FoodieTots @ the Farmers Market Week continues with a field trip to the Vienna/Oakton Farmers Market to sample The Copper Pot by Chef Stefano Frigerio.

It’s opening week at the Fairfax County Farmers Markets, and perhaps the most publicized new vendor in local market history was the Copper Pot Food Company by Chef Stefano Frigerio. An Italian-born chef-turned-stay-at-home-dad, Chef Frigerio turned to home preserving to stay connected to the kitchen and the local farmers he developed relationships with during his days cooking at DC’s Maestro and Mio restaurants. We really enjoyed Chef Frigerio’s cooking at Mio, so I was eager to check out the new product line of jams, pastas and sauces. One of the nice things about markets further out in the ‘burbs is the more leisurely pace and ability to actually converse with the farmers and vendors. Chef Frigerio explained that he started making jams out of concern for his kids’ love of sweets. “I can’t feed my kids high fructose corn syrup every day,” he said, describing his son’s ability to slurp down an entire jar of jam at once (if allowed). Jam flavors include orchard fresh apple, white fig & balsamic, peach & prosecco “bellini,” and strawberry & vanilla bean. Now despite my foray into jam making last summer, I actually don’t eat a lot of it as I find so many jams are too sticky sweet for my taste. The strawberry & vanilla, in contrast, tasted just like strawberries at peak ripeness and was not at all cloying.

Chef Frigerio also offers fresh, handmade pastas and tomato sauces. When asked how the reception was at his first market this weekend (14th & U in the District), he expressed surprise at how quickly he sold out of his braised rabbit ravioli – something he claimed people rarely ordered at the restaurant. I picked up some of the rabbit ravioli and a jar of the roasted shallot Barolo tomato sauce for a quick dinner. Sure, at $10 for 8 ravioli it was a little pricey, but having an Italian chef in your pantry is a nice treat for a busy weeknight! The tomato sauce was richly flavored and will definitely make a repeat appearance on our table.

Other vendors at the market included Long Meadow Ecological Farm (”no spray” asparagus, radishes, watercress and other greens from VA’s Shenandoah Valley), Kuhn Orchards (IPM fruits, rhubarb and asparagus from near Gettysburg, PA), Garner’s Produce (more VA strawberries, asparagus and plants), Lois’s Produce (Northern Neck VA, strawberries, asparagus, spring onions, flowers – and their website promises artichokes in late summer!), Cenan’s Bakery (Vienna, bread and pastries), Bees ‘n Blossoms (VA honey and soaps), Emine’s sweet and savory baklavas (also available at Old Town Alexandria), Fields of Grace farmstead cheese (and curds, from Remington, VA), and Valentine’s Country Meats with hormone-free, grass-fed/free-range Angus beef, pork, lamb, rabbit, incredible pastel eggs (pictured below), pies and sweets.

As if the first rhubarb sighting of the season wasn’t exciting enough, Kuhn was giving away free sample of asparagus with every purchase. As with most Fairfax County-managed markets, local gardeners were on hand to offer free gardening advice.

This is a great market and I appreciated the detailed signage at most vendors explaining their growing practices; when markets get busy, it gets difficult to ask farmers about their methods so signage is a great way to provide more transparency for market shoppers. (Of course, you should always feel free to ask for more information!) And Fairfax County requires that all vendors be within a 125-mile radius of the county, so you can be assured that the products are truly local.

The Vienna/Oakton Farmers Market is located at the Oak Marr RECenter, 3200 Jermantown Road, and open Wednesdays from 8am-noon, May through November 18. Find Chef Frigerio and the Copper Pot Food Co. at Fairfax (Tues.), Vienna/Oakton (Weds.) and Herndon (Thurs.) markets in Virginia and Georgetown (Weds.), 14th and U (Sat.) and Bloomingdale (Sun.) markets in the District.

In typical DC fashion, we jumped from unseasonably cool to 90 degrees this past weekend. Toddler in tow, I made it out to the markets a little earlier this time and successfully obtained my two wishlist items: ramps and asparagus. At the Old Town Alexandria market, the khaki-colored umbrellas of Bigg Riggs farm were a welcome oasis in a sea of dubious-origin produce. Melon, tomatoes and corn in April? Right…. I hope more local vendors will join Bigg Riggs as the season goes on, but unfortunately Old Town continues to disappoint those of us looking for authentic local produce. (Blue Ridge Dairy was there, and local bakers, but this market’s strength is its fresh flower vendors.

