It was with some sadness (and wistful thoughts of future Saturday mornings spent sleeping in) that Martha and I mounted our noble bicycles and set out on the ride to the last official Midtown Farmers’ Market of the 2009 season. The weather, while generally cloudy, was punctuated by bursts of sunlight and dominated by a steady autumn wind that elicited some speculation from vendors about how long they would last out there. But they are a hardy bunch and I’m sure they saw the market through to the end (I sure didn’t!).

As promised, I did a good job attacking the crisper drawer over the course of the last week such that we were left with only a bunch of celery and some lemongrass. Which meant it was time to stock up, all the more so since this was the last farmers market of the year before a long winter. Much of my buying took this long view into account by focusing on vegetables that store well: onions, three kinds of potatoes (russets, large red potatoes, and small red potatoes), carrots, parsnips and butternut squash. The real joy of the farmers’ market for me is the fresh, green food: brussels sprouts, broccoli and leeks. Those will be missed later in the year. And it wouldn’t be the fall farmers’ market in Minnesota without apples; I couldn’t resist a ¼ peck of Honeycrisps.

For her part, Martha couldn’t resist some letter press cards by regular market vendors Vandalia Street Press that make use of interesting figure-ground relationships. Nor could she resist including them in the photo of the market haul!

Although this was the last official farmers’ market at Midtown of the fall, there will be more opportunities to get delicious local produce. I will definitely be going to the Midtown Farmers’ Market fundraiser at the Minneapolis Eagles Club (2507 E 25th St) on November 14 where in addition to raffles and music and the usual fundraising hullabaloo there will be a farmers’ market set up in the parking lot. A pretty great way to support a worthy cause while selfishly stocking up on the best vegetables around! (And very conveniently situated before Thanksgiving.) But if planning ahead for Thanksgiving isn’t your thing, Brett of Real Bread informed me that there will also be a special market at the usual place on Wednesday, November 25 from 1–4 PM. Even though the official market season’s over, the Midtown Farmers’ Market won’t leave you out in the cold for great produce this winter.

After biking to the Midtown Farmers’ Market in the dead of winter last week, I am happy to report that winter seems to be over in Minnesota and we’ve jumped back into fall. With a sunny blue sky and temperatures that require only a light jacket provided you keep moving, this was one of those great days to be at the farmers’ market taking advantage of the last of the season’s produce.

In spite of my dire predictions due to last week’s frost (and overriding pessimism brought on by early October snow), the supply of fresh produce at the market remains ample. There are even still peppers and tomatoes, although not necessarily of the same quality they were in late August (I passed on these the last few weeks). But I was happy to see there was still red kale, turnips with their greens on, potatoes, brussels sprouts and onions; all the makings of fall feasting food.

We also bought bacon from Chase Brook Natural. You can see in the picture that it is not streaked lengthwise with long strands of fat. That’s because this is cottage bacon — bacon is made from the shoulder of the pig, rather than its belly. It is a meatier, less fatty bacon (which isn’t necessarily a good thing). It will go well alongside eggs and toast at breakfast.

There are only two weekends left for the Midtown Farmers’ Market, but I continue to be amazed at all that is available.

We braved cold temperatures and persistent drizzle this Saturday for the Midtown Farmers’ Market and a wide selection of vegetables was our reward. I bought chard, cabbage, beets, three kinds of squash (delicata, kuri, and butternut — all part of this fall’s quest to embrace squash), Haralson apples (the ultimate pie apple?), red peppers, leeks, tiny eggplants (destined for brine), small onions, parsnips, and lemongrass — which is as close as I am going to get to local lemons.

With the season almost over, it’s interesting to compare prices now to the beginning of the year. Chard was $4 in June. In October, with everybody charded-out, a bunch can be had for $1, as can a bunch of beets.

Or, take the roma tomatoes we bought (not pictured). At the beginning of tomato season farmers put out crates for those with ambitious and foresightful canning plans, charging $15-20. This weekend, we were able to get a milk-crate’s worth of romas for an unbelievable $5. The tomatoes are so heavy that I can’t weigh them on my scale, but I think it’s safe to say this was a deal. The tomatoes have probably seen better days; they’re ripe almost to the point of rotting and some of them were moldy (our farmer was kind enough to sort those out for us). But that makes them all the better for making sauce with.

When a new vegetable first comes in to season, all I want to do with it is prepare it as simply as possible. A little fat, a little seasoning, and let the vegetable speak for itself. The year’s first asparagus? Lightly steam it and toss it with butter and salt. Sweet corn? Shuck, boil and enjoy slathered in butter and plenty of salt and pepper. Tomatoes? They require little more than slicing, a drizzle of olive oil and grains of sea salt.

