Sometimes it’s what you put in something that’s important and sometimes it’s what is left out

Many of our chefs shop at the market and are proud to list the source of their ingredients.

Among others, The Ultimate Souvlaki proudly lists their suppliers Lata and the Green Grocer shop at the market

Rancher John Ford’s wonderful hotdogs do not have nitrates or nitrites and Not Yer Momma’s Granola is salt, fat and sugar free

Set a better table read the label or ask the farmer or chef

Bruno’s Red Wine Vinegar

Spring is the season of tender greens.  What goes into your salad bowl is only limited by your imagination.

A great dressing can be as simple as oil and vinegar.   Bruno’s Red Wine Vinegar  is a great ingredient.   Bruno is at the market the 1st and 3rd Saturdays.  Be sure and ask about the week’s market special.

Bruno said, “Many Italian families used to make their own red wine and my family was no different. My father made red wine for more years than I can remember and if you made red wine you made red wine vinegar. We kept it in a wine barrel in the basement of our home, where we let it age into red wine vinegar. We used it for cooking, salad dressing and BBQ’s nearly every day.”

Today, Bruno makes his Italian Red Wine Vinegar in his home town of San Rafael, California. It is made from selected red wines and aged over 12 months until it reaches just the right acidity level. Then, bread and yeast are added so that the vinegar can ferment and age into the perfect lip “I’m very proud to be able to share my family’s home made vinegar and I’m sure my parents would be proud too. “  learn more.

Cheese Appreciation Month: In honor of the 7th Annual Artisan Cheese Festival, coming up at the end of March, Nick’s Cove will celebrate four local cheese companies this month.

 DeBernardi Dairy of Two Rock will be featured from March 10 to March 16

Executive Chef Austin Perkins will create a variety of classic and innovative offerings each week.

From the SF Chronicle by Janet Fletcher

Don De Bernardi has been in the milk business in Petaluma for more than five decades. His enterprise, the De Bernardi Dairy, milks 700 Holsteins and a few Jerseys for an organic-milk cooperative.

You might think that, at 74, De Bernardi would be cruising toward retirement. Instead, he has become one of the state’s newest cheesemakers, producing an aged raw-milk goat cheese that is selling faster than he can make it.

Like several American cheesemakers’ stories, this one started with pet goats – a pair of does (female goats) that Don’s wife, Bonnie, bought to amuse her grandsons. That was 15 years ago. Eventually Bonnie bred the does and began milking them. The herd grew, and the milk supply along with it.

About a half dozen years ago, Don and Bonnie went to Switzerland to visit Don’s numerous cousins. Both his father and his maternal grandparents immigrated from the Ticino, one of Switzerland’s Italian-speaking cantons. None of those cousins makes cheese today, but the prior generation did, so Don and Bonnie spent some time in the high Alps watching the local people make goat cheese.

That’s when Don had the epiphany: We have goat’s milk, he said to Bonnie. Why aren’t we doing this?

Two Rock Valley Goat Cheese is Don’s attempt to re-create the aged goat tommes that are typical of his ancestral region. Bonnie looks after the goats – 35 milkers, with 21 more in the pipeline – and Don makes the cheese, sometimes with assistance from a grandson.

An Italian immigrant neighbor who knew the old alpine cheese methods guided De Bernardi initially, and a professional consultant has helped him refine the procedures. Cal Poly’s short course in artisan cheese making also boosted De Bernardi’s skills, but his credentials are otherwise slim.

Even so, my recent encounters with Two Rock Valley make me think he is on top of his recipe. The 9-pound wheels receive anywhere from two months to a year of aging, with fans at every stage, according to Don.

I haven’t tasted a young wheel, but the more mature wheel appeals to me greatly. It has a thin, hard rind with no mold in evidence; inside, the paste is firm and dry, although not granular, with a deep golden hue rarely seen in goat cheese. The aroma is nutty and meaty, with caramel notes and a suggestion of smoke, and the flavor is sweet and lingering.

De Bernardi also takes cheeses in a range of maturities to the Petaluma and Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market.

A younger, moister wheel might work with white wine, but I prefer a substantial red wine, such as Syrah, with the aged cheese.

