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Welcome to Food News & Chews and the noise in the background
is all about the Lexington Farmers Market and look who we're with!
Haha! That's right, we're with Mac Stone here.
We're with this special guest right right here, Mac Stone.
He one of the staples of Lexington Farmers Market.
We've also got Bill Best, the legend, right across from us.
This is the place where it's at and today we're going to be
talking food news down at the market. We're going to do a
little shopping for some ingredients, I don't know what we're
going to make but I'm sure it's going to be good because everything is fresh.
And food news.
Of course, our normal food news and an interview with
Jff Dabbelt from the market. It's going to be a great show.
Great to be on location right here at the Lexington Farmers Market.
Food News
These will turn red. These are not real ripe.
It will turn red?Well, no. They will turn red streaks.
Red streaks. This is an heirloom variety.
Yes, it is. WellThis is your specialty. He is very famous for that by the way.
Well noHeirlooms are my specialty but this is a Russian heirloom.
Oh.Davincent Watts was developed by one of my friends.
That's right, you have talked about Davincent Watts before and
just so you guys know, we're speaking with Bill Best. He is a local
legend especially with heirloom tomatoes and heirloom seed saving.
This guy right here is a Kentucky treasure; we've been buying tomatoes
from him for years and especially heirloom beans. He hosts seed swaps.
I don't have them planted yet. It's too wet.
He doesn't even haven't planted yet but you can see some of the
I've got shuck beans.some of the shuck beans that he's dried
out which we've talked about several times...
Shuck beans.on the show. Bill's got a great book out.
These tomatoes are top notch; he's got the best varieties and
know what they are like this Russian 117, right?
The bi-color.Are we going to get some of these for the food we're going to cook?
Yeah, I think we should buy a book and a couple of these tomatoes for our cooking demonstration.
Ah, sounds good from Bill Best out of Berea. Jeremy, tell us about that big thing. It looks like it's from outer space.
This is interesting. It's called kohlrabi. It looks like an alien space pod; space capsule.
It's part of the cruciferous bed. It's also called a German turnip.
It's a cross breed between like a cabbage and a broccoli.
Yeah. This is one of my favorite vegetables and no body uses it.
If you take off the stems you can use these for great sautés.
Which actually the stems are better, right?
Apparently so. But this is where the sweet stuff is.
If you peel it, you can shave it lightly and it's got a super crisp broccoli flavor. I love it for
What is it again?
It's called kohlrabi.
C-O-H-L-R-A-B-I (actual spelling K-O-H-L-R-A-B-I) and it's from? What county?
Scott County...
and it's a prime specimen too. I think we have to buy some of this and maybe some of this kale.
Oh, let's do.
Super healthy, great little I think we're forming some kind of summer salad here.
Hey Jeremy, while we're at it and we're standing here. One of the things food news items
fruits and veggies and things that go together that are so colorful like asparagus and mustard
Sure.you wouldn't think about. What would you combine some of this stuff with?
Well, I think when you're at a market like this and you see some really prime stuff coming out.
Whatever grows together seems to go together; that seems to be the simple rhyming rule.
So, if I put these things together or anything on this table it will be a nice combination.
You've got kale, greens, mustard greens. What are those giant things down on the end?
hose are turnips.
Ahhhh. Yeah, beautiful stuff. So, anything big and green like this we're going to do
something light and fresh and super healthy. We're going to try to balance a lot of
textures with a lot of colors, like you said...
Okay. to make something.Maybe unusual combinations.
Yeah, I want to do something more unusual that people don't pick up at the market everyday.
Okay, alright. Go ahead and buy. Mmm. I love shopping trips.
We're here at Stuarto's booth in the Lexington Farmers Market and it is starting to
get really busy Stuart so we are not going to take much of your time but we do
want to show everyone your display of items. You get olive oil and you basically bring it here.
It's not grown in Kentucky but it's bottled.
Well, as Jeremy knows, he uses a lot of the stuff at Azur.
He does. Different pairs so today I brought chipotle & peach.
Last week we had green chile & pineapple. Prior to that we had harisa & fig,
this time we have almond & raspberry. We have a lemon oil which goes with blueberry or raspberry.
Tuscan herb which is a standard; it's got sun-ripened tomato, basil and garlic in it with a
traditional 18 year aged balsamic from Modena. We have cilantro
Just varieties, endless varieties.
which goes with toasted onion sea salt or with our traditional balsamic or both.
We brought a garlic oil which we usually put with oregano and sun-ripened tomato
sea salt which goes well with a caprese salad.
