Eat First

Goat Fest 2015 at 2 Kids Goat Farm

Photo courtesy of 2 Kids Goat Farm

You love goats. You love how they bleat as they greet you. You love how frisky and friendly and sometimes naughty they are. They nibble the buttons on your shirt and climb all over you and your car and clamor for your attention.

You also love goat milk and goat milk cheeses: crumbly chèvre spread on a bagel, feta crumbled on a salad, halloumi fried or grilled as an appetizer.

 

If you love goats, goat milk products and the Central New York countryside, mark your calendar and get to 2 Kids Goat Farm, in Cuyler, on Sunday (August 2) for the second annual Goat Fest.

 

Yup. Goat Fest!

 

The family friendly celebration of goats and community is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will include a petting zoo and other activities for children, live entertainment and a "pop-up" marketplace featuring local produce, baked goods, pastured meats, maple syrup, craft beer, hard cider, coffee, wine, plants and more (members of the local 4-H will be selling milkshakes). There is no admission charge and all are invited to attend.

 

Participating vendors include (but are not limited to) Main Street Farms, Drover Hill Farm, Crazy Daisies Flower Farm, Side Hill Farmers Meats and Market, Critz Farm/Harvest Moon Cidery, Local 315 Brewing Company, Vinomania, Simple Roast Coffee, Half Moon Bakery and Bistro and others. 

 

2 Kids Goat Farm was launched several years ago by Barry and Amy Sperat. The farm takes its name from their two school-age sons, Finn and Bergen, and the goat "kids" that helped them get their start.

 

The Sperats started small, with just a few goats (mostly Nubians and Alpines) and learned how to milk them by watching YouTube videos. They quickly learned how to make cheese, beginning with their signature Plain Jane chèvre. Before long, they started adding mix-ins, like black peppercorns, garlic and chive, cranberries and pumpkin.

 

The 2 Kids herd now numbers about 50 and they're milking about 30, Barry says -- twice a day, every day. Recent additions include two dairy cows, so they can make cow's milk cheeses, as well. Barry makes the cheese -- which has expanded beyond chèvre to include feta, halloumi,  cheese curds, farmers cheese and special varieties like Finnaberg, a goat milk cheese made in a fashion similar to cheddar and Amy Lynne, which Barry calls a "wine-soaked drunken goat cheese.''

 

Amy, meanwhile, is responsible for the 2 Kids line of personal care products, which includes goat milk soaps, lotions and balms. She recently started making liquid soap in addition to the bar soaps. Just as goat milk is favored by people who are lactose sensitive or intolerant, goat milk soaps and lotions are are favored by people with eczema, psoriasis and other skin sensitivity issues. (My own sensitive skin responds favorably to the Plain Jane bar soap, a good value at $4 each, or three bars for $10.)

 

But back to the goats. They are the big draw for Sunday's event and will be out for everyone to see -- and pet. The Sperats are expecting a crowd of about 500, which is no problem for goats. The more people, the more goat love.

 

"Goats are very social animals,'' Barry says. "They all have names, and they all know their names. They love people.''

 

On Sunday, be sure to bring a cooler (for possible purchases) and wear good shoes for walking.

 

"People can interact with the animals, walk to the top of the hill and see the gorgeous view and sample cheeses and other foods,'' Barry said last week. "We'll have a blast.''

 

Goat Fest, hosted by 2 Kids Goat Farm, runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday (Aug. 2). The farm is at 682 Cowles Settlement Road, Cuyler. For more information, call 315-447-3364. WEBSITE  FACEBOOK 

 

Can't make it to Goat Fest on Sunday? Look for 2 Kids Goat Farm products at the Downtown Syracuse Farmers Market (Tuesdays), Fayetteville Farmers Market (Thursdays) and at Side Hill Farmers Meats and Market, in Manlius.

 

Cheese and crackers, with 2 Kids Goat Farm black pepper chèvre
 

Two-fer Tuesday: Downtown Syracuse Farmers Market and Liehs & Steigerwald Downtown

One of the things I miss the most about working downtown is the Downtown Syracuse Farmers Market. I've been trying to get there for more than a month now, but relentless rain on Tuesdays has kept me away.

Today, at noontime, it wasn't raining (at least for the moment). So I headed downtown with my market basket, allotted market allowance ($20) and a fist-full of change for on-street parking.

 

This vibrant and bustling market, at Clinton Square, features more than 40 vendors, many along West Water Street, and always draws a good crowd.

 

Before making any purchases, I scoped out the market and returned to make purchases of items that a) appealed to my eye and b) I know for certain we'll use in the next day or two. (See farmers market tips.)

 

Today's purchases:

 

• Two cousa squashes ($1) from Hahn Farms, Baldwinsville. Cousa squash is smaller, lighter in color and a little more sweet than zucchini, according to the young woman who waited on me. Use them the same way you use zucchini, she said. I'll probably make cousa "boats,'' stuffed with rice, Italian sausage and tomato sauce, later in the week.

 

• A pint of blueberries ($3) from the vendors sometimes called "The Blueberry Guys.'' These growers, from Oswego County, have the most beautiful blueberries. They sell half pints, pints, quarts and BUCKETS ($20) of blueberries at the downtown market and at the Central New York Regional Market on Saturdays.

 

• A quart of yellow beans ($3) from Haas Farms, Red Creek. This vendor is always quick to say hello and never disappoints. Today, he had red currants, red raspberries, peas, green and wax beans, flat Italian beans, garlic scapes and more. So we'll be having wax beans, steamed until crisp-tender and tossed with a little butter, salt and pepper, with supper.