Back at the Del Ray Farmers Market, Three Way Farms was rapidly unloading their fresh asparagus, even at the price of $5.50/lb. Fresh spinach was the last of my produce purchases before moving on for yogurt, cheese, ground beef and pasta. The warm weather crowds bode well for the season, though the small market space will quickly become crowded when fresh berries and more produce start rolling in in the next few weeks.

The West End Farmers Market re-opens this Sunday, May 3rd, in Ben Brenman Park. Tom the Cheese Guy was eager to let us know he’ll be joined there by a Virginia winery, North Gate, though the city forbids sampling their products at the market. At any rate, West End’s more spacious set-up — and wider array of vendors this year — make it great for a more relaxing stroll with meandering kids (or dogs – Lisa will be back with her homemade dog treats, too). The market is on Sundays, 9am-1pm; read more about this year’s vendors here.

Back to my finds… Sunday the toddler was in the early stages of a stomach bug, and requested pancakes for dinner. While he got plain old pancakes with maple syrup (I have a feeling he would have declared the ramps “too spicy!” but will have to test that another time), I used some of my ramps in a scallion pancake-inspired crepe, filled with leftover roast chicken. The quick and simple preparation let the ramps’ pungent garlicky flavor shine through, yum! Served along with simple roasted asparagus, this quick spring meal was perfect for breaking in our picnic table for the season. (Just be sure to stock up on breath mints before enjoying.)

Recipe: Ramp (Wild Leek*) Crepes

Ingredients:

• 1 handful ramps, rinsed and thinly sliced
  - reserve some of the green portion for garnish
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• pinch ground black pepper
• 2 cups cooked chicken meat, pulled into chunks
• butter

Instructions: Beat eggs and milk in mixing bowl. Whisk in flour, salt and pepper until batter is smooth. Stir in ramps and let batter stand while you prepare the filling. Heat crepe pan or skillet over medium high heat. Melt a pat of butter in the pan. Pour crepe batter in a quick swirl to make a circular shape. Cook until just set and flip; cook just a minute or two more and remove from pan. Watch closely to keep crepes from browning. Fold in half and place on warm plate while you cook the remaining batter. Spoon warm cooked chicken (tossed with vinaigrette if desired) into crepes and serve. Makes a dozen or so 3-inch crepes.

* What’s a Ramp? Also called a wild leek, these delicate-looking little plants pack the flavor of a more potent spring onion and stench of fresh garlic. Use the whole thing, bulbs and leaves. They grow in the wild at elevations above 2000 feet, only in the mid-Atlantic region for a few weeks in early spring. For more ramp inspiration, visit Tiffany over at The Garden Apartment.

Asparagus may be a few weeks away still here in the DC/NoVA area, but Diane’s new “Friday Foodie Fix” event with the secret ingredient eggs seemed like the perfect reason to pull this recipe out of the archives. Perfect for a spring Sunday morning…

Recipe: Spring Asparagus-Chive Quiche

Ingredients:

• 1 9-inch pie crust 
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups milk (next time I may use half cream as my quiche was a little softer than should be)
• 1 cup crumbled Keswick* Wallaby cheese, or other Monterey Jack or similar white cheese (goat cheese would also be fabulous)
• 1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1-2? pieces
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• salt + pepper

Instructions:

Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch asparagus for 2 minutes; drain and rinse in cold water. In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk/cream, cheese, and a dash of salt and pepper. Spread asparagus and chives in pie shell, and pour egg mixture over. Bake at 425* for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 300* and bake additional 30-35 minutes or until firm. Let stand at least 10 minutes before serving.

The toddler devoured this (”cheese egg? more!”) but still ate around the asparagus, so the quest goes on for a kid-friendly asparagus dish. (Maybe I’ll just puree it next time!)

* Farm Source(s): Keswick Creamery’s Wallaby cheese is available at the Dupont Circle FreshFarm Market and the new La Fromagerie in Old Town Alexandria.

(Originally published May 27, 2008.)

