Things I Learned at Farmer's Market 8/29/09
One lady who bought zinnias from me last spring was so proud of how beautiful they are that she brought pictures to show me. They were lovely--a lot nicer than my grasshopper decimated ones grown from the same seed packet.
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From the pepper vendor across the aisle, I learned how to know when a Poblano pepper is ready to pick. I assume the same method can be used for other larger hot peppers as well. He squeezes them lightly. If they're flexible, he says they're not quite ready. This is because they should be picked when the pepper wall is as thick as it will get--just before it begins to change color, in other words. A thick wall equals a firm pepper which won't flex when the pepper is squeezed. This was very helpful information, since I never quite know when to pick a green hot pepper.
He also told me that some peppers--Jalapeno for example--have nearly all their heat in the seeds and membranes, but the Poblano is different in that it has heat in the walls. I decided that must be the case with the Volcano and Hungarian Wax Peppers I'm growing this year, instead of the Anaheims, which usually are my standby medium hot pepper. Despite removing the biggest glob of seeds at the stem end, these medium hot peppers are still amazingly spicy. With the Anaheims, I was used to leaving all the seeds intact, but these peppers, even without seeds, are hotter than the Anaheims were with seeds.
I also got a clue from him on how to prepare chili rellenos (I don't know how to do the "enya" in that word.) I've never eaten any prepared by someone else, but heard that they are usually stuffed with cheese. So last week I made a stab at it. It was OK, but I felt like there must be an easier way. He said you cut the peppers in half lengthwise, remove the seeds, stuff (fill) them, and either bake them or cook them on the grill. You can stuff them with cheese, rice and meat, or anything you want. Ahhh. It's basically like stuffed sweet peppers--different mainly in the spiciness of the "container" and the ease of grilling--which is not so great with stuffed bell peppers. No more trying to stuff cheese into a slit in the side and then turning it on the grill without the cheese draining out.
************************
On a related note, one Latino customer told me several years ago that the best time to harvest Anaheims is just as they begin to turn red. This makes sense to me now that I know about aiming for a thick-walled pepper.
********************
Banana Squash is one of the few vegetables James Taylor's mother never got her children to eat. Also James' wife Betty doesn't care for zucchini because it's too watery.
I perked up my ears at the mention of banana squash since Dr. Mittleider of the Mittleider Gardening Method fame, recommends growing banana squash. I wasn't familiar with it, and wondered if it was worth trying to find it. I'm thinking maybe not.
Does anyone have any experience with this? If you like it, how should it be prepared?
**********************
People love colored peppers. The lavender Islander peppers we grow, and the creamy colored Ivory Charm are winners in the looks department. These are great because they are colored in their immature stage, and can liven up a display when mixed with green peppers. In other words, lavender and cream are the "green" stage. Peppers that end up red, yellow, or orange may start out green or lavender or cream. Yellow, orange, and red appear later in the season than the other colors.
One couple came by to buy colored peppers for gazpacho, the mention of which made the lady's mouth water. I understand. I love it too. I make it as a salad instead of a cold soup. It's the perfect late summer combination of cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, optional black olives, and garlic and onions, with a simple dressing of oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper, as I recall. It's fresh tasting and beautiful.
*********************
People are fascinated with giants in the veggie world. Today we took some of the behemoths that developed on our Zucchetta Rampicante vines while we were on vacation and otherwise occupied since then. The specimen we had on the table at market was about a yard long and 6-8 inches in diameter.
When we were picking things yesterday, Hiromi heaved the first few giant zucchetta squash across the garden fence into the sheep pen. Then he had second thoughts, so he slaughtered one of them, cutting a slice right out of the middle of a squash that was 8 inches or more in diameter. We couldn't believe it. It was solid flesh all the way through, with no seeds visible. So we reconsidered, and washed the rest instead of heaving them. No one was brave enough to buy one at market, which is why I'm stepping around three monsters on my kitchen floor. What to do with them? They are very mildly flavored, and have a more meaty texture than zucchini--less watery, in other words. At this large size, the flesh is light orange, like the flesh of a pumpkin. That gives me an idea. Maybe I'll have to see how it works as the main ingredient in pumpkin custard--or pumpkin soup, which I loved the first time I tried it several years ago.