Mmmhmm. Or you can use it on some breschetta. Jeremy & I did that.
Yeah, these are some incredible finishing oils, lots of vinegars as well so you can mix
match combinations. Salts are perfect for sprinkling on top.
ou've got other products too to make your dinner that much better, right?
Yes, we have 15 naturally flavored cane sugars. In total we have 21 oils,
5 gourmet oils and 21 balsamic vinegars and 26 sea salts.
You know what you're unique with? Really cool, unique in many ways and great olive oil
nd Jeremy uses it but the way you combine the sea salts and I've just never seen anyone do that.
When a person comes into your store they will actually get kind of a tutorial in combinations.
Well, they do not know what goes together. And, you'll have little tiny pieces of bread that
can be dipped in the various things in little tiny cups, like these.
Yes. I tell my chefs from Azur, they go to Stuarto's all the time, they're like "What should I get?"
I tell them there's no rules in there just have fun, pick out combinations and bring them back to the restaurant.
They do. That's very unique in your operation. So, it's awesome. Yeah.
I'll give you something for tomatoes right here. Oh, yummy!
So, this is a garlic oil with an oregano white balsamic. Of course, we're at the Azur's Farmers Market today as well.
Now, what's that? That's tomato salt?That's a sun-ripened tomato salt.
Ooops, blowing away here.You ready? Yes, I'm ready. Here Jeremy, I'll feed you first.
Mmmmm.What'd ya think? Man, it's like you got the
h, yummers!you got the chew and the salt and all the flavors go pop, pop, pop!
Right on the front of the tongue. I love it. Everything coming together. It is so in your face with flavor.
Hahaha!Hahaha!You really get what you pay for.
Oh, great. Good to see you Stuart.Good to see you Sylvia.
We'll be back.Okay.Hey Jeremy! Big news item!
What's that? Honey. Haha!
And the Chinese are at it again.
Yeah, what's going on with this honey thing?
The honey that you buy in traditional grocery stores is almost like anywhere from 70% to 100%
not real honey because the pollen has been eliminated. See, is that the defining factor? It has to be made by bees still, right?
Yeah, but it's practically not.
So, it's filter and filter and filter until all
This on the other hand is real honey.
This is real honey. It's Gary Farms here in Kentucky.
And they're here at the farmers market.
So, this is going to have all of the pollen and the natural terroir you want from a honey.
You have the microbial elements that make you
Well, the pollen can actually help you with allergies.
Yeah. Well, the cool part about this. honey is like wine and you have all of these
natural elements the bees pick up from the natural terroir around it. So, it actually tastes like the stuff it planted next to.
Yeah. So, you should buy this at a farmers market because they do a test.
Yeah.Said, 100% of the stuff they tasted and this was in food safety news farmers markets have real honey.
Yeah.Real pollen and the stuff in it. This has a darker color to it. A lot of times in the grocery store
they say American's want everything to be pretty. Yeah, like big red tomatoes altered by
GMOs to make look prettier than tastier. So, get the real stuff.
Right, there's some kind of misconception in thatThe Chinese
something prettier is more natural and that is just not how Mother Nature works, is it?
It's not true. But anyway, buy it at the farmers market.
Interview with Jeff Dabbelt
Hey! Welcome back to Food News & Chews! We're at the Lexington Farmers Market with Mr. Big in the Farmers Market! Jeremy!
We've got Jeff Dabbelt, he's actually the Director of the Lexington Farmers Market.
Yeah!One of the largest in the country and as you can see the buzz of the community is here, the heartbeat is here
Look at all of these people.and so is the great food too!
It is. Hey! Tell us all about everything we ever wanted to know about Farmers Markets and more
Everythingnow they've proliferated like a 9% increase between 2011 and 2012 and they're
going gangbusters, tell us what's happening out there.Well, I think there's a resurgence in knowing
where your food comes from obviously.
Sure. That's really the basics of coming to the market.
Yeah.It's really knowing your food producers, getting to know them and
spending your hard earned dollars with them. So, keeping the money in their pockets in the local economy.
Yeah. It's even bigger than local food, it's local everything.
It's everything. So, that's really the common denominator. Then we do have great food.
Then we have community. So, that's really a part of what brings everyone down here.
We ask everybody to figure out what makes sense for them and spend as much time as they can here at the market.
Yeah. And really enjoy.It's exactly what people need nowadays.
It's almost like everybody wants to simplify.
This is the answer because we always talk about how confusing food is right?
