A Fruit of a Different Color

Posted on by Mission Community Market in Arata Farm, Twin Girls Farm, Vendors, Winters Tree Fruit | Leave a comment

Last week we spotted some unique pomegranates at the Winter’s Fruit Tree stand. That’s right–the folks that bring you delicious varieties of nuts every week also have some delicious fruit to share!

While most of us are used to seeing the “Wonderful” variety of pomegranates (deep red in color, delicious and available from Twin Girls Farm and Arata Farm at MCM), Phil Carter of Winter’s tells us that these light-colored poms are coming off 60-year-old trees on his property–trees so old that he isn’t quite sure what variety they are. He says that these fruit (sometimes called “white pomegranates”) are a variety that most likely originated in the Middle East, as it’s much more common to see lighter pomegranates there.

The seeds are light pink in color–somewhat reminiscent of cotton candy–and the flavor is sweeter and more mild than their Wonderful counterparts, without any tartness at all.

This delicious pomegranate didn’t last very long at this taste tester’s house…and we’ll definitely be going back for more next week. And so should you!

 

Mercado Kitchen: Quince Ratafia Two Ways

Posted on by Mission Community Market in Arata Farm, Blog, Hale Apple Farm, Mercado Kitchen, Recipes | Leave a comment

Ah Quince, you perplexing fruit with a storied past. It looks like an apple or a pear, but don’t you dare take one bite of it raw! Supposedly, 17th Century cookbooks contain more recipes for quince than any other orchard fruit, so I wonder what cooks living hundreds of years ago knew that I don’t! But both Arata Farms and Hale’s Apple Farm have gorgeous quince right now at MCM so I decided to go ahead and give a new recipe a whirl.

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Tired of the usual jam and preserve recipes, I decided to try something that’s not for you teetotalers out there–an old-timey infused liqueur known as “ratafia” which is a name given to cordials made of different fruit, one varietal including quince. The recipe I adapted called for two quinces, but by the time I was finished grating the first one I had almost filled up an entire quart-sized jar. So I I decided to try two slight variations on the same recipe, using one fruit per jar. The main difference is that one recipe contains raw grated quince and the other contains chopped quince that I cooked down slightly. I’ll share the results with you in a few weeks when the infusion process is complete–though I feel confident both will probably be mighty tasty. The ingredients I used were the same for both recipes – these quantities will make you enough ratafia for about one quart-sized jar.  Read more

New Vendor: Rhizome Urban Gardens

Posted on by Mission Community Market in Blog, Vendor of the Week | Leave a comment

photo 4We’re thrilled to introduce a new vendor to the market: Rhizome Urban Gardens!  Rhizome Urban Gardens is a worker-owned cooperative that designs, installs, and maintains organic gardens and landscapes. Though creating landscapes that are beautiful, ecologically sound, and food-producing, they can transform any space into an oasis!

At MCM, Rhizome will sell seedlings, starts, dish gardens, and creative plant arrangements. You can also pick the brains of the incredibly knowledgeable team behind Rhizome Urban Gardens for gardening tips, or perhaps even hire them to landscape your yard, incorporating the fundamentals of permaculture into your garden and your home.

Last week was their first week out at the market, so come on down this Thursday to say hello and welcome them to MCM!

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Mercado Kitchen: 3-Ingredient Pomegranate Pistachio Chocolate

Posted on by Mission Community Market in Blog, Mercado Kitchen, Recipes, Twin Girls Farm, Winters Tree Fruit | 1 Comment

This recipe was inspired by the arrival of pomegranates from Twin Girls Farm! Now, if you’re like me you’ve always had a love/hate relationship with pomegranates. They taste amazing but there’s the special challenge of getting at those delicious seeds. The juice gets everywhere, not to mention those funky thin membranes. But I’ve always found that if I just throw on my oldest stains-are-ok shirt and go along with it it pays off, because they’re just so good.

In addition to being delicious, the juice from pomegranates is chock full of health benefits, including high antioxidant power, benefits to cardiovascular health, and there is even some evidence of anti-cancer properties.

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Know your Peppers with Happy Boy Farm

Posted on by Mission Community Market in Blog, Happy Boy Farms, Mercado Kitchen | Leave a comment

When I asked Ash of Happy Boy Farm to talk to me about the difference between Padrón and Shishito Peppers, she exclaimed, “Well, for starters, they come from two totally different parts of the world!”

To the naked (and uninformed) eye, baskets of these two small green peppers often found at MCM this time of year might appear indistinguishable. But guess what–they each have quite a story to tell, with properties that make them unique. I decided to delve into the history behind these two fraternal twin peppers a little more to find out what makes makes them special.

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Padrón Peppers

The most famous produce of the Spanish city Padrón are its peppers. Franciscan monks first brought pepper seeds to the area from Mexico in the 16th century, which then were adapted to the soil and climate of the area.

Most of the peppers taste sweet and mild–like tiny bell peppers–though some are particularly hot and spicy, which can give some special character to a dish prepared with these little guys. The popular Spanish saying,“Os pementos de Padrón, uns pican e outros non” meaning “Padrón peppers, some are hot and some are not” captures this sentiment perfectly. Although it’s not always the case, some have found that the peppers grown later in the season (towards August and September) tend to contain more capsaicin–and thus are spicier–than the grown in June and July. A couple sources I found said that about one in every 20 peppers will be hot, and the rest will be mild. However, sometimes you’ll get a basket with a slightly higher ratio. It really is a game of spicy roulette when you eat these peppers!

Shishitos on the other hand, come from Japan, halfway around the world, as Ash told me.

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Shishito Peppers

 The Shishito pepper is small and finger-sized, slender, and thin-walled. The name refers to the fact that the tip of the chili pepper looks like the head of a lion (“shisho”) and in Japanese it is often abbreviated as Shishitō.

Though apparently some varieties of Shishitos do form capsaicin and become spicy, Ash assured me that I wouldn’t find a spicy pepper in my basket–and I didn’t. The peppers generally become spicy in hot, dry conditions, and we won’t often get such weather here. According to Ash, Shishitos are also more “buttery” than their Padrón counterparts.

The easiest way to tell them apart is the fact that the Shishitos are usually more slender and wrinkly, while Padróns tend to be fatter, and have an appearance more similar to Jalapeños.

Lucky for us, both varieties of peppers cook up easily and with much the same simple preparation–toss them in a glass baking dish with some olive oil, coarse salt, and black pepper, and bake for about 20-25 minutes at 350 ° F until slightly browned in parts. It doesn’t get much easier than that! I like to sprinkle them with some goat cheese or feta if I have it on hand.

Enjoy the rest of our San Francisco summer, and happy pepper picking!