This Week at the Smart Markets Bristow Farmers' Market

This Week at the Smart Markets Bristow Farmers' Market
Sunday 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Bristow Commons
Bristow Montessori School Parking Lot
9050 Devlin Rd.
Bristow, VA 20136
Map

Dear Shopper,

We are working on a solution to the parking issue. Please take care in the meantime; families and children share the road, so drive slowly, pay attention and move to the end of the road where there is more likely to be a space. Also, you may want to wait until a little later to come shop; after 1:30 p.m. we are much less busy, and parking is no problem.

To relieve any anxiety you may have about Blue Dog BBQ being out of your favorite cuts if you do come later, you may order ahead by emailing them at bluedogBBQ@gmail.com. They appreciate pre-orders, as they helps them plan what to put in the pit.

I do hope you were able to shop with Flor and the Machine last week, better known as Delicias del Sur. Our new empanada baker brought a crew of energetic and efficient guys who lit up the place — though not literally, of course. Rumor has it that one of those guys is her son. Let her know what you would like to see for fillings in those empanadas. She cooks to please and is already thinking about other delicious South American specialties to bring for your dining pleasure or just to eat on site.

I was concerned last week that Mike Burner felt left out on the edges of the market, so please stop by and meet our sustainable farmer. From Holly Brook Farm, Mike brings us organically grown fruits and vegetables; the only thing missing is the federal certification. He is bringing bedding plants for your own garden that have been nurtured in his greenhouse in local soil and in temperatures similar to those in your garden, so those plants will hit your garden ready to pop up and out with little transition trauma. He has 20 different tomato plants, a huge variety of herbs, and much more. Pick up a few to plant in your garden or yard with your children; you can begin teaching them about where their food comes from right at home! Mike will also have the first of his strawberries this week.

Shelby will be ready for Mother’s Day with gorgeous cupcakes and those really good little shortcakes for making your own dessert at home with local strawberries. The market is full of berries — try them. Max Tyson, Jr. of Tyson Farms and Orchards will be back at the market and will be sampling those berries along with the last of the apples. Too bad he cannot sample his asparagus — it’s really good, too.

Don’t forget to check for new recipes, and drive safely!

See you at the market!

From the Market Master

Oh Luscious Bulb! Sweet Anise Divine!

OK, that’s it for the ode part! Occasionally I do know when to quit while I’m ahead. But I am writing about fennel this week because I love it and I finally have a couple of farmers who are growing it to sell at the markets. It isn’t easy to grow in this area, and it wasn’t easy to convince those farmers to grow it either, but in appreciation for their special efforts, the least I can do is let you know why we all went to so much trouble.

I am indebted to numerous articles over the years in the food magazines I read but also to an NPR story by Howard Yoon and SixWise.com for the nutritional analysis.

I am not sure I had ever used it or even seen it until I was putting together a menu for a mystery-solving party that I catered for a client some 20 years ago. The mystery they would be solving during the dinner took place in the Mediterranean, so I developed a menu around a Moroccan stew and somewhere along the way was inspired to include braised fennel as one of the accompanying dishes. And the love affair began — which is a miracle, because your first whiff of fennel will remind you of licorice, and I hate licorice.

But it is called “sweet” anise for a reason; it is a much milder and sweeter cousin of plain old anise, the herb that inspired the licorice flavor in candy and other more pungent foods.

I now use fennel in every dish that requires any kind of mirepoix or mixture of aromatic veggies to lay the foundation for the flavors to come. I cannot bring myself to make a tomato sauce without it, but I also use it in chili, soups, and beans and rice, and the list really does go on and on. Like onions and garlic, I always have it on hand. I use it all year long, even if I have to buy it at the grocery store, and it is the star attraction in dishes such as fennel slaw and any frittata that I make. Sauteed with onion as the base of a frittata, it caramelizes in the oven and produces one of my favorite flavors.

Along the way I have learned that it is one of the healthiest veggies you can eat, so using it the way I do provides a wealth of nutrients on a regular basis. It’s much better for you than taking a multivitamin and much more delicious. Fennel provides an amazing amount of phytonutrients that have been found to reduce inflammation and help prevent cancer. It is loaded with vitamin C, which as an antioxidant protects your body from free-radical damage and helps keep the immune system healthy itself.

Fennel is a good source of fiber, which helps reduce cholesterol levels, and folate, which helps reduce the risk of heart attacks by turning a dangerous molecule in your body into a harmless compound.

And these benefits have been known since ancient times. There is evidence that Greeks and Romans used fennel as medicine; Pliny the Elder catalogued 22 remedies that used fennel. Charlemagne required that it be included in every imperial garden. It was used in this country by the Puritans, who chewed the seeds during worship services, and at some point in history it was introduced as a seed in bread. When I catered, I made a great fennel rye loaf even before I tried the vegetable itself.

Fennel appears in many international cuisines; it is essential to Indian curries and used in sweet Italian sausage. It is one of the ingredients in Chinese five-spice powder, and it shows up in other Mediterranean and African cuisines. This widespread use of fennel is another testament to its medicinal roots in ancient times and across far-flung climes. At one time, humans ate to stay healthy, not to become unhealthy.

In the modern kitchen, fennel enhances the flavor of other seemingly unrelated ingredients from salmon to oranges. It adds depth to those dishes I mentioned above and does have a lovely, delicate flavor of its own when roasted, braised, or grilled.

So why would you not want to try it? At the market this week, show your appreciation to the farmers who are growing it and the history that has kept it alive as a potent nutrient and delicious ingredient all these years. You too can do something different with it every week and learn to love it as I do. Ode ended.