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Pacific Beach Farmers' Market Blog

IT'S A PEAR-FECT DAY!

September 24, 2012 - 2:43pm
Author: 
Christopher S.

It still feels like summer, but fall crops like Asian pears are appearing at the Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers’ Market Courtesy of Lone Oak Ranch and Gilbert Quintos Farm.

Asian pears comprise several pear species noted for large, round fruit shaped more like an apple than the more familiar Bartlett pear. The flesh is especially crisp, refreshing and very juicy, while the aroma is distinctly sweet and floral. We like to slice them into a salad with Suzie’s Farm’s arugula, Gilbert Quintos macadamia nuts and Stagionato Misto cheese from Nicolau Goat Farm; don’t forget olive oil and balsamic from The California Olive or Bistro Blends! We pear you to find tastier salad!

Need dessert? Pears can be used in cobblers and crisps, but we love this vanilla roasted pear recipe! Simply delicious! 

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WE GO NUTS FOR THESE NUTS!

September 16, 2012 - 11:26pm
Author: 
Brijet M.

Go nuts at the Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers' Market! Hopkins AG brings a wide variety of dry roasted almonds, along with 100% pure almond butter- try a smear of  on your sprouted wheat bread from Belen Bakery toast in the morning for a champion's breakfast. Toss slivered almonds in a salad like this; using the beet stems or a bowl of torn watercress from Suzie's Farm, goat cheese feta from Nicolau Farm and roasted yellow beets from Proios Farm. Feeling extra nutty? Grab a bag of gala apples from Lone Oak Ranch and dip in a jar of your favorite flavored PB Peanut Butter! 

Gilbert Quintos Family Farm has fresh picked macadamia nuts by the basket. These seasonal tree nuts have tough shells to crack, but Gilbert opens them up before he loads up the baskets, saving you the trouble. Feeling perplexed about nuts at farmers' markets? Check out a little back-story on these protein-rich treats here.

Stock up on a few pounds and try making macadamia nut butter. Since macadamia nuts are already so buttery, you don't need to add oil and the result is a smooth, delcious flavor you'll want to eat by the spoonful. 

Grab a farm fresh chicken from Descanso Valley Ranch and make a macadamia nut crusted chicken for dinner tonight. Serve a side of steamed long green beans from Rodney Kawano Farm and grab a fresh coconut from Moncai Vegan to sip while you dine. Aloha! 

 

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ALL YOU REED!

September 10, 2012 - 9:13am
Author: 
Chris S.

Late summer brings Reed avocados to the Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers’ Market in addition to the year-round Hass avocados. What’s the difference? Reeds are the largest commercially grown variety, have a round shape, and their skin remains bright green when ripe, while Hass avocados are smaller, pear shaped, and typically turn dark, almost black, when ripe.

Reeds aren’t often seen in grocery stores because they are thin skinned and difficult to transport, but many avocado lovers find their rich, buttery flavor to be well worth the extra effort to seek them out at the farmers’ market; visit Paradise Valley Ranch, John Gilruth, Gilbert Quintos and R&L Farms to find avocados this Tuesday.

How do you eat your avocados? We chop 'em and toss 'em on scrambled Descanso Valley Ranch eggs and blend them in our morning smoothie with Pacific Beach Peanut Butter, spinach from J.R. Organics and strawberries from Rodney Kawano Farm (believe us, it's good!). Find more fun ideas for the abundance of avocados at the market here. 

We avo everything you Reed!

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WHAT'S GOT YOUR GOAT?

August 31, 2012 - 12:34pm
Author: 
Chris S.

Get your goat cheese from Nicolau Farm at the Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers’ Market; they’ve recently added some amazing aged cheeses to their offerings! Stanislaus Capream is a semi-soft cheese aged for four weeks and has a texture similar to gouda and a bit of a nutty flavor - pair it with sliced Gala apples and grapes from Smit Orchards.

Stagionato Misto is made from a blend of sheep and goat milk and aged 45 days; try it with roasted almonds from Hopkins AG or melt it over a sandwich of grilled summer squashes from Maciel Farm. Try Nicolau’s raw milk feta in a salad of fresh greens from Gilbert Quintos, grape tomatoes from Kawano Farms and black olives from Lisko Imports. Add squash and try this recipe. 

Pick up swiss chard from J.R. Organics and garlic, red onion and spicy peppers from Proios Family Farm to make this braised green tacos recipe using crumbled goat cheese instead of  the queso fresco. 

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FRESH IS HOW WE ROLL

August 27, 2012 - 2:01pm
Author: 
Chris S.

Miss Sushi is back at the Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers’ Market, combining the best local seafood with farm fresh produce in traditional and innovative sushi and sashimi plates; try a California roll with real Pacific stone crab, a spicy Hot Kiss roll or one of her vegetarian creations like her sweet fruit roll using market fruits.

She also has fresh filets and seafood to take home; pick up sea scallops and try this recipe using fresh pasta from Lisko Imports and homemade pesto using fresh basil, or bake a yellowtail filet with heirloom tomatoes and fresh fennel from Suzie’s Farm.

If you prefer your fish served hot and ready to eat, check out Chip’s Beach Eatz for seabass tacos or their fantastic fish and crab-wich. Seafood’s better by the beach but it’s the best at the Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers’ Market!

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FRESHEN UP THAT SALAD!

August 20, 2012 - 2:04pm
Author: 
Chris S.

Forget about the same old salad and try something new instead from the Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers’ Market. Stop by JR Organics for a bunch of fresh sorrel, a tangy, citrus-y, spicy leaf that might be an herb and might be a green, but is definitely delicious when tossed with roasted beets from Maciel Farm and a little goat cheese from Nicolau Farm. Dress it simply with a drizzle of delicate oil from The California Olive Oil Company and a squeeze of fresh lemon from John Gilruth. Try a beet and goat cheese salad recipe variation here. 

