11 posts tagged “market report”

Farming doesn’t have to mean lush and pastoral land.  Novella Carpenter is an urban farmer, growing food and raising livestock on a dead end street 
in the middle of the Oakland ghetto.  Tezo updates us on the South Central Farmers who were evicted from their land in downtown L.A.  They’re now farming on 80 acres in Bakersfield.  Kajsa Alger of Street tells me all about Tunisian Pie.  Mark Bittman of the New York Times explains what it means to be a part-time vegan.  High-alcohol wine is popular, especially in California.  Peter Langensteinhas more on this controversial trend.  Can gadgets really make wine taste better?  Jordan MacKay of Chow.com has answers.  Jonathan Gold stops by with the details on a Mexican restaurant that’s as much about the murals as it is about the food.  Plus intrepid eater Eddie Lin dines on raw chicken right here in an L.A. restaurant.  And Laura Avery reports from the Santa Monica Farmers Market.

Lima Beans from McGrath Farm – big, fresh lima beans – not your childhood limas!  Wednesday Santa Monica; Sunday Hollywood

Elephant Garlic from Tutti Frutti Farm

Sweet bell peppers from Jaime Farm

New Yams and Sweet Potatoes from Xiang Pao Her.   Steam and add to veggies or eat plain.  Customers say that the white sweet potatoes need nothing added!  Wednesday Santa Monica

The veggies from Xiang Pao Her – Bok Choy, Gailon (Chinese broccoli,)  Yu Choy

“Like a cippolini” says farmer Barbara Spencer from Windrose Farm.   Translation: sweet, small, caramelizing onion for grilling or roasting.  Wednesday Santa Monica.

The sweet corn is back at Tamai Farm among others.  White corn is the standard now – although the bi-color corn may be coming soon.  At many stands in the LA area.

Kitchen Kid, a cooking school run by Samantha Barnes (back row, left center) takes place on Wednesdays in July at First Presbyterian Church’s basement kitchen.  Students shop at the market then return for an “iron chef” challenge using the secret ingredient of the day – in this case, zucchini.

Peter Schaner selects heirloom tomatoes for customers and delivers to restaurants after the Wednesday Market.  Wednesday Santa Monica

Burkart Farm carries sweet Wickson plums – a rare green variety with honey flesh in addition to several varieties of organic peaches, plums, nectarines and pluots – next week – gogi berries.  Wednesday Santa Monica; Tuesday Culver City; Saturday Torrance; Sunday Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Palos Verdes.

Adams Olives is a 5th generation ranch that features select harvested olive varieties.  The early Manzanillas make the “Sicilian Style” oil that has a peppery flavor, and the later more mature olives are buttery smooth.  At many LA markets

Beautiful heads of young Tat Soi – an Asian spinach-like green from Windrose Farm.  Wednesday Santa Monica

 

Joe Schaner helps out at the family stand at the Wednesday Santa Monica Market.  The Schaners sell a variety of produce including free range eggs, garlic, shallots, citrus and avocados.  Wednesday Santa Monica

 

Gorgeous field flowers from McGrath Family Farm.  Wednesday Santa Monica; Saturday Calabasas, Moorpark, Santa Barbara; Sunday Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Ojai.  McGrath Family Farm sells many greens, veggies and strawberries, and is Certified Organic.

Huckleberry pastry chef extraordinaire Zoe Nathan and Rustic Canyon Executive Chef Evan Funke share a moment at the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers Market.  Huckleberry is Rustic Canyon’s deliciously creative spinoff – catch the pastry carts rolling back and forth between restaurants – especially around dinner time!

 

Diminutive “champagne grapes” from Scott Farm – so tiny they must be nibbled right off the stem.  They dry into sweet Zante currants – but who can wait that long?  Scott Farm also has Black Emerald and Red Flame grapes, along with many varieties of peaches, plums and nectarines.  Wednesday Santa Monica, Westchester; Saturday Westwood; Sunday Mar Vista

 

Fresh shell beans from Fairview Gardens Farm from Goleta.  Pale green French flageolet and dark purple Cherokee Trail of Tears (shown) along with red and white “tongue of fire” beans can be cooked in twenty minutes.  Fairview Gardens is certified organic and sells a variety of fruits and vegetables.  Wednesday Santa Monica; Saturday Santa Barbara

 

Flora Bella has bales of garbanzo beans.  Flora Bella sells at Wednesday and Saturday Santa Monica, sometimes Sunday Hollywood.

A few weeks ago on the Market Report, DJ Olsen gave us his recipe for Blood Orange Polenta Cake.  A listener named Tracy made the cake and sent us a picture.  Yum!

