marketfan

This is a very brief commercial on behalf of DC Greens's fundraiser Monday. Gather up some friends and let your conviviality (and hunger) serve a good cause . DINE OUT FOR HEALTHY SCHOOLS MONDAY: Monday, October 15 from 4-10 pm EatWellDC area restaurants Grillfish, The Pig, The Heights, Logan Tavern, and The Commissary will donate 15% of the night’s profits to school garden and farm to school programming at DC Greens. Be sure to say DC GREENS when you reserve and/or arrive. DC Greens created and runs our bonus matching program for customers with food stamps and WIC/Senior FMNP coupons at 14&U and Bloomingdale Farmers' Markets. Thank you. (Jeff and I are going to try out The Pig Monday night) Robin

This week at BFM (Sunday, 9-1, First and R NW): Oktoberfest sausages at Painted Hand, North Mt Pasture and Truck Patch Very fresh young GINGER at Mountain View-- Collards at Garner Troeg beer washed Tomme, Austrian style Quark Camembert and Tallegio style Keswick Cheeses Antique and modern apples at Reid: including Jefferson's favorite, spicy Esopus Spitzenburg Silly Kids Creamery (at Keswick: unusual goat cheeses including GACHIS, a great grating cheese that I now prefer to Parm) Shawna's ferments: Hot Sauce, Fermented Salsa and the new Kale Kimchi at Mt View Black- eyed peas, limas, corn at Garner Caramelized onion and goat cheese tar, chocolate cream pie, key lime pie at Whisked And lots of peppers, eggplants, greens, potatoes, sweet potatoes, 15 different kinds of winter squash, tomatoes, onions, green beans, garlic, summer squash, potatoes, carrots, fennel, salad greens, radishes, apple and apple grape cider, melons, grapes etc. Chef: Demo this week: Ibti Vincent: pasta and greens. 10:30-12

Young Ginger Fans, Mountain View Farms has their first crop of young ginger today at Bloomingdale Farmers Market (Sunday 9-1), 14&U (Saturday 9-1) and Penn Quarter (Thursday, 3-7). Short season, VERY time consuming to grow, so very few farmers bother. And yes, it is SO much better than the older stuff we find in grocery stores.

Mushroom fans, TakomaMushroons has local foraged chanterelles , Porcinis and Reishi for tea at the stand today Aug 4 along with their beautiful oyster shrooms. Dog Day Specials today include: *one day sale on all Dolcezza gelato *pie raffle at Whisked! *sale on French breakfast pastries at Panorama *lois' chocolate whoopsie pies with peanut butter icing at Pecan Meadow *2 cooking demo *Listen Local First Musicians 10-1 Evey stand is full of heirloom tomatoes and garner is running a box sale on tomato seconds for sauce etc: 25 pounds/15 dollars. Along with their peaches, plums, berries, zest at and other summer apples, Kuhn has tomatillos, cilantro, shallots, French Filet beans, fennel, leeks. McCleaf has purslane. I am in Provence right now and we have been eating purslane in salads at every dinner. It is wonderful with frisée or sliced tomatoes or shaved fennel salads. Pecan Meadow has a full inventory of their half Piedmontese grass fed and finished beef plus goat, lamb, rabbit,chicken , guinea hen, duck, duck and chicken eggs. Truck Patch is pork central for all cuts. Chicken, too. Heirloom squash varieties. Mountain View has wonderful Hungarian peppers, fennel, leeks, beets, squash, and Shawna's ferments: this week Dill pickles, Cortido, Salsa.

Chanterelles and porcini and reishi mushrooms (for tea) at Takoma Mushrooms Saturday 9-1 Aug 4th at 14&U fm along with their excellent oyster mushrooms

Cucumber Sale: Hey, Picklers, Cucumber muddlers for cocktails, Cucumber fans! McCleaf is running a bulk sale on all his cukes: pickling, slicing, thin- skinned Persians. 10 pounds for $7.50! Saturday, July 21 at 14&U FM, 9-1.

Garner's "mighty fine tomatoes" (as Deangold put it two years ago in this very thread) are on sale Saturday (and Sunday at Bloomingdale FM). 25 pound box of "blood red" Primo Reds for just $20 -- less than 1 dollar a pound. And great for sauces, gazpacho, blood mary parties, etc. Email Bernard to reserve at wbboylejr@gmail.com AND BE SURE TO SPECIFY THE PICKUP: EITHER 14&U SATURDAY OR BLOOMINGDALE SUNDAY. Purslane: or Portulaca or Verdolagas at McCleaf, Plantmasters and Pecan Meadow are a citrusy, succulent hot weather salad green very popular in Mexico, Greece and Southern Italy. Takoma Mushrooms: Pink, Gold, Blue and Gray oyster mushrooms. I have been sauteeing a pound every week and they are delicious and tender and make a wonderful brouillade. Joe and Sarah who grow them like to saute them with zucchini. Heirloom Tomatoes are in this week at Truck Patch and McCleaf and Mountain View. Look for Mortgage Lifter, Brandy Boy, Green Zebra, Scarlet Red, Cherokee purple, jetsetter, Carolina Gold, Mr. Stripey, Biltmore, Sun Cherry, Sweet 100, Sun Gold, Black Cherry, Golden Treasure, Stupice. Mountain View has Czech heirlooms. Cucumbers are in abundance this week. Peppers are as well...Eggplants... Squash. In fact, ratatouille would be perfect. Robin

