Farmers Markets

[Toliver]

Sweet Cherries were in. It's early for cherries, isn't it?

Bought this last Saturday:

yellow carrots

Huge honkin' head of cauliflower ($1.75 each which worked out to be around .60 a pound)

just picked parsley

locally harvested orange blossom honey

daikon radishes

cabbage

Two pieces of Linzer Tort, a slice of Apple cake with slivered almonds on top and a bag of apple raisin scones from the German woman who sells baked and canned goods.

[beans]

I was on an exotic fruit kick. Aside from the fragrant but run of the mill California strawberries I purchased: feijoa, blood oranges, a couple of those miniature little South African pineapple beauties and a Buddha's Hand citron.

[wnissen]

Good produce this week at the Pleasanton market; we are going camping next weekend so I tried to pick up stuff that would last till next week.

Back row: California olive oil, with a harvest and bottling date right on the front of the bottle. Bravo! Pineapple tomato plant (an heirloom variety, now safely planted in a pot), big batch 'o Swiss chard, regular asparagus, and asparagus tips.

Middle row: Good looking cauliflower (thank you, eGullet), onions, baby beets, assorted squash, broccoli (last of the season), Fuji apples, navel oranges (the latter two not as good as a few weeks ago).

Front row: Camarosa strawberries (starting to get good), this year's garlic (yay!), tomatoes, large eggs (packed six days ago, again, thank you eGullet).

Not shown: a really beautiful filet of wild king salmon, bag of "gouda" cheese curds.

Toliver: Orange blossom honey? Yum, that sounds good.

Walt

Edited April 18, 2004 by wnissen (log)

[bleudauvergne]

...assorted squash,

Hi Walt, that assorted squash looks just amazing.

Edited April 18, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)

[Jensen]

* fresh garlic

* mint

* peas

* fava beans

* bok choy

* arugula

* oyster mushrooms

* manzanita honey ... the honey vendor asked me what type of honey I liked. When I replied "fireweed honey" (which, as far as I know, is only available in BC), he suggested I try the manzanita honey.

Walt, I'm hooked on the Bariani olive oil! Good choice!

[Malawry]

Just spinach and eggs here in Takoma Park, MD this morning, but there's all kinds of new beautiful things this time of year...very exciting.

I'm trying to photograph my local market(s) regularly this year, to document the seasonal progression of goodies. I'm posting images in this thread, if you're curious.

[wnissen]

Having grown up in Takoma, it is a little weird to be able to see its farmer's market from 3000 miles away. I left when I was twelve, so I'd like to go back now that I'm a regular weekly shopper at my local farmer's market. ust out of curiousity, where in Takoma Park do you live? I lived on Beech St. halfway between Phila. Av. and Dogwood. Keep up the photos!

Walt

P.S. to Jensen: This is the first time I've tried Bariani, but they certainly do a good job. I liked how they had a fiercely peppery early harvest oil and a milder regular oil; I bought the regular since I mostly use this for cooking, and have separate oils for dressing items at the table.

[Jensen]

From today's market:

* fava beans

* peas

* assorted summer squashes

* Valencia rhubarb (apparently, it is green and doesn't get as woody as the regular rhubarb can)

* parsley

* sui choy

* artichokes

* baby Yukon Gold potatoes

[NulloModo]

Daikon Radish (I have no clue what I will do with this....)

Okra

Rosemary (fresh)

Thai Chili Peppers

Dried Ancho Chilis

Lemongrass (I hope to try Larb soon)

and from the Amish Butchers at the market:

Bacon

Sage Sausage

Pork Tenderloin to braise in bourbon and butter tomorrow

[Toliver]

Daikon Radish (I have no clue what I will do with this....)

Go to the current posts on the "Dinner" thread (in the Cooking forum) and go back one or two pages. Jinmyo did a sort of marinated Daikon dish and posted a picture of it. She also posted her recipe a couple posts after the picture.

