SANTA MONICA FARMER'S MARKET - January 4, 2012

I’m spoiled I admit it. Here in Los Angeles we have farmer’s markets all year round. The market I’ve been going to for the past 15 years without fail is the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmer’s Market. I go as a chef, a produce buyer, a culinarian and mother. Lucky for me, it’s actually part of my job and has been since I moved here. As a chef I planned all of my menus around this market. As a produce buyer I shop for other chefs around the country sharing the wealth of our farmers with them and their kitchens. As a culinarian this market is pulse of the food world, it drives menus around the nation with its exceptional specialty produce grown by the most amazing farmers. As a mother, this is the only produce my kids will eat (this and other farmer’s market produce) which I am proud of but can make life challenging for me in the kitchen if I don’t remember to pick up a few things while I’m there…this is not a Fitz Kelly peach mom… Their pallets are amazing, I’ve created little connoisseurs! If children are fed the best tasting food, aka the best possible food, from the start that’s what they will eat for the rest of their lives.

So, I’ve been wanting to write about this for a long time and figure that 2012 is a good time to start. This market also meets on Saturday with some different farmers and some weds farmers absent, but I’ll share with you the seasonal things I’m most excited about to encourage you to try some yourself. These farmers are dear friends who I’ve known for over 15 years, it is because of them that my family cannot conceive of living anywhere else…the thought of not eating Troy Regier and Bob Polito’s mandarins in the winter is inconceiveable. I’ll introduce them to you all as we go along. But for now, I’ll just start writing and include a list of seasonal products weekly for you and post a seasonal weekly recipe separately featuring one of the items.
Wishing you happy and delicious New Year!
~Gwen

Chef Gwen’ Santa Monica Farmer’s Market Report
Wednesday January 4, 2012

I start the day early at the farmer’s market while the farm stands are setting up and at this time of year as the sun has just risen. It’s a beautiful time to be there and see first picks of the day. Winter is always odd, you never know what new things might appear due to a sudden warm day or cold wet day. But today in addition to the regular fantastic fruits and vegetables (see alphabetized list below) Nicholas Farms also had an amazing selection of fresh dried beans. I came up with this term, Fresh Dried, to help chefs/cooks understand that these are beans that were harvested in the fall and barely dried so no soaking or long cooking is necessary, in fact they usually cook within 30 minutes and are incredibly complex flavored and rich with nutrients. Chef friends in the mid Atlantic and south understand and prize these beans but there is still some catching up to do in the rest of the country regarding their specialness. These beans are sold by the pound. I’m planning on trying all of them and using the Painted Pony next Wednesday for dinner with clams and chorizo, a classic Portuguese dish that my husband wants to try and one I order out whenever I see it. If you have the chance to try them make sure to do it quickly, as soon as they sell out they are done for the year and Nicholas Farms has limited quantities to begin with. Cook them as you would any other dried bean but know that they will cook faster and don’t forget to add lots of fresh chopped herbs and other seasonal winter produce.

THIS WEEK’S FRESH DRIED BEANS:
MAUVE RUNNER BEANS similar to Christmas Limas, great in Cassoulet!
COCOA BLACK a little bigger than the black bean that you are used to
PAINTED PONY these remind me of the delicious rice beans we made at Jean Louis with fresh shrimp and garlic confit – as good as it sounds!
MONEY maybe they got this name because they look like coins…
WHITE CAP alittle smaller than a kidney bean
CANNELINI the most silky, creamy of the bunch and Italian classic
MEXICAN BLACK these are big black lima beans, really dramatic

THIS WEEEK’S FRUIT:
APPLES - Late harvest fuji, granny smith and red delicious
BERRIES – blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries
Berries all year round here in sunny southern California!
CITRUS – Satsuma mandarins, lemons, limes
OTHER – Asian pears, dates, kiwi

THIS WEEK’S VEGETABLES:
BEETS, BOK CHOY, BROCCOLI, CARROTS, CAULIFLOWER, KALE, NETTELS, PARSNIPS, PEAS, HEIRLOOM POTATOES, RADISH, RUTABEGA, SPIGARELLO, BLOOMSDALE SPINACH, SUNCHOKES, TURNIPS, WINTER SQUASH Australian Blue