Friday, August 29, 2014

Thai Sauces -- Lemongrass! -- Inspire My Shopping At The Saturday Farmers Market In Fulton

I thought that I would be good at CSAs and farmers markets, but I have never found myself making really good decisions about purchases or menus.

I buy stuff, but I lose the energy and end up with something lost and rotting in the back of the produce drawer.  As I typed this, I remembered a clutch of Love Dove Farms carrots that I need to pickle today because we haven't touched them for 10 days.

At my last visit to the new Fulton farmers market, I found my inspiration in a jar.  A jar of lemongrass sauce sold by Thai Spices, a stand run by some folks who I think also run a Thai restaurant in Baltimore.

The mason jar of sauce came packed with flavor and ideas.  You could have picked any number of sauces, including a "sweet n sour" or rad pik.  Either way, the sauce became the key to my shopping.  Carrots, tomatoes, potatoes and green beans from Love Dove and TLV Tree farms.  Then chicken breasts from TLV.

I made two soups.  Slight variations where I made stock, then added tablespoons of lemongrass sauce. Poached one chopped chicken breast.  Then removed the meat and cooked the vegetables.  First the stiff ones like carrots, potatoes and chard.  Adding a little more sauce until the flavor was strong.  Then the soft vegetables like tomatoes and green beans with the chicken to reheat.

We got six bowls of soup from that chicken and sauce.  We even have some leftover sauce that could go into a stirfry.  I'm also inspired to try this again.

Check out the Thai Spices stand.  They were also selling takeout packages of spring rolls and mango sticky rice.  That could make a nice snack as you walk around or that you carry home for lunch.

The Fulton farmers market runs every other Saturday.  Check out the spicy pepper jelly and all my posts about the Howard County farmers markets.  For the real writing about seasonal cooking, check out the CSA and recipe reports on blogs like AnnRie Unplugged or Kitchen Scribble or  Three Beans On A String or Howard County Cook.

4 comments:

Trip Klaus said...

In case you can't make it to Maple Lawn or it's an off Sat, they are also at the Old Town Ellicott City Market on Saturday Mornings.

The Unmanly Chef said...

If you can't make it out to a farmers market to buy lemongrass, it's outrageously cheap at Lotte. It will change your thai food you make at home. It freezes relatively well too.

lisbeth said...

Whenever I go to the Old Ellicott City Farmers Market or the Howard County Farmers market at the library/hospital I get a Thai Iced Tea from their stall. Must pick up a jar of sauce next time!

fischy said...

They're also available at Howard Hospital on Fridays/ Not the largest Farmer's Market, but they're there.