It's Citrus Season at the Studio City Farmers Market

Winter is a slow season for our farmers at the market. Cold temperatures, rain (although not so much this year) and frost make growing and harvesting crops difficult at this time of year, so many of the farmers’ booths are looking a little bit bare.

In spite of the weather, there are many crops that are at their prime right now, most importantly, citrus. Pomelos (a.k.a., pummelo, jabong or shaddock - in the Caribbean named after Captain Shaddock who first brought pomelo to the islands), those giant grapefruitish things with the three inch skins, blood oranges, with their intense color and unique flavor, tangerines, which include Minneola’s and mandarins, tangelos, grapefruits, (my favorites are the Turkish, also call Sawark which tastes like a margarita and the Oro Blanco, much sweeter and pinker), oranges (Valencia and Navel), lemons (yes, the Meyers lemons are here, check out Arnett Farms and Ace Ranch for organic) , and limes (Living Lettuce Farms has kefirs if anyone is interested).

Pomelo to me is the most curious of the group. Looking more like a beach ball than a fruit and inordinately large in relation to the amount of actual edible flesh, without this brontosaurus of the citrus family we would not have grapefruits or tangelos. Yup, grapefruits are the result of crossing pomelos with oranges, and tangelos the result of a pomelo-tangerine cross.

Pomelos can be used the same way you would use a grapefruit - in salads, on their own, or as juice. Their peels can be candied, turned into marmalade, or used to flavor soups or other savory dishes. In Vietnam the flowers of the pomelo tree are used to make perfume and in Brazil the bark and sap are boiled to make a cough syrup. My favorite use that I found in my research on the pomelo was the following: in China they boil the skins and the leaves of the pomelo to prepare a ceremonial bath which is used to ritually cleanse a person and to repel evil spirits. I think I’ll stick to just eating the fruit, although I do love a hot bath with lovely smelling things in it.

Back to more important matters. Pomelo is rich in vitamin C, like most citrus, and it is also high in potassium (one pomelo has 12% of the suggested daily requirement) and actually contains a small amount of protein as well (which is not very common in fruits apparently). Beware, however, if you take any type of medication that restricts the consumption of grapefruit. Because grapefruit is derived from pomelo, if you are to avoid grapefruit, you should avoid pomelo as well. More information on the nutritional value of pomelo can be found on the USDA’s website http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=4&tax_level=1. (Use the name pummelo to find information on this site.)

Cool weather is lettuce season as well, and there are plenty of them at the Market right now. Berumen Farms had the most gorgeous red romaine this past Sunday, and I am hoping to find some good butter or oak leaf lettuce this week. Avocados are coming back into their prime with Fuertes just starting to ripen.

Actually, now that I think of it, things aren’t that sparse at the Market at all. In fact, it has everything that one would need to make what is one of my favorite salads – grapefruit and avocado with pine nuts. But this year, I’m going to give pomelo a go in place of the grapefruit. I like to make a dressing of orange juice, a little sugar, a neutral oil such as canola or sunflower seed, sesame seed oil and ginger and drizzle this over the fruit, nuts and lettuce. My favorite lettuce is butter or stone lettuce, but any good fresh lettuce (with the exception of Iceberg, which don’t get me wrong, has its place in my heart) will do the trick. One food blogger suggested drizzling a blueberry cardamom sauce over similar salad ingredients, and since we are fortunate enough to have blueberries year-round at the Market thanks to Pudwill Farms and our new organic blueberry farmer Forbidden Fruit Orchards, I might give that a try for something different. In case you are feeling adventurous, here is the link to Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s Kitchen for the blueberry cardamom sauce recipe - http://www.mrswheelbarrow.com/2012/01/from-the-depths-of-the-freezer-blueberry-cardamom-syrup-and-corny-waffles/. Oh yeah, she uses the syrup on waffles as well.

For something a little more exotic that gets to the pomelo’s Asian roots, try the following, which would be great as a quick weeknight dinner with a warm bowl of soup.

