Finally Made it to the Union Square Greenmarket

It has been on my mind since January but I just never got around to doing it. If I was going to go I wanted to go early in the day so that all the best stuff would still be available and it is nearly impossible to get up and go all the way there before noon. When I have a day off I cannot help but sleep in. But today I did it, to some extent, got in a little later than hoped, noon, but I got there.

After doing various sweeps of the vendors I had a few necessary items in mind: ramps, pickles, some sort of meat/fish, local honey, mushrooms, bread, and potatoes. Ramps were something I have wanted to try since I saw them on Chopped last year and I had only heard rave reviews about them since. Its amazing how once you know of something’s existence you see it everywhere. It just so turned out that the freshest looking ramps were a two for one deal, could not pass that up. Then there was Rick’s Picks which have heard good things about, but they were a little pricey. But there was also an Amish vendor selling pickles so grabbed myself a jar. Still confused on how he got to New York from Lancaster, PA. For the potatoes I grabbed some Ruby Reds, I think they were called that. Got a sour dough baguette. Got some local honey to help with allergies, plus I’m a honey whore when its good. For my meat/fish I went right to the fish stand where I saw possibly my favorite fish, mackerel. Ever since jigging for them during my home stay in Ireland I have been literally hooked but its a fish you don’t see much of so any chance I have to buy or eat them I go for it. Then it came to the mushrooms. Portabellas, buttons, oysters, I’ve all had before. So it came down to a choice between maitake or pom pom. I had to go with pom pom, especially since my friend Kimberly Belle didn’t know anything about it while going over mushrooms in her last video.

Now I needed to come up with some sort of meal with these ingredients. Though I really wanted to dig into the mushrooms, I fucking love mushrooms, I decided to wait until another meal. I came to the conclusion that I would use the ramps, potatoes, and mackerel. But I wanted to keep the flavor of all of them so just stuck to simple preparations without any outside flavors. Floured and pan cooked the mackerel in a mixture of clarified butter and olive oil. Just sautéed the ramps with olive oil. Then baked the potatoes in the oven with garlic and parsley. While washing the ramps I could not stop myself from grabbing a taste of one raw. It was my first time eating a ramp and it was delicious. Raw it had a light flavor I’d say kind of peppery like arugula does. Sautéed they were really good too. I can understand the huge obsession with them. Though not entirely mind blowing the fact that you can really only get them at farmers’ markets seasonally gives them a scarcity that forces people to wait all year for them. The mackerel was also delicious. A fish unlike the rest and a favorite. The potatoes were good but nothing mind blowing. It was really just the inner color of some of them that made them a novelty.

Successful market trip. Tomorrow I am thinking I’ll made a cream sauce to top the pom poms with pasta. Lunch cannot come soon enough.