Uncommon Market News

March 8, 2010

uncommon post 3-8-10

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 5:13 pm

Hi Folks-

 

Just a few spots open for the wine tasting so please do let us know soon if you are interested. For those of you who have already called or written to reserve a place at the tasting please stop into the store to purchase your tickets.

 

Tons of great fish coming and it is listed below. Don’t forget, also, to stop into the Chittenden Bank and sign up for the raffle to win a super Italian gift basket from our store.

 

 

Fish tomorrow:

·        Alaskan Cod

·        Sole, day boat yellow tail

·        Fresh sushi grade yellowfin tuna

·        Red snapper

·        Swordfish

·        Tilapia

·        P.E.I. Mussels

·        Bluepoint oysters, (only $1 apiece)

·        Ahi Tuna, sushi grade, frozen at sea

·        Organic Shetland Salmon

·        10/20  Dry Scallops

·        Large U.S. wild-caught Gulf shrimp

 

 

Weekly Menu Specials:

 

 

Day of the Week

Lunch Special

Soup Special

Monday

Hot Salmon Sandwich made with Shetland salmon, Salmon rub on a soft roll.

Clam Chowder

Tuesday

Hot shaved Steak and cheese sandwich

Spicy Meatball soup

Wednesday

Grilled Ahi tuna steak sandwich

Lobster Bisque

Thursday

Chelsea’s Meatball sub

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Friday

Pulled pork and cold slaw sandwich, come early it sells out!

 

Fish Chowder

 

 

See you at the Store!

 

The Uncommon Market

 

802.223.7051

 

www.uncommonmarket.net

 

As always, if you wish to unsubscribe, simply reply to this email with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.

 

 

March 4, 2010

Wine tasting notes and fish arriving 3/5

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 6:21 pm

Hi Folks –

 

So the wine tasting is really shaping up.  I had the opportunity today to taste several wines that will be at the tasting and they were absolutely fantastic. One wine in particular, L’Argentier Cinsault V.V. 07, really stood out as something unusual. It is made entirely with the Cinsault grape, which I am not familiar with.  My first thought was wow, I don’t think I’ve ever had anything like this and my second thought was that everybody was going to like it.  It truly had something for everybody, light tannins for newer wine drinkers, great structure and a complex blossoming of flavor for more practiced palates.

 

One more quick word on the wine tasting and I promise to move on ;-). First we still have several spots open so it is not too late to get back to me. Saturday, March 13th, 3 to 7 pm, 24 wines, $15.00 payable in advance.  Please let me now by email if you are interested. Secondly, we are lining up some very noteworthy cheeses, mostly from Vermont but several really spectacular cheeses from elsewhere too.  Each cheese will have accompanying wine suggestions and I can’t think of anything more fun than coming up with my own pairings!

 

Okay onto the fish for the week – we’ll have Katama Bay oysters and littlenecks and for the first time in a while we’ll be having fresh wild sardines. I won’t include a recipe here but we’ll have some available at the store. We’ll also be having two different kinds of sole, both grey sole and large filets of lemon sole. For the first time we’ll be having organically raised St. Brennans Irish sea trout. It’s a fish certified by the CleanFish Alliance of artisan producers, see their website at http://cleanfish.com/product.htm . You’ll continue to see their products in our store – CleanFish being one of the best regarded suppliers of sustainably raised fish, as well as fish that are wild-caught, using practices that support the sustainability of sealife. You should check out their website before you decide you don’t want fish that is farm-raised. Also, we’ll be running a sale on our wild-caught U.S. gulf shrimp that we carry on a regular basis. While they normally sell for $11.75/lb., which is great price for these shrimp, this weekend if you purchase another kind of fish you can also buy these gulf shrimp at $2 off, or $9.75/lb.

