Isn't it Grand: The Escondido Farmers Market

I admit it. I just don't go up to North County all that often, or at least as often as I should. But I've reconnected with a cousin who lives in Escondido and she finally convinced me to come up on Cinco de Mayo to go with her and her husband to their farmers market.

Of course, I couldn't refuse. And, as it turned out, a friend of mine was there as well.

The market is held year-round on Tuesday afternoons in downtown Escondido on Grand Ave. on the block between Kalmia and Juniper. Here I found a lot of familiar folks -- Majestic Garlic, George Petrou, J. R. Organics and Smit Orchards. But, there were some stand-out folks I hadn't met and items that were either irresistibly gorgeous or that I hadn't seen before. So, I'll share:

In the irresistibly gorgeous category was the produce of The Morning Star Ranch from Valley Center. I don't think I've ever seen Swiss chard or carrots or lettuce quite so stunning. "We grow with love," said the gentleman in the booth. And, they welcome visitors to the ranch.


Now, if you can't make it up to Escondido, no worries. They also have a stand at the Ocean Beach farmers market on Wednesday afternoons.

Also in the gorgeous produce category were the offering of J. R. Organics. I've seen them at the La Jolla farmers market and love their radishes and carrots. They had plenty of them available at the Escondido market.


But, I also found some lovely spring onions and also bought a big red head of butter lettuce.


Now, we tend to gravitate to the beautiful and produce is no exception. But sometimes it should be. The best apples tend to be the homely ones and sometimes you have to be a little forgiving aesthetically with other produce. I found these small -- not really baby -- purple artichokes and bought half a dozen. They weren't the prettiest around but they were delicious.


I basically just trimmed them, cut them in quarters and put them in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Then I drained them, tossed them in olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted them for about 20 minutes at 425 degrees. While they were cooking I put several ounces of rotini pasta in the artichoke water and made a little dressing with olive oil, minced green garlic, lemon juice and minced anchovies. I toasted some pine nuts, shaved some Parmigiano Reggiano and when everything was cooked, put it all together for a lovely dinner -- actually, it ended up being enough for dinner and lunch a day later. Not bad for two bucks.


On the south side of the market, look for Valley Center's Behneman Family Farms' citrus and avocados. I bought several avocados for a ridiculous price. And, not just Hass avocados but a variety called Zutano, which are the first of the season. They have a bigger seed than Hass with a shiny yellow-green skin. They're very buttery and tasty. Because of the thin skin, they don't travel well, so if you want to try something a little different, you'll have to seek these out at the farmers market.

I also bought a bag of delicious tangelos from them, which I turned into Mother's Day marmalade gifts (thank you Ina Garten for writing completely reliable, delicious recipes. This was from her Barefoot Contessa at Home book).




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June: When Produce is Front and Center

Just outside my office window the big jacaranda tree is pushing out its mass of purple flowers. In my garden, dense clusters of Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes are turning a fiery red and the basil leaves are growing almost large enough to consider picking. This is the time of spring in San Diego I love. And, it's when a trip to the farmers market means an explosion of color and, of course, flavor.

Today's La Jolla Farmer's Market was lit up with a rainbow of gorgeous produce defying the morning's June gloom. From baby purple artichokes to sparkling Bing cherries, from my favorite yellow and green squash to luminescent zucchini blossoms, the market stalls were ripe for the picking.

So, this is more of a photo tribute to what I saw this morning. Think of it as a little incentive, even push, to get you out to the markets and enjoy the current bounty.

Suncoast Farms from Lompoc has these wonderfully eccentric-looking baby artichokes. If you're a fan of the packages of baby artichokes from Trader Joe's try these. They're so easy to prepare and really delicious. It's just a matter of stripping the hard leaves from the thistle until you get to the soft ones. You can boil them or--what I like to do--blanch them for a minute or two, then cut in half lengthwise (no need to scoop out the choke since it's so tiny), toss with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, salt and pepper and roast in the oven at about 375, covered for about half an hour and then another half hour uncovered (try adding some grated Parmesan cheese during the uncovered phase).


The stand also had some of the most enormous green artichokes I've ever seen, perhaps twice the size of those you see at the supermarket (they're known for these). And absolutely beautiful. Perfect for stuffing.


Peterson Specialty Produce from Fallbrook has its bi-color yellow and green squash at the market now. With conventional zucchini I enjoy cutting them into matchsticks and sauteeing them with garlic and lemon juice or grating them for savory pancakes. But these are so beautiful, I think they should be halved (quartered in the case of the round summer squash), steamed and eaten with a vinaigrette or sliced extremely thin and marinated in a flavored olive oil and garlic and served like carpaccio. Or sliced and baked with herbs, oil and a blend of bread crumbs and grated Romano cheese.


If you love carrots, have some fun with the red carrots from JK Organics in Escondido. They're sweet and such a unique color.


I am a big fan of Smit Orchards and look forward to pluot season from them. It's here and I've got a handful waiting to be bitten into. They also have some stunning cherries--both Bing and Rainer--and bushels of blueberries.



The big deal for me today was that it was the first day of the season for heirloom tomatoes--and I found these at Valdivia Farms. That blushing big one up front? It's mine, along with a couple of others. I'm going to give them a couple more days to fully ripen and then they'll get sliced and eaten with mozzarella, fresh basil and roasted chili-infused avocado oil that I bought from the Peggy's Pasta stand (along with a dozen organic eggs).


They also had boxes of stunningly vibrant zucchini blossoms. Nothing shriveled up--everything full on healthy and beautiful. I bought four, attached to their little fruit, and will probably stuff them with cheese and saute in olive oil.


With some slices, perhaps, of the fresh garlic I found at the Sage Mountain Farm stand. It's not always easy to find fresh garlic at the markets here and I don't know why since they're so easy to grow. But, I saw my opportunity and bought a few. It's a whole different animal than the sad, often yellowing heads you find at the supermarket. And, you can trim the tops, clean them and chop them up to use like chives--garlic chives.


You'll also want to stop by Maciel Farms for their big beautiful greens, fat carrots and these magnificent red onions.


The La Jolla Farmers Market is held on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It's located in the La Jolla Elementary School playground on Girard at Genter.


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