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The Winning Recipe!
Late Summer
Written by Jon Ross-Wiley   

Last Saturday, Local In Season sponsored an "on-the-spot" recipe contest at the Roslindale Farmers' Market.  It was a terrific day at the market with a celebration of 25 years in Roslindale, as well as featuring the bounty of tomatoes and zucchini available at this time of year in Massachusetts. People who strolled by the Local in Season tent were challenged to come up with a recipe based on our selection of ingredients on our table.  In honor of Tomato and Zucchini Day at the market we made sure to include both tomato and zucchini in the range of possibilities.  

The rules for the contest were as follows:

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The Garlic Lovers' Choice: Hard Neck
Late Summer
Written by Jane Ward   
The garlic lovers at my house have become a bit obsessed over these last few weeks with finding and buying fresh farm stand garlic.  Cutting into a clove from a fresh dug bulb is a revelation for those of us more used to garlic past its prime, that rubbery, sap-sticky, sometimes bitter garlic that has been languishing, sprouting, even rotting in supermarket displays.  A fresh clove sounds as crisp as an apple under a sharp knife’s blade, and is just as juicy and clean tasting.

Most of the garlic found at the farms is the type known as hard neck garlic.  Soft neck garlic might be the type most people are familiar with, its larger outer cloves clustered around a center of smaller, irregularly shaped ones and a flexible papery shoot.  Hard neck garlic, in contrast, possesses a stiff straw-like stalk at the center of a bulb that holds fewer but much more regularly shaped cloves around it.  
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Brisket: Just Add Smoke
Late Summer
Written by Lara Zelman   
Brisket is a year round favorite of mine. When people ask if there is one food I love to cook, I usually answer “I make a lot of brisket”. It’s easy, but never boring. You can dress it up for holidays or dress it down for a backyard get together. Brisket is something that my grandma, mom, and brother make – it’s a family tradition! 
 
I started buying more of my meat at the farmers market when I became more conscious of meat quality and its origins. It seemed like every vendor had plenty of pork, but the beef was limited to ground beef, steaks, and occasionally stew meat. Never brisket – until now!
 
I took off for a summer food holiday to visit the summer market at Russell’s Garden Center in Wayland.  I had visited the winter market, but hadn’t made it out for the summer market. The market is every Wednesday from 12:00 – 5:00 p.m.
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LIS Quick Post: Fried Okra
Early Summer
Written by Jon Ross-Wiley   

I mentioned this little snack to a few people and posted it on Twitter, and there seemed to be enough interest for me to publish a Quick Post here. While perusing the bins under the Stillman's Farm tent at a farmers' market in Jamaica Plain, I found a few cartons of okra. I was surprised to see them there.  Not sure why, but I was intrigued enough to buy some and sort out what I would do with them later.

Here is a very simple preparation that is quite tasty. As I've told a few others, it could have used a dipping sauce of some kind, though, to really elevate it. Ideas? Feel free to comment below, or send a tweet @localinseason.

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Corn, Anyone?
Late Summer
Written by Lizzy Butler   
Every year when summer time approaches, there are specific things I really look forward to.  There are of course the longer days, the warm rays of sun, the nightly ice cream cones.  It just wouldn’t be summer without these things.  But, I must tell you, there are few things that get me as excited as what I consider one of the Kings of Summer.  He’s tall, he’s strong, his history lies within the roots of this continent.  He is Sir Sweet Corn.  And not just any sweet corn, but local sweet corn.  Those imposters available year round in the grocery store simply will not do.  When I take my first trip to the local market and find those green treasures piled high on produce stands, I know the epitome of summer’s treats are upon us.
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