huiray

Ramps today from the same fellow at a local market who had rather expensive stuff two weeks ago - but today he had a lot more of them and they were decent stuff at $10/lb albeit with their roots and bottoms of the bulbs already chopped off. See here for a pic of them.

Saturday 2015-0516 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broad Ripple Farmers’ Market: Ramps, morel mushrooms, thin/pencil green & purple asparagus, shiitake mushrooms, bunching broccoli florets, chicken carcasses (pastured chicken) for stock. Carmel Farmers’ Market: Green/baby garlic, baby kale, teeny green zucchini, two heads of spinach (whole, somewhat spreading heads), BBQ'ed rib tips (pork) w/ tangy sauce. The rib tips & sauce - snarfed down by me and Emerson (my cat) for lunch at home after rewarming in the microwave. Yes, yes, I had most of it. I also had the chopped Napa cabbage as accompaniment, not him. :-) Most of the veggies etc - most were just part of the full amount. The ramps. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asia Mart: Live “long clams” (razor clams), soft tofu, canned whole straw mushrooms, holy basil chili paste, jarred baechu kimchi, fresh longans, bitter melons, Persian cucumbers, large mustard greens (“kai choy”; 芥菜) (which were actually relatively smaller plants – looks like the new crop of the season), rice bran oil, 8-year-old drinking quality rice wine (a Shaohsing wine variety) (the usual stuff I pick up from here, other than salted cooking rice wines), Noodle King wonton flavor bowl noodles, Nong Shim kimchi noodle bowls (a case), Little Cook “Pork & Mustard Stem” noodle bowls & vegetarian mushroom noodle bowls, Thai basil/Vietnamese rau húng quế, Vietnamese mint variety rau húng cây, young Chinese celery, green onions/scallions (6 bunches for $2), angled loofah (“Chinese okra”; Luffa acutangula), Chinese chive flowers, limes, fresh rice noodles (“hor fun”; 河粉; sheets cut into wide strips), fresh ginger, fresh woodear fungus, Korean radish. Some of the more interesting things for many folks here (I think). Some are just a part of the whole batch. Hmm, I forgot to include the mint. Most of the other stuff listed but not included in the picture I rather suspect would be commonplace to "everyone" (I believe). Top left to bottom right: large-type mustard greens, Chinese chive flower buds, Thai basil, angled loofah, woodear fungus, young Chinese celery, Korean radish. As a gauge of size the loofah is 22 inches long excluding the stem. The Shaohsing-type wine & two jars of the holy basil chili paste. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Namaste Plaza: Tilda basmati rice, wax potatoes, curry leaves (கறிவேப்பிலை), fresh gunda, fresh hot green chillies. No pic, sorry.

Well, that certainly encourages me to go look for it or order it online! (I have not seen it around my parts yet, not casually anyway)

I thought y'all might like to take a gander at this one spear, part of a bundle I picked up last weekend.

Linguine [Rustichella d'Abruzzo] with crème fraîche, parsley, lemon & Parmigiano Reggiano. This is a John & Abbi Adams recipe; mainstay of Bluebeard, Indy. I tweaked the quantities a bit. I make this occasionally and have posted it here before. I base mine off this one. Plus a green salad (red & green romaine, red-green butter & green frilly lettuces) dressed w/ Alziari EV olive oil, 10-year Modena balsamic vinegar, salt & black pepper.

Confirmed: A gay wedding, officiated by Art Smith, on TC Season 13.** http://www.eater.com/2015/5/14/8609271/confirmed-top-chef-season-13-will-feature-a-same-sex-wedding http://www.eater.com/2015/5/8/8573573/top-chef-california-rumor-gossip-season-13-same-sex-wedding p.s. TC SEason 1 (episode 8) had a same-sex couple being catered to by the cheftestants, but it was a commitment ceremony rather than an official wedding (California did not have legal civil marriage until 2008, interrupted by Prop 8 for a while)

Soup. Savoy cabbage & purple asparagus (color fades) in chicken broth. Clams with fermented soy beans & chillies. (A riff on clams w/ taucheo ; or, kepah masak tauco) Peanut oil, chopped smashed garlic, sliced ginger, taucheo (this one) minus the steeping liquid, cleaned clams, stir-fry a minute; Shaohsing wine, stir, cover; sliced serrano chillies, toss, cover, water added, stir, cover, remove clams as they open; chopped scallions & coriander leaves, clams added back into the pan, everything stirred around briefly then transferred to serving bowl. Flash stir-fried broccoli florets, quenched w/ some of the chicken broth/the soup from above. White rice, a couple bowls.

"Tangy shrimp". Oil, garlic, {pounded coriander roots, galangal, lemongrass}, tamarind slurry, palm sugar, de-shelled & de-veined shrimp, seasoning adjusted. Flash stir-fried asparagus. Rice. On the way there:

Aw shucks, Crepes. I don't mean to. But thanks, of course.

Take a look here.

Another edition of pasta with clams. Spaghetti alle vongole e pomodori. Arbosana EV olive oil, medium-hot pan, garlic, hot red chile flakes, cleaned clams, tossed for a minute; sliced tomatoes, sauvignon blanc, chopped parsley, salt, cook on high heat. Clams removed as they opened. Drained, barely-cooked spaghetti [Garofalo] added, tossed w/ the thickening sauce. More chopped parsley. Plated w/ the clams, garnished w/ parsley.

