The Houndstooth Gourmet

Frank and I arrived at the Dupont Farmers Market just minutes after the opening bell rang. Tents were up to protect from the rain, which was fortunately done by the time the market opened. Winter produce still dominated the market, with gourds, tubers, radishes, turnips and leafy greans. Sunnyside Farm had amazing rainbow chard and large collards. The Farm at Sunnyside (not to be confused with Sunnside Farm) had two tables piled high with baby bok choy, leafy frisee, baby beets, turnips and carrots. All so amazingly fresh.

Keswick Creamery had already drawn a large crowd for their cheese products. I met Melanie, who owns Keswick Creamery. She is dedicated and hard working, living her dream on her dairy farm. I have always known that Keswick Creamery is popular, but they also have a true dedicated following of patrons who line up before the opening bell to get their favorite products. On Sunday, I sampled the Feta with Italian Herbs which tasted of basil and oregano. Alongside a small bucket of broccoli florets was a container of Keswick’s blue cheese dip. Amazing.

Creekside Farm and Orchard from Berkley Spring WV carries many “finished” products including a nice selection of soups. Last week, I sampled their split pea which was thick and smoky. This week, they had leek, cranberry bean and sweet sausage soup, which all looked delicious. Oh, and don’t forget that if you go to the market, bring any empty egg cartons to donate to them!

Toigo Farm had beautiful little cucumbers which were flying off the table. They were so green and sweet, I had to buy some. Also of note at Toigo is their heirloom tomato sauce. It’s tomato taste is deep and rich, and very low in sugar. It tasted great with their samples of crusty bread. Tip: Toigo is also very generous with samples year round!

Gardener’s Gourmet had lots of gorgeous green broccoli (also very popular at the market) and herbs which are beyond fresh. I bought a bunch of cilantro and dill. A LOT OF DILL. So much, in fact, if any HG readers have suggestions for their favorite recipes which use dill- I’d really appreciate it. I don’t want to waste any of the feathery fronds.

Tulips and lilies were also very popular as I saw many patrons with flowers in hand. I suppose they are ready for Spring, just like me.

After the market, Frank and I headed to Del Ray for brunch at Taqueria Poblano. A hot cup of decaf coffee warmed me up once inside. I ordered the taquito platter ($8.95) which had 3 crunchy pork taquitos drizzled with crema, refried beans, fresh guacamole and yellow rice. It was all very good, with the highlights being the fresh guacamole and their spicy pork. Along with free chips and fresh salsa, this is an amazing bargain.

Finally, while driving up Mount Vernon Avenue on our way to brunch, we spotted a young lady, Jackie, training on a bike just outside of St. Elmo’s Coffee House. She had a sign behind her stating that she was training for a triathalon to raise money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Jackie said that her goal is to raise a whopping $5000 and she was already halfway there! She plans to train on her bicycle at at other coffee houses such as Murky Coffee in Arlington, and Misha’s in Old Town Alexandria.  Vistit Jackie’s website to track her progress and donate!

Until the next At The Market, eat and buy local when you can!

And……don’t forget those dill suggestions!

Tags: District of Columbia, Washington, farmers markets by Ramona
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Today, the cold weather and “Spring forward” loss of an hour’s sleep left the Dupont Market less crowded than last week. Actually, I think if the wind chill had not lowered the temperature by about 10 degrees, it would have been hopping. Or, perhaps the fact that we were at the market an hour later than usual allowed us to avoid any earlier crowds. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the short lines and seemingly more plentiful selection of produce. In particular, I noticed radishes galore! Small globe-like radishes, and miniature carrot shaped radishes- all colored an almost magenta red and some which yielded red to a snow white tip. Kale, chard and spinach is coming on a bit stronger as well. Some of the greens, unfortunately, were wilting in the wind (chill). This week, I narrowed in on one of my favorite produce vendors, Next Step Farm. The last time I “timed” my visit in order to buy from Next Step (they have been at the market every other week for the better part of the winter) I enjoyed a new to my palate favorite; tat soi. I have not seen tat soi since and was so happy I gave it a try. Actually, it’s hard to walk by the beauty of this leafy green. I sauteed it at home, and also enjoyed tat soi in a version of Chris’ Market empanadas, which if you’ve been following my market adventures, you know I’ve become a big fan.Today at Next Step, sunchokes caught my eye. Read the caption in the photo and see just how nutritious they are and how wonderful they taste. I asked the gentleman/owner? about how to make it and he recommended just washing them (no peeling-love that!) and giving the sunchokes some S&P and olive oil, baking/roasting them in the oven. I have got it in my head to prepare it in the manner that Harold, Top Chef season 1, prepared it for a challenge; Braised Lamb Shank with Sunchoke Puree and Spring Vegetables. Doesn’t that sound amazing? I may give the recipe a go! And, if any of you could share with me how you prepare sunchokes, I’d love to hear from you.

