Basketful of recipes

Foraging is an ancient part of the human experience, and the resurgence of open air markets has provided a new chance at the old art. The just-released Crescent City Farmers Market Cookbook celebrates both the rhythmic gathering of seasonal goods and the relationship that develops between farmer and customer. It’s a lively companion for any market enthusiast.

Author Poppy Tooker includes the CCFM’s history, its post-Katrina comeback and 125 ingredient-driven recipes from local chefs who have demonstrated at the market throughout its 14-year history. Chef Leah Chase’s chicken and shrimp Clemenceau makes an appearance, Chef Dickie Brennan provides his tomato blue cheese Napoleon, and Café Degas Chef Ryan Hughes gives the solution for an overrun of eggplants with his tangy eggplant caviar.

Tooker is known for her culinary activism in New Orleans and South Louisiana, particularly for helping preserve Creole cream cheese, the beloved fresh cheese that died out after dairy consolidation. One of the market’s biggest draws has been a new wave of Creole cream cheese vendors, including Warren and Sandra Smith of Smith Creamery in Mount Hermon. Tooker has given countless lessons on how to make Creole cream cheese, and she includes her popular recipe in the book. “For so many, it’s one of the first things they may have eaten, and one of the last things they want,” she says.

Many of the vendors at the Crescent City Farmers Market also show at the Red Stick Farmers Market here in Baton Rouge, including the Smiths, Amato’s Winery, filé maker Lionel Key, “The Pie Lady” Frances Chauvin and members of the White Boot Brigade, a team of local shrimpers who were decimated after the storm but fought back with the superior taste of local white shrimp. Tooker profiles many of these hard-working producers and growers.

“It’s the only cookbook that will make you cry without onions,” she says.

Creole cream cheese

Reprinted with permission from the Crescent City Farmers Market Cookbook

1 gallon skim milk1 cup buttermilk6 to 8 drops liquid vegetable rennet (available in health food stores)Pinch of salt8 pint-size cheese molds (see Note)

In a large stainless steel or glass bowl, combine skim milk, buttermilk, rennet and salt. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave out on kitchen counter at room temperature for 18 to 24 hours. You will then find one large cheese curd floating in whey. Use a slotted spoon to fill molds with the cheese. Discard the whey.

Place molds on a rack in a roasting pan (so cheeses can drain) and cover lightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 6 to 8 hours. Turn cheese out of molds and store in a tightly covered container for up to two weeks.

Note: You can make your own cheese molds by using a soldering iron to poke holes in plastic pint containers.

Recipe compliments of Poppy Tooker.