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Just in time for Valentine’s Day Williamson Farms are back with their wonderful strawberries and avocados.    Both are reputed to be aphrodisiacs.   Make up your own love potion.

 Strawberries
Strawberries have long been associated with love, sex, and sensuality. Strawberries may indeed boost the sex drive thanks to the vitamin C, potassium, and zinc that they contain. Eating a ripe strawberry or, better yet, a chocolate-covered strawberry, is a sure way to stimulate your senses and your libido.

Avocados
It’s no surprise that the avocado has been considered an aphrodisiac for thousands of years, given its sensual shape and soft texture. The Aztec word for avocado, ahuacatl, means “testicle.” In the 1920s, U.S. avocado growers launched an advertising campaign that attempted to convince people that avocados were not aphrodisiacs, but nobody was convinced. In Japan, people take avocado oil for its libido enhancing properties.

Think you don’t like walnuts?  This might be the reason.

Commercial walnut processing uses household bleach to clean walnuts.  Taste tests indicate people do not like the residual taste of bleach with their walnuts.

The market welcomes J/M Walnut Orchard from Kelseyville.  They only have slow dried walnuts – nothing added.   The walnut is the only ingredient.    Seasonal vendor.

The Wednesday market is now held in the South Parking Lot.

Did you see  the story in the Wall Street Journal about Hector and his bees…”Mr. Alvarez is the founder of Hector’s Honey, based on a 2-acre farm in the tiny hamlet of Fulton, Calif. It has won gold medals and best-of-show ribbons at the annual Sonoma County Harvest Fair and is sought out by connoisseurs who crave its delicate sweetness.

“It has a nice floral flavor that goes well with cheeses,” says Andrew Di Clementi, a pastry chef at the acclaimed Dry Creek Kitchen in nearby Healdsburg, who buys honeycomb from Hector’s.

Mr. Alvarez is a leader in the growing artisanal food movement, teaching and mentoring other beekeepers on how to produce honey naturally, with minimum exposure to pesticides.”

But there is more at Hector’s Honey then honey.   Right now Hector has fresh,chili peppers -   anaheims , cayannes and cascabels….not too mention wonderful varieties of winter squash

One of the newer Wednesday vendors is Good Gal Delights.   This is someone who clearly loves to bake and really thinks about new flavor combinations –coming up this week gluten free- blueberry coconut muffins.    Gaga Cafe is there to provide the coffee to go with that muffin.

Other Wednesday vendors include:  Full Circle Baking Company, Waterhorse Ridge Jams and condiments, The Dreamcatcher Ranch (heritage beef, lamb, goat and pork,) Mi Fiesta Tamales and more, The Green Grocer, The Garden Wild and Willow Designs.   Armstrong Valley has fresh chicken eggs and produce and Bohemian Well Being Farm has the best array of cultivated and wild mushrooms at any local farmers market.

Nothing brightens up  a dish or drink like citrus.   When it’s rainy and cold, it’s citrus time in Northern California.    DeSantis Bella Fruita has the most amazing array of citrus but you can find.    But locally grown citrus is at many of the stalls including Armstrong Valley Farm and Min Hee Gardens.    There are a lot of  Meyer Lemons at the market.

100 Things to do with Meyer Lemons

Tom Noble of Armstrong Valley Farm has the best of this seasons produce -hardy greens, citrus fruit and wild foraged mushrooms including the matsutake.   Tom has meyer lemons too!

The name matsutake means “pine mushroom” in Japan, where the local species, Tricholoma matsutake, grows in mycorrhizal association with Japanese red pines. About 15 other closely related species occur worldwide, including T. magnivelare, the American matsutake, which flourishes in coniferous forests across North America (and particularly in the Northwest and Northern California) with fir, spruce and pine, as well as tanoaks.

Japanese pay a premium for young, unopened matsutakes, before the veil between the cap and the stem breaks, which stay fresh better than more mature ones. (Matsutakes at this stage have a phallic appearance, and women at the imperial court at Kyoto once were forbidden to speak the mushroom’s name.) However, there’s no difference in flavo

From the MushroomExpert.com

“The odor of the matsutake is its most distinctive–and hard to characterize–feature. “Spicy but a little bit foul” is what comes to my mind, though I like “a provocative compromise between ‘red hots’ and dirty socks” (Arora, 1986, p. 191). The matsutake taste is as distinctive as the odor: “an incredible and complex flavor you won’t ever forget–even though you won’t be able to adequately describe it to anyone” (Volk, 2000).”

