Market Watch: Pepper Pot
Upon returning from a long vacation, I was pleased to find the Market on the Square well into pepper season. Browsing the aisles I noted the stunning number of varieties you can find in our little market.
Peppers are native to America and come in a wide range of colors and flavors from mild and sweet to wickedly hot and spicy. In general, peppers are divided into three categories, and our market well represents.
Bell Peppers: Bell peppers are sweet and crunchy with a firm, juicy flesh. Many of our local farmers grow bell peppers including green, purple, orange, white, yellow and the incredibly popular red. Red bells are ripened green peppers, hence the higher price tag. Yet, bell peppers are a good deal right now and only get less expensive and more prolific as the summer goes on. Bell peppers are great for sautés, salads, stews, relishes and fire-roasting.
Frying Peppers: Elongated and skinnier than bell peppers, frying peppers have thinner skins are great for just what their name suggests. Also known as Italian frying peppers, Italianelles or Cubanelles, frying peppers can be sautéed or stuffed, added to soups and sauces or sliced and marinated for your favorite sandwiches. Typically light green or red, Brackett farm, Tiny Greens, Blue Moon and others sell frying peppers at our market with names like Jimmy Nardello, Gypsy, Carmen, Hungarian Wax and Super Sweet Banana.
Chili Peppers: Chili peppers come in a wide range of flavors, colors and heat. From the relatively mild Anaheim to the fiery Habanero, chili peppers are rated in Scoville units yet vary in heat from season to season. Chili peppers can be eaten on their own, pickled, used to add spice to your favorite dishes or left to dry and ground into powder. Tomahnous Farm from Mahomet is the place to shop for chili peppers. Lisa “loves hot peppers” and grows the widest variety at the Market including a ton of heirloom varieties: Beaver Dam, Bulgarian Carrot, Lemon Drop, Fish, Cayenne, Chili Pepin, Cherry Bomb, Serrano, Thai, Anaheim, Jalapeño and Czechoslovakian Black.
The world of peppers is at times overwhelming, so don’t be afraid to ask our farmers to describe their peppers or evaluate their spiciness. So when looking to add a degree of brilliance or zest to your favorite recipes, reach for one or more of the vibrant peppers found at the Market on the Square where they are prolifically perfect.
The Market on the Square runs every Saturday from 7a.m. -noon, rain or shine now through November 8th. It is located in the parking lot of Urbana Square Mall on the corners of Vine and Illinois Streets.
Most Recent Food Comments
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I think it’s neat that SP has turned rightward, now espousing a Tea Party-style frustration with government regulations & taxes.
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This weekend will mark the first appearance of Kayla Brown’s Fire Doll Candle booth at the Market. Check it: http://www.facebook.com/firedollcandles
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Excellent additions, LY.
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Most Recent Comments
The Alan Partridge lookalike on the right in the first small photo has nothing to condescend to anyone about. AH HA!
Snell and the little Hitlers of the neighborhood association need to chill out. Legitimate businesses should have the freedom to exist without having to endure the slings and arrows of ignorant and misguided opposition.
represent, Matt.
Yeah, I’d agree that Transporter Room 3 is the worst house venue I’ve ever seen.
Food trucks are the start-up, small businesses of the future for those unable to afford real estate. No surprise, that merchants who pay rent, utilities, and maintenance on a property would despise the traveling competition. Or developers who build more empty retail spaces would want to close…
Not so much far-right Tea Party as a balanced, moderate viewpoint between letting businesses succeed and protecting society with reasonable regulations. In spite of what the city reps are saying, the interpretation of policy on this issue certainly has changed. Letting a business start up under one…
I think it’s neat that SP has turned rightward, now espousing a Tea Party-style frustration with government regulations & taxes.
This makes me so sad. (Happy to live in Urbana, though!) Crave Truck has been a GREAT addition to the food choices in C-U, and it’d be a travesty to chase them away. This town should be supporting small businesses. I’m glad to hear that they’ll still…
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What? Echo! (Echo!) Where’s the dischord and dissent?
This weekend will mark the first appearance of Kayla Brown’s Fire Doll Candle booth at the Market. Check it: http://www.facebook.com/firedollcandles
And without bloodshed. Sounds like the Savoy trustees aren’t as narrow-minded as some of their whiny pants constituents. Do you think quack Snell is already planning an asinine counterattack or is he still laying low after those “threats” against his person?
hey, if hair ain’t gon’ be over your head, my jokes may as well be.
Okay, almost 24 hours later and I finally got Issac’s Summer joke. I’m an idiot.
Excellent. I am glad sometimes American dreams are encouraged, rather than stifled.
Swap the dog for a fire pit and it sounds like you’re writing about my back yard. Very nice.
funny, as your summer begins, another Summer ends.
@Dan - Wow. Unfortunately, I have to refrain from further comment due to a previous employment relationship. But with that brief context you might be able to imagine possible comments or responses I could have.
Oh, by the way, the “Champaign County YMCA” no longer exists. The official name is now the “Stephens Family YMCA” (the website has not been updated, but check out the latest program guide). And no, it’s not just the name of the building. It’s the name of the organization.
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Food trucks are the start-up, small businesses of the future for those unable to afford real estate. No surprise, that merchants who pay rent, utilities, and maintenance on a property would despise the traveling competition. Or developers who build more empty retail spaces would want to close…