Naturally Grown. Darby Farms is a family owned pasture-based, beyond organic, local-market farm and informational outreach in Walton County. We produce: pastured poultry (eggs, chicken, turkeys, ducks and guinea fowl) and will soon be offering pastured pork. We are in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture. Experience the satisfaction of knowing your food and your farmer and building community. We are your clean meat connection. This farm is approximately 27 miles from Athens and it’ll take about 40 minutes to get there. Space is limited, so please make reservations by adding them to your order. You’ll find it under the “Events Reservations” category on the website.

The Athens Farmers Market has closed for the winter. You can watch for news during the offseason on their website. The other area markets are also all closed for the season too. All but Athens Locally Grown, that is.

Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!