Messy and Picky

Tomatoes are not my favorite thing about the summer (Messy's the bigger tomato fan), but good god do I love me a nice heirloom tomato. It was a bad year for lots of produce in the region (strawberries and cherries in particular), but it was a horrendous year for tomatoes. If you haven't heard or read about the late blight which came very early this year, I'll direct you to these two articles from the NY Times and this post from a friend of mine who has a small plot at his home just outside of Philly. Sad.

But not all was lost this year at the Farmstand. Above is a shot of an heirloom glacier tomato from Rineer Farm in Pequea Valley, Lancaster County. These good sized heirlooms are closely related to the smaller, rounder green zebra tomato. These tomatoes, as you can see above, have some incredible colors. Green, red and yellow swirls throughout. Heirlooms are much meatier with less seeds. This particular tomato is very low in acid as well.

I happily munched on a few slices of this beauty at the Farmstand and we have one on the kitchen counter at home right now just waiting to be torn into. But they don't come cheap. They're $5/lbs at the Farmstand – we've had a handful of $7 single tomatoes this year. You might be able to find them a little cheaper at market around town (Daryl is at the Tuesday/Saturday Rittenhouse Market, Thursday Jefferson Hospital Market and most likely some others I can't think of right now. I'm not sure if other farmers in the area also grow the same varietal. Happy eating! The tomato season is just about over now. I hope the weather's better next year for a more bountiful harvest (which will lead to lower prices!).

Fair Food Farmstand
Tu – Sat: 8a – 6p
Su: 9a – 5p
Mon: Closed, but starting October 5, 8a – 6p
215.627.2029
Reading Terminal Market
12th & Arch Sts

For those who have never seen or had a fresh, ripe fig before, this is as good as it gets. Giovanni has a gorgeous 30 year old Paradiso fig tree in his South Philly backyard (I just took a trip down to see the tree and talk to Giovanni, but that's for another post) full of ripe and ripening green figs.

Giovanni delivers his figs about twice a week – approximately 20 dozen figs with each delivery – through October. The figs are sold for $4 a half dozen. Yes, they're expensive, but they're better than any California fig you'll ever have here on the east coast.

What makes these figs different from those red/brown/maroon figs you see elsewhere? Well, these have a much denser taste to them. Almost a thick syrupy flavor instead of the sweeter taste of others.

Giovanni dropped off 31 dozen figs yesterday so there should be plenty today, but who knows how long they'll last; people come buy all day searching them out as he's been delivering them to the Farmstand for the last few years and nobody's ever seen these green figs before. They're quite memorable.

Messy would like it if Picky made some homemade Fig Newtons. Picky thinks that's blasphemy. They are to be eaten raw. Or maybe grilled with Shellbark Hollow Farm's Goat Chevre.

I'll be writing about recent fig foraging outings all around Philadelphia as well as a writeup on the talk I had with Giovanni in his driveway. I'm fig crazy.

Fair Food Farmstand
Tu – Sat: 8a – 6p
Su: 9a – 5p
Mon: Closed
215.627.2029
Reading Terminal Market
11th & Arch Sts

Two things I love: peaches and whipped cream. Even better when the whipped cream is freshly homemade and the peaches are nice, soft and juicy. Luckily for me, I work at Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market which has both of the items mentioned and peaches are in full production at the orchards around Philly. It's hot out today. Reward yourself from all of your hard work with a nice treat, eh?

The heavy cream we use to make the whipped cream is from Dutch Way Dairy out in Myerstown, PA – a little northwest of Reading. It's sold in quart containers for $6.50 at FFF. At 38% milkfat, it's at the higher end of cream. According to the Wiki cream article, this places the Dutch Way Dairy cream as 'extra-heavy' or 'manufacturer's' cream. It's magical. We usually whip up a pint of cream at a time with anywhere from a teaspoon to a Tablespoon or so of sugar depending on who's making it (more if it's Picky) and what we're making it for (we used less when making cream for the super sweet vegan chocolate pie). Whip up your cream for a few minutes on a low setting on your mixer. In our case, it's a hand mixer with whisk attachment.

As for the peaches, ours come from Beechwood Orchards in Bigglerville, PA – due west from York. Picky prefers yellow peaches with their tangier and juicier flesh. We usually chunkily dice up one medium to large peach each. Add in some wild huckleberries from Paradise Hill Farm (Vincetown, NJ – just past Mt. Holly) and you've really got a winner. Wild huckleberries are smaller than blueberries and have larger seeds. I like the crunch they give when chomping down on a few and they add some body to this delightfully cool snack. Unfortunately, it's just about the end of huckleberry season so the farmstand might be out of stock of them. At $2 a pack, they were selling quickly all this week. Peaches (and nectarines) are all $2.25/lbs. and will be around for another month and change, so make sure to gorge now!