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03/22/14 - Farmers' Market Update

These are thin times at the Port Angeles Farmers' Market, so we've been buying what we can. Nash Huber, for example, had some spinach, so we assumed that the spinach season was starting. We were wrong. The young man at the stand filled us in. That was likely it for spinach for a while. Still, Nash Huber did have all sorts of raab, that is flowering young cabbages, arugulas and kales. They are sweet and delicious, and they are only available this time of year.

Spring Rain had their chickens, but they also have their greenhouse. That means salad greens, baby kale and all sorts of exotic things, mainly green vegetables. We have our hopes.

New at the market was Eric Pozgay, the Pasta Guy. He was selling freshly made pasta. Fresh pasta may be a hallmark of gentrification, but Port Angeles is a few miles down the road, so it was nice to see it on sale.

Dungeness Seaworks had some fine whole fish, good looking salmon, but we had to pass this week.




Keywords: dungeness, farmers' market, nash huber, port angeles, salmon, spring, kale, spring rain


08/11/13 - The Farmers' Market

It must be summer, at long last, they're selling summer squash. They're also selling mustard greens, scallions, collard greens, potatoes and a host of other things. At Clark Farm, Mrs. Clark gave us the details on their most recent chicken adventure, so we bought a couple of hard won, hard plucked birds and a chunk of pork roast with the skin on. We're going to try and make an almost porchetta. Spring Rain Farm, it turns out, is selling turkeys. You have to call and order one, so we're going to do that soon.

We've got to start taking more pictures at the Farmers' Market.

Keywords: farmers' market, spring rain


07/30/13 - Port Angeles Farmers' Market Update

Summer is here, and the market is finally full of fruits and vegetables. This means potatoes, zucchini, kales, chards, scallions, garlic, broccoli, apricots, nectarines, and cabbages. The big newcomer is Spring Hill Farms with their greenhouse tomatoes, wonderful berries and roaster chickens, but the regulars are there as well. The Korean garlic lady is selling her great garlic, scallions and greens along with Korean dumplings. The Johnston Farms stand keeps growing, and Nash Huber's stand is no longer only half full.

Clark Farm is still selling their full flavored local beef, their sausages and often pork. There are no signs of the fish guys, but if you want to buy fish, check out Country Aire on First and Oak. They have fish from High Tide Seafood among others, and what we've tried has been pretty good.


Spring Rain berries

Spring Rain heirloom tomatoes

Spring Rain zucchini

Nash's apricots, nectarines & friends

More of Nash's vegetables

Keywords: farmers' market, kale, spring rain


05/21/13 - Spring Rain Farm

Things have been a bit thin at the Port Angeles Farmers' Market lately, so Spring Rain Farm & Orchards is a welcome new presence. They are from over in Chimacum and are sellnig asparagus, greens, lamb and eggs. Their card says they are run by John Bellow, Ph.D. We're looking forward to their season.

Spring Rain Farm & Orchard

Keywords: farmers' market, port angeles, spring, spring rain


02/25/13 - Port Angeles Farmers' Market Update

The Port Angeles Farmers' Market gets a bit quiet in the winter, but it doesn't quite close down. There are always a few regulars and even a few newcomers to keep things interesting. Nash Huber's stand has been anchoring the market by its lonesome, and even they have run out of carrots, though they still have some nice kale, turnips and potatoes.

The Chimacum chicken (and other stuff) stand is gone for the time being, but Dungeness Seaworks is back selling salmon, halibut and ling cod. It's good to see them. We also tried out Jose's Salsa, but not the salsa. We tried a bunch of tamales and some of the chiles rellenos, and we can honestly report that they are quite good. Our favorite tamale was the vegetarian one with spinach, but the pork and chorizo tamales were pretty good too. The chiles rellenos were plumply stuffed with cheese, coated with batter and deep fried. They reheated nicely in the oven, so we've been living on Jose's for a few days now.

