The cold and chilly morning did not dampen the kick off of the fourth year of the Falls Church Farmers Market Chef. Willow Restaurant’s Tracy O’Grady and Kate Jensen all bundled up prepared a sweet and savory pairing of ricotta pancakes topped with sautéed asparagus and roasted strawberries. And while many thought that the morning would not be a success as the sun decided to hide behind some clouds shortly after 8am, you could tell it was another success by the more than 500 ricotta pancakes served by 10:30am.

Tracy chose the pairing of the asparagus and strawberries to show consumers that with a little creativity you can create savory or sweet dishes to highlight local seasonal food. The asparagus was blanched for 3- 4 minutes and then sautéed in butter with salt and pepper. The strawberries were trimmed and then roasted. To roast the strawberries, you wash and trim them, toss them in white balsamic vinegar and then place them on a shallow baking dish at 250 degrees in the oven for an hour. Roasting intensifies the sweet flavor to the strawberries which sets off the savory of the asparagus.

The ricotta pancakes were very light and Tracy recommends using the farmers’ market ricotta rather than the commercial ricotta as the farmers’ market variety is sweeter and lighter. The commercial ricotta due to the preservatives will have much more of a sour taste. The pancakes are super easy to make and can be used as an appetizer or a light lunch. The recipe can be found on the Farmers Market Chef website.

It is always a pleasure having Tracy O’Grady as part of the Falls Church Farmers’ Market Chef demo as she has so many fans in the local community due to the many organizations she and Willow support. Willow is also a favorite of many of the local community for a dining experience and it is a treat to get to see Tracy and Kate in action. What is also very special is the Curtin family tradition of supporting local chefs and Ciara Curtin donning her chefs toque to help out with the line and dress the pancakes with the roasted strawberries.

The next Falls Church Farmers Market Chef will be on Saturday, May 19^th featuring Chef Bertrand Chemel.

By Claire McConnell
April 20, 2012
Special to Falls Church Times

Exploring the Falls Church farmer’s market in April can be a little tricky. The more common vegetables are out of season, and you’re left with lots of root veggies and dark, leafy greens. And after eating root vegetables and leafy greens for the last three months, it’s challenging thinking of new and exciting ideas with the same produce. But on a recent visit, I saw a beautiful, large head of cabbage; a vegetable that is usually under-appreciated for its versatility.

When most people think of cabbage, they usually think of two things: over-dressed coleslaw or some overcooked mush served with corned beef.  Unfortunately, cabbage has become somewhat of an afterthought, a poor-man’s side dish if you will. But cabbage is an incredibly versatile vegetable that when utilized properly has incredible flavor. Cabbage also is an excellent source of vitamin C and folic acid and is a good source of potassium and B6. It is extremely low in fat, calories and carbohydrates, but high in fiber. Cabbage is said to have cancer-inhibiting properties and has been used for centuries as an anti-diarrheal and as an antibiotic for stomach ulcers.  But best of all, cabbage is very inexpensive. Most stores usually charge around 30 cents per pound. Even organic cabbage tends to be fairly inexpensive.

This recipe for Golabki (go’wompki), or stuffed cabbage, stemmed from a conversation I had with my grandma, who apparently use to make them for her family years ago. Golabki is a traditional Polish dish made from boiled cabbage leaves, stuffed with ground pork and seasoned rice and baked in a tomato-cream sauce. This dish is a twist on the classic and perfect for chilly spring nights, and even though it may already feel like summer has arrived, it will still taste delicious.

Three of the ingredients for this dish are from the Falls Church farmers market. The cabbage is from Sunnyside Farm and Orchard, in Charlestown, W.V., http://sunnysidefarmandorchard.com/. The grass-fed ground beef is from Smith Meadows Farm in Berryville, Va., http://smithmeadows.com/. And the apples are from Black Rock Orchard in Lineboro, Md.

Equipment: 1 medium skillet, 1 medium saucepan, 1 large stockpot and 1 9 X 13 baking dish.