More Mushrooms this week: Sarah and Joe at Takoma Mushroom now have three different oyster mushrooms at the stand (which moves this week to the spot next to Garner, still on the U Street side,but closer to the corner.) The goldens were ethereal and the grays have a shrimpy taste. The new one Sarah called Steel Blue and i have not tasted it yet but I will Saturday night after market. They have been selling out by noon, so come early for a good selection. Purslane/Verdolagas: The farmers are amazed that anyone eats "those weeds" but were delighted last week when one of our Mexican customers snatched up everything McCleaf had on the table. I am waging a Purslane Campaign so please come by and buy some so that they keep bringing them. I first had purslane about 16 years ago when an italian friend plucked it out of my garden in Quinson and told me how she and her ex husband used them as their only salads every summer on a small island in Southern italy. They do have a lemony flavor and I like them with tomatoes and cucumbers in a vinaigrette or yogurt dressing. Paula Wolfert has a Damascus Summer Salad with Purslane, a Thracian salad with purslane, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives and arugula and a spicy Gaziantep Summer Salad with parsley, tomatoes, green pepper, sumac and lemon and olive oil. Gourmet does a grilled zucchini salad with purslane and tomatoes in a mustard vinaigrette. Mexicans make Verdolagas with Potatoes in Green Salsa. Vongerichten does a Purslane Frittata and Chef Todd Humphries combines baby golden and Chioggia Beets with purslane and Tarragon Vinaigrette. Hope that makes you curious about this wild green. Also new this week: Panorama is introducing a Garlic Pamesan baguette and a Kalamata Olive baguette. Garner will be Melon Central with three kinds of watermelons, muskmelons and cantaloups. Truck Patch is heirlooms squash center. I am totally charmed by the Costata Romanescos whose deep ridges turn out green sprockets when they are sliced. I am interested in trying the new Magda variety that Bryan says is nutty. Mountain View has fabulous Hungarian peppers because Attila is a pepper whisperer. Lots of peaches, plum, berries, currants, summer apples, corn, heirloom tomatoes, eggplant, beans, cucumbers, chards, kales, okra, potatoes...

MUSHROOMS come to 14&U FM. (At last) Takoma Mushrooms, a new hyperlocal mushroom grower, joins the market on Saturday. Please come by (they will be on the U Street side between McCleaf and Mountain View) and see them. Be sure to try the "grey doves" which are described as having a sweet, shrimp-like flavor. Let me introduce Joe and Sarah. Although he is a physicist and she is a lawyer, their greatest passion is for mushrooms. When I first met them, their mushroom house was in Shaw, just a few blocks away. But they realized that the space they needed was, shall we say, mushrooming... so they moved to Takoma Park where they rebuilt a much larger mushroom house. That is why they were not able to join us in May when we opened for the season. That is the big news of the week and I hope every one of you will stop at our new mushroom stand, Takoma Mushrooms. This week it is on the U Street side of the market between Mountan View and McCleaf. Date: Saturday 9-1 Place: 14th and U Streets NW Other news this week: baby artichokes and yellow nectarines at Kuhn's Orchards plus fennel and leeks and French shallots. Jam makers: they are running a sale on flats of blueberries (12 pints) plus berry specials on gooseberries, currants, raspberries. Garner has bushels of yellow sweet corn, hot and sweet peppers, eggplants, the best cucumbers (sweet,stubby salt and pepper cukes), squash flowers, 6 varieties of squash, kales, chard, Whisked: Jenna is making cherry pies for July 4th picnics and sweet corn, cheddar and Jalapeno quiche because she was so inspired by Garner's bushels of corn last week. Her 6 inch pies are perfect for two (or one very hungry guy) but she has larger pies for the festivities as well. They are just not on the table but in the cooler. Ask her. McCleaf: Blueberries raspberries, blackberries, yellow and white peaches, lettuces, currants, kales, apples. Fuji apple juice (nice on a HOT DAY) Pecan Meadow: Hamburger and ground beef central for the holiday. Lots of steaks. Chickens. Duck. Lamb. Goat Eggs (chicken, duck, goose). Truck Patch: How about some pastured pork on the grill? Every cut of pork you can imagine and all the sausages as well. I made spice -rubbed ribs again the other night, cooked low and slow and then crisped. Delicious. Eggs (and maybe the Turkey breasts will be back this week). Arugula. Baby Chard. Spinach. Red and White Spring Onions. Kales. Mountain View: Pickled Spicy Garlic Scapes, Kimchi, Attila's Hungarian peppers, beets, cucumbes, chard, kale, lettuce, summer squash, mustards, tomatoes..carrots. turnips. fennel. Kimchi and hot dogs (meat or faux) are a classic mix. Panorama: More croissants, more baguettes, more rolls for July 4th picnics. Plus all the other breads Cherry Glen: Provencal style Chevre, ricotta, semi aged soft rounds of brie like Monocracies in Silver, Ash and Chipotle. Crottins. Dolcezza: Perfect for a hot day. New flavors include: honey lavender and chocolate mint plus all your favorites. See you Saturday. Come early if it is hot. Visit Takoma Mushrooms and talk to Joe and Sarah. Robin

