Farmer's Market Finds: Summer-1 2005

Grilling Vegetable

Red peppers and asparagus are nice grilled, but they do become just a bit too predictable for a self-respecting gourmand. Especially when one can find such bountiful selections at local farmer's markets in the Bay Area.

Baby Artichokes -
Artichokes are practically available year-round in the San Francsico Bay Area. At the Palo Alto Farmer's market, one can pick up baby artichokes from 3-4 different stands. The organic growers such as Coke's Farm or Full Belly Farm only have artichoke for a short period of time as they are from a hotter area. Those farms that are near halfmoon bay seen to have longer availabilities. I buy those that are no more than 1.25" in diameter at the widest part so there would be no risk of having fuzzy chokes that need to be removed.

Preparation (Adapt Chez Panisse Vegetable)
1. Trim ends
2. Peel outer leaves of artichoke.
3. Cut of top 1/3
4. Fill all artichoke in a pot small enough for a snug fit, but it does not come above 3/4 of the height.
5. Fill pot with olive oil (yes, that's a lot of oil)
6. Bring olive oil to a very gentle simmer.
7. Simmer until barely tender (fork, can almost punch through all the way, before the leaves start to fall) - about 10 -15 minutes
8. Remove artichoke from pot and drain; sprinkle with sea salt
9. Open the petal slightly and flatten on to the medium-hot grill. Grill until there are some nice grill marks

Baby Eggplants
Choose small purple eggplants that have smooth shiny skins, plump, and about 4 inches length.
1. Grill over high heat until the skin is charred nicely
2. Cool slightly, and gently peel skin off without damaging the flesh underneath. Keeping the egg plant still attached to the stem and whole
3. Serve with a blend of yogurt, mints and salt of some kind of raita

Chicory Salad
1. Separate raddichio, frisee, escarole in to manageable size (about 3-4 inches large chuncks)
2. In a large bow, toss salad with some olive oil and salt
3. Grill the salad over high heat for 30 seconds to get some light marks without wilting the vetable
4. Toss again. Add a sprinkle of white wine vinegar if desired.

Fava Beans
1. Poke a few small holes in the skin of fava beans with a tooth pick
2. Grill fava beans (with pod) over med-high heat until the pods start to give off juice and look soft.
3. Peel and Eat.

Other things to grill:
- Raddichio in foil (olive oil and salt)
- Quartered fennels tossed with olive oil
- Cioppino spring onion
- Figs brushed with brandy
- Various mushrooms (Shimeji, King, Cepes) brushed with olive oil
- Peach Halves