Last Week at the Market - Farrar Out Farm
As previously mentioned, the coolest market happening last week was that Farrar Out Farm is now a regular vendor at Maplewood. I, at least, am glad to have them. I’ve known the name for years but rarely have the opportunity to get over to Kirkwood Farmers’ Market on a Saturday so I’d never bought their products for my own use. I know several restaurants (Five for instance) utilize their meats, and they have always been of high quality. The chicken especially is some of the best I’ve had locally.
As for the rest of what I witnessed this week…
When I arrived at Maplewood Farmers’ Market Julie Ridlon told me Centennial Farms had cauliflower and broccoli the moment I arrived. They only had about five heads though, and they were gone before I got to them. It’s not my favorite vegetable (Brussels sprouts hold that honor), but I love cauliflower and I’ve been on a quest to buy some locally for the last year. It’s a hard thing for home consumers to find for some reason, and unfortunately, Centennial Farms had some rot problems because of all the rain.
Other new additions to Maplewood last week were baby zucchini from Centennial Farms, red gold potatoes and beautiful castelfranco radicchio from Claverach, and garlic scapes from the Root Cellar.
It was Saturday that really brought the onslaught of new additions…
At Clayton Farmers’ Market the big news was that Prairie Grass Farms had grass finished beef steaks. They went quick, however, and at about 9:00 or so, when I arrived, they were already gone.
Other things I noticed: Biver Farms was rocking some zephyr and patty pan squashes; a farm whose name constantly escapes me had some particularly nice looking beets; and Ozark Harvest had some of the most beautiful chard I’ve ever seen along with carrots.
Also Live Springs Berries & Produce brought about some serious insanity as their booth had a long line of people eagerly clamoring for their wonderfully sweet strawberries, and tomatoes you can actually eat since they aren’t covered in salmonella.
At Tower Grove the happening is that Mark Sanfilippo is now there with his company Salume Beddu. Saturday he had salsicce but it too was sold out by the time I arrived. Hopefully someone that reads this will have been lucky enough to get some and chime in on how it was.
I’m not sure if this was his first week, but when he was passing out flyers at the first Tower Grove Farmers’ Market this year, he’d told me that he planned to start selling fresh sausages in June and later in the season he would sell some of the aged products he’s working on.
If you’re not aware of what the story is, basically, as I understand it, Mark Sanfilippo worked at Mario Batali and Nancy Silverton’s pizza joint Pizzeria Mazza in LA. Armandino Batali came down from Seattle to show the staff how to make a few salumis for use in the restaurant, and as Sanfilippo told me (though not in his exact words), he realized a lot of the pork was coming from Missouri so he might as well move back home and make sausage in St. Louis.
His plan is to sell at the farmers market to get an idea of what the locals like, and then start branching out into some wholesale to stores and restaurants down the line.
You can read more about what he’s up to in Joe Bonwich’s article from the Post.
I also finally found a cruciferae heaven on earth at Tower Grove. Centennial Farms had cauliflower and broccoli.
Other first sightings included kohlrabi and GIANT Napa cabbage from Biver, micro greens from New Roots, and scarlet turnips from a vendor whose name I forget. Garlic scapes were also overflowing everywhere which I guess means I need to pick some up when I have more time to deal with them. I’ve never cooked them before.
As a final word, if you go to Tower Grove, don’t forget that Greenwood Farms is around the North corner. Sure you’ll have to leave the epicenter of the market to venture around to the side of the pavilion, but when those hot days come–and they’re coming–you’ll love that they’re in the shade.
Till two weeks from now on the Saturday markets because this weekend I’m going to Louisville.
7 Responses to “Last Week at the Market - Farrar Out Farm”
Bardstown has a great farmer’s market, it’s alittle south of Louisville. Super Arm’s Museum downtown too.
Garlic Scapes are very easy to work with, normally I cut them into bite size pieces and throw them in a pan with rosemary and potatoes or roasting chicken. They have the texture of haricot verte with a garlic flavor. Check to make sure the root end is not tough (ala asparagus).
Andy Ayres brought great heads of broccoli and some asparagus to dinner last night. Got some black raspberries from Ellen and scored 10# of blueberries at Persimmon Hills on the southwestern edge of MO. last Sat.
Indeed fresh chicken is a wonderful thing, Bryan and Christina’s chickens are wonderful, it’s nice to have a source for great chicken livers too.
Snow Peas, Sugar Snaps and Shell Peas were fairly prevelant and trully sweet. We were eating the snow peas raw at market.
Carrots were tender and sweet, beets and tiny turnips roasted up quickly in the cast iron pan thrown on the BBQ…..makes the kitchen so much cooler to roast outside.
By Julie on Jun 19, 2008
Glad to see someone else’s favorite vegetable is Brussel sprouts. It makes me less lonely.
By Steve Atkinson on Jun 19, 2008
I would say brussel sprouts are a close second only to asparagus as fave veggie. I used to hate them, but started eating them roasted a year or so ago and they are awesome.
By KBO on Jun 19, 2008
Got some scapes at TG, as well as some chard. Melt a leetle butter, saute the scapes and some diced onion, dump in the chard and braise for, I dunno, 20 minutes or so until the chard is somewhat wilted. Yum!
Mark had an entire 2 sausages left when I got there. Even his salsiccia (garlic, fennel and some spices) manages a depth of flavor I rarely find.
I lived in Louisville a really long time ago. Still have some friends there — they say great things about Lilly’s restaurant: http://www.lillyslapeche.com/
By Josef on Jun 19, 2008
Our Louisville picks would appear to be Corbett’s and Proof on Main.
I ate at Lilly’s a few years ago actually.
By Bill Burge on Jun 19, 2008
If you have the time~ I’d also recommend the Mayan Cafe on East Market:
http://themayancafe.com/
Incredibly well prepared food. We miss and crave it all the time. Proof is another one of our favorites. Enjoy your trip!
By Tempered Woman on Jun 24, 2008
We had a reservation at Mayan Cafe but we cancelled it for Corbett’s because we just didn’t have time to hit it.
We went to Corbett’s, Proof on Main, Havana Rumba, and North End Cafe.
We loved Louisville though and we will definitely be going back to hit more restaurants.
By Bill Burge on Jun 24, 2008