What’s in Season in S.F. NOW (Sep. 20)

Since you all seemed to like my last post on what’s in season now, here’s another for you based on my visits this week to the Alemany, Castro and Ferry Building farmers’ markets. Just like last time, you’ll find tips on how to store and eat the goods. Also, at the end, look for photos of the funkiest two things I’ve seen lately at the farmers’ market: any idea what they are??

It feels timely to write this on Sept. 23, the day of the autumn equinox, or the first official day of fall when the days start getting shorter. You can definitely see the transition between summer and fall (boxes of tomatoes, green beans, peppers and eggplants commingling with pyramids of broccoli and cauliflower, stalks of Brussels sprouts and even a few winter squash) at the city’s farmers’ markets.

Enjoy your weekend!

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Heirloom tomatoes (these beauties are still around and delicious!)

• What they are: Heirlooms are considered to be a variety that has been passed down through several family generations because of its valued characteristics. However, due to the popularity of these funky-shaped, wonderfully-hued fruit, there are also commercial heirlooms, open-pollinated varieties that have been in circulation for at least 50 years

Green zebra heirloom tomatoes, Tomatero Farm, Alemany market

Heirloom cherry tomatoes, Bautista Farm, Castro market

• Where to buy: Alemany market: Tomatero Farm; Castro market: Happy Boy Farms, Bautista Farm; Ferry Building market: Allstar Organics, Balakian Farms, Eatwell Farm, Heirloom Organics

• How to choose: Tell the folks at the farm stand when you plan to eat them so they can help you choose the ones that will be at their peak at that time

• How to store: Tomatoes will continue to ripen but lose flavor if you refrigerate them. Turn them upside down and leave them on the counter, out of the sun

• How to eat: My two favorite ways to eat heirlooms are: (1) caprese salad — slice the tomatoes thickly, top with a thick slice of fresh mozzarella and a basil leaf, then sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle with olive oil; (2) tomato salad — chop tomatoes into big chunks and toss with small mozzarella balls and just a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Also, if you feel inspired to buy a 20-30 pound box of tomatoes, you can always use one of the “tomato extravaganza” recipes here

Green & yellow beans

• What they are: Self-explanatory, but they pack a nutritional punch: they contain healthy amounts of calcium, vitamin C, beta Carotene, vitamin K and lutein

Green & yellow beans, Dirty Girl Farm, Ferry Building market

• Where to buy: Ferry Building market: Dirty Girl Farm

• How to choose: Look for firm beans, not droopy, browned or shriveled

• How to store: In a plastic bag (to prevent moisture loss) in the fridge for 3-5 days

• How to eat: When they’re super fresh, I like to rinse them under cold water, snap off the blossom ends and eat them raw as a snack. They’re also great steamed in boiling water for 3 minutes and eaten warm as a simple side dish. Finally, you can blanch them and make a salad with them; I like this recipe at 101 Cookbooks (but I leave out the cream in the dressing) – click here

Edamame (I was told these would only be around for one more week, though that may have been a ploy to get me to buy more!)

• What they are: You’ve all seen this ubiquitous Japanese restaurant appetizer, but it’s interesting to note that technically they are immature soybeans. In fact, the Japanese name literally means “twig bean” (eda = “twig” + mame = “bean”) and refers to young soybeans cropped with its twig

Edamame, Alemany market

• Where to buy: Alemany market

• How to choose: If picking fresh edamame in pods, pick ones that are bright green, plump and even in size, not shriveled or discolored

• How to store: Fresh beans: in a container in the fridge for 3-5 days. Cooked beans: once you cook them, you can lay them on a baking sheet and freeze them; once frozen, put into plastic storage bags to eat later (you can just zap them in the microwave to defrost and heat them up)

• How to eat: Cook in a pot of salted, boiling water for 4 minutes (no longer or they’ll be mushy). Drain in a colander and run cold water over them so they don’t continue cooking. Toss with kosher salt, or my favorite, a splash of sesame oil and soy sauce to taste

Romanesco broccoli (or Roman cauliflower)

• What they are: Romanesco broccoli was first documented in Italy in the sixteenth century. Also known as coral broccoli, Romanesco broccoli is rich in fiber, cartenoids and vitamin C

Romanesco broccoli, Dirty Girl Farm, Ferry Building market

• Where to buy: Ferry Building market: Dirty Girl Farm

• How to choose: Look for pale green florets that are firm, not floppy

• How to store: Put a paper towel inside a plastic bag and place the broccoli head down on top of the paper towel (the paper towel will absorb any moisture). Store in the vegetable drawer of your fridge. Will keep for up to a week

