Kennyz wrote:1. Grapes: just can't buy anything close at the supermarket

For some reason, I've never really paid attention to grapes at farmers' markets, but I'm kind of on a grape kick right now, and this thread inspired me to pick some up at the MCA market this morning. I bought a bunch of seedless Concord grapes from Nichols, and they were a revelation. They were super sweet and made me think immediately of jam but also made me realize right away why I don't like grape jelly/jam. The difference wasn't necessarily degree of sweetness but the type--the grapes today had something like a floral sweetness...the way jam should taste, I thought.

Asparagus. I was an asparagus hater, until I tried picked-that-day asparagus from Michigan. It's pretty damn good and has no asparagus "funk." It's also not a big woody log like the stuff that comes from places better suited to growing citrus and tropical fruit. This is surely one thing I will only eat in season, local.

Tart, thin-skinned varieties of cherries. They either don't exist in other cherry growing places or are too damn hard to ship. Michigan and Wisconsin are lousy with them. See also plums.

Perhaps this doesn't count......we were in San Francisco this past June, we bought some blueberries at the Ferry Building. Wow, I'd never had blueberries that actually burst with blueberry flavor! They were firm and nicely sweet. I have not bought any fresh blueberries since then. I have friends and family that went blueberry picking in the area, and those were disappointing in comparison.

Hi- I agree that fresh picked asparagus is way better than the stuff you get from California in the grocery stores. Hope this helps, Nancy

Hi- Can anybody recommend any seedless grape varieties that you have purchased at one of the farmer's markets recently?. I am particularly interested in any seedless grapes purchased at the Evanston farmer's market recently. Thanks, Nancy

At today's Daley Plaza Farmer's Market, there were some very interesting, brightly colored flowers. They were kind of wavy and fuzzy/furry to the touch. It was very crowded and I was on a mission, so I didn't get a chance to ask about them. Does anyone know what I am talking about? Thanks

Was it this? (scroll down to the pictures at the bottom, there are a couple varieties) If so, it's an interesting plant - farmer's markets of my youth always sold it this time of year, it can be dried and made into arrangements; the color stays quite vibrant. Apparently wreaths for Dia de los Muertos traditionally include it, along with marigolds.

I had heard somewhere, but can't confirm (so please don't try it unless you know what you're doing,) that it can be used to color the rice for biryani.

Mhays wrote:Was it this? (scroll down to the pictures at the bottom, there are a couple varieties) If so, it's an interesting plant - farmer's markets of my youth always sold it this time of year, it can be dried and made into arrangements; the color stays quite vibrant. Apparently wreaths for Dia de los Muertos traditionally include it, along with marigolds.

I had heard somewhere, but can't confirm (so please don't try it unless you know what you're doing,) that it can be used to color the rice for biryani.

Yes, that's it! I knew I could count on LTH! Thank you! I must get some next week!

Although it's been mentioned elsewhere on-board, the "summer butter" from Nordic Creamery (which I purchased at Green City) is outstanding. Creamy, grassy, slightly salty. I spoke with the farmer last week and he said first week or two of October will be the last weeks for this, so you may want to stop by a get some soon if interested. While the incredible freshness of the butter is a strong selling point from my perspective, the farmer did say it will keep for months in the fridge (and I have to imagine that this butter even past its peak of freshness outshines most other contenders), so you could stock up.

Thanks for the warning about when the Nordic Creamery summer butter will be gone. After tasting one Saturday during the summer and subsequently ruing my decision not to indulge all week long, I picked up a tub and it was amazing. I was worried about being able to use it all by myself, so first used it in an alfredo sauce but it became quickly apparent it deserved to shine on its own. I stop tried to use it in bulk and just enjoyed it little by little where I felt it could get the attention it deserved. It lasted me at least 1-2 (maybe 3?) months, I just ran out. This butter, spread on a Nhu Lan baguette and topped with a few hearty slices of ripe tomato, may be the taste I most associate with this (now painfully gone) summer.

Definitely going to pick up another tomorrow while supplies last.

I picked up some ambrosia apples from Lehman's Orchards at GCM. I am really picky about apples, and I LOVED these. I cleaned these to the core. Sweeter than a fuji, crisp, and low acidity. Can't wait to get more before it's too late.

Purple okra... it was the perfect texture, not woody, yet kept a great bite even when cooked down tender. It also made for some amazing pickling when I added purple basil from my window box. The color drained from the fruit during processing but left the brine a gorgeous wine color.

Matt wrote:Although it's been mentioned elsewhere on-board, the "summer butter" from Nordic Creamery (which I purchased at Green City) is outstanding. Creamy, grassy, slightly salty. I spoke with the farmer last week and he said first week or two of October will be the last weeks for this, so you may want to stop by a get some soon if interested. While the incredible freshness of the butter is a strong selling point from my perspective, the farmer did say it will keep for months in the fridge (and I have to imagine that this butter even past its peak of freshness outshines most other contenders), so you could stock up.

Just to clarify, the summer butter is gone (or will be very soon). Then Nordic Creamery will have fall butter, which means that the cows will have transitioned from grass to <whatever comes next - I forgot>. He said it will then take a little more time before you notice any change in the butter.

Darren72 wrote:

Matt wrote:Although it's been mentioned elsewhere on-board, the "summer butter" from Nordic Creamery (which I purchased at Green City) is outstanding. Creamy, grassy, slightly salty. I spoke with the farmer last week and he said first week or two of October will be the last weeks for this, so you may want to stop by a get some soon if interested. While the incredible freshness of the butter is a strong selling point from my perspective, the farmer did say it will keep for months in the fridge (and I have to imagine that this butter even past its peak of freshness outshines most other contenders), so you could stock up.

