Fall Finds at Durham Farmers' Market

Market Finds
This week Durham Farmers' Market-goers will begin seeing the season's first fresh ginger!  Fresh ginger looks a little different than ginger you see in the grocery store.  It has a very thin, edible skin and has little pink nubs on it.  Fresh ginger is less fibrous than other ginger and it has a somewhat milder taste.

Shoppers will also find locally grown peanuts and the first popcorn of the season. Popping corn is a different variety of corn from the type that you eat on the cob, in fact, it is a very ancient type of corn.  The varieties of corn that are good for popping have strong hulls that are impervious to water.  The kernels contain a certain amount of moisture and oils that make it good for popping.

Results from The 2011 Chef Challenge
In case you missed it last week, the Chef Challenge was very exciting.  And the secret ingredient, according to all of the chefs, was a real challenge... Okra! All the chefs put together amazing dishes that featured okra.  For an in depth coverage of the Challenge, read Bryan Christopher's (one of the judges) post on his blog Searching for Sicily. 

Chef Billy Cotter of TOAST defended his 2010 Chef Challenge Champ title and became the 2011 Champ! Thanks to Chefs Andy Magowan of Geer Street Garden and Josh DeCarolis from Dos Perros for competing.  Also, a big thank you to the judges, Johanna Kramer, Bryan Christopher, Heather Greer Klein and Ross Grady.  Thanks for Frank Stasio for serving as our emcee, Tom Dawson for creating the trophy and WXDU for the use of their sound system.


Fresh this Week
Fruit:  Apples, Pears, Scuppernong Grapes, Watermelon, Peaches 
Vegetables:  Peanuts, Ginger, Popcorn, Asian Greens, Arugula, Beans, Longbeans, Beets, Butterbeans, Cherry Tomatoes, Corn, Collards,  Cucumbers,  Dandelion Greens, Eggplant, Garlic, Gourds, Herbs,  Mustard Greens, Kale, Lambs Quarter,  Lettuce,  Okra, Onions, Pea Shoots, Peppers, Potatoes, Purple Hull Peas, Pumpkins, Salad Mix, Shiitake Mushrooms, Sweet Potatoes, Swiss Chard,  Summer Squash,   Tomatoes,  Winter Squash, Zucchini
Flowers:   Asiatic Lillies, Celosia, Dahlia, Gomphrena, Gladiolus, Lisianthus, Sunflowers, Tuber Rose, Zinnia
Meats: Beef, Bison, Chicken, Duck, Goat/Chevon, Lamb, Rabbit, Pork
And: Fall Vegetable Seedlings, Honey, Chicken and Duck Eggs, Flour, Yellow & White Cornmeal, Grits, Pecans, Wines, Fresh and Aged Goats and Cows Milk Cheeses, Baked Goods, Pasta, Beer, Wine, Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Preserves, Wool, Landscaping Plants
Crafts: Hand-dyed Clothes, Jewelery, Baskets, Pottery, Stained Glass Art, Woodwork, Photographs, Soaps