Seasons by the Sea: Fresh From the Farm

The farmers markets have opened for the season, and while many visitors associate them with the bountiful berries, corn, and tomatoes of mid to late-summer, right now is a glorious time. There are tender stalks of freshly picked asparagus, bright peonies, crisp spinach and lettuce, plants to help you to get started on your own garden, mushrooms, honey, cheese, chickens, and so much more.  

There are 14 farmers markets open between Thursdays and Sundays all over the East End and in Westhampton Beach. The market at Nick and Toni’s in East Hampton on Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. has 23 vendors. You can find everything from Greg Hollmann of Sharp Hamptons ready to sharpen your Wusthofs to Abra Morawiec of Feisty Acres Farms selling game birds and quail eggs. Ms. Morawiec has trained her quail to lay eggs in buckets, which makes her the envy of many other poultry and egg producers. She is also raising bobwhites to be released back into the wild to help lessen our insanely huge deer tick population.

Everyone who patronizes farmers markets has his or her favorite. My friends Steven and Stephanie are partial to the Hayground School’s, open from 3 to 6:30 p.m., because, they say, “it’s a happening.” I like Saturdays in Sag Harbor because I can walk there, but the Friday market at Nick and Toni’s is another favorite because it has Sang Lee and Balsam Farms participating. Sang Lee has the best ginger scallion dip; I believe it’s what got my son to eat his crudités from a very young age.

One of my favorite pastimes is throwing “Lightning Round” questions (a la Jim Cramer of “Mad Money” on CNBC) at the farmers and vendors. “What should I do with these leeks? What would you do with this hot chili oil?” They are never at a loss for ideas and most often they include one another’s ingredients.

David Falkowski of Open Minded Organics is a true gourmet and always has brilliant ideas. “Cook the leeks with small shiitake caps in a hot pan, wrap them in a corn tortilla with melted mozzarella cheese.” Yes, he is now making mozzarella! One of my favorite recommendations from David are his oyster mushrooms cooked on the grill with Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, and garlic. Your meat-eater friends will not miss their porterhouse steak when they taste this crisp-on-the-outside, chewy-in-the-middle treat.

Mario Pecoraro of Arlotta olive oils gave me one of the best ideas I have tried in years. He recommended a Browder’s bird, washed, dried, salted, and then rubbed with his hot pepper oil, sprinkled with herbes de Provence, and baked for an hour and 20 minutes. I combined this with spinach from Open Minded Organics, Sungold cherry tomatoes from Wickham’s Farm, and croutons made from Blue Duck Bakery bread. The hot pepper oil lost some of its heat but remained piquant, with the herbs and salt adding just enough flavor to enhance the very chicken-y chicken.

Sean O’Brien of Josephine’s Feast (Josephine is his daughter; his wife, Laura, is the chef who makes wild beach plum preserves, purple carrot relish, chocolate habanero ketchup, and more) told me the ketchup can be eaten on its own or mixed with avocado for a dip. It is sweetened with apples from Falkowski farms.

When I stopped by Maggie Mc­Donough’s Talk Treats to Me, I learned a lot. She makes dehydrated doggie treats (chicken, liver, etc.) and also dehydrates watermelon, bananas, apples, and pineapples. These are meant for dogs, but people can eat them, too. After witnessing someone at the Hampton Classic Horse Show feeding a horse Cap’n Crunch cereal on top of a cannoli (horrors!), she developed horse treats with yams and beets. Apparently, a lot of horses have become diabetic due to all the sugar cubes and peppermint Lifesavers they’ve been fed. So Ms. McDonough felt compelled to come up with a healthier alternative.

Sometimes I come up with a recipe made with one of the farmer’s or vendor’s bounty and I bring him or her a sample, like a salad dressing for Mr. Pecoraro made with his blood orange oil mixed with shallots and herbs. This occasionally gets me a discount. . . . One time I spent 20 minutes with Steven Judson of Amagansett Sea Salt trying to come up with new formulas and names for his salts. “I’m a writer! I’m clever! I cook!” I told him, “You should make a pink salt and call it ‘Sunset Beach!’ ” He gently informed me that all of his salts are inspired by personal experiences. For instance, one of the salt flavors he invented came about after a disappointing day of no surf in Montauk. The solution? Spend the day drinking mojitos!

There are plenty of new vendors at the markets, such as the Clarkson Avenue Crumb Cake Co., selling the best crumb cake I’ve ever tasted; Hillock Distillery, selling high end bourbon, rye, and single malt whiskey made in the Hudson Valley, and, best of all, Peter Ambrose, chef, caterer, restaurateur, selling very reasonably priced and delicious wasabi aioli, white clam sauce, chimichurri, grilled tomato salsa, and more from his new restaurant in Shelter Island Heights, Endless Summer Grille.

I could go on and on and I remain loyal to my favorites: Harissa, Bee’s Needs honey, Mecox Bay Dairy cheeses, Dale and Bette’s arugula, the Seafood Shop, and I am eagerly awaiting Regina Whitney’s tomato pie.

Besides getting the freshest, cleanest food imaginable and supporting farmers, the most fun is seeing what is available and brainstorming over what to make with what you find. Two weeks ago I got puffers from Alex and rolled them in Dale and Bette’s cornmeal seasoned with Old Bay. Last week was the brilliant Browder’s chicken with Arlotta hot pepper oil. Next week, who knows?

Here are some recipes to inspire you after your trip to the farmers markets.

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