14&U Farmers' Market reopens Saturday May 5 at 9 am with 8 different varieties of strawberries and lots of asparagus, both green and purple. My favorite variety is Earliglo, a small berry with a sweet wonderful flavor that reminds me of French wild strawberries. Great flavor and short shelf life, the very example of a variety that you will never find in a supermarket. It does not ship well and you should eat it soon. I try to eat mine within 24 hours because refrigeration is not ideal for it. If you want berries that are less delicate, there will be Chandlers and Dar Selects and Ovation and Jewel. Of course the market will be full of greens and salads and arugula and roots - radishes and Hakurei turnips and many varieties of baby beets with their greens. But there will also be Kohlrabi and maybe sugar snap peas. Cherry Glen Goat Cheese will be at market. It is no longer at Mt Pleasant so we are the only DC market (Takoma on Sundays) for their chevre, ricotta, crottins and declensions of Monocracy, soft ripened with ash, chipotle and two other variations. Whisked is bringing strawberry cream pies, spinach-basil quiche, a blue cheese onion tart and their favorite cookies. One bite of Jenna's crackerjacks "whisked' me right back to childhood at a Saturday Matinee. Turtle bars, lemon bars, too. Duck eggs, goose eggs and chicken eggs at Pecan Meadow along with their pastured goat, lamb, half piedmontese beef, rabbit. Truck Patch has taken the Turkey plunge and decided not to wait for Thanksgiving. Bryan is convinced that Turkey is the best of fowl and he has ground and boneless Turkey breasts as well as his pastured pork, now foraging in the lower 40 of his farm. He is very enthusiastic about his St Louis ribs, btw. Meatier and fatter than baby backs. lots more but come see.

The menu is mostly the same and all remains in the small plate format but they have added pork belly (and two other things I have forgotten.) The main diff is that there are nightly small plate specials: last night there was a porchetta terrine style with red cabbage and hearty mustard -- a very nice piece for 15 dollars. A satisfying portion. Another special were two large sea scallops on a small plate of cloud- like sunchoke mousse. And two slices of guanciale. I think that was 15 but again, it was a good portion. And for 10 dollars, there were pork dumplings that I did not see or have. So, I think the new dishes are in line with the prices. And the portions were good small plate portions.

Rob Weland is rocking some great specials at Cork. I have had three so far - all very special. The pork belly has hit the regular menu already.Tonight I tried the seared sea scallop special on a cloud of sunchoke mousse. Wow. The scallop was perfectly seared and deiicate -- sweet and so was the sunchoke. A thin jagger of crisp guanciale cut through both of them. Very sophisticated and one of the best dishes I had had all year. In contrast, the porchetta is a terrine porchetta -- rustic on a bed of red cabbage with a dollop of hearty mustard. Also good. NIce combo in fact. Rabbit will appear soon because Rob is buying some from Pecan Meadow on Saturday. Can't wait to see what comes of that. The prices are reasonable for what you get.

U Street has some great food but we are also about to be inundated with some local chains like Matchbox and Orange and Black burgers. As a long time resident (since 1988), I wish we just attracted individual restos like Cork and Estadio and Pearl Dive and Bar Pilar, etc. Everyone wants to be on 14th Street now, including local chains. And I am heart sick that the iconic building on the NE corner of 14th and U became a Subway and a doughnut shop We have been waiting YEARS for that to attract an incredible restaurant. Very disappointing.

Looking forward to your Turkish inspirations, Ferhat. My husband is back on Sunday, we will be in this week and he will spread the word at the Philosophy and IPST Depts at UMD. Robin

Three of us had 4 dfferent Washington State oysters Wed night and a split a one pound bowl of mussels. Superb.I have had oysters here 4 or 5 times. I recently compared to my old fave, Hank's. These are definitely better.

If you are going to shop this week, please do it Wednesday at Whole Foods. Why? We are trying to raise 20,000 dollars for matching the value of food stamp, WIC and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program coupons at 14&U and 4 other farmers market. Whole Foods will donate 5 % of all sales tomorrow Wednesday the 14th at their P Street and Gtown stores to double our food assistance programs We would love it if you stocked up for the holidays tomorrow -- wreaths, olive oil, large rounds of cheese, cases of wine or beer, flour, nuts, avocados, pineapples, pomegranates, -- everything counts. But whether you need a bag of oranges or a big shop, please do it tomorrow when it will help low income families buy twice as many fruits and vegetables at the markets in 2012. We have put together an exciting lineup of local chefs doing in-store cooking demos throughout the day, including John Melfi of Blue Duck Tavern, Peter Smith & Gina Chersevani of PS7 (of course she is making a cocktail), Jinny Fleishman of Company's Coming and Ris LaCoste of Ris. For a complete listing of chefs and the demo schedule, check out the DC Greens events page. http://dcgreens.org/events Please spread the word. Thank you. Robin

