August 05, 2006

Save the date -- Bart Seaver from Cafe' Saint-Ex will be in the market on August 19, 2006.

Here's a recipe from last week's chef tour

Market Salad
Chef Cathal Armstrong
Restaurant Eve
110 S. Pitt Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

4 Guests

Ingredients for Salad Base:

1 Pint Cherry Tomatoes
1/2 lb. Green and Yellow Beans, Blanched
4 Radishes, Halved
4 Scallions, Halved
Basil, fresh and finely chopped
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

1 Cup Sherry Vinegar
1 Cup Dijon
2 Cups Olive Oil
4 Tbsp. Toasted Hazelnuts

2 oz. Fresh Goat Cheese

Deviled Eggs
2 Boiled Eggs, Remove Yoke
4 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
Cayenne Pepper
Salt

Method:
Keep tomatoes, beans, radishes and scallions in a separate bowl and mix them together with basil, olive oil, salt & pepper to taste.

Combine in a separate bowl: Sherry Vinegar, Dijon, Olive Oil and Toasted Hazelnuts.

Create the Deviled Eggs by removing the yoke from the boiled eggs. Mix together the mayonnaise, salt and cayenne pepper with the yokes. Once combined, return the mixture to the hollowed out egg white halves.

Plating the Salad:
Plate the vegetables on the plate and drizzle with the sherry vinegar dressing. Following this with a sprinkling of the hazelnuts. Add a half of the deviled egg and a slice of the goat cheese to each plate.

With more than 30 vendors, there's fresh everything at the market. Meat, Cheese, Milk, Butter, Bread, Baked goods, Flowers-- potted, cut, or dried, Sorbet and Specialty items.

Throughout the August heat, you will be able to find plenty of fresh Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Peppers, Onions, Eggplant, Potatoes, Greens and other staples from many vendors.

Several vendors will have Peaches and Nectarines, including Sylvan Farm, Toigo Orchards, D&S Farm and Twin Springs Fruit Farm.

Look for Italian Plums later in the month at Toigo and Rice’s Farm and Twin Springs, which will also have a new crop of Apples soon.

Blackberries are near the end at Pleasant Fields Farm while D&S, and Westmoreland Berry Farm will have them for several more weeks. Blueberries may be around for one, maybe two weeks.

Watermelon is in at Pleasant Fields.

A variety of beans will start coming in in August. Lima Beans and maybe Black Eyed Peas at Musachio Produce Farm, and String Beans at Pleasant Fields.

Potomac Vegetable Farms will continue a variety of herbs, and try the dandelion greens.

Gardeners Gourmet will have additional greens such as a mix of 4 Kale varieties, and expect to have 6 to 10 varieties of Heirloom Tomatoes each week. They ask you not to refrigerate the tomatoes, as they loose flavor, and the skin gets hard.

Wheatland Farm will be harvesting Okra soon, and bringing in 5 Squash varieties, including a Middle East Squash good for grilling.

As September approaches, look for autumn greens, such as Collards, Spinach, Kale, Turnip and Beat.

These are just a few hi-lites to look forward to among the tables of fresh food at the Producers only Arlington Farmers Market.

Interested in volunteering to support your local farmers and producers? To volunteer, e-mail Monica Lear at lear@vt.edu