Spotlight on shishito peppers

Sweet shishito peppers are here! Find them from Happy Boy Farms 

for a few short weeks. Shishito peppers are often sold green, alongside 

padrons in the summer. Both padrons and shishitos, when green, can be 

sauteed in olive oil with a touch of salt for a snack or appetizer. 

Once matured, both peppers will turn red, but beware of the padrons! 

They pick up a good amount of heat as they grow. While the red shishitos 

look almost identical, they are sugary like a young bell pepper. Try them raw 

in salads, sauteed like their green counterparts, or whole as a snack.

You can find Happy Boy Farms at the following markets:

Castro (Wednesday)
Mission Community Market (Thursday)
North Berkeley (Thursday)
College of San Mateo (Saturday)

Temescal (Sunday)

Ft. Mason (Sunday)
Jack London Square (Sunday)

Spotlight on Apple Picking

Many of you are from or have been to the East coast, and have experienced the wonderful New England autumn. The leaves are bright red and orange as you head north out of the city, and the air smells dry and cool and sweet.

Every year, my family picked apples for a day, and had apples through the winter. We kept bushels of them (literally) in our unheated back porch room, where they stayed crisp and fresh. We'd make pies, butters and applesauce, apple cakes and apple tarts, raw apples on toast and dried apples in oatmeal.

While I haven't had a chance to pick apples out here, I have been kept well-stocked by Devoto Gardens and Rainbow Orchards at the farmers market. Head to Devoto ($3/lb.) if you're jonesing for a tart, obscenely crunchy apple, the kind that was picked a few hours before market. Head to Rainbow for your baking apples ($1-2/lb), and gallons of fresh, unpasteurized cider ($10/gal). 

And if you're headed north, look for a hand-painted, side-of-the-road sign: fresh apples, or u-pick here. Stop. You won't regret it.

Try some apple cider muffins (the donut alternative) this week, featuring Rainbow Orchards cider. Order yours here.

Spotlight on early girl tomatoes

A happy, warm October 1st to you all! I hope you got to spend some time outdoors yesterday, now that it is finally summer. 

To me, nothing tastes more like summer than dry-farmed early girl tomatoes. Dry farming is a tried and true technique, used often for growing olives and grapes. Once a plant is established but before it starts to fruit, the farmer will cut off all irrigation (including sheltering it from the rains). The lack of water stresses the plant, and causes it to focus on bearing fruit. 

The resulting fruit is smaller and more concentrated than normal. In the case of tomatoes, this means a tiny, crunchy, and incredibly sweet treat. Dry farmed early girls are great raw as a snack, served slice with sea salt, made into a gazpacho, or roasted. We tried them on a pizza! (recipe below) You can also try them in this week's herbed tomato sourdough.

You can find organic dry-farmed early girls at most markets and some grocery stores from the following farms: Happy Boy Farm, Blue House Farm, Tomatero Farm, Fifth Crow Farm.

This recipe is what we used during our demo at the Eat Real Festival's community bread oven. Please substitute liberally, and feel free to send questions, or photos of your successes!

Early Girl Pizza

The dough:

1 c sorghum flour
3/4 c millet flour
1/2 c arrowroot starch
1/4 c white rice flour
2 t xanthan gum
1 1/2 t salt
3/4 t active dry yeast
water

Mix all dry ingredients except yeast. Add yeast to a cup of water in a separate bowl, and wait until it is dissolved. Add that mixture to the dry, and mix. The dough should resemble a very wet but still "kneadable" bread dough. Add more water if needed. Once the dough is mixed, let it rise for as long as you can stand. (this means at least 30 minutes, but up to 4 hours. If you make it more than 4 hours in advance, store it in the fridge).

The toppings:

6-8 dry farmed early girl tomatoes, sliced
fresh mozzarella or ricotta, if desired
fresh garlic, minced
salt
olive oil
herbs if desired

Preheat your oven to 500 if it goes that high. Spread some cornmeal or other coarse flour on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Scrape out your dough onto the sheet and spread it to your desired size. You may need to wet your hands and the dough to avoid sticking. Rub some olive oil over the dough and bake for 5-10 minutes.

Pull out the dough, which should feel bread-like now, and top with olive oil, garlic, salt, tomatoes, and cheese and herbs if using. Pop it back in the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the top is slightly browned (easier to see if using cheese). Enjoy hot, preferably outdoors with friends.

If you have any questions about the recipe, or would like to share photos of your pizzas, send them my way! You can reach me at sadie at breadsrsly dot com.

Spotlight on Pluots

The weather in San Francisco has been getting me down this past month, but I'm so pleased and excited to be getting some sun! Our undernourished plants are starting to put out new leaves, there's fresh pavement and bike lanes all over the city, and pluots, the perfect bike-sized snack, are at the market!

Pluots, you say? Not plumcots, not apriums, but pluots, a plum crossed with an apricot, and then crossed again as a second generation. Pluots are brightly colored, crunchy and sweet. 

While there are many varieties, I can never remember if my favorite is the flavor delight, flavor fall, flavor finale, flavor grenade, flavor heart, flavor jewel, flavor king, flavor prince, flavor penguin (!), flavor queen, flavor rich, flavor royal, or flavor supreme. So I usually just get one of each!