I am posting this from the Mt Pleasant Email written by the Director, Rebbie Higgins. Dear Mt Pleasant Far Mar Friends, The non-profit school gardens dcgreens.org is taking us under their wing to increase the number of farmers’ markets offering double dollars on food assistance programs like food stamps (aka EBT, aka SNAP), WIC (Women, Infant, Children) and Senior FMNP (Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program). Overcoming the technical obstacles to the use of food assistance programs at farmers’ markets has been the first step, but we’re finding nationwide that the real difference in healthy foods getting to low income families is when double dollars are offered on site. So they got Whole Foods to offer one of their 5% days at both the P Street and the Wisconsin Ave store. That’s a real coup! And you can support this effort…effortlessly, by doing a little pantry stocking Wednesday, December 14th: any shopping you do at Whole Foods will translate into a substantial donation to DC Greens. Not sure what to buy? Here are some ideas from our handy dandy Pantry List: http://mtpfm.com/pantry-shopping-list/ A miniature potted rosemary – that’ll work as a Xmas tree too! A year’s worth of olive oil An enormous wheel of raclette cheese to melt at the table with friends Wine, sake, plum wine, cider, beer A year of yummy Ayurdevic toothpaste and sustainably made toothbrushes Presents! Amaryllis bulbs, bath salts, bamboo cutting board, salad tongs, sushi making kit Sustainably caught shrimp Avocados If you’re looking for some culinary inspiration, there’s an exciting lineup of local chefs doing in-store cooking demos throughout the day, including John Melfi of Blue Duck Tavern, Peter Smith & Gina Chersevani of PS7 (ask about her cocktails, oh man), and Ris LaCoste of Ris. For a complete listing of chefs and the demo schedule, check out the http://dcgreens.org/eventsDC Greens events page. Please bring your own bags for shopping. Yours Truly, Mrs. Higgins

Last market of 2011. And we have Joe Yonan cooking up Miso Pork and Sweet Potato from his book, Serve Yourself: Nightly Adventures in Cooking For One. 11-noon. I had the pleasure of testing 10 recipes for the book and I think the recipes all have a interesting creative twist to them. I recommend it. If you are looking for a heritage turkey, Pecan Meadow has Narragansetts. I roasted a small one two weeks ago because I did not know the breed and I liked it. Very deep turkey flavor. Dry brined it for several days. Truck Patch and North Mt Pastures have white broad breasted gobblers raised properly on pasture and bugs. If you are a turkey hater, Pecan Meadow has: guinea fowl, chicken,goose, rabbit, duck, goat,lamb and their half Piedmontese beef. Truck Patch has every cut of pork and variety meat including fatback, lard, jowls, tails, hocks as well as the more common ribs, chops, roasts, sausages. Sales: Kuhn and McCleaf have been offering half bushel boxes of apples at steep discounts. Both have significant sales on onions and shallots. Garner has 25 pound boxes of sweet potatoes for 15 bucks. Kuhn has wonderful flavorful European and heirloom winter squash half price. Lots of all the cold sweetened greens, arugula, mesclun, salad greens, Hayman White Sweet Potatoes (and all the others as well) horse radish, chestnuts, freshly dried black, white and October beans. Green beans. Cauliflowe in three colors, broccoli and fractal Romanesco. brussels sprouts, potatoes, turnips, various cabbages, bok choy, daikons, field cress, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Carrots . Sunchokes. beets. Garlic. Cilantro. At least 20 apple varieties. Pears, European and Asian. Kimchi, sauerkraut, Gingered Carrots, Spicy beans - all lacto fermented. Beautiful jars of single variety heirloom tomatoes at Truck Patch. Honey. jams. jellies. Apple and pumpkin butters, ciders. Indian cornmeal, Indian popcorn, Decorative gourds, broom corn Desserts: Whisked's pumpkin pie, Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Pie, Apple Pie, Chicken Pot Pie , Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Pie plus all their loaves, cookies, handpies and brownies. Lois has pumpkin whoopie pies from their own pumpkins, apple pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pie... Pastas and Soups and Jams: 2 new jams from Copper Pot to complement the feast: Quince and cinnamon, prune and mulling spices. Soups are Cauliflower and trufflel, Butternut Squash, Confit Sunchoke. Pastas: duck ravioli, rabbit ravioli, oxtail tortellini, cheese and truffle tortellini. i like the idea of starting with his maple roasted pumpkin ravioli or pear ricotta ravioli. Potato gnocchi. It is going to be cold at the beginning of the market. We will reward hardy souls with hot cider. Robin

