With Martha out of town all week, I needed to hold back at the Midtown Farmers’ Market. There’s only so much produce one person can go through in a week! On the other hand, it’s the first day of August, what feels like the midpoint of the growing season, and that means there is tons of basically irresistible produce. I did the best that I could with restraint, but I am only a man. In terms of summer produce, there’s really anything you could ever want: summer squash, cucumbers, lettuces, kale, herbs, sweet corn, eggplant, carrots, radishes, beets, some peppers. Tomatoes are still just getting started: only a few stands have them and their are not many varieties to choose between. But who can resist in-season tomatoes, even if it’s just the beginning of the season?

Since I’m on my own this week, my strategy for buying was based on projects. I bought a bunch of dill, a quart of jalapeños and a bunch of pearl onions with pickles in mind. Specifically, I need to preserve a ton of cucumbers from last week before they tragically rot in the crisper drawer, as well as some even older beans. I may also pickle the jalapeños on their own. I doubt I’ll have any trouble going through my five tomatoes, but they can always be turned into a canned salsa if need be. I bought broccoli with a recipe in mind that should feed me for a few days, and while I didn’t have anything in mind for sweet corn I’m really a sucker for the stuff and couldn’t pass it up.

And speaking of not being able to pass up, take a look at those raspberries!

For the salad, prepare and toss the following in a large bowl.

• 1/2 purple cabbage, shredded
• 5 small carrots, fine julienne
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced on a bias
• Handful of basil leaves, chiffonade

For the dressing, process together:

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 chipotle in adobo, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• a few dashes of Chipotle Tabasco
• 1/4 c white vinegar or lime juice, preferred
• salt and pepper to taste

With processor running, slowly drizzle in 1/2 c canola oil until emulsified.

Last week, Martha came home with exciting stories and delicious bresaola from a butcher shop she found in Linden Hills: Clancey’s Meats and Fish. I had read about the shop on the Heavy Table, but had yet to go. Intrigued, I wanted to check it out. On Saturday after the farmers’ market we biked there. My plan was to buy some fatty pork for carnitas to go with the tomatillos, corn and tomatoes we got from the market, but when I got there there was some goat staring me in the eye, calling my name. Apart from the fact that they actually have goat, the best part about Clancey’s is that from the cuts offered in their cases, it’s clear that they’ve butchered whole animals themselves. The goat’s various parts were all in evidence and arranged together. Think of the supermarket butcher: 50 ribeyes from 50 cows. Although I have never made goat before, as soon as I saw this leg roast all my thoughts of pork went out the window.

The staff of Clancey’s suggested that I cook the goat as I would lamb, although better to braise it than to roast it medium-rare, which is my lamb-preference. I couldn’t really shake my carnitas idea, so goat carnitas it was. I was kind of surprised that Diana Kennedy’s The Art of Mexican Cooking contained not a single recipe for goat since I assumed for some reason that  goat was popular in Mexico. None of my other cookbooks were much help either, so I decided to wing it. I rubbed the roast down in a vaguely Mexican way (cumin, oregano, chile powder, black pepper, salt) and seared it. In went orange juice, lime juice, garlic and onions and then the pot into a 250° oven for a long, slow cook.

Of course, these goat carnitas were going to require some delicious fixins, and luckily the farmers’ market was able to provide. I used the most beautiful tomatillos of my life to make a salsa verde (with cilantro, garlic, onion and some lime juice). Martha used the first sweet corn and tomatoes of the season with cilantro, lime juice and green onions to make a corn salsa.

After three hours in the oven, the goat was tender but not falling apart. I pulled it to shreds with two forks. At this point I became a little concerned as I was hit with a smell that can only be described as “goaty.” Tasting the meat was reassuring; it was a bit like lamb and a bit like beef, with a deep flavor and very tender texture. I tossed it with a little of the salsa verde for color.

Maybe a taco is not the best way to appreciate the flavor of goat, but it’s not a bad way to eat goat. In fact, the acid of the salsas and sour cream cut through some of the meat’s earthiness. By the end of my third taco, my eyes were craving a fourth and my stomach was saying “no!” As usual, the eyes won out.

I don’t know if it was the blue skies, all the rain we’ve been getting lately, or all the wine I drank last night, but there was magic in the air at the Farmers’ Market today–vegetable buying magic. The produce on offer was for the most part the same as last week, with a few promising new additions: tomatoes are starting to appear everywhere, although it is still a little early. Next week I imagine everybody will have them and maybe the price will go down a bit. Still, I could not resist a bowl of cherry tomatoes. I was also happy to see the tomato’s green-skinned, husked cousin tomatillo available from one vendor. Fresh tomatillos in season bear only the slightest resemblance to the dried up, rotting ones you can find in some forgotten corner of the produce section most of the year: their husks are bright green and soft and they have a crisp, bright aroma. Leeks were also new this week, but the most exciting, summer-is-here development was sweet corn. Corn on the cob, corn salsa, corn salad, corn soup; so many possibilities.

Cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, sweet corn, purple cabbage, cilantro, fingerling potatoes, tomatillos, purple carrots, leeks. Exciting! Magical!

I couldn’t wait to cook some of it up. Arriving home, I fried the sliced potatoes with some onions and then tossed in an ear of corn. Martha brewed the coffee, and with some fried tomatoes and sausage and eggs (sausage and eggs not from farmers’ market) it was a breakfast fit for a farmer–or a farmers’ marketer.

Some of the best souvenirs are things that you’ll actually use. I’m not saying I don’t buy good-for-nothing-but-being-pretty type souvenirs. I do. I just think souvenirs that do something make for more active memories. Every time we use these wooden spoons and our new parrilla, we’ll think of Stella–in her insistence on our finding a proper parrilla with just the right grill lines (three grocery stores’ inventories were not worthy of our use); Joaquín who was with us when we found each and who helped bring the prices down; and Cali, Colombia where we found all three at the Galería, an open market with enough fresh fruit, meat, and whatnots to entertain for hours. This morning Tom put the parrilla to use, making the first arepas we’ve had since returning. Stella was right. The blackened grill marks were as they should be.