• How to eat: Roasted with olive oil in a 450 degree oven (I’ll post pictures and a more detailed recipe soon)

Eggplants

• What they are: Eggplants historically have been associated with madness; its Italian name, melanzana, from the Latin mala insana, means “apple of madness”. Eggplants are of the nightshade family (same as tomatoes, peppers and potatoes), and are technically a berry fruit, not a vegetable. There are globe eggplants (the most common kind you’ll see); long, lavender Chinese eggplants; and gently curving, dark purple Japanese eggplants

Eggplants, Nyia Yi Farms, Castro market

• Where to buy: Alemany market; Castro market: Nyia Yi Farms

• How to choose: Select eggplants that are firm and heavy for their size; stems and caps should be bright green; skin of a just-picked eggplant will be shiny and its flesh will spring back when squeezed. Small to medium specimens no larger than 6 inches in diameter are better, as overlarge eggplants can be tough, spongy and bitter

• How to store: Store in a plastic bag with a wet paper towel to provide humidity and store in a cool place (about 50 degrees is ideal). Some say not to refrigerate them, but if you don’t have a spot in your house that’s 50 degrees, I’ve put them in the fridge and they’ve been fine

• How to eat: Ahh, so many ways! Roasted and sauteed in an Indian baingan bharta; in moussaka; sauteed with green peppers, miso and ground pork; caponata; grilled as a side dish with olive oil; tossed with bread crumbs, tomato sauce and pasta…one day I will post eggplant recipes

Brussels sprouts

• What they are: They’re of the cabbage family and contain chemicals believed to fight cancer. Lore has it that Brussels sprouts were originally cultivated in northern Europe in the fifteenth century (hence, the name); today, almost all of the commercially grown Brussels sprouts in the U.S. are cultivated in California. The plants do best where the growing season is long and cool

Brussels sprouts, Alemany market

• Where to buy: Alemany market

• How to choose: Look for 1-inch sprouts; the smaller they are, the more tender. Choose bright green, compact heads with clean, white stems, as yellow leaves and tiny holes can be signs of bugs or worms

• How to store: Keep unwashed and untrimmed in an open plastic bag in the vegetable drawer of the fridge for up to 1 week

• How to eat: My favorite is pan-roasted with pancetta and a splash of red wine vinegar at the end (I’ll post a recipe when we next buy a batch; we’ve always eaten them up before I can take any pictures!)

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And just for fun: Can you guess what these are?? Please comment below. (I’ll post answers on Monday.)

Mystery produce #1

Mystery produce #2

How To Have A Tomato Extravaganza — Canned, Jammed, Sauced & Toasty (RECIPE)

1 — Get up early. Have a big mug of coffee.

2 — Enlist a friend or loved one to accompany you (you’ll see why in a sec) to your local farmers’ market. Present your morning’s mission to your companion: to find the best darned tomato in the market. Sample all of the tomatoes; compare notes. Go to the farm stand that had the unilaterally best tomatoes and ask how much they’ll charge you for a 20-30 pound box (SFoodie reported prices at $1.60-$2 per pound for a box. I got a 30-pound box for 30 cents per pound at Alemany Farmers’ Market from the stand right near the Putnam Street entrance; they weren’t certified organic, but I asked, and the farm doesn’t spray and uses sustainable farming practices).

3 — Ask your companion very nicely to help you lug the box back to the car and into your abode.

30 pounds of tomatoes!

4 — Put on clothes you don’t mind getting tomato-ey, and an apron.

5 — In your kitchen:

• Clear and clean counter space.

• Set up your biggest cutting board on the counter. Fold paper towels length-wise and nestle them around your cutting board to catch the tomato juices that will run away once you start cutting up tomatoes.

• Sharpen your favorite knife.

• Set up the other kitchen utensils you’ll need, depending on what you’re making (see recipes below).

• Turn on some lively music — whatever pumps you up.

• Pour yourself a glass of wine or pop open a beer (by now, it might be noon — at least, it is somewhere).

6 — Let the extravaganza begin!

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RECIPES

I’ve ordered these roughly along the lines of how tasty they are relative to input of time and effort:

(1) OVEN-ROASTED TOMATOES – Easy-peasy, super flavorful, very versatile and freezable

(2) TOMATO JAM – The sweet-savory punch is, in my mind, completely worth it; while it takes some time to prepare (and more if you plan to can it), the recipe is relatively simple

(3) TOMATO SAUCE – Time-intensive but not technically difficult, and fresh tomato sauce, especially in the winter, is a treat

(4) CANNED TOMATOES – Time-intensive and takes some technique (more on my simultaneous interest in / fear of canning in a later post), but then again…tomatoes in January? Awesome

Specific recipes are below, including the volume of tomatoes I used and yields I got and serving notes.

