Mountain Fresh Farmers Market

Mountain Fresh Farmers Market

The Mountain Fresh Farmers Market seemed to be quite the attraction in the small town of Oakland, Maryland. Arriving on a Saturday at the opening hour of 10 am the lot was already packed. After a stroll through the covered, open air shed I could see why. Offering three rows of tables to snake around to browse, you’ll find vendors and farmers selling everything from their farm fresh produce and artisan breads to soaps and beautiful wood work. At one end you’ll find a truck full of peaches and on the other a truck full of corn. If passing through the town it’s certainly worth a stop to stock up on your favorites. It’s located on 2nd street behind the train tracks. Follow the signs, it’s hard to miss!

The finds

I noticed a line forming for local fresh sweet corn from the vendor Flying W Farms. The corn was going fast and of course I had to find out why! For this reason, I quickly found my place in line. After snagging a half dozen for three bucks and a quarter I continued on my way through the crowd. Like a kid in a candy store I began loading my reusable tote with beautiful fresh plump blueberries, red and black raspberries and my favorite veggies. I was even lucky to get my hands on some lovely arugula micro greens.

As I made my way around I stumbled across perfectly individual sized cauliflowers, gherkin cukes, and fresh onions from Whistle Pig Farms. And once again another line formation had caught my attention, although this time it was for homemade breads. A rosemary and basil focaccia had my name all over it and quickly found its place in my bag.

Thyme + Timber’s featured find

Every single vendor offered an abundance of beautiful and fresh produce and suddenly I found myself standing at a table with a spread of miraculous cheeses. The vendor who offered these glorious cheeses goes by the name of Firefly Farms. It was quite tempting to purchase every type of cheese they had available. However, I had settled on the Spruce Reserve. It may have been the best cheese choice of my cheese eating existence. This lovely goat cheese is wrapped and aged in a layer of spruce bark strapping. It’s hands down handsome for goat cheese or for any cheese for that matter. It was an easy buy, this Thyme & Timber gal is a sucker for spruce! How could I pass up something so incredibly unique?! The taste sure matched its elegant and stunning appearance.

The recipe

My mind was spinning with endless thoughts of possibilities! What could I cook that would showcase this beautiful Spruce Reserve? Obviously smearing it on crackers or over my fresh focaccia purchase was an absolute given. Most importantly, I wanted to create something worthy of this fabulous find. After coming across a cluster of fresh picked oyster mushrooms it immediately came to mind, a mushroom and goat cheese galette with caramelized onions.

Oyster Mushroom & Goat Cheese Galette with Caramelized Onions featuring Spruce Reserve

I know what you’re thinking, it sounds complicated and fancy. I promise you it’s hands down easy! In fact, it’s easy as pie. What is a galette exactly? A galette is a free formed pie. Which means you don’t need a pie pan. Simply fill it in the center, leaving about 2 inches to fold over the edges, baste it with an egg wash and bake it. Since Thyme + Timber focuses on “Exceptional Meals For the Great Outdoors,” the galette was indeed baked on the grill on a cast iron skillet using indirect heat. Utilizing my farmers market finds, this galette was incredibly fresh and was bursting with an abundance of flavor.

Simple & Savory

Honestly this galette is seriously easy and I have found myself galette obsessed these days. You can make it either savory or sweet. This one is fabulously savory. The name sounds fancy but it’s so simplistic. All you do is sauté, caramelize, unroll, crumble and baste and bake!

Brown the oyster mushrooms & caramelize the onions

Assemble & bake

Oyster Mushroom & Goat Cheese Galette with Caramelized Onions
featuring FireFly Farms Spruce Reserve

Recipe by Christina Stawiasz @thyme.and.timberCourse: AppetizersCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Ingredients

• olive oil

• I (9 inch) refrigerated pie crust

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

• 1 bunch of oyster mushrooms removed from stem

• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

• 1 onion, thinly sliced

• 4 tablespoons of crumbled Spruce Reserve Merry Goat Round
  or sub for any crumbled plain goat cheese

• salt & pepper to taste

• 1 egg, whisked

• pinch of fresh thyme leaves

Directions

• Preheat grill and a 10 inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
• Add a drizzle of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter to the skillet. Once melted add the oyster mushrooms and sauté until golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. During the last few minutes stir in the garlic. Transfer the mushroom mixture to a small bowl or plate and set aside.
• Add the remaining tablespoon of butter to the skillet followed by the onions. Season with salt & pepper and cook until caramelized, about 12-15 minutes. Transfer from skillet and set aside.
• Remove skillet from heat and allow to slightly cool. Gently wipe the skillet clean leaving it lightly oiled. Unroll the pie crust and begin assembling. First add the goat cheese to the center in an even layer leaving about 2 1/2 inches of crust border.
• Next add the caramelized onion in a ring around the cheese. This time you’ll overlap onto some of the crust leaving about 2 inches of border. Sprinkle the golden oyster mushrooms over the center and fold the border up and over the filling.
• Baste the folded crust with egg, lightly sprinkle with coarse salt and thyme.
• Bake on the grill over low heat with grill cover closed for 20-30 minutes. Begin checking after 15 minutes. Remove from heat when the crust is golden brown. Adjust heat as needed. Increase heat to medium-low if the grill runs cool or reduce heat to low or bake over indirect heat if your grill runs hot.
• Allow gallete to cool for about 10 minutes and remove from skillet. Serve warm!
  Enjoy!

Notes

• To prevent sticking, add a sprinkle of cornmeal to the lightly oiled skillet prior to unrolling the pie crust.
• To reduce wait time consider using two cast irons. One skillet for sautéing & caramelizing and another for assembling & baking the galette.
• If your grill runs hot use the lowest heat setting or bake using indirect heat or use the top rack.