Phoenix Food Blog

Photo courtesy of Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau

James Porter

​Sometimes shopping at farmers markets can be overwhelming, and you end up packing 10 reusable bags full of fresh fruits and veggies but don't know where to start once you get to the kitchen.

Learn just how to turn all that produce into perfection at the Old Town Scottsdale Farmers' Market Farm Sessions, where Scottsdale chefs guide buyers throughout the market and then demonstrate how to cook the ingredients.

​Scottsdale's Old Town Farmers Market is back and reportedly going to be bigger than ever. How big? Well, just about double the size of last season's.

Big name local produce growers McClendon's Select, Seacat Gardens, and Maya's Farm will all be selling fresh fruits and veggies at the market, something other farmer's markets have been lacking. The La Vida Locavore truck will also be slinging fresh, local foods. What is a locavore, you ask? Apparently, it is someone who only eats foods produced within a 100 mile radius of where they live.

The market will be open on Halloween morning from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. But we're excited for the following weekend because market organizers are beginning an event where a local chef shops with market attendees for ingredients to one of their recipes. The guest chef will then demo the recipe. The first chef up to the plate is James Porter from Petite Maison, who has decided not to plan a menu and improvise with what's available at the market.

Nothing like an improv cooking class to start your Saturday right!

Despite a valiant attempt by Mother Nature, the first-ever Market on Mill was not rained out last night. Instead, delicious bread, ice cream, herbs and other market-fresh items were up from grabs. Check out a few photos from last night. 

​If you've been at a farmers market in the Valley lately, you've probably run into a booth with a rather odd name and a Nebraska Huskers bumper sticker on the cooler: Pork on a Fork.

The name, we're not sure about, but the Huskers sticker is there because the company's two owners, Wes Hansen and Justin Erickson, moved out to Arizona from the hog farms of Nebraska they call home. When they got here, they realized there was a gap in the market -- one that made their tummies rumble for some farm-raised pork.

So was born Pork on a Fork, just three months ago -- and it's been popping up all over the place since.

Namely, the Twilight Farmers' Market in Glendale, the Ahwatukee Farmers' Market, St. Philip's Plaza Farmers' Market in Tucson and the Roadrunner Park Farmers' Market in Phoenix. In addition, 10 of of their top products are now available on Foodzie.com, the Web site that allows people to order food directly from local producers. That's right, they'll deliver it to your door.

Erickson's brother, Russ, stayed in Nebraska on the fourth-generation family farm, raising healthy hogs that they promise get plenty of exercise and fresh air, while his brother and Hansen sell the pork products, from BBQ pulled pork to jalapeno bratwurst, at farmers markets across the Valley.

And these farm boys are sure to point out that their hogs are raised humanely, are disease-free and have been given no hormones or antibiotics.

If you're going to be in California next week, look for the Pork on a Fork guys at the Celebrity Food Show in Anaheim, from August 7 to 9, where they'll be lending their pork loin to celebrity chef Guy Fieri, of the Food Network. He'll be making Pork el Fuego with their products in a series of demonstrations during the event, which draws an estimated 30,000 people each year.

CenPho's very own Phoenix Public Market can officially call itself a foodie destination.

Epicurious.com, the Web site, information hub and social forum "for people who love to eat," has made the Phoenix Public Market it's first stop on their second annual summer Farmers' Market tour. Our very own Southwestern local produce and flair will be added to their list of destination markets in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, D.C. and Philadelphia.

The Web site, which is partnered with Gourmet magazine, Bon Appetit, Self and a few other Condé Nast favorites, features more videos than the Food Network could air in a day and an absolute library of recipes.

The epicurious folks will be setting up a booth at the southeast corner of Central and McKinley this evening, with the best of the Valley's local producers, from 4 until 8. Stop by and get a free tote bag (the kind perfect for eco-friendly farmers' market shopping) as well as a recipe card geared toward the local fare.

Downtown urbanites will no longer have to brave the summer heat for their local veggies and fruits come September.

The folks behind the Phoenix Public Market, the Saturday farmer's market for the downtown set, are making progress on the construction of its indoor incarnation, the Urban Grocery and Wine Bar at 14 E. Pierce St.

