KAYTE YOUNG: From WFIU in Bloomington Indiana, you're tuned to Earth Eats, and I'm your host - Kayte Young. This week on the show we share two recipes for the winter holidays, or anytime really, and we visit the Bloomington Winter Farmers' Market in its fresh new location. That's all coming up on Earth Eats, so stay with us. 

KAYTE YOUNG: (narrating) Holiday baking is a tradition in my family. My mom always baked several kinds of cookies and prepared a batch of peanut brittle before Christmas. Then we'd arrange them on gift plates for neighbors and friends. I've carried on the tradition, adding savory roasted nuts and granola to the mix of sweets. Since I'm making many different goodies in a short time span, I appreciate a recipe that comes together quickly. This chocolate truffle recipe fits the bill, and comes from another member, my brother in law - Eric Pearson. 

Eric lives in Paint Lick Kentucky, near Berea. He teaches philosophy at Berea College. Eric is a great cook; he's always exploring new recipes and cookbooks. He's known for hosting elaborate dinner parties, and he's dabbled in molecular gastronomy with his son Clem. But today he's sharing something decidedly uncomplicated. The recipe is called Daily Dose - Extra Strength Truffles. Here's Eric. 

ERIC PEARSON: I've got a couple tablespoons of cold butter here that I want to chop up into little pieces. You need eight ounces of chocolate, and typically I get it in... this is dark chocolate. I usually get it in bars and chop it up, but today I have it in handy dark chocolate chunks, 72% already chopped up. Now you can use any chocolate you want, any dark chocolate you want, and the only other thing we're gonna use is cream, and then at the end we're gonna dust it with cocoa powder. 

So, the first the thing I'm gonna do is put 10 ounces of my chocolate chunks into a bowl. And then add the butter. And now we take a cup of cream out of the refrigerator... here it is. And we're gonna put that on a small pot, on the stove, over low heat. You're gonna heat it up but of course you don't want it to boil, just to where it gets steam coming off it. If anybody's warmed cream the range top, you know that probably want to stir it pretty much constantly. If you don't do that a film forms on the top of the cream, which doesn't help anything. 

And this will take a few minutes. 

KY: So, where does this recipe come from? 

ERIC PEARSON: I found this recipe just in the food section of a local newspaper in the Lexington Kentucky Herald-Leader. And I don't think that the author of that credited to anywhere else. The author said that this was the best thing for the hassled mother of two. 

KY: Uh-huh.

ERIC PEARSON: So, recommended them as a medical intervention in the middle of the day. 

KY: So, the cream is just heating until we see the steam coming off of it? 

ERIC PEARSON: Exactly right. And that's just hot enough to melt the chocolate and the butter. And there's the steam, so... turn off the burner, and pour the cream over the chocolate and butter.

Take a whisk, and just whisk until all of that is melted into one mass.

I've whisked that until it is smooth, and that’s all. And now I'm gonna pour it into a prepared loaf pan. I like a loaf pan with as straight as sides as you can get, and then you want a piece of plastic wrap large enough so there's be enough to go over the tops. 

KAYTE YOUNG: (narrating) Eric lines the loaf pan with the plastic wrap. 

ERIC PEARSON: And now I am pouring the melted chocolate mixture into the prepared loaf pan. If you can't get it all out, there's enough for the kids to lick the bowl. Now fold over the excess plastic wrap, and we will refrigerate until set, several hours. 

KAYTE YOUNG: (narrating) Before you take the set chocolate mixture out of the fridge, dust a cutting board with a generous amount of cocoa powder. 

ERIC PEARSON: So, the truffles have been in the refrigerator for about eight hours. So, take them out with the plastic in one big piece, unwrap the plastic...

KAYTE YOUNG: (narrating) And place your slab of chocolatey goodness onto the layer of cocoa powder on your cutting board. 

ERIC PEARSON: Now we're gonna cut these into 32 pieces, but first we wanna top it with the cocoa powder, and smooth it out all over it. And when we cut it up, we're gonna have cocoa powder on... we wanna powder all six sides of each cube. 

