Get your gifts (and get them wrapped for free!) at the market

For the next two weeks, volunteers will be on hand at the Saturday market to wrap your farmers' market purchases of $30 or more in baskets, bags or boxes. Our gift wrapping station will be located in the driveway on the south side of the building, across from Eatwell Farm, from 9 am to noon. Ferry Plaza Farmers Market tote bags and gift certificate coins will be available for purchase, and we will have holiday-themed trimmings and ribbon. Check out the Holiday Gifts section of our website for more information and farm fresh present ideas >

Coming soon: A Waste Wise farmers' market

CUESA is in the process of developing a new Waste Wise Farmers' Market program that will address a variety of issues, including bag use and product packaging, as well as on-site recycling and composting at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. Our goal is to unveil this new program in spring of 2008. The Waste Wise initiative is being funded in part by a grant from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund. We are currently seeking applicants for a part-time Project Coordinator to help plan and implement this program. If you are interested in learning more about this position, click here to download a PDF of the job description >

Massa Organics now has a blog!

Raquel and Greg from Massa Organics have joined the ranks of producer-bloggers. Visit massaorganics.blogspot.com to read about their rice farm and family.

Saturday, December 15 ~ Festival of Roots

10 am to 1 pm - Root vegetable sampling
CUESA will be offering roasted root kebabs to teach your taste buds the difference between a watermelon radish and a rutabaga. Also visit the root discovery table, where you can learn all about the winter root vegetables available at the market.

10:30 am - Meet the farmer
Grant Brians of Heirloom Organics interviewed by CUESA staff member Julie Cummins

11 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration and book signing
Lenny Rice (Cowgirl Creamery's Head Cheese Monger) & Brigid Callinan, authors of Fondue

Note: This is the last Market to Table event of 2007. Our programs will resume on February 2, 2008.

All events take place in our Dacor teaching kitchen in the arcade north of the Ferry Building's clock tower unless otherwise noted.

CUESA's culinary intern Julia Allenby wrote this week's feature.

A walk through the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in December dispels any belief that “there are no fresh vegetables during the winter.” Vendor after vendor offers baskets brimming with ruby red beets, husky carrots and plump turnips. The bounty of spring and summer gives way to a different sort of agricultural plenty: vegetables that will stay fresh for months and see us through many cold and rainy days and nights.

The term “root vegetable” specifically refers to edible plant roots, though it is sometimes used to include anything that grows underground (tubers and enlarged stems, such as potatoes, taro, ginger and sunchokes). Roots store energy for plants in the form of carbohydrates and vary widely in their content of starches and sugars.

Some shoppers resist root vegetables, perhaps associating them with time-intensive preparations such as stews. Others harbor childhood nightmares of poorly prepared root vegetables or mushy canned beets. For them, a well-seasoned root vegetable can be a revelation.

To learn more about root vegetables, and perhaps experience your own root revelation, see our root vegetable guide below, and come to the root festival this Saturday!

Guide to Root Vegetables

You'll find most of these roots at the farmers' market now and throughout winter.

Beets (family Chenopodiaceae) – typically red and globe-shaped; also available in white, golden, and Chioggia (candy cane) varieties. Beets have the highest sugar content of any vegetable, but are low in calories. Do not peel or cut before cooking. Red beets can stain your hands and clothing.

Serving suggestions: Add wedges to salad with green beans and goat cheese; toss with herb butter; make into borscht, a hearty Eastern European soup.

Carrots (family Apiaceae) – available in white, purple and gold, in addition to orange. High in beta-carotene, which is converted in the body to Vitamin A. Store carrots away from apples or pears because they release ethylene gas, which can turn carrots bitter. Carrots are commonly used for both savory and sweet dishes.

Serving suggestions: Shred raw carrots and mix with olive oil, lemon juice, and rosemary to make a salad. Add carrots to beef stew, tomato sauce, vegetable soup, or stir-fries. Make carrot cake, carrot torte, or carrot pudding.

Celery root (or celeriac) (family Apiaceae) – softball-sized root with thick, wrinkly brown skin. A special variety of celery cultivated for its root, rather than its stalks. Flavor is like a cross between parsley and mild celery. Keep pieces in acidulated water after peeling so that they don’t brown.

Serving suggestions: Classic French preparation, raw with rémoulade sauce (mayonnaise, capers, gherkins, anchovies, mustard); mash or purée with potatoes; add to beef stew.

