To Market, To Market

I roused myself out of the house today, I mean it's opening day of the new Mill Valley Farmers Market! How could I miss that! Now open for the season every Friday between 9 - 2.

It was smallish, but it was the opening day. There were plenty of people looking about and a nice variety of things to buy.

Whole Foods gave out free reusable bags, and I picked up a 'large' basket of Rainier Cherries for $7, and two of Sukki's samosas for $4. I had a samosa and left over Pad Thai for lunch, with a few of those luscious cherries for dessert. My appetite is returning!

Scoring at the Farmer's Market

I made this score long ago, and have gone back for a number of bags of this delicious Massa Organics Rice. This rice is so good, it tastes 'alive' when you bite into a forkful! I paired it with a fresh vegetable stir fry that I sprinkled fresh tomatoes over just before serving.

I've been using it for about a year now, and I bought my first bag from this gentleman. He told me that the grain is allowed to mature on the head which makes a big flavor difference. I agree! This organic rice is good and good for you!

The Crockpot

The Crockpot

The crockpot sat patiently on the shiny clean counter..........
tick tock.
tick tock.
The clock on the friendly counter was her constant companion.

Her senses were finely attuned as she ever so patiently waited and thought.........would I be replaced by a modern steel, new aged designer crockpot that shone as brightly as the refrigerator?

The back doors opened and the scent of fresh Golden delicious apples filled the kitchen- the entire house- the great outdoors.....the county!
Beautiful Golden laughing apples grown by the tree's dear friend,Linda.
The 30 year old tree outside, planted in love and deep respect and strong soil had gifted us one more year.

The crockpot felt each hand carved apple which Anna peeled, fall into her belly..............
the apple cider vinegar drunkened her for the eve
and the ginger and other spices revived her in the morn.
Oh what a night!
Could it be? Oh.....could it be that apple butter is scenting the room? Dancing and mingling is the valley of the moon? YES...........and I, the ceramic old crockpot, was the composer

-Jill Casad
Sebastopol, CA

And another poem from Jill, who wrote it after hearing that I helped Linda make some apple butter in her crockpot. And after that, from the Mutsu apples I purchased at the Farmer's Market, I made yet another batch of apple butter! I was happy to pass some on to a long time friend I met for lunch at Babbo's on Monday as well, fresh out of the crockpot.

To Market, to market

I didn't buy any fat pigs, but I did come home with some wonderful local foods. Zoomie got me going when I read her comment about getting to the Marin Civic Center to the Farmer's Market on Sunday morning. And I read how Cookiecrumb decided to quit the Eat Local Challenge, then didn't. And although my commitment is to be more conscious, not necessarily participate fully, I find myself making more efforts on the local eating front.

My first stop was at my favorite soy place, Hodo Soy Beanery. The person attending the booth remembered me immediately and inquired about my long absence. Since when has that ever happened at a supermarket? It was nice to be remembered, and exciting to pick up some delicious soy puffs! Then I searched for apples. It is fall after all, and the first batch of apple butter is nearly gone! I settled on these Mutsu apples, a marriage of Golden Delicious and Granny Smith apples, tart and sweet! And I was enthused about the large size, less peeling for more apple meat! I bought 10 pounds, and that garnered a discount to $1 a pound for these beauties grown on the border between Ripon and Stockton. The air I am breathing as I write this is heavily apple-scented as the mixture cooks down.

I noted as I passed a few booths, that there are green onions still in season locally, but since there are only so many my Dad and I can eat in a week, I didn't buy any. My next purchase stop was under the blue fabric of the "Asparagus & Potatoes" stand. I didn't see any asparagus, but plenty of beautiful potatoes grown on Zuckerman's Farm in Stockton. I picked up two pounds of pretty Yukon Golds.

I definitely felt a pull at "Just Like Grandma's" noticing types of jams that my mother used to make. I had to pick up the Tomato Jam and Orange-Carrot Marmalade made in nearby Petaluma. And there was a very modest and small stand that had a gentleman from Andante Dairy giving goat cheese samples to interested passers by. Andante is located a couple miles out of Petaluma and makes a variety of cheeses. I fell for "Etude" which is a hard cheese that will pair well with fruit and crackers I'm sure. It was a great day at the market, and I have more local foods to eat this week!

Friendly earnestness. I found myself close to the heart of Mill Valley at lunchtime, and thought that it was time to revisit Amberjack Sushi. Amberjack is small, and attentive to details. Good food attracts traffic, and at 11:45, this place was already packed, so I pulled up at the sushi bar. It was a great spot as I had a bird's eye view of the kitchen as I waited, and I could see all the directed, careful and clean activity taking place. This place is serious about giving you a delicious and well-prepared dish! I started with miso soup, which was well flavored and had good depth.