KAYTE YOUNG: (narrating) I recommend making one cut down the center and then dividing each half into four equal pieces, so you end up with 32 more-or-less evenly sized cubes. These are pretty big truffles so you could cut them smaller if you like. 

ERIC PEARSON: And now what you do, you pick each one up, and you dust it in the remaining cocoa powder, and then you put them back in the loaf pan in layers. I use wax paper between the layers. 

KAYTE YOUNG: (narrating) You'll wanna keep these in the fridge until you're ready to serve them. They'll get too soft at room temperature. 

I can't get over how simple these are to make, and how elegant they end up looking with that matte dusting of cocoa powder. And these truffles are delicious with a deep flavor and a creamy texture, and definitely not too sweet. They're perfect. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Well thank you very much, Eric. 

ERIC PEARSON: You are welcome.  

KAYTE YOUNG: (narrating) Of course, you'll find this recipe and many others on our website, EarthEats.org. 

Production support comes from Elizabeth Ruh, enrolled agent, providing customized financial services for individuals, businesses, disabled adults including tax planning, bill paying, and estate services.  More at Personal Financial Services dot net

Bill Brown at Griffy Creek Studio, architectural design and consulting for residential, commercial and community projects. Sustainable, energy positive and resilient design for a rapidly changing world. Bill at griffy creek dot studio.

And Insurance agent Dan Williamson of Bill Resch Insurance. Offering comprehensive auto, business and home coverage, in affiliation with Pekin Insurance. Beyond the expected. More at 812-336-6838.

KAYTE YOUNG: (narrating) Though the temperatures have dropped here in Southern Indiana, it doesn't mean we have to stop eating local food. We're lucky to have a thriving Winter Farmers' Market here in Bloomington, and since this one is privately run, its managed to avoid the controversy that the city-run summer market faced this year. 

Schooner Creek Farm, the vendor associated with the American Identity Movement, and whose presence sparked protest, will not be selling at the Winter Market. But there is big news this year, the Winter Market has moved to a new location. No longer tucked in the gymnasium at Harmony School, the market has moved south. Switchyard Park - the new city park on the B-Line south of Grimes, isn't 100% finished yet, but the spacious indoor pavilion is complete and open for business every Saturday from 9:00 - 12:30 with the winter Farmers' Market. Earth Eats was there on opening day, and I checked in with vendors and customers for this audio postcard. My first stop was Blue Hour Farm and I spoke with Grant Pershing. 

KAYTE YOUNG:What have you got for sale today? 

GRANT PERSHING: Got spinach, sweet potatoes, garlic, arugula, carrots, komatsuna, napa cabbage. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Can you tell me a little bit about the ferments? What are the different ones you have? 

GRANT PERSHING: I've got kim chi, garlic dill kraut, beet kraut, curry kraut, pickled green beans, pickled jalapenos rings, halo sauce, and sambo which are two hot sauces. 

KAYTE YOUNG: What do you think about the new location so far? 

GRANT PERSHING:  I think it looks... it's great, yeah. Lots of natural light, large aisleways for people to move. I'm excited, yeah. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Alright. Alright well thanks I'll let you go...

GRANT PERSHING:  Thank you, thank you. 

BRANDI WILLIAMS: I'm Brandi Williams, owner of Primally Inspired Eats.  

KAYTE YOUNG: Alright... and first day of the Winter Market, how are you feeling? 

BRANDI WILLIAMS: Feeling really good. It’s a new experience for us because we're here at the Switchyard Winter Market, but we're also set up at the East Side Farmers' Market inside the community room at Bloomingfoods. So, we're splitting our efforts for the first time ever, doing two Bloomington Markets. So that's really interesting, but it's been really great too, so, yeah. 

KAYTE YOUNG: And what do you have today? And it looks like you have a lot, so you don't have to name everything but...

BRANDI WILLIAMS:  Well... we have a lot. So, we of course are an exclusively gluten-free bakery, slash sort of grain-free, paleo/keto friendly bakery. So, all of our items are completely gluten-free. But our pastries are completely grain-free too, and we've got the breads and yeah... cake, pies, blondies, cookies, about anything you could want. 