If I get brave and industrious, and my students get brave at the same time, maybe I can cook up a batch for them.
If they can be happy with after-school cereal parties, maybe they could be talked into a pumpkin party some time.
***********************
Customers also like oddly-shaped veggies. On our table was a neck pumpkin, which is like a very long-necked butternut squash. The neck of one we harvested yesterday had looped around to form a complete circle. Someone walked by our booth, looked at it, and said "looks like a snake," which may have been what the lady who bought it had in mind. She cooks for a daycare and thought the children would like that "snakey" squash.
**********************
Farmer's Market traffic falls off after the start of school. People with children in school have had extra expenses at the beginning of the school year, and extra stress from a more harried daily schedule. So they stay home on Saturdays.
**********************
Adorable little Alice was at market with her parents for a short while today, but then she went to stay with her Aunt Maria. Her mother explained that Alice hasn't learned yet to not lie on the floor when she's unhappy, and one such episode this morning with Alice plunking down on the rough and unswept asphalt was enough to look for an alternative. It must not have been a very dramatic tantrum, because I never saw or heard anything, despite her being directly in my line of vision and hearing.
I can see why Alice was a very bright spot in her grandfather's life during his recent battle with cancer. Knowing that she has good and wise parents who will train and protect her must be reassuring too.
I hope Alice comes back to market. I think a cute kid can help sell sausage without saying a word.
**********************
Our Farmer's Market board occasionally prepares baskets of produce and delivers them to downtown merchants that support the Market. Today one of my bouquets went to the State Fair office. They have invited us to sell there for the ten days the fair is in session in September--a very nice marketing opportunity.
*********************
When I began to select cucumbers from Roman's supply, he obligingly added several Asian ones to the mix, remembering that I especially liked those. He commented that people are a little scared of them, but he tells them "These are the best ones." He's right. They are slightly ridged lengthwise, which gives them a bit of a ruffled appearance when left unpeeled and sliced crosswise. Maybe people worry about not being able to peel them cleanly. Their loss is my gain. I like having access to Roman's, now that our vines have succumbed to whatever was attacking them.
Orient Express and Suyo Long are two Asian cucumber variety names I'm familiar with. The flesh is crisp, bitterfree, and mild.
Asian cucumbers are the genetic parents of the familiar Burpless cucumber, and have a similar shape.
*********************
One lady told me today that she can eat vegetables by the wagon load, except for eggplant. The only time she tried it, it was horrible. I explained to her that over-mature eggplants develop a bitter flavor. Also, some varieties, and even individual plants in a variety, may have a genetic tendency toward bitterness. (I was remembering the awful one everyone in this eggplant-loving household spit out on the first bite. We still don't know why it was so bad.)
I told her that any eggplant with a shiny skin will probably not be over-mature. In general, however, after she cuts it open, she will be able to tell how mature the seeds are by their size and color. Light colored and small seeds are immature. Dark and large are more mature--perhaps over-mature. She recalled that the one she tried was very large--a likely candidate for being over-mature.
I also recommended that if she decides to try eggplant again, she prepares it like my mother taught us--peeled, sliced, and cooked in salt water till soft. Then drained and mashed, with crushed crackers and eggs added to the mix, then dropped into a greased skillet and fried in patties. In my opinion, this is the best way to introduce people to eggplant because it is a diluted version of the eggplant flavor. Once people learn to like the flavor, other ways of preparing it are easier to appreciate.
********************
Last week, the chairman of our Farmer's Market board overheard me tell someone we like eggplant patties with tomato gravy, which is an ethnic food, but basically made like creamed tomatoes.
He told me afterwards that he loves tomato gravy. I had no idea he would know what it was. But his last name is Neujahr, which people pronounce "New Year," a literal translation of its German meaning.