Just to clarify, the summer butter is gone (or will be very soon). Then Nordic Creamery will have fall butter, which means that the cows will have transitioned from grass to <whatever comes next - I forgot>. He said it will then take a little more time before you notice any change in the butter.

That's excellent news. Did you happen to find out whether Nordic will be at the Green City winter market? Or if we'll be able to get the butter elsewhere in Chicago?

The recent thread about chickens combined with chilly Fall weather, left me with a hankering for roast chicken. I swung by the Green Grocer to pick up the TJ's bird I called ahead and reserved on my way home and spotted the Nordic Summer butter in the fridge. I grabbed one of the two tubs and have it sitting in my fridge right now - as soon I as I can find something decent to smear it on, I look forward to giving it a taste. As of about an hour ago, there was one tub left.

-Dan

dansch wrote:The recent thread about chickens combined with chilly Fall weather, left me with a hankering for roast chicken. I swung by the Green Grocer to pick up the TJ's bird I called ahead and reserved on my way home and spotted the Nordic Summer butter in the fridge. I grabbed one of the two tubs and have it sitting in my fridge right now - as soon I as I can find something decent to smear it on, I look forward to giving it a taste. As of about an hour ago, there was one tub left.

-Dan

If you reserve a TJ bird in advance from Cassie, can you get it fresh, or is it still frozen?

A note about the butter - it seems to need a little more time than average store bought butter to come up to a smearable temperature (unless you take your own butter tempering measures).

Kennyz wrote:If you reserve a TJ bird in advance from Cassie, can you get it fresh, or is it still frozen?

It sounds like they get a certain number of fresh (never-frozen) birds every week (Saturday, I believe) and they're available on a first-come, first-served basis. If you call ahead, you can reserve one of them. REB and RAB get the credit for filling me in on the fresh TJ's bird supply (IIRC, they did a side-by-side roast off with previously-frozen and fresh TJ's birds and found a big difference)

Kennyz wrote:A note about the butter - it seems to need a little more time than average store bought butter to come up to a smearable temperature (unless you take your own butter tempering measures).

Yet another use for the immersion circulator...

-Dan

Darren72 wrote:Just to clarify, the summer butter

I see what you did there.

Kennyz wrote:That's excellent news. Did you happen to find out whether Nordic will be at the Green City winter market? Or if we'll be able to get the butter elsewhere in Chicago?

I seem to recall asking him this and he said he would be at the market in the winter. But given my memory, I'd say this means there is a 60 percent chance that this exchange actually happened.

A couple weeks ago, I was prodded into buying some fresh limas in the pod, which I cooked up with a ham hock and enjoyed deeply, and somehow missed at every subsequent visit (that season must be really short.)

Last weekend, I found a couple of grandmother-aunties busily rummaging through an otherwise-abandoned crate at the corner of one of the stands: it turned out to contain these beauties, which up to that point, I'd never seen fresh, just dried or canned:



I cooked them up with a ham hock, some thyme from the garden and some of Henry's excellent NY garlic:



I would say I fed them to my family for dinner but I, um, didn't...........(nam, nam, nam, *lipsmack*.)

cilantro wrote:

Darren72 wrote:Just to clarify, the summer butter

I see what you did there.

Nice one.


I'll second potatoes, especially Yukon Golds. Fresh grown garlic is just amazing as well.

dansch wrote:...spotted the Nordic Summer butter in the fridge. I grabbed one of the two tubs and have it sitting in my fridge right now - as soon I as I can find something decent to smear it on, I look forward to giving it a taste. As of about an hour ago, there was one tub left.

Yesterday I was reading through Fat and the section on butter reminded me that I still had some of this Nordic Summer butter in the fridge. I spotted a brown butter ice cream recipe in the book, and commenced to cooking.

I made the custard yesterday and just ran it through the ice cream maker this morning... holy crap, that's some good (rich, rich, rich) stuff. The duck eggs from Mint Creek were probably unnecessary, but once you're making brown butter ice cream, why not go all out.

-Dan

dansch wrote:

dansch wrote:...spotted the Nordic Summer butter in the fridge. I grabbed one of the two tubs and have it sitting in my fridge right now - as soon I as I can find something decent to smear it on, I look forward to giving it a taste. As of about an hour ago, there was one tub left.

Yesterday I was reading through Fat and the section on butter reminded me that I still had some of this Nordic Summer butter in the fridge. I spotted a brown butter ice cream recipe in the book, and commenced to cooking.

I made the custard yesterday and just ran it through the ice cream maker this morning... holy crap, that's some good (rich, rich, rich) stuff. The duck eggs from Mint Creek were probably unnecessary, but once you're making brown butter ice cream, why not go all out.

-Dan

did you find unsalted Nordic, or did you use the salted stuff for the ice cream?

Kennyz wrote:did you find unsalted Nordic, or did you use the salted stuff for the ice cream?

It was salted. The ice cream recipe calls for additional salt, so I just left that out. -Dan

Mike G wrote: Here's what surprised and delighted me this year:

Speaking of surprised and delighted...
While attending the Family Farmed Expo a few weeks ago, I picked up a dozen eggs from Hasselmann Family Farm. They were the biggest, most beautiful, and best tasting local eggs that I've had without actually meeting the chickens. Ronna and I just finished off the last few from the carton, and really, they were so good it seemed a shame to do anything to them but cook them sunny side up.

Their site shows that they will be selling at the Empty Bottle Farmers Market and the Portage Park Farmers Market, but the dates are not completely clear. I'm planning to seek them out to find out if the eggs I just had for breakfast were a fluke.

--Rich