Yesterday, after a long break for the holidays, we returned to the farmer's market. We decided to hit up the Beverly Hills market yesterday, since we hadn't yet been there and it makes up one of the four markets that surround us on Sundays (Melrose Place, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Larchmont).
There's been a sudden cold snap, which means the citrus crop is struggling and various weather worries have farmers scrambling. I wasn't surprised to see some slim pickings on this market day. Still, we came away with some interesting finds.
Our first stop was at the balsamic vinegar guy, who lured us in with claims of the best balsamic we would ever have. (It wasn't ... but a friend's parents once treated me to some 100 year balsamic from Modena, so it's not really fair). He kept us there by feeding us every flavor he had: 18 year balsamic from Modena, Black Mission fig balsamic, raspberry balsamic, truffle oil, garlic & basil balsamic, sun dried tomato balsamic, and thai ginger sesame balsamic. Yikes! So many ... I walked away with a bottle of the garlic-basil which seemed perfect for bread dipping.
It didn't take me long to find one of the things I was looking for: oroblancos. These were highlighted by Russ Parsons in the Times this week. Oroblancos are a light colored, sweeter and less acidic grapefruit. Oroblancos are unique because they may stay green even after fully ripe. At the same table as the oroblancos, I saw a box of limequats.
Limequats are a cross between a lime and a kumquat. They taste kind of like a lemon but their peel is sweet, so you can eat it without grossing out. The stall person recommended putting them in drinks, squeezing them over a salad, or baking them on fish.
Next we hit up the carrots. They had regular carrots, red carrots and big fat carrots. We took some of the red ones because they were so pretty. Of course, we later discovered that the beauty was only skin deep and when we peeled them, they looked like regular carrots again.
Finally, I picked up some radishes, and then I was done. J. had to go home without the fractalicious Romanesco cauliflowers he was looking for, so we will have to try again another day.
Well ... we thought we were done. On our way out, we were drawn irresistably to a wall of heat and mouthwatering aromas. There was a truck full of rotisserie chicken, slathered in rosemary and rotating away. We basked in the warmth and the smell and it took about one and a half seconds to decide that tonight's dinner would be roast chicken, baked for a bit with limequat slices, with sides of red carrots and the home fries J. had made for breakfast but not actually eaten for breakfast.
I meant to take a picture of it but the deliciousness was too overpowering and I ate it all before I even remembered that I owned a camera.
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