August 19, 2006

Join Washington, D.C. native Barton Seaver of Café Saint-Ex this Saturday, August 19th on the next Chef in the Market tour. Chef Seaver became Executive Chef at Café Saint-Ex in early 2005. Maintaining the restaurant’s established bistro style, his menu focuses on simply prepared wood-grilled items. Using local organic ingredients and focusing on sustainable fish species, he blends Mediterranean simplicity with stylized organic modern cuisine. Barton strives to share his knowledge with the public by using his restaurants as a platform through which to inform and educate about issues concerning health and the sustainability of food products. He is one of the few chefs in the Washington, DC area to use only sustainable fish on his menu. Meet at 9:50 a.m. at the corner of N. Courthouse and N. 14th Sts.

Try this recipe from Chef Seaver:

Wood Grilled Calamari with Basil, Potatoes and Green Beans

Chef Barton Seaver
Café Saint-Ex
1847 14th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 lb. fresh, “dirty” and small calamari
¼ lb. green beans, snipped
2 cloves of garlic, 1 passed over a microplane
3 heads frisee, trimmed and chopped
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 large handfuls of basil leaves
½ lb. new potatoes
¼ cup of walnuts toasted (you can also substitute pine nuts or almonds)
Salt

For the calamari:
Ask your fishmonger to clean the squid, leaving only bodies and tentacles. “Dirty” is a market term referring to squid with skin still on. Marinate squid in 1 tbsp. olive oil, 1 clove of microplaned garlic and 1 pinch of salt. Grill calamari on high heat over charcoal about 1 minute per side.

For the basil pesto:
Put basil, second garlic clove, walnuts and 2 tbsp. olive oil in blender and puree until smooth.

For the potatoes:
Dice potatoes. In cold water bring to a boil for 1 minute and strain.

To serve:
While cooking calamari, reheat potatoes with green beans in a pan on side of grill.
Toss warm potatoes and green beans with frisee, salt and basil pesto. Toss to mix well. Place grilled calamari on top. Serve.

What better use can there be for the glut of sweet peaches and tangy blueberries this summer than this simple, low-calorie dessert? Many Market producers have an abundance of both fruits, so enjoy this recipe adapted from Gourmet July 2006.

BALSAMIC BLUEBERRIES AND PEACHES

Serves 4

3 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 cups blueberries (about 1 lb)
1 lb peaches or nectarines, sliced

Boil 3 tablespoons sugar with vinegar, and 1 cup blueberries in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan, stirring, 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Combine remaining 2 cups blueberries with peach slices in a large bowl. Toss with hot blueberry syrup, and then add sugar to taste. Let stand, tossing occasionally for 30 minutes. Enjoy.

With more than 30 vendors, there's fresh everything at the market. Meat, Cheese, Milk, Butter, Bread, Baked goods, Flowers-- potted, cut, or dried, Sorbet and Specialty items.

Throughout the August heat, you will be able to find plenty of fresh Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Peppers, Onions, Eggplant, Potatoes, Greens and other staples from many vendors.

Several vendors will have Peaches and Nectarines, including Sylvan Farm, Toigo Orchards, D&S Farm and Twin Springs Fruit Farm.

Look for Italian Plums later in the month at Toigo and Rice’s Farm and Twin Springs, which will also have a new crop of Apples soon.

Blackberries are near the end at Pleasant Fields Farm while D&S, and Westmoreland Berry Farm will have them for several more weeks. Blueberries may be around for one, maybe two weeks.

Watermelon is in at Pleasant Fields.

A variety of beans will start coming in in August. Lima Beans and maybe Black Eyed Peas at Musachio Produce Farm, and String Beans at Pleasant Fields.

Potomac Vegetable Farms will continue a variety of herbs, and try the dandelion greens.

Gardeners Gourmet will have additional greens such as a mix of 4 Kale varieties, and expect to have 6 to 10 varieties of Heirloom Tomatoes each week. They ask you not to refrigerate the tomatoes, as they loose flavor, and the skin gets hard.

Wheatland Farm will be harvesting Okra soon, and bringing in 5 Squash varieties, including a Middle East Squash good for grilling.

As September approaches, look for autumn greens, such as Collards, Spinach, Kale, Turnip and Beat.

These are just a few hi-lites to look forward to among the tables of fresh food at the Producers only Arlington Farmers Market.

Interested in volunteering to support your local farmers and producers? To volunteer, e-mail Monica Lear at lear@vt.edu