 

Fish arriving Friday are as follows:

 

l        Grade 1 swordfish

l        Organic Irish Sea Trout

l        Wild Sardines from Greece

l        Organic Shetland Salmon

l        Dayboat Cod

l        Grey sole

l        Chesapeake Striped Bass

l        Lemon sole, filets 6-8oz

l        Red Snapper

l        Wild-U.S. large shrimp, perfect for shrimp cocktails

l        Ahi Tuna

l        10/20 large dry scallops

l        PEI mussels

 

Don’t forget about Pulled pork sandwiches for our lunch special tomorrow.  Our food case is full of delicious prepared foods and we will have a new version of Asian slaw available that goes swimmingly with fish.

 

See you at the Store!

 

The Uncommon Market

“A store worth walking to.”

 

802.223.7051

 

www.uncommonmarket.net

 

As always, if you wish to unsubscribe, simply reply to this email with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.

 

 

March 1, 2010

Wine tasting, fish arriving, good food 3/1

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 6:11 pm

Hi Folks-

 

A quick rundown on what’s in the email…Wine tasting details, fish information for tomorrow, this week’s menus and an “oh my god” good way to eat boyden beef, not too much. Oh, and for fun, check out our display at the Chittenden Bank this month and sign up to win an Italian dinner basket.

 

First the wine tasting is on and it’s going to be a blast as all the others have been.  It is being held at the home of Justin and Emily Wrigley in Northfield, a short fifteen minutes from Montpelier. They are great friends of the market and have a truly splendid location.  What better way to break up the rather dreary month of March?  March 13th,

from 3:00 to 7:00.   We will once again be tasting 24 wines and the price is still an amazing $15.00 per person with super (12%) discounts on 12 or more bottles of wine.  The Uncommon Market will, of course, be providing the food and you can expect to see favorites like our lox and great Vermont cheeses as well as a few new twists.

 

Please let me know by email response if you are interested.  We do tend to fill up fast so sooner is better.  I will send an email confirmation to you and then the tickets can be picked up at the store.  Tickets need to be paid for in advance of the tasting and we will keep a waiting list.  Wines for this tasting will be half wines in store and half new wines that we will bring in for the tasting and stock at the store. As always there will be a really interesting mixture of wines along a nice spread of pricing.  See you there!

 

Over this weekend the weather in the Northeast Atlantic was extremely hard, with high winds and lots of precipitation so that the dayboat local fish arriving tomorrow will be a bit more expensive than usual, due to a lower supply. We do have the usuals coming in, (see list below), and we also have a full range of shellfish arriving as well.

 

Many of you have asked about getting fish for various recipes of fish stew of late and to encourage this we not only will have P.E.I. Mussels, Littleneck clams, scallops and oysters on hand but a few additional ingredients that could make your stew, soup or chowder even better. Tuesday we’ll have fish bones and carcasses on hand so you can make your own fish stock – they’re only $1.50/lb and to make a simple stock you need only simmer the bones in salted water for twenty minutes. We also will have a product we’ve never sold before though we use it for our own Mediterranean Fish Stewscallop pieces – the same quality dry scallops we sell at the store but these are the remnant pieces left after the pickers select the beautiful whole scallops. Most of the pieces are ¼ to ½ the size of the whole scallop so they’re perfect in a stew and only $7.95/lb.

 

·        Katama Bay Oysters, from Martha’s Vineyard

·        West Coast Halibut, frozen at Sea

·        Day Boat Cod

·        Day Boat Haddock

·        Day Boat yellow tail sole

·        Grade 1 Swordfish

·        Sushi grade Ahi Tuna

·        Prince Edward Island Mussels

·        Little neck clams

·        Organic Shetland Salmon Fillets

·        Bluefish

·        Dry large Scallops

·        Dry Scallop pieces, for cooking

·        16-20 U.S wild caught gulf Shrimp

 

 

Weekly Menu Specials:

 

Day of the Week

Lunch Special

Soup Special

Monday

Hot Salmon Sandwich made with Shetland salmon, Salmon rub on a soft roll.