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(1) OVEN-ROASTED TOMATOES

Volume: 3 pounds of small-ish tomatoes –> 56 tomato halves

Total Time: 4-6 hours + 15 minutes. Prep: 15 minutes. Cooking Time: 4-6 hours

Planning Notes: The prep is minimal, and you can roast these while you’re watching TV. Or, if you want, you can prep the tomatoes and stick them in the oven before you go to bed. Just remember to set your alarm to get up and take them out of the oven so you don’t end up with tomato hockey pucks.

Thank you to Chiot’s Run for the inspiration for this recipe (click here for hers).

Ingredients

However many tomatoes you want to roast

Olive oil

Chopped herbs, if you like (I used basil, but oregano would be tasty too)

Cooking Instructions

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees. Wash the tomatoes and drain in a colander.

Washed and ready to go

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Slice smaller tomatoes in half, larger ones into quarters. Arrange them on top of the parchment paper on the baking sheet, leaving ¼ inch or so between the tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle chopped herbs on top of tomatoes if using. Put in oven (middle rack).

Tomatoes should shrink considerably (see pictures below); be curled up around the edges and about as firm to the touch in the middle as the meaty part of your palm (under your thumb) while still slightly moist; and taste like sweet-tangy, concentrated tomato.

Before

After

Check in four hours. If the tomatoes meet the description above, take them out and let them cool on the pan. If they don’t, roast them for another one to two hours.

Once cool, you can pack into freezer bags; squeeze out the air before sealing. Or, you can put in an air-tight container and store in the fridge for a few days.

Serving Notes

Great in salads, with eggs (chopped in omelets or egg scrambles; in an egg sandwich), on pizza, tossed into pasta or plain.

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(2) TOMATO JAM

Volume: 3 pounds of tomatoes –> 24 ounces

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes; approx.  1 hour 45 minutes if canning. Prep: 15 minutes. Cooking Time: 1 hour 15 minutes + 10 minutes processing time if canning

Planning Notes: If you’re canning the jam, make sure your jars, lids and rings are washed. Then, start bringing water to simmer in your boiling-water canner and put the jars in a 225 degree oven to sterilize them before you prep the jam ingredients.

I basically used Mark Bittman’s recipe (click here)

Notes On The Recipe

I doubled the recipe as I was canning it, so I used 1 large jalapeno and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne as I wanted a mellow heat to offset the sweetness, vs. a spicy jam. If you’re making the recipe as is, you could just use the jalapeno or do half of a jalapeno and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne.

Simmering the jam 1 hour 15 minutes as Bittman instructs did not yield a thick jam consistency for me, so I brought the jam to boil to the “gelling point”. There are three ways to test for the gelling point, but in my opinion the easiest way is the plate test: put 2 small plates in the freezer before you start cooking the jam. Bring the jam to boil; when it starts getting to a thick jam consistency, place a spoonful on the plate, put it back in the freezer for 1-2 minutes, take it out and run your finger through the jam. If the jam separates and slowly returns to its original form (vs. running right back together), it’s ready. If it runs right back, cook it 1-2 minutes longer and repeat the test with the clean plate.

Serving Notes

Here’s my favorite: Slather this on a warm, fresh-out-of-the-oven biscuit (click here for my favorite cream biscuit recipe), and accompany it with a finger of smoky-sweet bourbon.

A fresh biscuit & tomato jam -- supreme comfort food

Also great on toast, eggs, fish and chicken.

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(3) TOMATO SAUCE

Volume: 6 pounds 7 ounces of tomatoes –> 2 ½ pints (about 3 pounds tomatoes per pint, or 6.5 pounds tomatoes per quart)

Total Time: Approx. 2 hours; 2 hours 40 minutes if canning. Prep: 20 minutes. Cooking Time: 1 hour 40 minutes + 35-40 minutes processing time if canning

Planning Notes: If you’re canning the sauce, make sure your jars, lids and rings are washed. Then, start bringing water to simmer in your boiling-water canner and put the jars in a 225 degree oven to sterilize them before you prep the sauce.

