Boricua Food Market
110 Corinne Drive (at the intersection of Harry Wurzbach and Rittiman)
(210) 824-5759
Hours: Monday – Saturday 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Specialties: Moderate-sized market with Puerto Rican, Panamanian, Caribbean, and South American selections.

This casual market is now 15 years old and supplies the ingredients to make many Caribbean favorites.  Fresh produce includes  culantro, the long, sword-like herb leaf that tastes much like cilantro, but more powerful.

There are many more usual vegetables and then there are gems like cachucha peppers.  I was told that means “hat,” and they do look like a beret, but so do scotch bonnet peppers.  Still, I was assured that these are not the hot peppers, these are very mild.  Well, after taking the advice of the proprietor, I ground the culantro, the cachucha peppers, a couple of cloves of garlic, salt, and the juice of half a lime.  It was delicious, but not what I would call mild!  Maybe a scotch bonnet was accidentally in the batch.  Still, it was a great fresh salsa.
The store also sells a few herb plants like the brujo oregano.  It looks much like what I know as Cuban oregano, but I was again assured that this one is slightly different.
There were fresh and frozen staples like yucca, meats, fruits, and then there were some enticing coffees, jams, sauces, spices, and flours.  Plenty to keep you experimenting in the kitchen for the rest of the summer.

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Last Saturday morning, I took a cruise up I-10 to Boerne Stage Road and dropped by the farmers market at the Leon Springs Baptist Church parking lot. On a sunny morning it was easy to park and not yet steamy hot, so I could enjoy making the rounds of vendors.

Even at a distance, the plants and flowers displayed were a welcome eyeful of color in our currently dusty landscape. There were two tents with beautiful, healthy looking herbs, Hibiscus, and an intriguing flowering plant named a Rangoon Creeper.

I met Mario Obledo as I photographed some of the produce. He is the vice president of the Hill Country Farmers Market Association, the organization that promotes this market and three other markets in the area (see below for details). I learned that the Leon Springs market is year-round, 2 1/2 years into its growth and development, still with room for new additions and new ideas.

Every day you hear about “going green,” and at The Green Brownie company they are doing green in brownies! No, this isn’t a St. Patrick’s Day gimmick; these are delicious treats made with all-organic ingredients so you can feel good about indulging. Owner Tracy Carlson told me that they even used packaging that is eco-friendly. If you are in a more playful mood, the stand also has Brownies-on-a-stick (they are cute) as well as gluten-free brownies.

But the vision that most of us hold about a farmers market includes lots of fresh vegetables and fruit. As it should be, there were three well-stocked displays of bright, fresh, produce. I saw some good looking squash that were named Sunburst and White Scalloped, very much like a pattypan squash, at Bob Mishler’s Uncertain Farms. Lots of people were buying peaches and tomatoes, cucumbers and okra, potatoes and green beans, plums, bell peppers, jam, wow!

But there were baked breads, pecans (even pecan oils at Circle H Orchards), and some super yummy granola at Cowgirl Granola. Heather Hunter, the Head Cowgirl, has been making her toasty, oaty, nutty, tasty, amazing granola for about 8 years. She is out at Leon Springs every week, as well as the other three markets in the association. You can also contact her at cowgirlenterprises@gmail.com.

There is usually a grass-fed beef dealer, but he was out-of-town that morning. He’s expected back soon; meanwhile, there are other vendors with free-range eggs and various goodies to keep you busy until then.

I have been to a few farmers markets in our area and in other states — and even other countries. Leon Springs is not the biggest, but it has a good variety, easy to get service, and just a friendly, can-do, attitude. Go see for yourself and try something new!

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Saturdays, 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Leon Springs Baptist Church
24133 Boerne Stage Road (behind the H-E-B)

The other markets affiliated are:

• Boerne, Kendall County Fairgrounds, 1307 River Road, Boerne TX  Wednesdays 2-6 p.m., now through Nov. 18
• Bulverde-Spring Branch, The Branches Church, 4594 Highway 281 North, Bulverde, TX  Saturdays, 2:30-5:30 p.m., year-round.
• Helotes-Grey Forest, Helotes Hills United Methodist Church, 13222 Bandera Road, Helotes, TX  2nd & 4th Fridays, 3-6 p.m., now through Nov. 13