1 cup long-grain white rice — $0.73

2 cups water — $0.00

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil — $0.05

½ medium onion – small dice — $0.37

3 garlic cloves – minced — $0.07

1-pound ground beef (I used no hormone added, grass-fed) — $7.55

1 Tbsp smoked paprika — $0.04

1 large head of cabbage, around 5-7 pounds — $2.00

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil — $0.05

½ medium onion – small dice — $0.37

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes — $1.49

1 tbsp. smoked paprika — $0.04

1 cinnamon stick — $0.12

1 large apple, such as golden delicious – cut into ½ inch dice — $0.69

¼ cup golden raisins — $0.38

½ cup sour cream — $0.60

Chopped parsley — $0.16

Total cost of entire meal = $14.71

Okay, so this recipe has more than a handful of steps, but isn’t as difficult as it seems. Just make sure to read the entire recipe before getting started.

Cook off the rice like you usually would. I always use a 2 to 1 ratio, but it’s best to follow the directions on the package. Allow the rice to completely cool and then set it aside for later.

For the beef mixture, heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a skillet, add onion and sauté until translucent — about five minutes. Add garlic and sauté for an additional 1-minute. Add ground beef and cook until no raw pieces remain. Season with smoked paprika, salt and pepper and allow the mixture to completely cool.

For the cabbage, start off by bringing a large stockpot to a boil. With a small pairing knife, cut the inner core out of the cabbage, so as the cabbage boils the leaves will easily peel off.  Plunge the whole head of cabbage into the boiling water and allow it to boil for about five minutes. After five minutes, the leaves should begin to peel back, soften and feel pliable. Remove 12 -14 large leaves from the cabbage and dry them on towels. Allow the leaves to cool completely.

For the sauce, heat 1 tbsp. of olive oil and add onion and sauté until translucent — about five minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, smoked paprika, and cinnamon stick. Cook over medium heat until the sauce has reduced and the flavors have combined — about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and add diced raw apple and golden raisins. Remove the cinnamon stick. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and then set it aside.

Now that all the steps are complete, you are ready for stuffing. Mix the plain rice and the ground beef mixture together until well combined. Season mixture with salt and pepper if necessary. Take each cabbage leaf and cut a V-shape where the bottom core is to help aid with stuffing (reference the picture above.) Put about 1/3 cup of the mixture in each leaf and roll tightly like you would a burrito.

Cover the bottom of your baking dish with about ½ cup of sauce. Add each finished rolled cabbage bundle into your sauced baking dish (reference picture below.) Cover the stuffed cabbage with remaining sauce and cover pan with aluminum foil. Bake the stuffed cabbage in a pre-heated *350 oven for 90 minutes. This may seem like a long time, but the cabbage needs this long to cook to become soft and fork tender.

Top each finished stuffed cabbage portion with 2 tbsp. of sour cream and a sprinkle of chopped parsley.

Makes 10-12 stuffed cabbage rolls.

Claire’s Culinary Connection

BY Kathleen Nixon
April 6, 2012
Falls Church Times Staff

The warm weather start to the spring has brought out many folks to the Falls Church Farmers Market and no one can be happier than the vendors. At the same time the questions start as to when will we see some of the summer time fruits and vegetables? This happens every year as the warmer weather starts and we are accustomed to seeing all kinds of out of season fruits in the supermarkets like strawberries in January. You will find some tomatoes in the Farmers Market as many vendors start tomatoes in their greenhouses. For now you will have to wait a bit for your vine ripened tomatoes, strawberries and stone fruit. Since the weather has been so warm the Falls Church Farmers Market will be opening earlier this year on April 14^th, but even before then some of the summer vendors are already part of the Farmers Market including are Clear Spring Creamery, and Sinplicity Catering.

There are some winter Farmers Market vendors who will not be returning for the summer season and you will want to catch them in the next two weeks, such as Cold Country Salmon which offers vacuum   packed salmon that is caught fresh by a father and son duo. You can purchase salmon now and shares of salmon for later similar to a CSA and they will be delivered at the end of the summer.