Purchased Saturday at my local Farmer's Market:

Sweet cherries

Green beans

baby bok choy

green leaf lettuce

Two pieces of Linzer Tort, a slice of Carrot Cake and a poppy seed danish from the German woman who sells baked and canned goods.

I saw peaches and tomatoes, too! I wasn't brave enough to buy either because I thought it was far too early in the season for them to be any good.

[AESOP] Said the Fox, "I don't want those grapes anyways. I'm sure they're sour." [/AESOP]

[Jake]

Big haul on Saturday:

peas

leeks

mushrooms

artichokes

thyme

basil

radishes

summer squash

fennel

Vidalia onions

chives

[Squeat Mungry]

From the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market (shopping with Bond Girl, who is visiting from New York):

fava beans

baby artichokes

watercress

green garlic

french breakfast radishes

summer savory

dill

At Cowgirl Creamery in the Ferry Building:

cheese:

- morbier

- gorgonzola dolce

- cave-aged gruyere

- parm reg

At Golden Gate Meats also in the FB:

2 racks of spring lamb

[Jensen]

We ate out a fair bit last week so I didn't need to buy as many veggies today.

* zucchini

* two bunches of basil (with which I have already made a batch of green garlic pesto)

* early carrots

* Old World Portuguese cheese from Spring Hill Dairy

* green onions

* morels

* daisies

Edit: forgot the 'shrooms

Edited May 1, 2004 by Jensen (log)

[Shannon_Elise]

Reviewing through this thread always makes me ask myself why I still live in the Farmer's Market wasteland of Columbus, Ohio. That said, we do have ONE good year round market in the North Market. I picked up:

Morels! So excited when I saw these, but my wallet was not $44 a pound...being a broke college student I got 1/4 lb.

Procuitto di Parma- I now know the advantages of wearing a midriff bearing top and tight low cut jeans. The guy charged me a couple of bucks for what should have been over ten dollars. Now I know why I pay full price for everything in winter.

Roasted Elephant Garlic

Freshly made porcini stuffed pasta

Japanese Jumping Bean Truffles- a Wasabi covered peanut on a dark chocolate truffle ganache center. To die for.

Shannon

[Malawry]

From Dupont Circle, downtown DC:

Red leaf lettuce

Bibb lettuce

Frisee

Beef short ribs

Chili

Breakfast sausage

From Takoma Park, MD:

Rainbow eggs

10lbs of asparagus for work.

[elion_84]

At very rainy Austin Farmer's Market:

- mixed baby lettuces

- beets

- green garlic

- leeks

- fennel

- asparagus

- baby lettuce

- new potatoes

- eggs

- duck

- 6 small tarts

- blackberries

- peaches - first peaches for the season from Fredericksburg, TX

Malawry, how much is asparagus in DC area? Here in Austin it's outrageously expensive at the farmer's market $2.50 for a bunch of 10 spears. I can't imagine buying 10lbs at these prices.

Edited May 3, 2004 by elion_84 (log)

[Malawry]

Asparagus is around $3-3.50 a pound at the farm market. I paid $25 for 10lbs...more than I'd pay through my foodservice supplier, to be sure, but these are local and organic and not shipped from distant lands. (To their detriment, they farm market ones are not sized, while the trucked-in asparagus is usually sized reasonably well.) Basically asparagus is expensive, partly because it's annoying to ship and store...those little heads get mushy or break off easily.

[bleudauvergne]

Given the €/$ exchange rate and calculating for the pound from the kilo, asparagus was about $4.35 a pound here this past Saturday. I bought some anyway...

The first garlic of the season has arrived

baby fennel (we see this only one or two weekends a year), nice in salads

Edited May 3, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)

[wnissen]

Camped last weekend, so this was a bit of catching up.

Apples, a variety that's a cross of Gala and Fuji

Apriums, an apricot-dominant cross, wonderfully ripe

Asparagus (not as crisp as usual; a bunch from Safeway last week was better)

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Celery

Criminis

Cherries, (!) first of the season, although of four stands only the $4 a pint organic ones were good. I bit.

