Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Back to the market

There are still a few pictures from the Christmas Eve market that I wanted to share, mostly from that produce stand where we bought our sprouts. As I said before, everything looked so good that we ended up buying more than we had planned.

Choux de Bruxelles (Brussels sprouts) on the left, panais (parsnips) on the right.

In addition to the sprouts and a bunch of celery, we got some topinambours (jerusalem artichokes). They were big and round and good looking and the price was not high, so we got some. We still haven't eaten them, but they're fine in the fridge for a while. They are actually the root of a particular sunflower and they're very tasty eaten like potatoes, whole or pureed.

Topinambours (top left), parsnips, carrots, and celery.

There were also some gorgeous carrots and panais (parsnips). We resisted those because we already had carrots at home and couldn't think when we'd eat the parsnips. We both like parsnips so we'll go back and get some another time.

One interesting thing I noticed in the picture is that the little price signs say that the vegetables (the topinambours and panais, at least) were harvested in Beaulieu-lès-Loches, a town that's about forty minutes south of us. Real local food.

13 comments:

  1. Have you seen the area some people's topinambour crop covers? I don't know how they get through them! They are nice roasted when little and à la boulangère when older.

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  2. My husband bought some parsnips last summer and forced me to eat them. I sued him for battery. I'll let you know what the jury decides :-)

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  3. Everything looks so fresh! The brussel sprouts...yum!

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  4. Wow, those are such beautiful, colorful photos! Gorgeous!

    Judy

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  5. I didn't know that parsnips in french are "panais". I like them roasted in the oven.
    I see on your temperature gage that it is 8 degrees in Le Mans.
    Wouldn't it be nice if winter was on its way out?
    (Thanks to add the orange cake recipe to yesterday's blog).

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  6. Beautiful market photos and I love Brussels Sprouts too.

    BettyAnn

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  7. Nadège

    Panais cooked with duck in its fat is great also :-)

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  8. Walt

    Merci for the recipe of the orange cake. I have been looking for one since i tasted it at a Club med once.

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  9. The size of the carrots in France always amazes me.

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  10. I have only been in the US for 31 years and I still make mistakes. I meant to write "tanks for adding the orange-cake recipe". I left a comment the other day on Dedene's blog, and it doesn't make sense at all. I guess there were too many "bubbles" that evening.

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  11. There's nothing like photos of fruits and veggies right out of the earth. I love that stuff!

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  12. dieticians say you should 'eat a rainbow' and your photo supports this
    and I don't mean 'Skittles"

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  13. susan, I'm not sure I'd recognize them if I saw them. But it's hard to imagine eating a lot... if you know what I mean... ;)

    cubby, but they're good!

    rick, I love brussels sprouts!

    judy, you should see it in person!

    nadege, yes it would be nice. But it's not even January yet.

    bettyann, :)

    beaver, that sounds tasty!

    starman, size matters. ;)

    alewis, I thought you might enjoy that.

    michael, I've never heard that. Hmmm.

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