Farmers Market Pasta with Pea Tendrils

I usually go to the farmers market to buy odds and ends of things--whatever strikes my fancy. Last Sunday, I went to the Hillcrest farmers market to see what I could gather to make an interesting dinner. The trick was to find that one item to build the meal around.

I found it at Sage Mountain Farms' stall: sugar snap pea tendrils. On a gloomy day that hinted of rain, there were those sweet pea flowers spoke to me of spring and I had to have them, especially since their season is short. Pea shoots and tendrils can be enjoyed raw, chopped in a salad or snacked on, or sauteed. The young stems are crispy, the leaves a bit tart with a hint of pea flavor.

I picked up two bunches and turned around to continue my shopping and saw my friends Tina and Eric of Close to Home pasta. Voila! I had my meal. Pasta with pea tendrils. Nothing fancy or exotic, but the idea felt perfect.

I picked up a couple of pastas: spinach and garlic penne and firecracker garlic fettucine. I can't resist spice or garlic. After consulting with Tina, we decided that the fettucine would pair best with the pea tendrils.

Oh, and then I saw some shelled sugar snap peas at Valdivia farms. I bought a bag of those. Then some butter from Spring Hill Jersey Cheese.

I was done. At home I had some pine nuts and goat cheese--and, garlic and olive oil. Oh, and a lemon. No need to buy those that day.

I'd love to say that it's all I bought, but I was lacking in will power. I picked up a loaf of whole wheat sourdough bread from Prager Brothers and spicy Bitchen' sauce as well. Farmers markets are filled with temptation!

Last night I pulled the meal together. It was simple, but think of the ingredients I was working with!

I don't have a recipe, but here's what I did:

1. Toasted a handful of pine nuts while a pot of water was heating up
2. Removed the flowers from the pea tendrils to keep as garnish
3. Chopped the pea tendrils into bite-size pieces
4. Zested the lemon and minced a few garlic cloves
5. Sauteed the pea tendrils and peas in a combination of butter, olive oil, and garlic, then added some lemon zest and sea salt

6. Removed the peas and tendrils and made the sauce--a bit more butter and olive oil, a bit more sea salt, juice from half the lemon, and the rest of the zest.
7. Added the pasta to the boiling water and let the sauce reduce. Sliced some goat cheese.

That's it. I added the pasta to the pan filled with the sauce and tossed it to coat before adding the mixture to the peas and pea tendrils. I tossed it all together and then added the pine nuts and goat cheese before topping the dish with the flowers. Dinner was on in perhaps 15 minutes. Local, seasonal, fresh. Delicious!

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Witch's Brew? But Good for You!

I've known Quinn Wilson for quite awhile now. She's a terrific chef, a wonderful cooking teacher, and just a good person. But I have to admit, my eyebrows have been raised since I heard about this new business she started called Balanced & Bright. It's a result of an interest she developed in traditional foods a couple of years ago. As her business card says, it's all about health, wellness, and radiance. And it comes in the form of a bone broth that is her new product. Now, if you Google bone broth you'll find it referenced as a magical elixir with healing benefits. I tend to be a skeptic about these things, but I also grew up with a grandmother who relied on a lot of homemade, what we might today called homeopathic, remedies. And I have to think that bone broth tastes a lot better than her boiled grapefruit--although not nearly as good as honey and lemon for a sore throat.

Quinn is also making another product, which is what I recently got to see her make, along with our friend Julie Darling. It's a master tonic that is touted as being able to put the kabosh on viruses (once you see what's in it, you'll get behind that), but also said to maximize blood circulation, detoxify the blood, and even "turn around the deadliest diseases." Okay, that's pushing it as far as I'm concerned. But as someone raised on Jewish penicillin, I can see how an herbal mixture brewed with apple cider vinegar can be a formidable opponent to the common cold.