The downtown market was conceived from the beginning as one step in the process of building a permanent market district for CenPho. Though it won't be open until mid-September, Phoenix Public Market, which opened in 2005, is a year-round endeavor -- one of the few farmer's markets that braves the summer sun every Saturday morning from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The idea of eating cactus -- a plant covered in spikes -- might cause some to laugh or grimace, or run away. But a true Southwesterner knows that's all a ruse. Just strip off that rough exterior of certain varieties -- and a tasty, okra-like veggie is waiting to be eaten.

Nopalitos, or the small pads of a prickly pear cactus, are, in fact, a staple of Mexican cuisine and can be found in your front yard -- or (don't worry) already prepared at your local farmer's market.

The Santa Cruz River farmer's market in Tucson gained some national attention today for this rather unexpected form of desert cuisine, but something tells us this is not a culinary treat that will be sweeping the nation anytime soon. Though most wouldn't hesitate to drink it in vodka form, maybe you have to have lived through a lifetime of scorching summers to appreciate eating a delicacy that's so seemingly...well, prickly.

Lauren Gilger

Shopping as the sun goes down at the Twilight Farmer's Market in Glendale.

The Twilight Farmer's Market in Glendale is the least farmer-y Farmer's Market we've ever come across. When you may be expecting summer sun, gravel beneath your feet and cowboy hats abounding, Glendale has put together a chic outdoor gathering of vendors selling everything from your usual local veggies and fruits -- to cupcakes, olive oils and wines. And, in a season when Valley-ites flee to cooler climates and Farmer's Markets disappear with them, they've found a way to keep the local markets selling through the summer: by doing it at twilight.

The Arizona sunset was gorgeous (per usual) at last Wednesday's weekly event, and temperatures were bearable (to those of us who live here, at least). There was ready-made food (we enjoyed the pita bar by Next Coffee Company), a local band playing good oldies -- and even swamp coolers and giant fans to keep the crowd cool.

And it looks like crowds aren't hard to come by out in the West Valley. Families, little kids (there's a nice children's area with a real, live magician!), couples and teens in awkward couples filled the newish shopping center last Wednesday evening.

Check it out tonight and every Wednesday night through the end of July at Glendale's Citadelle Plaza on North 59th Avenue and Utopia, from 6-9 p.m.

photo by Eric Hunt, used under Creative Commons License

Pepper diversity: The species Capsicum annuum gives us chiles, bell peppers, and more.

This part of Arizona's growing season, though somewhat curtailed by heat, is a fun, quirky treasure hunt, too, because every local ag-head is harvesting a unique mix of produce. But colorful fresh peppers are a constant at the moment, just about everywhere you look.

Carl Seacat enjoys introducing us to rarer varieties, and he's currently excited about Padrón peppers, named after the town in Spain that just about revolves around these little green yummers. Local Padrón fanatics who've literally been ordering produce online are also excited about getting them from Seacat Gardens.

photo by Eric Hunt, used under Creative Commons License

This is what they look like when they aren't dried and stuffed into a Newton -- it's fruit, man!

We talked with farmer Sri about what's in this week's harvest, and she waxed eloquent about summer fruits: "The figs are awesome! And we have a whole big apple box of lemons for ten bucks. Lemons are almost gone -- they're dropping," probably from those storms just before Memorial Day.

A lot of people have never had a fresh fig -- it has a short shelf life, once picked, and that's why urban dwellers are more accustomed to preserved and dried figs. But they grow like weeds here, so no more excuses! They're fantastic, and yes, the skin may still be green when the fig is ripe.

Sri told us that apricots and peaches are also in the mix now. Apricots smell like heaven and go well with almonds, ginger, and/or dark chocolate. Also that Moroccan chicken dish. (Yes, we're stoked.)

Sri's Fruits and Vegetables vends fresh produce from 8 a.m. to noon each Sunday at the Ahwatukee Farmers' Market.

Julie Peterson

These babies from Pinnacle Gardens a few weeks ago are just a tease; now summer squash is go!

Here's some really new news: Event management company Pro Em is hosting a farmers' market and rummage sale (plus an informal job fair) at their facility at 4707 East Baseline Road (just west of I-10) tomorrow from 8 a.m. to noon. If all goes well, the event might return in the fall and recur quarterly. This part of near-Tempe could really use a Saturday-morning market, and the produce vendors are being coordinated by the good folks at Arizona Community Farmers Markets, so it's not just some do-gooders cleaning out the office fridge, 'kay?

