Outstanding in the Field Comes to Farm Fresh To You!

Earlier this year, we posted on our blog how excited we were to be chosen to take part in a "roving culinary adventure," as the acclaimed Outstanding in the Field (OITF) chose us for one of their amazing events. I had not fully realized the true, indescribable force of this traveling, fine dining experience taking place in the fields of farms across the United States. It was not until the trucks, trailers filled with tables and chairs and OITF staff appeared on our Farm Fresh To You farm that I got the actual pun – Outstanding in the Field and the dinner happens to be an outstanding meal while standing in a field.

It was a bit of a mystery where the dinner was actually going to be held. We suspected that they would organize their long row of tables near the fig orchard on a bench of soil that overlooks both lower fields of the farm, however, the spot they picked was where the Mission figs met the Candystripe figs, a long and straight patch that is a dirt road in the summer and early in the fall gets a ditch pulled through it to facilitate the rainwater that runs off the hills, through the farm and into the creek.

It was a beautiful evening for June, the high temperature for the day was in the low 80’s, which was splendid considering the late June potential for one-hundred-degree-plus days. The event kicked off with a reception in the shade of our oak trees and passed hors d'oeuvres. We enjoyed cherry tomato bocconcini, artisan sausages and summer squash puttanesca crostinis. Berryessa Gap Wines offered their refreshing 2011 Verdelho that paired nicely with the food and weather. 

Jim and Leah from OITF welcomed the guests and told us a little about their first dinner, and how they are now taking their dinners to farms across the nation.   

Freeman and I both gave quick tours of the farm. 

We showed guests the summer squash fields, fig and citrus orchards, irrigation canal and strawberry fields. 

Chef Oliver Ridgway from Grange Restaurant in Sacramento did a splendid job of incorporating into the menu our summer squash from the field by the office, the first cherry tomatoes from the field by the creek and figs from the orchard that we were being shaded by. 

In a tradition that continues since OITF first started, people bring their own plates, showing a myriad of colors and styles - each contributing to the unique table composition. 

Once seated, the first dish presented was a beautiful California Farmers Salad with our fruits and vegetables, mezzo secco and raspberry balsamic dressing. The salad was paired with a 2009 Berryessa Gap Malbec.

The next course was a delectable quail from Wolfe Ranch with a wild rice pilaf from Lundberg Family Farms, preserved fruit and a Bing cherry glaze. The wine served with this course was from the 2007 Berryessa Gap Rocky Ridge Collection Tradition, which is is a mix of Petite Sirah and Zinfandel.  

Next came the California King Salmon with our summer squash, Full Belly potatoes and a flowering herb butter. This succulent dish was paired perfectly with a 2009 Berryessa Gap Zinfandel. And last, but definitely not least, was dessert: a summer fruit composition with sweet and salty choux buns.

While sitting there, I admired our Candystripe fig orchard that was full and budding with fruit that will harvest in August. They did pick a nice spot to set up the tables. To the left and right were guests and the end of the tables was met by background of rolling golden hills speckled with olive green oak trees.

It was a magical night in a field in Capay, and we could not feel more honored to take part.

Cookbook Winners & Author's Favorite Recipes - The Davis Farmer's Market Cookbook

Article featured in the Davis Enterprise, March 1, 2012

Thank you so very much to everyone who entered the Davis Farmers Market Cookbook Giveaway! We are humbled by the amount of entries and the wonderful comments contributed. We thoroughly enjoyed reading through all of them. A huge thank you to those who shared your recipes too - what an awesome collection! We have randomly chosen 36 winners!   

Ann M. Evans, co-author of the cookbook, co-founder of the Davis Farmers Market and friend shared with us some of her favorite summer recipes from the Davis Farmers Market Cookbook and why the book means so much to her. We hope you enjoy her stories and recipes as much as we do! Thank you Ann.

Ann M. Evans - Why this book means so much to me: 

For me, writing this book is a dream come true. I’ve wanted to write a cookbook for a decade. So completing this takes a big one off my “to do” list. This book is more than a cookbook though. Through the Introduction, I was able to share my story about the market, which is such an integral part of my history. I co-founded it with Thaddeus, Noah and Freman's parents Martin Barnes and Kathy Barsotti, and others while in college, along with the Davis Food Cooperative. While mayor of Davis, I helped the Central Park expand and build a permanent structure for the market – still the only new public structure for a market in California, which is a shame. And more recently, I chaired the board of directors for six years during which time I introduced a non-profit, tax-exempt foundation (Davis Farmers Market Foundation), and worked with long time market manager Randii MacNear and the board to encourage food vendors to use product from the market in their prepared foods, and integrate recycling concept into operation of the market.