Week of November 15, 2011 jeow dtap bpet crispy pork / duck liver / shrimp paste yaam het pet mushroom / cured egg / lime laap pla duk catfish / shallots / chiles khao tod fermented cabbage / lime leaf / peanuts sai oua pork sausage / kaffir / basil jin tup beef / charred & hammered kaeng hung lay pork rib / tamarind / ginger $45 As you can see, the menu has changed a bit from last week and it will continue to change every week. Jill told me that they will have one or two new dishes every week. I had dinner there alone at the bar tonight and I can testify that it is a pleasant place to be a solo diner. And the staff is friendly and knowledgeable. I was so enchanted by the dishes that I did not even want to talk to anyone. I just wanted to sit there, slowly eating and marveling at the complexity of the many layers of flavor.--and textures. And the length of those flavors. They make all their own spice pastes and sauces including the fish sauce. I think I have been ruined for any local Thai restaurant I know. The hammered beef is made with a Texan Wagyu beef. The new pork rib is so flavorful and tender that I munched the bone right down to nothing. Some of it is spicy but the side platter of cooling cabbage, cucumber, eggplant, cabbage and lettuce provided good interludes as did making little balls of sticky rice. Definitely eat with your (right) fingers food. I liked it all and right now I don't have any favorites but the rice salad pad- like dish was the most interesting interplay of textures and flavors ---perhaps. On the other hand, I am still thinking about the pork sausage made with kaffir leaf, each slice you eat with a leaf of Thai basil. Very exciting food.

Yes, Ms or Mr Charcutier can email me and I can tell them about various markets.

Potato Sale : -- Snow Bear's field were crushed by the storm last week and this is their last week this season so they are bringing ALL their beautiful organic spuds and putting them on sale. Romanz, Banana, Fingerlings, Norlands, Rose Finn What else is new at market? What's new at the market ( just 3 more weeks left!): *Firewood (dry and seasoned), field cress and white hayman sweet potatoes at Garner * Brussels Sprouts at Garner, Snow Bear and Truck Patch.(roast, don't boil them, please please please) *Green Tomatoes for fried green tomatoes and chutneys. * Real Italian Meatballs, Braised Beef Cheeks, Cauliflower-truffle soup, Ham & Parm Tortellini, Fall Ratatouille at Copper Pot * Sunchokes, freshly harvested, at Painted Hand. *REID back after the snowstorm buried their trucks Time to Order your Turkeys from Truck Patch or North Mt Pastures. Sign up at their stands. REID's ORCHARD: 20 different varieties of Heirloom and popular apples, wonderful ciders, unusual fruit butters and jams. And a great sale on half bushel boxes of apples-- email in advance to reserve one. ( I gave out a half bushel of small galas to the trick or treaters and everyone loved them.) SNOW BEAR: Cabbages, garlic, brussels sprouts, carrots, parsley root, broccoli, broccoli leaves, celeriac (celery root), beets (without leaves), kohlrabi, spinach, kale. LOTS of potatoes and carrots! Huge sale on spuds-- 1.50/pound TRUCK PATCH: Bryan had a fair amount of snow Sunday and that has affected the quantity of harvest so come early for those terrific arugula greens. The cauliflowers are thriving: white and cheddar, broccoli, romanesco. Arugula, mesclun, spinach, salad greens, chard, kales, acorn and butternut squash. Cilantro, Italian Parsley and green tomatoes. Reserve your turkeys! Thanksgiving is coming. Reserve one of their pastured, white, broad- breasted Turkeys that have been roaming their fields, eating grubs for the last few months. Besides their famous- and -much- appreciated- by -local -restaurants- pork, ie the tenderloins and shoulder roasts and chops and steaks and bacons and sausages of all kinds, TP has all the tasty variety meats (tender, rich jowls, feet, neck, lard, fatback, etc). EGGS from pastured chickens. Reserve your Thanksgiving Turkeys at order@truckpatchfarms.com COPPER POT: maple roasted butternut squash tortellini, sweet potato gnocchi, oxtail tortellini, ravioli (duck, rabbit). spinach and ricotta ravioli, red beets and ricotta ravioli. Jam: apricot and rosemary, peach and prosecco, strawberry-vanilla, wonderful sauces and the changing soups of the week. Meatballs( real Italian), Cauliflower and truffle soup, Braised Beef cheeks (oh, yum. yum) GARNER: COLLARDS. Broccoli. Fry up some of his green tomatoes. Cook up his vitamin greens. Plus beets, spinach, arugula, mustard greens, turnip greens, Japanese mustard/vitamin greens, leaf lettuce, Swiss Chard, baby turnips, lots of winter squash ( acorn, butternut, spaghetti, carnival, festival), Gold potatoes, sweet potatoes. green tomatoes for frying and pickling. Lima beans October beans, white beans, black beans. No freeze yet so there will still be red field tomatoes, peppers. Sweet Potato Butter, pumpkin butter, red pepper jelly. PAINTED HAND: All cuts of rose veal and goat. Sunchokes freshly harvested Saturday afternoon before Sandy packs the truck for market. Eggs. KESWICK CREAMERY: Cheddar and Leshers go VERY well with Reid's apples. 15 cheeses. All handmade from their closed herd of Jersey cows. PANORAMA ARTISANAL BAKERY: French Baguette. Pumpernickel, more whole wheat, regular baguettes croissants, more sliced multi grains, more brioches, more poppy seed and sesame seed boule.... NORTH MOUNTAIN PASTURES: Reserve your Thanksgiving Turkey. Come early for Eggs. Cured meats. Sauerkraut and other fermented pickles.

