A Delicious Summer Chef Series

We had a successful and delicious Summer Chef Series at Tuesday Market! During the six week series, market shoppers were able to enjoy delicious food samples created with Tuesday Market ingredients while also learning from cooking demonstrations with very talented local chefs. The series was sponsored by culinary agency The Lisa Ekus Group, Northampton’s cooking store, The Baker’s Pin and River Valley Co-op.

The Chef Series kicked off on August 22nd with Mary Reilly, publisher of Edible Pioneer Valley and executive chef of dining services at Westfield State College. Mary taught some helpful cutting techniques while she prepared Pioneer Valley Panzanella. Mary gathered all of her ingredients from the market and created her dish in just 20 minutes! The results were very delicious.

On August 29^th, we had Deanna Cook, author of dozens of children’s books including: Cooking Class, Baking Class, and Farmers Market Create-and- Play Activity Book. She did a kids cooking demo and whipped up a Kids Corn and Bean Salad.

We began September with a visit from Joy Howard, food stylist, freelance writer and recipe developer. Joy taught us how to cook Collards and Andouille with Farro 

On September 5^th, we were joined by Betty Rosbottom. She is a food writer, cookbook author, and teacher.  Betty taught us how to make Warm or Cool Carrot Soup with Coconut and Lime, a recipe from her cookbook Soup Nights.

On September 19^th,well-known herbalist Brittany Nickerson shared a recipe for Red Pepper and Feta Amuse-Bouche from her book Recipes from the Herbalist’s Kitchen.

We finished up the series on September 29^th with Virginia Willis. Virginia is a chef, writer, content creator, and food photographer with a focus on American Southern and French cuisine. She’s also a James Beard Award winner! Virginia shared her southern flair and made a Cream of Mushroom Soup and Cornbread.

Katie Carr, our 2016/ 2017 Terracorp Community Engagement Coordinator, organized the event.

“I am so pleased that my idea for chef demos at Tuesday Market became a reality in the Summer Chef Series this year! Niki and everyone at the Lisa Ekus Group worked hard to bring skilled and engaging presenters to demo original recipes made from market ingredients to the customers. Each chef offered something a little different, making for a fun and informative six weeks.”

We are grateful to our local business sponsors for helping us bring this fun and educational series to Northampton. We look forward to continuing this event next year!