We aren't sure who is going to be at the market next Saturday, though we're hoping to see Johnston Farm again, and possible a few other regulars. It's a long way to spring, let alone the growing season, but the farmers' market is still worth a trip downtown.


Nash Huber's stand - a stalwart anchor

A terrible picture of Dungeness Seaworks - It's that low winter light.

An even worse picture of Jose's Salsa - We'll try for a better one.

Chiles rellenos

Assorted tamales

Keywords: farmers' market, nash huber, port angeles, salmon, winter, kale


01/12/13 - New Farm at the Farmers' Market

This is a sparse time at the Port Angeles Farmers' Market. A few regulars have been stalwart: Johnston Farms, the Korean Garlic Lady, and Nash Huber, offering a nice selection of winter vegetables: brussels sprouts, potatoes, squash, collards, kale and the like. Clark Farm has been there offering beef, pork and lamb - a veritable conglomerate, despite their failure to capture the geese in time for Christmas. (Wait until next year.)

However, there was one newcomer, Spring Rain Farm and Orchard was in from Chimacum offering a variety of winter squashes, preserves, eggs, and chickens. The birds are a French breed, so we bought one. It's a large roaster, so stay tuned to this site. We'll be roasting and taste testing soon.

UPDATE - 1/25/13 - We have tasted the bird, simply roasted, and it was delicious.


The new farm at the Port Angeles Farmers' Market

Keywords: farmers' market, farms, garlic lady, johnston farm, nash huber, port angeles, winter, kale, spring rain


10/22/12 - Port Angeles Farmers' Market Report

We had a very slow summer this year with just about everything coming in late, but now the market is in its harvest bloom with the autumn squashes, chard, potatoes, carrots, cabbages and the like coming. There are a few summer treats, like tomatoes, left, but this may have been their last week. Farmers' markets are about reflecting the seasons, so we are welcoming autumn and its bounty.

Johnston Farm potatoes

Johnston Farm squash

Nash Huber's stand, as pretty as ever

The Korean Garlic Lady's stand (That's not her.)

Clark Farms was selling sausages. We really liked the brats and kielbasa. They were lean and delcious.

Keywords: autumn, farmers' market


10/04/12 - Johnston Farm at Good To Go

We're big fans of Johnston Farm and make a point of shopping at their stand every Saturday at the Port Angeles Farmers' Market. Now Christy has taken her show on the road, so every Wednesday, from 11AM to 2PM, you can buy her great produce at Good To Go. Good To Go, is on Lauridsen Boulevard at Eunice Street, so it's really convenient for us. If you missed the market or just need some fresh produce on a Wednesday, drop by and see what's fresh. You can also drop in to Good To Go and buy your milk, eggs, bread and other goodies.

Johnston Farms Road Show

Keywords: farmers' market, farms, good to go, johnston farm, port angeles, shopping


10/02/12 - Market Mushrooms

This is just a quick Port Angeles Farmers' Market update. The fall mushrooms are coming in at WIld West along with king salmon and black cod. Nash has cauliflower, carrots, arugula and broccoli. Johnston Farms has amazing lettuces, celery, potatoes and lots of little tomatoes. In other words, autumn is a coming in.

Wild West mushrooms

Nash Huber

The Family Farm

Keywords: farmers' market, johnston farm, nash huber, port angeles


09/20/12 - Carrot Season

These are some Nash Huber carrots in a variety of colors. They taste as good as they look.

Pretty colors

Keywords: nash huber, farmers' market


08/05/12 - Farmers' Market Update

The Port Angeles Farmers' Market is finally warming up for summer. The sparse stands are now abundant.
  • Johnston Farms had its last English and snap peas, but is now getting great salad greens, thai basil, garlic and the very first tomatoes. We got a basket of a heritage variety and had our first real tomato salad of the season.
  • The Korean Garlic Lady has gone full summer, and the garlic is back, along with potatoes, scallions, cucumbers and romaine.
  • The Family Farm has gone back to its roots with potatoes and kohlrabi, along with their wonderful flowers.
  • Clark Family had their usual beef, but also some young goat. We had goat mixiote (more below), and it was wonderfully tender and mild.

