Summer Chef Series with Citizen Public House
Crowds gathered inside our market facilities at North Phoenix Baptist Church for our fifth installment of the Summer Chef Series.  Chef Ben Graham of Citizen Public House charmed the audience and demonstrated how market ingredients can be used to make beautifully composed, easy-to-make dishes for the dinner table.
Inspired from the menu at Citizen Public House, everyone was eager to taste his Grilled Peach and Romaine Salad with Chorizo Lardons, Mascarpone and Champagne Vinaigrette.  He showed us how simple it is to grill peaches.  When the heat caramelizes the flesh, it creates added sweetness and complexity to these already ultra-sweet and sunny peaches from TJ Farms.
He piled those high on McClendon Farms‘ romaine lettuce, tossed in olive oil and dotted with dollops of Superstition Farms‘ mascarpone.  At the restaurant, Chef Graham adds pizzaz to this salad with bacon lardons, but today, he took the opportunity to use The Jojoba Beef Company’s beef chorizo.  Their cattle feed on the sweet jojoba plant found on their Kearny ranch, imparting an element of sweetness and an intensified beef flavor.  They are one of many family businesses providing top quality goods at our busy market.
Chef Ben’s Dish
The Jojoba Beef Company Chorizo
C-Cap Student
The final element of the salad, adding a playful crunch, were cashews from Nutsack Foods.  Owner Bill Sutherland has a serious sense of humor. He can deliver a line about his nuts with a straight face.  The demo booth is always a fun spot to be at the market, but with Bill offering samples of his nuts. there was an added element of fun.  What makes his nuts so special?  They’re whole nuts, ultra-fresh and perfectly roasted in convenient, hand-stamped “nut-sacks”.  You can find him, and his nuts, at the market every weekend as well as at a few select retailers in the valley.
Chef Ben’s Salad
Jojoba Beef Company, Nut Sack Foods, Citizen Public House
Nut Sack Foods
One of our favorite things is seeing our passionate market vendors come together to elevate one anothers’ products.  We also loved seeing the excitement on the faces of the winners of this week’s raffle for Citizen Public House gift cards.  We’ll do it all again next Saturday and we look forward to seeing you there.

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