14&U Farmers Market this Saturday -- last 3 weeks of market for 2011 A huge, huge thanks to everyone who braved the cold, miserable rain we had last week! I am looking forward to sun this Saturday but as you know and have seen more than once this year: we are there for you in sun or shine, rain or sleet, hot or cold. I want to talk about EGGS this week because I was emailing with Lois Stark (Pecan Meadow) about what she likes to do with her farm's eggs and also because my husband (working in Vienna this semester and cooking on his own) is trying to graduate from scrambled eggs to the Jacques Pepin golden French omelet from the New York Times two weeks ago. I am coaching from DC. So Eggs are on my mind. I saw a beautiful onion tart recipe yesterday from Jean Georges that I just posted to fb. It is a variation on an onion quiche - Here is what I have been doing. Mixed them with sauteed grated butternut squash and onion and cooked slowly into an ochre-colored frittata. Scrambled them with chopped parsley, chives and tarragon. Went French and made a creamy, delicate brouillade: cooked the scrambled eggs very slowly, stirring, in a pan over a pot of simmering water, It is always a revelation of what a scrambled egg can be and it is just a few minutes longer. Worth the wait. You cannot make crepes without eggs and I was trained in the Richard Olney school of crepes where you use very little flour to a lot of eggs. Jose Andres Spanish Tortilla with potato chips. Here is Lois' list: of rustic Pennsylvania egg dishes. *egg casseroles: any of the various breakfast type dishes that are mixed and baked, consisting mainly of eggs, bread, milk cheese and a meat (sausage, ham, bacon) in many variations. (I would add that they can be made easily meatless) *Cornstarch Pudding: homemade vanilla pudding thickened with cornstarch *Red Beet eggs -- peeled hardboiled eggs are soaked in pickled red beet juice ( go over to Mt View or North Mt Pastures) for several hours until the eggs are red on the outside. When cut in half, they look very colorful with a red ring, white and yellow/orange yolk. *Poached eggs *Creamed eggs over toast *Eggnog *Egg salad sandwiches for a quick lunch (on Pano whole wheat?) And here is MY hard boiled egg secret....because everyone wants to know how long to hard boil eggs and I have hated over-boiled eggs ever since I was a college student who had to peel hundreds of eggs after plucking them one by one from huge bowls of ice cold water -- at 6 am. Instant kitchen frost bite. They were15 minute eggs. No problems peeling them but they tasted like concrete. Start the eggs in cold water in a small pot, heat on a high flame until they boil, cover immediately and turn off the heat. Let the eggs sit in the hot water under the cover for 8 minutes. This gives me a hard boiled egg but the center is a little moist. Not soft, not runny but with good moisture. If you like it drier, try 9 or 10 minutes... never more than that. Try a couple of eggs. Pull one out at 8 minutes, one at 9 and one at 10. Crack and plunge into a bowl of cold water to make it easier to peel. I am sure we can all dispute this method! One day I will get a sous vide something and try it that way but for now, this is foolproof for me. We have great pastured eggs from chickens that run free at our two main producers: Pecan Meadow and Truck Patch and a few dozen every week at Plantmasters. What's new at the market *Firewood (dry and seasoned), field cress and white hayman sweet potatoes at Garner * *Freshly dug horse radish, pink lady apples at Kuhn. Time for roast beef or hanger steak with horse radish cream, no? * Jonagold Applesauce and spiced Apple Butter, chestnuts and sunchokes at Kuhn *Pumpkin Rolls at Pecan Meadow-- an inside out version of her famous pumpkin whoopie pie * Brussels Sprouts at Garner and we hope at Truck Patch. * *Green Tomatoes everywhere for fried green tomatoes and chutneys. * *Guinea Fowl ( Pintade in France) and Narragansett heritage turkeys -- a few early birds (ouch). * Sales on bags of red onions or shallots at Kuhn-- Half Price on heirloom pumpkins last hour of the market. She has all kinds of European and heritage varieties. * BIG Sales on half bushel boxes of apples or pears at Kuhn (sidkuhnorch@gmail.com) and McCleaf -- but you have to order in advance (mccleafsorchard@embarqmail.com) * Paper Whites at Plantmasters * Real Italian Meatballs, Braised Beef Cheeks, Caulflower-truffle soup, Ham & Parm Tortellini, Fall Ratatouille at Copper Pot * ROSE VEAL at Mountain View *Breaking News: Apples, Pears, Cauliflower (and cukes) are not just delicious -- they lower the risk of stroke My link Need winter squash cooking inspiration? April McGreger waxed eloquent in Grist last year: "By far the tastiest method for cooking winter squash is to roast it in big chunks that have been tossed with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. Roasting the pumpkin slightly caramelizes it and gives it an amazing depth of flavor that I find totally addictive. You can then use the roasted pumpkin in many different ways. I love big chunks of it on top of a salad of spicy mixed greens and hazelnuts, walnuts, or pecans. Many other cultures have explored the savory possibilities of winter squash with much greater depth." "In the Mediterranean, they make a lovely autumnal hummus of roasted pumpkin and tahini. The French love their pumpkin gratins; the Italians, their pumpkin risottos and ravioli. In Mexico, they make a delicious raw sugar roasted pumpkin very similar to Southern candied yams. I particularly love pumpkin when its sweetness is countered with a bit of spice, such as the savory tarts that I make with pumpkin and a spicy Indian tomato chutney and the agrodolce (sweet-sour) pumpkin from Mario Batali." MOUNTAIN VIEW: Certified Organic, and farmed on an environmental reserve in Loudoun County. Celeriac for