Summer Basil

Fresh basil is at the market. By the bunch, about $1, or by the bushel, about $30. OK, a bushel of basil is a lot of pesto. But it is a long time to next summer.

Kim said:

Tomatoes, corn, basil. The summer trifecta. The real summer ephemerals. Daily happiness for about 1 or 2 months, then gone for another year. Everyone has the experience of looking forward to and waiting for your own county's tomatoes and corn to be ripe - because they are the best. Wherever you are, the ones from the farmstand down the road are the best in the entire country. Period. They just are.

What I wonder about us as Americans, is why we're so easily pacified with inferior substitutes…

Tomatoes

There are tomatoes, tomatoes, and more tomatoes at the market. So why not have a red and yellow tomato sandwich? This one was made with organic heirloom tomatoes from Wilson's Produce. Garnished with basil and blue cheese, but Zingerman's goat cheese would work well also. Top with a dressing of your choice.

Joann Wilson said:

Thank you for the tomato feature. The photo of the sliced tomatoes looks very appetizing. :-) I will send this web site to my customers that I email every week.

Hotties at the Market

These identify a market season. And just like the arrival of the first tomatoes and the first sweet corn of a season, when they first appear I always indulge.

My favorite way to prepare them is simply to roast, peal and eat. Roasting and pealing is the basis of using peppers in many cuisines, from mild sweet Italian roasted red pepper sauces to the fiery roasted red chili pastes of Thailand. The roasting seems to impart a sweet taste to the pepper, and in the case of a hot pepper reduces the heat.

I remove the tops, cut the chili in half and then remove the center stem and seeds. Grill over a hot fire, skin side down until the skin is blackened and uniformly blistered. Let the chili cool to comfortable touch and then peal the skin, which will remove easily. Then eat.

Alternately you can cook the chili whole and then skin and remove the stem and seeds. There are descriptions of many variations of the roasting process on the web.

Kim said...

Regarding chiles, I have a friend who lives in Santa Fe and she says that there are places there where you buy roasted chiles by the bushel - just roasted - and at the time of year when they're doing that (around September I think) the air in town everywhere smells like roasting chiles. ;)

Kim

Summer at the Farmers Market

Are you glad to see the glads
or
aghast that it is nearly August?

Fresh apricots,
or better yet a potential
apricot pie!

And nectarines too!

Revised Market Ordinance and Market Rules

The revised ordinance and Market Rules are on tonights agenda, July 16, 2007. It is public hearing three. You can speak without signing up in advance. Hope to see a few there.

Here is the email I sent to the Mayor and Council.



Mayor and Council Members:

I believe that the proposed reorganization of the Market Commission will be an improvement. At the very least, some alternative to the current Commission organization should to be considered.

In general the proposed Market Rules are also an improvement, however there are three areas where further improvement should be made.

First, the rules do not require that a vendor presenting his product as organic be a certified organic grower. If the Market is to prosper, customers must have the equal confidence in the advertising honesty at the Market as they would in a food store.

Second the rules introduce a new class of vendors, food cart vendors. If these vendors meet the same requirements as other vendors, why is a new class needed? Past experience indicates that this class of vendors may be allowed to simply buy resell products. If this is the intent, it is inconsistent with the Market Ordinance and other Market rules and this class of vendors should not be introduced.

Finally, the rules as amended by council, make it possible for a vendor to be permanently removed from the market without any opportunity to present his/her explanation or to appeal. The vendors need and deserve better procedural rights.

The attached PDF file contains additional supporting documentation and suggested modifications to the proposed Market Rules. I encourage you to pass tonights resolution and to direct the Community Services Administrator to promulgate these suggestions as technical corrections. The CSA has the authority to make these corrections with returning to Council for formal approval.

July at the Market

Peaches!

Corn!

A new vendor too!

Comment Received

The great thing about the market is the availability of things not commonly found in grocery stores.

My parents grew gooseberries and currants. Currant pie was one of my favorites.

Thanks to Wasems I am able to still enjoy this treat

July 1, 2007 9:12 AM