I then asked for a special favor, which they accepted without skipping a beat, substituting tofu for chicken in the oyako don. What arrived wasn't so much this exact thing, as a beautiful riff on a theme. Yes, there was the egg and onion, but the chef also adjusted the seasoning broth and viscosity of the sauce to produce something altogether a delight for the palate. There was nothing bland about this, being savory yet sweet and very satisfying. Amberjack is a pleasant neighborhood place which has good food.

Previously reviewed:
September 21, 2006

Cilantro Tofu Salad. It is another Hodo Soy Beanery San Rafael Farmer's Market find. I was curious about the black tofu -- was it flavored with black sesame seed or the like? Actually, it is made with black soy beans! When you do some research, it is easy to find how it is reputed to help diabetes, make weight loss easier, and reduce cholesterol. The person who sold it to me, when asked the difference, said that some people find that the black version tastes creamier too. This cilantro tofu salad also has no added sweeteners and tastes wonderful too!

Farmer's Market Sunday. I got up extra early to get to the San Rafael Farmer's Market before I had to park VERY far away, and also to be sure I could get some yuba from Hodo Soy Beanery before it sold out. I took some photos at the Thursday Market too, and thought they were so colorful that I'd include some of them in this post as well. I also had Apollo, my Golden Retriever friend over for the day. And a human visitor, Daniel. And given his no wheat no sugar etc diet, fresh produce seemed to be the order of the day for dinner.

Yellow limes? Some day I'm going to pick up some of these 'Sweet Limes' to try.

These variegated calamondin were to intriguing to resist. These are miniature sour oranges that I was advised to eat skin and all. It has a bit of a sweet/sour taste eaten that way, otherwise they are very tart. These are native to the Philippines and China. I'm already dreaming up ways to use these in the future.

These pink ladies have a sweet-tart taste that makes these great to eat out of hand.

And there are great deals on navel oranges that are ohh-so-sweet in the winter months.

Chinese Yu Choy, another one on my list to try sometime.

Baby Bok Choy has long been discovered, so many of the stands carry it.

And this post is getting so herbaceous that I'm just going to have to enter it into Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Rinku at Cooking in Westchester.

So what did I put on the table for dinner with Daniel?

Well, a big bowl of Yali Asian Pears, a very delicate and sweet tasting variety, mixed in with organic Fuji apples. The pears were grown near Yuba City, and the apples a stone's throw from Yosemite.

Here's the arrangement I chose from. There were several varieties of Asian pears at this stand.

The apple place also had come delicious apple-cherry cider. And in the manner of not wasting things, they were still using old labels which did not tout the organic status of the drink, although I was assured it is completely organic.

And I only paid $3 for a good sized plastic bag of these picked-just-yesterday kiwi fruit that Daniel noted its sweetness. I also picked up some hot roasted American chestnuts we snacked on during a movie afterwards that I forgot to take a snap of.

The same place also picked these Mandarin oranges the day before as well. Daniel said they tasted like candy, and I have to agree! These are highly perishable, so having purchased a big bag for $5, I'll be including these for nearly every meal until they are gone!

About now you must be thinking we're fruitatarians!

Not so. I stopped at the grand opening at the market of Cafe Gratitude's new space there and picked up some raw crackers and

sprouted almond hummus. The crackers were a hit as they were made with things such as carrot and flaxseed - no wheat. Daniel noted how good this humus is.

And these local greens were very fresh and delicious. And they made a nice bed for some

colossal shrimp that I baked in the oven (the only item not from the market).

It was a nice leisurely Sunday dinner in tune with the meandering way I picked up the food that morning at the Farmer's Market! I also want to note that the round up after this one for Weekend Herb Blogging with be at this site!

Indian Treats. Dad & I visited the Farmer's Market at the San Rafael Civic Center on Sunday, and met some cheerful men who were inviting all to try samples of a variety of Indian dishes and snacks. I happen to be a big fan of Sukhi's vegetarian samosas, and there were some interesting snacks on display too.

The younger man gave me a sample of a 'lentil' snack. It was a "Moong Dal" spicy treat. It was nice, a little like rice crispies and would be a nice salad topping. I bought a "Bombay" spicy treat as well as I couldn't imagine what a snack that included cucumber seeds could possibly taste like. The answer is good. Bombay was light and had just the right amount of spiciness for a "kick" without needing to find the nearest fire hose to cool down.

Last night I enjoyed celebrating Daniel's birthday with his closest friends at Marin Brewing Company, since it was a very social celebration I only took photos of people, such as Daniel blowing out his candles. Nonetheless, the food was great and the service good.

