66 replies to this topic

[artisan02]

Has anyone seen apricots in the markets yet? I am yearning for them, and hoping to get at least some of them before I leave California in a few weeks.

[eje]

One of the vendors at the Alemany farmer's market in San Francisco had quite a few Apricots last week. They looked pretty green, though. They had a sign on them which said they would ripen in two days; but, I could swear someone told me that apricots don't really ripen once they are picked.

[Toliver]

Has anyone seen apricots in the markets yet?  I am yearning for them, and hoping to get at least some of them before I leave California in a few weeks.

I recently read somewhere that apricots were known as the first fruit of summer. It may be too early at the moment but give it a couple weeks and I'm sure they'll be overflowing.

[ludja]

If I espied some, I would buy a single one first and taste it. Never a bad idea re: apricots anyway as I've seemed to have gotton disappointing ones more often that I like, even in the midst of the season.

[SiseFromm]

Apricots hit last weekend at the Irvine market, but they didn't look very promising. They're my least favorite Summer fruit anyway, so I wasn't eager to test them. Even some very poorly looking white peaches were on display last weekend. The sample I tried was hard as a rock and tasted nearly nothing like a peach. Still, it's nice to be reminded that they're on their way.

[Toliver]

Apricots hit last weekend at the Irvine market, but they didn't look very promising.  They're my least favorite Summer fruit anyway, so I wasn't eager to test them. 

Have you tried pluots? They're a cross between plums and apricots. The organic farmer in our local farmer's market usually has 3 or 4 different kinds when they are in season (should be soon!) and some are incredibly tasty. Last year he had some pluots that tasted like giant green grapes. They were amazingly good.

[SiseFromm]

Pluots I love! I eat them steadily for the months they're in season. Don't they usually hit in July'ish?

[kellycolorado]

We have an apricot tree here (it's our neighbor's but hangs halfway into our yard) and it looks like it has about 3 weeks to go. It's the most amazing Blenheim type variety.

[dfunghi]

Some really good Apricots are showing up at Santa Monica on Weds and the cherries are getting nice and sweet. A new ( new to me anyway) fruit called Appriums, sort of like a reverse Pluot. An apricot plum cross, heavy on the apricot. They were OK. Strawberries are finally tasting like something and the prices are way down from a month ago. Tutti Frutti has the best IMHO since they are super tasty and organic. Harrys Berries is, as always, the crowd favorite but out of my budget . Anothe couple of weeks and the Stanwick nectarines will be available at the market soon followed by Circle K fruit, the best cherries, stone fruit, and of course persian mulberries.
Currently I have fresh porcini, morels, and Ramps

[dockhl]

I just moved to Paso Robles a week ago and went to the Templeton Market this AM........got golden and red beets, BLOOD CARROTS (!?!) and some yummy little orange ones.........teeny squash and baby purple artichole.......strawberries (balsamic and black pepper coming up!)........oyster mushrooms........tomatoes.....and a loaf of delicious corn rye from Pure and Simple.

Whew!

Off to the Paso Wine Festival this afternoon and then, tonight .......roasted veggies !

Kathy

[Ore]

I remember visiting a santa barbara farmers market while i worked there (3 years ago) and i enjoyed a dinosaur egg plum, but i havent seen anything since. Are they available in the LA area??

[ludja]

At the Mountain View market this week it was all about cherries!
Yellow-Blush Rainiers and dark red Tulare and Brooks were among the varieties I saw.

Also saw some beautiful string beans that were a purplish black color; their booth was pretty busy so I didn't get to ask what their name was.

[Rebel Rose]

At the Saturday Templeton market, in addition to a flat of Chandler strawberries, a mixed box of cherries, and a bag of perfectly ripe yet firm apricots, I found these beauties:



Hmm, I should have put a ruler or something up for scale. The heads were at least six inches wide. They were incredibly tender and flavorful, and had HUGE hearts. My significanto ate two in less time than it took me to eat one, then he leaned over and whined plaintively, "Can I have your heart? Mine didn't have one."



I also bought a few baby purple artichokes, and as my SO had a poker party that night and I was by myself for the evening, I experimented. I blanched them, spiced them up with various seasonings, and grilled them.



The outer leaves were still tough, but the insides were great, and I managed to eat them by inverting the outer leaves and popping the tender insides into my mouth. Next time, I will peel off more of the outer leaves and maybe blanch them just a little longer. Anyone have any tips for the perfect grilled baby artichokes?

[a geek]

At the Ferry Plaza last Saturday I picked up a couple of things:

- 2 pounds of Rainier cherries - oddly, it was extremely difficult to find good cherries last week - tons of not so sweet ones - one booth, whose name I forget, had excellent ones (the same booth selling the mini sour cherries)
- Black figs, early season - despite assurances that these were sweet they turned out to be less than great. Drizzled with some honey they were good, though - from Capay
- Super sweet white corn from the vendor at the front right corner of the Ferry Building near Blue Bottle coffee - like eating perfectly tasty maple syrup after some time on the grill
- Couldn't find peaches worth buying, even tried Frog Hollow
- Dates, though I forget the variety
- The Shaking Beef kit (take and cook yourself) from Out the Door @ The Slanted Door (ok, not really a farmers market goodie, but mmmmmm)

I'd be interested in any other red carrot sightings, especially close to SF. Marquita didn't have any this week.

