4 posts tagged “avocados”

Halawy Dates in the fresh crunchy stage of ripeness.  A very special seasonal treat. Bautista Organic Dates.  Wednesday, Pico, Main Street Santa Monica.

MacArthur Avocado – a rare green-skinned summer avo.  Creamy like a Hass and much, much bigger – see the little Hass in the picture.  Mud Creek Organic Ranch.  Wednesday Santa Monica; Sunday Hollywood

It’s pepper time at Tutti Frutti Organic Farm -  Clockwise from lower left in order of hotness: Red Bell, Anaheim, Poblano, Jalapeno.  Wednesday Santa Monica, Sunday Hollywood

Tiny haricots verts and jaune from Gean Farm (Harry’s Berries)  At $12 per pound they might produce sticker shock, but they are an exquisite treat.  At many local markets

 

Saticoy melons from Harry's Berries.  Orange flesh like a cantaloupe but with much more intense flavor.  At many local markets

 

Pears and apples from Mike Cirone of See Canyon.  They are a sign of summer changing.  Wednesday, Saturday Santa Monica; Sunday Hollywood

 

Safa Kasem holds a Lamb Hass avocado at Mud Creek Ranch.  The Lamb Hass is a large, creamy avo – some say even better than a regular Hass … as if!  Wednesday Santa Monica, Sunday Hollywood.

 

Neal Ims in a sea of Sugar Queen melons at Weiser Family Farm.  Melons are in peak season, check out the multiple varieties.  Weiser Family Farm is at many Los Angeles area farmers markets.

 

Jose Gomez, age 9, sells beautiful garden roses grown by Lily’s Eggs in Fillmore.  Lily’s Eggs sells free range chicken and duck (by pre-order) and chicken and quail eggs.  At many Los Angeles area farmers markets.

Javier Espinoza, Chef at AOC, demonstrates his advanced filing system as he loads up on peaches at Regier Farm’s stand.  Regier sells luscious peaches and nectarines in ever-changing varieties at the Wednesday Santa Monica market.

 

Sage Restaurant’s cherry tomato mix, which is carefully prepared by Coastal Farm.  Wednesday, Saturday Santa Monica, Hollywood occasionally

 

007 – Allison Hensley of Peacock Farm holds a hot Hungarian pepper amid a display of baby eggplant and summer squash.  Peacock also has jalapeno peppers, occasional mushrooms and eggplant all summer long.  Wednesday Santa Monica, Thursday Thousand Oaks, Sunday Hollywood.  

I’m not very much of an “icebox pie” person.  Which sometimes makes me feel sad, like I’m not sufficiently American.  So after much hectoring on the part of my catering manager Ivana, I decided to leap into the cold with an Avocado Cream Pie.  After all, avocados are summer - it's the chip topped with guacamole vearing to the mouth with one hand and an icy tart cocktail in the other.  And they’re green.  The color makes the pie a very pretty green.  I topped it with a bit of sour cream mixed with a touch of confectioners’ sugar.  We’ll see how it tastes tomorrow after a night of chilling.  I did however, make some progress on the graham cracker crust front.  This time I used actual graham crackers which I beat with a rolling pin until crumbly...but not super fine.  It came out quite nice although it slipped down the pie pan a bit too much.  Next time....

Nicholas Peter (The Little Door, the Little Next Door) and DJ Olsen (Lou) with Susan Olsen talk shopping at the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers Market.

Chef Evan Funke (Rustic Canyon) extols the versatility of Jerry Rutiz' fava beans.

Purple Sprouting broccoli from Weiser Family Farms - at many LA markets.

Pakistani mulberries - intensely flavored, sweet mulberries (not the Persian variety) from Mud Creek Ranch.  Wednesday Santa Monica, Sunday Hollywood.

Queen avocadoes from JJ's Lone Daughter Ranch - average weight 2-1/2 pounds!   Creamy, Hass-like flavor and texture.  Wednesday, Saturday downtown Santa Monica, Sunday Hollywood. Also at JJ's you can find beautiful striped lemons with pink interior, sweet, easy to peel Tarocco blood oranges and the last-of-the-season pink Cara-Cara navels.