Marian Burros, tomatoes ignoring the calendar and Radicchio!

Twenty eight years ago I got a call from Marian Burros. She was on the West Coast promoting her new cookbook and wanted to share a meal with me to discuss it. I was the food feature writer and columnist at the Marin paper at the time, a small but feisty newspaper that allowed me free reign to cover anything food related in the Bay Area. I picked my favorite farm to table restaurant in West Marin and we met there. 

Once we’d ordered and settled in, I told her if we’d waited a couple of months, I could have interviewed her in New York because Gannett Newspapers had just asked me to head East and cover both the New York City restaurant scene and the burgeoning farm culture of the Hudson River Valley. Ms. Burros practically choked on her wine.

“There’s not much going on in the Hudson Valley,” she said. “Nothing compared to Northern California.” She was right about the latter, not the former. As we know, because of where we so happily converge every Saturday, there was, in fact, something very exciting brewing in the Hudson Valley. 

One of the first stories I wrote once east, was about an elderly upstate sheep farmer who delivered freshly-slaughtered lamb to the top chefs in New York once a week. I rode along with her one day in her refrigerated van dropping off lamb carcasses at Jean-Georges, Lutèce, Rocco’s and many others. By the time we got to Raoul’s, our last stop, it was 8 p.m and the restaurant was packed. Because the restaurant had no service entry, we dragged a lamb carcass through the dining room to the delight and horror of guests. Farm to table indeed.

And of course, there was Nancy Macnamara, of Honey Locust Farmhouse, who was growing customized lettuce mixes for top chefs in New York and who I later tapped to join the HFM when I traded newspapers for market life. About a year after I moved to New York, I opened the New York Times to find a big story about the exciting things happening up and down the Hudson Valley. The byline? Marian Burros.

I remember that dinner, and her writings, fondly and was saddened to hear about this grand dame’s passing this week. It seemed fitting that she would leave us just as the fleshy Italian plums are flooding the market, since her plum torte recipe remains the most popular recipe ever published in the NYT. I make a point of posting it every year. This year, it seems particularly apt. Let’s all make a plum torte this weekend. And, top it with mind-bending ice cream from Unofficial Ice Cream. This week’s flavors? Apple & honey; toasted, buttered sourdough, stracciatella with a Concord grape ripple and a basil plum sorbet. I think Marian would approve.

Autumn is on the calendar but the tomatoes say otherwise thanks to the dry warm spell we’ve been experiencing.  So I’m thrilled to offer up some tomato recipes that are more geared for this squishy time of year. Last Friday, after a week tooling around the French southwest in a camper van, we spent a night in Paris, wandering aimlessly on foot in neighborhoods we love, as is my wont. We ended up at Les Philosophes, a fantastic, casual and affordable farm-to-table restaurant in the Marais where I promptly ordered the tomato tarte tatin. Sublime.

I tried to find the restaurant’s recipe for you but fell short, I’m afraid.
But do make this tomato tarte tatin,  to celebrate the tomato’s extended run. Or, this simple tomato sauce from Chef David Tanis, to coat your favorite pasta from La Trafila or to use in this Ottolenghi recipe for cheesy baked polenta . 

Radicchio has turned up with its burnished plum leaves. Yes, you can tear them into salads, but did you know that radicchio is delicious sauteed, charred or braised? Try this recipe for charred radicchio with mozzarella and salsa verde.

Just because the tomatoes and peppers are sticking around, doesn’t mean the apple harvest isn’t in full swing. So, if you like the tomato twist on the tatin, by all means, make a classic apple too. Top with a dollop of White Moustache yogurt! 

If you’ve got a sweet tooth but are vegan and/or gluten-free, do make a pit stop at Charlotte’s Home Kitchen. Charlotte will be bringing her beloved Harvest Moon cake along with other painterly cakes festooned with flowers from her garden.

Things to look out for in the next few weeks? Fernanda Franco will be back with her art class this time featuring potato and vegetable prints on October 25th and local chef/chef instructor Kate Solomon will be doing another cooking demo for kids on Nov. 1 – weather permitting. Also, we will be hosting our annual Halloween Costume Swap on Oct. 18th and Oct. 25th.  So please, head to your attic or basement and dig out those old costumes collecting dust, so that we can pass them on. We will start collecting costumes Oct. 4th. 

This week, The Altogether Trio performs in the music tent. Their harmonizing will knock your socks off. 

See you at the market!