[Jensen]

At the Ferry Plaza last Saturday I picked up a couple of things:

- 2 pounds of Rainier cherries - oddly, it was extremely difficult to find good cherries last week - tons of not so sweet ones - one booth, whose name I forget, had excellent ones (the same booth selling the mini sour cherries)

Did you guys get rain last week? Our cherry vendor won't be back after last Saturday because the rain we had earlier in the week ended their season.

Lots of stone fruit available in the markets out here in Sacto.

Some new (for me) veggies I picked up on Saturday were bitter melon greens and amaranth. I also got some Romano beans, which were a nice trip down memory lane for me. I'd forgotten how good green beans could be.

[Rebel Rose]

I had to work on Saturday and my SO actually bestirred himself to go to the local market. He's become addicted to caramelized sweet onions and grilled summer squash. He did, however, refuse to carry my red J.Jill market bag.

When he returned I asked if he had stopped at Maria's stall. "I hate that woman," he said. "She's too bossy."
"Oh," I said, looking at the array of fresh greens in his bags. "What are all these different eggplants?"
"I dunno," he said. "They're Japanese and Fuji, or something like that."
"What are you going to do with them?"
"I don't know. Grill, maybe?"
"Well, if you don't know, why did you buy them?"
"She MADE me!"



They were delicious grilled with orange olive oil from Pasolivo, and lemony Trinidad spice from Penzeys.

[Rebel Rose]

We actually had a day of lovely but brisk sunshine tucked in between rainstorms, so Lei Norman (Norman Vineyards) and I headed off to the farmers market. Find of the day ~ goose eggs (for a frittata) ~ and a booth that will have grass fed lamb ribs available in two weeks, just in time for the Paso Robles Zinfandel Festival! Since we always grill lamb racks for our festival visitors, I am going to place a special order for these racks. And of course I managed to also fill my canvas bag with grapefruit-lemon-valencia-orange marmalade, stalks of brussel sprouts, artichokes, snow peas, citrus soap, crocheted cotton wash cloths, and oyster mushrooms. And tulips.

[eje]

I learned two things from trips to farmers' markets recently.

First, there's a reason you never see Macademia nuts in the shell. They are one of the hardest nuts on the planet. No matter what the nice lady at the farmers' market sez about fresh roasted macademia nuts, (and it's true, they are better,) really, unless you have forearms like Popeye, you're better off buying them shelled.

Second, I discovered one of my childhood nemeses, Lima Beans, are actually quite tasty. I got some beautiful cream and maroon spotted ones from one of the sellers and made the following dish. They have a great meaty flavor.

1 cup fresh lima beans
2 TBSP Olive Oil
1/4# pancetta, diced
4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
1/4 tsp. chile flake
1/2 teaspoon dry thyme
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
2 Cups Chicken stock
1/2 # fettucine
Salt, pepper, and freshly grated parmesan

Boil your water, salt and give the beans a brief blanch (5 minutes) and remove from water. Turn the water off for the time being.

In a heavy sauce pan, brown the pancetta in the olive oil. Remove pancetta and drain excess oil.

Brown the garlic and onion in the oil, add dry thyme and chile flakes. Add a cup or so of stock and the lima beans. Cover and cook until tender (probably about an hour). Add more stock as needed.

45 minutes in, start the water again and cook your pasta. Mash the beans up a bit with your spoon. Add the browned pancetta and fresh thyme, check seasonings.

Just before the pasta is quite done, pull it from the water and add to the bean sauce with enough pasta water to loosen it up and finish cooking the pasta in the bean sauce.

Serve in warm pasta bowls and grate parmesan and fresh black pepper to top.

edit - tweak recipe

Edited by eje, 19 June 2006 - 01:25 PM.

[ludja]

Where did you find the fresh lima beans, eje? Although I think many of the fresh shell beans show up later in summer, I've been looking for fresh lima beans. (Your recipe sounds great.)

Cherries, cherries, cherries....that's what was abundant at the Sunnyvale and Mountain View markets. I got some Bing's and Queen Anne's, some apriums, which we discussed in another thread, pluots and some pepper cress.

[RodneyCk]

Where did you find the fresh lima beans, eje?  Although I think many of the fresh shell beans show up later in summer, I've been looking for fresh lima beans.  (Your recipe sounds great.)

Cherries, cherries, cherries....that's what was abundant at the Sunnyvale and Mountain View markets.  I got some Bing's and Queen Anne's, some apriums, which we discussed in another thread, pluots and some pepper cress.

I heard cherries were going to be more expensive this year due to all the rain in the spring, a lot of waste. Were they high in cost?

[ludja]

Where did you find the fresh lima beans, eje?  Although I think many of the fresh shell beans show up later in summer, I've been looking for fresh lima beans.  (Your recipe sounds great.)

