Portland farmer's market

[duckduck]

I went to Portland farmer's market for the first time saturday. What an overwhelming feast for the senses! I expected produce but the selection and quality blew me away! Berries so flavorful they just explode in your mouth! I was surpised at the amount of meat - beef, lamb, chicken, and eggs! Being a Tony Bourdain fan I had to check out the quail eggs to see what all the fuss is about. Next time I'm going to get some turkey eggs before they run out. I learned the hard way to grab things quick and not go back for them later, especially when it comes to the baked goods. Now I understand Jim's passionate posts about the cheese. There is such a pride of craftmanship and unbelievable quality there. What a delicious venture! The flowers, bulbs and plants make it a must see for the gardener. It was a wonderful experience that will definately become a regular habit. I would encourage anyone who hasn't gone yet to check it out!

[trillium]

Real eggs are fantastic. When I made ice cream this weekend I had 8 egg whites left and we mixed them with 4 whole eggs to make a Chinese omlette with gau choy (garlic chives). The resultant omlette was the same color as if you had used 12 store bought eggs with yolks. The yolks from real eggs are so orange and flavorful... The Blue Egg lady also sells duck eggs earlier in the spring when they lay. Super yum. We were sad when the ducks stopped laying, but we have eight in a salt/tea solution for Chinese cooking, so we're not totally lacking.

regards,

trillium

[duckduck]

The sign said they had duck eggs...they were out of duck and turkey by the time I made it round the circle. Hopefully I'll get to go again this weekend if I don't have to work. The quail eggs were wonderful!

[ExtraMSG]

Went to the Portland Farmer's Market today and took some pictures:

http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?set_al...=view_album.php

It was extremely busy and pretty full of vendors even if the produce options were a little more limited than they will be later in the year. A few highlights:

* Low BBQ: Rodney (chefrodrigo) and partner Kyle started their first day of business selling probably the best ribs and brisket in PDX. Any of you who got a taste the other night, know that, believe it or not, they improved it from there. The brisket was falling apart tender and juicy. The ribs were still excellent, especially those lamb ribs, making a trip for some Q to the PFM a necessity. They also reduced the black pepper to a more universally acceptable level. Great job guys.

* Sahagun: eGer eem who hangs out in the pastry board was selling her chocolates which have a wonderful texture and are accented by mostly savory flavors like chile, ginger, and cardamon. I like that she's not trying to make them overly sweet, too. My wife restrained herself admirably, only buying two truffles (are they still truffles if they're not round?), because she's on a diet. She's been jonesin' for chocolate since she's been reading the book, too.

* Delphina's Bakery: I'm not familiar with this bakery. Anyone know it? The bread we tried, a walnut/fig bread, was pretty tasty. I don't know if the crumb is up to the standards set by Ken's et al, but it was pretty good.

* Ken's and Pearl: Ken's and Pearl were there. Of course they're both great. Ken was even manning his own booth.

* Pumpkin Honey: Not sure of the seller's name, but they're on the north side and were selling a flavorful pumpkin honey. Bought a bear of it myself.

* Berries and Bees: Lingonberry and Huckleberry preserves, though spendy, were very, very tasty.

* Sundance Lavendar Farms: A few of their jams overwhelm the lavendar, imo, but the orange balances it well. I recommended making a lavendar salt like I saw at the SF Ferry Building farmer's market. That stuff rocked.

* Cheese: Several good cheese producers. Rogue Creamery is really good. Oregon Gourmet Cheeses and Willamette Valley Cheeses are both pretty good. Alsea Acres isn't quite as good as Juniper Grove (who wasn't there), imo, but they're getting better. They also had some chevre packed in flavored oil that looked nice.

* Salumeria di Carlo's: Low's meat competition was slammed as usual. Big long line of people waiting for their freshly grilled sausages.

* Pix: Cheryl was working the booth herself and as always her and her food are evil temptresses.

* Groundworks Organics: They had a good selection of produce including some nice looking young carrots and lots of greens and bulbs.

* Rossi Farms: Lots of different types of potatoes that looked nice.

* Eggs: What's up with all the eggs? Blue eggs were too high, imo, at $4/dozen, but they did have some chicks and their mom below their table for the kids to play with. There were probably 4 or 5 spots selling eggs.

* Morels: Lots of great looking morels from several vendors. I should have got some, but I've got a frig full of shrooms right now.

