Cooking from the Market

At farmers markets, you will meet the farmers and artisans who grow and create food, hear their stories, and best of all, sample some delicious things. In addition to the freshest fruits and vegetables (often picked the same day) you’ll find many locally produced items to enhance your meals, including a variety of meats, fish, cheeses, breads and pastries, oils and vinegars, a great selection of condiments—even a European-style organic butter from McClellend’s Dairy in Petaluma.

Many of the vendors attend several markets; you can check the web sites of the various markets if you are looking for a specific product. Bring along a cooler or thermal bag with some ice to keep your delicate, easily perishable choices fresh for the trip home, bring a sun hat for the morning markets and a warm jacket for the evening ones, and enjoy the delightfully social outdoor farmers market experience.

Here’s a week’s worth of marketing:

On a warm Sunday in June, I was craving a grilled lamb dinner, so I stopped at Owen Family Farm booth at the Sebastopol Farmer’s Market (Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) to pick up some naturally raised lamb. For a very reasonable price of $10.50/lb., I bought two lamb shoulder steaks. To accompany the grilled lamb I envisioned, I also bought a mixed bag of delicate tree oyster and canary mushrooms ($3.50 for a quarter pound) from New Carpati Farm in Sebastopol.

A salad with roasted beets and feta cheese seemed like a good match with lamb, so I bought some mixed salad greens, a bunch of Italian beets, some sprouts, garlic, and red onions. I found eight ounces of queso fresco, a feta-style cheese, at the Bodega Goat Cheese booth.

I couldn’t pass by the Nut-N-Other Farms display of almonds without having a taste and discovered that they also sell almond flour, made from 100% raw, unpasteurized almonds. I picked up a pound for baking a gluten-free dessert that would incorporate the veritable rainbow of berries offered by the Sebastopol Berry Farm and some of Hector’s Honey to sweeten it.

Midweek, I visited the Santa Rosa Farmers Market (Wednesdays from 8:30 to noon and again on Saturdays) at the Veteran’s Building. I was drawn to the Dream Catcher Ranch booth when I spotted the spinning wheel behind the display of ranch-raised meats. It’s always great to meet a fellow fiber aficionado, so I had a good chat with rancher Kimberly Nicholes about wool, spinning and weaving before I made my choice of sweet pork Italian sausages (three for $4.72). Along with the sausages, I received a card entitling me to a free package of sausages after five purchases. Kimberly also sells grass-fed lamb, goat, beef and bison. She was sold out of bison by the time I arrived, so I plan to come earlier next time.

Next I stopped at Mama Tina’s ravioli booth where I was encouraged to try the three kinds of ravioli she was offering that day for sampling. Mama Tina makes her raviolis by hand in Forestville, with seasonal fillings of crab, lobster, chicken, mushroom, and cheese. Tasting is what it’s all about at the farmers market, and tasting convinced me to pick up a dozen sausage-spinach ravioli ($10) with a package of vegetarian sauce ($3) to stash in the freezer for a future meal.

Jack, from The Olive Press in Sonoma was offering samples of his award winning citrus oils: limonato, blood orange, clementine, and lime. These citrus oils go with vegetables, seafood and pastas, and make unique vinaigrettes. I’m eager to try a limonato and balsamic vinaigrette over roasted golden beets on a bed of arugula. You can bring your own bottle or jar and buy the exact quantity you want of flavored oils or extra virgin olive oil from the bulk jugs, and pick up a card of food pairing suggestions for some great menu ideas.

Samuel Kim of the Bohemian Well Being Farm is happy to educate you on several different kinds of wild and cultivated mushrooms and their culinary properties. He has photos of the Reishi and the Turkey Tail mushrooms growing on trees, and his display includes logs with shiitake mushrooms sprouting from the bark, and delicate clusters of oyster mushrooms. I bought a single trumpet mushroom, which looks like a pale beige column, and was surprised at its weight. Sliced thin, and sauteed with a little olive oil and butter, it was tender and succulent. That single mushroom cost $7, but I used it for two meals, so it was certainly worth the price.

Despite its small size, at the Occidental Farmer’s Market (Friday nights from 4 p.m. to dusk) you have a wide choice of beef, lamb, pork and poultry from three vendors: Swallow Valley Farm from Valley Ford, Victorian Farmstead from Sebastopol, and Owen Family Farm from Hopland.

You’ll find a spicy extra virgin olive oil crafted by Dennis and Susan Robbins of Capay Gold Olive Oil in Santa Rosa, pressed from the Spanish varietals grown at their orchard in Capay near Davis. Rainbow’s End Farm in Sebastopol, known for berries, jams, sugar-free fruit spreads, and fruit pastries, also makes a deep emerald-green Italian herb spread with rosemary, basil, olive oil and other herbs to spoon over pasta or slather on bread right from the jar ($7/half pint).