This week, with Father’s Day on Sunday, our one local summer “day” was spread out throughout the week. For Father’s Day, the husband and I went out to an Italian cheese and meat course at Cheesetique, followed by dinner at Rustico. Rustico is a great neighborhood restaurant that sources a lot of their products from local farms and producers, and has a massive beer selection. I managed to have a fairly-local meal there, with Chesapeake (Dragon Creek) oysters, asparagus salad with FireFly goat cheese (MD, 173mi.), and the most local beer they had on tap, Southampton Ale (NY, 330mi.). (On tap = less packaging, which offsets some of the miles, right? That’s my story, anyway.)

I visited two farmers markets this week, Alexandria’s West End and Penn Quarter in DC (photos), plus had the CSA bag. We still have a fridge full of veggies to use up before the next CSA delivery on Wednesday as I just can’t pass up all the great summer produce that’s coming into season! Here’s what we cooked this week:

Dad’s Day Brunch: Pattypan squash and Virginia spicy beef sausage hash, chocolate-strawberry stuffed french toast, topped with strawberry red wine sauce. (Non-local but organic chocolate, bread from local bakery.) This squash hash is a great way to lighten the traditional potato-based dish for summer.

Recipe: Squash and Sausage Hash

Ingredients:

• 1 large pattypan squash, diced (any summer squash would work really)
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 2 sausages, sliced
• 1 t olive oil
• 2 T parsley, chopped

Heat oil over medium high heat. Add sausage and brown. Reduce heat to medium and add onion and squash. Cook about 5-7 minutes until squash is tender and golden. Remove from heat, add fresh parsley and serve.

(Toddler tried to like this, but the spicy beef sausage was just too spicy! Will make sure to get a sweet sausage for him next time.)

Dinner 1: garlic scape pesto-marinated flank steak and golden zucchini on the grill (non-local brown rice).

Dinner 2: leftover steak and zucchini salad, with a side of roasted asparagus, egg, and shaved Everona Stony Man cheese.

Dessert: previously mentioned Summer Solstice Shortcake with Basil-Infused Berries. (non-local flour, baking soda and salt)

So far my only local grain find is Maryland corn meal. I need to find some other grains, but I have a feeling whole grains like brown rice are not going to be possible.

Farmers/Producers:

• Parsley, scapes, lettuce – Potomac Vegetable Farms CSA, VA, 23mi.
• Asparagus, berries – Westmoreland Berry Farm, VA, 71mi.
• Stony Man (aged sheeps milk) cheese – Everona Dairy, VA, 83mi.
• Squash, onion – J&W Valley View Farm, VA, 84mi.
• Organic eggs – Hilldale Farm, VA, 111mi.
• Sausage, flank steak – Fauquier County, VA, 67mi. (via Let’s Meat on the Avenue, 1.1mi.)

While our neighborhood farmers market is great for the basics (fruits and veggies, salad greens, mushrooms, cheese & yogurt, baked goods and meat), we don’t get the more adventurous offerings of a larger market. When rhubarb was absent yet again this week, it was the last straw and I ventured all the way into the city to visit the mecca of DC-area markets, Dupont Circle’s FreshFarm Market. I used to go from time to time, but am somewhat ashamed to admit I haven’t made it since the FoodieTot arrived on the scene. With so many wonderful and tempting choices, only a strict timetable kept me from over-burdening my market bag, as I had to get home and prepare brunch for the in-laws. I will definitely be returning more frequently this summer!

In the Market bag: The haul this weekend included real baby carrots, eggs, yogurt, sweet potatoes, zucchini bread, parsley, mixed braising greens (Del Ray) and rhubarb, scapes, chive blossoms, tatsoi, red asparagus, chocolate mint, sweet spring onions, basil, matsu apples, Keswick Creamery Wallaby, peonies (Dupont).

Sunday Brunch: In high school, I once volunteered as a cook on the junior class retreat and the highlight was making quiche each morning. We started with the basic egg/milk/cheese blend and mixed up whatever crazy vegetable and meat combinations we could think of. Ever since quiche has been my go-to brunch main course, as it is such a low-maintenance (and vegetarian-friendly) egg dish. Fresh chives were a bright touch to this asparagus quiche. I was disappointed to discover the red asparagus turns green when cooked, but it still had a sweeter taste than your traditional green stalks. The Wallaby cheese, an aged Monterey Jack-styled offering from Keswick Creamery was a flavorful but not over-powering cheese. I accompanied this with rosemary sausage hash browns and minted strawberries in a honey-balsamic dressing. Read on for the quiche recipe. (more…)