This killer heat is good for something! Melons love the dry weather, so look forward to intensely-flavored watermelons and cantaloupes at market. Seeded Sugar Baby watermelons are the farmers’ favorite for flavor and seed spittin’. But it’s a pain to pick out seeds for watermelon drinks, so I get a couple seedless too, nothing more light and refreshing than blended watermelon, a little lime, a little basil.
Speaking of basil, try Smallwood’s lovely fresh lemon basil…with olive oil and salt on pasta with cherry tomatoes and the last of the sugar snap peas, it’s the easiest one-dish dinner of the week.
Richfield Farms has roma beans, the star of last year’s Farm-to-School week, blanched briefly and served with Green Goddess dip (roughly mayo + sour cream + olive oil + anchovies + parsley + herbs + onion + lemon), the kids were clamoring for seconds.
I spent the last weekend at a friend’s lake house in West Virginia, swimming and reading trashy magazines – found this recipe from Southern Living for Peach Sangria: cut-up peaches and a small handful of raspberries for color are soaked in white wine or rose, a bit of vodka, sliced lemons and lemon juice, and a pinch of sugar. Served with a splash of club soda and a mint sprig, I found it more refreshing than heavy red wine sangria.
The berries have only been getting more intense – raspberries are incredibly flavorful, gooseberries send at least 3 different tropical notes zipping around your mouth, and blueberries are abundant and sweet. This customer-submitted recipe has been my breakfast of choice all week: slice a Panorama or Atwater scone in half, spread with Cherry Glen Goat Cheese ricotta, stud surface with berries. Same thing with whipping cream is an instant Berry Shortcake for dessert!
Events at market:
- Latino Family Day! Music with Alex Hiraeta and a friend that was described to me as “you will LOVE him”. Well, that’s a lot of love then, ‘cuz I’m already infatuated with Alex’s crooning voice.
- DC Bike Ambassador on hand to answer all your questions about biking, bike events, and bike advocacy in DC!
- Farmers’ Market Bike Clinic every week, rain or shine, basically a free tune up, but watch closely and learn how stupid easy it is to keep your bike in trim!
Local Foods:
Adelante Co-op: Fresh market vegetables, grilled chicken tacos, platos and the usual special rice dishes. More horchata and chicha morada.
Reid Orchard: THREE varieties of plums! Several varieties of peaches and white nectarines. Blueberries, red and black currants, red and green gooseberries, red and black raspberries. Apricots. Sugar snap peas. Tart Lodi apples.
Quaker Valley Orchards: Currants and raspberries. Transparent apples. Peaches, plums and apricots. Red, gold, and blue potatoes, Walla Walla onions. Applesauce, honey, jam, tomato sauce, novelty popping corn-on-the-cob, canned peaches. Pie fillings: cherry, blackberry, blueberry and apple.
Richfield Farm: NEW: watermelon, cantaloupe, okra, white, purple and Asian eggplant, green bell peppers, jalapeños. Tons of great, sweet corn – now in its prime! Cherry tomatoes, “Primo” field tomatoes, summer squash, potatoes, Cotton Candy and Candy Apple onions, fennel, regular and pickling cucumbers. Yellow wax, green, and roma beans. Cut flowers are cosmos, sunflowers that last forever, dianthus, and zinnias. Last week for fava beans and blueberries. Maybe a few broccoli.
Smallwood’s Veggieporium: Swiss chard, carrots, red white and blue potatoes, squash and squash blossoms, slicing and lemon cucumbers, red and yellow onions, cherry tomatoes. Cut herbs: purple and lemon basil, mint, parsley, dill, purslane.
Truck Patch Farms: Hot house tomatoes and a few more raspberries. Cucumbers, eggplant, and a few hot peppers. Sunflowers, summer squash. Greens: lettuce, salad mix, arugula, spinach, Swiss chard. Radishes and beets and green beans. Cut herbs. Eggs. Pork and beef. Chickens if you pre-order at order@truckpatchfarms.com. Ground beef and patties, ground pork, loose sausage, and ground ham. Sausages: sage, celery, applewurst, country hot, mild and hot Italian, sweet Italian with fennel, kielbasa, bratwurst. Smoked kielbasa and andouille sausages. Steaks, chops and tenderloins, spare ribs, baby back ribs, pork shoulder. Breakfast sausage and bacon. Ask Bryan about goat meat.
Groff’s Content Farm: Family farm raises 100% grass-fed and -finished lamb and beef on organic fields, pastured Berkshire pork, beautiful pastured eggs and chickens, both whole and cut up. Dog treats and nice big beef bones. Ground beef, nice big sausages, including spicy lamb merguez. Soap made from their own beef tallow.
Cherry Glen Goat Cheese Company: Handmade, artisanal goat cheese. Fresh chevre and ricotta cheese and delicious crottins and brie-like wedges of creamy, soft-ripened cheese.
Atwater Bread: Organic sourdough and yeasted breads: Peasant Wheat, Caraway Rye, Cranberry Pecan, Kalamata Olive, traditional San Francisco Sourdough, Ciabatta, Country White, Chili Cheddar, Spelt, Sunflower Flax, and more. Brownies, cookies, scones, muffins, and several flavors of granola.
Panorama Bakery: Baguettes, croissants, pain au chocolat, mini ciabattas are great for sandwiches, sliced loaves, danishes, sticky buns, apple turnovers.
July 10 – ADDENDUM: Ice Cold Popscicles!
Don’t forget my favorite new most awesome thing at market! Cold, delicious popsicles made with fresh, seasonal, local ingredients just down the street by Pleasant Pops. Dive into their adorable vintage ice cream truck bicycle for Cucumber Chile (wow, what a surprise hit!), Strawberries and Cream (I watched about 20 of these melting down kids arms, I just wanted to lick them all up), and Peaches and Ginger (omigod). Great price, adorable staff. What’s more fun than popsicles? Popsicles in the rain. I sure hope it pours, we need it, and we’ll be as busy as ever at market!