Adapted from the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving

Ingredients

However many tomatoes you want to use for sauce

Bottled lemon juice if canning the sauce (the lemon juice acidifies the sauce so it doesn’t go bad; using bottled lemon juice is key because the acid level is consistent, whereas fresh lemons vary in acidity)

Seasonings, if you like: chopped herbs, salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper (I made mine without since I use tomato sauce in a variety of recipes that may not go well with certain seasonings)

Cooking Instructions

Wash the tomatoes and drain in a colander. Slice in half, cut out the stem/core. Cut into quarters.

Ready for some simmering

Simmer 20 minutes in a large saucepot, stirring occasionally.

Puree tomatoes in a blender or food mill. Strain puree through a sieve to remove seeds and skins into a clean, large saucepot.

Cook juice over medium-high heat until it thickens and reduces by about half, or to desired consistency. This will take, depending on the volume of tomatoes you use, about 45 minutes.

If freezing, pour into sterilized jars or air-tight plastic containers and let cool before placing in freezer.

If canning, put lids in a saucepan of water and bring to a simmer (but don’t boil or a seal won’t form). When the sauce is ready, put 1 tablespoon of bottled lemon juice into each pint jar or 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice into each quart jar. Ladle hot sauce into a jar, doing one jar at a time, leaving ½-inch headspace. Wipe jar rim clean with a damp, clean paper towel or cloth; put lid on jar; screw on ring until finger-tight and place in boiling-water canner. Repeat process with remaining jars. Bring boiling-water bath to roiling boil, and from that point, process 35 minutes for pints, 40 minutes for quarts.

Serving Notes

Great for use in chili, stews, pasta and pizza.

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(4) CANNED TOMATOES

Cannot wait to have these this fall/winter!

Volume: 15 pounds of tomatoes –> 13 ½ pints (about 1 – 1 ½ pounds of tomatoes per pint)

Total Time: Approx. 4 hours for 15 pounds. A lot longer with more tomatoes

Planning Notes: This is at least a half-day affair, all day if you’re doing a lot more tomatoes than 15 pounds. Just plan on being up to your arms (literally) in tomatoes, and don’t plan on much else that day!

Up to my elbows in tomatoes

I referenced The Bitten Word’s handy photo narrative and video (click here) and the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving

Notes On The Recipe

According to The Joy Of Cooking, if you’re doing a huge load of tomatoes, instead of blanching them a few at a time in boiling water and then putting them in an ice bath, you can place tomatoes in a single layer in a large roasting pan, cover with boiling water, let cool and then slip off the skins. I didn’t try it, but it sounds a lot easier than the blanching / ice bath / peeling assembly line I did!

Serving Notes

Great for use in tomato soup, chili and stews all winter.

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Did you find this post helpful? Would you make any of these recipes? If so, please vote above or comment below!

Our Garden Metamorphosis Has Begun — Organic Veggies, Here We Come!

As those of you know who’ve been reading my blog since I started writing it five months ago, we’ve been waiting to renovate our backyard before kicking into full gear on the organic vegetable gardening front. The woman who originally owned our house was clearly a gardener; she built terraces into the sloped backyard and planted a host of flowering shrubs and trees.

Unfortunately, as she aged and had to go to a nursing home, the tenants who rented the house didn’t do much upkeep, so the railroad ties delineating the terraces began to rot, the pine trees towered to 80 feet (killing everything underneath them with their acidic pine needs and/or their shade) and the other vegetation fell into disrepair (including our now-beloved and productive apple tree).

Over the past five years we did a bit here and there — we cut down the pines, opening our yard to the possibility of sunshine, and earlier this year, we cleared half of the weeds and began taking better care of what remained.

But today, the big guns came in. I wish I could say we were crafty enough to do this on our own, but I’ll be honest: we’re not. So, a landscaper and his crew are hacking out the remaining pine tree stumps by hand with an axe because you can’t get a stump grinder into our backyard (three stumps, two feet in diameter each; not a fun job); rebuilding the retaining walls; and installing a large raised vegetable bed in the sunniest part of the yard, complete with chicken wire buried 18 inches into the dirt to stop gophers from digging up our food. We’ll also create spots to plant beautiful flowers and shrubs so that we feel ensconced in nature, even though we live in the city.

Which means that soon, this…

Giant old pine tree stump

…will be transformed so that more of this is around…

"Seattle" dahlia bloom

Swiss chard

Artichoke buds

And I’m also dreaming of planting, nurturing and one day harvesting Romanesco and Chinese broccoli, kale, bull’s blood beets, French carrots, onions and leeks…mmm. (I’ve learned my lesson on the tomatoes — not planning on any of those.) The next phase of our edible gardening adventure has begun — our next step toward my long-term vision of growing 80% of the produce we eat!