Top Ten List: Dallas Farmers Market

In D magazine's June issue, they do a great job adding voice (including the wonderful Nancy Nichols') to the organic vs. local food debate. I talked about it a couple of days ago. Certainly, they (and I) would encourage you to head to the Dallas Farmers Market (although I also plan to check out the markets in Coppell and McKinney in the next several weeks) and stock up. For a twenty spot, you can buy more fruits and vegetables than your family can eat in a week. (Just make sure you're in the yellow shed and buying from stalls marked "Farmer.")

When I did my shopping last weekend, I had my D magazine in hand and hit a few (new to me)stalls they suggested in their "10 Things You Must Taste." Certainly, I already knew about the tomatoes at Carolyn and J.T Lemley's stall. They've been my go-to source for years now. (Hint: Check out the "uglies" on the concrete floor under the tables. The tomatoes stashed down there aren't perfectly photogenic, but taste just as wonderful. And they're cheap too. They're perfect to make the tomato jam recipe in this post.)

But there were other products I wasn't familiar with, including several in covered Shed 2 (which is due a makeover over the next several months; it will be converted into a space dedicated to natural, organic and farmstead products like cheeses, meat and breads). Here's my tasting report:

• Farmstead cheese from Debbie and Michael Sams' cows at Full Quiver Farm just outside of Kemp, Texas. I picked up a ball of their mozzarella. It was wonderful with (Lemley's) tomatoes and basil from my garden, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt. A wonderfully clean cheese with a hint of what almost seemed like smoke. Although I hate to say it, it gave Paula Lambert's WONDERFUL mozzarella a run for its money.



• Stuffed Italian bread from Philomena Food Company. I arrived it thinking I'd buy the one with Italian sausage and caramelized onion, but simply couldn't pass up the fig, prosicutto and gorgonzola version. With a green salad and a nice fruity Zinfandel, it's destined for a summer supper here at mi casa.



• Don't miss the honey from Round Rock Honey. It's raw wildflower honey (although they do filter it, thank goodness, so there are no bee wings involved), and it's delicious. Full-flavored and rich, it's great in recipes or just drizzled on whatever you have on hand to drizzle it onto. (Quite frankly, a finger will do!)



• And regardless of where your bread is buttered...it should be buttered with the rich goodness that comes from the grass-fed cows at Wagon Creek Creamery. It's a beautiful yellow, lightly salted, and fills your mouth with the wonderfully herby taste of the grass the cows ate before milking. I've never churned butter, but I can only hope THIS is what it would taste like if I ever did.
  

And I have to go back for the spices at Kurry King. Even in their plastic bags, the wonderful aromas attacked me. And the beef, lamb and chicken from Rehoboth Ranch. Apparently, they're so popular that most of the cuts were sold out by noon on the Saturday I went.

Check it out. Hopefully, we won't be competing for the ribeyes on the day you go...