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The light was bright and diffused this morning, and the photogenic produce, abundant.
(I know those leaves are rather bug-feasted, but doesn’t that give them an appealing laciness?)
We giddily ate the season’s first (to us, anyway) raspberries. Best thing ever, the raspberry.
Oh, and pea pods! I scored my first bag. Eating them right now, in fact. All of them. Don’t even try to ask me for one. Crunch, crunch, crunch.
Cherries are here in full force, too – dark reds and these pretty Rainiers. I have a certain fear of buying cherries too early in their season, though, so I resisted. (I think they’re sweeter if you wait a week or two.)
I also didn’t buy any fennel. What does one do with fennel, exactly? Such a pretty vegetable, but a culinary stumper.
Oh – and I’m feeling happy this morning in the knowledge that before long, I will be roasting tomatoes.
(The happiness likely also comes from this giant dose of chlorophyll. Crunch crunch crunch.)
There’s more market-y goodness at my Flickr set, including some cool giant yellow thistle things. Hope you’re all having a splendid weekend!
Use fennel more or less anywhere you would use onions. For summertime, it’s quite good in a chilled leek soup.
Farmers' markets are the greatest! And this year for the first time we have our own garden so we'll be able to feast on our own veggie goodness.
Mmmmmm…fennel! I like my fennel tossed with a little olive oil and roasted with other veggies in the oven or barbecued on the grill. It's also nice sliced thin and combined with orange segments and kalamatas in a little salad.
Ooh, awesome – thank you, Wendy! I'll totally try roasting. (I'd also try the salad, but sadly, I am the only Kalamata lover in this house.)
How fun! I've always wanted my own garden. Hope you have a glorious harvest this year!
Fennel! According to our favorite French chef, fennel is fabulous in a tossed salad. Crunchy like celery but has a bit of a licorice or anise flavor.
Mmmmm – that sounds lovely. Thank you for the idea!
Oh, I love fennel, too! I love it braised – saute in butter/oil combo until just getting brown, then lower the heat, add some chicken stock and cover. Cook for 5 or so minutes until tender. It's great with roasted salmon. Do you go to the Saturday Market in Portland or a different one? We're coming up in a couple of weeks and I might have time to check one out.
Actually, I saw a Giada DeLaurentis show the other day where she was using fennel root in place of where we might expect celery… trying to remember what exactly the dish was… I think it was a citrus salad, with orange, grapefruit, and fennel — (googling) — here it is! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-lau…
Fennel? Makes interesting soups, or:
Chop finely, sweat gently in butter or olive oil and serve as Fennel Bruschetta on toast.
(Proper bread of course)
I LOVE fennel! I love that it's really three ingredients in one. The bulb is great for roasting or braising or chopping up for stews, the stalks are great sauteed in butter or sliced thinly and tossed in salads, and the little leaves are the breathe of anise-flavored herbiness you can add to anything!
Here's some more fennel ideas:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2008/12/in-season-fe…
http://www.theherbspiral.com/FennelCuisine.htm
http://www.itscookin.com/2008/12/12-ways-to-coo…
http://www.finecooking.com/articles/how-to/trim…
You are awesome, Heather – thank you so much for all this fennel-y goodness. I'm totally scoring some next weekend now. You have convinced me.
Thank you, Rachel! I would have never thought of bruschetta. That sounds amazing!
Ooh, thank you, Dot! Anything with grapefruit is a friend of mine.
That sounds amazing with roasted salmon! Thank you for the idea, Jocelyn!
We go to the Beaverton Farmer's Market most of the time, which is a great one: http://www.beavertonfarmersmarket.com/
And Portland has a whole lot of farmer's market options: http://www.portlandfarmersmarket.org/
The Saturday Market is also fun, but it's all arts and crafts, no produce. Definitely one of the “great PDX experiences,” though.
Now there's a new one in Pioneer Square on Mondays. I didn't realize that the Saturday Market didn't have food. I should have, since I bought a necklace when we were there last time!
The Bing cherries are really great here right now. It seems I never tire of fruit and veggie photos… Now I want some raspberries.
Just so you know! I was just now scanning through your posts on my google reader and all of a sudden from the other side of the room came “Hey! Wait! What is that? Who did that?”
Once I told my sweetie it was more of his daughter's farmer's market photography, he said “She really has got the eye! Those are beautiful!” He especially likes the radishes.
Funny thing – anytime your market images are on my monitor, he notices!
I love them too. And the results prove that YOU are in love with your subject!
Wowee! High praise from two professional photographers!
…Though it must be said, I owe a LOT to iPhoto. :-)