Clam Chowder

Tuesday

Hot shaved Steak and cheese sandwich

Spicy Meatball soup

Wednesday

Grilled Ahi tuna steak sandwich

Lobster Bisque

Thursday

Chelsea’s Meatball sub

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Friday

Pulled pork and cold slaw sandwich.

Fish Chowder

 

 

So, super quick, super great way to have Boyden Farm rib eye with a friend. Peter and I had it this weekend and plan to make it a regular menu item.  Coat one Boyden rib eye steak with salt, pepper and olive oil and broil (we did 5 minutes on one side and 4 minutes on the second side). While the steak is broiling put a Manghi’s baguette in the oven and let it warm up as the steak cooks.  Prior to cooking the steak make garlic mayo, about 2 cloves crushed to about a cup of mayonnaise.  When the steak is done take it out and let it sit while you slice the baguette into little rounds and spread a bit of garlic mayo on each.  Slice steak very thinly and top the baguette pieces with the warm steak, add a little salt and enjoy. Phew, seriously good. 

 

See you at the Store!

 

 

The Uncommon Market

 

802.223.7051

 

www.uncommonmarket.net

 

As always, if you wish to unsubscribe, simply reply to this email with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.

 

 

 

February 26, 2010

wild fish and wine tasting

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 7:48 am

Hi Folks-

 

 

The headline fish for Friday is fresh wild sturgeon from the Columbia River. Sturgeon has for some time been on the endangered list as a species that has been far over-fished; however this natural fishery is rated as sustainable by the Clean Fish Alliance, http://cleanfish.com  Most of us have only eaten sturgeon that’s smoked or we’ve eaten their roe but this comes as fresh filets and is firm bodied and rich. We brought some in on Tuesday and the next day our friend, Tim Newcomb, (graphic designer and the cartoonist we all follow in the Times Argus) came in to the store saying that the sturgeon was one of  best fish he’d ever had. He’d used Sharon’s recipe from the Monday post which is still available on our website. We have a boatload of Katama Bay Oysters arriving from Martha’s Vineyard. Last but not least we have Atlantic Red Grouper, the warm water fish perfect for the grill or for baking.

 

Another fish of interest is we’re getting a whole salmon in tomorrow, organically farmed in Ireland. We’ll cut steaks to order, (as opposed to filets) which are perfect for grilling, broiling or hot-sauteeing because they’re thick and you can sear them and they retain their moisture.

 

Fish arriving Friday is as follows:

 

·        Atlantic Red Grouper

·        Columbia River Strugeon

·        Day Boat Cod

·        Day Boat Haddock

·        Day Boat yellow tail sole

·        Grade 1 Swordfish

·        Sushi grade Ahi Tuna

·        Organic Irish Salmon Steaks

·        Organic Shetland Salmon Fillets

·        Bluefish

·        Katama Bay Oysters

·        Dry large Scallops

·        16-20 U.S wild caught gulf Shrimp

  

 

A quick note from Sharon here:  We are in need of a few testimonial comments about the store for a display we are doing, so we’d love to hear from you: why you like the store (or god forbid, why you don’t and we will work on fixing it) what you like about coming in, what makes the market different in your mind, etc.. We would be happy to just use first names if that was more comfortable for folks although every body so far has been pleasingly enthusiastic.  Thanks in advance!

 

 

SAVE THE DATE!!! MARCH 13th. We are finally doing it again, an Uncommon Market wine tasting and we are excited.  Details will be in Mondays post.  It will be hosted by Justin and Emily Wrigley in Northfield (easy to get to).

 

Fish arriving

 

See you at the Store!

 

 

The Uncommon Market

 

802.223.7051

 

www.uncommonmarket.net

 

As always, if you wish to unsubscribe, simply reply to this email with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.

 

 

 

February 23, 2010

fish arriving 2/23 wine, food notes and new things

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 3:25 am

Hi Folks-

 

As usual we have some unusual fish coming in, check out the sturgeon and hey, salmon steaks (we are truly branching out).  Below are the fish coming in, a great wine we sell, a couple of new dishes we’re serving, menus for the week and a great new product.