making a classic French celery root salad or adding to soups and stews. White Haven Sweet Potato which are wonderful baking potatoes. Daikon. Did you know that Daikon is common in Indian curries? (I didn't) Tons of Salad greens, arugula, braising greens, kales, mustards, collards sweetened by the frost, beets, carrots, Hakurei turnips, potatoes, Unusual varieties of winter squash like the golden and edible skin Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato Squash and a gorgeous Japanese variety that looks like an ancient Japanese ceramic. Light Green Goose neck gourds. WHISKED: Cool weather comfort food is their theme this week. Scalloped Potato Tarts with Asiago cheese, onions and fresh herbs, Pear and Vanilla Bean Pie, Chicken Pot Pie. The Apple Blue Cheese and Walnut Loaf tastes like your very own cheese plate in a breakfast loaf, Pumpkin Cranberry Loaf, Pumpkin Coffee Cake. The tarts make perfect cool weather meals without the messy clean up. THE ORCHARDS: Kuhn and McCleaf: Between them more than 20 varieties of apples, pears! Lots of cider. Sweet potatoes. Sweet and Spicy onions. Canned peaches in water (sugar free) or light sugar syrup. And a huge variety of Fall and Winter Squash. Kales, Jams ,Jellies, Dried Apples. Tomatoes Cherry Tomatoes. TIP: Cider Glazed root veggies. Melt some butter (or butter and olive oil) in a large pan or pot. Add 2 pounds of roughly chopped parsnips, carrots, turnips, onions and coat them with the butter. Then add about a cup of cider. Cover, cook until veggies are tender. Uncover and turn up the heat so that the liquid reduces to a delicious glaze. Serve. You can sprinkle with a sweet spice like cinnamon or nutmeg. Variant: I like to flavor the liquid with half of a star anise in the pot with the veggies. Or a whole uncut hot pepper to add a whisper of heat under that cider. TRUCK PATCH: Bryan had a fair amount of snow Sunday and that has affected the quantity of harvest so come early for those terrific arugula greens. I buy a huge bag and eat some kind of arugula salad for lunch all week long. It stays very fresh. The cauliflowers are thriving: white and cheddar, broccoli, romanesco. Arugula, mesclun, spinach, salad greens, chard, kales, acorn and butternut squash. Cilantro, Italian Parsley and green tomatoes. Reserve your turkeys! Thanksgiving is coming. Reserve one of their pastured, white, broad- breasted Turkeys that have been roaming their fields, eating grubs for the last few months. Besides their famous- and -much- appreciated- by -local -restaurants- pork, ie the tenderloins and shoulder roasts and chops and steaks and bacons and sausages of all kinds, TP has all the tasty variety meats (tender, rich jowls, feet, neck, lard, fatback, etc). EGGS from pastured chickens. I have fallen in love with pork jowls after my French butcher ( actually, it is a Triperie, so a specialized butcher in variety meats) gave me his recipe. He bakes it in a low oven on a bed of chopped leeks and carrots. I added port- soaked figs for the last half hour. Really good. Pre-order chickens and Thanksgiving Turkeys at order@truckpatchfarms.com COPPER POT: maple roasted butternut squash tortellini, sweet potato gnocchi, oxtail tortellini, ravioli (duck, rabbit). spinach and ricotta ravioli, red beets and ricotta ravioli. Jam: apricot and rosemary, peach and prosecco, strawberry-vanilla, wonderful sauces and the changing soups of the week. Meatballs( real Italian), Cauliflower and truffle soup, Braised Beef cheeks (oh, yum. yum) PLANTMASTERS: Thanks to their new hoop house, they still have brilliant blue Mexican Sage (and lilies that will be ready for next week). Red and Orange Ilex, bittersweet, red twig Dogwood and pussy willow branches. Paper white Narcissus gardens for indoors The ornamental cabbages and kales look spectacular. You can see them on the fb page Friday. They have developed very deep, rich colors. PECAN MEADOW FARM: Free running chickens produced their beautiful brown eggs fed on organic grains. Italian beef sausages. meadow- pastured lamb and 100% grass- fed, grass- finished, Piedmontese- American cows with very beefy flavor. Steaks. Eye Round, Chuck and Arm make easy- to -cook, slow roasts for these cooler nights. Ground Beef, Hamburger Patties, Bones, kidneys, tongue. Chicken Liver, Heart and gizzards for humans and dogs! Goose, Duck and those great Italian breeds of chickens. Goat, duck (whole, breasts, legs), mallard duck, chicken (whole or parts), goose, rabbit, Baked and Snacks: Ryan's own roasted, and ground Indian Corn meal........ Lois' Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, Apple Pies, Pumpkin Bread. and Dried Honey Crisp Apples. Reserve a Narragansett heritage turkey ( $6/pound) at: Email: bluemeadowbeef@juno.com or call: 717 423 5365 GARNER: COLLARDS. Broccoli. Fry up some of his green tomatoes. Cook up his tender greens. Plus beets, spinach, arugula, mustard greens, turnip greens, Japanese mustard/vitamin greens, leaf lettuce, Swiss Chard, baby turnips, lots of winter squash ( acorn, butternut, spaghetti, carnival, festival), Gold potatoes, sweet potatoes. green tomatoes for frying and pickling. Lima beans October beans, white beans, black beans. No freeze yet so there will still be red field tomatoes, peppers. Sweet Potato Butter, pumpkin butter, red pepper jelly. CHERRY GLEN GOAT CHEESE: Chevre, ricotta and brie like, soft ripened cheeses like the 2010 Blue Ribbon Chipotle. PANORAMA ARTISANAL BAKERY: French Baguette. Pumpernickel, more whole wheat, regular baguettes croissants, more sliced multi grains, more brioches, more poppy seed and sesame seed boule.... NORTH MOUNTAIN PASTURES: Reserve your turkey, cured meats, Weisswort, sauerkraut and fermented pickles, bacons, tessa. We Welcome Wic and Senior Get Fresh Checks and SNAP/EBT Food Stamps. We donate crates of food every week to Martha's Table, our gleaning partner.