Goat mixiote is based on one of our favorite dishes at Rosa Mexicano. You can make it with lamb shanks, or goat, or pork for that matter. You just make up a chile paste with dried chiles, add some oregano, cumin thyme, garlic, cloves, pepper and a splash of cider vinegar. Rub down the meat. Wrap the various pieces in parchment, secured with twine. Then steam them for two or three hours over boiling dark beer. Be careful opening the packets, because the meat will be falling off the bone and delicious.


Nash Huber's stand

Johnston Farms

The Korean Garlic Lady

The Family Farm

Johnston Farm tomatoes

Tomato salad

Clark Family goat mixiote

Keywords: clark family, farmers' market, johnston farm, nash huber, summer, garlic lady


07/15/12 - Pea Report - Spring Comes To Port Angeles

The Johnston Farm had the first garden peas of the season at the Port Angeles Farmers' Market this past weekend, and the Korean Garlic Lady had her first new potatoes, so we Kalebergs had one of our favorite spring dishes, and well before August at that. It's based on an Edna Lewis recipe and it's a simple dish to make.

Just boil the potatoes until they are almost cooked through, but not quite. Microwave the peas for a minute or two. Then drain the potatoes, add the peas, a half cup or so of chopped dill and a cup of milk. Bring the milk to a boil and finish cooking the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper, and you're done.


Peas!

Garden peas, new potatoes, dill and fresh whole milk

A market meal with salmon burgers, swiss chard and our favorite pea dish

Keywords: farmers' market, johnston farm, recipe, salmon, spring, garlic lady, kale


06/13/12 - Port Angeles Farmers Market

This has been a cold spring, so the Port Angeles Farmers' Market is still a bit lean, but there have been signs of spring, and, with the solstice coming soon, we are hoping for signs of summer. We've been buying eggs, spinach, arugula, chards of various colors, salmon, halibut, salad greens, potatoes, garlic and asparagus. Yes, Westwind Farm still has asparagus in June. According to the farmers, things are looking up, but already we are buying more and more of our groceries at the market, and we're looking forward to more.

Nash Huber

Westwind Farm

The Korean garlic lady, with greens

Johnston Farm

Kol Simcha with lamb - The Clark family was also there selling their beef and pork.

The Family Farm is back.

Mystery Bay has steamed clams and oysters.

Keywords: clark family, farmers' market, johnston farm, nash huber, oysters, port angeles, salmon, spring, summer, westwind farm, garlic lady


04/28/12 - Spring Comes to the Port Angeles Farmers' Market

It's starting to look like spring at the Port Angeles Farmers' Market. Westwind Farm has their first asparagus along with potatoes, winter squash and their wonderful eggs. Johnston Farms is back with fresh coriander, squashes, braising mix, sunchokes, potatoes and other goodies. The Korean garlic lady has her garlic and greens, and Nash Huber's stand is loaded with a broad variety of raabs - flowering kales, cabbages and so on. In other words, the long winter is over.

Johnston Farms

Westwind Farms asparagus - We bought most of these, but there will be more next week.

Nash Huber's stand

Keywords: farmers' market, johnston farm, nash huber, port angeles, spring, westwind farm, garlic lady, kale


03/24/12 - Santiago

We've made it safely to Santiago and are resting from the heat of the day after our walk around town. It's a fascinating city, and much of the central area near the cathedral and museums is closed to cars. We explored a bit, checked out the central market and did some exploring. Our Spanish is neglible, but what we have is useful.

UPDATE: Did we mention a 5.5 Richter scale earthquake on our first night in town? That's terremoto in Spanish.


It's just like us to check out the fish first.

That's interesting looking corn there.

