One of the fun things about shopping at the local farmers market is discovering new things. At first glance, it looks like there are a lot of apples, cheeses, breads, and some meat. However, if you look carefully at each stand and examine the names of the fruits and vegetables, you see that there are vegetables you have never tried, apple strains you have never heard of, and herbs that you thought only grew in other places.
I did not quite know what I was going to eat for lunch the other day. I had just gotten back from Italy and was excited to eat some home-cooked veggies. I love Italian food, but I had been in pasta overload, and was missing some fresh vegetables. I found some beautiful sunchokes and smoked trout, and was trying to figure out the best way to use them in something light and healthy. Then I cam across some Crosnes. It looked like a crate full of little white worms, something that you would go to the doctor to get out of your system. But I was intrigued. I asked the women what they were, and they described them as small little tubers. I love tubers: sweet potatoes, yucca, taro, potatoes of all shapes and sizes, sunchokes- well, why not try another one? I took them home and looked them up online. It turns out that they are native to China, but the French imported them in the late 19th century, and they got their name from a town in their adoptive country.
They are small little tan tubers, and combined with smoked trout and sunchokes, I knew that I would need some color on my plate. I decided to jazz up my salad with some grated carrots, cilantro and thinly sliced watermelon radish. In the end I had a gorgeous salad that looked like a party on my plate.
Anyway, the point of this entry is to say that I had never had Crosnes before, and had no idea what they were before a week ago. But I bought them and tried them, and now my world is just a little bit bigger. So go to the markets, read all the signs and find something new to try. Do not be afraid!

The other day I made a really delicious stew. No, I mean REALLY delicious stew. I had been thinking about it for a while before I made it, ever since I rediscovered the hyssop that I had bought at Kalustyan's a long time ago. I had read up on the Mediterranean herb and learned that it was often used as a rub for lamb, as it helps with the digestion of fatty meats. And then I saw my first quinces of the season at the Greenmarket- those wonderful fruits so full of mythology. I kept thinking about a lamb stew with quince and hyssop. I wanted to make the stew before I left for Rome, where I am now, so I went to the market early last week to get all of my ingredients.
Partly becuase of the NY Times article on Bill Niman's switch to sustainable goat meat, and partly because there was no lamb, I decided to use goat meat instead. I bought 1 lb of cubes from Patches of Star Goat Dairy and moved on. I wanted to marinate the meat, so I got some garlic, onions, carrots, and celery for my aromatics. And some rosemary and thyme to compliment the hyssop. What would I marinate it in? Red wine did not so like a good pairing with the quince, and white wine did not seem seasonally appropriate for some reason. Then I remembered that I had a bottle of Eve's Cidery Bittersweet in the fridge at home. cider sounded great with quince, as apples and quinces are feminine fruit friends. It also sounded right for the season. Maybe red wine would be better for the deeper Winter months, but not for an October/November stew. I got sweet potato (the Japanese white kind), parsnips, and more carrots for the stew garnish.
Below you will find the approximate recipe, but if you want to make a stew, you can really trust your instincts for the quantities and specifics. That is the whole fun of stew- the personal nuances of flavor that only you can bring out. For now, let me just skip to the end result. The stew was delicious, 98%local, and very Autumnal. It was a repeat times 10. What I really liked about it was that it was sweet, not because of sweetners, but because of the naturally sweet cider, sweet potato, and quiince. Their mellow sweetness further brought out flavors in carrots in parnsips that I had never tasted before. There is a lot of preparation work, but the technique and presentation is a no brainer. Here are the basics for my Goat, Quince and Hyssop Stew:

1 lb goat meat, cubed
1/2 carrot, sliced in large rounds
1/2 onion, large dice
1/2 celery stalk, large chunks
Few sprigs of Rosemary
Few sprigs of thyme
Pinch of hyssop
1 clove garlic
Hard Cider (about 1 cup, enough to cover the meat)
Splash of olive oil or canola oil
Salt and Pepper

Season the meat generously with the salt and pepper. Put it in a medium-large container. Add all of the ingredients, pouring over enough cider to cover the meat, as well as a dash of oil. Marinate for 8 hours or overnight. If you can, turn the meat over in the marinade, to make sure it is all coated well.

