Four Days - Countdown

Austin Farmers' Market - another market I've never shopped, but I look forward to doing so someday. I love Texas.

Located at 4th and Guadalupe in downtown Austin, the market is open Saturdays from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm and Wednesdays from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

This is a year-around market -- considering the great weather in Austin, this makes sense. Here's their web site: http://www.austinfarmersmarket.org/

They sell a huge variety of foods and crafts, including, not surprisingly, these:


In exploring the web site, I happened upon something called artisinal charcuterie. I had no idea what it was so I did a little research (googled it). Apparently charcuterie is either a business that sells meats like sausages, or it is the stuffing of the sausage itself. The practice of artisinal charcuterie (creating the sausage) is becoming quite popular with chefs everywhere. There is an art to mixing the right kinds of meats to create yummy sausage fillings. Texas is certainly great place for all kinds of meat, so no wonder the market web site lists the charcuterie as something that "must not be missed." I will definitely give it a try.

More pictures:






Quick and easy recipe -- a mix of the hot peppers and some sausage (or artisinal charcuterie if you'd like, and you know where to get some).

Stuffed Hot Peppers (or not-too-hot, if you're like me)

Ingredients:

4 to 5 doz. medium peppers
2 lbs. sausage
handfull of plain bread crumbs
1 egg
1/4 c. milk
1 pkg. McCormicks meat loaf mix
Salt, pepper and garlic to taste
vegetable oil

Wash and remove seeds from peppers -- slice one side open.

Mix sausage, bread crumbs, egg, milk, meat loaf mix, salt, pepper and garlic together -- I use my hands to mix and squish everything together.

Stuff peppers with sausage mixture -- make sure to "close" the pepper, and place in single layer on baking pan. Pour a little vegetable oil over peppers. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Turn pepper over, bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from oil after baking. Serve warm, cool, or freeze if you like. Thaw and reheat if frozen.

Yummy. Some people like really hot peppers. I try to use only the milder variety. Plus, once the seeds are removed the heat goes down anyway.