I tasted Quinn's bone broth and it's quite lovely. The boiled mixture of beef bones from pastured cattle, water, apple cider vinegar, and a secret ingredient (I know what it is but was sworn to secrecy) has a gentle, sweet flavor. The fat, collagen, gelatin, and vitamins and minerals drawn from the bones by the vinegar are said to help with joint issues and digestion. Quinn noticed that after making it at home for herself her skin became smooth and supple, her hair shinier, and her nails stronger. Quinn drinks it like a tea, but also cooks with it. In fact, she recently sauteed apples in the broth which she baked into an apple pie. She also adds it to her dog Honey's food,which she says has made the dog's coat soft and shiny. In fact, Quinn is working with a dog food company to add it to their food.

You can make bone broth at home, of course, but Quinn emphasizes that the key to making a quality bone broth that lives up to addressing medical issues is that the bones must come from pastured cattle. She gets her bones from Da-Le Ranch, Sage Mountain Farm, and Homegrown Meats. And, she suggests that for general health and healing, a person must drink between three to four pints a week, and six pints a week after having surgery. You can order it by the pint on the website Big Cartel. It comes frozen, so defrost it overnight in the refrigerator before using and be sure to skim off the fat on the top--but use it to cook with, too.

Now for the Master Tonic. This witch's brew literally took my breath away. And Julie's and Quinn's. And made their eyes run. Why? Because the ingredients are limited but oh, so potent: fresh horseradish, fresh chiles, onions, ginger root, and garlic cloves. All in equal parts. All chopped or grated as the ingredient warrants.

I remember my grandfather peeling, then grating fresh horseradish for Passover seders when I was a kid. This was no more fun--there's a reason why most of us buy it prepared at the market. Between that, the jalapeños, and the onions, Quinn and Julie were vying for the goggles. And I was reeling, too.

You can buy the tonic from Quinn but, should you want to make this yourself, here's the recipe they use. Note, wear gloves and goggles when making it.

 
Master Tonic

1 part fresh chopped garlic cloves
1 part fresh chopped white onions (or the hottest onions available)
1 part fresh grated ginger root
1 part fresh grated horseradish root
1 part fresh chopped chiles (cayenne, jalapeños, serranos, habaneros, African bird peppers, or any combination of the hottest peppers available)
Raw, unfiltered, unbleached, non-distilled apple cider vinegar

Fill a glass jar 3/4 of the way full with equal parts of the fresh chopped or grated ingredients. Then cover completely with the vinegar.

Close and shake vigorously. Then top off the vinegar if necessary. Keep the jar in a cool, dark place for two weeks. Shake the tonic daily a couple of times.

The recipe calls for beginning the formula on the new moon, then straining and bottling the mixture on the full moon two weeks later. Filter it through a clean piece of cotton, coffee filter, or colander, then bottle and label.

Don't toss the solids. Think of what you have there! It's the makings of a marinade or salad dressing or dip. Julie added some to a mashed avocado to make guacamole.

 
As for drinking the tonic. I tried a shot of it and rather liked it, except for the whiff of fermentation it gives off. It's strong and spicy, as you'd expect. The suggested dosage is 1/2 to 1 ounce two or more times a day as needed. Perfect in a shot glass. Store your master tonic in a dark place. It won't go bad (given the ingredients, could it ever?). I can absolutely see how it would give a cold or flu a good fight. My nana would have loved it!

You can contact Quinn at balancedandbright@gmail.com to order the tonic.




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Sage Mountain Farms Amps Up Sage Mountain Beef

Farmer Phil Noble is just a little busy these days. He's still working his Hemet farm, producing beautiful vegetables that you can find at various farmers markets around San Diego. But he's also ramped up the offerings of his beef production, which he officially launched a year ago June. Instead of customers just being able to buy a half, quarter, or eighth of a cow, we have some choices via his online store and at the Hillcrest Farmers Market.

First, you can join the Green-Fed™Beef CSA he launched. Green-Fed means that his cattle are eating what Noble refers to as a "salad-bar buffet," basically the organic watermelon and squash, alfalfa, wheatgrass, and other forages they come across in the pastures. In fact, Noble told me years ago that he'll let his cattle feed on the remnants of his farm harvests to clear the field and give the cattle a hearty meal. Now, I guess, he's started an actual program. And the beef is all the tastier for it.

The CSA has six- and 12-month subscription options and even then you can choose a price point for shares that range from five to 20 pounds.