 

Peter and I had a great weekend off together, it is a new schedule thing we are trying, and it has had its bumps (like working when we weren’t scheduled, but we didn’t this weekend!), and it was lovely. Time together, books to read and good food and wine, it felt like a vacation.  We drank a Malbec we carry at the store… Esencias De La Tierra… fruit forward in the new world style but with complexity and depth and a bit of dryness that finishes well and keeps it from being too available.  Wine talk… but we did love it and it’s about $10.49 a bottle.

 

We haven’t scheduled days for our new soups but check early in the week for Cream of Asparagus soup and mid week for Cheddar Ale soup, both splendid.  The cheddar ale was inspirational and we have started making a unique macaroni and cheese with the cheddar ale soup as a base. So far so good and I am thinking this will only improve.

 

On the Cheddar note we have a great new product that we didn’t want to share with you because we were eating it all but I finally ordered enough to tell you about it and it’s awesome.  Cabot’s hand rubbed seasoned cheeses… the Tuscan cheddar is really, really good.  We have mostly eaten it straight up with crackers but I can’t imagine a better grilled cheese and Chelsea had a grilled tuna salad sandwich with it that she swore was the best ever.

 

So a quick note on the fish and I am out of here.  Salmon steaks… we are ordering whole organic Irish salmon and cutting steaks per order.  We are really excited, our quality salmon cut into beautiful steaks and Sturgeon…nice. Recipe for Sturgeon to follow.

 

 

Fish tomorrow:

·        Haddock, day boat

·        Organic Irish Salmon steaks, cut to order

·        Bluefish

·        Cod, day boat

·        Swordfish

·        Sturgeon, Columbia River mouth, wild caught

·        Ahi Tuna

·        Katama Bay Oysters, Martha’s Vineyard MA

·        PEI Mussels

·        Large Cherry Stone clams

·        Organic Shetland Salmon

·        10/20  Dry Scallops

·        Large, US, wild caught white shrimp

 

 

Weekly Menu Specials:

 

Day of the Week

Lunch Special

Soup Special

Monday

Hot Salmon Sandwich made with Shetland salmon, Salmon rub on a soft roll.

Clam Chowder

Tuesday

Hot shaved Steak and cheese sandwich

Spicy Meatball soup

Wednesday

Grilled Ahi tuna steak sandwich

Lobster Bisque

Thursday

Chelsea’s Meatball sub

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Friday

Pulled pork and cold slaw sandwich, come early it sells out!

 

Fish Chowder

 

 

 

 

Wild Sturgeon Recipe (sounded really good to us!)

Ingredients:

2 lbs wild sturgeon

1 tsp salt

1 tbs olive oil

2 tbs spicy coriander seasoning:Seasoning mix made of coriander or cilantro seeds, cumin, cayenne, garlic, oregano, thyme and pepper for seafood and poultry dishes.

Ingredients:

3 tbs coriander seeds, whole

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cayenne pepper

1 tsp ground white pepper

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tbs dry oregano

1 tbs dry thyme

1 tbs salt

Preparation:

Place all the ingredients in a mini food processor and pulse until well mixed, the coriander seeds will not be completely ground, but should be crushed.

Lime cilantro butter sauce

Preparation:

  1. Place the sturgeon and the salt in a bowl and cover with water, let sit for about 10 minutes and rinse.
  2. Rub the olive oil and spicy coriander seasoning all over the fish and let marinate in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
  3. Pre-heat oven to 400 F (skip if only grilling)
  4. Heat the grill and place the sturgeon on the grill, grill for about 5 minutes per side.
  5. Transfer to oven safe dish and bake for about 15-20 minutes.
  6. Serve immediately with lime cilantro butter sauce.

See you at the Store!

 

 

The Uncommon Market

 

802.223.7051

 

www.uncommonmarket.net

 

As always, if you wish to unsubscribe, simply reply to this email with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.