Some winter vendors have put on a serious marketing push to be able to come back in the summer and the competition has been fierce. Interesting tactics such as marketing flyers at stands to tell Farmers Market Director Howard Herman to let them stay or just telling customers to campaign the Director in person. The Farmers Market will be expanding some of its space to the sidewalk area along Park Avenue to accommodate the expansion of the market for a few, new vendors. The final list of new vendors is still being reviewed and there is an extensive waiting list. The biggest challenge is making sure that there is enough variety in the market to ensure good crowds for all the vendors to be successful. Which of the winter vendors would you like to see come back for the summer session?

The Farmer’s Market Chef program now in its fourth year will be returning on April 28^th with Farmer’s Market Chef favorite Tracy O’Grady from Willow. There will be monthly Farmers Market Chef demonstrations from April to November with some special programs including two educational programs. The first will be the Culinary Program from Falls Church High School in neighboring Fairfax County and the Culinary Program of DC Central Kitchen with the Kitchen Director Chef Rock of Hell’s Kitchen fame.

As gas prices continue to go up, so will the cost to the farmers to produce their goods and bring them to market. The same pain you are feeling at the gas pump they are feeling triple fold to produce the fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat and baked goods that you have been waiting for all winter.

I wax poetic frequently about our Falls Church Farmers Market, much to the chagrin of my readers. Celebrating food and community has become one of my greatest pleasures in life second only to my family and home. Recently I was poignantly reminded of this little gem in our little city, when someone stopped me at the market to ask about my Farmers Market bag from San Francisco.

From there started a fabulous conversation about a new family that has returned to our area. Claire McConnell grew up in our area and after high school attended the Culinary Institute in New England. There she met her husband and they worked for several years at restaurants throughout the country, most recently Napa California.

While raising her two young girls, Claire writes her own blog creating recipes that focus on health, taste and budget. She will be sharing some of these posts with us from time to time.  It is with great pleasure that I share Claire’s first article and recipe that focuses on some of the greens – Collards -that we will find in the farmers market this week as well as the sausage and the french bread.

Farro with Stewed Collard Greens with Grilled Sausages and Grilled Bread

Farro

 Farro is a grain that is a lot like barley, in fact if you can’t find Farro in the store barley will work just fine. It is high in fiber, high in protein and low in fat. And like rice at little bit cooks up to feed the whole family. It has an excellent nutty flavor that makes it a bang of flavor for your buck.

Collard greens are members of the cabbage family, but tend to be more bitter. That bitterness will decrease as the greens cook. Collard greens are an excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium and Folic acid. They are also low in fat and calories. And unlike spinach let’s say, collards really hold their body and don’t shrink down to nothing.

Equipment: Large dutch oven (similar to a Le Creuset) and a grill pan.

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil — $0.15
1 medium onion – small dice — $0.65
3 garlic cloves – sliced thin — $0.10
1 1/2 cups Farro – rinsed under water — $2.30
1 large bunch collard greens – remove stems, rough chopped (about 6 cups) — $2.50
1/2  cup white wine — $1.00
2 1/2 cups chicken stock  – $2.00
2 tbsp butter — $0.40
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese – grated — $0.75
4-5 of your favorite raw Italian sausages — $3.95
1/2 loaf of french bread  – $0.75
————-
Total ingredient cost =$14.55

Directions:

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in dutch oven on medium heat, add diced onion and saute until translucent about 5 minutes. Add sliced garlic and saute for an additional minute. Add collard greens, Farro, wine and chicken stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stir, and then reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 1 hour on med-low heat.

While the Farro is cooking, heat a grill pan without any oil. Brush sausages with 1 tbsp oil and when grill pan is very hot grill the sausages until cooked. Remove from grill pan and let sausages cool. Slice baguette and grill bread (crust side up) on the same grill pan, but turn the heat down to medium. The bread will soak up the oil and the juices from the sausages. Grill bread to your likeness, be careful not to burn. Once sausages have cooled slice them into 1 in rounds.

After an hour the Farro should be cooked and have no bite to the grain and the collards should be soft but not falling apart. Remove from the heat and stir in butter, Pecorino and sausages.

