Farmer's Market Winter Wonders

Who doesn't love a good farmer's market--especially in the summer when those juicy tomatoes and luscious, no-sugar-needed strawberries are in season? But then winter comes, and we start to lose our enthusiasm for those poor, hard-working farmers. That's unfortunate, because these markets (whether East Coast, West Coast, or the Midwest) still have plenty of delicious, healthy produce and meats to cook up yummy meals all season. In fact, it's when most green leafy vegetables are at their sweetest.

Probably one of the most famous farmer's markets is the The Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market in San Francisco. They have a great website and one of its best features is a seasonality chart that gives you the produce highlights for whatever month you're shopping. Just to give you a sneak preview, if you live in that area, or are visiting, some things to look out for over the next few months include  Dungeness crab, fresh dates, and pineapple guavas. Oh, those lucky west-coasters. Speaking of lucky west-coasters and Dungeness crab, I recently received the latest blog from a friend who's moved to Seattle and who's known for throwing fabulous dinner parties. I noticed that his Christmas party menu included a Dungeness crab dip with artichoke hearts. Unfortunately, he didn't share the recipe, but I'm sure you could improvise. 

Over here on the east coast, my neighborhood farmer's market is still faithfully showing up with beautiful root veggies like parsnips, turnips, rutabaga, and beets, as well as all varieties of winter squashes and organic greens. A simple, tasty way to prepare any of these greens (be it swiss chard, beet greens, turnip greens) is to submerge them in a pot of boiling water for about a minute, and then toss them in some fresh lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. It makes a great side for a wintry meal like pork tenderloin, lamb, or a juicy steak. Other things to look for include clementine mandarins, kumquats, gold chard, chestnuts, and scarlet turnips.

One of the farmers who comes each weekend to our Inwood Farmer's Market on 207th Street in New York City (from Hawthorne Valley Farms; they and many other farmers also go to the Union Square Greenmarket on 14th Street) shared an uncommon winter recipe: a Celeriac Stir-Fry. Celeriac is a white fleshed root in the celery family, and not many people besides chefs typically think of using it. His recipe calls for 2 medium-sized leeks, cleaned, tops removed, and sliced thinly; 1 3-4" celeriac, with outside fiber removed and cut into small, nickel-thin chunks; 2 medium-sized carrots, sliced into rounds; 1 red bell pepper, diced; 1/4 lb green curly kale, torn into small pieces, 1/2 cup almonds or sunflower seeds; oil for sauteing (he prefers coconut oil); salt to taste, water as necessary.  Put oil in pan on medium-high heat, add leeks, celeriac and salt. Stir constantly for about 10 minutes. Add carrots and cook for 5 minutes, then peppers and nuts or seeds (keep stirring), then add kale. Add more oil or water if veggies start sticking to the pan. Cook until the kale is bright green and serve over warm basmati rice, quinoa, or your favorite grain.

I also talked to chef Matthew Weingarten from Savoy restaurant in New York City (to read my review of the restaurant click here) and he shared their parsnip soup recipe (parsnips are at their peak now he says). Here's what you'll need:

2 Tbs butter
3 Tbs olive oil
4 peeled and diced parsnips
1 diced onion
1 bunch of sliced leeks
2 cups white wine
1 quart milk
1 cup cream
1 quart water
sachet of thyme, cinnamon, and cardamom
splash of Tabasco

Here's what you do: Sweat the vegetables in butter and olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.
Deglaze with white wine. Reduce by half. Add sachet. Add milk, cream, and water. Cook until all vegetables are very soft. Remove from heat, and remove sachet. Puree in blender until smooth. Adjust seasoning with lemon juice, Tabasco and more salt if needed. Can be served as is or with additional cooked leeks and sauteed wild mushrooms.

No matter where you live, there's probably a farmer's market closer than you think. Check out the government's web site which includes a map of farmer's markets all over the country!

Happy winter feasting. I'm off to the grocery store (can't buy wine at the farmer's market!) to buy ingredients to make Julia Child's recipe for Coq au vin (chicken with wine). A friend just made it and gave it the thumbs up.