 

 

 

February 15, 2010

fish arriving, menus and a great salad recipe

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 2:05 pm

Hi Folks-

 

Quick post tonight, lots to do. Below is the fish coming in tomorrow, the weekly lunch specials and a quick recipe. Once again the prepared food case is over flowing with great foods: Enchiladas, spicy peanut noodles, turkey tertrazzini and lots more.  The recipe for the salad that follows is awesome, Orange Dried Cherry Salad with Walnuts and Blue Cheese.

We did try the new Finca La Linda Wines last week and we thought they were both excellent so you will see them again this Wednesday, a tempranillo and a malbec.  Also ask in the store for two new very inexpensive very tasty wines, one a cabernet and one a malbec which will also be here on Wednesday (I’ll mark the shelves when they get here).

 

 

Fish tomorrow:

 

 

·        Haddock, day boat

·        Red Snapper

·        Sole, day boat

·        Cod, Day boat

·        Swordfish

·        West Coast Halibut, previously frozen

·        Katama Bay Oysters, Martha’s Vineyard, MA

·        PEI Mussels

·        Bluefish

·        Ahi Tuna, previously frozen

·        Fresh Maine Shrimp

·        Organic Shetland Salmon

·        10/20  Dry Scallops

·        Large wild caught white shrimp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekly Menu Specials:

 

Day of the Week

Lunch Special

Soup Special

Monday

Hot Salmon Sandwich salmon baked with a rub on a soft roll.

Clam Chowder

Tuesday

Hot shaved Steak and cheese sandwich

Spicy Meatball soup

Wednesday

Grilled Ahi tuna steak sandwich

Lobster Bisque

Thursday

Chelsea’s Meatball sub

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Friday

Pulled pork and cold slaw sandwich, come early it sells out!

 

Fish Chowder and Mediterranean Fish Stew

 

See you at the Store!

 

The Uncommon Market

 

802.223.7051

 

www.uncommonmarket.net

 

As always, if you wish to unsubscribe, simply reply to this email with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.

 

Orange Dried Cherry Salad with Walnuts and Blue Cheese

Salad:

1 head Butter, Boston or Bibb lettuce
4 oranges, peeled and sectioned
handful of sweetened, dried cherries
handful of toasted walnuts
crumbled blue cheese

Dressing:

4 T. fresh orange juice
1 T. white wine vinegar (or anything you have on hand)
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
4 T. olive oil
pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper

 

  1. Wash and dry lettuce, tear into manageable pieces and put in salad bowl.
  2. Using a knife and working over a bowl to catch the juice, peel and section oranges, tossing the orange slices onto the salad as you free each one.
  3. As you finish each orange, squeeze juice from whatever orange flesh is left on the peel and from the handful of membrane you should have left over. Set bowl of juice aside.
  4. Add the cranberries, walnuts and blue cheese to the salad then place in refrigerator while you make the dressing.
  5. Measure out four tablespoons of orange juice into a small mixing bowl. Add vinegar and garlic then slowly whisk in the four tablespoons of oil.
  6. Season dressing with salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Just before serving, add desired amount of dressing to salad (you’ll probably have some left over) and toss well.

 

February 11, 2010

Valentines Day food and drink

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 5:56 pm

 

Hi Folks –

 

Okay, so it’s Valentines Day this Sunday and Sunday is also the day of the Daytona 500, vrroommm vrroommm! And while it might be easy to ignore the race and focus on romantic food and wine ideas, we’re all about feeding everybody at The Uncommon Market, and besides, who says the Daytona 500 isn’t romantic? Here are some ideas. We will have fresh oysters in from the Hood Canal area on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. These large 3” to 3.5” oysters are named Palm Beach oysters and they’re a treat!! We have Canadian smelt again this week , see recipe from last week’s post or ask us how to cook it, but call to have some reserved as we have a limited amount. Hardshell lobsters, 1 ¼ lb, can be special-ordered to arrive on Saturday or Sunday at a cost of $9.95/lb. Two other special fish coming in are fresh sushi-grade tuna and this is the last week we’ll have fresh Maine Shrimp, as the season will be ending.

