A Well-Stocked Pantry

This Week at our George Mason University, Prince William Campus Market
Thursday 11:30am–2:30pm
Occoquan Parking Lot (corner of University Blvd. and Freedom Center Blvd.)
Map

We certainly do appreciate all of the students, faculty and staff of Mason and the office workers in the area for continuing to walk over for lunch — and more — on these hot days. For those of you who do work in the offices, there is free parking while you shop in the Occoquan lot through the end of summer school, so if you want to continue to look good at work for the rest of the day, pile a few colleagues in the card and drive over.

Uncle Fred is back and bringing just about everything now, and Betty’s Chips and Salsa is bringing some great enchilada lunches. By next week, Personal Fowl Farm will be bringing a chicken lunch for you, too. As you can see, we are gearing up for the return of the full campus, so take advantage of the shorter lines now.

We would also appreciate your feedback. With business so light, it is hard to get a feel for what you like best — except of course where Uncle Fred is concerned! Mabelle would also like to bring a few new items, so watch her space, too.

Max Tyson will continue to add to his array of fruits this week — cherries are out, but plums are in! And the peaches just keep coming — watch for the white peaches and nectarines, and apricots for a very short season. Enjoy these fruits in season for flavor and nutrition that cannot be beat anywhere — especially at market prices. Most of what you buy at our market, including fruits and Jose’s vegetables, were picked within 24 hours of your buying them, and much of Jose’s produce has been picked early on Thursday morning.

Our markets are guaranteed to be “producer-only,” and that is a rarity in Northern Virginia. Many markets just don’t bother with producer-only at all, and many that do cannot guarantee that because they do not enforce it. So if you want local produce sold by the farmer who grows it, you have found the place! Thanks again for your support.

From the Market Master

I wrote about this topic several years ago for a short weekly column I did for the Connection newspapers, but recent questions arising from our cooking classes at our markets have reminded me that it is a lesson worth repeating. There are some items that regretfully you cannot buy at farmers’ markets here in our area that you need for a well-stocked pantry. Having these items on hand at all times will enable you to cook up those market ingredients on any spur of the moment. They are also the kinds of ingredients that enable you to successfully create a menu of complimentary dishes or a one-dish meal or casserole that needs something more than just the main ingredients to hold it together.

Start with a good vinegar and maybe even two or three. Pick out a good wine vinegar and move on from there to include some flavored ones also. And it never hurts to have some good old cider vinegar around too — for potato salad if nothing else. Then I recommend that you choose a good quality extra-virgin olive oil that tastes good to you, because this is the one you will use for salad dressings and also to dribble over a completed dish to pop the flavor. For most of your cooking, Berio pure olive oil is just fine, and it also works for those salad dressings that will play a minor rather than starring role in a dish. I also use a combination of olive and canola oils in my homemade mayonnaise that I always have on hand.

Next you want to keep lemons, limes and oranges on hand for marinades and salad dressings and to flavor dessert sauces — these are the secret ingredients that add summer brightness to foods.

In the refrigerator, keep on hand a good-quality ketchup and some Dijon mustard for marinades and BBQ sauces. In the pantry have some Worcestershire sauce and good soy sauce for flavoring anything from crab cakes to gazpacho to summer vegetable sautes. And of course you are going to need herbs — buy them fresh when you can, grow them yourself or check out the herb mixes that may be sold at your market. If you do not cook from scratch every night, buying mixed herbs and spices is a great way to save money on individual spices that have skyrocketed in recent years — and to eliminate waste.

I always have a pepper grinder handy, and I confess I am now using sea salt for just about all my cooking — though not my baking. It really does do a better job of bringing out the flavor of the food without overwhelming it with saltiness.

And then there is the cheese. I always have a variety of cheeses that I use on a regular basis including American cheddar, Australian cheddar when I can get it, Parrano and Parmesan Reggiano. Less often I will buy fresh mozzarella because it does not keep so well — and when I have it on hand I will cook something that uses it. If the cheese assortment begins to get moldy, I trim them up and throw them all in the food processor with that mayo I have on hand and make pimento cheese.

In the meat keeper in the refrigerator, I also have either some really good and lean smoked bacon or a package of country ham bits and pieces. I use these almost as much in the summer as winter for flavoring because it does not take much to add aroma and flavor to a vegetable dish like the summer succotash recipe I like so much. And garlic! I always have garlic in the crisper next to the citrus fruits in the other one.

That would appear to be the full circle, though I have probably forgotten something. Post a comment to let us know what you have on hand.

That’s about it — not too many items for even the smallest kitchen — and I have one of those so I should know. And it’s all you need to cook on the fly with whatever you bring home from the market, just like a French country cook or a modern California chef. All good cooks start with the basics and take off from there. Have a great flight — no need to play it safe on this runway.

See you at the market!

Photo by La Grange Farmers' Market