Farmers' Market Brunch
The farmers' market brunch saw us Veg Cooks sprawl out across a number of stands across DC, Virginia and Maryland.

If you couldn't come, you might be wondering, "Which market should I try out?"

Well, Rhea Kennedy of You Are Delicious has the answer: 

Hey Veg Cooks,
Just wanted to let you know about a few markets. Some link to profiles of the markets, others link to the markets sites. I tried to include producer-only markets, meaning that their all local. It also means that the folks who grow or prepare the food sell it.
Rhea

Area Producer-Only Farmers Markets

DC:
Saturday
14th & U Farmers Market
H Street NE FRESHFARM Market
Mt. Pleasant Farmers Market
Glover Park and Burleith Farmers Market
Columbia Heights Community Marketplace
Ward 8 Farmers Market

Sunday
Dupont Circle FRESHFARM Market
Bloomingdale Farmers Market

Maryland:
Saturday
Silver Spring FRESHFARM Market
Cheverly Community Market
Mt. Rainier Farmers Market

Sunday
Bethesda Central Farm Market

Virginia
You can find a listing here. I don't know that much about these markets. There is a good weekday market in Alexandria, though.

Il Canale Restaurant Outing

                                                                                                  Jack Zahora

More than 50 veg heads and Il Canale equal amore.

Traditional cuisine from Southern Italy features several courses including antipasto, primo piatto, secondo piatto, contorno, dolce, and caffè.

But the diners are members of a vegetarian cooking group, not on Forbes list of richest men and women in the world. So tonight, the group feasted on several kinds of antipasti, a primo, and dolce.

The servers brought out grilled eggplant, portobello mushrooms, red, yellow and green peppers, sun dried tomatoes, and marinaded artichokes. 

Jack Zahora

Bottles of  the Sangiovese, Toscana (San Polo 'Rubio' 2007) were ordered at one table. While another rowdy group, which at one point broke a wine glass to the screams of opa (wrong country guys), sipped a smoky blend of Montepulciano and Cabernet from Abruzzi (Farnese 'Casale Vecchio' 2007). 

How do you like your pizza? With spinach, bufala di mozzarella Campana, and  cherry tomatoes? Perhaps a Margherita? Or for the vegans in the group, a marinara? 

If pizza wasn't your thing, then maybe you need a bowl of pasta? The manager of Il Canale, Vittorio, called the group late the night before. "I've godda great idea fur a pasda dish you gunna luv," Vittorio said in his heavily accented English that's a mixture of old world Italy and the Miami he's been living in for the past couple of decades. 

The pasta turned out to be a gorgeous cavatelli with basil pesto, cherry tomatoes, Parmesan and a touch of cream. 

Jason McCool

As we munched the night away,  Il Canale's owner, Guiseppe Farruggio, made an appearance and regaled the crowd with the history of classic Italian pizza--200 years in the making.

And as thanks were thrown around the room to all those who made the evening a success, a server yelled out, "don't forget the man of the hour." Executive chef Antonio Biglietto just then appeared at the stairwell. The Pizzaiolo, drenched in sweat from roasting over the helm of a 1,200 degree brick oven, smiled broadly as the DC Vegetarian Cooking Group cheered.

When 10:00 p.m. rolled around, the last few stragglers left the party, a dozen veg heads hopped next door to Paper Moon for a couple drinks at the bar. No Italians here. No authentic menu. The Serbian bartender struggled to answer where the restaurant got its name. 

A couple veg heads rammed shots of vodka and talked about who they were going to bring to Il Canale in the next few weeks. 

Rebekah and Greg's Veggie Gyoza

Adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients

Skin

Wonton skins store bought

Filling

3 cups finely chopped shitake mushroom caps
3 cups finely chopped green cabbage
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 Red onion finely chopped
1/2 cup green onion
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons grated ginger
4 glove garlic
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoon sweet rice wine
2 tablespoon starch

EDITOR's NOTE: You can replace the sweet rice wine with red wine.

Dipping Sauce

1/4 soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/2 tablespoon sriracha sauce
2 tablespoon green onion
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Directions

1) Hydrate mushrooms, remove from water and squeeze water out.

2) Finely chop and cook over medium heat on greased pan. Cook for4-5 minutes.

3) Add cabbage, onion, and sesame oil. Cook for another 4-5 mins. Filling should be dehydrated but not dry.

4) Mix wine and starch in bowl add 1 tablespoon mixture to filling. Reduce heat to low.

5) Combine ginger, garlic, soy, and vinegar in food processor/blender and puree.

6) Combine seasoning mixture to filling mixture. Salt to taste.

7) Hand form filling to desired size, about 1 tablespoon per gyoza. Firmly form.

8) Wrap with skin and seal edges with egg whites.

9) Steam first until skins shrink tight, pan sear golden brown!

EDITOR'S NOTE: Optional seasoning: cumin seed, chili powder, cayenne peppers (for a flavor explosion use in addition to ginger, garlic, and soy.)

Rebekah Danielle Shriver is a prominent DC socialite. Greg Stillman, of course, is delicious arm candy.

Gabby's Caramel Cheesecake
Adapted from a recipe hosted on Cooks.com

















Ingredients
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, melted
1/2 box graham crackers
3 pkg. cream cheese (I used 1 or 2 of the 1/3 less fat variety)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs
3 pkg. Werther's soft caramels
1/2 c. half and half plus 3 tablesoons
1 c. chopped pecans
Pecan halves

Directions
Crust:

1. Combine butter, sugar and graham crackers and press into 2 pie pans.

2. Melt 2 1/2 pkg caramels with 1/2 cup half and half.

3. When melted, mix in pecans and spread into 2 crusts.

4. Bake for 10 minutes at approx. 350.

Filing:

5. Beat cream cheese, eggs, and sweetened condensed milk. Pour into crusts and bake until set (approx. 45 min).

6. Top with caramel (made with left over caramels and half and half) and pecan halves.

7. Cool in freezer for a couple hours before serving.

Gabrielle Hirz practices law in Washington, DC.