Pork belly chunks (skin on), garlic (lots), oil, water, chicken stock, bay leaves; dried oregano & thyme, shallots, baby carrots, celery, salt. Broccoli florets. Lumachine (this one). Earlier, w/ misua (min6 sin3). Plus spinach (blanched, oiled hot water) w/ oyster sauce & white pepper.

Um, speaking just for myself, that's simply one of the more common types that is available and sold in my parts. That's all. The skinny ones (pencil-like) can be found "fresh" from local sources, but more often they are from some place like Mexico or Peru, found not infrequently in Western-type supermarkets. The local ones *can* vary in thickness from somewhat skinny to enormously fat; but the regularly and evenly skinny ones are from far away much of the time. Local stuff tends to be fatter. As for skinny ones being more tender, that is not a generally true phenomenon in my experience. Doing the "snapping off naturally" trimming of asparagus I not infrequently find that I need to snap off thin asparagus far higher up the stem than I would do in a a comparative sense for fat guys (which, admittedly, I would have picked from a selection of bunches myself).

Indystar guide to farmers' markets 2015 in the Indy metro area and suburbs. http://www.indystar.com/story/life/2015/04/30/farm-fresh-markets-visit-season/26630427/

Broccoli florets sautéed with sliced shallots and ~¾ head of garlic (EV olive oil) plus chopped-up Dodge City salame & some Jinhua-type ham, tossed with fedelini [De Cecco] in the pan. Salad. Red romaine, green romaine, red-green butter lettuce, green curly lettuce, purple asparagus, Pink Beauty tomato. Mustard faux vinaigrette dressing, tossed together :-) in the main salad bowl plus black pepper.

Soup. Chicken broth, bit of oil, smashed garlic, fish balls [Venus], trimmed fresh spinach. Coriander leaves garnish. Sautéed creminis, asparagus, salt, duck eggs scrambled/marbled in.

Indiana Pork Tenderloin sandwich w/ all the fixin's and fries. Red Gold ketchup (not in picture). Mayo. Fried fresh cod w/ onion rings. Tartar sauce. At this place in Indy. I thoroughly enjoyed it and happily ate everything. Both the pork and fish were fresh and juicy, although not the very best I've ever had. Fries and rings were good. Sam Adams.

Oh, plus an epi loaf - like this one - from Brotgarten at CFM.

From the BRFM and the CFM today: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145474-grocery-shopping/page-8?p=2016635#entry2016635 List of BRFM vendors. Alas, the ladies who grew relatively esoteric E/SE/S Asian stuff have retired from the market. List of CFM vendors.

Today's farmers' market produce: Broad Ripple Farmers' Market — Broccoli florets, stout green/purple-tipped asparagus, baby carrots, green romaine & curly green lettuces, coriander with roots on (by special request), cremini mushrooms w/ tight caps (another special request). Carmel Farmers' Market — Red romaine & red-green lettuces, stout-stemmed & thick-fleshed leaf spinach, purple asparagus (these average ~11 inches long), White Icicle radishes, farm-fresh green-shelled eggs.

I've treated it as a weed myself. The plant also secretes chemicals which strongly discourage the growth of lots of stuff (if not everything else) around it – so in the past I've tried to pull them out by the roots, by hand (rather than simply shearing the above-ground vegetation off). I'd be interested too in how this is treated as a condiment, in that mustard preparation shown (I [presume).

Pad Woon Sen (ผัดวุ้นเส้น). Today's version. Eaten w/ spoon (and fork), of course. On the way there. Ground beef chuck [Goose the Market], hot long green chillies, farm-fresh eggs, garlic, sauce mixture; savoy cabbage, Western celery, scallions, cellophane noodles soaked & cut-up. The sauce mixture was fish sauce [Red Boat], double-fermented soy sauce [Lee Kum Kee], dark soy sauce [Yuet Heung Yuen], a bit of oyster sauce [Lee Kum Kee], yellow rock sugar (crushed, stirred in to dissolve), generous ground white pepper.

A couple meals of "Sapporo Ichiban Japanese Style Noodles & Chicken Flavored-Soup" augmented with stuff. Andouille sausage, smashed garlic, cremini mushrooms, rainbow swiss chard, farm-fresh eggs poached in situ. Leftover "Rosemary & Lemon Chicken (rotisserie-type)" [from The Fresh Market], shredded meat; sliced Savoy cabbage, cremini mushrooms, halved hard-boiled farm-fresh eggs, deep-fried sliced shallots.

Top sirloin cap, end cut. Sliced into three pieces, seasoned w/ salt & pepper and pan-fried/pan-seared. Yes, they were still nicely red on the inside. Wild rice [bineshii], simmered in slightly salted water then tossed in the pan (with the fire on) with the residues and fat & juices from doing the sirloin. Sliced "skinny negi"/cebollitas. Salad. Green frisee lettuce, baby bok choy, Miner's Lettuce, Napa cabbage heart, Pink Beauty tomato (greenhouse; this was good); Alziari EV olive oil, sea salt, ground black pepper, 10-year Modena balsamic vinegar.

Thank you. Appreciated. It was tasty & texturally varied; I enjoyed it.