I advise you to indulge in a tasting of Casa La Belle Bread and admire their small, beautiful loaves of lavender walnut bread, fougasse with herbed oil, seeded baguettes and succulent scones, baked in Monte Rio. I couldn’t resist buying their latest product, Cheesy Chive Biscuits, and went right over to Paul’s Smoked Salmon booth to buy a piece of salmon to take home to eat with the biscuits as an appetizer. When local salmon is available, Paul buys directly from Bodega Bay fisherman, but when it’s not available, he uses salmon flash-frozen on fishing boats in Bristol Bay, Alaska. For another great meal starter, or anytime snack, The Hummus Guy sells vegetable enhanced hummus dips and dangerously addictive pita chips.

Wild Rose Ranch has turned plain old sauerkraut into an art form with their delicious and innovative Apple Kraut, Kimchi and Cortido varieties of pickled vegetable blends. I tried them all, and while I enjoyed the gingery flavor of the Kimchi and the visual appeal of the Apple Kraut with its beautiful deep pink color from beets, the most interesting was the Cortido, a Salvadorean-style kraut with cabbage, carrots, red onions, chile peppers and salt. All are super crunchy and delicious.

After tasting the several varieties offered by the Valley Ford Cheese Company, I added a package of Estero Gold Asiago-style cheese to my shopping bag. I’m delighted to find a locally made grating cheese that’s every bit as delicious as the imported grating cheeses from Italy. Owner and cheesemaker Karen Bianchi-Moreda takes pride in the five-generation history of her family’s dairy, Mountain View Jerseys, and the Humane Certification of her cheeses, including a Fontina-style cheese named Highway One and a new seasonal variety made with both cow and sheep milk.

My sweet tooth was easily satisfied here: Craig and Olga Jones of The Cosmic Cookie Jar in Forestville offer a variety of gluten free cookies and bars. Julie Herson of Salt Side Down Chocolate sells innovatively flavored dark chocolate truffles, with locally sourced ingredients and artisan sea salt, gift boxed if you like.

The Healdsburg Farmers Market, founded in 1978, is a great place to start off Saturday morning (9 a.m. to noon). I circled around for a quick look at all the vendors before settling in for tasting and serious shopping. My first purchase was some pastured ground lamb ($7/lb) from Gleason Ranch. This family owned ranch, located in Bodega for over 100 years, also offers grass fed beef, free range pork and pastured poultry.

I enjoyed sampling the delicious olive oil from Deergnaw in the Dry Creek Valley, (one of the newer local olive oil producers and winner of double gold at the Sonoma Harvest Festival), and the rich flavors of the naturally fermented varietal wine vinegars from Vivo. I was also delighted to find Sonoma Coast sea vegetables from Strong Arm Farm, located in Sebastopol, along with their jars of Dilly Beans, organic flowers and culinary herbs. One-ounce packages of nori, wakame and kombu are $6.

Pugs Leap Farm makes creamy goat cheese with milk from their humanely certified herd of Alpines, Saanens, Nubians, LaManchas and Toggenburgs that are pastured at White Whale Farm near Valley Ford. Cheesemakers Dan and Anna proudly display photos of the goats and you can tell that these are well-loved animals.

After sampling, I bought a round of fresh Pave for $8. I’m going to try it with apricot chutney from Combs Ranch or with J & R Roasters “red pepper caviar,” a savory dip made from fire roasted sweet red peppers, balsamic vinegar and salt. Judy and Roger Peters roast their peppers at the market in a hand cranked wire basket, turned slowly over a bed of coals. They also roast chestnuts, zucchini, eggplant and onions in season. You’ll also find them at the Windsor Market on Sundays.

At the Windsor Market on Sundays (10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) at the Town Green, you will meet the creative Cerda sisters, who sell their artisan Pasta Poetry and Lolo Biscotto. The pasta is freshly made with eggs, spinach, tomatoes, and buckwheat flour in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Santa Rosa Seafood has a large and enticing selection of whole fresh perch and trout, shellfish and filets. You might want to prepare them with some of the unique herb and spice rubs from Cook’s Spices in Santa Rosa.

Creator Kim Cook offers over a dozen trademarked blends. Her whimsically named seasoning mixes for meats, vegetables and tofu, sauces, dips and salads have no added salt, and are full of aromatic, flavorful ingredients. Try the Smoke-A Mole Rub for chicken, beans or hot chocolate (!) and the Shoulder Rub for carnitas or tri-tip. Dill-icious for Fishes is perfect for salmon or trout. Kim sells the blends in 1-ounce reusable tins.

Another tasty condiment at the market is Porky’s BBQ Style Onions, sold by the jar. You’ll find them at the Healdsburg Saturday market as well. And be sure and sample the granola from The Handmade Pantry owned by Rick Diaz and Jane Bell. I bought some delicious Coconut Almond Maple Granola and used it to top a fruit crisp with a bit of melted butter drizzled over it. Jane also creates packets of salad dressing mix and taco seasoning mix for quick supper helpers.

If you’re in Sonoma Valley, there are three farmer’s markets: Valley of the Moon on Tuesday evenings through October at the town square, at Depot Park on Friday mornings, and a tiny but growing market at the Sonoma Veteran’s building on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1. Over in Cotati, market day is Thursday from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. in La Plaza Park.