I also bought a half dozen small rolls from Bonaparte Bakery. On the way to the market today, my husband Frank wondered if there were any sub type rolls at the market because he wanted to use leftover meatballs (from making Wedding Soup) to make hot sandwiches for dinner. I thought that was a terrific idea and hence: we planned on making meatball “sliders”* with Blue Ridge Dairy mozzarella ($6).

Next week, I hope to get Blue Ridge’s burrata and hope more information about their herd and history of making this traditionally imported- from -Italy- delight.

Until the next at the market-eat and buy local when you can.

*The meatball sliders were fantastic! The individual rolls from Bonaparte Breads and Blue Ridge Dairy’s fresh mozzarella really made the meatball sliders.

Now that’s what I’m talking about!!

Tags: District of Columbia, Washington, farmers markets by Ramona
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The sunny weather brought many patrons to the Dupont market on Sunday. I arrived around 10:30am and it was buzzing with folks carrying gorgeous spring flowers, chowing on pastries and sipping hot apple cider. It was nice to see a fuller compliment of farmers as well as some cooking from Whole Foods happening on the grassy knoll.

Strolling through the  market, I continued to notice more canned goods, pies, soups and stews. I couldn’t resist buying some empanadas from Chris’ Marketplace. This week, I got beef empanadas and rappini empanadas. I put them in the toaster at home to reheat them. Works like a charm. Oh! guess what? I finally got good crabcake sample karma! I tried out a piece of lump crabcake which was moist and delicious. The lump crabcakes go for $5 each and the jumbo lump crabcakes are $9 a piece. I might save that treat for next week. This Sunday, I had a stromboli to make (I’ll post that tommorow). From scratch. Lots of flour dusted about.

I sampled some goodies at Keswick Creamery. Marinated feta was delicious on a small piece of bread. Their yogurt is as fresh as can be. Again, I’ll get some more of their cheese next week. I have about 4-5 cheeses in my fridge which needs to get eaten, including Keswick feta (that stuff really lasts!).

I also was really drawn to fresh burratta at Blue Ridge Dairy, but at $15, I couldn’t pull the trigger (again, too much cheese at home). I did however decide upon a teriyaki “slim jim” and sausage from Cibola Farm. A cranberry buffalo and pork sausage with savory seasonings sounded great for a breakfast patty, but I actually think I’ll use it in a stuffing/dressing along with pork loin.

Apples are still very plentiful with a wide variety available from many farms. Toigo had tart green apples which would be great to eat as is, or for a dessert or salad, along with some cheese (hey….I’ve got that).

It also seems as though more farmers are carrying eggs. I noted 4 vendors carrying them. I purchased a dozen from Eco Friendly, which are labeled Sunnyside Farms. I’ve been using brown eggs for years and recently have been purchasing them from the farmers market. First I tried the eggs from Tom at Water View and while good, didn’t knock my socks off. So, I’m trying another farmers eggs this time.

The eggs have left me in a quandary. I’m just not finding them to be worth double what I pay at the supermarket. I’m willing to pay a premium for fresh, local food (with all the benefits it brings) and support local farmers, but for me, the jury is still out as to whether it’s worth the extra cost for eggs. Look for my post titled “Great Eggspectations” at DCFoodies tommorow and see my observations.

Finally, it was great to see the flower vendor busy making bouquets for patrons. Beautiful tulips, daffodils and lilies smelled wonderful and hinted that soon, I should be seeing them on my front lawn. Hallelujah.

I think it’s time I changed my little flag out front from Winter motif, to Spring.

 Until the next “At The Market”, eat and buy local when you can.

Tags: District of Columbia, Washington, farmers markets by Ramona
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Start them young, I say! With the warmer weather this Sunday, strollers and little market goers were out in force, despite the leaner pickings at the Dupont Farmers Market. Sunnyside Farm was a standout today, and I looked to them to buy my vegetables in lieu of Next Step Farm, which was off this week. Turnips were large and firm at $.89 per pound. Cleverly, the delicious turnip greens were bundled and sold separately at $2.50 for a large bunch. Stay tuned for turnips two ways……

Keswick Creamery had a crowd as they usually do given the generous samples they always have out on their table. I tried a few different types of their feta cheese, which until now, I hadn’t really appreciated. I bought a piece of feta with Herbs De Provence which was creamier than I would have thought and not overly salty as many feta can be.