 

As for meats we are having a special on Boyden Farms grass-fed ribeyes, selling for $16.95/lb and on Filet Mignons, selling for $13.95. We also have our super quality western USDA choice Ribeyes and NY Strips, hand-cut to order for exactly the right size and thickness.

 

For wines, though Sharon is our store’s best resource for advice on wines I thought I’d ask Alec and Chelsea for their Valentines Day wine recommendations. They each offered a wine with certainty and without hesitation. For Chelsea it’s Marchesi di Barolo Barbera d’Alba Ruvei. Not as expensive as it sounds, about $16, Ruvei is a brilliant dark ruby red in color, notably so, with a scent of wild berries and a hint of vanilla. It’s a perfect pairing with a beef course. Alec may have had more of a party in mind when he suggested “Hey Mambo.” When asked “why?” he simply said, and would say no more, “I like it. It’s sultry and cheap.” As for me and Sharon, my mom is coming to Montpelier for the weekend and at some point we plan to enjoy a wine we reserve as a special treat, a bottle of “Atrea, Old Soul Red.” It’s expensive for our shop, about $26, but it’s the safest bet for a great bottle of red. It’s soft and dry and old, somehow - its taste and feel almost wise beyond its years. Okay so maybe I went a bit too far there, but it’s really very good, guaranteed.

 

Other fish arriving Friday is as follows:

 

  • Grade 1 swordfish

  • West Coast Halibut, frozen at sea

  • Organic Shetland Salmon

  • Dayboat Cod

  • Dayboat Haddock

  • Dayboat Yellow tail Sole

  • Canadian Smelt

  • Fresh Maine Shrimp

  • Wild-U.S. caught large shrimp, perfect for shrimp cocktails

  • Fresh Sushi grade Tuna

  • 10/20 large dry scallops

  • bluefish

  • Palm Beach Oysters, from Hood Canal WA.

  • PEI mussels

 

Remember Friday is the day for Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Fish Chowder and our new Mediterranean Fish Stew.

 

 

See you at the Store!

 

The Uncommon Market

A store worth walking to.”

 

802.223.7051

 

www.uncommonmarket.net

 

As always, if you wish to unsubscribe, simply reply to this email with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.

 

 

February 8, 2010

Fish ariving weekly menus and wine chat

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 6:11 pm

Hi Folks-

 

Here’s the fish tomorrow and the weekly menus and a quick wine note. We have once again not put dinner on the list but continue to cook every evening. Tonight was Misty Knoll Chicken legs with a garlic balsamic glaze and rosemary roasted VT fingerling potatoes.  The food doors are full with delicious food, check it out.

 

Here’s a web site I have checked out over the years (I think I first ran into it about 8 years ago) http://www.foodreference.com/ .  It is authored by one person but the variety of food references, the real depth to its historical references and the actually, quite cookable recipes have kept it very entertaining. Browse, it’ll be fun.

 

 

Fish tomorrow:

·        Haddock, day boat

·        West Coast Halibut, previously frozen at sea

·        Striped Bass

·        Yellowtail Sole, day boat

·        Cod, day boat

·        Bluefish

·        Monkfish

·        Ahi Tuna, previously frozen at sea

·        Rhode Island Squid, frozen, tubes and tentacles

·        Little Neck Clams

·        Katama Bay Oysters, Martha’s Vineyard

·        Organic Shetland Salmon

·        10/20  Dry Scallops

·        Large wild caught white shrimp

 

 

 

Wine Notes:

 

We are bringing in some wine from the vineyard that Robert, from VT Wine Merchants, visited in Argentina… while I am still working on digesting the notes I don’t want to keep the wine from you.  The wines will be here on Wednesday.   We are starting with the vineyard/winemaker Luigi Bosca and his most accessible wines (read least expensive).  There are three tiers above that and this family has been making wine for over a hundred years and are very involved in the quality wines that come from Argentina.  Next week we will bring in their next level of wines and I am totally excited about the level after that… Here are the notes for this week. And we have another wine merchant, Rafael, from Artisanal Cellars, ready to talk about his wine adventures and new wines too, so here’s to good wine drinking with new knowledge.

