Northeast Minneapolis Farmers Market vendors Kathryn and David Brewer

One of the main reasons to shop the Northeast Minneapolis Farmers Market is to scope out what Kathryn and David Brewer are featuring on their red-and-white-checkerboard-covered stand.

Last week the couple was selling six varieties of lettuce, garlic scapes, kohlrabi and broccoli, all raised at their 19th century farmstead about six miles north in New Brighton. It was the fist kohlrabi I’d seen this year - the Sputnik-shaped vegetable is always an attention-grabber - and I asked them how they like to use it. “We eat it raw, that’s our favorite way,” said Kathryn. “We slice into slivers and put it into salads,” said David.

Kohlrabi: Peel it and eat it.

(A few days later my friends John and Dave had 20 or so over to dinner, and one of the dishes they served was crisp Romaine leaves filled with white beans, chopped black olives and slivered kohlrabi; it was delicious).

The Brewers’ stand always features a beautiful selection harvested from their New Brighton garden. “No fertilizers, no chemicals, and it was picked today,” said David.

Garlic scapes, marvelously fragrant, make their seasonal debut.

The Northeast market has always been a favorite of mine. It’s in an easily accessible location, on University Av. just south of Broadway, and it has always had just enough vendors to make the trip worthwhile. This year it seemed a little smaller - a result, perhaps, of the slow growing season - which only made the Brewers’ efforts that much more compelling.

“It’s always a challenge to get up at 5:15,” said David with a laugh. “But we still enjoy it. It’s so nice to see all the people who come to shop. People are always interested in what we have here.”

I’ll say. In the coming weeks, look for 10 varieties of garlic, four different kinds of potatoes, pie cherries, gooseberries, currants, “lots of green beans” said Kathryn, cabbage, cauliflower, squash and tomatoes, all raised on that beautiful 2-acre hobby farm. How lovely that the Brewers choose to share their hobby with the rest of us.

The Brewers, in front of their landmark 1894 home, in a 2004 Strib archive photo.

The garlic scapes were so teasingly pungent that they led me straight to Google, where I ran across this recipe from the Washington Post.

GARLIC SCAPE PESTO
Makes about 6 oz. pesto.

Note: From the Washington Post. For 1/2-pound short pasta such as penne, add about 2 tablespoons of pesto to cooked pasta and stir until pasta is well coated.

1 c. garlic scapes (about 8 or 9 scapes), top flowery part removed, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/3 c. walnuts
3/4 c. olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 c. grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions
In bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine garlic scapes and walnuts and pulse until well-combined and somewhat smooth. Slowly drizzle in olive oil and process until integrated. With a rubber spatula, scoop pesto out of bowl and into a medium mixing bowl. Add Parmigiano-Reggiano to taste; add salt and pepper. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to one week.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 9:27 pm and is filed under Farmers and foragers, Farmers markets, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.