Yeah.And when you go.. and you look eye to eye with the person that grew it it kind of brings things back home for you.
Particularly, as we did a honey segment a minute agoYeah.
Most of the honey that is imported into this country is really not honey.
Right. It doesn't have pollen.Right.No matter what it says on the label. Yeah.
Tell that to a hard working beekeeper or farmer down here that made it. "Yeah, it is!"
Right.They'll give you an argument on that one. But yeah, we got some amazing stuff here Jeff.
Especially, for June, in Kentucky these farmers are going above and beyond.
It's amazing to see what is happened in the past 10-15 years in Kentucky agriculture.
And the way's these guys have talent. They're versatile and know how to utilize the land in a great manner.
It really is growing leaps and bounds just based on what you said. From ten years ago, the transition
Yeah.from tobacco. And here we are with these lovely row crops, earlier than ever.
We have late strawberries. They shouldn't be here in June. We have early tomatoes
they really shouldn't be here.We have kohlrabi.And we have lovely kohlrabi
Hahaha!which is one of the most versatile and sought after ingredients.
We've been talking about it over and over on this show but nobody uses it. It's the most delicious thing. It's just amazing.
Yeah. Here's why they say farmers markets are so important 1) Small to mid-sized producers can open up their shops
Sure.consumers can get local food but here's another one Community.
You know, in a world that is bewildering and blistering in the news you get everyday
that 30 years ago you wouldn't have known about awful stuff that is happening everywhere else
people are seeking something, aren't they? And that. Tell us about the growth of the
Lexington Farmers Market and what you see as that whole community piece.
Well, I think it's always been a strength of community. That people come together whether they
know or plan it or not, they end up on the same city street right here in the heart of downtown
and rubbing elbows with their friends and neighbors and maybe making new friends.
Yeah.The acquaintanceship aspect of it is very important and it creates that ownership there's
really that sense of identity and pride within our customer base to really understand what our
farmers are doing and come out and support them.
Yeah. That's great. How about trends in the farmers market?
Sure. Like year round, there's many of them going to year round. You know you've got your chefs.
I've seen a number of chef coats. Seems like farmers markets and the CSA thing
is going through year round where people think about farmers markets and it's only
produce but there's so many value added products. There's honey, there's meats,
there's cheeses and those are year round.
Absolutely. Yeah, you can keep that going. That's what I think a lot of people don't really
understand necessarily, it's not only the season but it's the year round aspect of what's available.
When I tell people we have locally produced meats here even some of our most loyal
customers do not necessarily see that because it is hidden. It's in a freezer somewhere.
It's not in the same display you're going to see in a retail grocer. So, it takes a little more digging.
So, that's an Innovation isn't it? You're used to seeing a lot of vegetables but now you're
seeing a lot of finished products like jellies and stuff like that. Cooking is going on out here and meats
you buy meats all year round from local folks.
I've got a core set of growers that just come in my back door with who knows what.
I can't help but buy it because how could I not look this guy in the eye and taste the product,
know the wholesomeness of it and not take it in. And so many familiar faces here to at the
farmers market with growers that I know have stepped up to the back door of the restaurant.
I just love cooking with what they have. It's amazing.
One of the things I worked in my past with cities and what I'm trying to convince our local folks
about throughout the state and they're all developing farmers markets the economic benefit
I know.tell us a little bit about that. What does this pour into our economy and this community?
Well, our estimated gross sales were consistently for the last couple of years were 2,
nearly 2 and a half million dollars.Wow!So, that's circulating through Lexington first and we have
farmers from over 20 different counties and typically the multiplier effect is around 5-7 so every
time that dollar stays in our community it is being spent 5 or 7 times before it goes into other communities.
See, that's amazing Jeremy.Yeah.So, it's staying in our economy.
Yeah and your local restaurants, like I said, I see chef coats running around here they're buying
stuff because everybody is starting to demand farm to table.
And you know where it's at. And when you buy local like we talked about these strawberries
nd the inside being full versus your ones that are imported you have a little gap there, right?
I'm not saying don't ever buy a strawberry when out of season but why would you not want this
for the few weeks in Kentucky when you do have it? You know, appreciate it, buy it and circulate those dollars.
Yeah, it makes all kinds of sense and we need to convince everybody that it's really an economic development tool.
You get what you're paying for no doubt about it. It's the same thing as with hospitals and everything else
Hey Tad! How are you buddy? and all kinds of stuff and Jackie! Ha! Sorry. Hahaha
but that's the community part, right?! Yeah! Hey! What's in the future for this?
