Check It Out!

Sorry to leave so many gaps between postings (bad food blogger, bad food blogger!) but I do have some exciting news to share that I'm hoping gives me a pass this one time. I've been working on a few freelance food stories that I hope you'll all enjoy. You may have seen me link to this piece I did a few weeks back on what delicious, seasonal spring goodies you can find at the farmers' market and how to use them, but now I have a wonderful piece on The Daily Green for all you farmers' market newbies, on how to properly and easily shop the farmers' market. If you are still afraid or hesitant to tackle this temple to locavore lovers, fear not. With this piece you'll know what to bring, what to ask and how to score the best, freshest buys. Read it here, and please share it with anyone you think would be interested. I'm still working on a great short feature that I think you'll all enjoy (and it's NOT about the farmers' market) to come out next month. In the meantime, give this farmers' market piece a read and let me know what you think!

-Laura

Spring Is In The Air

This weekend the weathermen got my hopes up by claiming there would be warm weather all weekend. While it wasn't quite what I had hoped for, I made my way to the farmers market hoping that the somewhat milder weather had coaxed a few springtime fruits and vegetables out of the ground and off their trees. It may have been wishful thinking seeing as somehow the winter chill that freezes the end of my nose all season made an appearance, cutting through the sun's golden rays. But seeing as Friday was the first day of spring, the market and all it's farmers, merchants and artisans really put their best foot forward to remind us that despite the weather, Mother Nature will soon be sending springs bounty our way.

Each stand held fliers touting the arrival of spring, and not surprisingly in many cases, fresh baskets and trays of eggs. From the everyday chicken egg to the less common pheasant and the teeny tiny speckled quail, they were everywhere for the first time in months. In the coming weeks I intend to buy a dozen for myself to see how they compare to my regular old organic, free-range variety. I've been told that as a lover of soft boiled eggs, runny yolks, and all around eggy goodness, I'll never go back to my supermarket eggs again. I'll have to give them the brunch test and report back in a later post (so stay tuned for that).

And much to my delight, among the vibrant spring flowers were the first few pots of spring herbs. Cilantro caught my eye immediately (the first of the season!), since it was my inspiration for buying fresh herbs in the first place. It still looked a bit young and weak, so I'll go back in a few weeks for one of those as well. It was also the first appearance of spring basil, which unlike the cilantro looked pretty strong, so I bought myself a nice little pot, still protected from the harsh winter breezes by a plastic covering. I'm already planning a lovely pesto primavera for it once the asparagus and sweet fresh peas hit the market. In the meantime, I'll be keeping it on my windowsill next to the other herbs and watering it frequently (basil loves light and water, so as long as both are present it thrives without a problem).

And so, I went home fairly empty-handed from the market but managed to recover in Chinatown with two bagfuls of yummy treats (stay tuned for a few recipes involving those purchases in the days to come). Although the market was sparse, it served as great inspiration for the food and dishes to come as we get deeper into the season. For example, there were some lovely delicate lettuces (peace out, winter cabbage!), including mâche, that while still expensive, got me excited for light and airy summer dishes, and the days when there's so much spring lettuce they're practically giving it away. Stay tuned this week for some great transitional weather dishes, a mini-how-to lesson, and a brand new recession special. In the meantime, go out there and explore what delicious spring treats have popped up in your market, and by all means, feel free to make me jealous by sharing what's growing in your area.

-Laura

The Market Report

Fall is always my favorite time of year, especially for greenmarket shopping. Although signs from various vendors cry out for you to buy the very last crop of this summer fruit or that summer veggie, it's all the more exciting to take in what's in store for the coming autumn season. During my last visit is was clear that pumpkins were about to take over the market, and this weekend confirmed it. From last weeks one table to this weeks twenty, pumpkins were all over the place, multiplying in a rainbow of hues. There's more out there than the old orange standby, like white pumpkins streaked with orange and green ones decorated with thin white canals.


But pumpkins aren't having all the fall fun, as gourds of all types have already come into season quite nicely. I'm still working up the courage to buy one of the bird like Cucurbita gourds pictured above, with their beak-like protrusions and pock marked skin. Some (like Cucurbitas) are rugged with rough, scaly skin, while others appear graceful with long, swan-like necks and smooth flecked exteriors, like the appropriately named Speckled swan gourds. It's really the butternut squash that tends to get purchased most often despite its less intriguing appearance, thanks to the popularity in recent years of butternut squash soup.