Unusual green. A visit to the Farmer's Market in San Rafael last Thursday had me doing a double take when I saw this unusual vegetable, a tatsoi. One of the women behind the table said, "It tastes good sauteed with garlic and olive oil.". That was enough to seal the deal and a head of it popped in the bag with the shungiku (chrysanthemum leaves).

So how would I use these? I made up my own dish, Tatsoi sauteed with mushrooms and garlic over homemade zaru tofu.

First, I made tofu to the curdle stage from scratch, starting with soaking the dried soybeans overnight. I have a detailed post on making tofu from earlier this year. To make this dish, I cut the recipe for tofu in half. I also didn't let it curdle all the way before draining until about 1/2 was drained, using cheese cloth as a liner I then picked it up and squeezed it a bit to get this very homemade, still warm and soft tofu rounded ball. It's hard to describe just how amazingly good tofu is right out of the mold, made very naturally without preservatives. But it was even better with the topping!

You could definitely use some store bought soft tofu warmed and cubed underneath the following topping if you would like to try this dish. To make the topping, saute 8 oz of sliced white mushrooms with slivers of a clove of garlic in a generous amount of sesame oil until the mushrooms have significantly reduced in size. When satisfied with the appearance of the mushrooms, add the head of tatsoi separated into its individual spoon-like leaves, and saute until the tatsoi is wilted to your taste. When it is done, pour over the tofu, starting with the liqueur from the saute in the pan because it is what flavors the blandish warm tofu underneath. And there it is, ready to serve! Serves 2 as a main dish or 4 as a side dish.

This is also my last entry for 2007 in Weekend Herb Blogging and also my last post for 2007! This week, starting with the last day of the year and going into 2008, the event is being hosted by the event's originator, Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen. Be sure to visit her blog this upcoming Sunday to see fabulous posts on herbs and other things that grow, dreamed up by cooks spanning the globe.

Tatsoi is a kind of Asian mustard green which is also related and tastes similar to bok choy. There is not a lot of information on the web about it, but I found a nice article at the San Francisco Chronicle that has some good things to say about this hearty green that can even be harvested from underneath snow!

Happy New Year's Eve!

In praise of farmers. The air was crisp and cold on Thursday as I made an overdue trip to the Farmers Market at the San Rafael Civic Center. The temperature was not surprising since we had an unusual freeze/frost warning the night prior. However, it still made one feel like picking up the pace a bit to keep warm, between that and my black fleece hoodie, I kept warm enough. Feeling the cold metal of my Sony Cybershot in my hand was a good reminder to take photos of the harvest bounty spilling over in the booths. The colors and textures and the scent of freshly baked breads were heady. Coming off the Thanksgiving holiday, remnants of appreciation for the abundance we have was still with me.



I first stopped and had a nice chat with the gentleman selling artisan bread at the Upper Crust Bakery booth. I asked him about his day and the history of the baked goods he brought. Upper Crust Bakery only distributes through farmers markets, and he gets up at 4:30 a.m. to bring this freshly baked bread to us. He said he couldn't get up as early as those who bake it! He drives all the way from Davis to get here by 7:30 a.m. to set up. He told me that a couple, Mo and Trudy founded the bakery some years ago, but now are semi-retired. Mo used to be a scientist at UC Davis, and he was careful to use his science background to adjust the recipes for good pH levels and great taste. I must agree after sampling some of the wheat bread I brought home!



Meet the farmer who provides me with many of the fresh organic herbs and leafy greens that I use in my recipes. In fact, most of the green ingredients I used for the Ash e-jow (Barley Soup) I prepared last spring were purchased from him. Without his laborious work and care for the soil and plants, the soup would never have tasted so fresh nor received so many compliments from the chefs I served it. You can't make great food without great ingredients - fresh, picked at optimum, and well handled to the market.



This is what I'd like to see more of - even though I want to be there before that 'sold out' sign goes up! Our farmers work hard, and sometimes are not able to find buyers for all the beautiful produce which they bring to market. This is a shame, yet I can understand since many people have work schedules such that it is very difficult to make purchases outside a grocery store with expanded hours. I feel very lucky to be in an area with a farmers market accessible in a nearby community nearly every day of the week.



This is my favorite apple booth. Chincholo Farms brings several varieties of apples to market each week, and this week I noticed that they have started making apple juice and apple sauce from their Pink Ladies, a very good eating apple.

If you love food, be sure to frequent your nearby farmers market. The only way we'll get more variety and preserve heirloom types of fruits and vegetables is if we make a habit of purchasing these things.

I just have to note here that I came home yesterday to find unusually high traffic coming to my blog. I was very curious... saw some comments from Europe and thought that onions must be very popular (the last blogging event I participated in was international Onion Day in honor of the Berne farmers market festival). Later in the evening, I found that Blogger had listed my blog in its "Blogs of Note". I'm very honored, and hope all my new friends and visitors enjoy what they see.