The tongue sandwich is very good; forgot the name.

Dear lovers of good meats: If you miss New Asbury's tender, young Loudoun County Meadow Lamb, they will be at BFM Sunday from 10-2. This will be your only chance to stock up until November 20 because their herd is VERY small this year. Sandy's humanely raised rose veal and goat is back this Sunday as well at Painted Hand-- scallopine, osso bucco, loin chops. Truck Patch has Eggs. Pork: tenderloins, pork chops, pork steak, shoulder butt, boneless shoulder roast, bone-in and boneless loin roasts, smoked bacon, sliced and slab, fresh slab bacon, uncured hotdogs, amber hams, smoked ham slices, and a variety of sausages – Sage in ropes, loose and little links, Hot Italian ropes, Maple little links, Sweet Italian, Bratwurst and Applewurst. Pig feet, tails and hocks, fat back, lard, salt pork, fresh and smoked jowl. Spare ribs and country ribs. Beef: a little liver, soup and dog bones, sweet bologna. Reid's Cider is back ! Regular and UV-treated apple cider, Apple/Grape and Pure Pear cider. Red Bartletts and Asian Pears. and New apples: Jonathan, Fuji, and Elstar; Honeycrisp, Gala, Gold Supreme, Ginger Gold, Smokehouse, McIntosh, Jonamac, and Cox Orange Pippin. Seedless and Concord grapes, yellow and white peaches, yellow nectarines, blue Italian plums, pluots. Apple butter, pumpkin butter and jams. Lots of great Fall and Late Summer vegetables, Keswick Cheeses, Dolcezza, North Mt Pastures fermented pickles and cured meats and Copper Pot Pastas, too Sunday Bloomingdale FM 10-2 First and R NW Robin

Buying a whole or half animal is a great way to save money on a producer's meat you like. And you can split the orders with friends or family. When I was growing up, my mother bought half a side of beef every year. It made a huge difference in price at a time when we ate a lot of beef (4 kids) and money was tight.. I loved riffling through the shelves of our stand up freezer at flat, wrapped butcher papered cuts with the names of the cuts written in black magic marker. It was exciting to unwrap the package and find a chuck steak or a tri-tip or some other name that we grilled or pot roasted (Jewish family=lots of pot roasts.) Vacuum packing does not have quite the same romance. New Asbury Farm has been selling whole (60 pounds) and half (25-30 pounds) of their excellent, young, tender and meadow raised Loudoun County lambs for about a year now. Butchered into cuts of your choice. Pick up in the summer and Fall at Bloomingale Farmers Market. (They come into town once or twice in the winter and have different pick up sites) ket) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear loyal DC lamb customers, We are sending 4 lambs to the processor this week for delivery at Bloomingdale on September 18th! We will do our best to put a Whole or Half Lamb package together for you (Whole 50-60 lbs @ $9 per lb or Half 25-30 lbs @ $10 per lb). You can split the order among friends and family, if you like. Choose your cuts or email Joan to discuss. Email: info AT newasburyfarm DOT com We will not have any Whole Legs, Whole Shoulders, or Italian Sausage this time. Please order from the following choices: SHOULDER— Half Bone-in Roast Half Boneless Roast Shoulder/Arm Chops Stew Meat Front Shanks LOIN— Bone-in Roast Boneless Roast Loin Chops RIB— Rack Frenched Rack Rib Chops LEG— Half Bone-in Leg Half Boneless Butterflied Leg Leg Steaks Leg Kabobs Rear Shanks OTHER— Ground Lamb Sage Sausage Links ($1.50 extra per lb) Soup Bones ($2 per lb with boneless cuts) Optional Neck Roast Optional Denver Rib Slabs or Riblet Strips Optional Organs See you on September 18th! Bill and Joan Baker New Asbury Farm Email: info AT newasburyfarm DOT com