On to this week's other produce-centric musings: We've learned that Maya's Farm will be vending all summer at Old Town Scottsdale Farmers' Market and Downtown Phoenix Public Market, and fans are squeeing in delight. But Maya's stand at the farm makes its last stand for the season tomorrow, so keep that in mind if you're thinking of stopping by.

Julie Peterson

Before the squash comes the blossom.

Some flowers make a cute and colorful edible garnish. Some, like roses and hibiscus, impart magical flavor through their essences. But the large and meaty squash blossom is practically an entree on its own and has enriched its local cuisines for centuries. The taste is much like young tender squash, but the texture is really something else.

Like mature summer squash, blossoms can be mixed into a soup or stew or stuffed with other ingredients. They're often dipped in egg or a more complex batter and fried -- the now-defunct Taneko Japanese Tavern, a great izakaya place by the Scottsdale Borgata, served them tempura-style, with the tiny developing squash attached and stuffed with interesting things.

McClendon's Select Organics is one of the Valley growers that harvests blossoms from squash plants and sells them at farmers' markets so you can try your own dishes. As any gardener knows, many plants can't support every bud all the way through to flower and then fruit, so using surplus blossoms as food is good husbandry as well as a fun exploration.

Tomorrow's Town and Country Farmers' Market (Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the shopping center at 20th Street and Camelback Road) will be a good opportunity to snag some of these briefly appearing delicacies. McClendon's also vends produce at Scottsdale's Saturday Old Town Farmers' Market (which has shifted to spring hours of 8 a.m. to noon for the month of May).

Julie Peterson

One Windmill Farms' Queen Creek peaches are the belles of the ball.

Each of the Valley's farmers' markets has its own distinctive atmosphere. That's fun to suss out, but we're all about the produce, too. The Roadrunner Park Farmers' Market, just off the 51 on Cactus Road, is Phoenix's oldest -- it'll celebrate its 20th birthday in October -- and both the setting and the vendor lineup have a mature, settled feel, like a portable weekly neighborhood where everybody's known each other for years.

These farmers, cooks, and crafters settle into their stands under 50-foot pines lining a grassy field for a Saturday morning of serious business mixed with easy conversation. You'll get an earful of weather developments, economic theory, art criticism, local politics, and intense networking, not just from vendors but from their longtime customers, neighbors, and other park visitors.

Julie Peterson

It's the attack of the wonderful healthy tomatoes at Seacat Gardens.

A jungle, an ocean, a wild maze of huge, sprawling plants bearing thousands of colorful, fragrant fruit. That's how it feels just a few steps into the tomato beds in Seacat Gardens' leased acre on the edge of Blue Sky Farms in Litchfield Park.

"I just started here last fall," says organic specialty produce grower Carl Seacat, who seems cheerfully taken aback by what his backyard veggie garden has developed into. "I get a lot of comments on how good the vegetables taste, but there's a few reasons, I think, for that. For me, one is the water. I want to grow tomatoes, I want to grow beans, I want to grow other big plants that sprinkler irrigation harms. We had this big deal about putting in drip irrigation. What we did was, my acre is watered from well water. Doing this is incredibly expensive."

Julie Peterson

Turnips are usually prepared in potato-like ways -- boiled and mashed, creamed, roasted whole, gratinée -- but these small, red-on-the-outside "salad turnips," currently wrapping up their local season, are tender enough to enjoy uncooked, with a mild bite similar to a cabbage heart. Peeled and sliced, the white interior features a rosy starburst inside (see photo below). It's a Spirograph vegetable!

Julie Peterson

The color and crunch make raw salad turnips a great component in a savory salad. The cute little slices can also be steamed or sautéed (however you cook them, the flavor will mellow to a moist, soothing summer-squashiness). And if you're a fan of Terra Chips, you might see those pretty magenta stripes and think about frying the turnip fragments up crispy with a dusting of salt, pepper, and thyme. They'll look like bar snacks for Hobbits, and they'll taste pretty good, too.

