Heirloom Tomatoes

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Heirloom Tomato Heaven is Here!

I received an email from the folks at my local farmer’s market about a terrible hail storm they’d been through. Isn’t it nice how my local farmers keep me up to date with newsletter-like emails? Then about half way through the newsletter came word of the coming onslaught of August tomatoes.

Nothing makes me smile as much as summer tomatoes at discount prices. They’re invariably “seconds” or #2s as the email below says, but they make incredible Tomato Jam that I’ll share with you soon in another post. (A friend of mine calls Tomato Jam “Adult Ketchup!”)

At any rate, what is it about how local farmers are growing tomatoes better than homegrown? I think they have access to organic fertilizers that we just cannot get in Home Depot. I can only get fish emulsion and a kelp-based emulsion, but there just aren’t better products on the market. Is there anyone out there using a foolproof fertilizer that can make home grown toms taste as good as farmers market heirlooms?

If so, let me know!

Twin Springs Fruit Farm

From the farmers at Twin Springs Fruit Farm

FLAT OUT TOMATO TIME!

The biggest news is the wonderful tomato crop Arturo and the guys are picking, as it is the time of year when you can get the world’s nicest #2 tomatoes from Twin Springs to make into things like gazpacho, roasted or dried tomatoes, soup and sauce, as well as freeze and can for the winter. I sense that the old art of canning and freezing is making a bit of a come back, probably due to so many of you becoming very conscious of what you consume.

Many of my customers have stood there at the seconds display and said something like “these are nicer than most of the other vendors’ #1 tomatoes, what’s with that?” and at ½ the price; and when they get a sample of the same tomato at the “firsts” display they are just floored by how good they are. I should explain that these #2s, priced at only $1.49/pound, simply have a few cracks up at the shoulder or other minor defects which we choose to separate out to keep the #1 display looking terrific. At least 2 long term customers on Sunday said they gave up growing their own tomatoes as they just didn’t compare to ours (You can’t make this stuff up, no lie, even I was surprised to hear it). Must be Tom’s magic “JuJu” juice, secret foliar feed mix, as well as that Highfield Silt Loam fruit ground we are so fortunate to have.

We have a good enough supply to give an even better discount on the #1 beefsteak tomatoes, than the $1 a pound we dropped it a couple of weeks back. Our base price is now $2.99 per pound, but we are moving to the sale we often have at this time where if you purchase 5 or more tomatoes (Not pounds) we will charge you only $2.49 per pound. Half bushels of either #1 or #2 tomatoes may be purchased for $32.00 or $16.00 respectively, which makes #2s about 70¢ per pound and #1s about $1.40 per pound; for our quality I challenge you to beat that deal!

Twin Springs also has Heirloom tomatoes, both Cherokee Purple and German Slicers, as well as Romas. As we are picking lots of cherry tomatoes, both Sungold and Dasher, the price has dropped from $4.oo/½ pint to $4.oo/pint and $7.00/quart.

- See more at: http://www.alunchboxblog.com/farmers-market-exceeding-homegrown-tomatoes/?preview=true&preview_id=3884&preview_nonce=540ca41ece#sthash.61HhCK5m.dpuf

Sick of Your Cherries Sitting in the Back of the 'Fridge? Of Course You Are

Old cherries make great leftovers: who knew? But leftover what, for goodness sakes?

Rainier cherries make a terrific bruschetta topping–yeah, I wondered what the hell I was reading as well. I’d opened the door to the ‘fridge and saw desiccated cherries that had cost me $3.99 a pound, and thought, I can’t throw these out. Cherry flesh gets dry, but wow, like some crazy tofu fruit, they absorb flavor & burst with life easily with marinating.

I was full of pride as I tucked the results in the ‘fridge so I could reheat the next day. I’d walked into the kitchen this morning and told Curvymama so. She said you gotta photograph that and blog it. So, without further ado…

It turns out that I have been trapped in front of the television watching the Olympics trying to eat my way through the ‘fridge because I’m off to Montreal for a 40th birthday party. The Olympics completely shut me down for two weeks of incredible sport, and my eating tends to get elaborate, because between commercials, I begin reviewing every detail in my larder.

I had some old red spring onions, a little sharp and sticky garlic that was kicking with heat, Meyer lemons from my sister’s tree, and a little of the great American California-based Stonehouse Olive Oil. Well, the stunning result is this cornucopia of subtle flavor. None of the cherry sweetness came out. The purple basil and the other “Italian” flavors make the cherries more pliable.

Purple Basil has its Uses

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There was nuance and fragrance and a simple, delicious eating experience. With some slices of fleshy, pulpy mozzarella, you will completely shock your guests.

This recipe is definitely one of those, “Can you guess what this is made out of” dishes that will get everyone talking.

