"I know most of you have been to the fair or are planning on going," he says. "Have fun looking at all the veggies and animals. For those of you who would like to taste as well as look, come to the Center Market this week."
He is, of course, right. Why look when you can also taste?
Davis will have a huge selection of organic vegetables at today's and Saturday's Center Markets. Special items include 40-pound boxes of cylindra beets for canning or pickling and large cabbages (up to 7 pounds) for those looking to make sauerkraut. Regular items include a variety of lettuces; four varieties of beets; orange, white and purple carrots; broccoli; five varieties of cauliflower; zucchini; fava, green, wax and purple beans; kohlrabi; sugar snap peas; and lots of potatoes.
Davis also has a wide selection of pork products including chops, roasts, side pork, steaks, ground pork, sausages, liver and fat in 5-pound packages perfect for mixing with wild game. He will also bring about 80 dozen eggs to the market.
Joining Davis is Duane Clark with grass-fed Alaska beef, frozen Alaska seafood including Tanner crab, fresh-shelled peas and tomatoes.
Saturday at the Spenard Farmers Market is "Food Preservation Day." With the fall harvest upon the farmers, now is the time to get the tips needed to store all the bounty.
University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension experts will be at the market with information about canning, drying, blanching and smoking. They also will have sign-up sheets for their fall food preservation workshop series.
Of course, vendors will also have already-prepared homemade jams, jellies, vinegars and pestos including carrot cinnamon jelly, fireweed syrup and wild blueberry-jalapeno mustard.
Vendor highlights include: Grass Roots Services will have beets, sugar snap peas, kohlrabi, carrots, fennel, radicchio, cucumbers and fresh cut flowers; Chugach Farm will have beans, leeks, celery and a variety of pestos; Ba-Lesca Brothers Produce will have baby cucumbers for dill pickles, carrots, beets, zucchinis and potatoes; and Coastal Villages Seafood will be back at the market with wild coho salmon for $6.95 per pound and halibut for $12.50 per pound. Get there early. Last week 50 pounds of salmon sold out in about 30 minutes.
At Arctic Organics, Sarah Bean says the recent heavy dew "reminded us that frost is on its way. It's time to get serious in the potato field."
And red French fingerling potatoes will be among the new items Arctic Organics will have at Saturday's Anchorage Farmers Market. Other items to look for include beets with greens, sugar snap peas, mizuna, tat soi, carrots, purple top turnips, fennel, celery, red and green cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, daikon, rainbow chard, mustard greens, salad mix, kales and herbs.
Among the other vendors at the market will be TuscAlaska, operated by Fanco Magrini and Joe Bates. They will have three varieties of ravioli: salmon stuffed, Swiss chard stuffed and collard green and bacon stuffed. They also will have kimchi, fresh mozzarella made just before the market opens, arugula pesto and two varieties of rhubarb barbecue sauce. They will also have fresh foods available, including the raviolis, a farmer's minestrone and a Alaska sausage sandwich with caramelized onions and rhubarb barbecue sauce. TuscAlaska's appearance at the market is part of the Division of Agriculture's Chef at the Market program.
Clayton Jones of the Haute Quarter Grill is also part of the Chef at the Market program and will be back at the South Anchorage Farmers Market on Saturday using produce on hand to whip up some tasty treats.
"I know I'll be making a soup or stew with fresh stock and whatever is to be had at the market," he says.
Some of the items on hand will include: zucchini, onions, tomatoes, English cucumbers, rutabagas and strawberries (Glacier Valley Farm); celery, green beans, sugar snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, several varieties of cabbage, three varieties of beets, kales, collard greens and plenty of potatoes (Rempel Family Farm); greens and lettuces, along with local pork, elk and beef (Vern Stockwell); oyster mushrooms from Northern Lights Mushrooms; heirloom tomatoes, along with jams and jellies (Southfork); and Gray Owl Farm will be making its final appearance at the market with cucumbers, peppers, eggplant, beets, spinach, kale, chard, pickling cucumbers and herbs. Other vendors include Wolverine Farms, Arctic Choice and Matanuska Creamery.
Top-notch tea
Sipping Streams Tea Co. from Fairbanks recently won third place at the North American Tea Championships with its Arctic Bliss blend.
Arctic Bliss is a blend of silver needles white tea, wild Alaska lowbush cranberry and wild Alaska fireweed flowers. The tea will be presented at the 2012 World Tea Expo. It will be available for purchase from Sipping Streams this fall.
For more information, visit www.sippingstreams.com.
Arugula, cream risotto
6 cups vegetable stock
3 tablespoons butter
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cups Arborio rice
5 tablespoons dry white wine
1 1/2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus extra to serve
3/4 cup light cream
1 bunch arugula, stems removed and chopped
salt and pepper
Bring the stock to a boil.
Meanwhile melt the butter in another pan, add the onion and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and cook, stirring, until the grains are coated in butter.
Sprinkle in the wine and cook until it has evaporated. Add a ladleful of the hot stock and cook, stirring, until it has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock, a ladleful at a time, and stirring until each addition has been absorbed. This will take 18-20 minutes.
Just before the rice is tender, stir in the parmesan and cream, sprinkle with the arugula, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer to a warm serving dish and serve with extra parmesan.
Source: Sarah Bean of Arctic Organics
Steve Edwards lives and writes in Anchorage. If you have a suggestion for a future Market Fresh column, please contact him at sedwards@adn.com.
This week's markets
TODAY: Center Market, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mall at Sears, Benson Boulevard and Denali Street; Northway Mall Wednesday Market, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Northway Mall parking lot; South Anchorage Farmers Market, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., behind the Dimond Center; Wasilla Farmers Market, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., behind the Wasilla Library
FRIDAY: Willow Farmers Market, 2-7 p.m., Mile 69 Parks Highway
SATURDAY: Anchorage Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 15th and Cordova in the Central Lutheran Church parking lot; Anchorage Market and Festival, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Third Avenue between C and E streets; Center Market, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mall at Sears, Benson Boulevard and Denali Street; Eagle River Farmers Market, in front of Mike's Meats, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Farm Market at the Barn, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Glacier Valley Farm, Glenn Highway and Inner Springer Loop Road; South Anchorage Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Subway/Cellular One Sports Center at the corner of Old Seward Highway and O'Malley Road; Spenard Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Spenard Road and 26th Avenue.
SUNDAY: Anchorage Market and Festival, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Third Avenue between C and E streets.
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