Sour grape juice: The French call it verjus

On Sunday, showing off the Hollywood farmers market to a visiting friend, I was walking extra slowly and noticed a stand selling verjus for the first time. Maybe they've been selling it for years, who knows? But there it was, Mill Road Verjus made from organically grown grapes from the Monahan Family Farm in Paso Robles, in 16-ounce and 32-ounce bottles.

Verjus is basically the juice of unripe wine grapes. Tart and fruity, yet less acidic than vinegar, verjus has been used by cooks in Europe and the Middle East for hundreds of years. It makes a wonderful salad dressing, and also can be used as a marinade or a deglazing liquid.

Until recently, verjus was something you'd see in French cookery books but never have the hope of finding. I remember seeing it listed as an ingredient, but where? In "The Cooking of Southwest France," Paula Wolfert has a recipe for chicken legs with sour grape sauce in the style of the Dordogne. It uses 6 to 7 tablespoons of verjus. In “California Dish: What I saw (and cooked)at the American culinary revolution”, Jeremiah Tower cites “the miracles of verjus in cold soups thickened with almonds” from an 1892 French cookbook called “Le Viandier.”

Anybody have any other ideas for using verjus? 

Mill Road Verjus from Monahan Family Farm, 3695 Mill Road, Paso Robles; (805) 238-6965. Prices: 16 oz., $3.75; 32 oz., $6; case, $50. Sold at Hollywood Farmers Market and a few others.

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Photos: Verjus for sale at farmers market. Credit: S. Irene Virbila/Los Angeles Times.

No ordinary peeler: Meet the micro-serrated peeler from Oxo

I love this peeler, which, despite its looks, is no ordinary peeler. This one has a micro-serrated blade, the better to whip the velvety skins off peaches for peach cobbler. No more blanching the peaches for a few seconds to get the skins to slip off more easily. Just work the blade of the Oxo Good Grips Serrated Peeler over your peach, using the pointed end to remove any bruises or blemishes.

I have to have my cobbler. Somehow, I haven't gotten around to making one yet this year, though I did make a peach pie. Anyway, here's a glam shot of last year's cobbler, inspiring me, exhorting me to get it together and bake a cobbler. This weekend.

Of course my friend Mary from the South doesn't consider the billowy biscuit-topped confection a cobbler. Hers always has a lattice pie crust on top. Never mind. She's too polite to give me a noogie for my betrayal of the Southern ideal.

Oxo Good Grips Serrated Peeler, $7.99. Available online at Oxo and at most cookware stores. A small investment for the frustration it saves. And a great stocking stuffer come Christmas.

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Photos: Oxo Good Grips Serrated Peeler, peach cobbler. Credit: Fred Seidman Photography.

DIY market bag from Alabama Chanin

Need a craft project for October? How about this handsome DIY market bag from designer activist Natalie Chanin of Alabama Chanin? It’s all organic cotton, worked in Chanin’s signature reverse appliqué and available in gray and black or white and navy. The kit includes all the supplies to complete the Market Bag from her book “Alabama Studio Style: More Projects, Recipes and Stories Celebrating Sustainable Fashion and Living” (STC Craft/A Melanie Falick Book, 2010, $35). If you already have the book, instructions are on Page 107. If not, you can add the book to your order for $27.50 and find therein plenty more inspiring sewing projects — and recipes too.

DIY market bag, $72.65 from Alabama Studio Style DIY. 

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Photo: DIY market bag. Credit: Alabama Chanin

Prepared-food vendors named for some Santa Monica Farmers Markets

Every year, one third of Farmers Market vendor contracts expire in order to make room for new and old vendors alike to apply, or reapply, through a competitive bid process for a three-year contract at the Santa Monica Farmers Markets.

The contracts were up for renewal on three of the Santa Monica Farmers Markets while the big Wednesday Downtown Market contracts were not. Farmers Market coordinator Jodi Low oversees the annual prepared food selection process and has announced that this year's selection is complete.

Drum roll, please:

Main Street Market's returning prepared food vendors are Bean & Thyme, Ca'D'Oro Bakery, Kafe K and Finn McCools, with newcomers Secret Gold Fish Baking Co. and Sweet Rose Creamery added to the list.

Pico Market welcomes Caffe Luxxe to its Virginia Avenue Park neighborhood and Valerie Confections returns to the Saturday Downtown Market.

For more information on the Santa Monica Farmers Markets, go to www.smgov.net/portals/farmersmarket/.