You can also buy one-off packages from the online store, which meat lovers outside of San Diego should consider. You can get ground beef or London Broil. Or you can get a sampler of cuts totaling about 22 pounds of meat. Or, you can go with the eighth, quarter, half, or whole "pledge." That is, you're not actually ordering the full amount then and there, but pre-ordering that portion for purchase and pick up when it's available.

Of course, as a single person, I'm actually focused in on what Noble brings to the Hillcrest Farmers Market, which is the market where he sells his beef, along with his vegetables. Until recently, all you could get were one-pound packages of ground beef, which is very good. I've made very juicy burgers with it, as well as meatloaf and chile.

But now Noble also carries about 32 cuts at the market, ranging from filet mignon and Porterhouse steaks to rib-eyes, skirt, short ribs, soup bones, and breakfast sirloin. Many of the packages are in the one-pound range.

You can find Sage Mountain Beef at the Hillcrest Farmers Market on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. alongside the DMV parking lot.


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Sage Mountain Farm Goes Out to Pasture with Beef

For months and months Phil Noble has been telling me about his cows and the beef he was planning to sell at the farmers markets. His farm near Hemet is a farmers market favorite and right now I'm all over the garlic scapes and young garlic he's selling. But last Sunday at the Hillcrest farmers market I took home something else from his stand: a one-pound sample package of ground beef.

Yes, Sage Mountain Farm is now also Sage Mountain Pastures. Phil has partnered with Sam and Rose Benedict (Sam is a local business consultant who researches climate change). Together they own a small herd of Guernsey, Angus, and Holstein cattle. The animals are fed on a movable feast of grass and post-harvest crops, and finished on organic grains--what Noble calls a "polyphase approach."

So, no, they're not strictly grass fed. For the partners, there's no avoiding the grains, at least for the time being. "The reason we're adding grains is that we're trying to get restaurants involved and the chefs tell us they want more fat on the beef because that's what the customer wants," said Sam Benedict.

Benedict also said that they're working on getting the beef certified as organic.

Customers can purchase the beef by portion, not by cut. Sage Mountain Pastures is selling whole beef (400 pounds), half, one-quarter, and one-eighth -- all at $8.50 a pound, which includes cutting, wrapping, and freezing. The portions include a variety of cuts. A $75 non-refundable deposit is required for each eighth of beef ordered. Or, you can buy one-pound packages of ground beef.

 
I used half of my ground beef last night to make a burger. Because I was concerned that the leanness of the meat would make it dry I added a little chopped onion, along with minced young garlic (from Sage Mountain Farm), some red pepper sauce, and salt and pepper. Then I grilled it on top of the stove. I needn't have worried; the flavors and texture were terrific.

Visit Sage Mountain Pastures at the Hillcrest and Adams Ave. farmers markets and Little Italy Mercato or contact Noble  for an order at SageMtnPastures@gmail.com.

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Winter's Charms at Hillcrest Farmers Market

It's not unusual for farmers markets across the country to close for the winter. But not only are San Diego's markets open, they're packed with gorgeous produce. Looking at the bounty at last Sunday's Hillcrest farmers market, it's hard to believe we just endured a week of heavy, chilly storms.

Clearly, it's not strawberry or tomato season yet. Or is it? There were a couple of farmers from Carlsbad with flats of bright red juicy strawberries. And there were several stands with tomatoes, including gorgeous heirlooms of vibrant shades of green, red, yellow, and orange at Valdivia Farms. Are they grown in greenhouses? I asked and was told they're growing outside under the sun. Now, I don't think they have the depth of flavor that long hot summer days provide, but it's kind of nice to have fresh local tomatoes in the dead of winter.

I bought several after tasting samples chopped in a delicious spicy chile mix they're selling. But instead of buying the chile mix, I more or less replicated it, first making a simple little chopped salad of the tomatoes, tiny Mexicola avocados from Koral's Tropical Fruit Farm (more about them below), green garlic, and stemmed red onions-also from Valdivia. These were tossed in a dressing of locally produced avocado oil from vendor Bella Vado,green Hatch chile powder from Richies Roasted Products (whose stall is near the Joe's on the Nose orange coffee truck), fresh lime juice from limes in my garden, and salt and pepper. You could also marinate shrimp in this dressing, grill, and add to the salad, served with homemade corn tortillas. Or serve the salad as a salsa-like condiment with fish, chicken, beef, or pork. It's a wonderfully bright flavor surprise in the middle of winter.

