Medford Winter Farmers Market

Finally February vacation came, so I spend one of my free days at the Medford Winter Farmers Market.  This market is located at the Hyatt near Medford Square on Thursdays from 3-7.  It's a small market, but has lots of character; decorated with lots of art.

Some familiar vendors that I saw were Stillman's, Soluna Garden Farm, and Foxboro Cheese Co.  I picked up some breakfast sausage from Stillman's and merlot salt from Soluna Garden Farm.  How could I resist salt infused in Merlot? I tried a little bit on my eggs in the morning and I used it in the fake shepeards pie that I made Sunday night.  By fake, I mean that I used ground turkey and added some red wine and spices and topped with veggies and mashed cauliflower.  I thought the merlot salt would be a nice addition to this dish.  A new vendor that I checked out was Doos PK.  I was sold on this dip that you can eat and drink.  There were three flavors, not too spicy, mild, and hot.  So far I have used it as an energy drink by adding ice, seltzer, and a squeeze of lime.  Other vendors you can find are Brookford Farm, Zoll Cellars, Joni's Cannolis, Oakdale Farm, and TRILLfoods.  

Something I accomplished while I had some time off was to experiment with the food dehydrator.  Since it's winter and there are not many veggies or fruit available to dehydrate, I decided it was time to make some beef jerky.  I am pretty happy with the result for my first time.  I bought a ginger teriyaki marinade at whole foods and added some garlic powder and a pinch of cayenne.  I thinly sliced 2 lbs of steak and marinaded for 48 hours. Then the steak slices were put in the dehydrator for 8 hours.  Then I added the dried piece to some mason jars and it has made a great snack.