Chino Farms quick report
Went to Chino Farms on Sunday and came back with some great stuff.
Strawberries are famous here, and they are very sweet right now.
Raspberries-possibly the best i have had in my life
Boysenberries-see raspberries
Multi coloured corn-like the strawberries, perfect summer food and very sweet. Don't miss out on the corn.
Beets- i got an oblong shaped bunch with very dark almost black beets. These were very sweet, earthy and delicious(i roasted in the oven).
Yellow watermelon-This too was very sweet, and was a nice change of pace. We used it to make watermelon cups which we filled with berries and watermelon salsa.
Variety of baby squash-I think these were at theie peak a few weeks ago yet were still very good.
Ronde de Nice squash-I had never had this variety before. It's been good to eat raw as a snack over the past few days.
Lettuce-I dont know what kind i got, but i asked the nice older lady to give me what she eats. The two heads were both good, one being slighlty herbal.
Mixed small tomatoes-FANTASTIC. Some of the best i have had, yellow, red, purple, orange all good. These are everything a tomato should be.
This is why i love summer. If you live in the San Diego area or are visiting, do not hesitate to give this farm a try ASAP. This place makes eating healthy easy.
By MVNYC
on Jul 5, 2006 10:10 PM
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Would you be willing to share what the expense was for your fabulous bounty?
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I spent $45
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Thanks. That actually sounds like a pretty fair price.
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We just finished dinner which included a plate of amazing heirloom tomatoes from Chinos, as well as a seeded watermelon -about the size of a cantaloupe- that actually had flavor. Dunno about you all, but I'm not inclined to ever go seedless again.
Anyone know if seeds impart/impact flavor? We had a seedless watermelon on Sunday from the Hillcrest farmer's market and it had no flavor whatsoever-- after adding salt, it merely tasted salty.
Also had a pint of the mixed tomatoes last week when a friend from Michigan was visiting. I had to laugh at the fact that, although she thought they were great, it's the $6 per pint price tag she'll most remember about Chinos-- she actually gasped when she heard the price.
Yes, San Diego summers are great - and our winters don't suck either...just ask someone from Detroit if you're not sure;)
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Mimosa-
Seeds will almost always give you a sweeter, more flavorful watermelon. It has nothing to do with the actual seeds, but because watermelon varieties without them are new, hybrid sort of, they arent as pure and dont hold up to traditional watermelon integrity.
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Patty - you do realize that you responded to a post made over 2 1/2 years ago, don't you? :)
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I'm wondering if strawberries are just coming off their peak b/c we got berries this weekend and were surprised that some of them were on the woody, lacking taste side. 2-3 wks ago, we were getting consistently super sweet and juicy California strawberries.
Their potatoes and haricot verts are wonderful as well right now! I forgot that potatoes and beans actually have flavor and a natural sweetness to them! It's making it very hard to go back to the cheaper stuff at the supermarket!
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The strawberries i got were not woody at all. These were the medium red ones.
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We had some strawberries from Chinos last week (smallish, with a long stem) and they were incredible.
I also picked up some great berries in Escondido at a roadside stand off San Pasqual Rd (sorry, don't know the actual name of the vendor) and they were wonderful too, but very different. Where the Chinos berries were small, these were much larger and an odd shade of red-- neon almost. I stopped somewhere for about an hour and when I got back in the car, the aroma was intense. The berries were pretty flavorfull but being as it was a holiday and such, I kicked them up a notch with a few drops of 12-yr balsamico...it worked well.
I often use balsamico-- get the good stuff, it's so, so much better-- to enhance underripe or off-peak berries. Just a touch and our guests are usually licking their plates and wondering why.
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which balsamic vinegar brand do you like?
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I like the aged stuff from Modena and have tried only Cristo (12 and 25 yr)and Pedroni (12). On the Cristo, I've tried both traditional and the cherry (finished in cherry wood barrels), and that's what we put on our berries the other night. I prefer the traditional and of course, the older the better.
Any recommendations on those I've not tried?
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You might want to try posting this on the General board.
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