Well, I think more promotion...More promotion. we want to help with that.
more understanding and trying to get more to our markets. We are open five days a week in the summer,
four days a week in the majority of the season and year round on Saturdays.
And you have a newsletter.
We have a newsletter, Facebook page and we are really trying to innovate and get more people
down here and best thing like what we are doing, enjoying what they are buying into which is
great produce and supporting our farmers.
Alright, okay and they can go to your website .
Please, www.lexingtonfarmersmark et.com
And probably sign up for the newsletter from there.solutely, all that is right there.
Fabulous. Well, Jeremy, we've had a great day, haven't we?Yeah.I love it. You know it!
And, we're going to eat now. Hahaha! Hahaha! Looks delicious!
You've been listening to Food News & Chews and we're having a great time!
Cooking Segment
Hey Jeremy! We're at the farmers market, Lexington Farmers Market and you're going to do us
anything with a little Mexican flare? Hahaha! Not a chance. No maracas here but we are going
o use yellow squash.Summer squash. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
First of the season, right? Yeah.
So, what I want to show you here is a simple way to kind of grab some ingredients and do
some different shapes and different things or make a small little salad but interesting textures and colors.
Yeah.And you don't have to worry about it when you go to the market because everything
that is in season goes together. So, a lot of people don't think about putting berries and tomatoes together
No...and it really does work.Oh, yeah. And the colors. Look at these colors.Right.
These wonderful Bill Best heirloom tomato colors.First of his season too.
Yeah. Green, redI can't believe he has tomatoes in June. It's really amazing what he can do.
He's a legend. He is a legend.So anywayHe has a new book too by the way. this yellow squash Sylvia
The book! this is called a Mandolin. A mandolin you basically just configure it anyway you want to this will julienne
Will that cut my hand off if I?Yes, it will slice your hand completely offOkay, well
but only in small little julienne bits, right?alright, just put it in the salad.Right. So, you get your setting right,
kind of run the squash through it a couple of times. You don't need much we're only making a
small little portion Just a tiny bit.
Right?Yeah.So, you know, look at this little device, get one because you can quickly make
What's that called again? A mandolin. A mandolin as in a mandolin. Well, not yeah,
it's actually spelled the same for a different little thing. So, you can drop the configuration out
You can get in any kitchen hardware store.to where it slices into long, long fashion, too, right?
Alright, sounds good.Cucumber is going all the way down and make these long shapes, right?
Oh, look how pretty. Isn't that cool?Ha- Ha- Ha- Ha!See how quick this is?I love cucumbers.
Watch your fingers. So, I'm going to put these on the plate already. Okay.
Going to make a nice littleI'm going to steal one.you can steal one too huh.
So, that kind of gives you a little platform...Oh, how pretty. on the plate. Right?
Jeremy, you can anything look so pretty.Well, that's the point. These vegetables are already so great.
All we're going to do is slice them up in different fashions. Now remember that space capsule looking thing. The kohlrabi?
Kohlrabi.Right. Koh-something. Now, if you want to try something. Try this.
Yeah, let me try it.This is something nobody uses and it's got this great sweet broccoli flavor.
It's really good, isn't it?Oh, man.Isn't that crisp? I've got to go buy one of those. Yeah. It's really good.
I never would have thought about that because they look so strange.
So, we use this funny little device I haveWhat's that called.
It's called a spiral cutter and you can get these at Williams Sonoma or at other stores.
Yeah.But watch what it does. You can stick this in here and it will make these straw cuts.
Well, actually, you've got to press a little bit harder or actually, I've got to cut out the side or the back of it
Yeah.some technical difficulties here but it's really worth it.
ut that' the fun of it you know. Oh, yeah, it is fun.Just like making it work.
And you don't need much either; it's such a crisp clean vegetable.
Yeah.Stick this here and go nice and slow. Hey! This could be a couples thing. I can help you.
Go for it. See how it's coming out the other side as a spiral?
I'm afraid I'm going to lose my hand. Hahaha! Oh, look how pretty!
Like, hay. So, that's cool.Looks like spaghetti.It does look like spaghetti.
Mmm. Alright.So, we're going to go right into the bowl with our squash and this is the
kohlrabi and a nice spaghetti, right? Uh, huh.That's really cool.
That's nice.Super cool. Now, we want this to be super healthy too. This is just fresh kale.
Yeah. Kale is real popular right now. That's a Kentucky thing, right?
Right. A lot of people are like, "Oh, I don't want to eat this it's like horse feed, right?"