From Honest Food, some ideas about how to use matsutakes.  Recipes that capture the aroma are the best.

Min Hee Hill Garden has juicy Mexican limes also known as Key  limes grown right here in Sonoma County.  This is citrus season  and the you can brighten up any holiday dish or cocktail with this sprightly little lime.

The Key Lime Pie has propelled this citrus fruit into utter stardom. But, the Key Lime, also sometimes called the West Indian Lime, Bartender’s Lime, Omani Lime or Mexican Lime, has a unique propensity for adding a tart, bitter element to balance out all manner of recipes (where it tends to be overlooked). Key Limes are actually yellow when ripe, though they tend to be picked green commercially, hence the acidity. Smaller (little bigger than a walnut!), seedier, with a stronger aroma, more dynamic flavor and a thinner rind, these baby limes pack more of a punch than their larger relatives and prove the mightiness that comes in small packages.

How to Buy and Store Key Lime

Look for brightly colored, smooth-skinned Key Limes that are firm and heavy for their size. Make sure there are no signs of mold or decay. Small brown areas (scald) on the skin won’t affect flavor or succulence but a lime that is mostly brown will likely be unpalatable. Also, avoid a hard or shriveled skin. Refrigerate uncut limes in a plastic bag for up to 10 days – after which they will begin to lose their flavor. Cut limes can be stored in the same way but only for 5 days.

How to Cook Key Lime

When in season, try replacing the traditional Persian Lime with fresh Key Lime in your recipes, and see if you ever go back. You just might prefer it for the flavoring of fish and meats, marinades, cocktails (perhaps limeade) and as a tantalizing garnish. Key Lime juice itself can be used for syrups, sauces, preserves, and of course, Key Lime Pie.

Here are some recipes ideas

Great cocktail ideas!

Min Hee Hill Gardens  Wednesday and Saturday markets

Redwood Empire Farm dry farms some of the tastiest tomatoes around.   Can’t dry farm without at least 20″ of rain.    While the rain is annoying, at least 20″ is the key to some great tomato flavor.

A few years ago  the U.C. Santa Cruz Agroecology Program compared the flavor of dry-farmed and drip-irrigated tomatoes; the dry farmed ones won hands down.

In an article in Field Notes, The Agroecology Program newsletter explained how Early Girls are dry-farmed on an on-campus demonstration farm. “Dry farmed means the plants that produced your tomatoes have not been watered since May 2, when they were transplanted into the field. Their roots grew deeper to follow the moisture as the soil dried down. The idea behind dry farming is to produce a tomato with more concentrated flavor, and save water to boot.”

The article continued: “From a purist’s standpoint, dry farming means growing crops without any irrigation to supplement rainfall. But you can adapt the idea to any degree you want. For tomatoes, dry farming works best with clay or clay-loam soil in areas that get at least 20 inches of rainfall. If your soil is sandy or rainfall is below 20 inches, you’ll need to apply some water.

“Dry farming’s obvious advantage is water savings. But equally important is flavor–and this method will reward you with the best tomatoes you’ve ever tasted.”

Albert explains the basics of dry farming: the soil has to be worked to keep the water from evaporating. Cultivate your garden to capture rainwater. Surface cultivation will break up soil crusting and allow water to seep into the soil.

Albert said ideally the “soil preparation begins in the fall to maximize water savings but March is not too late.” The basic dry farming method is dust mulching: Dust or dirt mulching disrupts the soil drying process essentially separating the upper layer of a garden’s soil from the lower layers.

“Just 2 or 3 inches deep will help capture up to 70 percent of rain fall. Be sure to work the soil “after every rainfall to break crusting caused by the rain.”

Just because The Patch , Redwood Empire Farm and other seasonal vendors aren’t at the market, doesn’t mean they are home with their feet up!   They are getting ready for next year.

In the meantime year round vendor, Bernier Farms has sun dried tomatoes.