Leafy greens are abundant this time of year. I saw a lot of Swiss chard on Sunday. At Sage Mountain Farm, I picked up some beautiful rapini (also known as broccoli rabe) and a bunch of broccoli. Now, while rapini has those little yellow buds that look they they're going to explode into little broccolis, they're actually not even in the broccoli family, but related to turnips.

These greens are slightly bitter, but it works for them when you counterbalance it with other flavors. After you trim the ends of the stalks, use everything else on the plant, including the yellow buds. Cut the stems into one-inch pieces and blanch in boiling water for about a minute. Then drain and sauté in olive oil and garlic. I like to add about a teaspoon of chopped preserved lemon to it as well, along with toasted pine nuts, dried pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. You could also add pancetta or bacon. Rapini makes a nice side dish, of course, but try tossing them with pasta and add some feta cheese.

As you're walking down the main aisle of the Hillcrest market, rising over the sounds of live music will be the energetic voice of Barry Koral.

 
Playing the part of the carnival-style barker, the 68-year-old Koral, who owns Koral's Tropical Fruit Farm in Vista, is hawking the flavors and nutritional value of his produce, which this time of year is mostly citrus. I saw oranges and tangerines, limes, sweet lemons, Meyer lemons, and conventional lemons. But he also had some interesting fruits like guavas and Mexicola avocados.

Mexicola's are a tiny avocado variety with a thin purplish, almost black edible skin. They have a nutty, almost almond taste to them. Don't use them to make guacamole. Slice them in half and serve with a tray of crudités or chop them and add to the tomato salad I described above. Look for fruit with smooth shiny skin and that are firm but give a little when you touch them. You don't see these beauties  regularly in the markets, so grab these as a special seasonal treat.

Weird and Wonderful: Three Spring Treats

I always like a good surprise and this past weekend I found three in the form of produce. Two of them you may have heard of or even tried. I'm pretty sure that the third is something completely new to anyone but the growers and sellers and a few chefs in the area.

First up is a rare treat if you're a garlic lover: garlic scapes. These thick, curly cues of deliciousness are hard to find in San Diego. Last year I found them at First Korean Market on Convoy near Jasmine in Kearny Mesa. They were there just a brief time in the spring and that was it. On Sunday I found them at the Hillcrest farmers market at Sage Mountain Farm's stand and immediately snatched up a bunch, along with some first-of-the-season heirloom tomatoes, elephant garlic and a bunch of lovely multi-colored carrots.

Garlic scapes are the flower stalks that grow out of the garlic bulb. As they grow they begin to curl, and ultimately develop a little bud. They have just a brief season so get them while you can.


Some say they are milder than garlic bulbs, but they can be pretty potent while raw. Once cooked, however -- at least in my experience -- they lose a lot of that garlic flavor. So, my favorite way to use them is to make pesto. Simply chop them into smallish pieces and drop in the food processor. Add grated parmesan cheese, toasted pine or walnuts, salt and pepper and slowly drizzle in really good extra virgin olive oil until the mixture becomes creamy. In this batch above, I also added fresh thyme from my garden and about a tablespoon of fresh lemon zest.

The pesto is terrific on baked chicken, fish, grilled beef and pork. Add it to an omelet or roasted vegetables -- especially roasted potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes or summer squash. And, of course, it's a no brainer with pasta. I chopped some heirloom tomatoes and sea beans (see below for the big surprise), and roasted a couple of Japanese eggplants I bought at the City Heights farmers market.


The result was a wonderful vegetarian pasta dish that made two meals. And it was just as good cold as warm.


Okay, I mentioned the sea beans here and on Twitter. They're definitely a curiosity. I learned about them at Specialty Produce with L.A. food writer Erika Kerekes, who was visiting for the day. Specialty's Kelly Orange was showing us around and we walked by a large plastic bag of these greens on a shelf. They look like little twigs, but have a crispy texture and very salty, really briny, flavor straight out of the sea. Sea beans, also known as glasswort, grow wild on beaches and marshes, including estuaries in San Diego.