 

FINCA LA LINDA….

                  Classically modern style wines from the younger vines on the lower elevations… we will be getting in the Tempranillo, and Malbec… six bottles of each at $10.49 a bottle.

 

Weekly Menu Specials:

 

 

Day of the Week

Lunch Special

Soup Special

Monday

Hot Salmon Sandwich made with Shetland salmon, Salmon rub on a soft roll.

Clam Chowder

Tuesday

Hot shaved Steak and cheese sandwich

Spicy Meatball soup

Wednesday

Grilled Ahi tuna steak sandwich

Lobster Bisque

Thursday

Chelsea’s Meatball sub

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Friday

Pulled pork and cold slaw sandwich, come early it sells out!

 

Fish Chowder and Mediterranean Fish Stew

 

 

See you at the Store!

 

The Uncommon Market

 

802.223.7051

 

www.uncommonmarket.net

 

As always, if you wish to unsubscribe, simply reply to this email with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.

 

 

February 4, 2010

fish post 2-4-10

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 6:21 pm

 

Hi Folks –

 

 

As it happens, we have the most diverse selection of fish arriving Friday that we’ve had all winter. We have fresh Maine shrimp, (peeled), and for the first time this season we have smelt, (see recipe below.) We have halibut, frozen at sea, and I’m told it’s of superior quality, and we have wild-caught mullet, (I kid you not), caught off the Gulf Coast. Last but not least we have Katama Bay oysters coming in. There is a limited supply of the smelt, the Maine shrimp, the mullet and the oysters so call us in the morning if you’d like some reserved.

 

As many of you know, we’ve been selling fish for over two years now and we’ve been committed to sharing with you all that we know about the origin of the fish, and importantly, the sustainability of the fish we sell.

 

By “sustainability” I mean that the fish that’s farmed or wild caught can survive over time. It means that the haddock fishery that’s fished by these methods in the ocean will survive over time if these practices are continued. That it won’t be overfished and that we’re not ruining its natural habitat. As for farmed fish, to be grown sustainably means that the farming practices can continue over an indefinite period of time without ruining the farm’s natural environment and without injuring the wild sea life around it.

 

Over 90% of our fish is wild-caught, the exception being the organic Shetland Salmon you all love, which is raised sustainably. Lately we’ve been sourcing “dayboat” cod, haddock and yellowtail sole, all caught close to the Mass. Coast using the the hook and line method, and all caught the same day it sells at market. That means that it arrives at the Uncommon Market the day after it’s caught and that it’s caught using the best possible methods for the purpose of the ongoing sustainability of each fishery.

 

We’ve been far from perfect in our choice of the fish we sell and we continue to learn and to pass what we learn on to our customers. Next week we’ll share what we’ve learned about new trends in fish farming and what they may ultimately mean for the health of our sea life.

 

Fish arriving tomorrow:

  • Organic Shetland Salmon

  • Red Snapper

  • Dayboat Cod

  • Dayboat Haddock

  • Dayboat yellowtail sole

  • Mullet

  • Canadian smelt

  • Monkfish

  • Katama Bay oysters, harvested off Martha’s Vineyard

  • Sushi grade Ahi tuna, frozen at sea

  • Bluefish

  • Fresh Maine Shrimp

  • Large wild Gulf Shrimp

  • 10/20 dry scallops

  • Halibut, frozen at sea

 