Here's the recipe...

Blood Orange Polenta Cake with Honeyed Mascarpone

8 servings
Keeps up to one week, covered, refrigerated

Pan spray
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup coarse ground polenta
2-1/2 tsps baking powder
Pinch of salt
2oz cold unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 Tablespoon whole milk
1/2 tsp orange extract
Zest from 4 blood oranges
2 cups fresh squeezed blood orange juice (8-12 oranges, depending on size and juiciness)
Turkey baster fitted with a needle point

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Pan spray one 10" fluted tart or cake pan with a removable bottom.

2. Sift together flour, polenta, baking powder, salt.

3. Place butter, sugar in bowl of a stand-mixer fitted with a paddle; paddle at slow speed until combined; increase speed to high and paddle until mixture is light and fluffy (8 min).

4. Scrape down sides of work bowl. Return speed to medium-high; add eggs, one at a time, paddling each egg until combined, scraping down sides of work bowl after each addition.

5. Add milk, orange extract, orange zest; paddle until combined.

6. With machine off, add flour mixture; paddle at low speed until just combined and everything is fully incorporated.

7. Pour mixture into prepared pan; use an offset spatula to evenly smooth the top.

8. Place pan on parchment lined half sheet tray; bake 30-45 minutes, rotating pan 180° every 15 minutes to promote even browning, until top of cake is golden brown and springs back to the touch.

9. Meantime, juice the blood oranges; strain juice to remove all pulp; reserve.

10. When cake is done, remove from oven to a cooling rack.

11. Place the tip of the turkey baster into the reserved blood orange juice; fully squeeze the bulb and release it, thereby allowing blood orange juice to be pulled into the baster.

12. With the cake still warm, plunge the needle tip into the top of the cake, near the edge; fully squeeze the bulb to discharge all of the juice into the cake; repeat this process around the perimeter of the cake every inch or so, then into it's middle, in concentric circles, making 20 or so holes in all and utilizing all the juice. Let the cake cool to room temp before serving.

To serve, slice the cake into eight equal sized wedges. Garnish with a good dollop (or quenelle) of honeyed mascarpone, a dusting of powder sugar.

Honeyed Mascarpone

12 oz. mascarpone
1/4 cup sage, orange blossom or wildflower honey (more or less depending on taste)
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
Tiny pinch of salt

1. Combine mascarpone, honey, vanilla, salt in bowl of stand mixer.
2. Whisk at medium speed until combined and lightened.
3. Add cream; whisk med-high speed until combined and mixture has loosened. Add more cream as necessary to loosen further and achieve desired consistency and texture. Chill before serving.

Laura Avery learns how to make a Brussels sprout and shaved fennel coleslaw plus what to do with squash blossoms.   Molly Notarianni from the Michigan farmers market tells us what's fresh in the midwest.  Cat food is contributing to the end of the wild fish population says author Paul Greenberg. You can cook without a cookbook by memorizing some simple ratios says Michael Ruhlman. And cheese lady Laura Werlin tells how grilled cheese came to be.  Eat liver, red meat and butter says primitive diet fan Sally Fallon Morell.  And hear how Jenna Woginrich is living a handmade life while holding a day job. Amelia Saltsman contributes a delicious grilled cheese sandwich gourmet style.  And soul food goes vegan with chef Bryant Terry.  Chef Gale Gand has great ideas for leftover matzoh.

Each week Laura Avery will be blogging from the Santa Monica Farmers Market.  She'll tell us what's fresh in this preview of her Saturday Market Report segment:

On last week's Market Report, DJ Olsen of Lou Wine Bar said that he used a needle point on his baster.  A listener asked us what he meant.  Here's DJ's response:

"Although I referred to it as a needle tip, it's actually called an injector tip or marinade injector tip, and usually is included with any new turkey baster you purchase. The tip screws into the end of the baster. But you could just as well use a chop stick to poke holes in the cake and then pour the blood orange juice in with a small pitcher. The injector tip does help diffuse the juice more quickly however. It's a very common accessory for a turkey baster, by the way, especially the metal ones, stainless and the like."

Find his recipe for Blood Orange Polenta Cake here.

The Market Report has so many goodies every week.  I just love hearing about when listeners try the recipes at home.  They usually put there own spin on it.   Greg at the SippitySup blog recently wrote about Mark Peel's cabbage soup.  

If you've tried a recipe we've talked about on the show, tell us about it.  Send us an email or comment on our website.  There is a new section for comments attached to each show.