Part of the charm of these vegetables is their crispiness so I would use them fresh or maybe pickle them. But, certainly, you can saute or steam them or use them however you would any other vegetable. Make a salty pesto with them. Or just use them as a very interesting garnish. I added them to my pasta and looking forward to experimenting with them further.

While I was at Specialty Produce, I noticed they had pink lemons -- something I'd never seen. So I took home several to try. They're a variety unique to the average Eureka lemon. They start out with a very pretty yellow-and-green variegated skin but the flesh inside is pink and so they're often used to make pink lemonade. As the fruit matures, the skin starts to flush, as you can just see in the photo below. This is the result of lycopene, which also colors pink grapefruit.


Use these lemons just as you would a regular Eureka lemon. I thought they were too pretty to just squeeze and toss, so I made another jar of preserved lemons. If you haven't done this yet, give it a try. All you need are lemons, sea salt and a wide-mouth sterile jar.

First, cut the lemons vertically half-way down on one side, then flip the lemon over, do a half turn and make another cut. Then, stuff the inside of the lemon with the salt on each side.


Fill the jar as you stuff each lemon with the salt and press down to release the juice and make room for the next lemons. By the time you fill the jar, you should have no room for more lemons and they should be sitting in juice. If they don't release enough juice, squeeze more lemons and fill the jar with the juice to the top. Then, all you do is secure the lid and let the jar sit on your kitchen counter for a month to six weeks. Periodically turn the jar over and back upright to remix any salt that's settled at the bottom. If the lemons begin to collapse, you can add more split and salted lemons so the jar remains full.



At the end of a month to six weeks, you'll have a wonderful condiment to include in pastas, sauces, salads and sautes. Keep the jar refrigerated and pull out what you need. Trim away the flesh, rinse the peel and chop it. It adds a wonderful salty, sour flavor. But, remember, a little goes a long way for the best effect.

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Behind the Scenes with Jsix's Christian Graves

For those of us who love food, there are often secretly harbored dreams of running a restaurant. Well, the reality of it is that running a restaurant is truly only for the bravest, but if you want to have some fun behind the scenes and really understand what it takes to put together a lovely restaurant meal, Jsix restaurant is offering "Chef's Kitchen Experience" with chef Christian Graves.

The program is being held on the second Sunday of every month, starting August 2 (with the exception of December since that's Graves's birthday this year). You'll truly get the farm-to-table experience, from shopping for the meal at the Hillcrest farmers market, to helping Graves prepare hors d'oeuvres for the group and then sitting back and enjoying a chefs table feast.

"We meet here at 10 and travel together to the market," explains Graves. "I'll set up guidelines for shopping that are based on what the plan is for the meal and what's in season. We'll talk to the farmers like Phil Noble of Sage Mountain Farm and learn what to look for in everything from fish to strawberries so we pick the best ingredients and we'll get some insight about how they live their life."

There's a back kitchen at Jsix where the group -- up to a dozen people -- will gather around a large prep table. "Typically the ladies want to get in and have fun cooking and the gentlemen want to kick back and have wine," says Graves, "but everyone's welcome to join in and help cook."

Graves will then assemble the hors d'oervres and bring them out to the dining room where the guests will enjoy the rest of the day with a full chef's table experience. Of course, if the group is into cooking, they can join Graves back in the kitchen.

"For me, it's fun because it brings together everything," says Graves. "I really love cooking. I love food. I love cooking off the cuff. Truly it's farm to table, which I want to promote the most."

So, here are the details:

• There's transportation to and from the Hillcrest farmers market from Jsix.
• You'll enjoy a three-course meal featuring ingredients you and Chef Graves select and he (and maybe you) prepare.
• Wine or cocktails will be paired with each course.
• The $120 per person cost includes gratuity and complimentary parking at Hotel Solamar, adjacent to Jsix.
  

For reservations, call the restaurant at 619-532-8744.

Jsix is located at 616 J St. in downtown San Diego.


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