Top Cook uses fresh farmers market foods

IT'S A given that a farmers market is a great place to get fresh, local ingredients - but the social aspect of a market can also make it a walking cookbook. Vendors happily share tips for using their produce, and the overall vibe makes for easy conversation and recipe exchanges among shoppers.

Mindy Silver recently moved from Mount Airy to Washington Square. For her, Sunday's Headhouse Market (2nd Street, between Pine and Lombard streets, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) is a place to fill her larder and get to know the community.

"I moved in July 2 and have come every Sunday," said Silver, who traded her former home's garden for a high-rise patio with just enough room to grow tomatoes and a few herbs. "I'm downsizing after a divorce and anticipating my daughter going to college in the fall, so it's an adjustment, but I really enjoy this."

Silver catalogued her haul for the week while sitting on a stoop and having a taco from a nearby food truck. Her purchases included green beans, Jersey corn, cantaloupe, blueberries, a wedge of Birchrun Hills' Fat Cat Cheese, a loaf of Ric's Oat Bread, frozen chicken sausage and potato gnocchi from Griggstown Quail Farm and fresh tuna from Shore Catch.

Silver makes sure that everything she buys is used at its peak. She cooked the tuna Sunday night, and froze the sausage and the gnocchi to use later in the week. She also washes, then dries, herbs before storing them in paper towels in the refrigerator. She doesn't wash other greens until she's ready to use them, and keeps peaches and tomatoes at room temperature in order to preserve their flavor.

The move to a smaller kitchen required Silver to pare down her equipment. She turned a closet into a kitchen storage to maximize space. One small essential she adores: "I love my immersion blender," a handheld motorized stick that can go directly into a pot or bowl. "You can make delicious salad dressings from scratch in two minutes, and it also makes sauces, pesto, soup and even smoothies."

Like many people whose mothers were terrible cooks, Silver learned to cook at a young age out of self-defense. Said Silver, "Two not-so-memorable dishes my mother made were Hawaiian Chicken, doused in Karo syrup with pineapple and coconut, and meatloaf with a hard-boiled egg in the middle. It looked like an eyeball staring at you as you ate."

The Top Cook's earliest success was making Napoleons from scratch, puff pastry and all, at age 12. It took all day but she never got to taste them. She left the house, and her mother served them to guests.

Silver is more generous with her own daughter, Dorit, who heads to Drexel soon. Dorit's asked to learn a couple of go-to dishes for dorm life, and Silver's put a couple of quick pasta dishes on the syllabus.

But the future freshman already had a head start: Silver's instilled the value of using quality ingredients from the farmers market. And, like her mom, Dorit hasn't missed a Sunday at Headhouse since the move.

MARINATED FRESH TUNA WITH GRILLED PEACHES

Mindy Silver serves this Asian-inspired dish with cellophane or rice noodles sauteed with shitake and oyster mushrooms and spinach from the farmers market. The peaches add a nice touch of sweetness.

1 pound fresh tuna pieces

1/4 cup tamari (a Japanese type of soy sauce that is less salty)

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

4 cloves garlic, minced (or to taste, depending on strength of garlic)

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

2 peaches, cut in half, stone removed

3/4 cup Greek yogurt

1-2 tablespoons peach white balsamic vinegar, or lemon juice

Blend together tamari, vinegar, garlic and lemon zest in a plastic bag. Add fish and coat evenly. Let rest for 30 minutes.

Heat an outdoor grill to 500 degrees or if indoors preheat a cast iron grill pan over high heat.

Cook the fish quickly to sear the outside but leave the interior reddish-pink and moist.

Set aside to rest.

Meanwhile, place the peach halves cut side down on the grill long enough to sear in the juices. Flip and cook for about another minute.

Blend yogurt and vinegar. Plate the fish with the peach half. Garnish with a dollop of the yogurt blend. Serves 4.

1 pound chicken and spinach sausage

8 ounces dry whole-wheat penne pasta

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 bunch broccoli rabe, blanched and well drained

1/4 cup feta cheese or to taste

In a large pot of boiling water, cook the whole-wheat pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, heat oil in large saute pan over medium heat. Saute garlic, until it just begins to soften and add the sausage and cook through. When pasta is done, drain and reserve some of the water and add about 3/4 cup to sausage mixture. Add broccoli rabe and continue cooking for a few minutes more. Add the cooked penne and top with feta cheese. Serves 4.

fresh green beans (figure a handful per serving)

1 clove garlic, minced (a little more if making more than 4 servings)

orange cherry tomatoes (about four per serving)

olive oil to lightly coat pan

salt to taste

tamari to taste

Wash, dry and trim beans.

Wash, dry and cut tomatoes in half.

Heat olive oil over medium high heat on a pan large enough to spread out beans. Add beans and saute for about a minute. Toss in cherry tomatoes, a pinch of salt and about 1 tablespoon of tamari, if desired.

Cook for about another minute. Serve immediately.

A handful of raw beans will be one serving cooked.