It made me wonder if tomato gravy is common throughout Germany, or perhaps among the descendants of German immigrants--not only among Mennonites, as I had assumed it might be.
********************
From the pepper vendor across the aisle, I learned how to know when a Poblano pepper is ready to pick. I assume the same method can be used for other larger hot peppers as well. He squeezes them lightly. If they're flexible, he says they're not quite ready. This is because they should be picked when the pepper wall is as thick as it will get--just before it begins to change color, in other words. A thick wall equals a firm pepper which won't flex when the pepper is squeezed. This was very helpful information, since I never quite know when to pick a green hot pepper.
He also told me that some peppers--Jalapeno for example--have nearly all their heat in the seeds and membranes, but the Poblano is different in that it has heat in the walls. I decided that must be the case with the Volcano and Hungarian Wax Peppers I'm growing this year, instead of the Anaheims, which usually are my standby medium hot pepper. Despite removing the biggest glob of seeds at the stem end, these medium hot peppers are still amazingly spicy. With the Anaheims, I was used to leaving all the seeds intact, but these peppers, even without seeds, are hotter than the Anaheims were with seeds.
I also got a clue from him on how to prepare chili rellenos (I don't know how to do the "enya" in that word.) I've never eaten any prepared by someone else, but heard that they are usually stuffed with cheese. So last week I made a stab at it. It was OK, but I felt like there must be an easier way. He said you cut the peppers in half lengthwise, remove the seeds, stuff (fill) them, and either bake them or cook them on the grill. You can stuff them with cheese, rice and meat, or anything you want. Ahhh. It's basically like stuffed sweet peppers--different mainly in the spiciness of the "container" and the ease of grilling--which is not so great with stuffed bell peppers. No more trying to stuff cheese into a slit in the side and then turning it on the grill without the cheese draining out.
************************
On a related note, one Latino customer told me several years ago that the best time to harvest Anaheims is just as they begin to turn red. This makes sense to me now that I know about aiming for a thick-walled pepper.
********************
Banana Squash is one of the few vegetables James Taylor's mother never got her children to eat. Also James' wife Betty doesn't care for zucchini because it's too watery.
I perked up my ears at the mention of banana squash since Dr. Mittleider of the Mittleider Gardening Method fame, recommends growing banana squash. I wasn't familiar with it, and wondered if it was worth trying to find it. I'm thinking maybe not.
Does anyone have any experience with this? If you like it, how should it be prepared?
**********************
People love colored peppers. The lavender Islander peppers we grow, and the creamy colored Ivory Charm are winners in the looks department. These are great because they are colored in their immature stage, and can liven up a display when mixed with green peppers. In other words, lavender and cream are the "green" stage. Peppers that end up red, yellow, or orange may start out green or lavender or cream. Yellow, orange, and red appear later in the season than the other colors.
One couple came by to buy colored peppers for gazpacho, the mention of which made the lady's mouth water. I understand. I love it too. I make it as a salad instead of a cold soup. It's the perfect late summer combination of cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, optional black olives, and garlic and onions, with a simple dressing of oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper, as I recall. It's fresh tasting and beautiful.
*********************
People are fascinated with giants in the veggie world. Today we took some of the behemoths that developed on our Zucchetta Rampicante vines while we were on vacation and otherwise occupied since then. The specimen we had on the table at market was about a yard long and 6-8 inches in diameter.
When we were picking things yesterday, Hiromi heaved the first few giant zucchetta squash across the garden fence into the sheep pen. Then he had second thoughts, so he slaughtered one of them, cutting a slice right out of the middle of a squash that was 8 inches or more in diameter. We couldn't believe it. It was solid flesh all the way through, with no seeds visible. So we reconsidered, and washed the rest instead of heaving them. No one was brave enough to buy one at market, which is why I'm stepping around three monsters on my kitchen floor. What to do with them? They are very mildly flavored, and have a more meaty texture than zucchini--less watery, in other words. At this large size, the flesh is light orange, like the flesh of a pumpkin. That gives me an idea. Maybe I'll have to see how it works as the main ingredient in pumpkin custard--or pumpkin soup, which I loved the first time I tried it several years ago.