Serve with grilled bread.

Makes 4 large portions

How to modify for:
Vegetarians: Replace chicken stock with vegetable stock and take out sausages. Replace with roasted wild mushrooms, such as king trumpets or Mitakes.
Vegans: Replace chicken stock with vegetable stock, take out sausages, butter and Pecorino. Replace with roasted wild mushrooms, such as king trumpets or Mitakes.
Pescatarians: Replace chicken stock with vegetable stock and take out sausages. Replace sausages with firm, white fish such as Halibut. Grill each side and finish in 375* oven for 8-10 minutes.
Lactose Intolerance: Just remove the butter. Pecorino is a sheep’s milk cheese and does not contain lactose.
Gluten Intolerance: Unfortunately Farro contains gluten as it is a grain. Use a grain like Arborio or Carnaroli rice and make this dish more like a risotto. Follow the steps on the bag for cooking advice. And omit the grilled bread.

Claire McConnell

http://clairesculinaryconnection.blogspot.com/

Saturday morning was cold and rainy – like the rest of the month has been. Chef Bertrand Chemel and his team showed up at the Falls Church Farmers Market looking at the skies and the early morning crowd wondering what the demonstration was going to be like and if they should have made the effort to come out this morning. Within a few moments of setting up, a crowd started to form and from then on Bertrand Chemel spoke for two hours straight showing the very eager crowd how to smoke Savoy cabbage, create blue cheese marshmallows, roll out butternut squash ravioli and how to warm body and spirit with great local and seasonal food on such a dreary morning.

At times throughout the morning rain pelted the onlookers, many crowded around with their umbrellas, but Bertrand just kept on demonstrating and talking to the crowd, answering questions and showing the Farmers Market customers how easy these difficult looking recipes could be. While many people protested not wanting to try beets, several takers of the skewers of roasted beet and blue cheese marshmallow with pistachio were blown away with the sweet taste of the roasted beets. As Bertrand smoked the Savoy cabbage over the fruit wood chips the aroma brought more folks over to the demonstration area.  His team of Dylan and Kelsey boiled up the ravioli and created the roasted beet salad skewers. They were also besieged with eager questions on cooking preparations.

Watch the Chef smoking the savoy cabbage. Video from Kathleen Nixon.

Bertrand was in his element – interacting with customers who want to know more about local food. He rolled out pasta, stuff the pillows with butternut squash filling and voila! Ravioli! He showcased how to roast beets on a bed of kosher salt so they won’t burn and how to easily rub off the skins so they wouldn’t stain your hands. The team provided more than 800 tastings of ravioli and beet salad and once done they headed back to 2941 to prepare for the lunch crowd of 200.

A rave review of the Chef’s presentation. Video from Kathleen Nixon.

By Kathleen Nixon

September 30, 2011

Falls Church Times Staff

Bertrand Chemel Executive Chef of 2941 will be the featured chef at tomorrow Falls Church Farmers Market Chef demonstration. Today he shares a little of his background and his love of preparing foods with fresh local and seasonal foods.

Tell our readers a little about your background? Why did you get into cooking? Who inspired you? What have been some of your challenges as your career has advanced? What is new on the horizon for you?

I was born in Montlucon about 80 miles north of Lyon. I grew up around farms. My parents always bought meat chicken, duck, pork, veal, and beef directly from farms. The only cans we used were my mom’s preserved vegetables, homemade pate, and jam. I had two grandmothers, one likes to cook only pastry and the other one only savory. At the age of 14 during summer break, I was looking for a summer job and my grandmother recommended me to her neighbor who was the baker in town. After two summers cleaning dishes and helping making pie and other small pastries, I decided to pursue culinary school.

After four years of culinary, I travelled to Megeve at the border of Switzerland and worked with this incredible chef, Michel Gaudin for about three years. He sent me to the South of France to work at the La Bastide Saint Anthoine a two-star Michelin restaurant. After two years Michel Gaudin asked me if I would like to travel and my first reaction was to go to New York City. He contacted Daniel Boulud and got me a job. I like to say that I have two mentors, one in France and one in New York. Daniel taught me a lot about how to run a restaurant, pleasing guests, working hard and respecting your employees.