But there comes a point, especially as a season seems to drag on, when simple preparations start to get a little tiresome, and I start trying to think of new ways to use up the half-dozen ears of corn I feel compelled to buy every week while the season lasts.

Squash, now firmly in season, is a vegetable that easily fits this pattern. I love roasted squash mashed with butter and salt as much as the next guy, but it doesn’t take very long before I start to find the squash’s sweetness and its squishiness daunting. I enjoy the occasional squash soup, but once a year is really enough. So with an eye to heading off squash fatigue, I offer an interesting, if a little labor-intensive way to use up those fall squash: bisteeya.

Bisteeya is a Moroccan sweet/savory pie filled with shredded meat and nuts. In her book Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean, Ana Sortun offers a vegetarian version using sweet potatoes. I adapted her version to use the red Kuri squash I bought at the farmers’ market in place of the potatoes. The North African flavors in this dish are a nice accent to the squash and a welcome relief from more straightforward presentations.

Squash Bisteeya

• 1 Kuri squash, about 1.5#
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 Large onion, minced
• 1/8 Teaspoon turmeric
• Pinch saffron threads, crumbled
• 1 Teaspoon grated ginger
• Salt
• ¾ Teaspoon black pepper
• 4 Eggs, beaten
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• ¼ Cup parsley, chopped
• ¼ Cup cilantro, chopped
• ¾ Walnuts (Sortun uses pine nuts, but I substituted walnuts—what we had on hand)
• ¼ Cup powdered sugar
• 2 Teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ Cup extra virgin olive oil
• 9 Sheets phyllo dough

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds. Coat inside of squash with a light film of oil and roast until fork-tender, 45 minutes to an hour. Remove squash from oven and allow to cool.

While squash is roasting, melt and slightly brown the butter. Add the onion, turmeric and saffron. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook until onions are softened but not at all brown. Stir in ginger and set aside.

When squash is cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh out of the skin and into the bowl of a food processor. Purée the squash until creamy, adding ½ to ¾ cup of water as necessary to keep everything moving in the food processor. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add eggs, lemon juice, parsley and cilantro and blend until smooth. Transfer to a mixing bowl and stir in onion mixture. Add a little more salt.

Toast the walnuts in a skillet or in the oven until darkened and fragrant. Allow to cool then coarsely chop. Mix with sugar and cinnamon (when I made this I actually forgot the cinnamon and sugar. It was still good, but I have made it in the past with cinnamon and sugar and would recommend remembering them.)

Brush the bottom of a 9″ cake pan with olive oil. Place one sheet of phyllo dough on the counter and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with 1 Tablespoon of the nuts. Top with another sheet of phyllo dough and repeat. Add a third sheet, brushing it with oil.

Carefully lay this assembly of three sheets of dough in the cake pan. The edges of the dough should overlap the sides of the pan. Assemble another set of phyllo sheets in same manner and lay it in the cake pan on top of the first set, but perpendicular. Press the dough to the sides of the pan and fill with squash mixture. Make a third set of three sheets of dough and lay it over the top of the squash mixture, then fold over the edges of the bottom sheets of dough so the entire pie is covered.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until puffy and golden brown.

Cut pie into wedges and dust with powdered sugar. Serve with a light salad. Part of the pleasure of this dish is the crispy phyllo crust — which your refrigerator will do nothing for — so it’s best to eat this all immediately.

Another weekend at the Midtown Farmers’ Market brought an impressive, but dwindling, bounty of vegetables. The late summer fruits — bell peppers and tomatoes — are clinging on to life even as the impending frost threatens to cut them off without warning. Their bright reds, oranges and yellows are starting to be crowded out by the earth-tones of the fall harvest: brassicas from root (turnips) to leaf (brussels sprouts, cabbage) to flower (cauliflower, broccoli); large carrots, onions and potatoes with hardy skins are waiting to fill root cellars for the winter (you have started filling your root cellar, haven’t you?). Sweet potatoes made their first appearance this week — their tender bulbs begging me to wrap them in foil, toss them in smoldering coals and eat them, steaming, right out of their jackets.  Green beans, which appear to be one of the longest-seasoned crops of all in Minnesota, seemed a proper compliment to this kind of food: good, hearty fare that makes you feel like a true Midwesterner.

It is hard to believe that there is only a month left in the market season; once October’s over, that’s it for convenient local produce buying. But while the season starts off a little slowly, it comes to a much more plentiful end; the last month of the market still promises plenty of good food.