KAYTE YOUNG: That sounds very challenging. 

BRANDI WILLIAMS: It is, but it's very rewarding too when you can really nail it and provide your customers with a nutrient-dense item that also tastes pretty delicious and luxurious too. So... yeah. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Has it been pretty good business so far? 

BRANDI WILLIAMS:It has. It's been really consistent, and we got to see a lot of faces we hadn't seen for a while, so... yeah. There's a great crowd, I heard somebody say the parking lot was full. So, I think it's a good first Saturday for the Switchyard Winter Market. Yeah. Thank you. 

 STEPHANIE SMITH: Hi I'm Stephanie Smith. I'm here tabling with our organization - Farm to Family Fund. We raise money throughout the year so that we can buy produce at the end of the Farmers' Market, the Winter's Farmers' Market and donate it to the Rise and Community Kitchen, and Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard. 

KAYTE YOUNG: And so, it looks like you have some gift cards? 

STEPHANIE SMITH: Yeah, we have gift cards, and people that donate take one or two cards and give their donation to a loved one at Christmas or the holidays. 

KAYTE YOUNG: So, it's like you're donating on behalf of that person? 

STEPHANIE SMITH:  Yeah on behalf of that person. It's... people are excited about it and it's pretty easy. We raise it about 6,000 - 10,000 a year, and then we're matched 2 to 1 to that, so... An anonymous family foundation that matches us 2 to 1. 

KAYTE YOUNG: What do you think of the new space? 

STEPHANIE SMITH: It's beautiful. I love the light and the windows. I thought it was gonna be freezing, it's not, that's really nice. Seems like there's a lot of people here. The... seems like people are pretty busy selling a lot. So, I'm hoping it's gonna work out for everybody. Feel like it's at least as busy as it was at Harmony, where people were more packed in. It's just really nice here. Crowded, beautiful. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Well thank you so much for talking with me. 

STEPHANIE SMITH:  Thank you for being here. 

COLLEEN ROSE: Colleen Rose. I'm a customer. 

KAYTE YOUNG: And what do you think of the new space? 

COLLEEN ROSE: I love it, it's amazing, its spacious. I feel like I'm in a big city or something but we're just kinda here in our backyard so...

KAYTE YOUNG: What about you? 

WILL ROSE: Will Rose. I love the new space; I love the light in it and how big it is. I hope that it's this full every Saturday. 

KAYTE YOUNG:What did you guys get today? 

COLLEEN ROSE: We got broccoli, and a green pepper, and coffee, and a tamale, and someone randomly gifted us a glorious large coffee cake. 

KAYTE YOUNG: And what did you get? 

WILL ROSE:  I got a ham hock here, but I think I'm most excited that I met someone who was willing to volunteer in my classroom to tutor a student in math. 

KAYTE YOUNG: So, it's a community space and a shopping space. 

WILL ROSE: Yeah, I think that's really exciting. I love that the tables are so big, you have to sit down with someone you don't know... and have a conversation and make a connection. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Thank you so much, both of you. I really appreciate it. 

COLLEEN ROSE: Yeah, yeah, no problem. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Could you tell me your name? 

AMY ROCHE: Amy... Amy Roche. 

KAYTE YOUNG: What do you think about the new space? 

AMY ROCHE: I think it's brilliant. I mean it is terribly convenient because I just live a few blocks away, so I like the walkability. It's more spacious, and its teaming with people. It's thriving already on the first day. It's a good time. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Have you been going to other markets this summer? Like the one on the east side, and the one downtown? 

AMY ROCHE: Yeah, I attended both of them, yeah. Just trying to support all the vendors. 

KAYTE YOUNG: What'd you get today? 

AMY ROCHE: I got some really lovely... I know I’m not gonna say it right... komatsuna? Burgundy and green leafed. I'm excited to have that with some Italian oyster mushrooms. Got some nose spray, winesap apples - going home to bake a pie for a friend, some really tender juicy carrots - for me and for my dog, true confessions. And what else I did I get...? Broccoli and collards. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Wow, lucky dog. 