Maya's Farm vends produce at the Downtown Phoenix and Old Town Scottsdale farmers' markets. Farmer Maya Dailey will also be co-presenting at the "Cultivate. Feast. Heal." healthy dinner event on Monday evening, May 4, along with Sapna Cafe chef Ana Borrajo and naturopath Dr. Kim.

Jennifer Woods

On the right, the artichoke you eat. On the left, what happens to the big purple flower if you leave it in the field.

Update on last week's post about summer market closings: Next month, the market at the Trilogy Golf Course at Power Ranch in Gilbert will move indoors to the ballroom, switch to first and third Wednesdays, and hang in there through June (which means April 22 outside, and May 6 and 20 and June 3 and 17 in the ballroom).

You know this joke, right? (Just had to get that out of the way.) Yay for artichokes! They're the vegetable version of crabmeat, in a way -- enough of a challenge to dismember and eat in front of people that a lot of us don't bother to prepare them. You don't have to make your dinner guests crack their own crab legs or strip their own artichokes, by the way, but messy food can be a fun experience to share.

Julie Peterson

Say goodbye for the summer: After Sunday, April 19, the pretty flowers and gourmet treats of Switch's outdoor Sunday market won't be back until fall.

As we move into the season of relentless, broiling sunlight, several of our local farmers' markets very sensibly take a break until people start wanting to hang around outdoors again. (It's also a challenge to keep human beings -- let alone produce, dairy, or meat -- fresh in a little booth when it's over 100° F. out.)

Many of the larger, better-established markets are sticking it out (though some growers also close their individual stalls during the hot season, when harvests slow), and we'll keep up with what's going on at those. But, for your activity-planning pleasure, check the list of upcoming closing dates after the jump, as well as a couple of early and Easter weekend-only closings.

Julie Peterson

Bunneh sez "nom nom nom": Genuine baby carrots from Love Grows Farms

Spring weather hereabouts is famously capricious, and no one knows that better than produce growers and their fans. Right now, we're sitting smack in the season of dependable year-round crops like tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, and citrus. Some farmers have other items at the moment, and some don't, and it changes day by day.

Every field -- even each side of the same field -- is a unique microclimate that might produce a new harvest next week or might get crotchety and make you wait. Temperatures in the next couple of weeks will determine when cruciferous vegetables give up for the summer and melons start rolling in.

Carl Seacat in a rare moment of repose

The hot trend of featured chefs at farmers' markets just keeps gathering momentum. Beginning this Saturday, March 28, Tapino Kitchen & Wine Bar's award-winning James Porter will appear at the brand-new Seacat Gardens stall at Scottsdale's Old Town Farmers' Market, preparing a dish based on seasonal produce for shoppers to taste and be inspired by.

Carl Seacat will bring fresh celery, beets, radishes, and a grip of other goodies for Porter to select from, as well as a variety of veg for you, the customer. Bring your picky eaters and get them excited about all this produce you keep bringing home (we aren't the only ones who need more ideas what to do with it).

If you aren't much of a cook, maybe you can talk Porter into putting his creation on the menu. That's the plan for the scads and scads of assorted heirloom tomatoes that Seacat foresees beginning to harvest in two or three weeks. They'll be all over Tapino's dishes as well as Scottsdale's Old Town and Go Green and Downtown Phoenix markets.

Julie Peterson

Tomayto, tomahto, potayto, potahto: Fresh from the Yuma farm.

Ever since grocery-store tomatoes got as costly as meat, we've been garnishing our routine sandwiches with other things. If the love apple is a luxury anyway, might as well hold out for the ripeness, taste, and texture of a locally grown, recently harvested 'mater like the ones currently available from Brent McCaleb of Sunny Boy Produce.

McCaleb vends the produce of his uncle's Yuma farm at the Borgata of Scottsdale's Friday market and entertainment event, through April 24, and also at the twice-monthly San Tan Village farmers' market in Gilbert. The Borgata event is from 1 to 7 p.m., which is swell for people who tend to be at work during weekday morning markets. Sounds like a nice low-pressure segue into the weekend, too.

This Saturday, March 21, is the every-third-Saturday Estrella Lakeside Market in Goodyear. It closes for the summer as well, so you have only a few more chances to check it out before fall. Say hey to Farmer Dave and the ubiquitous and fabulous folks from The Tamale Store.

