The farmers market thread

[SethG]

Got some really nice tomatoes this weekend.. I am going to make my own Tomato Paste this year..

 

Picked up these beautiful little melons they were just so good.. I smelled a bunch of them last weekend so and very few were ready.. they are probably all perfect by now..

 

Daniel (really this is for anyone who pays NYC farmer's market prices), you would have been amazed by this little farmstand in MD. I kept expecting someone to tell me the prices weren't really so low, that it was all a joke. The heirloom tomatoes were $1.75 a pound. The regular tomatoes were I think $1.50 per pound. They were selling the flawed tomatoes in bulk at ridiculous discounts-- my wife had to stop me from buying an entire banker's box full of different heirloom tomatoes for $15. The only reason I didn't pull the trigger is that I didn't think I'd have a chance to make sauce in the next couple nights. I was afraid they'd go bad before I used them.

 

I should have gone ahead and bought them.

[Suzanne F]

Yeah, well, they didn't have to travel up to NYC or pay the GM fees.

 

Not buying, you should regret.

[StephanieL]

This has been an excellent peach season--everything I've gotten from my CSA has been fabulous. Nectarines have been good too.

[SethG]

I just ate one of those white peaches. They seemed quite firm when I bought them. I was afraid they'd be underripe, but my god, biting into one was like stepping into The Poseidon Adventure, it was so juicy. Sweet, too. I'd still prefer the yellow, but it was a very good peach.

[Suzanne F]

Thanks for reporting back. Maybe I'll try some next week.

[TaliesinNYC]

 

heirloom tomatoes, herbs, white peaches, shallots, rocambole garlic, potatoes, squash, eggplant, corn, ricotta cheese and Greek yogurt

 

folks were selling eggplant at $1 per, when I got there.

[Suzanne F]

At Tribeca yesterday:

 

• 2 whole mackerels, because I was afraid one wouldn't be enough for dinner. As I noted on the Supper thread, while cleaning them I realized one would be, so the other one will be smoked soon. It's been brined and is drying in the fridge now.
  
• a hunk o' swordfish, which will be cut into big cubes, marinated in yogurt and spices, and cooked in the rotisserie
  
• 6 poblanos that I spent this morning charring, peeling, emptying, and stuffing. Dinner tonight!
  
• 3 ears of corn, 2 of which we ate last night, the other for tonight as stuffing for the poblanos
  
• onions and garlic, because I need to always have them in the house
  
• cucumbers and peppers for salad
  
• a whole chicken
  
• a big bunch of different varieties of plums
  

 

At the non-GrowNYC market at the Andaz:

• arugula, Japanese turnips, and green chard
  

[Orik]

It's rare that all of Blue Moon's mussels don't all open for me. Lately I've been making an excellent ceviche with their flounder.

 

Kernan's peaches were spectacular (GAP) weekend before last.

 

We got a huge fluke from Blue Moon yesterday (we got there a bit late so that was more or less all that was left). They sold it to us as being 5 lbs but it was really closer to 7 lbs, which is pretty much as large as I've ever seen summer flounder grow. When these flatfish get that big, the meat from the belly side becomes deliciously buttery (beats almost any sole for pan frying with some capers), while the dark skin side still maintains its firm texture that's good for ceviche or sashimi (I'm experimenting with salt curing some of it now, we'll see how that goes). An added treat is that the liver is a decent size (probably 2oz) and can be cleaned and steamed for a result that's much better than monkfish liver. Highly recommended although challenging to fillet given our non-existent counter space.

[Suzanne F]

Yesterday at Tribeca GM:

Two 2-pound striped bass fillets, to bring to friends who have a grill. (They gave us most of the cooked leftovers to bring home, so we'll enjoy it yet again.)

Two pieces of tuna, to be seared tonight.

More wonderful plums.

Boston lettuce, even though we just got several other heads on Friday, because it was so beautiful and anyway we eat a LOT of salad.

 

Today at the New Hipsterdom Market:

Corn, maitakes, regular tomatoes, nectarines, cilantro from Do Re Mi

That Finnish rye bread

(And we split a crab roll from Luke's and a crabcake slider from National Crab; both were very good)

 

A little disappointed that the Migliorellis were not at the Fulton Stall Market, but I guess they just don't do enough business there to warrant participation.

[TaliesinNYC]

Saturday:

 

heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, pasta, watermelon, herbs, peppers (various kinds)

 

ratatouille tonight (Sunday)

peperonata Monday night. I make a huge batch of peperonata and it lasts only a few days.

[Rail Paul]

(snip)

 

We got a huge fluke from Blue Moon yesterday (we got there a bit late so that was more or less all that was left). They sold it to us as being 5 lbs but it was really closer to 7 lbs, which is pretty much as large as I've ever seen summer flounder grow. When these flatfish get that big, the meat from the belly side becomes deliciously buttery (beats almost any sole for pan frying with some capers), while the dark skin side still maintains its firm texture that's good for ceviche or sashimi (I'm experimenting with salt curing some of it now, we'll see how that goes). An added treat is that the liver is a decent size (probably 2oz) and can be cleaned and steamed for a result that's much better than monkfish liver. Highly recommended although challenging to fillet given our non-existent counter space.

 

There's a lot of big fluke / summer flounder being hauled in along the Jersey shore this summer. Much more than in previous years.

[Orik]

There's a lot of big fluke / summer flounder being hauled in along the Jersey shore this summer. Much more than in previous years.

 

Evidently, "green" restaurants like Le Bernardin would rather fly nasty farmed fish from Greece or sell you almost extinct wild Mediterranean fish and not have to train people to deal with these unwieldy critters.

 

They're very cheap too, less than $5/lb at Greenmarket prices, and what little isn't fillet makes excellent stock.

[Lippy]

I wonder how Consider Bardwell fared during the hurricane.

[Lippy]

Consider Bardwell had considerable flooding, but seems to have been able to move the animals to safety. There must be many Greenmarket vendors who have been adversely affected by the hurricane. A terrific apple season had been predicted, but I wonder about it now.

[bloviatrix]

Consider Bardwell had considerable flooding, but seems to have been able to move the animals to safety. There must be many Greenmarket vendors who have been adversely affected by the hurricane. A terrific apple season had been predicted, but I wonder about it now.

 

Last Monday, after that second dismal weekend of rain I was talking with Bill Maxwell (Maxwell's Farm @ USGM on Monday) who said they had lost 15% of their bean crop at that point from all of the rain. I can just imagine how much worse it's been as a result of Irene.