As I walked onto the grounds at the Pearl Brewery farmers market last Saturday, I was amazed at the huge crowds. I started coming to this market since its inception and even attended the one that coincided with the opening of the River Walk extension, which forced drivers to park as far away as Sam’s Burger Joint. This Saturday’s crowds were not quite as large, but trust me, San Antonio has found the Pearl.
An abundance of variety, though not necessarily of quantity, was available from Oak Hill Farms. The booth had tomatoes, corn, cucumbers (both slicing and pickling), dill, potatoes, peppers (jalapeños, anaheims and bell), leeks, basil and peas. To decorate your table, they also had small bunches of flowers at $3 each. Business was brisk and the lines were long for this market favorite, but they were already out of a few items by 9:30 a.m.
At the first tasting tent, Melissa Guerra was serving up vegetarian tamales filled with Swiss chard. I sampled the moist masa surrounding a flavorful center. Although I know there is a staunch camp that believes tamales must be made with lard, or at least have been made in the vicinity of a pork product, I can assure you that these tamales had great flavor. They also are a nice change from the heavier tamales. And Guerra shared her recipe here.
HGB Foods from Converse had a diverse selection of gluten-free mixes, including some for pizza crust, bread, brownies and pancakes. I sampled a prepared pancake, slightly sweet and still fluffy. According to Sarah Dauphinais, the $4 mix is enough to make three breakfasts for a family of five. To top the pancakes, I would suggest their sweet apple butter. Give the mix and apple butter together for a great hostess gift.
JDsquared Ranch, a grower who specializes in cut flowers, irises and day lilies, offered naturally red Florenza sunflowers as well as colorful zinnias. Next week, this grower, located on 137 acres southeast of San Antonio, promises to have Sunrich Lemon Sunflowers, with vivid yellow petals.
After passing Watson Farms’ booth of jams and jellies — and tasting a few — I first smelled, then saw the La Feliciana freestone peaches from Rhew Orchards of Floresville. Was that giddiness sweeping over me? Peaches always remind me of trekking out to Marburger Orchards with my family and spending a hot morning in their peach grove, picking bushels of peaches to eat on the spot and make into jam later. Although I have a distinct fondness for freestone peaches for the ease of removing the flesh from the pit, I have always been partial to the semi-freestone variety June Gold. Fortunately, these were available from Casket Orchards of San Marcos, which also offered some freestone Harvester peaches that were perfectly sweet and juicy.
Alligator Creek Farms offered green beans, cherry tomatoes, sunflowers and tomatillos. It was the first time that I have seen tomatillos at the Pearl market and they looked like they would make a great roasted tomatillo salsa.
I waited in line to sample corn-dusted shrimp with a salsa made from market ingredients, but the tray was empty by the time the line reached about four people in front of me. Chef Johnny Hernandez said that he used ingredients from three of the farmer’s market vendors, including cornmeal from HGD and NaturalShrimp from outside LaCoste. As it would take about 15 minutes until the next cooking demonstration and since the sun was very strong, I decided to continue my rounds.
Braune Farms of Geronimo brought a variety of produce including watermelons, cantaloupe and sweet corn. In retrospect, I should have gotten a huge watermelon and topped it with lime, cayenne pepper and salt like I had last month from a roadside vendor in L.A. It would have been a great appetizer for Father’s Day.
I managed to find some shade while waiting in line for gazpacho from Brian Montgomery of Texas Farm to Table. The cool soup was garnished with a slice of banana pepper, which made this sample extra special. It was just the pick-me-up I needed to combat the crowds by Toyota’s give-away tent where free herbs were being offered.
Lori McLain, the daughter of Kitchen Pride’s owner, offered white, baby bello (crimini), portobello and oyster mushrooms — all picked the previous day. I selected a perfect ¾-pound oyster mushroom, which smelled faintly of oysters from the sea. Others in line asked what I planned to do with such a beauty. I replied that I actually had no plan, but was going to straight to their Web site for recipe ideas. The workers at the booth were very pleased with their Pearl debut and commented that they were definitely going to sell out. They reassured me that this coming Saturday they would bring even more of their scrumptious mushrooms.
While waiting in line for mushrooms, I struck up a conversation with a gentleman who lamented the fact that there were no good Jewish delis in San Antonio. Any of you have suggestions? I told him that unfortunately, I was unaware of the presence in San Antonio of a Jewish deli like those I have found in New York or Brookline, Mass. In his bag, he had challah from Sol y Luna Baking Co. and hoped it would be similar to the version that he missed. I sought out the booth and also found other bread selections, including olive and caraway rye. I bought the latter as a small Father’s Day gift. Upon sampling it, my father commented that it tasted like an authentic German rye, but it would have to be consumed quickly to avoid becoming stale. In his household, bread does not last long; I am sure that it was finished at the next breakfast.
Finally exhausted by the sun, I made my way to cover. At the back of Melissa Guerra’s store was a table set up with “cash and carry” lead-free pottery. I lamented the fact that I generally carry very little cash and was unprepared to purchase the beautiful dishes and candelabras. Next week, I’ll be sure to pad my wallet a little heavier.
The folks behind Lamb’s Stone Ground Yellow Cornmeal don’t go in for fancy packaging. It’s sold in a plain white bag with a no-nonsense label that announces in small print what it is: “Always all natural, no preservatives added and gluten free. Same great product since 1968.”
Last Saturday morning, I took a cruise up I-10 to Boerne Stage Road and dropped by the farmers market at the Leon Springs Baptist Church parking lot. On a sunny morning it was easy to park and not yet steamy hot, so I could enjoy making the rounds of vendors.
But the vision that most of us hold about a farmers market includes lots of fresh vegetables and fruit. As it should be, there were three well-stocked displays of bright, fresh, produce. I saw some good looking squash that were named Sunburst and White Scalloped, very much like a pattypan squash, at Bob Mishler’s 