 

• A container of black pepper chèvre ($7) from 2 Kids Goat Farm, Cuyler. Market associate Chelsey always has samples and always takes time explain products, from cheeses to goats milk soaps, lotions and balms. Today she sampled various chevres and a newer offering from 2 Kids -- goats milk cheese curds (delicious!) She also shared a tip: To make "inside out" cheeseburgers, stuff four 2 Kids cheese curds inside each burger when forming patties. About the chèvre: It's slightly crumbly and spreadable. I like it on crackers, on bagels in place of cream cheese and as a garnish for salads.

 

With no rain in sight and a few minutes left on the meter, I decided to visit the newly opened Liehs & Steigerwald Downtown -- a combination butcher shop, small grocery,
pub and grill. The downtown location is a new project for the family-owned meat market, a fixture in Syracuse since 1936.

 

The meat case has all of your L&S favorites, like roasts and chops, German franks, bratwurst, chorizo and other sausages and some of the best bacon you've ever had. People were lined up for sandwiches (eat-in and takeout) and a few people were eating lunch at the small bar.

 

I got four of the German franks to go, but will be back after work some evening for a pint of beer and Mug O'Bacon, one of the signature appetizers.

 

The Downtown Syracuse Farmers Market, presented by the Downtown Committee of Syracuse, continues Tuesdays through Oct. 13. Hours are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., but some vendors leave early, just FYI.

 

Liehs & Steigerwald Downtown is 117 E. Fayette St., near Bank Alley. Information: 315-299-4799.

 

Fayetteville Farmers Market Frittata and "Bridge Street Live"

When Stephanie Weidner Lipsey, market manager of the Fayetteville Farmers Market, asked me to go on "Bridge Street Live" (News Channel 9 - WSYR TV) with her to help promote the market -- and make a dish using ingredients from the market -- the answer was a no-brainer.

Sure! Why not?

The Fayetteville Farmers Market, now in its second year, is a good one, with nearly 40 vendors (no re-sellers) offering a diverse range of goods. In addition to in-season, local produce, the market has vendors offering meats, cheeses, eggs, yogurt, milk, honey, maple syrup, jams and jellies, salsa, pesto, bread, cookies, cakes and other baked goods, chocolate/confections, coffee -- everything you need, or could want, to make a meal.

I knew I didn't want to make something on camera and started thinking about something I could make ahead and take to the studio. Jam or jelly? No. Too fussy. Fruit crisp or cobbler? Maybe. Make-ahead frittata? Yes!

 

I met Stephanie at the market last Thursday, July 2, armed with a short shopping list for the recipe: new potatoes, onions or scallions, bacon or ham, red pepper, green and yellow squash, eggs and cheddar-style cheese. Everything was available except red pepper -- not yet in season -- so we grabbed a couple greenhouse-grown tomatoes (as well as a pound of new potatoes) from Stone's Farm and Greenhouses, Canastota, for color and to use as a garnish.

 

Mosher Farms, Bouckville, supplied the summer squashes, Hartwood Farm (Chittenango) had scallions and WW Longhorn Ranch, Bernhards Bay, came through with eggs. Any of the farmstead cheeses from Stoltzfus Family Dairy (Vernon Center) would work in the frittata, but we agreed the tomato-basil cheese would work best. The bacon in the frittata (and sausage served on the side) came from Drover Hill Farm, Earlville -- owned and operated by Stephanie and her husband, William Lipsey. They're known for their pasture-rasied beef, lamb, pork and chicken.

 

Earlier in the season, I might make the fritatta with spinach and ham. Later in the season, I might make it with heirloom tomatoes from Mountain Grown Farm, Jamesville. It's easy and adaptable. Give it a try!

 

Fayetteville Farmers Market Frittata

As featured on "Bridge Street" (July 7)

 

Olive oil for pan

4 slices bacon, cooked, blotted and crumbled (optional)

3/4 pound small new potatoes, sliced thin

2 bunches scallions, white part only, sliced (save some of the green tops for garnish)

2 small zucchini or yellow squash (or a combination), diced

9 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

4 ounces (1 cup) Cheddar- or Swiss-type cheese, grated

Sliced tomato, for garnish

 

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 9-inch glass pie plate lightly with oil.

 

Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until brown. Remove bacon from pan, blot on paper towels and crumble. Drain grease from pan, leaving enough to cook scallions and potatoes. Return pan to medium heat. Cook potatoes and onions, tossing occasionally, until potatoes are tender, about 15-17 minutes. Remove potatoes and onions from pan and spread evenly on bottom of pie plate. Sprinkle the cooked bacon over the potatoes. Add a little more olive oil to the pan and cook squash over medium heat until crisp-tender.

 

Spoon squash over potato-onion base in pie plate. Add the grated cheese.

 

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, salt and pepper. Pour over all. Bake until eggs are set, about 15-17 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving. Makes 6 servings.

 

Serve the frittata with green salad and crusty bread.

 

To serve with the frittata, Stephanie brought gluten-free bread from The Cookie Connection (Syracuse), croissants and pastries from Alambria Springs Farm, Earlville, and meadow butter from Kriemhild Dairy Farms, Hamilton, to the "Bridge Street" studio.

 

For the "Bridge Street Live" segment, CLICK HERE.

 

The Fayetteville Farmers Market runs noon to 6 p.m. Thursdays, through Oct. 15, at Towne Center at Fayetteville (enter from Burdick Street). Information: WEBSITE  FACEBOOK