A couple of weeks ago I heard about a fellow named Al Marcus who has a fabulous recipe for 3X vanilla. I was curious. Without much hesitation, I emailed Al. Within an hour back came a friendly note with the recipe for making large batch vanilla, along with an invitation to visit his booth at one of the local farmers markets, either on Saturdays at the Midtown Farmer’s Market at T'afia, or on Tuesdays at the Houston Farmers Market, at Rice University. A click or two later, I was viewing Al’s web site, for the Grateful Bread.
Midtown Farmer's Market: Joanne Witt
It was the artisan-aged Worcestershire sauce that piqued my initial interest. I am a big consumer of this condiment. Normally I use it in my Caesar salad dressing. Little did I know the other goodies that awaited me at the market.

I met Marcus at T’affia on a recent Saturday morning. He was as charming in person as I was lead to believe during our email correspondence. After a little background information about the Grateful Bread, I started sampling all the products he had brought to market that day (some had already sold out by the time I had arrive at 10 a.m.).

First was the artisan Worcestershire, a tangy tasting sauce that took its bite mainly from from the tamarind concentrate, as well as other assorted spices . Interestingly it is made without anchovies. Anchovy lovers, like me, can add it to the sauce using concentrated anchovy paste or whole mashed anchovies from a can.
Al Marcus: Joanne Witt

I hadn’t thought about it before, but the lack of anchovies makes this condiment more versatile. I promptly put a bottle aside to take home.

I also tasted three different mustards, all with good flavors. Unfortunately, he was sold out of the mustards.

From the charcuterie side of his preparations came artisan pancetta and bacon. His process uses no chemicals or preservatives, just pork and some spice. One taste of the pancetta and I could not wait until I got that cured meat home and try it in a recipe or two. The bacon also was delish, but I was partial to the pancetta with its mega dose of coarsely ground pepper.

Next up I tasted a variety of sausages, all of which could have easily ended up in my shopping bag, but it was the pancetta that won me over that morning.

Finally I tasted the vanilla. The vanilla had a clear, straightforward taste. On another shopping trip I will purchase it, use in my baking and let you know more about it.

I left Marcus after spending a mere $10, $5 for the Worcestershire sauce and $5 for a half a pound of pancetta. The pancetta is presliced and vacuum-packed in 1/2 pound packages. When I got home, it had defrosted enough for me to separate it into four individual serving packages. I refroze three of them for later use.

The Grateful Bread was started by Al’s son, a CIA trained chef who began making challah bread ( a traditional Jewish braided egg bread) when Three Brothers Bakery was out of commission after last year’s storm. Al has been making a variety of charcuterie for his family for more than 30 years. While the year-old Grateful Bread no longer makes bread (Al’s son has moved on), it does sell bacon, sausages, Worcestershire sauce, mustards, salt and vanilla at the market. Perhaps we will see some of Al Marcus’ pates and terrines soon. Please, Al?

At home I made a dish of with the ingredients I had bought at the market, gorgonzola cheese from Nundini's Chef Table and shitake mushrooms from Super H-Mart.

Bowties with Pancetta and Gorgonzola Cheese
(Serves one)
Bowties with Pancetta and Gorgonzola Cheese: Joanne Witt
Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup bow tie or orechiette pasta
• 1/2 cup of pasta water, reserved
• 2 ounces pancetta, chopped
• 1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
• 1/4-inch slice of red onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons pignoli (pine) nuts
• 3 Shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
• 1/8 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon butter (see notes)
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
• Salt & pepper to taste

The plan:
Boil salted water and cook pasta according to directions.
Heat saucepan and pan fry pancetta for two minutes, add the olive oil and sauté the onions until translucent. Add the pignoli nuts and mushrooms, cook for two minutes. Add gorgonzola cheese, milk, Worcestershire sauce and butter. When cheese is melted, add basil. Salt and pepper to taste.
Drain the pasta and toss with sauce. Use the reserved pasta water to thin out the sauce if necessary. This dish works well with a fresh salad as a starter and fruit for dessert.

Cooking notes: I used 1 percent milk in this recipe. note: if you are using milk or cream with more fat you may not need the butter. If you don't have fresh basil, you can sub Italian flat leaf parsley.