If you chiffonade it, cut it very, very small you can kind of roll up the greens a little bit if you like.
Did you say, "Horse feed?" Hahaha! It's just so tough when it's raw. Not horsemeat!
But when we get some of these oil and vinegars on it and cut it very, very small then it's very palatable.
Do you ever give knife lessons? Yes, I do all the time. Knife lessons would be important.
It's a hard class to learn. So, you sprinkle that into your kohlrabi.So, that's your kale.
You've got kohlrabi, squash, you've got some kale and the ext thing you want to do is take one of
these little eggplants and give it some more color. We'll go back to the mandolin, to the microplane
area where you run it this way. Nice, nice.You may these cool little rings.
Just a few of them and throw that into the pot so you've got this black contrast.
Uh, huh. We've got more ingredients to go.Yep and then the thing people
don't realize is that when you have these green vegetables like this the berries
really brighten them up so we've got the last of our season.
Yeah, just go ahead and dump like half of them that's the best part of this
this is the first of the blueberries so they are incredible, right?!
Oh, look how beautiful.
Right and then we'll just go ahead and roughly...
and these bright red, fresh strawberries from oh, one of these great foods.
This is the end of June so these are finishing up in Kentucky, strawberries.
Are they?Check this out, if you get a strawberry in a store
Mmmhmmm. it's got that kind of round, empty thing that's because it's not local.
You can always tell if it's not local. What round?You know it's just like a hole that's white.
Yeah.When you get it from the store.Oh, yeah.
Because they pick it too early and you can always tell if your strawberries are local or not if they have that.
Oh, man.See, they're full all the way through and nice and sweet.
How about blueberries? Do they grow? That's nice and sweet, right?
Oh, man. Blueberries, are they all summer long? Or are they just now?
No, you've only got a few weeks on those so get them while you can.
So, anyway the last thing I want to do is talk about this cheese. We did this the other day, right?
Yeah, from the Cheese Man, Ed Puterbaugh. es.Boone Creek. Heat up a little skillet.
That's going to be on our show. We're actually going to do a whole cheese show.
Scandinavian Bread Cheese, throw it in there and pretend it's getting nice and gooey.
Yeah, yeah, yeah and it is good.We'll stick it on here.It's good when it's gooey and melted.
A nice banana bread, take a piece of that and put it with our cheese, right?
Oh, hoh! Who wants gooey cheese and walnut banana bread, a little bit sweet, a
little bit salty and that ooey, gooey, creamy? Along with this super healthy, almost like superfood salad, right?
Yeah, and then?So, at Stuarto's I picked up some basil
What about the maters?
yeah, we're going to put those on at the very end. So basil, very herbaceous from Stuarto's.
It doesn't take much of this oil.Okay.You know, I like to go a little crazy with it but and then
You can't do too much olive oil.then my pomegranate balsamic.
Okay.It's just a little different. All of these ingredients are little different.
Yeah.A lot of people don't use eggplant and kohlrabi together but I think it is a neat combination.
I agree but we don't want to live in there. Oh, nice. little vinegar in there.Nice and do you like mix it all up then?
Yeah, we're going to get in there with our hands like this.
Mix it all up, see the yellow coming around from the squash.
Such a pretty color.So, let's plate it up with this neat Kohlrabi salad, right?
Hahaha!You'll go twist it like spaghetti and then you want some of the other goodies
come from the bottom and get some of that green and reds right here.
Oh, isn't that nice!So, that and little bit more of these berries.
Fruits kind of rolling off the side like this and then why not just finish off with one of the tomatoes.
Now, tell us about that tomato.This is the Russian 147Yeah, it's some kind of a big Russian heirloom.
It's a Russian heirloom and he made sure we knew that.
we'll use a little green and red too. This green one looks great. Maybe a different shape for that.
It's so tender.These are amazing tomatoes. He is a legend. The man can grow the best tomatoes.
e is a legend and he has his book.Off to the side."Saving Seeds, Preserving Taste"
So, here's a yeah, there it is so here is a pretty healthy little lunch. What did that take?
About five minutes? Go to the market and get fresh ingredients, toss it together and that's
sit down, have a nice glass of wine with that and that's a hell of a Saturday!
And with your popsicles that you prepared for kids on the show that we just aired
and then this we could actually lose weight this summer. I love that idea!
Yeah! All we have to do is commit ourselves to eating that, right?
And not any of that other wonderful stuff but anyway, you've been listening to
ood News & Chews and we've had a great time out here at the Farmers Market haven't we?
I'm having kohlrabi great time!