Cherries, cherries, cherries....that's what was abundant at the Sunnyvale and Mountain View markets.  I got some Bing's and Queen Anne's, some apriums, which we discussed in another thread, pluots and some pepper cress.

I heard cherries were going to be more expensive this year due to all the rain in the spring, a lot of waste. Were they high in cost?

The price varied--but at Sunnyvale and Mountain View they were a good price--$2.00 - $4.00/lb.

edited to add: My memory's confused now--it may have been $2-3 per container--larger than typical strawberry pints. I"m not sure what the price was per pound...

Edited by ludja, 20 June 2006 - 01:30 PM.

[FrogPrincesse]

I wrote about my favorite farmers’ market in San Diego, the Little Italy Mercato, a few weeks ago on my Foodblog. I also talked about the legendary produce stand at Chino Farm, which may be one of the best in the country.

There are a lot of other good farmers’ markets in San Diego that I visit occasionally when I am in the area, so I plan on posting pictures on this thread which, unfortunately, has not been active in a while.

It would be great to see pictures of other markets in California as well!

I just heard that a new market opened in Pacific Beach on Tuesday afternoons (2 – 6:30 pm), organized by Catt White, who also manages the Mercato. I plan on visiting it soon.

In the meantime, here are some pictures from another market that I really like. It’s the Cedros avenue market in Solana beach. It takes place on Sunday afternoons (1 – 5 pm). It’s smaller so shopping is very efficient. The selection is good and there are a few good options for lunch, including crepes and handmade ice cream sandwiches. There are very few non-food oriented vendors. We went there a couple of weeks ago and bought some corn (which was good, but not as good as Chino!), dandelion to use in salads, Rainer cherries, eggs, yellow wax beans, and purple carrots.



Corn grown in Oceanside



Free range & vegetable fed eggs



Green, yellow wax and purple beans



Fresh herbs



Purple kohlrabi, purple carrots



Sunflowers (my bags were getting heavy at that point!)



Heirloom tomatoes



The lunch area



I would love to try the meat as well (I need to remember to bring ice packs next time)



Our daughter enjoying a chocolate ice cream sandwich from Peke’s

[Kouign Aman]

Pretty!

Have you tried the farmer's market in City Heights yet?
Some of their stuff comes from a local community garden. Its a nice idea,
but I havent been to the market to see how it works out.

[FrogPrincesse]

Kouign Aman,

I have not tried that one. Do you know when it takes place?

[ScottyBoy]

Saw this thread and wanted to share a photo collection I made over the seasons this year at my favorite markets here in the Bay Area.










Yay California!

[FrogPrincesse]

ScottyBoy - Beautiful collection. Thanks for sharing!

Meanwhile I found more info about the market in City Heights. It takes place on Saturday mornings (9 am - 1 pm). It looks like this may be a smaller market, but it's neat that they have a "consignment" booth, where people can bring their homegrown produce for sale.

[kalypso]

We are all certainly blessed to live in CA aren't we? Everyone's photos are just spectacular

FP, the City Heights farmers market is truly unique in the programs it offers. As you probably know, City Heights has a thriving community of recent immigrants to San Diego. The urban gardens started as a way for them to grow familiar and traditional foods for the family as they transition to life in the U.S. and San Diego specifically. The program has been successful enough so that their surplus can be sold at the farmers market when it exists. Additionally, the market runs special educational programs for kids and parents designed to teach them how to purchase and prepare fresh foods rather than relying too heavily on highly processed and fast food. They also have, on occasion, run health clinics since much of their population base is at high risk for some diseases.

One of my friends has worked with the market organizers off and on with their garden projects, it's a prett interesting market in an underserved neighborhood.

Edited by kalypso, 29 July 2011 - 09:29 PM.

[FrogPrincesse]

Kouign Aman and Kalypso both talked about the City Heights market so I decided to check it out this weekend. It's a fairly small market, only about a block long (2 rows), with a nice community-feel. It's geared towards the local low-income residents with affordable produce and vendors that accept food stamps. In addition to the produce (mostly Asian and Mexican), there were a few options for prepared foods and, more unusual (but a great idea) a bicycle-repair booth!

Here are some pictures taken last Saturday.



Different varieties of cucumbers





Chili peppers



I got a few of these beautiful baby eggplants



Pea shoots


Chinese okra


I bought some galangal because I was intrigued by it. Now I need to find a good recipe.


Fresh eggs and also balut eggs (I decided to pass...)


Miniature tomatillos


Yellow peaches - I bought a few. Also got some apricots from the same vendor.


The elusive passion fruit. It's the first time I see passion fruit at the farmers' market, and I am not familiar with this variety (only the one with much darker skin). I bought a half basket. We will see how they turn out.

Edited by FrogPrincesse, 01 August 2011 - 03:06 PM.

[Kouign Aman]

Oh my, those are some pretty passion fruit.
I usually wait til they are shriveled and wrinkly before opening them. You?

[heidih]

Different varieties of cucumbers

Great produce shots. I think those warty green things are Indian bitter melon and the smoother ones also are a variety of bitter melon versus cucumber?