What’s awesome right now?

Butter-yellow crème fraîche from Kriemhild Dairy Farm’s grass-fed cows.

Super-fragrant finger limes from Rising C Ranch.  Bittersweet mixed heirloom chicories from County Line Harvest.  Dizzyingly beautiful romanesco cauliflower from Pedersen Farms.  Smoked white oak honey from Bee Local Apiary.

Make It Earthy

Purple haze, yellow sun and chantey carrots from Crown O’ Maine Organics.  Local macomber turnips, plus purple top, rutabaga.  German butterball potatoes, b size, great for crushing–deep, deep gold color, puts yukons to shame.  Russian banana fingerlings and bintje potatoes from Maine. Bintje = classic Belgian potato for their slightly famous frites.  Red, gold and chioggia beets available by the pound, or baby versions by the bunch.

pickle it

Make it pop with heirloom radishes varieties: bright purple bora kings, green daikon, watermelon radishes, black radishes, easter egg radishes, and french breakfast radishes.  Shave/pickle/matchstick/kimchi/butter-braise.

eat your greens

Native green & purple brussels sprouts for shaving, charring, roasting.  County line mixed chicories: little heads, cool varieties, in need of sweet, salty and sharp things. Different individual varieties of chicories to serve raw, charred or braised, like endive and red endive, radicchio and treviso, and escarole.  Pedersen farms romanesco cauliflower: never looked nicer than it does right now.

Citrus city

Now in: Kishu mandarins, Cara Cara pink navel oranges, & Buddha’s hands.  Still happening: finger limes, fresh yuzu (though not for much longer–get after it now) and Satsuma tangerines. Stay tuned for a full citrus update coming this week.  You’ve asked about bloods: risky to put on the menu before the 15th.  Imported scarce, and California not yet ripe.

so long

86: Cox’s Orange Pippin’ apples, matsutake mushrooms, lobster mushrooms.

look in dry storage

Bee Local smoked honey.  Stone-ground masa harina.  Blis bourbon-barrel aged fish sauce. Songbird farm red flint cornmeal.

Bean braising weather: oja de cabra, black calypso, jacob’s cattle, Maine soldier, scarlett runner, and marrow.

Spice jar: vadouvan, gochugaru,  shichimi togarashi, za’atar, ras el hanout, garam masala.  Who has awesome spices?  You should see how green our coriander seed is.  If yours is the color of white pepper, time to get a fresh source.  When it comes to spices, fresher = better.  We get the good stuff.