Food. Glorious Food - Update 2011: Austin Farmers Markets in Full Splendor

We moved from New England down to toasty Austin for a number of reasons. I wouldn't say food was on the list, but turns out Austin is a much better food city than we had anticipated. The restaurant scene isn't going to be a threat to New York, Chicago or NoCal any time soon, but there's much more to offer than the customary 'cue, Tex-Mex and chicken-fried foodstuffs. Even better is the fresh food here. I'm talking local farms, great stores and bustling farmers markets that have something fresh to sell all year round.

We go to the Austin Farmers Market Downtown nearly every Saturday morning. The market has been growing slowly since we first started going, and now, during the peak season (which we're just finishing up), there's an amazing variety of fresh goods for sale.

During the hotter part of the summer, things slow down. In August, you might see little more than okra, squash, herbs and a few odd peppers. From May to June, though, you can find an amazing assortment of vegetables: Collards, different varieties of kale, chard and every other green; squash in an assortment of shapes; fresh, juicy garlic, onions and shallots; beautiful beets, carrots, turnips and other root veggies; plus, more exotic things such as opo, pea tendrils, squash blossoms and the like.

There are tons of good vegetable vendors there. Who you prefer will depend on what you're looking for. We usually check them all out once, then go back around a second time and buy the best stuff we see. For variety, Tecolote and Johnson's Backyard Garden are two safe bets. For some good deals, Ottmer's and some of the smaller farms are worth investigating.

Good late-Spring offering at the Austin Farmer's Market Downtown (clockwise from far left): Rainbow chard, two types of summer squash, purple carrots, radicchio, tomatoes, lacinato kale, red potatoes, peaches, small green plums, cukes sprinkled about.

The farmers market has gotten serious about meat as well. One guy there sells amazing, farm-raised fowl: chicken, duck and drake, guinea hen, sometimes pigeon if he has enough to harvest a few. We're landlocked here, but there's still a very good fish purveyor who buys on the Gulf Coast early, puts his stuff on ice and high-tails it to ATX. There are multiple options for great lamb and beef. And two different vendors are offering sausage, charcuterie and condiments of astonishing quality: Kocurek Family Charcuterie and Dai Due, run by local hero chef Jesse Griffiths (lots of prior posts about Dai Due -- mmmm).

Prepared foods are not the focus of the farmer's market, but there are still a smattering of good options for breakfast, lunch or a snack. Jesse from Dai Due cranks out amazing breakfasts and lunches alongside his to-go offerings. Grandma's Hummus is the best retail hummus I've ever tasted, hands down. I haven't tried one, but I've heard reliable good buzz about Bola Pizza, especially the breakfast pizza. Coffee, crazy-good hot chocolate, ice pops, Thai, Brazilian, baked items, and vegan food are among the other quality choices. And you can't go wrong with a breakfast taco from Sam at Taocdeli, which are some of the best in town.

Sam!

As the vegetable variety wanes, fruit offerings pick up. Right now is about as good as it gets: peaches, plums, figs, berries, pears and melons are everywhere. Last week, I got some great flat, white-fleshed "donut" peaches, which I've never seen outside a good supermarket's produce department.

Local white peaches. These things are seriously delicious.

I bought way too many plums meanwhile. Some of them are pretty tart, almost like a gooseberry. Perfect for a dessert of some kind, so I whipped up a couple of small rustic tarts, one with those tart plums (and a healthy dose of sugar), the other with fresh blackberries I picked up.

Pre-cooked tarts: plum (rear) and blackberry (front)

There are lots of similar recipes out there, but I actually like this one that my stepfather shared with me, from (shhh) Martha. There's even a pretty helpful video if you want to see some of it done. This will make one large tart or two smaller ones like the ones I made.

Rustic Plum Tart

• Prep Time40 minutes
• Total Time2 hours 20 minutes
• YieldServes 6

Ingredients

• For The Crust

  • 1 cup all purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for work surface
  • 1/4 cup fine yellow cornmeal
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

• For The Filling

  • 1 1/2 pounds red plums, quartered, pitted, and sliced 1/4-inch thick
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 large egg yolk, mixed with 1 teaspoon water (egg wash)

  Directions

  1. Make the crust: In a food processor, pulse flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt several times to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces remaining. Add 2 tablespoons ice water; pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed. (If needed, add up to 2 tablespoons more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.) Do not overmix.
  2. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface; knead once or twice. Flatten dough into a disk; wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
  3. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Flour a large (about 16 inches long) piece of parchment paper. Place dough on paper. Using your knuckles, press edges of dough so it doesn't crack during rolling. Lightly flour top of dough to prevent sticking; roll out to a 14-inch round. Transfer dough (still on parchment) to prepared baking sheet.
  4. Make the filling and bake: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, toss together plums, sugar, and flour. Mound plum mixture in center of prepared crust, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Fold border over fruit in a pleated pattern. Brush dough with egg wash.
  5. Bake tart until crust is brown and filling is bubbling (see note), about 45 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to a rack; let cool 20 minutes. Slice and serve warm or at room temperature.

If you can't make it downtown on Saturday, you're not shut out. There are other options here in Austin. Heck, just on Saturday morning there's another huge market down at the Barton Creek Square Mall, plus the Sunset Valley market, which is run by the same folks who put on the downtown market. On Sundays, there's the HOPE Farmers Market, a funky little collection of food and art vendors in the hip confines of East Austin. The Triangle farmer's market, up north, means you can find fresh veggies on Wednesdays too. Want more? Lookie here. No excuses then. Unless you're growing your own, get out there and take advantage of our local produce, and even if you do grow, go check out what Larry Kocurek, Jesse Griffiths and some of the other great local food artisans are doing.