Hello my baby, Hello my darlin', Hello my ragtime gal ...
Aaaahhh, the Thanksgiving Market. We’ve had just enough time to rest and relax that one more intense market just sounds like FUN! If you were at our stand at last year’s Thanksgiving market, you probably recall the crazy crowd, the long lines, and the empty crates. Bill and I never dreamed that the market would be that successful, so we didn’t bring any help and couldn’t manage the long line very well and had no chance to re-stock the crates. We’ve learned our lesson! This year, we’re bringing 2-3 helpers. Our friend Kannan has been selling our vegetables at the stand all season, so he’ll help keep the line moving along. And current farmhand Pete and former farmhand Kevin will keep the crates stocked.
We’re also going to try to keep the lines away from the crates so that you can actually get to the food! The plan is to have two lines on opposite ends of the stand with the people lining up away from the crates. I really hope this works! Be sure to come by the market at the Coliseum on Saturday, Nov. 22 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. We plan to bring a ton of food, so if time gets away from you and you realize that it's 1 p.m., come on down!
And now for the important part of the email. What are we bringing?? A LOT OF VEGETABLES! If the weather cooperates, we’ll have many of the awesome greens that we had at the October markets. And regardless of the weather, this market will be dominated by the ROOTS!
Root Cellar Loaded with Your Root Vegetables
The Root Cellar "Guard Snake" (Bill found this snake living in the root cellar about three weeks ago. It's trying to hibernate, but the temperature probably isn't quite cold enough, so it keeps moving around.)
I’m going to list the vegetables that we’re bringing below with some basic information and cooking/eating tips. After that list, I’ll list STORAGE INFORMATION. And I’ll wrap up with some recipes. It’s a lot of information, but we really want you to a) come to the market and b) buy lots of food! Be sure to check out http://www.downtownbloomington.org/index.php?id=6 for more information about the market in general, which promises to be even better than last year’s event!
Roots
1. Beets (Traditional and Chioggia) – Beets are one of our TOP FIVE best sellers every season. That should be enough to convince you that they’re a must-eat! Beets can be grated fresh onto a leafy green salad or into a grated root salad. We typically roast them, skins on, for a deep, surprisingly sweet flavor. You don’t have to do much once they’ve been roasted or steamed – a simple balsamic vinaigrette is perfect.
2. Brussels Sprouts – A few rules from Elizabeth Schneider: Buy them small and superfresh. Do not overcook them. Do not undercook them. Last year we brought them on the logs, but this year we’ll be snapping them to be purchased by the pound. Brussels sprouts are a vegetable that gets better after a few good frosts, so Bill’s Brussels sprouts will be about as good as it gets. They also store well for a couple of weeks in plastic.
Brussels Sprouts
3. Rutabaga – Elizabeth Schneider nailed it: “Rutabaga is sharp-sweet when raw, mellowed by cooking; it is neatly cuttable into trim batons; it can be pureed in soup or slivered into slaw, grated and gilded as little pancakes, steamed in dumplings, braised with sweet spices and on and on. There’s really just one way NOT to cook it: in lots of water for a long time.” Our kids LOVE rutabaga, either mashed with potatoes, added to a pureed root soup, or roasted with other root veggies. Here's a series of photos depicting Ben's contribution to the rutabaga harvest ...
The Rutabaga
Boy Meets Rutabaga
Boy Sizes Up the Rutabaga
Boy Takes on the Rutabaga
Rutabaga Appears to Be Winning
Boy Resorts to Digging
Boy, Triumphant!
4. Carrots – No need to talk up the carrots! Bill’s fall carrots are amazingly sweet and crisp. We got a lot of positive feedback from people who purchased many pounds of carrots last year for storage. They ate them for MONTHS and agreed that the carrots were fabulous right up to the end. We stored about 100 pounds of them last year and ate them until late April!
Carrots!
5. Celery Root – Also called “celeriac,” celery root is just about the ugliest vegetable ever to be cultivated. Fortunately, celery root is really delicious with a mild celery flavor. Elizabeth Schneider describes it as an “earthy prize … imbued with herbaceous pungency.” I dislike fresh celery but LOVE celery root. I like to grate it into a fresh, grated root salad with a light lemon vinaigrette dressing. I also like it cubed and steamed and then added to potato salad. It’s also wonderful in a pureed root soup.
Celery Root
6. Japanese Turnips – It seems that many people have discovered the delightful Japanese turnip. They have a thin skin and a juicy sweet turnip flavor, which makes them perfect for eating raw. You can also roast or braise them, and they’re a natural combination with potatoes either mashed or in a gratin.
7. Parsnips – A classic fall vegetable, parsnips are sweet, nutty and earthy all in one. It’s hard to imagine the cold months without parsnips. They’re indispensable in pot roasts, roasted root vegetable dishes, and in soup/soup stocks. You can also puree them with potatoes. Parsnips are at their best after the weather has turned very cold, and they store well.
