Thursday, June 17, 2004
Well, it's farmer's market eve. Each summer, the City hosts a farmer's market on Saturdays where high quality vendors sell everything from still-warm-from-the-garden tomatoes to baked goods to crafts and plants.
Even though this is Thursday, it has become my farmer's market eve day because starting tomorrow when I arise, it will be one giant day for the next 48 hours. I will not sleep from Friday (whenever I get up - no alarm clocks!) until Saturday afternoon.
Before I elaborate, let me post the official barefoot baking potato salad recipe.
This is a very big recipe, but it can be cut down into half size pretty easily.
1 dozen hard boiled eggs, peeled and diced
20 pounds of red potatoes, peeled and diced
1 quart of mayonnaise
1/2 cup of vinegar (I use a mixture of red wine and tarragon)
extra tarragon vinegar (about a half cup for the taters)
1 bunch of green onions, the whole thing, chopped finely
2 bunches of celery hearts, cleaned and diced (about 3 cups)
1 bunch of parsley, rinsed well, drained and finely chopped
1 large red onion, finely diced
4 ounces of grey poupon country dijon mustard
2 red bell peppers, cleaned, seeded, and diced
1 tablespoon of sugar
salt and pepper
dried dill weed
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder
1. Simmer the potatoes until al dente (just barely cooked). Drain in a colander over the sink. While they're still hot, sprinkle with the extra tarragon vinegar, add 2 tablespoons salt and sprinkle with a lot of the dried dill weed (about a tablespoon?). Let cool in the colander.
2. In a large bowl, mix the mayo, mustard, vinegar mixture, more salt and pepper to taste, the sugar and the cayenne pepper. Stir in the celery, both kinds of onions, 3/4 of the parsley, the bell peppers and eggs.
3. Dip a piece of potato into the mix and taste. Adjust your seasonings if necessary. Sometimes I add some garlic powder.
4. Stir in the potatoes and taste again. It's easier to adjust the seasonings before the salad is chilled. But remember that food needs more seasoning when it will be eaten cold than when eaten warm. When you're happy with the salad, chill and keep refrigerated until you're ready to serve it. Sprinkle the last bit of parsley as garnish before serving.
The sugar was added to balance the acidity of the vinegars. If it seems too sour, add sugar a 1/2 teaspoon at a time. The cayenne pepper isn't so much for flavor as it helps you know when you've stirred enough (it's red!). Also remember that the potato salad tastes better after a day in the fridge.
copyright 2004 all reights reserved The Barefoot Baking Corporation, LLC
JoEllen DuFresne
info@barefootbaking.com
www.barefootbaking.com
www.aiolicatering.com
Okay okay, nore about the farmer's market.
Last year, I started vending the artisan bread at the farmer's market. The first week, I started making bread in the bakery at 5 am on Friday morning. I was working with a 5-quart kitchenaid mixer and a 5-quart hobart mixer. I can make about 3 pounds of bread dough from each mixer per hour. But then you've got to take a break from mixing to shape the doughs and then to bake them. At noon, I took a break for a quick bite and started shaping the loaves that had risen. I think all I made was sourdough bread and by 1 am, when the baking part was done, I had 15 loaves of bread and maybe 15 bags of cookies. I was in hog heaven! This would be the first opportunity to sell my bread in a retail situation.
I got to the farmer's market a little late (maybe 7:20am) I forgot to include the time it takes to cool the bread, package it, make approved labels, so I had slept about an hour since the bread was done.
I didn't think to bring anything to sell the bread on - a table? duh! So I spread a tablecloth across my Grand Prix trunk, and sold my bread in about three hours. ummm, that's only halfway through the market. That wasn't enough bread. Uh Oh.
Well all last year I worked with those three mixers the best I ever got until the last day, was selling 60 loaves and still having to leave early. By the way, 60 loaves - at 1-1/2 pounds each is 15 hours of mixing time. It got to be so bad that my husband would drive behind my truck to make sure I got to the market okay, then he'd help me set up the crates, the table, the signs. He'd get me coffee from the local restaurant, he'd man the till when there'd be too many customers. He'd correct me when I was too tired to speak clearly. He comforted me when my feet and back were so tired that I sat on the tailgate of the truck and slept with my eyes open.
On Christmas, my husband gave me a 30-quart mixer. It can make 40 pounds of dough an hour. This will be my first farmer's market eve that looks hopeful for me to sleep before the market. I've practiced a few times, and I'm not sure if I can shape all those loaves very well.
