Brisket Sandwich, courgettes and brownie cookies on the menu. Not advised to consume all at once!

Back on the brunch menu are DFC’s delicious brisket sandwiches with Petr’s home-made ciabatta. “Slowly cooked brisket, so it’s nice and tender,” Petr says. Petr also serves up chicken and beef wraps and Frankfurter hot dogs with baguette. All the breads are home-made by the man himself.

There’s plenty of fruit about for the lunch boxes, and it’s also still a good time to plant up the garden. Valley Nurseries will be back with dwarf and smaller growing natives that fit into any domestic garden setting, large or small. Also check out the variety of fresh veggies, ranging from capsicum, beans, lettuce to greens and eggplant.

For snack time, kids will love Homemade.Kiwi’s new yoghurt chips. Very tasty, very healthy alternative to salty, greasy chips when the munchies come up.

Our busker this week Chris Smithers, entertaining with his keyboard.

Meet the grower – Andrew from Frut4U Lowes Orchard

This week we ask Andrew a few questions about Lowes Orchard. As a regular at the market, you’ll be familiar with their sweet, crisp and reasonably priced range. What you may not know is that Andrew is also a NZR model train enthusiast!

The secret to their wonderful fruit is that they are tree ripened, get picked into small crates from which they are packed of at the market. You can get them loose or packed into bags.

Andrew and Sue have been coming to the market about five years. Their orchard is based in Waimea West, Brightwater. Each week they bring across the hill a range of in-season fruit including strawberries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, pears, apples, lemons and quince as well as their apple juices.

What made them choose the Marlborough Farmers' Market?

“We realised that with the increase in grape growing in the Marlborough region, there was a lack of fresh stone and pip fruit around, so we decided to make the two-hour drive over weekly with our products,” Andrew says.

What's your favourite product from your stall?

"Couldn't really choose...it all tastes delicious!"

What do you love about selling at the market?

"The product is going directly to the consumer, and we get the same customers coming back week after week! They're here because they want to buy fresh, they want local with minimal road miles, and they want to talk to the person who has grown it."

“We love the location! We love the atmosphere, and we appreciate the support we receive from the Marlborough community.

From our stallholders

Gourmet Deli

On the menu this Sunday are fresh figs made into Tarts, pies and jams Freshly picked off my trees.

Margaret

Minghettis

Minghettis will be at the Farmers’ Market on Sunday with freshly baked Sourdough, treats and cookies.

Have you tried our Chocolate Chip Brownies Cookie yet?

It's a bite in the crisp of the cookie finding the softness of the brownies. We'll also have Ginger man bread, soft Anzac Cookies and more.

Hope to see you there.

Ciao Ciao

Marco & Silvia 

Golden Mile Produce

Lots to love from Golden Mile Produce this week. Beautiful beans, cracking courgettes and the first of the super-hot chillies! We're talking close to the top of the scoville scale (that's the chilli heat meter!).

Chillies are a really interesting fruit. They have varied heat and flavour profiles, including sweet, fresh, bright, earthy, smoky, tropical, tangy or fruity. Interestingly a lot of them have different scents also. Did you know, not unlike grapes and wine, the terroir (it is the word that embodies the concept that terrain, soil, climate, and tradition can profoundly influence the way produce tastes) can also apply to chillies. They are a fascinating fruit that we are learning about all the time. But we still refer to our chief taste tester, Fran from Boom, to do our tasting! I'm such a chicken...

We will still have rock melons, onions, garlic, shallots, greens, eggplants, microgreens and strawberry conserve!

See you Sunday. Stephen & Sally

Sharp As Tool Tip

There are many types of saws around, pictured are three butchers saws I recently sharpened. A mistake many make when sharpening saws is not keeping the teeth even.

Look for even teeth if buying second hand.

If you have these or any other saws, utensils, knives, or tools, come and see me at the Marlborough Farmers’ Market.

cheers Ron



Recipe of the week

Lamb racks with spiced beetroot and spinach

This week’s recipe is brought to us by Alys from Homemade.Kiwi. Alys has published a cookbook which she will be selling at her stall.

All the fresh veggie ingredients are available from the market. A great whole foods recipe from the market to feed the whole family.

6 tbsp peanut oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 dried red chilli, finely sliced

2 tbsp of cumin seed

1 tsp salt

½ tsp cracked pepper

4 medium beetroot, peeled and chopped

400g whole peeled tomatoes, mashed.

½ cup water

1 large handful spinach leaves

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

4 French lamb racks, 6 bones a piece (ask the butcher to prepare them)

Mint leaves for garnish



Serve with cooked long grain rice.

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Heat half the oil over moderate heat and add the onion, chilli, cumin seed, salt and pepper. Fry gently until the onion is cooked. Add the beetroot, tomatoes and water and mix well. Bring to the boil. Pour into an ovenproof dish, cover and bake for 40 minutes, or until the beetroot is soft. Uncover, stir in the spinach leaves, mix well and cook a further 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil with the garlic and rub it all over the meat on the lamb racks. Pan fry in a roasting dish until brown then place in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes. Slice each rack into 3 double cutlets. Serve the lamb on the spinach and beetroot with rice. Garnish with mint sprigs.

Enjoy, Alys