The Farmers' Market

One of the statues

The Mapocho River in autumn

Another scultpure in a local shopping plaza

The view from our hotel, right near the zoo

City streets

The park

Keywords: chile, farmers' market


03/11/12 - Clark Family Beef Cheeks

One rarely hears about beef cheeks. Everyone knows sirloin steak and filet mignon, and even oxtails and beef tongue have their followers, but beef cheeks seem to be neglected. We recently bought a few beef cheeks from the Clark Family Farm at the Port Angeles Farmers' Market and braised them using a variant on a Gourmet Magazine recipe. Beef cheeks have a rich meaty flavor, and properly prepared they are as tender as silk. We threw in a pack of oxtails we had missed the last time we cooked up a batch of oxtails, but the beef cheeks were the star of this show.

Kind of scary looking
INGREDIENTS
  • 4 tbsp olive oil (or so)
  • 2 lbs (or so) beef cheeks with the fell removed, plus any oxtails you may have flopping around
  • 6 medium carrots, chopped
  • 2 medium onions, chopped
  • 6 celery stalks, peeled and chopped
  • 1 tsp cocoa or chocolate nibs or other unsweetened chocolate
  • 2-3 cups dry red wine
  • 1 large can whole tomatoes (28-32oz)
  • salt and pepper to taste
There's obviously a lot of flexibility here. We like lots of vegetables, so we add lots. You can probably add some garlic as well if you wish. You do want to remove the fell from the beef cheeks if it has one, as well as any extra fat. Also, we are lazy choppers, so we mainly just slice, except for really fat carrots.

NOTE

This is a pretty generic beef recipe. You can cook beef cheeks, oxtails, short ribs and probably other cuts that benefit from long, slow braising this way.

INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Use a pot, with a cover, that you can use on the stove top and in the oven. We use a big old Le Creuset. Heat it up on the stove top with a few tablespoons of oil and brown the meats on all sides. Do this is in a few batches, so you can caramelize the meat a bit. Raise the temperature gently, but you want that Maillard reaction. After browning each batch, put the meat aside.
  2. Preheat the oven to 325F.
  3. Brown the vegetables over slightly lower heat. Don't panic if a brown crust forms on the bottom of your pot. Just use a plastic spatula and it should dissolve with the water beig released by the vegetables.
  4. Put the meat and any juices back in the pot. Add the cocoa powder and the wine and bring to a boil. Let it cook down a bit, but you'll want enough liquid so that the meat is largely submerged. Gourmet says to cook the liquid down to half its volume. We just boiled it for five or ten minutes and declared it ready.
  5. Then add the tomatoes with their liquid, some salt and pepper. Bring to a boil again, then put the pot, covered, in the oven for at least THREE hours. It can't hurt to cook it longer. Braised beef cheeks are not about cooking a pointe.
  6. Let it cool and stash it in the refrigerator overnight, or better yet, for a day or two. Remove any fat, reheat and serve.

Keywords: clark family, farmers' market, port angeles, recipe


11/13/11 - Port Angeles Farmers Market Report

The autumn market is here. There are potatoes, in red, brown and blue, squashes, pumpkins, celery, lacinato kale, garlic, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, baby turnips, bok choy, savoy cabbage and all of our fall favorites. The four stalwarts, Nash Huber, Westwind Farm, Johnston Farm and the Korean garlic lady are all there along with a number of other sellers.

It isn't just vegetables either. You can also buy beef, pork, lamb, cheese, salmon, halibut, steelhead, oysters, bread, and an array of seasonal mushrooms. If you search a bit, you can find a last few tomatoes, arugula, coriander and a few other hold outs, but the cold weather is coming.

Don't miss out on the prime of the harvest. Drop by the Port Angeles Farmers' Market this coming Saturday.








Keywords: autumn, farmers' market, johnston farm, nash huber, oysters, port angeles, salmon, weather, westwind farm, garlic lady, kale


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