You can find many of these varieties of pluots from Twin Girls Farm or K & J Orchards, at the Ferry Building Tuesday and Saturday, and at the Mission Mercado Thursday, or from Kashiwase Farms at Ft. Mason or Inner Sunset Sundays, 4th and Market Tuesdays, and the Upper Haight Wednesdays.

Spotlight on Collard Greens

This week we picked up some fresh young collard greens from Serendipity 

Farms at the Castro Farmers Market (Weds, 4-8pm). Serendipity, located 

near the coast in Carmel Valley, has a reputation for bringing the sweetest 

greens to market. The collards are no exception, with a sugary stem and a 

good strong bite to the leaves. 

Collards are at the top of the charts for nutrient density (using the ANDI system), 

which measures the nutrients delivered per calorie. They are a sturdy and versatile 

green, good in combination with grains, beans, meats, and even fruits. 

For the sweet tooth:

1 onion, sliced into thin rings

1 bunch collard greens, washed and cut

1 apple, thinly sliced

1-2 cups cooked pinto beans

2 T raisins

2 T olive oil

salt

In a hot skillet, add olive oil and onions. Cook on medium heat until caramelized, 

about 10 minutes.

Add apple slices until lightly browned.

Add collard greens, stirring quickly so the leaves are coated with oil. Add more 

oil if necessary. Salt while cooking.

Add pinto beans, until they are heated through.

Stir in raisins, if desired, and serve.

For a savory dish:

1 bunch collard greens

1-2 T olive oil

1/2 - 1 t gluten-free tamari or balsamic vinegar

3-4 strips bacon, if desired

For a simpler savory dish, saute collards in olive oil with some tamari or vinegar. 

Cook on high until leaves turn bright green but are still crunchy. Serve with crisp 

bacon if desired. Brown rice is a perfect accompaniment.

You can find collard greens from the following farms:

Serendipity Farms - Castro, Ft. Mason, Sunset, Divisadero, Temescal

Tomatero Farms - Upper Haight, Mission Community Market

Blue House Farm - Upper Haight, Mission Community Market

Fifth Crow Farm - Sunset, Castro

Spotlight on Figs

Hello hello!

It's great to be back home in chilly, crisp San Francisco. The past week has 

been a great adventure, involving trains, bikes, highways, strip malls, family, 

and dolphins. Here's a little taste:

This week, we'll be making an old favorite, fig rosemary bread. The bread uses 

house-dried mission figs from Arata Farms, and fresh organic rosemary from 

Serendipity Farms. Order yours here today! (Photo by Vanessa Christie)

Figs, as it turns out, are a "false fruit," a sort of inside-out edible flower with 

seeds in the interior. As you may imagine, the pollination of an inside-out flower 

can be difficult. There are a few varieties of fig that do not require pollination to 

grow, and those are what you'll be seeing in the markets (black mission, turkey, 

etc.). 

I use figs as an appetizer or refreshing snack:

1. Serve sliced in half with a soft but tart cheese (try the sheep feta from 

Swallow Valley Farm, available at the Upper Haight, Sunset, and 

Divisadero Markets). 

2. Drizzle with some local honey (CityBees at the Castro and Sunset Markets).

Or, 

1. Cut in half, drizzle with honey and fresh thyme leaves (Happy Boy Farms, 

Castro, Noe Valley, Ft. Mason, Mission Community Market, or North Berkeley 

Market)

2. Bake at 350 until warm and soft, about 15 minutes.

Pick up a basket of figs today! You can find figs from Arata Farms at the Castro 

Market, Wednesdays from 4-8. Many vendors have figs for sale at the Saturday 

Ferry Plaza Market, and Capay Valley Farms has a gorgeous crop of candystripe 

fig (green striped exterior with a watermelon pink interior) at the Sunset Market.

Enjoy!

Spotlight on Devoto Gardens

This week we stopped at the Inner Sunset farmers market to talk to Jolie 

of Devoto Gardens in Sebastopol. The farm, started by Jolie's parents Susan 

and Stan, is home to 55 varieties of heirloom apples, with funny names like 

Hubbardston Nonesuch, Ashmead's Kernel, and the humble Best Ever. 

In addition to being an apple expert, world traveler, and Gravenstein apple 

ambassador, Jolie and her fiance, Hunter, started their own business this summer,

and it's great for all us gluten-free folks! Welcome Applesauced, your source for 

local heirloom single origin hard cider. After planting 500 cider trees in 27 varieties, 

Jolie and Hunter will be starting their first batch of cider on Wednesday! 

Taking a break to get married in September, they'll be bringing their cider to 

farmers markets as soon as it's ready to drink (October). Look for it at the Inner 

Sunset market (Sundays 9-1), Ferry Plaza Market (Tuesdays 10-2, Saturdays 8-2), 

or take a trip up to the farm to see the operation first hand.

And in case there wasn't enough to do, Devoto Gardens has a small army of
beautiful organic flowers growing. Jolie and her mom, Susan, are the Devoto
florists, and bring their flowers to weddings, parties and farmers markets
throughout the Bay Area. Check out their mission to know your farmer, know
your flowers here.

You can find Devoto Gardens apples in this week's Apple Cinnamon Bread, and

Pink Pearl Rose Muffins. Order yours here or find us Thursday at the Mission 

Community Market.