Tell us a little about your restaurant, your staff and how you incorporate local producers into your restaurant purchasing?

2941 offers one of the most beautiful locations in DC and Northern Virginia. We serve innovative French American cuisine, using local and fresh ingredients. I always like to know where and how our animals were raised, who has the best berries around town, or who has the best lettuce at the market. Using produce and meats from farmers can be a challenge since restaurants use big quantities but that’s also the reason why I like to work with them.  They only giving you their best quality produce and it challenges us to be creative with our menu. At 2941, we change our tasting menu every week so we can feature the best produce and meats on any given week from seafood and meat to vegetables and fruits.

You work with many of the local producers? Who do you work with?

Tree and Leaf farm, Douglas Whipple from Whipple farms, Westmoreland farm for fruits and berries. In the summer, I like to go to the Falls Church Farmers Market and see what I can bring back to the restaurant.

As a customer, what changes have you seen in the local food landscape?

People want to know more about the produce they eating. If it’s organic, wild or farmed raised, they have more questions about where their food comes from.

When did you start using local ingredients in creating your menu and recipes?

Since I grew up around farmers, my grandfather was a farmer, I always ate farm fresh eggs, meat and poultry. My father had a year-round farm as well. When I worked at Café Boulud, I was always excited to go to the farmers market and buy vegetables, feta cheese and heirloom tomatoes, fresh herbs and everything else from local farms.

Here I use the Mclean Farmers Market and Falls Church one because I live close to them. And my bigger purveyors always carry fresh produce from Virginia farms.

What ingredients has been the most challenging to work with?

This year it was the tomatoes in the late summer. Because it was very hot, then dry and then we had so many storms, the quality of the tomatoes changed.

Do you think your customers understand and appreciate your incorporation of local food into your menus?

I believe that if I’m proud of the ingredients and produce we’re using to create our menus, our guests will taste the difference. For example, in the summer until late fall, my cooks and I have our own herb garden at the restaurant to create cocktails or essences for our menu.

What local ingredients are not yet available to the local economy that you would like to incorporate into your menu?

Wild mushrooms, ramps and beef

How long have you been part of the Farmers Market Chef series?

This is my second year.

What do you like best about the Farmers Market Chef series? Any challenges or surprises?

I like to meet the shoppers and introduce 2941 restaurant to them. I like showing them new and creative recipes that they can do at home. It’s good to see the parents who come with their kids.  Everything starts when you are young and I believe introducing our kids to the farmers market is a big step to healthy lifestyle for them.

What will you be preparing for your demonstration?

We will be preparing two dishes that feature seasonal items. The first is butternut squash ravioli, sage brown butter, with smoked Savoy cabbage, and the second will be beet salad, slowly baked Gala apple glazed in apple cider, blue cheese marshmallow with walnut vinaigrette.

August 26, 2011

Falls Church Times Staff

It is that time again to get out and vote for the Best Farmers Market. Last year the Falls Church Farmers Market won in the Medium size category and we are going to need everyone’s vote this year to win again!

The American Farmland Trust in its efforts to bring awareness to local farms began the contest as part of the No Farms No Food program.  The America’s Favorite Farmers Markets™ contest is designed to raise national awareness about the importance of supporting fresh food from local farms and farmers.

From my point of view, our local farmers market is not only a nationally ranking farmers market, I see it as a vital part of our community and health. While at the Falls Church Farmers Market, many will ask me “why would I pay $3 a pound for local tomatoes?” For some reason, the cost of tomatoes seems to be the major bellwether in consumers’ minds. Those who ask me know that I will answer in favor of the local seemingly higher cost farmers’ market tomatoes. Many consumers still do not realize that comparing the cost of produce in the local farmers market is not necessarily apples to apples or I should say tomato to tomato.