Wish me luck. For today is perhaps the eve of the day before farmer's market - that would make it only Thursday.
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Even though this is Thursday, it has become my farmer's market eve day because starting tomorrow when I arise, it will be one giant day for the next 48 hours. I will not sleep from Friday (whenever I get up - no alarm clocks!) until Saturday afternoon.
Before I elaborate, let me post the official barefoot baking potato salad recipe.
This is a very big recipe, but it can be cut down into half size pretty easily.
1 dozen hard boiled eggs, peeled and diced
20 pounds of red potatoes, peeled and diced
1 quart of mayonnaise
1/2 cup of vinegar (I use a mixture of red wine and tarragon)
extra tarragon vinegar (about a half cup for the taters)
1 bunch of green onions, the whole thing, chopped finely
2 bunches of celery hearts, cleaned and diced (about 3 cups)
1 bunch of parsley, rinsed well, drained and finely chopped
1 large red onion, finely diced
4 ounces of grey poupon country dijon mustard
2 red bell peppers, cleaned, seeded, and diced
1 tablespoon of sugar
salt and pepper
dried dill weed
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder
1. Simmer the potatoes until al dente (just barely cooked). Drain in a colander over the sink. While they're still hot, sprinkle with the extra tarragon vinegar, add 2 tablespoons salt and sprinkle with a lot of the dried dill weed (about a tablespoon?). Let cool in the colander.
2. In a large bowl, mix the mayo, mustard, vinegar mixture, more salt and pepper to taste, the sugar and the cayenne pepper. Stir in the celery, both kinds of onions, 3/4 of the parsley, the bell peppers and eggs.
3. Dip a piece of potato into the mix and taste. Adjust your seasonings if necessary. Sometimes I add some garlic powder.
4. Stir in the potatoes and taste again. It's easier to adjust the seasonings before the salad is chilled. But remember that food needs more seasoning when it will be eaten cold than when eaten warm. When you're happy with the salad, chill and keep refrigerated until you're ready to serve it. Sprinkle the last bit of parsley as garnish before serving.
The sugar was added to balance the acidity of the vinegars. If it seems too sour, add sugar a 1/2 teaspoon at a time. The cayenne pepper isn't so much for flavor as it helps you know when you've stirred enough (it's red!). Also remember that the potato salad tastes better after a day in the fridge.
copyright 2004 all reights reserved The Barefoot Baking Corporation, LLC
JoEllen DuFresne
info@barefootbaking.com
www.barefootbaking.com
www.aiolicatering.com
Okay okay, nore about the farmer's market.
Last year, I started vending the artisan bread at the farmer's market. The first week, I started making bread in the bakery at 5 am on Friday morning. I was working with a 5-quart kitchenaid mixer and a 5-quart hobart mixer. I can make about 3 pounds of bread dough from each mixer per hour. But then you've got to take a break from mixing to shape the doughs and then to bake them. At noon, I took a break for a quick bite and started shaping the loaves that had risen. I think all I made was sourdough bread and by 1 am, when the baking part was done, I had 15 loaves of bread and maybe 15 bags of cookies. I was in hog heaven! This would be the first opportunity to sell my bread in a retail situation.
I got to the farmer's market a little late (maybe 7:20am) I forgot to include the time it takes to cool the bread, package it, make approved labels, so I had slept about an hour since the bread was done.
I didn't think to bring anything to sell the bread on - a table? duh! So I spread a tablecloth across my Grand Prix trunk, and sold my bread in about three hours. ummm, that's only halfway through the market. That wasn't enough bread. Uh Oh.
Well all last year I worked with those three mixers the best I ever got until the last day, was selling 60 loaves and still having to leave early. By the way, 60 loaves - at 1-1/2 pounds each is 15 hours of mixing time. It got to be so bad that my husband would drive behind my truck to make sure I got to the market okay, then he'd help me set up the crates, the table, the signs. He'd get me coffee from the local restaurant, he'd man the till when there'd be too many customers. He'd correct me when I was too tired to speak clearly. He comforted me when my feet and back were so tired that I sat on the tailgate of the truck and slept with my eyes open.
On Christmas, my husband gave me a 30-quart mixer. It can make 40 pounds of dough an hour. This will be my first farmer's market eve that looks hopeful for me to sleep before the market. I've practiced a few times, and I'm not sure if I can shape all those loaves very well.
Wish me luck. For today is perhaps the eve of the day before farmer's market - that would make it only Thursday.