But one of the most exciting developments for me, by far, is the appearance of apples, which have finally come into season. Although I've never been one for apple picking, there is nothing more disappointing than an out of season, mealy apple. This weekends market was chock full of ripe ones, with at least 10 different varieties available at multiple stalls. Signs touting the arrival of the perfect apples for pie and sauce were everywhere, and despite their weight, people happily bought them by the 5 pound bagful. I don't really bake so I can't speak to the quality of those apples in particular, but the five or six that I sampled were indeed delicious.


And of course, with apple season comes my favorite fall treat, hot apple cider. There had been juice and cold cider occasionally throughout the summer, but to me nothing lets me know to pull out my hat and gloves like a steaming cup of fresh apple cider. There was only one stand so far, but I'm already looking forward to walking through the greenmarket ruddy-cheeked and watching the cider stands multiply from under my wool cap.



A few ingredients that were new to me also made it into my basket, but not before downing a large cup of that apple cider. First came the lovely finger sweet potatoes that I wrote about yesterday, which I think look even more beautiful raw, stringy and unpeeled than they do cooked through. I couldn't find any information on them while researching, but ended up decided that I like them just as much (if not more) than traditional sweet potatoes. On my way out of the market I noticed a barrel full of the tiniest eggplant you could ever imagine. No larger than your thumb, these little guys are known as Fairytale eggplant, and from what I understand are creamier and significantly less bitter than the common large variety. A little research told me that these are far more common than my mystery finger sweet potatoes, and according to the woman picking through them (that's her hand in the photo), they can even be flash sauteed and served over rice.


The last and second most wonderful new appearance at the market were grapes. There were all of the varieties imaginable, from sweet concord grapes used to make juice (pictured above) to your common seedless purple ones. I found the Concords to be far too sweet to snack on (great for pies, juice and sauce though), so I purchased a pint of lovely plump, but small seedless purples to have as dessert for the week. Grapes are in season from the end of summer through December so I'll have a few more months to experiment with something a little more adventurous. That's what you can find this week, so go on out there and buy yourself a little edible piece of fall.

The Rise of Fall

Last week, as Mother Nature continued to dangle the promise of fall before us, I found myself making my very first autumnal trip to the farmer's market. It was quite a different scene from my last trip a few weekends ago, where the vendors implored each passerby to purchase the season's remaining tomatoes, cherries and peaches. This week, signs announcing the arrival of fall produce could be seen throughout the market, most notably in the stands that carried gourds. Various winter squashes including acorn and zucchini come into season in early fall, not to mention the first pumpkins of the season make their way to the public.



As if a table fully stocked with pumpkins weren't enough to signal fall's arrival, the temperature that day actually dropped to well below 60 degrees. Clad in my baseball cap and scarf, I noticed a few late summer veggies like eggplant and zucchini were still plentiful at most of the stalls. People stocked up on the remaining summer corn, rabidly peeling the cobs away from their husks and tossing them aside. The scene at the remaining strawberry vendor wasn't any more civilized and left me waiting for 15 minutes just to pay for a gorgeous pint of ruby red summer strawberries (which, by the way, were totally worth the wait, and the best ones I've had all year).



I saw a few new things at one stand, including Chinese long beans, which aren't unlike your regular string beans, the only difference being that they're about four times as long. There were also a few Chinese peppers that I've never heard of and course had to buy and test out. I'm a pretty easy sell when it comes to new ingredients, especially when the vendors are cooking samples of their produce right on the spot. I also bought some Japanese eggplant from the same place because I've heard that it's less bitter than the variety we're used to here in the states. It's certainly smaller and a darker, richer shade of purple that almost appears black.



As I walked through the market I was finally excited for the fall season to come. I'd been trying to work through the end of summer food blues, but now I'm actually looking forward to what's to come. Swiss chard and other amazing greens are on the way and cauliflower and sweet potatoes are just over the horizon. I'll keep everyone posted on what new seasonal ingredients to look out for as we move into fall, and hopefully can pass on some great recipes, too.

-Laura