Fulton Stall Market - Part 1

Having been through the worse episode in Lower Manhattan's recent history, I'm always very happy to hear about developments that bring new life to the area. This weekend, across the street from the former site of the Fulton Fish Market a row of food stalls opened (www.fultonstallmarket.com), featuring locally grown and sourced produce. Yesterday, I decided to take the M15 bus all the way from my Upper East Side neighborhood downtown. After an hour, I arrived at my destination.

Seems I wasn't the only one who thought it was a great day to go to market.

Across the street, the site of the abandoned fish market

Some asparagus from Sang Lee Farms were the first purchase on my list.

I picked up a loaf of 9-grain at Bread Alone.

It was impossible for me to resist the early-season strawberries from Stony Hill Farm Market.

Knoll Krest eggs have been my favorite at the Union Square market for years.

I wonder how this compares to what I tried at Arthur Avenue, but it's great to see this stall. They had sausages, pasta, and some other products for sale as well.

After walking back through the Seaport area, I decided to take the subway back uptown to get my purchases home as soon as possible. I think I did quite well, given that there wasn't anything that I really, really needed to buy this week.

So what I am going to do with all of this? Remember last week, when I was talking about trying to bake my way back to having some interest in the blog and in cooking? Well one batch of brownies for my workmates was last week's project. For this weekend, I was invited to a picnic in Central Park - weather depending. The eggs I bought yesterday, went into this culinary exercise.

I was given this cookbook years ago. It has a special significance on several levels. It was written by the chef/owner of the Trellis Restaurant in Williamsburg, Virginia: Marcel Desaulniers. One of the best non-colonial-tavern eating options in the city. I've had many wonderful meals there, including when I worked in Washington, DC post-college, and friends of mine and I would decide to make a day trip of heading down south to kick around the location of our former college escapades or do some siteseeing.

I've tried several of the recipes in this book over the years, mostly with success. Having been invited to a Beer, Cheese and Chocolate party, I decided to see what sweet treat I could attempt, which would pair with a Raspberry Lambic Ale I found at my local grocery store. The Deep Dark Chocolate Fudge Cookies fit the bill.



I'm off to the picnic in a few minutes. I really hope that they are a hit!

Buon appetito!