Edited May 2, 2004 by ExtraMSG (log)

[trillium]

* Low BBQ: Rodney (chefrodrigo) and partner Kyle started their first day of business selling probably the best ribs and brisket in PDX.  Any of you who got a taste the other night, know that, believe it or not, they improved it from there.  The brisket was falling apart tender and juicy.  The ribs were still excellent, especially those lamb ribs, making a trip for some Q to the PFM a necessity.  They also reduced the black pepper to a more universally acceptable level.  Great job guys. 

I sent some friends there and they called me back on Sunday night to rave about the ribs. Really rave. The ones I tasted during the trial run were great, and I don't know what that says about me that I didn't even notice the black pepper level. Too much Singaporean food I guess.

* Cheese: Several good cheese producers.  Rogue Creamery is really good.  Oregon Gourmet Cheeses and Willamette Valley Cheeses are both pretty good.  Alsea Acres isn't quite as good as Juniper Grove (who wasn't there), imo, but they're getting better.  They also had some chevre packed in flavored oil that looked nice.

I think my favorite thing is when OGC has raw milk Camembert. Good stuff on the walnut bread from Ken's.

* Salumeria di Carlo's: Low's meat competition was slammed as usual.  Big long line of people waiting for their freshly grilled sausages.

The ribs are better. I didn't find the sausage to be exceptional (not that it was bad), but those ribs...

* Groundworks Organics: They had a good selection of produce including some nice looking young carrots and lots of greens and bulbs.

I find you have to be careful about what you buy from Groundworks. They do a lot of cold-framing and maybe greenhousing which is why they have things ahead of every one else seasonally speaking. This approach works great for things like watermelons, which otherwise wouldn't have a chance in PNW's fickle summer, but their strawberries are never, ever as tasty or sweet as ones that see more sun and warmer temps, and the same goes for the tomatoes. I think maybe they water them too much as well.

There was also fantastic green garlic, new potatoes and asperagus...

regards,

trillium

[ExtraMSG]

Trillium, have you tried Rogue Creamery, yet? I think they might be new to the market. At least, I don't remember them there. I've seen them handing out tastes at New Seasons before and they've won several gold medals at international cheese contests. Here's their website:

http://www.roguegoldcheese.com/

I really do think their blues are some of the best I've tasted. They were mostly selling cheese curds at the market, though, I think. Many of them were flavored.

I agree that Low BBQ makes better BBQ than di Carlo's makes sausage. The intesity of the flavor in the sausage could be improved, imo. However, decent grilled sausage with peppers and onions on a roll is tasty and it looks like Low's main competition at the market. I think they realize they new to do something showy to bring in the patrons. Jim Dixon asked if they were out of meat as he walked up because they do everything in the back. There was nothing on the front table. di Carlo's is grilling (what's the true word, griddling? Sauteeing? There's no grill involved) right there in the front. It looks great and smells great. I think as Low gets a feel for marketing themselves and word of mouth spreads they'll start getting the lines.

I was disappointed that Juniper Grove wasn't at the market yet. What made it worse was that there was a cheese producer there that had really bad sheep and goat cheese. Nastily sour. It was like they actually stewed it in the stomach of a cow rather than just adding a little renet.

[trillium]

Trillium, have you tried Rogue Creamery, yet?  I think they might be new to the market.  At least, I don't remember them there.  I've seen them handing out tastes at New Seasons before and they've won several gold medals at international cheese contests.  Here's their website:

http://www.roguegoldcheese.com/

I really do think their blues are some of the best I've tasted.  They were mostly selling cheese curds at the market, though, I think.  Many of them were flavored.

I haven't tried anything at their market stand because their stuff is so widely available elsewhere. I'm usually in a hurry to get all the shopping done before it gets too crowded with dogs and baby strollers. I don't do well in close crowds. I do like their blue cheeses, but I did a taste test of their Roquefort and Gorgonzola clone/cultured cheeses against the real thing last year and they just didn't compare. I was really hoping they would, because Roquefort is so damn expensive with all the tariffs that get slapped on French stuff now. Can't you get the blue on a Burgerville burger right now?

I agree that Low BBQ makes better BBQ than di Carlo's makes sausage.  The intesity of the flavor in the sausage could be improved, imo.  However, decent grilled sausage with peppers and onions on a roll is tasty and it looks like Low's main competition at the market.  I think they realize they new to do something showy to bring in the patrons. Jim Dixon asked if they were out of meat as he walked up because they do everything in the back.  There was nothing on the front table.  di Carlo's is grilling (what's the true word, griddling? Sauteeing?  There's no grill involved) right there in the front.  It looks great and smells great.  I think as Low gets a feel for marketing themselves and word of mouth spreads they'll start getting the lines.