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Photo: Prepared foods at the Main Street Farmers Market. Credit: David Karp / Los Angeles Times

Spotted at the Hollywood farmers market: La Nogalera walnut oil

La Nogalera walnut oil comes from the combined efforts of three walnut growers in Santa Barbara County. Hibbits Ranch, La Nogalera and Rancho La Viña have orchards along the Santa Ynez River between Buellton and Lompoc in the Santa Rita Hills wine appellation, where deep fertile soils and a cool coastal climate make for not only a prominent Pinot Noir but a premium flavored walnut oil, too. 

The walnuts -- older heritage varieties such as Concord, Placentia, Payne and Lompoc -- are roasted before being pressed, resulting in a nutty aroma and flavored blend (from $17) that can be drizzled over salads, pasta, even a bowl of ice cream.

La Nogalera walnut oil is available at gourmet markets and wine tasting rooms in the Santa Ynez Valley, Lompoc, Orange County and Los Angeles regions. The oil is also sold at the farmers markets in Santa Barbara, Solvang, Ojai, Santa Monica and Hollywood.

8615 Santa Rosa Road, Buellton, (805) 245-9457,lanogalerawalnutoil.com.

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Photo: Hibbits Ranch walnut grove. Credit: Sblandtrust.org

To market, to market with a rooster tote bag

Remember Elizabeth Graeber who self-publishes "An Illustrated Guide to Cocktails"? She now has a tote bag for sale on Etsy printed with her drawing of a rooster. Just the thing to tuck in a couple dozen eggs from the farmers market or stash groceries from the supermarket. And it doesn't cost an arm and a leg, just $15, plus $3 shipping, for an original artwork on a bag. 

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Farmers market: 30 years in Santa Monica

Alex Weiser (above, right) is one of the best-known farmers at the Santa Monica Farmers Market. His melons, carrots and wide variety of potatoes draw crowds to his tables every week. But when he began, he was a college student helping out his parents and employing his friends.

Meanwhile, Molly Gean had to ask repeatedly before the market allowed her to sell her product: Harry's Berries -- now a foodie favorite for its fragile strawberries, among other items.

Gean and Weiser shared their memories Thursday night on a panel about the 30th anniversary of the Santa Monica Wednesday market -- a market that chef Mark Peel of Campanile called one of the most important in the country.

The panel was one of many events marking the anniversary, concluding with the Good Food Festival and Conference in September.

The market opened in the summer of 1981 with 23 farmers, said Laura Avery, the manager who joined the market the following year. "I'm in awe of what these farmers do," she said.

Gean noted that some of the early farmers have died, and that in some cases, like her own, the next generation is at the market stalls. She and Weiser both said farmers markets helped save their farms -- and saved them from having to grow produce not for flavor but rather to the specifications of more commercial wholesale operations.

Peel, a market maven, makes menus around what he finds. And these days, he goes on Wednesday, writes a menu, sends pictures and tweets about what he'll cook that night. Often, he says, the menu is posted before he can get from Santa Monica back to his La Brea restaurant.

Josie LeBalch from the restaurant Josie said she and other chefs have asked the farmers to grow what they want to cook, and in turn the farmers have introduced them to ingredients such as purslane that they now use.

The attitude toward a new thing, she said, is sometimes: "I don't even know what it is, but I want it first."

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Photo: Sotera Jaime of Jaime Farms and Alex Weiser at the Santa Monica Farmers Market. Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

3 Events: Cooking demos; Yujean Kang's tofu-and-wine dinner

Shop and cook: Santa Monica's Gourmandise School of Sweets and Savories will be holding a series of free class demonstrations with local chefs. Meet the chef at the Santa Monica Farmers Market, walk through the market for a morning shopping tour, then follow the chef back to the cooking school for a demonstration and tasting. Classes kick off with Chef Joe Miller of Venice's Joe's Restaurant. Miller will meet with students at the farmers market on Aug. 17 at 9 a.m.; the demonstration ends at 11:30 a.m. The next scheduled chef is Mark Gold of Eva Restaurant, who will lead the tour and demonstration on Aug. 31. The classes are free, but do require an RSVP. Click here for more information and to reserve a spot.

"Joy of Soy": Chef Yujean Kang at Yujean Kang's in Pasadena curates a five-course tofu-and-wine dinner on Aug. 12. The dinner highlights the textures and shapes of tofu prepared with a variety of methods and flavors, including stuffed tofu with shrimp and minced pork and sweet soft tofu with sesame paste and sesame ice cream. Optional wine pairings, such as Champagne Ployez Jacquemart Brut NV with julienned pressed tofu with chicken and Chinese ham. $45 per person; an additional $45 for wine pairing. 7:30 p.m. Call for reservations. 67 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, (626) 585-0855, www.yujeankangs.com.  