Purslane is a crisp, slightly tart succulent grown by Gilbert Quintos; try it tossed with radishes, cucumber and a drizzle of Bistro Citrus Balsamic from Bistro Blends. Suzie’s Farm arugula has a bright, peppery taste; make an a-list salad by adding apples from Smit Orchards, Asian pears from Gilbert Quintos, and almonds from Hopkins Ag. Toss together something fresh tonight!

 

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HEY SWEETIE!

August 13, 2012 - 11:18am
Author: 
Chris S.

Shop for dinner, stay for dessert at the Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers’ Market! Visit Sunnyside Kitchen for freshly baked cookies just like Mom used to make (but even better!) like Chocolate Delight, Peanut Butter and Mama’s Oatmeal. Don’t miss their banana oatmeal muffins and brownie bites too! Under the Crust has apple crumb, blueberry, lemon and pecan pies among their amazing offerings- check out their mini-pies in tiny tins, perfect for single servings! Grab a few as a hostess gift.

Use Mikolich honey instead of sugar in your baking recipes, like this honey cake with stewed strawberries recipe. You can get the eggs from PV Ranch and berries from J.R. Organics at the PB Market too! Moncai Vegan bakes carrot cake and fudge brownies, both gluten-free, as well as awesome cinnamon rolls and giant salted caramel cupcakes (a market staff favorite!).

Stop by Belen Bakery for a classic tollhouse cookie, scones and blueberry bread to satisfy your sweet tooth. Check out the unusual dessert tamales from Gourmet Tamales, including strawberry apple, orange mango and pumpkin spice. Our farmers' friut always makes a healthy sweet ending to your market meal. Life is short, eat dessert first!

 

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Next Up: San Diego Public Market

August 6, 2012 - 1:51pm
Author: 
Catt F

SAN DIEGO PUBLIC MARKET COMING!

London has Borough Market. Barcelona has La Boqueria and Clevelend has the Westside Market. Just like the weather, everyone talks about a Pike Place-style public market for San Diego but no one does anything about it. Until now. Get ready for the new San Diego Public Market, coming to downtown soon!

Dale Fitzmorris Steele started searching for a public market venue in 2000, entering into talks regarding the historic San Diego Police Station on Broadway before exploring a Liberty Station location.

SD Weekly Markets' Catt Fields White developed and manages the Little Italy Mercato, North Park Thursday and Pacific Beach Tuesday farmers’ markets, and sees a permanent venue combined with neighborhood markets as the next stage for local farmers, artisan food manufacturers and purveyors, chefs and craftspeople. 

Together, Steele and White's Public Market Group has leased a 2-acre site on National Avenue, just a few blocks from Petco Park and the Convention Center.There, San Diego Public Market will expand the local food system and offer community-based business incubation and education programs focused on food and nutrition.

“It is the first property we found that really offers the size and variety of architecturally interesting indoor and outdoor spaces we needed, ready to fill with our vision of weekly farmers’ markets, a permanent food hall, special event and educational programming in a dynamic location,” says White.

Fundraising underway now allows the public to contribute to the creation of a community food hub and gathering place. via memberships, sponsorships, a Kickstarter campaign, and pre-purchase of market shopping cards.

A weekly Wednesday morning farmers’ market will debut this month, focusing on selling to local chefs in addition to downtown residents and destination shoppers. A weekend market will soon follow. Like San Diego Public Market on Facebook for daily updates. 

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CONVICTED MELON CAPTURED

August 5, 2012 - 2:57pm
Author: 
Chris S.

READY & MELON

Nothing says summer like cool, crisp, sweet, sticky and succulent watermelon from the Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers’ Market. Proios Family Farm, JR Organics and Kawano Farms are all harvesting melons large and small, red and golden for your enjoyment. Slice ‘em to eat on their own or dice into chunks to mix with grapes and peaches from R&L Farms in a summer fruit salad.

Pick the ripest melon by looking for the yellow spot on the bottom that shows it's been in the field a while.

Don’t toss the seeds out; instead, toss them with a little oil from the California Olive and a pinch of salt and roast for ten minutes in a 350 degree oven for a tasty, crunchy snack that’s great by itself or added to trail mix with raisins and dried apricots from Smit Orchards and almonds from Hopkins Ag. Grab cucumbers and tomatoes from Maciel Farm for this watermelon gazpacho, or try a Southern classic, pickled watermelon rind. Happy summer!

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WE CHARDLY KNEW YOU

July 30, 2012 - 2:24pm
Author: 
Chris S.

You know you can get fresh green chard at the Pacific Beach Tuesday Farmers’ Market from Maciel Farms, JR Organics, Kawano Farms, Suzie’s Farm and Gilbert Quintos. You know it’s delicious when sauteed with garlic from Proios Family Farm and a little extra virgin oil from the California Olive. But did you know this? Chard is actually a form of beet; beets are chard that’s been selectively bred to produce big, sweet, earthy flavored roots, while chard is beets bred to devote their energy into large, leafy greens. The stems of chard may be naturally green, red, or golden, depending on the variety, but rainbow chard is a man made creation - it’s really different types of chard bundled together by the farmer to catch your eye! Check out this yummy chard-ravioli recipe, or pick up Italian eggplants at Suzie’s Farm and mushrooms from the Kawano Farm stand to try this Swiss Chard Stuffed Eggplant. Chard’s low in calories, high in fiber, and like other leafy green vegetables, can help reduce the risk of both cancer and heart disease as part of a healthy diet, so add something that’s good and good for you to your shopping cart - it isn’t chard to do!

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