Cherry Bruschetta

Ingredients

Sliced (1/2″ thick) small baguette-style bread

1 T olive oil, divided

1 1/2 c pitted Northwest fresh sweet cherries, coarsely chopped

2 T finely chopped baby red spring onions

2 T Meyer Lemon juice

1 t grated Meyer Lemon peel

1 t garlic, minced

1/4 t ground black pepper

1/2 t finely ground salt

2 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese

1 T thinly sliced fresh purple basil

Instructions

Drizzle slices with olive oil. Toast one side of baguette slices in your bog-standard, home toaster over to the brown color you most prefer. Combine cherries, pepper, baby red spring onions, lemon juice and peel, salt, and remaining olive oil; mix well.

OK, yes, Pinot Gris Goes Nicely With Them

Top each slice of baguette with a thin slice of fresh mozzarella cheese or just plate with mozzarella on the sides. Take a heaping tablespoon of cherry mixture and sliced basil and toast for another few moments until warmed through.

It will not matter that the mixture stays overnight in the ‘fridge. It will reheat beautifully the next evening. In fact, I’d argue that all the flavors combine nicely after a night of melding.

Enjoy this peculiar find with gusto!

The Only Apples Worth Eating

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, "I love my local farmer." 

I'd been seeing Honeycrisps at the farmer's market, but felt this must be some sort of a joke.  It was the third week of August, and suddenly the only apples worth eating were showing up.  Were these really ready for eating? I mean the tomatoes are in full blossoms, so I'm a little confused here. Thankfully, my farmer put my fears to rest.

I hope you enjoy the detail and his knowledge about the variety/where it came from.  It makes me smile that the university that hybridized it gets to reap royalties like they're a '70s pop band.  Maybe like that band that wrote the song "Brandi, You're a Find Girl"--it'll always be a classic.

Here's what my farmer said in his email today.  

"We had just started to “spot” pick - HONEYCRISP! 

"Quite the oversight, don’t you think?

"Our guys go out and pick the nicest Honeycrisp straight into the crates you see at market. Generally the fruit exposed to the most sunlight on the outermost edge of the trees are taken off first, similar to how any given peach variety is picked over the span of a week to two weeks, depending on weather and time of year.

“The Honeycrisp almost didn’t make it as a commercially available tree, as the University of Minnesota Agricultural Experimental Station, which developed it in the early 60s, almost abandoned it. The University is now reaping great rewards in the form of royalties for every tree sold.

Thankfully they went ahead and patented the variety, a cross of Honeygold and Macoun, and soon found that they had a real winner.

"Its' sweet-tart, distinctive flavor is backed up by one of the nicest and most unique textures of any apple out there; pay attention when you next bite down on a Honeycrisp and note the extremely juicy and crunchy mouthfeel; it is actually pretty unique in this respect and beside the great flavor is why the apple has become so popular.

"Some commercial growers pick Honeycrisp all in one or two goes; but we go out a couple more times spot picking to achieve the highest quality, a more expensive process, but worth the trouble. The last picking of a variety like Honeycrisp is called the “cleanup” picking and goes into a 25 bushel bin to subsequently be sorted for the higher quality apples, leaving the rest, small, bruised or undercolored, to go into our cider, which will be available in a week or two, once we have enough to make a good blend with a few other varieties, to achieve a pleasant balance.

"Honeycrisp is one of the most problematic varieties we grow as they bruise if you look at them too hard, and tend to form splits and other blemishes which look rough when on display; meaning there are a lot of seconds, to either be sold cheap as seconds, or put in the cider bin. A crate that has been on display at a market and then returns to be sorted for the next load is often too rough looking to make the next trip, as just being jostled by both customers and us is often more than they can stand up to, only Bartlett pears are more delicate. 

<a href="http://www.alunchboxblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Parade-of-Apples.bmp"><img src="http://www.alunchboxblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Parade-of-Apples.bmp" alt="" title="Parade of Apples" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3906" /></a>

"In addition to the Honeycrisp we have Twin Springs’ own patented variety, Daybreak Fuji, an early crisp and sweet eating apple, Red Cortland and Jonamac, both MacIntosh types, as noted last week, as well as Royal Gala and Elstar. I recommend trying samples at market to figure out your favorites.

"The Cortland and Jonamac are our favorite cooking apples at this time, with the Cortland being Twin Springs’ sauce apple. Our jars of sauce should be back at market in a couple of weeks as we must accumulate enough “2nds” to make a couple of batches. Try frying thick slices of Cortland or Jonamac in butter, until browned and caramelized, as a side dish, especially good at breakfast or with almost any pork recipe."

Comment from reader of alunchboxblog.com:

There’s also a big market for old lunch boxes. Here is a value guide with images and descriptions and values to each one http://www.greatestcollectibles.com/lunchbox-price-guide/. Hope its helpful.

thanks