Roswell Farmers Market Gems

I took a trip to Roswell Farmers Market this morning and I’m so glad that I did. I came across so many gems and I wanted to share them with you.I just planned to stroll through and pick up whatever caught my eye, I didn’t have anything specific in mind. Here’s a look at what I found.

After taking just a few steps into the market I ran into my friend chef Mel Toledo  of Foundation Social Eatery. I did a post on Foundation a while ago when they first opened, I’m long overdue for a follow up post. Mel was doing a demo for a puff pastry and veggie tart using fresh tomatoes and saba – a thick syrup made from reduced grape must (unfermented grape juice).  I took a quick video of him telling us about his dish as well as some new things happening at his restaurant.  Here’s the Facebook Live  video:

Chef Toledo is starting Sunday Brunch at his restaurant and he’ll be offering, among other things, butter poached lobster rolls. YES! You heard me right, BUTTER POACHED LOBSTER ROLLS. Get there early if you want a lobster roll, chef Toledo is only making 12 of them. I have my alarm set already because I plan to get one!

Then I met Debb and Avril Brown of  Island Spiced Bakes and Bites I had to stop by and see what they were doing. It was hard to choose which goodies to bring home,  they had a lot of Island delights to choose from. I had a few sips of their ginger beer as well as their sorrel and tea drink. The sorrel drink was delightful,  like drinking a bouquet of red flowers. They had some coconut /banana bread, some pineapple bread and a few other baked sweets.

I bought a few of their stuffed Johnny cakes ( these are different from cornmeal based Johnny cakes found in the Southern U.S.)  two pork and cheese filled and one chicken and cheese filled. I put them in the oven as soon as I got home and my son hounded me the entire time they were heating. I lost track of how many times he asked me “Are they ready yet?” I must say that I shared the anticipation. There’s a great picture of the heated Johnny cakes below.

The Bee Wild Honey folks were there with their delicious honey. Here’s a link to a post about my visit to my field trip to the Bee Wild Honey Farm a few weeks ago. You can read all about the bee to bottle honey process and all the hard work that goes into getting pure, raw honey to you.

Across the aisle I visited a plant vendor and bought a gallon sized pot of fresh sage. Sage goes so well with many different meats and vegetables.  I love sage with roasted pork and butternut squash, that would make a great lasagna.  I’ll put the sage in the ground as soon as I can so it can get growing.

Before I left the market  I picked up a package of Heritage Farm breakfast sausages. Heritage Farm specializes in grass fed and pastured meats and organically grown crops. I cooked those as soon as I got home as well. Here’s a look at them before cooking…

and after, below. They’re much longer than your average breakfast sausage, and very tasty!

Here are those stuffed Johnny cakes from Island Spiced Bakes and Bites after I cooked them. Oh my GOODNESS were these DELICIOUS! The filling is a savory mix of ground meat, scotch bonnet peppers, cheese and vegetables. Don’t be worried about the scotch bonnet peppers, these pastries were not very hot, just spicy ans savory.  Both the pork and chicken varieties were delicious but the pork is my favorite.  I’ll definitely be getting some more of these.

The pork Johnny cake is on the left and the chicken Johnny cake is on the right. Don’t they look delicious?! The pastry is tender and mild and goes wonderfully with the flavorful filling. Do yourself a favor (or should I say “Do yourself a FLAVOR” HA I crack myself up) and look up Island Spiced Bakes and Bites.