Daikon (family Brassicaceae) – long, dense cucumber-shaped roots also known as Oriental radish or mooli; often included in stir-fries, or pickled (as in Korean kimchi).

Serving suggestion: Steam daikon with shredded carrots, then dress with vinaigrette made with rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and chopped cilantro.

Horseradish (family Brassicaceae) – long, knobby root, used as a condiment. A hot, spicy bite develops when the root is grated or ground. Vinegar is used to stabilize this process. Loses flavor if it’s cooked. Horseradish is one of the “bitter herbs” used in the Jewish Seder supper.

Serving suggestions: Add grated horseradish, salt, and lemon juice or vinegar to sour cream and serve with cold roast beef or asparagus. Make homemade cocktail sauce with ketchup or chili sauce and grated horseradish.

Parsnips (family Apiaceae) – resemble ivory-colored carrots. Pleasantly sweet, with earthy herbal notes. In ancient times, parsnips were used as a sweetener.

Serving suggestions: Boil with potatoes and mash together. Or toss roasted parsnips with nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, or allspice and a little brown sugar or maple syrup.

Radishes (family Brassicaceae) – usually round but sometimes elongated; typically red-skinned with white interior; peppery flavor. Watermelon radishes have green skins and red interiors. Radishes are typically eaten raw in salads, as an appetizer, or as a garnish.

Serving suggestions: Says Alan Davidson in the Oxford Companion to Food, “Perhaps the most satisfactory way to eat them is to hold what is left of the green stalk between one’s fingers, rub the radish over a piece of butter, dip it in salt, and eat it with bread and butter.”

Rutabagas (family Brassicaceae) – usually yellow- or purple- fleshed and round, larger than turnips. Rutabagas are a cross between a cabbage and a turnip. In Europe, they’re often called “swedes.”

Serving suggestions: Add diced rutabagas to chicken pot pie. Use julienned raw rutabagas on a crudités tray.

Salsify (family Asteraceae) – white carrot-like root sometimes called “oyster plant”; the roots of the less common black salsify are brown on the outside. Delicate roots break easily and are difficult to harvest. Quickly goes from tender to mushy, so cook gently.

Serving suggestions: Braise with chicken, onions, mushrooms and stock. Mash with Parmigiano Reggiano, form into croquettes, and pan-fry.

Sweet potatoes (family Convolvulaceae) – not related to potatoes or to true yams, which grow in tropical climates, though sweet potatoes are commonly called yams in the United States. Sweet potatoes have been cultivated in the Americas for over 2000 years. Dozens of varieties exist, but two are most familiar: orange-fleshed and squash-like (like Garnets) and pale-fleshed and fluffy when cooked (like Jersey Yellows).

Serving suggestions: Cut into sticks and fry like French fries. Mash and combine with crème fraîche and minced chipotles in adobo sauce.

Turnips (family Brassicaceae) – usually white-fleshed and round, with purple-tinged skin. In Japanese and Arab cuisines, turnips are often pickled; in China, they are sun-dried and salted or preserved in soy sauce.

Serving suggestions: Dress shredded raw turnips, cabbage, and carrots with sharp mustard vinaigrette and poppy seeds to make a slaw. Make a gratin of paper-thin turnip slices, cream, and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Root Recipes

Indian Spiced Carrot Soup from Stephanie Valentine, formerly of Roxanne’s

Carrot Soup with Chile-Peanut Pesto from Bibby Gignilliat of Parties That Cook!

Roasted Beet Salad from Armando Paniagua, formerly of Rose Pistola Restaurant

Baby Beet, Fennel, and Orange Salad from San Francisco chef Jesse Branstetter

Farro with Golden Beets from cookbook author Joyce Goldstein

This is the most up-to-date information about which sellers will and won't be attending the market as of Friday, when we send this letter. If there are no changes to a seller's status, they will not be listed. To find out which farmers regularly attend each market, click here. Please understand that there are often last minute changes--it's the nature of farming!

Saturday, December 15

In/Returning: Ella Bella Farm, Knoll Farms, Glashoff Farms
Out: Bernard Ranches, Double K Christmas Tree Farm (for the season)

Tuesday, December 18

In/Returning: Sutton's Protea
Out: Devoto Gardens (for the season), McGinnis Ranch

Please note: The Tuesday market will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Otherwise, we will be open through the holiday season.