Cupcake class: Bittersweet Treats proprietor and former "Top Chef: Just Desserts" contestant Danielle Keene will lead a cupcake class on Sunday at Malibu Family Farm. Keene will teach basic and more advanced techniques to decorate cupcakes with homemade frosting. A starter kit for your cupcake-making needs will be raffled off. Appetizers and beverages provided. $75 per person. Space is limited to 12 people; class will last about three hours. E-mail malibufamilyfarm@gmail.com for a reservation. 

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Upper photo: Santa Monica Farmers Market. Credit: Anne Cusack/Los Angeles Times

Lower photo: Bittersweet cupcakes. Credit: Bittersweet Treats

Santa Monica Farmers Market turns 30; giant party planned

 

The Santa Monica Farmers Market is a giant among its peers, with its huge assortment of vendors and its reputation as the place to spot interesting produce and famous chefs. It should not be a surprise that it intends to celebrate its 30th birthday in a giant way, with a five-day festival and conference on Sept. 14-18.

The idea is to show off the food and its growers, and to talk about regional and national food and farming issues in a series of panels and speeches. There will be a street fair too. The market has four sites, two on Saturday, one on Sunday and the largest one, on Wednesdays.

The Good Food Festival & Conference is organized by FamilyFarmed.org, a Chicago-based organization that works to expand the production and distribution of locally grown food and raise issues related to it.

The event will include workshops and panels on food policy, school food, hunger, the environment, farming and organic food. There will be demonstrations on growing a butterfly garden, food perservation, beekeeping and composting. Speakers include the farmers who sell the produce at the markets; chefs who cook their food; and others, including the chief executive of Chipotle, Steve Ells; food activist and grower Will Allen; and L.A.'s senior advisor on food policy, Paula Daniels.

There's so much going on, it's not contained in the Good Food Festival & Conference. On Aug. 27 at Santa Monica Place,  chefs will make jams, pastries and other foods. And on Sept. 8, the director of "Food, Inc.," Robert Kenner, and Barbara Spencer of Windrose Farms will lead a conversation at Food Restaurant, near Rancho Park. There's also a film series.

An art exhibit of farm scenes from the L.A. area will be on display at Santa Monica High School. The art was created in the 1930s, as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration. For more info, go to www.goodfoodfestivals.com.

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Photo of Santa Monica Farmers Market by Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

3 Food Events You Should Know About: 'Forks Over Knives' + free brunch; 'The Forager and the Chef' at Hollywood Farmers' Market; Laurent Quenioux at Starry Kitchen

Brunch and a movie: A screening of "Forks Over Knives," a documentary that explores the link between diet and the leading causes of death in the U.S. -- heart disease, cancer and stroke -- will be hosted by Art Theatre of Long Beach and Whole Foods. Whole Foods is providing a free light brunch prepared by chef Paul Buchanan in the lobby before the screening. (Our guess is that there will be no bacon-stuffed French toast.) Tickets are $11, available at www.arttheatrelongbeach.com or here. Sunday, July 24. Brunch at 11:15 a.m., screening at 11:45 a.m. 2025 E. 4th St., Long Beach, (562) 438 5435.  

Starry Kitchen suppers: Chef Laurent Quenioux returns to Starry Kitchen for select dates (every other week from Sunday to Tuesday) between July 31 and Aug. 30 for the LQ @ SK dinner series. Will Quenioux, former chef-owner of Bistro LQ, revisit his teriyaki rabbit albondigas? Space is limited; two seatings per night. $45 per person. Reservations are available on a first-come, first-served basis online only. 350 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, www.starrykitchen.com.

Farmers market fundraiser: Patina executive chef Tony Esnault and forager Kerry Clasby host "The Forager and the Chef" on Sunday, July 31, a fundraiser in support of the Hollywood Farmers' Market Preservation Fund. The afternoon includes foraging with Clasby and Esnault, lunch and a cooking demonstration. Foraging at the farmers market, noon to 3 p.m., $75 per person. Cooking demonstration and discussion with Esnault, 3 to 4 p.m., $50 per person. Guests can take part in the whole afternoon for $125. Space is limited; tickets can be reserved at www.hollywoodfarmerskitchen.org, purchased at the information booth at the Hollywood Farmers' Market on Sundays, or call (323) 467.7600. Also, donations to the Hollywood Farmers’ Market Preservation Fund can be made at www.farmernet.com.  

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Photo: Cherries at Hollywood Farmers' Market. Credit: David Karp