Haymarket Redux

My CSA is (finally) started to wind down - I got only one bag of produce this week, which is great because my freezer is stuffed and I don't have any tupperware left to house the dozens of containers of soup, chili, etc, even if there were freezer space left.

In addition to my (smaller) CSA pickup, I was feeling antzy and wanted to go apple picking this past weekend but my plans fell throug. Instead, I went to Haymarket. Haymarket is a large outdoor market in downtown Boston that is pretty much the antithesis of a farmers' market. The produce at Haymarket is the antithesis of farmers’ markets. The produce there is not local or organic; it is not fresh; you do not meet the people growing your food, and its carbon footprint is probably enormous.

However, it is cheap. CHEAP Cheap cheap. Ten bananas for $1. Four pounds of peaches (slightly bruised) for $2. A box (probably 40) slightly mushed Roma tomatoes for $8. It is not pretty but it is cheap and T-accessible and has a certain strange charm in that dirty, noisy, rude Boston kind of way. And I love it.

While I was there, I bought 4 lbs of not-squished roma tomatoes and 4 lbs of slightly squished peaches, and 1 lb of white mushrooms and 5 heads of garlic and 2 pints of raspberries and 1 bunch of thick-ish asparagus with slightly mushed tops. I spent about $15 and could barely stagger home under the weight of my groceries.

When I got home, I took the tomatoes and 1 head of the garlic (roasted) and some home-dried herbs and made a vat of tomato sauce (which cooks down to a depressingly small amount, to be honest). And then I made another batch of corn chowder with the leftover corn from last week. I then threw half the mushrooms and some of the garlic and all of the asparagus into a yummy risotto and then, two days later, threw another head of the roasted garlic, the rest of the mushrooms, along with some other veggies, into a homemade tomato sauce that was awesome. That pasta sauce went with (shockingly) pasta, and Austin and Arianna came over and had that, along with a Greek salad for dinner. For dessert, I made something super-easy with the peaches, which had been ripening for a couple days in a brown bag on the counter. The peaches from Haymarket do not have the lovely texture of local peaches, but they are perfect to cook with. I used some puff pastry to make the recipe below – frozen puff pastry is super-easy, lives well in the freezer when you don’t need it, and cooks up very quickly in the oven while you’re doing other things.

Peach Turnovers

6 6”x 6” squares of puff pastry
1 tbsn unsalted butter
2 medium peaches, pitted, skins removed, sliced into ½” chunks
1 tbsn cornstarch (or other starch)
1 tsp. lemon juice
3 tbsn sugar
~1/2 tsp. cinnamon
~1/4 tsp. ground cloves (to taste)
~1/2 c. water
1 egg + 1 tbsn water

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a non-stick pan with vegetable oil-based cooking spray. Take out puff pastry from freezer and thaw.

2. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add cornstarch, lemon juice,2 tbsn. sugar, cinnamon, and water. Stir until mixed, butter is melted and mixture is starting to bubble. Add peaches and cook, stirring regularly, until peaches are soft and sauce is thickened and peach-tasting. Adjust spices as needed.

3. Prick thawed puff pastry squares all over with a fork (set fork aside for a second). In the middle of each square, place about a tablespoon of peach mixture (chunks and sauce). Gently fold the squares diagonally in half. With the fork, crimp down the diagonal edges. Repeat with all six squares. (If you have extra peaches, eat them with a spoon out of the saucepan - they are that good).

4. Mix the egg and 1 tbsn. water in a glass or pinch bowl. Brush each pastry with the egg wash and check edges again. Pop in oven and bake about 20 minutes or until browned on top and bubbly. Serve warm with ice cream or cold for breakfast.