Yep, that's true. My friends did mention that the tables were very bare, they thought maybe having vats of drinks on ice or something would make it look better. I think you can't really have the food out there because of health safety reasons...maybe you need some of those Japanese plastic food sculptures, huh Rodney? (just kidding). Or they could hire us to stand around his booth slurping down ribs all morning to entice other people to try.

regards,

trillium

[eem]

(are they still truffles if they're not round?)

I call them palets after "les palet d'or" the gold-flecked coin-like confection filled with ganache and coated with tempered chocolate.

Some people do still call them truffles as they call ganache cut into squares truffles but this no longer makes sense, since chocolate truffles were named truffles because of what they resembled, namely a black truffle (fungus) which as you know is irregularly spherical.

So contentwise, palets are the same as truffles but with a squat cylindrical form.

I have a little diagram posted at my booth as well as on my flavor cards describing my chocolates as palets to minimize the confusion.

(I apparently forgot to give you one.)

P.S. Thanks for coming by and trying them!!

Edited May 4, 2004 by eem (log)

[ExtraMSG]

Yep, that's true. My friends did mention that the tables were very bare, they thought maybe having vats of drinks on ice or something would make it look better. I think you can't really have the food out there because of health safety reasons...maybe you need some of those Japanese plastic food sculptures, huh Rodney? (just kidding). Or they could hire us to stand around his booth slurping down ribs all morning to entice other people to try.

Maybe a big "jars" of freshly made ice tea and lemonade like you see aguas frescas on carts in Mexico. I bet that itself would bring in customers and would help the profits, especially as summer heats up. Toss some fat on the wood, too, and get some yummy smelling smoke rolling out into the crowd. Maybe take some pictures of the food and print them out on 11x17 in full coor at Kinko's and put them on cardboard stands to entice people. Not sure. I recognize that it's a pain because they have limits that some others don't. But they need to make the booth look more active. I used to go to guerilla marketing schools for political campaigning and we learned all kinds of tricks to get people to stop at booths. Basically, all of them involve actively or passively intercepting potential customers. Some things are as subtle as putting your booth out farther than the others so that people have to walk around it. Some might be gimmicky, the equivalent of the having people place stamps on a piece of paper to send in their free Columbia House selections. Maybe you get all those dog owners to your table by offering free bones with orders. Etc. I'm just brainstorming. One thing they definitely need is signage.

Speaking of dogs and gimmicky things. The market had this "survey" where you placed dots on your answer. At the end you could leave comments. There was an ongoing feud about what the market needed. In big bold letters somone wrote "NO DOGS!". Below that a few comments someone had written: "MORE DOGS, LESS PEOPLE!". I just wrote "Aarf!". There were lots of coments about the dogs, though, so I don't think you're alone. Worse, though, are dogs and the honkin' huge baby strollers on the Max. Ugh!

[ExtraMSG]

(are they still truffles if they're not round?)

I call them palets after "les palet d'or" the gold-flecked coin-like confection filled with ganache and coated with tempered chocolate.

Some people do still call them truffles as they call ganache cut into squares truffles but this no longer makes sense, since chocolate truffles were named truffles because of what they resembled, namely a black truffle (fungus) which as you know is irregularly spherical.

So contentwise, palets are the same as truffles but with a squat cylindrical form.

I have a little diagram posted at my booth as well as on my flavor cards describing my chocolates as palets to minimize the confusion.

(I apparently forgot to give you one.)

P.S. Thanks for coming by and trying them!!

This is probably poor French, but how about:

truffles écrasée

It may not have the connotations you're looking for, however.

Nick

[eem]

truffles écrasée

Would you translate that? I don't have a french dictionary and I haven't quite learned how to maneuver around in those online.

Anyway, I use the term palet because it's already in use for this style of bon bon.

[ExtraMSG]

I was trying for "smashed truffles". It was mostly a joke.

btw, what do you use in the ganache? It had a really nice texture. Definitely better than the ones I've done at home.