8. Radishes – All of the radishes are at their peak right now. With the exception of the spicier Black Spanish, all of Bill’s varieties are sweet and crisp. Radishes are often overlooked. Some people think they’re just too hot. Others worry that they’ll get radishes with a pithy heart. The truth is that Bill’s radishes are amazing this time of year. Crisp through to the center and beautiful in appearance, radishes should play a key role in your Thanksgiving feast – a simple fresh veggie platter is your best bet. (According to food diva Alice Waters, a meal at her nationally known restaurant Chez Panisse is not quite complete without radishes!) We’ll have 5 varieties:
French Breakfast – Half pink, half white, 100% delicious
Daikon – This Asian radish is at its best in late fall. Its distinctive elongated white shape makes it a good candidate for matchsticks.
Rose Heart – Don’t miss these. They are the most beautiful of all the radishes, with a crazy bright pink interior. They’re irresistible on a fresh veggie platter. If you peel the outer skin off, they are more like a carrot than a radish. When we take cut up roots to a party to share with friends the rose heart radish is always the first one to be eaten.
Rose Heart Radish
Cute Little Red Radishes – Classic radish with unparalleled cuteness.
Black Spanish – Locavores take note! This radish should be an important part of seasonal eating. They are meant to be stored and they reach their peak from December to April. Thus filling in at a time when the typical small radishes are not available. Pioneers relished them, so can you. Cocoa colored on the outside with an ivory flesh, the Black Spanish radish is an ancient variety. The dense flesh permits it to be stored for long periods without becoming pithy. The flavor mellows over time. We favor cooking them with other roots, rather than eating them raw. Cut into bite-sized pieces for roasting, and they’re much like turnips. Shredded into soup, stew or a braise, Black Spanish radishes add a unique flavor.
8. Potatoes - We're bringing fingerlings, russets, and more! It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without potatoes. Fingerlings make the most AMAZING potato salad ever, and russets are a classic, floury potato -- perfect for mashing!
Bulb
Garlic – Every dinner should incorporate garlic in some fashion, and not the kind that you shake out of a container with salt! If you’re feeling ambitious, roast garlic in aluminum foil (sealed).
Swollen stem vegetables
1. Fennel – Your first bite into raw fennel is quite an experience. It has the texture of celery and a very mild anise flavor. I personally like neither celery nor black licorice, so I was shocked to really enjoy fennel! We like to sliver it raw into salads or use it to replace celery in potato salad. Alice Waters also parboils fennel bulbs for pastas, caramelizes them as a side dish, braises whole bulbs, and adds to stocks. You can eat the entire plant.
Fennel in the Field
"Fennel Butts" (the technical term)
2. Kohlrabi – Our fall kohlrabi is spectacular, absolutely as good as they get. I find them to be irrisistable. I like to think of kohlrabi as a cross between an apple and a turnip. Elizabeth Schneider describes it as a cross between broccoli stalks, water chestnut, and cucumber. I hope that sounds good to you, because it really is! We tend to eat kohlrabi raw, cut into matchsticks and served with a tahini dip or a smear of soft cheese such as goat cheese or bleu cheese. Perfect for a fresh veggie tray.
Greens – I’ll write more about these later if we’ll be bringing them!
Salad Mix
Head Lettuce
Bok Choi
Arugula
Ruby Streaks
Tatsoi
Stir Fry Greens
Kale
Swiss Chard
Collard Greens
Storage Tips
All roots – store in the fridge in plastic bags OR in damp sand in a garage*, basement or root cellar. (* The damp sand will protect the roots against cold weather until it gets down into the low 20s, at which point some damage may occur. If your garage is insulated or if you put the damp sand into an insulated cooler, it should be fine.) We have eaten roots into April from the previous fall season, stored in damp sand, and they were fabulous. You can also use crumpled newspaper or untreated sawdust (be sure it’s untreated!). We will have already cut off the greens, which is appropriate for storage.
Kohlrabi is best stored in a plastic bag in the fridge.
Brussels sprouts store in a plastic bag in the fridge for many weeks, although they are best eaten sooner rather than later.
Note where they can buy sand this time of year.
Garlic – Store garlic on the kitchen counter, not in a plastic bag. Good air circulation is important. If you want to keep it for months, it’s best to find a cool, dark place like a basement. (Don’t take them apart into cloves until ready for use.)
The greens will be a question mark until closer to the market. It all depends on the weather. I’ll try to send out another email the week of the Thanksgiving market when we can tell what will know for sure about the greens.
Since we're always telling you what to do with your food, we thought we'd end with a list of what you should ask Santa for this Christmas ...
1. Stick blender (Mercy)
2. Vegetables A to Z (Elizabeth Schneider)(Mercy)
3. Japanese Santoku kitchen knife, a big improvement over your German knives. Just search for them on Google. I just got a Masamoto Santoku, it is a pure joy to use, and worth every penny. (Bill)
4. Smoker (Bill)
5. Chinois strainer for soup and stock (Bill)
6. Elizabeth David, James Beard, and Richard Olney books (Bill)
Our best to you and yours during this holiday season!!
Mercy, Bill, Noah and Ben Davison