AMY ROCHE: Heck yeah. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Thank you so much for talking with me.

AMY ROCHE: Yeah, no, thank you. 

PETE KILLROY: Pete Killory. 

KAYTE YOUNG: What do you think of the new space? 

PETE KILLROY: I think its a wonderful space, that's mostly why I came, is to check out the facilities. Yeah, I didn't go to the old...

KAYTE YOUNG: Do you love coming to the market? 

PETE KILLROY:  I... well, I experience market stress. Which is a term that I invented just now... but yeah. It's a little... you know, it can be overwhelming.  

KAYTE YOUNG: What is stressful about it? 

PETE KILLROY: Just you know, a lot of people, that's all. But it's... that's... it's... most people would probably not agree with me, they would enjoy that aspect. But I'm... yeah. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Alright. Well, it's great that you came anyway. What are you gonna get?  

PETE KILLROY: I’m gonna get a kolache from Sweet Claire's if they're here, and then maybe some bread. I usually get some bread in here from Muddy Fork's.

KAYTE YOUNG: Alright, well thank you so much for talking with me I appreciate it. 

PETE KILLROY:You're welcome, thank you. 

THEODOR TALIVAR: My name is Theodore Talivar, AKA Theo. I work for Osteria Rago. I been there since we opened, and we make all of our pasta fresh. I actually make it all. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Is this the first time you've been selling at the Farmers' Market? 

THEODOR TALIVAR: No, we was here last year for the Winter's Farmers' Market. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Okay. And so, what do you have for sale here at the market? 

THEODOR TALIVAR: So, we have our fresh pasta. We have today... we have regular fettuccine; we have our spinach fettuccine which is a main attraction. We have capellini, which is commonly referred to angel hair. We have spaghetti, five cheese ravioli, our house made rapini basil pesto, our house made pomodoro sauce, and our house made rago ragu sauce. We also have bucatini pasta as well. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Okay, so you're a restaurant, right? 

THEODOR TALIVAR: Oh yes. We make everything in house; we make our pizza dough from scratch, we make our pastas from scratch, all of our sauces from scratch, our mozzarella cheese from scratch. So, this it's as authentic as it can get on U.S. soil. And we’re located at 419 East Kirkwood in the alley between Nick's English Hut and Runcible Spoon. It's something... the allies [is where you find]most of the best restaurants in Italy, and the ambiance of this restaurant is very, very nice. It's a really nice experience. 

KAYTE YOUNG: So, is that where the Bloomingfoods used to be? 

THEODOR TALIVAR: Uh-huh in the old Bloomingfoods building, we renovated it, we invested a lot into it. We invest a lot into the quality of our products that we serve. We buy locally from a lot of the local farmers. So, we try to keep it very authentic and we try to support the local community here.  

KAYTE YOUNG: What do you think about the new Winter Market space? 

THEODOR TALIVAR: I love it, I love the venue. I'm happy to see a big turnout today. I was kind of speculating on whether by being further away from downtown, if a lot of the locals was gonna come around, and a lot of the normals was gonna come around, but I'm seeing a lot of faces that I seen last year. So, I'm pretty happy about it, I love it. 

KAYTE YOUNG: Maybe it'll draw some people who didn't go to the other one. 

THEODOR TALIVAR: Yeah, exactly. Cause I think a lot of people was excited about it being at the Switchyard Park. And I think it's gonna draw a lot of people, like you said, that didn't come to Harmony. Yeah, its' beautiful. This is a beautiful space. I'm happy to be here. I’m happy to have this attraction in Bloomington, it's very nice. 

KAYTE YOUNG: (narrating) And finally, before I left, I spoke with the Winter Market manager - Teresa Birtles. 

TERESA BIRTLES: I own Heartland Family Farm and have been a vendor at the Bloomington Winter Market Farmers' Market for 16 years now. And my official capacity here... is market manager. 

KAYTE YOUNG: How are you feeling about the new space and everything today? 

