Anchorage Daily News

Lots of youngsters will be piling up the candy Saturday.

Click to enlarge

Story tools

Comments (0)

E-mail a friend

Print

Share on Facebook

Digg this

Seed Newsvine

Send link via AIM

Follow on Twitter

Font size : A | A | A

For beleaguered parents looking for a break from cooking on the candy-crazy day, Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop has just the ticket - homemade pizzas ready to pick up and go.

Fire Island, the bake shop on 14th Avenue at G Street, is planning a Halloween Pizza Party from 4 to 9 p.m. Janis Fleischman, co-owner of the first-year shop, says there will be free goodies for the kids and free coffee for the parents outside. Inside, specialty desserts and the 10-inch pizzas will be available for purchase, along with many of the shop's regular items.

"A number of parents in the community asked us to do something for a quick meal," Fleischman says. "We thought about sandwiches, then quiche, but then we thought it should be something the kids would want too, so we decided on pizza."

Fleischman says the shop will have four ready-to-go pizzas available for about $10 each. While some of the specifics are still in the works, she says two pizzas will be "kid-friendly" - a margarita pizza with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese and a similar pizza with pepperoni added. There also will be two "more gourmet" pizzas for other palettes. Those will likely include a vegetarian pizza and one with chicken. The pizzas will be on a whole-wheat crust, which Fleischman says isn't 100 percent whole wheat but features more whole grains than a traditional pizza crust.

Because of the shop's baking philosophy, it takes time and effort to secure the ingredients.

"We're still looking for an Alaska source for good pepperoni," Fleischman says. "Almost everything we do is organic, so we're working on that right now too.

"There aren't many places nationally that have 100 percent organic artisan breads, but all our basic breads are 100 percent organic. That's something we believe in."

Fire Island opened in late February, and Fleischman says the reception from the community has been positive.

"We are slowly building up to a full mature bakery," Fleischman says. "It's been tremendous so far. We've had such wonderful customers and we've felt a real welcome from the neighborhood."

She says the bakery will continue to add to its menu as the season progresses. For instance, pumpkin spice cookies and caramel apples will be available Saturday. As other holidays approach, other items like pies and specialty rolls will be added.

The bakery is generally open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday. This Saturday it will open at its regular time but will remain open until 9 p.m. For more information, call 569-0001 or visit www.fireislandbread.com.

The options for vegetable shoppers are more limited, but there are still Valley farmers bringing produce to Anchorage.

Today inside the Northway Mall near the former Gottschalks store, the Rempel Family Farm and A.D. Farm will provide a variety of fresh produce from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Rempels will have organic carrots, parsnips, several varieties of beets, cabbage, kale, collards, onions, sugar pumpkins, spaghetti squash and lots of potatoes. Free range eggs will also be available.

Alex Davis will have fresh eggs, homemade jams, raw honey, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, parsnips and Brussels sprouts. Special orders can be prearranged before Mondays by contacting Davis at adfarm_organic@yahoo.com.

Shoppers looking for fish still have some options, although John Jackson from New Sagaya Markets says poor weather and the changing seasons is limiting some of the catch.

"The weather has hampered fishing as of late, now that the fresh silver salmon season is done the only game in town are the fresh troll kings coming out of Southeast Alaska," Jackson says. "We have been receiving good loads of red and white kings coming in a few times a week and they have been in the retail markets."

He hope live Dungeness crabs will be in the store this weekend, if the weather improves in Southeast. They should be $6.99 per pound. Large 16/20 white shrimp are also $6.99 per pound. Jackson says the halibut season ends Nov. 15, so if you want to get some for a late-season grilling session, it's time to act.

While Jackson says he's still waiting to hear about red king crabs, Rob Winfree at 10th & M Seafoods says they have fresh crab from Dutch Harbor for $17.95 per pound and he says they are "huge legs." Fresh troll-caught kings are $11.95 per pound for the whole fish and $15.95 per pound for fillets. Fresh halibut fillets are $12.95 per pound, while Alaskan spot shrimp are $13.95 per pound.

Most pumpkins you will see the next few days will probably have something carved into them, but don't forget that pumpkins are also great for cooking. Be sure to get the right kind; frequently the "carving" pumpkins aren't the best for recipes. But if you get the right kind, try the following recipe for something tasty.

Moroccan pumpkin soup

1 tsp whole cumin seeds

1 tsp whole coriander seeds

½ tsp whole fennel seeds

3 tbsp olive oil, divided

2 red onions, chopped

1 tbsp blackstrap molasses

1 onion, sliced

1 leek, white and green parts, sliced

1 tbsp organic cane sugar

1 sweet or pie pumpkin (2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

2 apples, chopped

1 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp ground turmeric

½ tsp ground cinnamon

4 cups vegetable stock or water

1 cup rice milk

½ cup cashews

In a large saucepan, toast cumin, coriander and fennel seeds over high heat until the seeds begin to pop, about 2 minutes. Do not allow to smoke or burn. Add 2 tbsp of the oil to the pan and heat. Stir in red onions. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes until onions are soft and caramelized. Transfer ¾ cup to a bowl and add molasses. Stir and set aside.

Add remaining oil to onions in pan and heat over high heat. Stir in leek. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, for 6 minutes or until soft. One at a time, add sugar, pumpkin, apples, curry powder, turmeric and cinnamon, stiffing after addition. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add vegetable stock and bring to a gentle boil over high heat.

Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and gently boil for 40 minutes or until vegetables are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife.

In a blender, combine rice milk and cashews. Blend until smooth. Ladle 2 cups of the soup mixture into blender. Blend with nut mixture until smooth. Stir into soup and heat through. Ladle soup into bowls and float 2 tbsp of the reserved red onion on top of each.

Serves 6.

- "The Vegan Cook's Bible" by Pat Crocker (Robert Rose Inc.)

Steve Edwards lives and writes in Anchorage. If you have a suggestion for a future Market Fresh column, please contact him at sedwards@adn.com.

ADVERTISEMENT