Farmers Market Finds: Summer 2017
The Rolling Stonebaker Wood-Fired Pizza
New Buffalo Famers Market, Coffee Creek Farmers Market, Chesterton’s European Market
It’s hard to miss a vintage Studebaker fire truck on fire. Keep your eyes peeled for this gourmet pizza wagon’s owners slinging made-to-order pies out of their 900° brick oven this summer. The Rolling Stonebaker transcends earthly boundaries with a wood-fired pizza that’s light but not flat; substantial yet far from bready; and cultivates an airy crust that’s perfectly crispy and crunchy. The owners round up the freshest toppings available from local farmers markets, foragers and their own garden to mix and match an eclectic variety of artisan pizzas. Each is garnished with a hint of smokiness from the live fire and features a witty title.
South Bend Farmers Market, Purple Porch Co-op
Things have been heating up at Hobo Jim’s Sauces & Spices ever since its award-winning Holy Crap hot sauce put the condiment maker on the map in 2014. Jim Silk, aka Hobo Jim, concocts small-batch hot sauces with fresh, eccentric ingredients for folks born to be mild and fire-breathing dragons alike. Years of forging flavor-forward, less-than-typical recipes have resulted in some seriously top-notch fusions featuring unique ingredients ranging from Trinidad Scorpion peppers and garlic to molasses and mango. Silk also crafts his own ketchups, mustards and BBQ sauces that will spice up any dish.
Harbor Market, St. Joe Farmers Market
Indulge your sweet tooth with Suisse Chalet Bakery’s heavenly pastries, where everything is made from scratch—the way Oma did it. Suisse Chalet sticks to traditional pâtisserie recipes, baked without preservatives, corn syrup, hydrogenated fats or bleached flours. With German, Swiss and French roots, many of the bakery’s specialty sweets hail from Alsace, a region that birthed some of the most irresistible pastries to ever grace a display case. New confections line its tables every week, but longstanding favorites include a French apple tart, the crunchy, creamy bienenstich and caramelized cannelés bordelais filled with melt-in-your-mouth custard. However, the best-loved pastry is a savory fresh tomato tart made with homegrown heirloom tomatoes.
Kosciusko County Farmers & Artisans Market
For a perfect Saturday morning market nosh, try McKenna Farms Scotch eggs. McKenna Farms matriarch Cindy Stier starts by hard-boiling their own farm-fresh eggs, then conceals them with a perfectly proportioned sausage sheath, ground and seasoned at the farm. She finishes by coating them with a breadcrumb crust that is audibly crisp upon the first bite. These Scotch eggs are simple yet tasty enough to stand on their own merits and require no further elaboration. However, try them topped with McKenna Farms’ homemade hot sauce, jalapeño mustard or bacon-infused maple syrup from Beachler’s Sugar Bush for the total experience.
facebook.com/mckenna-farms-107763502585903
Plymouth Farmers Market, The French Press Coffee Co. in Plymouth
The invigorating aroma of freshly brewed Agapetos coffee wafting through the summer air is enough to put a little pep in your step and reverberate the company’s mantra of gratitude—look up and give thanks. Agapetos buys direct trade coffee beans from around the world and carefully roasts each small batch in Grovertown, IN, to bring out unique flavor profiles and ensure customers enjoy quality coffee at the peak of freshness. Their medium-roast blends are sourced from many regions, but their East African coffees, including a bright, full-bodied Kenyan AA and a sweet, floral Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, are signature staples.
South Bend Farmers Market
After experiencing an overwhelming demand to turn their hobby into a business, big things have been popping at Erick’s Popcorn. Erick’s is dedicated to making popcorn the old-fashioned way: on a kitchen stove, with high-quality ingredients from local producers. The result: pillowy, fluffy, perfectly crunchy popcorn blends that are an irresistible snacking sensation. They have been honing their original and most popular flavor, Kettle Corn with a Kick, for the past six years. It is popped with a blend of stevia and chipotle pepper to give it a sweet, spicy, smoky flavor, while remaining sugar-free. They also offer white cheddar, bacon ranch, honey BBQ, Buffalo blue cheese and salt and vinegar.
Farm families grow up happy at the South Bend Farmers Market
“There are people all over that market that are more like family than friends to us.”
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