Recipe for Smelt

I think I once relayed to you the story of my father taking my brothers and I ice fishing, to catch smelt. My father had no interest in ice fishing but I think he felt it his duty as a Vermonter and the father of five sons to take his boys, at least once, out onto the frozen surface of Lake Champlain to augur holes in the ice, and to sit there hours in the frigid winds on the lake, (there was a shanty but it was only big enough for my father and his friend and perhaps two of us at a time.) The way you catch smelt is you drill a hole in the ice, and then set up this small device with an arm that swivels that has a line and hook attached at one end and a small red flag at the other. You set out a number of these devices and then watch. When a fish bites the end of the arm that has the line swivels down into the hole and the end with the flag goes up in the air. Then you go remove the fish from the hook, rebait your line and drop the line back into the water. When you have a bucketful large enough to satisfy the adult who’s driving, mercifully you head home. And as far as any Vermonter is concerned there is only one way to cook the fish once they’re caught.

  1. Cut their heads off and slit the fish up the belly and clean out its guts, (this is already done for you with the fish you buy at the store but I want you to get the full picture)

  2. dredge the whole fish in seasoned flour or cornmeal

  3. heat up a skillet to medium heat and melt butter with a little oil added

  4. place the smelt into the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes, then turn the fish and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until the meat falls apart easily when tested with a fork

  5. starting at the end that once had the head grab the spine with your fingers and gently pull the spine away from the body. This is easy if the fish is cooked enough

  6. voila – eat as is or with hot sauce or a little mayo or whatever

 

See you at the Store!

 

The Uncommon Market

 

802.223.7051

 

www.uncommonmarket.net

 

As always, if you wish to unsubscribe, simply reply to this email with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.

 

 

February 1, 2010

Fish arriving, news, menus

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 4:09 pm

Hi Folks-

 

Its February… wow did January go fast.  It is nice to see the days get lighter longer.  Last week we were thinking about food you eat when you are alone and it was fun to hear what folks had to say.  It feels like a perfectly natural follow up to ask what food people like to share the best.  So, if you’re game, get back to us on your favorite food to share with a loved one. I’ll post a list in the store or on line or somewhere J.

 

The food cases at the market are just popping.  We have a great employee, Seth Hannigan, who has really come into his own with cooking and boy did he go to town this weekend.  We have VT Shepherd’s Pie, Turkey Tetrazinni, Turkey Enchiladas, Peanut Noodles, Lasagna and lots other things all freshly made yesterday. 

 

Below is the fish coming in tomorrow and the weekly menus.  You will notice a change in that we are not specifying a dinner special each evening.  Rest assured we will continue to cook each evening and are committed to keeping our food case full and fresh.  If you are interested in something hot out of the oven feel free to call the store and ask what’s cooking. Look for wine notes soon as Robert from VT Wine Merchants is just back from an Argentina wine trip and has promised some new exciting wines, tales of Argentina and some pictures.

 

 

Fish tomorrow:

·        Day Boat Haddock

·        Day Boat Sole

·        Day Boat Cod

·        Chilean Sea Bass, previously frozen at sea

·        Ahi Tuna, previously frozen at sea

·        Organic Shetland Salmon

·        Red Snapper

·        Maine Mussels

·        10/20  Dry Scallops

·        Large wild caught US gulf white shrimp

·        Katama Bay oysters, (Martha’s Vineyard, MA)

 

 

 

Weekly Menu Specials:

 

 

Day of the Week

Lunch Special

Soup Special

Monday

Hot Salmon Sandwich made with Shetland salmon, Salmon rub on a soft roll.

Clam Chowder

Tuesday

Hot shaved Steak and cheese sandwich

Spicy Meatball soup

Wednesday

Grilled Ahi tuna steak sandwich

Lobster Bisque

Thursday

Chelsea’s Meatball sub

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Friday

Pulled pork and cold slaw sandwich, come early it sells out!

 

Fish Chowder and Mediterranean Fish Stew

 

 

See you at the Store!

 

The Uncommon Market

 

802.223.7051

 

www.uncommonmarket.net

 

As always, if you wish to unsubscribe, simply reply to this email with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.

 

 

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