The tomato in the grocery store is either organically or conventionally raised on a large industrialized farm probably utilizing immigrant labor. If it was raised conventionally there were pesticides and fertilizers involved. The tomato itself was modified to be picked early so it would stay firm in transport. It was also modified so that it would have the “look” of a tomato – the red globe that it typically associated with a tomato.  The cost of the tomato from the grocery stores also includes the cost of federal subsidized water, subsidizing of services for an immigrant population, international or national transport, and the detrimental affects on the environment. On top of this you are not getting all of the nutrients from the tomato that you think you should be getting, so you have to supplement your diet with vitamins.  While it may seem that your grocery store tomato is “cheaper” you have to weigh all the costs into the equation.

This is compared to your farmers’ market tomato which may be red, green, yellow, purple or zebra as it is an heirloom tomato rather than a modified standard tomato. The variety adds to the tastes and textures to the tomatoes.  One of the benefits of shopping at a farmers market is that you can ask the farmer if the tomato was raised with pesticides and fertilizers. This is one of the great benefits of a farmers market and not something you can do at the grocery store. The produce was raised and transported within 150 miles of where it is purchased and thus you are supporting the local economy.  The positive affects on my taste buds, my health, my community and the environment are worth the cost differential between the local and grocery store tomato.

Farmers markets have grown in popularity over the last decade and have become a vital retail channel for many of the local farms in addition to farm stands and CSAs (community supported agriculture). But farmers markets also provide a vital component to our community. It doesn’t matter your political affiliation, economic standing or family size, we all need food. The farmers’ market provides a way to gather our food, commune with the farmers and participate in our community in a way that not only sustains us physically but fiscally, environmentally and spiritually.

So back to the national competition – be it that you enjoy the farmers market for its community feel, catch up with neighbors, listen to music, watch a chef demonstration, eat a tasty treat  or buy your weekly groceries, please take the time to show your community pride in our local community of farmers and our farmers market by voting for Falls Church Farmers Market to be the best Farmers Market ( in the medium category) in the country! Voting ends midnight August 31^st!

BY Kathleen Nixon

August 19, 2011

Falls Church Times Staff

Last Saturday was a perfect morning for me because I was able to tour the Falls Church Farmers Market with one of the Market Chef series upcoming Chefs – Chris Nye, Executive Chef of Pizzeria Orso. I had met Chris when he was working at the market Farmer Market Chef demonstration with Bertrand Chemel of 2941 last year and at his induction as Executive Chef of Pizzeria Orso earlier this year.  Like many great chefs, Chris is a quiet soft spoken person with a great talent for creativity and innovation. We toured the Falls Church Farmers Market to look at what was in season and discuss his upcoming demonstration. The recipes we discussed went from savory meatballs with buffalo to fanciful concoctions using stone fruit.  Not surprising,  Chris already knew many of the vendors at the market as many items are already sourced to Pizzeria Orso such as Blue Ridge Dairy Company and Tree and Leaf but he also learned about sourcing from other vendors such as  Toigo Orchards. As we circled the market several times, Chris brought out his notebook to write down further ideas. I am looking forward to his presentation as well as what will be coming up in future Pizzeria Orso menus to reflect local and seasonal ingredients.

Tell our readers a little about your background? I grew up in Minneapolis, MN, which is where I went to culinary school. My first restaurant job was scooping ice cream cones and flipping frozen burger patties at the local refectory when I was fourteen. Since then I have worked in restaurants in Minneapolis, New York, Arizona, and here in Falls Church. Most recently I was a sous chef at 2941 before coming to Pizzeria Orso in March of 2011.

Tell us a little about your restaurant, your staff and how you incorporate local producers into your restaurant purchasing? Orso is a Neapolitan Pizzeria, focusing on wood oven pizza as seen in Naples, Italy. We also have antipasti, pasta, and desserts, some traditional Italian and some new American.  Our inspiration comes from traditional Italian dishes and the great produce, meat, and seafood of the mid-Atlantic. I frequent the Falls Church market nearly every Saturday and create dishes from what is available that day. In addition I try to source as much local produce from purveyors as possible.  We are lucky to have the energetic and friendly young staff that we do. Many of whom grew up right here in Falls Church.