The kaffir lime leaf, without which you're up tom yum creek without a galangal.

Wife-and-husband Chandler farmers Sri and Richard know how to make their fresh produce a hot commodity: Control access. You can't find Sri's Fruits and Vegetables anywhere, any time, except at the Ahwatukee Farmers' Market each Sunday morning. (Okay, it's a small family business, and it's not as though they're sitting on their hands and whistling while you wish they could vend more places, but the exclusivity is kind of cool anyway.)

Look for the huge stall near the southeast entrance to the market, and wander the mini-aisles in wonder. You'll see the usual seasonal culprits along with daikon radish, flowering baby bok choy, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, and other esoteric (for most of us suburban Americans) veggies.

The Mesa Community Farmers' Market takes place every Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 260 North Center Street, just north of downtown Mesa.

John Scott of One Windmill Farm, one of the market's produce vendors, says he's been getting a lot of love for his cucumbers. Get your mind back into the kitchen; these are veggies, okay? "We've got plenty of European cucumbers," says Scott, who also vends Saturdays at the Downtown Phoenix and Roadrunner Park markets. "They're probably 4 to 6 inches long; you use them the same as you'd use any cucumber." Hmmm, maybe that doesn't entirely clear it up, but chacun à son goût, after all.

Cute little Brussels sprouts are also in season, and they're one of those things that are simply orders of magnitude tastier when purchased fresh, gently cooked, and lightly buttered. So give 'em a chance.

We also hear that the Friday Carefree Farmers' Market will be closed tomorrow only, March 6, to make room for the Carefree Fine Art and Wine Festival, which sounds pretty cool in itself.

Julie Peterson

The alluring and tasty Easter Egg radish assortment is sown, harvested, and enjoyed as a mixture of red, purple, pink, and white varieties, each with its own flavor (pictured, a bunch from Crooked Sky Farms).

Unless you prepare a lot of fish tacos (or old-school relish trays like the one served at Durant's), it's a good bet the humble, easy-to-grow radish doesn't regularly make it onto your shopping list. This is a crying shame, especially in our neck of the woods, where spicy is a way of life. The subtle bite and mellifluous crunch of a fresh radish is a real treat. For breakfast or a light supper, radishes with bread and butter (and a little salt, if that's your thing) can't be beat.

It's not too late to get your fix, Maya Dailey of Maya's Farm tells us: "From me, you'll see radishes for quite a while -- through the end of [March] and probably into April." (Maya's produce appears at Downtown Phoenix Public Market and Scottsdale's Old Town Farmers' Market -- and while she can't speak for other growers, of course, they were all radished up, too, last time we checked.)

And because they are such a hardy, reliable crop, just about any produce stand at any market has lovely radishes among their wares.

Peas that have been canned or frozen are vastly inferior to a freshly harvested springtime pea. They might as well be completely unrelated vegetables. When people first try the fresh ones, they usually say something like, "These are the best peas I've ever tasted in my entire life."

Now's the time for your own pea-k experience. According to Jesus Muñoz of Glendale's Crooked Sky Farms, once the peas mature on the vine, they must be harvested quickly, and then the vine dies -- that's why their appearances in markets are rare and brief. Crooked Sky grows three varieties of field pea, and the first one to mature, the English pea, is hitting market stalls now.

Julie Peterson

The wily romanesco, lurking in the McClendon's Select stall at Town and Country farmers' market.

The curious little kid in us really comes out when we see a funky new fruit or vegetable. (It makes fixing dinner a bit more interesting, too.) One of the loveliest oddities available right now is romanesco, a mysterious relative of cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage.

Did you know that all those veggies can be bred with each other? (Math geeks, check out that link for all the glory that is "fractal food" like romanesco, where each branch and bud is a miniature replica of the whole head.)

Jonathan McNamara

Jan's Baked Goods goes seasonal with treats that you could totes pass off as your own handiwork.

Whether you love or hate Valentine's Day, you can soothe your heart and soul at Downtown Phoenix Public Market and grab a couple of nifty presents while you're at it.

Many vendors also sell their goods at local stores, online, or at more than one Valley farmers' market, so check the links provided below or contact them through the main market site. (And have some backup options in mind, because not every vendor attends every market with every product in stock.)