If I get brave and industrious, and my students get brave at the same time, maybe I can cook up a batch for them.
If they can be happy with after-school cereal parties, maybe they could be talked into a pumpkin party some time.
***********************
Customers also like oddly-shaped veggies. On our table was a neck pumpkin, which is like a very long-necked butternut squash. The neck of one we harvested yesterday had looped around to form a complete circle. Someone walked by our booth, looked at it, and said "looks like a snake," which may have been what the lady who bought it had in mind. She cooks for a daycare and thought the children would like that "snakey" squash.
**********************
Farmer's Market traffic falls off after the start of school. People with children in school have had extra expenses at the beginning of the school year, and extra stress from a more harried daily schedule. So they stay home on Saturdays.
**********************
Adorable little Alice was at market with her parents for a short while today, but then she went to stay with her Aunt Maria. Her mother explained that Alice hasn't learned yet to not lie on the floor when she's unhappy, and one such episode this morning with Alice plunking down on the rough and unswept asphalt was enough to look for an alternative. It must not have been a very dramatic tantrum, because I never saw or heard anything, despite her being directly in my line of vision and hearing.
I can see why Alice was a very bright spot in her grandfather's life during his recent battle with cancer. Knowing that she has good and wise parents who will train and protect her must be reassuring too.
I hope Alice comes back to market. I think a cute kid can help sell sausage without saying a word.
**********************
Our Farmer's Market board occasionally prepares baskets of produce and delivers them to downtown merchants that support the Market. Today one of my bouquets went to the State Fair office. They have invited us to sell there for the ten days the fair is in session in September--a very nice marketing opportunity.
*********************
When I began to select cucumbers from Roman's supply, he obligingly added several Asian ones to the mix, remembering that I especially liked those. He commented that people are a little scared of them, but he tells them "These are the best ones." He's right. They are slightly ridged lengthwise, which gives them a bit of a ruffled appearance when left unpeeled and sliced crosswise. Maybe people worry about not being able to peel them cleanly. Their loss is my gain. I like having access to Roman's, now that our vines have succumbed to whatever was attacking them.
Orient Express and Suyo Long are two Asian cucumber variety names I'm familiar with. The flesh is crisp, bitterfree, and mild.
Asian cucumbers are the genetic parents of the familiar Burpless cucumber, and have a similar shape.
*********************
One lady told me today that she can eat vegetables by the wagon load, except for eggplant. The only time she tried it, it was horrible. I explained to her that over-mature eggplants develop a bitter flavor. Also, some varieties, and even individual plants in a variety, may have a genetic tendency toward bitterness. (I was remembering the awful one everyone in this eggplant-loving household spit out on the first bite. We still don't know why it was so bad.)
I told her that any eggplant with a shiny skin will probably not be over-mature. In general, however, after she cuts it open, she will be able to tell how mature the seeds are by their size and color. Light colored and small seeds are immature. Dark and large are more mature--perhaps over-mature. She recalled that the one she tried was very large--a likely candidate for being over-mature.
I also recommended that if she decides to try eggplant again, she prepares it like my mother taught us--peeled, sliced, and cooked in salt water till soft. Then drained and mashed, with crushed crackers and eggs added to the mix, then dropped into a greased skillet and fried in patties. In my opinion, this is the best way to introduce people to eggplant because it is a diluted version of the eggplant flavor. Once people learn to like the flavor, other ways of preparing it are easier to appreciate.
********************
Last week, the chairman of our Farmer's Market board overheard me tell someone we like eggplant patties with tomato gravy, which is an ethnic food, but basically made like creamed tomatoes.
He told me afterwards that he loves tomato gravy. I had no idea he would know what it was. But his last name is Neujahr, which people pronounce "New Year," a literal translation of its German meaning.
It made me wonder if tomato gravy is common throughout Germany, or perhaps among the descendants of German immigrants--not only among Mennonites, as I had assumed it might be.
posted by Mrs. I at
8:09 PM
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