Thai Pomelo-Chicken Salad  (Yam Som-O)

Adapted from a recipe found on www.gourmetsleuth.com

Serves 4 to 6 as a salad entrée

1 Pomelo or Oro Blanco grapefruit (Arnett Farms, Ethridge Farms, Sweet Tree Farms, Island Farms)

1 small whole cooked chicken breast (Dey Dey’s Best Beef and Chicken)

1 cup cooked shrimp (optional - use two cups chicken breast if omitting) (Fisherman’s Catch)

1 teaspoon chopped small red chili or 1 tsp. chili oil (Fresno Evergreen, J&J Farms, Yang Farms)

1 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce

1 1/2 teaspoon sugar

Juice from 1 large lime (Ace Ranch, Valley Center Growers)

1 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro (Living Lettuce Farms, Scarborough Farms, Fresno Evergreen)

1 small head red leaf, red romaine or red oak leaf lettuce, washed and cut into bite sized pieces (Berumen Farms, Living Lettuce Farms, Menos Farms, Scarborough Farms, Rancho mi Familia, Buenrostro Farms)

For the Garnish:

1/4 cup roasted peanuts, chopped (Aunt Betty’s Shaved Ice, Ma & Pa Kettlecorn)

Fresh red chili, julienned or chopped

Crispy Fried Shallot Flakes

Peel and section the fruit. I don’t care for the membrane that holds the pulp together, so I always cut each section out individually instead of ripping them apart into sections (“supreming” for those of you who are familiar with culinary terms). If you are like me and wish to do this it is fairly simple. Remove the skin by slicing off the ends and then slicing the remaining skin off from the top down, following the curve of the fruit. Place the whole peeled fruit on a cutting board and with a very sharp knife carefully slice the pulp away from the membrane that encases each section of fruit, by running the knife very close to both sides of the membrane. You get a much tastier end product when you do this, and it takes no more time than peeling and sectioning the fruit. Here is a link to a great clip on Youtube that shows you exactly how to do this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjOEGQ18F-A

Once you have sectioned the pomelo or grapefruit, chop or hand shred the cooked chicken breast. Add the chicken and shrimp, if using, to the pomelo. In a small bowl mix together the chopped red chili, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice and coriander; toss with pomelo chicken mixture. Arrange the lettuce on a serving platter. Put the fruit mixture over the lettuce. Top with peanuts and 2 tablespoons of Crispy Fried Shallot Flakes, and red chili.

Crispy Fried Shallot Flakes

6 Shallots, thinly sliced (Gama Farms)

1 cup vegetable oil

Slice shallots into thin slices. Be sure they are all the same thinness to ensure even cooking. Heat a pan with the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add shallots and fry slowly until browned and crisp, 5 to 10 minutes. The moisture in the shallots should be completely cooked out. Drain on paper towel. Store in an airtight container.

For the soup, how about a quick ginger carrot soup. Several of the farmers have gorgeous heirloom carrots ranging from white to purple.

Carrot Soup with Ginger

Adapted from Soup Superb Ways With A Classic Dish by Debra Mayhew

Serves 4 to 6

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil

1 onion, chopped (Gama Farms)

1 celery stalk, chopped (Buenrostro Farms, G&B Farms, Menos Farms, etc.)

1 medium potato, peeled and chopped (Zuckermans Farms, Gama Farms)

5 ½ cups chopped carrots (Rancho mi Familia, Givens Organics, Venegas Growers)

2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root (Yang Farms)

6 cups vegetable or chicken broth

7 tablespoons whipping cream

a pinch of nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Put the butter or olive oil into a soup pot. Add the onion and celery and sauté until translucent and soft, about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, carrots, ginger and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Pour the soup into a food processor, blender, or a food mill and puree until smooth. Return the soup to the pan. Stir in the cream and nutmeg and add salt and pepper to taste. Reheat slowly then serve.