by Christie Ison, Fancie Pants Foodie

This past Saturday, I got to revisit one of my favorite old haunts, the Argenta Certified Arkansas Farmers’ Market.

I’d been away for ages because of work and school, so it felt like returning to an old friend. And in a way, I was; several of the farmers remembered me and mentioned they hadn’t seen me in a while.

One of those farmers was Ray Dailey, who sells his Dailey Dairy raw-milk cheeses at the market. He remembered me from the time I wrote an article about his product, one which is quite unusual in the fact that it doesn’t use pasteurized dairy, giving it an unusual, deliciously tangy flavor.

“Where have you been?” he asked. I replied about my crazy schedule the past couple years. He smiled a warm, grandfatherly smile and welcomed me back.

Turns out, Mr. Dailey has expanded his offerings a bit, at least from what I remember. I didn’t need any cheese this visit, but I picked up some fresh garlic and eggs. Marvelous, miraculous eggs with rich, golden yolks and thick albumen. More on that another day.

I walked among the 20-odd market booths, taking photos of the bounty that comes this time of year. Greens, flowers, summer squashes and berries were everywhere. One particularly photogenic table of blackberries called out to me and my camera.

At this booth, Dwayne and Shellia of Kornegay Berry Farms tended to the crowds. Dwayne, a little shy around my camera and notepad, said his wife “does all the talking for him.” I assured him it was no big deal and asked him for a quart of blackberries, asking him what he likes to do with them.

He stood a little straighter and told me about Shellia’s blackberry cobbler, then called her over for an accurate ingredient list. Both were excited to share the recipe, simple enough for her to recall by heart.

“It’s just one and one and one,” she said, “really simple. One stick of butter, one cup of sugar, one cup of flour, one cup of milk.” For this foodie, it was a refreshing approach to highlight the fresh, firm berries, likely picked that very morning. But, I still couldn’t help add a few modifications of my own (see below); that’s part of the fun of shared recipes.

With so much growing season left, there is much more to be found at the Argenta Certified Arkansas Farmers’ Market, where every item is guaranteed to be locally grown. Come discover your own treasures and the recipes to go with them!

Argenta Certified Arkansas Farmers’ Market

6th and Main, North Little Rock

Saturdays during growing season

7 a.m. – noon

 

Shellia Kornegay’s Cobbler

2 c. berries or fruit, rinsed

1/2 c. sugar

1 stick of butter

1 c. flour

1 c. sugar

1 c. milk

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. While the oven heats, put the stick of butter in a 8” x 8” baking dish and put it in the oven to melt.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the berries or fruit and the 1/2 cup of sugar. Stir over the heat until the sugar is melted and the berries are cooked down just a bit.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar and milk. When the butter is melted, remove the dish from the oven and pour this mixture over the butter. Do not stir.

Add the cooked berries or fruit evenly over the mixture, and again, don’t stir. Place the whole thing back in the oven for 45 minutes. The batter will combine and rise over the fruit.

 

Fancy Pants modifications:

• Use this homemade gluten-free blend rather than all-purpose flour.
• Add 1 tsp. almond extract to the berries after cooking.
• Add 1/2 tsp. baking powder to the batter mixture to give it a bit more lift, or more, up to 1 1/2 tsp.
• About 10 minutes before the cobbler is done, remove from the oven and sprinkle 1-2 T. sugar (regular or turbinado) over the whole thing and return to the oven for a crunchy top.

 

 

 Christie Ison writes the blog Fancy Pants Foodie when she’s not wrangling her two kids and husband or teaching cooking classes. She is a Certified Culinarian with the American Culinary Federation and has loved writing and cooking since she can remember. She really likes to sleep and still doesn’t know what she wants to do when she grows up.