Nick

Edited May 4, 2004 by ExtraMSG (log)

[chefrodrigo]

Yep, that's true. My friends did mention that the tables were very bare, they thought maybe having vats of drinks on ice or something would make it look better. I think you can't really have the food out there because of health safety reasons...maybe you need some of those Japanese plastic food sculptures, huh Rodney? (just kidding). Or they could hire us to stand around his booth slurping down ribs all morning to entice other people to try.

Maybe a big "jars" of freshly made ice tea and lemonade like you see aguas frescas on carts in Mexico. I bet that itself would bring in customers and would help the profits, especially as summer heats up. Toss some fat on the wood, too, and get some yummy smelling smoke rolling out into the crowd. Maybe take some pictures of the food and print them out on 11x17 in full coor at Kinko's and put them on cardboard stands to entice people. Not sure. I recognize that it's a pain because they have limits that some others don't. But they need to make the booth look more active. I used to go to guerilla marketing schools for political campaigning and we learned all kinds of tricks to get people to stop at booths. Basically, all of them involve actively or passively intercepting potential customers. Some things are as subtle as putting your booth out farther than the others so that people have to walk around it. Some might be gimmicky, the equivalent of the having people place stamps on a piece of paper to send in their free Columbia House selections. Maybe you get all those dog owners to your table by offering free bones with orders. Etc. I'm just brainstorming. One thing they definitely need is signage.

I just want you folks to know that we realize how bare we were. We're working on it. eem is giving me some lessons right now. Hopefully next week will be a little better. All of our friends made fun of us that day

And Trillium, my friend Ramona at the booth next door has promised me some plastic white bread and plastic pickles.

Rodney

[Human Bean]

I've followed all the whining (and praise) these past few days; I had no idea that the Portland Farmer's market was open this soon, given that there really isn't all that much local produce available this early in the season.

With that, it still seems like I'm missing out on some good stuff; I like good 'que, but am indifferent to pastry and chocolates (sorry).

Even though I'll probably have to work on Saturday/Sunday, I guess I'll have to make it to the market.

[ExtraMSG]

With that, it still seems like I'm missing out on some good stuff; I like good 'que, but am indifferent to pastry and chocolates (sorry).

Even though I'll probably have to work on Saturday/Sunday, I guess I'll have to make it to the market.

Low BBQ also has a stand at 6th and Hawthorne that's open weekdays for lunch. I don't think they're doing the lamb ribs then, though. (But obviously you could get more info from chefrodrigo.)

I just want you folks to know that we realize how bare we were. We're working on it. eem is giving me some lessons right now. Hopefully next week will be a little better. All of our friends made fun of us that day 

And Trillium, my friend Ramona at the booth next door has promised me some plastic white bread and plastic pickles.

Maybe a stuffed porker for your mascot, like the dog on Scrubs. I hope you know it's all constructive criticism levied in order to make sure you guys are successful so we can have your good Q years from now.

Edited May 5, 2004 by ExtraMSG (log)

[trillium]

I've followed all the whining (and praise) these past few days; I had no idea that the Portland Farmer's market was open this soon, given that there really isn't all that much local produce available this early in the season.

With that, it still seems like I'm missing out on some good stuff; I like good 'que, but am indifferent to pastry and chocolates (sorry).

Even though I'll probably have to work on Saturday/Sunday, I guess I'll have to make it to the market.

Huh? What..whining?

Anyway, there is plenty of local produce available this early in the season. We were buying braising and salad greens from a couple of local farmers all winter at the Hillsdale farmer's market. We even saw photos of snow covered fields after that big snow storm! Besides all sorts of greens, there are also radishes, broccoli, turnips, new potatoes and green onions. There is plenty more variety at Groundworks if you don't mind cold-framed stuff. Even cold-framed, the cucumbers are much better then anything you can buy at the grocery store.

regards,

trillium

Edited May 5, 2004 by trillium (log)

[Human Bean]

Huh?  What..whining?

Fair enough; I retract that part. After skimming through again, I'm not really sure what I was thinking about at the time.

Anyway, there is plenty of local produce available this early in the season.

Now that I've seen ExtraMSG's pics, that's readily apparent. And I guess it IS May now, so more and more stuff should be becoming available. I think I've been too busy to actually pay attention to trivialities like what month it is. Sigh.

[eem]

btw, what do you use in the ganache?  It had a really nice texture. 

Excuse the delay.

I use chocolate & heavy cream only. Infused cream of course.

I know that you can put glucose or especially butter to get a nice creamy moutfeel. Others also put some kind of oil in it. This I dislike, but with it you will definitely get a smooth ganache.