TERESA BIRTLES:  I think it's absolutely fabulous - tons of natural lighting, and plenty of parking, and one of the most encouraging things is there are no stairs for vendors and customers alike. And I've had some several customers who either have wheelchairs or scooters that are like "Oh I can finally come back to the Winter Market. It's easy access." 

KAYTE YOUNG: (narrating) Since this market is privately run, they have a different vendor selection process. 

TERESA BIRTLES: This market is completely separate from the city, it is a privately, board-run, nonprofit market. Run by farmers, and prepared food vendors, and a couple of customer representatives. 

KAYTE YOUNG: (narrating) Vendors submit an application and are chosen by a selection committee. 

TERESA BIRTLES: We may not accept duplicates of vendors, simply because it is a smaller market than the summer market. And just applying doesn't mean you're accepted. It is a selection process. 

So, we're governed by a board of directors that make the decisions, it's a private market, in a public venue. We've been at Harmony School and have just outgrown it, basically. So, we've been looking for years to find a place that has no stairs, centrally located, can accommodate a large number of people, and has accessible parking. And when the Switchyard was in its development stage, we had several meetings with the city, and they listened to the concerns that we had, and they worked with us in designing this building. 

KAYTE YOUNG: (narrating) The new building as the lead certification of silver, meaning its design has met high standards of sustainability and energy conservation. 

TERESA BIRTLES: So, it has radiant heating on the floor. Of course, it has all the natural lighting, all of the LED lights. Everything is just... just really high quality. 

So, we really appreciate that, because Farmers' Market has particular needs that might be different then when you're using this space as a wedding venue, or reunions, or that sort of thing. 

There's electric in every column and also clear down the center, and we have room for more tables in this venue. So, we've got the big round tables, where people can just sit and visit and enjoy community. 

If you have the desire and the especially the commitment to eat local, having a Winter Farmers' Market is just really important, because otherwise there isn't a concentrated area where you can actually get local food... such as a farmers' market, you know. If you... if it's not here, then your choices are very limited. 

But in having a Winter Market, it benefits the vendors in that a lot of vendors, and farmers have put up hoop houses and other season extension properties to encourage winter and early spring growing. So, it works wonderful for customers, and then farmers also don't have to go get a part time job in the winter to try to supplement their income. They can go ahead and farm in their hoop houses and sell to their friends and neighbors, here at the park. 

We're first and foremost a farmers' market, so we have a lot of greens right now, broccoli, cauliflower, a lot of winter storage vegetables, butternuts, and sweet potatoes, and potatoes, and onions, and dry beans. 

And now we're also having a lot of Christmas decor, a lot of wreaths and centerpieces. 

And not to mention your protein, a lot of meat here, lamb, pork, beef, cheese, we've got goat cheese. Every other week we will have Twilight Dairy, every other week we have the salmon. We always call him the Salmon Guy, Josh, the Salmon guy. He'll be out front, he asked to be outside. I looked at him when he asked that, I said "You know it's cold out there?" And he gives me a sideways look and he says "Yeah, but I work in Alaska". Like "Oh yeah, you can handle this." 

And then our prepared food vendors; we have such a diverse group of people. Muddy Fork is here of course, the pie lady, Jesus from Sazon, of course we have Bivi with Tamales, Feast Cellar will be here every other week. We have some vendors like to come every other week, they like to actually have a life on Saturday, every other week. So yeah, it's just a wonderful mix of vendors, a lot of diversity. And then of course Curtis has been playing our music this morning, and we have musicians every week.  

KAYTE YOUNG: (narrating) The Bloomington Winter Farmers' Market runs every Saturday from December through March, 9:00am to 12:30pm at the Switchyard Park Pavilion - 1601 South Rogers. Find more information on our website, EarthEats.org. 

KAYTE YOUNG: So much of my holiday baking traditions involve sweets - cookies and candy mostly. But for years I’ve also included a granola recipe, and it's always a bit hit. This is a very simple granola recipe; you can customize it to your taste. It makes a great gift around the holidays. 

