BackPorch Market

The last time I walked into the BackPorch Market oxtail stew was simmering on the stove. Breathing in the scent brought back delicious memories of the foods of Spain.

The interior walls are painted the color of olives and deep red wine — I get hungry just stepping inside. If you haven’t yet discovered this little market in downtown Grass Valley, you’ve missed one of the county’s true gems.

It’s a great resource for cheese lovers and those of us who occasionally don’t plan enough time in the day to prepare dinner. Owners, Bryan Frost and Debra Hynson, make everything from scratch — even their own bread crumbs.

Debra makes the pizza dough, cookies, cheesecake, terrific tiramisu, several tortes, and her famous breadsticks.

Bryan specializes in soups, salads, and the specialties in their deli case. Each day they prepare two different sandwiches for take-out and even offer pre-packed picnic baskets for two — you supply the romantic location.

Bryan and Debra don’t actually do on-site catering, but they have an extensive catering menu available for pick-up.

They recently filled the back of the groom’s SUV with foods for a wedding in Sierra City.

With the holidays upon us, BackPorch can offer creative options for simplifying entertaining or easy take-out meals as well as gift baskets.

“Many of our regular customers are retired, and they just plain don’t want to cook. We have choices in our deli case that are available in small portions,” commented Bryan. Partner, Debra, has a few favorite customers—the young fathers. She often asks them, “Is this your night to cook?” And many reply with just a sheepish grin. Handmade meatballs are a great choice as they are fairly economical to add to last minute dinner preparations. And then there’s the raviolis! Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage Butter (Fresh chopped sage sautéed in butter/olive oil with a little broth or lemon juice added) It’s a great way to end a busy day or use as a simple first course when entertaining so you can enjoy your guests.

Anchovies (and parsley) win the award for most wasted food in my refrigerator. I don’t think I’m alone in this. I buy a small container of anchovies, use some for Caesar Salad dressing and then it works its way to the rear of the refrigerator. You know what happens next. One of the products I recently discovered from BackPorch is a tube of anchovy paste. A squeeze can make a simple bowl of spaghetti stand up and sing and every vegetable do a little dance.

Is it expensive? Not when you consider the lack of waste and convenience it provides. Tubes of various flavor enhancers are common in Europe. BackPorch carries sun-dried tomato or garlic paste and harissa sauce.

Prepared foods are not the only thing this little shop offers. If you’re scouting out a particular ingredient that you haven’t found anywhere else, they probably have it.

They’re the only place in town I found Israeli couscous and unique Italian pastas. For a special chocolate recipe, they also have chunks of Callebaut, a Belgian cooking (and eating) chocolate. With Spanish foods gaining in popularity they also stock ingredients that can be hard to come by like pimenton, a smoked paprika, or Chorizo.

When it comes to wine, Bryan enjoys scouting out unique “wines with character” not available in grocery stores. He has some unusual ones from Spain, France, and Australia. He also tries to stock at least a couple “Wednesday wines”—great drinkable wine at a good price.

BackPorch Market is open Monday through Saturday from 10 to 7 PM. It is located at 135 Colfax Avenue (near the freeway entrance). Call (530) 271-7111 for catering orders and special requests.

Patti Bess is a freelance writer and cookbook author from Grass Valley. She is also the host of What’s Cookin’ on KVMR-FM. For questions or comments you can reach her at pbess@jps.net

Debra and Bryan met in 1980 when they worked at the Quincy Market on the Boston waterfront. In 1985 they drove cross country to Colorado Springs where Bryan managed a small chain of restaurants and Debra cooked. They’ve both held a variety of positions in restaurants throughout the West, but always had a strong curiosity about what it might be like to have their own storefront.

In 2004 they opened BackPorch Market. With a twinkle in her soft blue eyes, Debra freely admits that eating great food is part of the payback for all their hard work.

Harvest Vegetable Soup with Butternut Squash and Cannellini Bean

2 medium onions

3 to 4 stalks celery

1 leek

2 cloves garlic

2 bay leaves

3 to four carrots

2 medium butternut squash

3/4 pound dried cannellini beans

2 tablespoons fresh sage

2 tablespoons fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

2 quarts chicken stock (hopefully homemade)

1 quarter cup brandy

1 cup dry white wine

Olive oil or canola oil

1 pear or apple

1/2 lime

Cayenne pepper

Salt

Wash cannellini beans and simmer in 3 quarts water while preparing rest of soup.

Peel and scoop out seeds from butternut squash. Coarsely chop onions, celery, leek, garlic, carrots and squash. Sauté vegetables (with high heat) in batches with a little oil until browning begins, putting each batch into a separate soup pot. The vegetables don’t need to be completely cooked – they will finish in the soup. When the last batch is finishing in the sauté pan, add the brandy first, reduce slightly, then add white wine and reduce again. (This will deglaze the sauté pan, and add all the browned goodies to the soup).

Add chicken stock and enough water (or more stock) to the soup pot so that everything is covered. When the cannellini beans are partly cooked (30 minutes or so of slow boiling), strain and add them to the pot and simmer the soup on medium heat. Chop the fresh herbs and add, along with bay leaves.

When the soup is nearly done (check carrots and beans for doneness), peel and core apple or pear, chop and add to soup. After a few minutes, turn off heat and allow soup to cool somewhat.

Then, slowly (and carefully) puree soup in a blender. It may help the texture of the finished soup to strain each blender batch as you pour into a separate pot (optional).

When the soup is pureed, season to taste with salt, a dash or two of cayenne, and lime juice. Serves 8 to 10.