Monthly Archives: August 2016

Watermelon Lovers Flock to Franklin Watermelon Festival

August 28, 2016

The Franklin Farmers Market hosted its annual Franklin Watermelon Festival on Saturday, August 27th presented by Market sponsor, Williamson Medical Center.

The annual festival grows larger every year, and this year the Franklin Farmers Market had record crowds to celebrate the fruit of summer. Fun events included a seed spitting contest for adults and kids and a very popular watermelon eating contest for both kids and adults. Other activities included free face painting and games for the whole family. One contest had over 300 entries- the Guess the Weight contest. The largest melons at the market, donated by Hollow Creek Farm, came in at 86.3lbs and 74.1lbs. Two lucky customers got to take home the large melons after guessing the weights correctly!

To help us celebrate the watermelon even more, the Leiper’s Fork Carving Club carved beautiful and unique creations from watermelons in a matter of minutes! It was truly amazing to see what they could do with an ordinary watermelon and customers enjoyed learning more about their artwork.

The Franklin Farmers Market vendors and local farmers joined in the fun celebration in their own way. Padrino’s Pops quickly sold out of their famous watermelon pops, and Belle Springs Lemonade wowed the crowd with their handmade watermelon lemonade with melons sourced from the farmers. Many of the produce farmers made watermelon creations of their own, including watermelon shaped rice krispie treats at Evan’s Produce and watermelon cake pops at Norton Family Farm. Delvin Farms and Colbert Farm gave hundreds of free watermelon samples to the many customers who attended the festival. The Franklin Watermelon Festival ends the summer with a bang!

The Franklin Farmers Market is held every Saturday from 8am-1pm behind the Factory in Franklin, TN. The market is a 15 yr old producers only market with the largest assembly of local farmers providing fresh farm food all year long each Saturday morning. Find us at 230 Franklin Road behind the Factory. Visit us online at www.franklinfarmersmarket.com or follow us on facebook, twitter and instagram for the latest market news

Honey Balsamic Grilled Chicken Recipe

August 19, 2016

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Here’s a favorite honey balsamic grilled chicken recipe you can enjoy for years to come. When it’s too hot to heat up the kitchen in the dog days of Summer we fire up the grill, a lot! One of my favorite things to grill is locally raised organic chicken from West Wind Farms in Morgan County Tennessee. The flavor is pure, clean and delicious. We like to brine the whole bird for a few hours before cutting into serving pieces. The brining process keep the chicken tender and juicy, and helps to add a a bit of salt to bring out the flavor of this beautiful poultry. Chances are you can make the BBQ Glaze for items you already have in your pantry. It’s an easy sauce to make but so tasty on this grilled chicken. Give it a try anytime of year.

Grilled Pasture Raised Organic Chicken with Honey-Balsamic BBQ Glaze

For the brine-
2 gallons of water
1/2 cup of kosher salt

Mix the water and salt together until dissolved in a larger container. Add the chicken and let brine for at least 4 hours.

For the chicken-
1 whole organic chicken, 2-3 pounds
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

What a nice looking bird from West Winds Farm

Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry with paper towels and set aside on a cutting board. Time the wing tips at the second joint, and set aside Remove the breasts by running the knife down the center great bone inch side until you cut through at the wing joint. Set aside with the wings. Separate the the thigh quarters and then cut the leg away cutting through at the little fat line that runs between the thigh and leg. Set aside with the the wings and breasts. Season the chicken with the oil and all of the spices listed above. Cover and let come to room temp for 15 minutes. Now fire up the grill and bring to 450F degrees. When the grill is hot grill the chicken skin side up for about 5 minutes. Tuns the chicken over to grill skin side down for another 5 minutes. At this point you might need to turn down the grill to a more medium heat, and then turn the chicken over agin to skin side up. Using a small soon begin to drizzle the BBQ Glaze over each piece of chicken. Close the grill for a minute and then repeat. Turn the chicken =n over and add more glaze, you will be skin side down now. Close the grill again for a minute to give the BBQ Glaze a chance to work its way into the chicken and slightly begin to caramelize, take care not to burn the skin, a little char is ok but be careful. Using an insta-read thermometer check that the temperature has reached 165f degrees (food safety first!). Remove the grilled chicken to a serving platter and drizzle the remaining BBQ Glaze over the chicken. Let rest a few minutes and serve! Enjoy!

For the Honey Balsamic BBQ Glaze

This sauce couldn’t be easier, basically it’s equal parts local honey, balsamic vinegar and yellow mustard. If you need more then simple scale it up to suit your needs!

1/4 cup local honey, we use Johnson’s Honey Farm
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

In a small bowl combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Will keep refrigerated for up to 1 month.