Start by preheating your oven to 250 while you mix up your ingredients. The first ingredient is oats... rolled oats, and you definitely want the old fashion; you do not want to get the quick oats. You can also make this a gluten-free granola by making sure that the oats you purchase are 100% gluten free, some oats are not. So, you want eight cups of rolled oats. 

Next ingredient is chopped nuts. You're gonna want a cup of chopped nuts and it can be whatever nuts you prefer. I... today I'm making it with pecan, but I often do it with almonds. And I... this is a rough chop; I really like to have nice big pieces of nuts in my granola. You're gonna want one cup of chopped nuts, and then you just wanna mix those nuts in with the rolled oats. 

(sounds of chopping)

Now I mix up my oats and my nuts in one big baking sheet, sort of a roasting pan kind of thing. It's just a big metal pan. I mix it all up in there so that I don't even have to dirty a bowl. 

(sounds of mixing in pan)

And then we're gonna mix up the oil and the maple syrup. So, it's one half cup of maple syrup, and one-half cup of oil. I'm using a sunflower oil. 

I mix this all up in one two-cup measuring cup, and then two or three generous squirts of honey. And then one-half teaspoon of salt, this is also the time where you can add other seasonings if you prefer. Some people really like cinnamon, or nutmeg, or cloves, or allspice, or any kind of spices that you think would be interesting or desirable in your granola. 

You're gonna mix up that oil and serve together and the honey and get it really thoroughly mixed. And then you're gonna pour that directly over the oats and the nuts. You want the syrup and the oil mixture to fully coat all of the oats and the nuts. 

Once the oats and the nuts are fully coated in the syrup and oil mixture, then it's ready to go into the oven. You're gonna wanna kind of shake it down to an even layer, and then put it in the oven. And once you get your pan in the oven set your timer for 15 minutes. 

And once your 15 minutes are up, you're gonna take it out and stir it, put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes; do that until it’s a nice golden brown. 

(sound of oven door, timer)

And once your granola turns a deep golden brown, should be done in about hour... hour and 15 minutes. 

And before it cools you wanna add your dried fruit if you're gonna be adding any. So that would be your raisins, or your currants, or you can use dried cranberries, you could use chopped apricots, figs... whatever you prefer. I'll be using dried cranberries, and I think even the cranberries are a little bit too big; so, I usually chop them up a little bit before I add them. Just mixed the dried fruit into the hot granola. And you're done, just let it cool, and you can store it in jars, or airtight containers. 

Fill up a pint jar, put a ribbon on it, and it's a great holiday gift. Hopefully there's enough left for you. I enjoy this granola for breakfast with a dollop of plain yogurt and fresh berries, or homemade jam. The recipe is on our website, EarthEarts.org. 

RENEE REED: The Earth Eats team includes Eobon Binder, Chad Bouchard, Mark Chilla, Abraham Hill, Taylor Killough, Josephine McRobbie, Daniel Orr, The IU Food Institute, Harvest Public Media and me, Renee Reed.  Our theme music is composed by Erin Tobey and performed by Erin and Matt Tobey. Earth Eats is produced and edited by Kayte Young and our executive producer is John Bailey.

KAYTE YOUNG: Special thanks this week to Eric Pearson, Grant Pershing, Brandi Williams, Stephanie Smith, Colleen and Will Rose, Amy Roche, Pete Killory, Theo Taliver, Teresa Birtles and everyone at the Bloomington Winter Farmers' Market. 

Production support comes from:

Insurance agent Dan Williamson of Bill Resch Insurance. Offering comprehensive auto, business and home coverage, in affiliation with Pekin Insurance. Beyond the expected. More at 812-336-6838.

Elizabeth Ruh, Enrolled Agent with Personal Financial Services.  Assisting businesses and individuals with tax preparation and planning for over fifteen years.  More at Personal Financial Services dot net

And Bill Brown at Griffy Creek Studio, architectural design and consulting for residential, commercial and community projects. Sustainable, energy positive and resilient design for a rapidly changing world. Bill at griffy creek dot studio.