Saturday, September 17, 2011 Beaverton Market Tour

Today, I journeyed out to my favorite market, The Beaverton Farmer’s Market.  While the Saturday market at PSU is the most popular, it is also crowded and a tourist destination, making it tough for the serious shopper to negotiate.  I have discovered that the Beaverton Market is geared more towards locals who just want to buy the best produce and avoid the crowds of people.  The selection and number of farms at the Beaverton Market is just as good as PSU or even better.  I also feel like farmers at the Beaverton market are friendlier and take more time to talk to you about their produce. 

I guess that after a cold and rainy spring and summer it is only fitting that it started to rain, right when I arrived at the market.  But, even with the rain the produce is still amazing.  The  prior week of sun and hot weather has allowed our local produce to ripen and really reach its peak. 

Touring through the market today, peppers and chilies are at the height of their season.  All the varieties of bell peppers looked amazing.  Chilies are very abundant and ripe and should get even better over the next 2 weeks.

Tomatoes are still hit or miss, with many farms offering beautiful and ripe varieties, while other farms are struggling to get their tomatoes to ripen.  This week’s cold and rainy weather may cause tomatoes to start to decline.  Although, Romas are looking great and now is the time to start putting them up for the winter.

Local corn has been average at best and selecting sweet corn is a challenge.  While the prices are good the quality is still spotty.

The berry season is quickly winding down.  Blackberries are good, but still not great.  The biggest surprise today was the strawberries.  A few farms have amazingly sweet and plump strawberries.  Blueberries are good, but still a bit mealy and acidic.

Eggplant and squashes couldn't be better right now.  All the varieties at the market today looked incredible, perfect for ratatouille. 

Stone fruits are still average with Baird Farms featuring the best peaches and nectarines.  My advice for selecting stone fruits is to find farms that are offering samples.  I bought peaches last Wednesday from a few different farms at The Shemanski Park Market and found that they were mostly average with high water content and very little flavor or sweetness. 

Jeremy’s weekly tip – Selecting Corn

Ever wondered how to pick out the sweetest corn?  The sugar level in corn is always highest right after it is picked and starts to go down after it is harvested.  When I am selecting corn, I always start by feeling the weight.  If the ears of corn are light it often means that the corn will be dry and mealy.  Heavier ears means the corn will be plump and juicy.  Next, I look at the silk, which should be vibrant and fresh.  If the silk is starting to darken and become wet then it means the corn is older, which indicates that the sugar levels are starting to decrease.  The final and best test is to peel back the husk and look at the kernels, which should be plump.  If the kernels have little dimples or are starting to shrivel, the corn is not fresh and the sugar levels will have started to decline.  Always store corn in the refrigerator to slow the conversion of sugars to starch. 

Jeremy’s weekly tip – Blanching

Blanching is a cooking term that describes a process of food preparation where food, usually a vegetable or fruit, is plunged into a large quantity of boiling water, removed after a brief, timed interval and finally plunged into iced water to halt the cooking process.  One key to proper blanching is to quickly regain a boil after the food is added.  A large quantity of water will help with this.  The longer green vegetables are cooked below a boil, the more green color is lost.  The blanching water should be seasoned heavily with kosher salt.  This seasons the vegetables from the inside out.  The following are uses of blanching:

1. Peeling:  Blanching loosens the skin on some fruits or nuts, such as onions, tomatoes, plums, peaches or almonds.
2. Flavor:  Blanching enhances the flavor of some vegetables, such as broccoli, by releasing bitter acids stored in the cellular structure of the food.
3. Appearance:  Blanching enhances the color of some (particularly green) vegetables by releasing gases trapped in the cellular material that obscure the greenness of the chlorophyll.  Since blanching is done and halted quickly, the heat does not have time to break down chlorophyll as well.
4. Blanching neutralizes bacteria and enzymes present in foods, thus delaying spoilage.  This is often done as a preparatory step for freezing and refrigerating vegetables. 
5. Blanching also weakens the structure of vegetables rendering them softer than their fresh state; this is beneficial for canning vegetables where the air in vegetables needs to be minimal.