Carrying over my new found interest in tat soi, I purchased a tat soi filled empanada (and a beef empanada) from Chris’s table-who most of you know as the crab cake guy. I specifically asked what type of crab they used for their crab cakes and was told that the cakes were made with blue crab-I’m not sure where they source it from this time of year but I do know that I’ll give them a try sometime soon. And yes, once again, I was at the table when crab cakes were sizzling in the pans, but none were out to sample (maybe them have dummy cakes that just sit in the pans yet none ever get into the sample cups?). Always a bridesmaid, never a bride when it comes to sampling those crab cakes-and I love crab cakes, rarely passing them over if they appear on a menu.

I also wanted to report on the eggs I bought last week from Water View-you may have noted a small truck near the oyster stall, inside the bank lot (with a very nice grey haired gentleman chatting up his customers). I have scrambled and poached these eggs and am happy to say that they yolks are deep yellow and very tasty. They sell for $4 per dozen as compared to $4.75 at Creekside Farm.

Last, I leave you with a photo of wedding soup I made last night. For those not familiar with wedding soup, it is chicken soup with small meatballs and dark greens, usually escarole, which I found at Sunnyside Farm. A huge gorgeous head for $2.50 (very good price) reminded me that I had homemade chicken stock and a package of ground pork at home. What else to do but make this absolutely delicious and hearty soup which originated in  the Italian-American neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, PA and Youngstown, OH. Loosely translated, the name “wedding soup” relates to the fact that meat and dark vegetables marry together very well. The popularity of wedding soup has spread outside of the North East U.S. to many parts of the country. In fact, even Campbell’s Soup sells it.

All I know is that my Aunt Gloria started making what we called escarole soup (wedding soup) for holidays many, many (many) years ago. When we celebrated Christmas or Easter at her home, all the kids slurped this soup- with her amazing tiny meatballs, with great delight. So -forgive me now I have to close-my soup is waiting.

Until the next At The Market, eat local when you can.

Tags: Washington, farmers markets by Ramona
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The sunshine  kept the blankets off of the vegetables at Next Step Produce* today. Although their setup is only a quarter of it’s size during peak season, the vegetables are probably the most popular at the market. Today I picked up 2 heads of tat soi, a bunch of kohlrabi and a daikon radish.

The daikon radish is currently in a pot of chicken soup-along with some of it’s greens. I figure the radish is similar to a parsnip, so what the heck. As for the kohlrabi, I asked someone from the farm how to prepare it and she responded “Eat it raw or in a salad-it’s good on it’s own”. A gentleman next to me rolled his eyes in a “they are soooo good” kind of way and let me know that the greens are delicious too (I always love to hear that). The tat soi is so lusciously deep green I had to buy some after eyeing the cruciferous balls for some time.

 Now if anyone is familiar with  and has recipies/ways to use the kohlrabi or tat soi-I’d love to hear about your experience and advice!

Waterview Foods-from the Eastern Shore- had fresh brown eggs for $4 a dozen. This is my first purchase of these eggs and I’m wondering if there is a difference from these and  the brown eggs I get from Safeway. I know they’re fresher, so I won’t attempt to hard boil any of them for at least 2 weeks-but will they be better? We’ll see.

A visit to Firefly Farm’s cheese stand gave me a taste of one of their newer cheeses- New French, which is a St. Andres style cheese. St. Andres is a soft ripened triple cream cow’s milk cheese in a washed mold rind. It’s style is similar to brie and camembert, but taller and to my palate, more funky/stinky. I bought a wedge-approximately 1/2 to 2/3 lb. for $9. I’ll let it soften and spread it over pieces of rosemary-Italian bread from Atwater’s Bakery.

On a healthier note, I picked up Pink Lady and Cameo apples from Spring Valley Farm. Both varieties are a nice balance of sweet and tart. I think I’ll pair one with the cheese. Of course that’s like Paula Deen topping off a 3 butter stick cobbler with fresh whipped cream and a sprig of mint because, you know-greens make the dish healthy.

Denial. It’s not just a river in Egypt.

Until my next market report, eat local when you can.

*Next Step Produce is at the Dupont Market every other Sunday. I’m not sure if that’s just for the winter or year round, just fyi.

Tags: Washington, farmers markets by Ramona
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