For the stew:
2 tablespoons butter or oil or a combination of the two (you will need more, so keep it on hand)
1/2 quince, peeled and cut into medium sized chunks
1/2 carrot, peeled and cut into medium sized chunks
1/2 sweet potato (depending on size), rinsed and cut into med. chunks
1/2 parsnip, same as carrot
Goat meat drained from marinade
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
Hard Cider (about 1 1/2 cups)
Rosemary, Thyme, Bay leaf
Pinch of hyssop (about 1 teaspoon)

Heat the butter/oil in a heavy bottomed pot. I love Le Creuset pots for making stews. Every woman must have one in life.
Add the quince, carrot, sweet potato, and parsnip, and cook, stirring occasionally, until they gain some color. Transfer to a plate or bowl.
Toss the goat cubes with the flour and coat evenly.
Heat up more fat in the pot until very hot and add the meat. You only want to add enough meat to cover the bottom of the pan, so that you can brown each side well. Don't poke at it or turn it over too soon, or it won't gain that nice browned edge and create as much flavor for the stew. You can do this in a few rounds. Each time, wipe out the pan and add more fat. You want those little brown specks in the bottom of you pot, because those are caramelized proteins and have a lot of flavor. If you do not wipe out the pot between rounds, those can burn and ruin the overall flavor of the dish. What I do is after each round, I pour off the oil and add a few drops of cider, and quickly scrape up the protein bits (this is called "deglazing"). I pour the liquid over the vegetables or already cooked meat off to the side, and then wipe out the pan to continue cooking the meat. That way you do not waste those extra bits of flavor in between rounds.
Once you have browned all of the meat, deglaze the pot with a drop or two of cider, just enough to wet the bottom. Scrape up the brown bits and then add all of the meat and vegetables back into the pot. Pour in enough cider to just barely cover the ingredients. Add the herbs. Bring the liquid to a bare boil, and then let it simmer quietly for 1- 1/2 hours, or until the meat is falling apart at the touch. Take off the heat and serve with warm crusty bread.
Enjoy your seasonal stew!
This serves 2 people well, with enough for leftovers, but might not be enough for 4 people.

For other recipes using quince, like Quince Jam and Membrillo, check out Simply Recipes.

Our new blogger friend, Marie-Claude, otherwise known as Banette, writes mainly about breads and baked goods on her blog: http://www.bombance.net. Although she is French, she has worked in New York for almost 20 years, and currently divides her time between New York state and Connecticut. One of her recent blogs was about Beltane Farm, where she bought fresh chevre and made a Rustic Tart with Chevre, Rosemary and Lemon. We were not lucky enough to try it ourselves, but it looks delicious! Her blog is in French, so if you would like to brush up on your language skills, it is a great opportunity. If you don't speak French, just enjoy the photos, they are pretty self explanatory!

I feel like cauliflower slips under the radar sometimes. It is not an appealing vegetable- as its pale white color cannot compete with its seasonal peers the crimson beets, verdant broccoli, and flame-colored squash. But the other day I found purple cauliflower at the farmers market. I love white cauliflower too, but the purple variety just looked so much more enticing to me that day, so I had to take some home. Because of its versatility, I knew that I would be making it into soups, roasting it, or even eating it raw.

Cauliflower definitely has its merits, especially when it comes to health. It is a great source of vitamins C (think immunity) and K (think healthy bones), as well as dietary fiber. It is related to broccoli, kale, and cabbage, and like them, is known to play a role in cancer prevention. Its cruciferous compounds inhibit the mitosis of tumor cells, and its antioxidants disarm free radicals. It is also a detoxifier, and helps the liver do its difficult job of neutralizing toxic substances that come into the body.

What I love about cauliflower is the way it tastes. My favorite way to eat it is slow roasted over a long period of time. I simply cut the florets from their "tree", and then toss them with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast for an hour at 300F. That is what you see in the photo of this post. Slowly roasted purple cauliflower, which is subtly sweet and nutty.

The other day I had a few girlfriends over for some local cheeses that I picked up from Murray's Cheese and the Greenmarket. I was going to only have five cheeses, but then I got to the 3 Corner Field Farm booth at Union Square's Saturday market. Emma had told me about their smoked cheese, which was a must in the cheese plate. Then the woman convinced me to try the Shushan Snow. That was the beginning of the end. I fell head over heels, crazy in love with this creamy dreamy cheese. It has the form and consistency similar to a brie, but the flavor is so light and creamy that it would never be confused with anything but itself. I could not have possibly returned home without the Shushan Snow, so the cheese tasting became six instead of the perfect number of five. I served all of the cheeses with a quince compote and Conchord grapes. This is just a preview of the whole event; I will be putting up more information about the tasting tomorrow!