A few Saturdays ago, students Nick, Tagg, Porter all met me at the Chef Studio in the morning. Heavy rain was predicted, so we drove over to the market as soon as we could. As I usually do, I first walked them through the market without buying, checking out what looked wonderful, pointing out interesting sights to the students, and talking to the vendors. We had a great talk with the Hood River Organics vendor, who sold us two varieties of apples for our tart, one of which was pink-fleshed. Then we scored some late-season Roma tomatoes at another booth. And finally, we headed over to Gales Meadow Farms, where Annie gave us an overview of everything they’re growing and had us taste different heirloom peppers. We particularly loved the many squash varieties, and picked out a couple of Uncle Davids to use that day.
Other interesting conversations with farmers included one about fall- vs. spring-harvested artichokes (they lose much of their choke and become more squash-like in flavor this time of year), one about picking out the first-of-season Brussels sprouts. We also picked out a little present for Robert: huckleberries.
Jake Greenberg of Classic Foods met up with us. We picked up a pound of his famous butternut squash gorgonzola ravioli, by far his best-selling pasta (I believe he said he sells more than 70,000 pounds of it a year!). We also visited the mushroom vendor, where Jake talked about the differences between wild mushrooms and their various grades. We purchased some gorgeous porcinis and chanterelles, then headed over to another booth to look at their leeks and fall greens. Fortunately for us, it was a large covered booth, because it was then that the skies opened up and we were deluged. The rain quickly flooded the market street, and when we finally made a break for our car, it was deep enough to come in over the tops of my clogs.
Damp but happily laden with our treasures, we headed back to the studio. There, we made lunch for Robert, utilizing our finds as well as some lovely puff pastry Kristen and her class had made earlier for us. Our menu:
Tomato soup with crème fraîche
Leek, porcini and Uncle David squash turnovers
Butternut squash gorgonzola ravioli with a sauce of shallots, chanterelles, riesling and cream
Apple rosemary tarts
I do wish we had photographed the dishes, particularly the apple tarts, which were stunning with the contrast between the pink and white apples under their apricot glaze, flecked with bits of fresh rosemary. But it was a lovely day, and the students are a pleasure to work with: competent, curious, and a lot of fun. –Caroline Lewis, Teacher
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