Farmers' Market Report

We are definitely in a transition time right now. A few farmers were unloading their anemic looking tomatoes (time to go canned, folks), there are still some decent looking bell peppers, and we did buy some bartlett pears (probably the last we will buy this year, depending on the weather between now and Saturday), but mostly the good stuff is found in Fuji and Pink Lady apples, fuyu persimmons, chard, beets, and the like.

I am starting to see some really good Brussels sprouts, so I will probably be using those soon.

Meanwhile, don't forget the noble pumpkin. Last week we were carving them and found that one of them had walls that were about four inches thick. To better enhance the lighting, we thinned it and had a ton of pumpkin flesh leftover. I roasted it in chunks with some olive oil and served it as a side dish (very yummy) and saved a bunch of it for a risotto (also yummy - a basic risotto with carrots, celery, onion, dried porcini mushrooms, pancetta, garlic, mixed meat stock, butter, olive oil, then, when the risotto is almost ready, add the roasted pumpkin. Finish with butter, pecorino romano, and top with crumbled Amaretti and chopped parsley. Serve with a dry young red, like a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo).

At today's market I saw some other fall squashes that looked pretty good, too.

For salads, radicchio and red lettuce look the best, and go quite well with pomegranite seeds (also in season), persimmon, shaved pecorino romano, and a balsamic vinaigrette.

Also, there are still some good local table grapes. We bought a giant bunch of red seedless grapes, most of which will go into a foccaccia.