Garlic (still reveling in the fact that garlic is fresh now)

Lemongrass

Onions

Shallots

Strawberries, labeled as "Red Heart", the first this year good enough to demand a half-flat. Not sweet but mature and yummy.

Swiss chard

Tomatoes, starting to get really good, though still $2.50 a pound

Zucchini squash

Not shown:

California Halibut (was absolutely delectable)

Grape juice, unfiltered and unpasteurized

Later we went to the Livermore Wine Country Festival, which was formerly the "Days of Wine and Honey." Not a farmer's market, more a bazaar with wine tasting and rides, but lots of producers. Got a lb. of honey from Home Town Honey of Walnut Creek, CA that was extremely buttery, a lb. of delightfully minty honey from Brown's Busy Bees of Livermore, CA, and a half pound of nearly transcendent orange blossom honey from Walls Honey Farm of Soquel, CA. I also learned that an olive oil certified by the California Olive Oil Council has a small date on the label, so you can tell (roughly) the year of harvest. Good on them.

A good week.

bleudauvergne, your pictures are just gorgeous. I love my market, but it only sells produce, not works of art. Asparagus is US$2/lb. here, and not only do the nice folks size it, but they let you pick which size you want, from skinny minnies to huge 2cm stalks.

Walt

[Toliver]

It's the time of year where the number of sellers grow as does what they are all offering.

Bought at the Farmer's Market:

Candy-striped beets

Baby carrots (not the faux peeled ones you get in the grocery store)

Green beans

Blueberries

Blackberries, so plump and sweet! (they were handing out samples and reeled me in)

Turnips

Green onions (scallions) that were fat and so long that I had to fold the greens in order to fit them in my vegetable cripser drawer in the fridge! Wow.

Locally harvested honey

Organic garlic

Sweet purple onions with the tops still attached

Two pieces of Linzer Tort, one Poppy Seed danish and an apple turnover from the German woman who sells baked and canned goods.

[NulloModo]

I picked up something called 'Yogurt Longhorn Cheese' from the Stoltzfus farm people at the market, I have to say, it is one of the most delicious cheeses I have ever consumed, has a creamy texture, a nice sharp, but subtle, kick, and melts beautifully. All for only $4.00 a pound as well.

More Okra (as always, I seem to be inhaling the stuff lately)

Some Tomatillos

Various Dried Chiles

Bleu:

Have you ever made a Fennal Gratin? I picked up some Fennel from the grocery store a while ago, and found a great recipe that combined it with parmesan cheese, some chicken demi-glace, butter, and heavy cream for a wonderfully rich gratin. The sweetness of the fennel was beautiful against the bite of the parmesan, and the silky texture of cream, butter, and demi-glace rising up underneath was just

[matilda254]

This past saturday I picked up 2 organic chickens; Crown of Bison; leg of lamb; spring onions; salad mix; german red garlic; asparagus. This market is located in downtown Austin Texas.

matilda254

[bleudauvergne]

Clockwise from top left a kilo of peas, parsley, feves, lettuce, loaf o bread (my bakery's on vacation this weekend), strawberries, carrots, 3 octopus which I will cook a la greque again, very cheap fish fillets which we fried up immediately, scarfed down and promptly forgot the name of the fish, gambas, garlic, eggs, and radishes. And a rose.

Oooh fennel gratin. Sounds good, I'll do it.

Walt you're really lucky, our asapragus has gone down to 6 euros a kilo, about 3 euros a lb. Still much more expensive than what you're getting it for, enjoy!

Edited May 23, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)

[docsconz]

Crown of Bison;

How bnig was the truck you needed to get it home?

Seriously, how big was that?

[bleudauvergne]

This past saturday I picked up 2 organic chickens;  Crown of Bison;  leg of lamb;  spring onions; salad mix; german red garlic; asparagus.  This market is located in downtown Austin Texas.

matilda254

It's nice that you are getting meats from the market. What does Bison taste like, and how do you cook it?

Edited May 23, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)