I was able to share many of my favorite recipes from a collection I’ve created over the years, with some personal reflections on people or events that I associate with those recipes. Food always has a memory, which is part of what I love about it. And it goes without saying perhaps, but I’ll give a shout out to them both. To coauthor a book with Georgeanne Brennan, one of my top favorite cookbook authors, was a personal privilege and I learned so very much from her, from writing head notes in the special voice we use in the book, to preparing for photo shoots. And then of course, to have Alice Waters, one of my heroines in life, write the foreword to our book is a great honor, and I feel blessed to know and work with her on school lunch.

Ann's Favorite Recipes for this Season:

Choosing a favorite from the book is hard because I love them all, so here are a few... 

For summer, it’s a toss up between Old-Fashioned Apricot Pie (p83) and Zucchini and Gruyere Gratin (p110).  Pie, because I’m a pie girl – and apricot pie is one of my two favorite pies (my other is California Lime Pie – but that’s in the winter p220). If piecrust is an issue, which it is for many, go ahead and buy a piecrust – with the apricot filling you can’t go wrong. And if you’re feeling sassy, top it with some ice cream, homemade or otherwise. My favorite is French Vanilla.

For savory, I like the Zucchini and Gruyere Gratin. With this gratin I can use all the zucchini I grow in my garden, plus a few of my chicken’s eggs. It’s delicious, light, and easy to make. It won’t heat up your summer kitchen either as it only takes 30 minutes.

Cookbook Winners!

Congratulations to our 36 Cookbook Giveaway winners! All winners have been notified via email. Thank you again to everyone who participated.
Click on the names to see the winners' comments and recipes - Strawberry-Basil Pops, Fava Bean Risotto, Green Goddess Dressing, Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic and more!

Michele	cancaligal	Larry
Fuzzibear	zona Roberts	Heather Z.
Sheila	Andi	Sharon
Carolyn	Jessica	Kimberly
Sabrina	Cara	Laura Lee Brennan
DessaMichelle	Jenifer	Liz
Nancy Mendoza	Jenny	mwdove
Becky	@scnutter	Annies_mom
Eriza	Chad	nina
Maritza	Lauren	Kristina
David	Toby Selby	Kevin Foust
sophia_hartkopf	Lisa D.	bethersh

Thanks again to Ann M. Evans for sharing her wonderful stories and recipes with us! Be sure to check out The Davis Farmers Market Cookbook - available now!

Cookbook Giveaway - The Davis Farmers Market Cookbook

As early innovators in the organic farm movement, our parents, Kathy Barsotti and Martin Barnes, helped found the Davis Farmers Market in 1976.  Recently named one of the top 10 farmers markets in the nation by USA Today, the Davis Farmers Market is still going strong and we're so very honored to be there every Saturday, year-round, 36 years later! 

Learn the story of the Davis Farmers Market and help celebrate the food produced by contributing, local farms. The Davis Farmers Market Cookbook invites you to shop and cook through the seasons as the authors share cooking tips, culinary passions, market lore and history. Let the glorious photos of vendors, food and farms entice you into a visual visit of one of America's favorite farmers' markets and to cook in rhythm with the land's bounty.

"This book is a beautiful tribute to the people who have kept this market alive and vibrant for nearly forty years, with every recipe a little love letter to the farms who grow the ingredients."

- Alice Waters, restaurateur, activist, author and proprietor of Chez Panisse

The cookbook is written by award-winning cookbook authors, Georgeanne Brennan, and former Davis Mayor, Davis Market founder and food activist, Ann Evans.  Organized by season, the chapters include more than eighty-five recipes, from appetizers to desserts, plus a section of instructions for canning and preserving.

In honor of the number of years the Davis Farmers Market has been an amazing part of our livelihood and community, we are giving away 36 copies of The Davis Farmers Market Cookbook!

And, to add to the fun, we can't help but share a look back at our early beginnings at the Market and your farmer, Thaddeus. 

Thaddeus at Market

Here's How to Enter (contest is now closed)–

To win a copy of The Davis Farmers Market Cookbook, simply leave a comment below answering these questions by Friday, June 1st. (limit 2 entries per person, please) -

What is your favorite fruit or vegetable
currently in season?

For a second chance to win, leave a second comment with a your favorite recipe, recipe link or serving suggestion. 

No purchase required. Limit two entries per person, please. Entries will close on Friday, June 1st, at 8:00 p.m. Winners will be chosen by Random Number Generator and announced on our blog on Monday, June 4th.

We've chosen winners! 

Winners have been announced here.  
Congratulations!

Thank you to all who entered!