You work with many of the local producers? Who do you work with? Tree and Leaf, Tuscarora Farms, Fresh Link, all Falls Church Farmers Market, Dupont Circle Market, and McLean Market Farms.

As a customer, what changes have you seen in the local food landscape? I’m finding that Organic isn’t a marketing gimmick anymore. It is expected. Restaurants and food distributers alike have had to change the way they process and purchase their products to meet the demands of a smarter and more educated consumer. Also there is a strong push towards unique and unordinary meats, fish, and produce. People are becoming more curious and experimental in what they cook with.

When did you start using local ingredients in creating your menu and recipes? I have always sourced as locally as possible. From a business standpoint it frequently is more cost efficient for everyone involved. I can plant a bed of herbs for $50 and be self sufficient for the rest of the summer and early fall. But more important then the cost is the flavor. Fresh and simple flavors are what drive my menu and if it weren’t for local sources, that wouldn’t be possible.

What ingredients has been the most challenging to work with? I love cold weather, being from Minnesota, but I am always challenged around the middle of the winter before the citrus starts coming in to find inspiration in rutabaga.

Do you think your customers understand and appreciate your incorporation of local food into your menus? I almost always feature a Falls Church Farmers Market special on Saturdays after visiting the market. It shows a connection with the community and the farms surrounding it. I think people in Falls Church have gotten behind that.

What local ingredients are not yet available to the local economy that you would like to incorporate into your menu? I look every week to find something new and exciting. Like finger limes or baby ginger at the market. There is nothing that gets me more energized then something new to work with. A lot of local farms have been producing some interesting produce that you don’t see every day. Last year Tree and Leaf had little gem romaine. It was like a cross between green romaine and butter lettuce, great for a Caesar salad.

How long have you been part of the Farmers Market Chef series? I helped out Bertrand Chemel last fall when he did his demo for 2941. This will be my first demo and the first for Pizzeria Orso.

What do you like best about the Farmers Market Chef series? Any challenges or surprises?  I think the coolest thing when being a home cook is to try something new and have success with it. Last year when I did the demo with Chef Chemel one of the dishes he did had quince in it. Most people either had no idea what it was or how to cook it. Most people were very excited about it though, and couldn’t wait to try it at home. I like how the Falls Church Farmers Market Chef series ties chefs, home cooks, farmers, and the community together.

What will you be preparing for your demonstration? We will be preparing two dishes. The first is a simple peach bruschetta on baguette with pickled mustard seed, opal basil, and prosciutto. The second is pork meatballs with fresh corn polenta, sweet pepper sugo, and Grana Padano.

Chris Nye, Executive Chef, Pizzeria Orso will be at the Falls Church Farmers Market 300 Park Avenue, Falls Church, VA doing his cooking demonstration on Saturday, August 20^th from 9am to 11am. As with all Farmers Market Chef demonstrations there will be demonstrations all morning long, tastings and recipes.

August 9, 2011

The Falls Church Farmers Market is again participating in a nationwide challenge and would like your vote!  The City is a part of the America’s Favorite Farmers Markets™ Contest to see which farmers markets can rally the most support from its customers.  Polls will be open a limited time so cast your vote here.  

The goal of the contest is to promote the connection between fresh local food and the local farms and farmland that supply it.  In addition to supporting local farmers, buying locally helps protect the environment by reducing packaging and transportation demands.  One boutique, one small, one medium and one large farmers market will be named America ‘s Favorite Farmers Market in 2011.  But this competition is about more than just being number one. It is about supporting local farms and farmers markets.  

The Falls Church Farmers Market is operated by the Recreation and Parks Division and is open every Saturday morning, year-round in the City Hall parking lot at 300 Park Ave.  During spring, summer and fall, more than 40 vendors offer a variety of locally grown fruits and vegetables as well as cheeses, meats, baked goods, plants, honey and wine and a visiting chef provides cooking demonstrations.  The Fairfax County Master Gardeners also staff a booth to answer gardening questions. 

For more information, contact Recreation and Parks at 703-248-5077.