If you want to improve your ganache, you should check out a search in pastry & baking because they have almost every imaginable way of going about getting a good ganache. Keep in mind that type of chocolate used and other ingredients and method of preparing all play a part as well.

[ExtraMSG]

Thanks, eem. I've been meaning to try creme fraiche, but it's hard to find good stuff around. That's what Gand uses in hers and the truffles I had at Tru were some of the best I've ever tried. Interestingly, though, a friend who is a major chocoholic tried Gand's recipe and even emailed the restaurant to make sure the recipe he had was right, even finding out the exact type of chocolate they use, and he could never get the truffles to come out quite as good. So I'll just assume that there's actually skill involved and that when someone like yourself makes such things, the results are greater than the sum of their parts (ie, better than I could do). (My friend actually emailed, pissed-off at Gand after several mediocre results, accusing them of leaving out something in the recipes.)

[ExtraMSG]

Went to the market again this week to get some oil from Jim and to feed my BBQ lamb rib craving. I almost wish I wasn't heading on vacation so I could have bought some morels, too. Damn there were some awesome ones. This may be the best crop of them I've seen.

Check out my new blog entry and the highlights here:

http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?name=N...order=0&thold=0

Plus new pics here:

http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?op=mod...bumName=album57

[chefrodrigo]

Went to the market again this week to get some oil from Jim and to feed my BBQ lamb rib craving. I almost wish I wasn't heading on vacation so I could have bought some morels, too. Damn there were some awesome ones. This may be the best crop of them I've seen.

Check out my new blog entry and the highlights here:

http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?name=N...order=0&thold=0

Plus new pics here:

http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?op=mod...bumName=album57

I was talking to one of the mushroom guys at the market on Saturday. He said this is one of the best morel seasons he has seen and the boletus this year should be outstanding. He thinks they will show up in the next few weeks. It was the older guy who sells potatoes and mushrooms in the SE corner.

George, the wine jelly guy, has been giving me some morels each week that he didn't feel like cleaning. I've been having some monstrous morel omelletes.

Rodney

[ExtraMSG]

SE corner? Prairie Creek Farms maybe:

http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?set_al...=view_photo.php

I was thinking of getting some of those huge ones and stuffing them. Although you'd probably want to split them to pick out any grubs. Maybe grab some chevre from Juniper Grove or Alsea Acres. Or creamy polenta topping them with a nice pinot noir reduction with some lavendar infused in the reduction. Get some honey from the market.....Mmmm.

I was just thinking about your omelette. Imagine making a morel relleno! Stuff it, egg it, fry it.

[chefrodrigo]

SE corner? Prairie Creek Farms maybe:

http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?set_al...=view_photo.php

I was thinking of getting some of those huge ones and stuffing them. Although you'd probably want to split them to pick out any grubs. Maybe grab some chevre from Juniper Grove or Alsea Acres. Or creamy polenta topping them with a nice pinot noir reduction with some lavendar infused in the reduction. Get some honey from the market.....Mmmm.

I was just thinking about your omelette. Imagine making a morel relleno! Stuff it, egg it, fry it.

You could ask the guy where he picked them. I was told you only have to worry about bugs from the ones picked at the lower elevations. If they were picked closer to the snow line the bugs won't be up that high.

The omellete is pure morel pleasure. You only need handfulls of butter to help it out.

I really want the foie stuffed morel though.

Rodney

[ExtraMSG]

Well, if you're buying, I'll have one. Really, though, I've never been much of a fan of foie unless it's offset with lots of tangy or sweet flavors. Dump a wine reduction or berry sauce on it, though, and I'm game. That's the nice thing about morels, too, is that they match so well with that type of stuff. Makes me wish morels came later in the season. At least they re-hydrate really well.

I wonder if you could clean the insides with some sort of toothbrush type device. I should call around and see who's using them and go eat out.

[ExtraMSG]

Went to the summer loaf the other day before heading out to Cannon Beach. Took a decent number of pictures. My blog entry is now up (man, I'm behind):

http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?name=N...=article&sid=22

I say in my blog entry that La Provence of Lake Oswego was the star. Has anyone been there?

Also, I had some terrible sorbet at Staccato. I'd only had gelato before. Is that typical?

Anyone know if Guanaja is going to continue to be at the market?

Did you get your legs licked by all the frickin' dogs, too? (All Dogs Can Go To Hell!)