Farmers Market Dinner Party For $100
How I made dinner for six, everything from Napa Farmers Market, with a hundred dollar budget
Welcome back. I’m back from a wonderful week and a half in Torino/Turin and the Langhe (Barolo, Barbaresco land). It’s good to be home. The shopping, cooking, eating and writing for today’s piece took place prior to my trip. Hope you enjoy it. Now, as I mentally unravel the events of my Big Beautiful Barolo & Barbaresco Trip, I’m thinking how I can report on it in an engaging way.
Next Road Trip: Friday, October 3, 2 PM - Jacobsen Orchards and Culinary Gardens in Yountville. EDC Member exclusive - no charge. 3 spots left.
Optional - meet at The Kitchen at Priest Ranch for lunch at 12:30 - I’ll buy a bottle of rosé and Grenache Blanc for the table. RSVP
Future Road Trips:
Somerston Estate. Friday, October 24, 2 PM.
We head up and east, to Napa County’s Vaca Range, for an awesome tour and tasting at Somerston’s 1700 acre estate. They sell this “experience” for $150 per person. EDC Member price is $50. BOOK IT
Olivia Brion & Cantadora. Friday, November 14, 4 PM.
Owner/winemaker Kira Ballotta tells stories and serves beguiling wines.
I make “bites” to perfectly pair with her wines. It’s a one-two punch!
Held at Vin En Noir wine bar in Downtown Napa.
$25/person - EDC members $10. BOOK IT
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My Farmers Market Dinner Party for $100
It was a beautiful Saturday morning. First stop, the Wells Fargo ATM. I fumbled through the steps to get a hundred dollars wondering when ATMs would join pay phones in “remember when?” conversations. Anyway, my five twenties slid out and I was all set for my task ahead.
Napa Farmers Market is a happy place. Farmers, prepared food vendors, craftspeople drive up to 3 hours each way to sell their goodies. Locals and visitors descend upon them every Saturday, and Tuesday but not so much, to shop, eat and soak it all in. I’m no expert on Farmers Markets but I’m sure Napa’s version holds its own for quality and fun.
But you don’t go to Farmers Markets to save money. It’s more expensive to grow and make really good food. Customers, like me, come here to find value but not to save money. Thus my challenge: host a dinner party for six with everything coming from today’s Farmer’s Market with my hundred dollars.
“Just browsing” and making a plan
I took half an hour to walk the aisles and piece together my menu. With 115 vendors, 1/4th each farmers and artisans, 1/2 “makers” on a typical summer Saturday, there’s a lot to take in. To help with planning, and help stretch my hundred dollars, I decided basic pantry items and staples like olive oil, salt and dairy products I have at home could be used for free, as it were. And while my intention is to cook with everything I buy, I was still open to ready-to-eat items if they fit.
For me, the Market’s heart beats where the farmers from “down south” sell their produce. Picoso Farms from Gilroy, Orozco Farms from Hollister, Hamlow Farms from Turlock – they all drive over 100 miles to be here. Nancy Nunez of Picoso gave me a minute away from her busy register. Her family farms 30 acres and serves Napa, Martinez and Antioch markets. I asked what her day off is. “Monday…I work a lot and nobody pays me,” she says. Nancy got my first dollar, and my last.
Everyone’s fruits and vegetables look amazing – could not be better in these waning days of summer. Choices of fish, meats, cheeses, breads, sweets etc could take me down the rabbit hole, but I keep my mind clear. Vendors are patient and helpful as I ask questions but don’t buy yet – some I won’t buy from at all today. Half hour later I have an outline of my menu and am ready to buy.
My bounty, my menu
This is what I made and served. Asterisk* next to ingredients from my kitchen.
Grilled artichokes with home-made mayonnaise*. After trimming, halving, coring and steaming, I generously baste the Picoso Farms artichokes with garlic, also from Picoso, and olive oil* while on the grill. Half artichoke per person. Farmers Market (FM) cost: $12
Japanese sweet potato air-fries with ají (Peruvian pepper sauce) flavored sour cream.* (FM) cost: $3 for the one big, beautiful sweet potato from Hamlow Farms. I tossed the fries in light olive oil* and a seasoning called Elote.*
Tomato carpaccio with shallot-ginger salsa. The 1.5 pound Summer of Love tomato from Umbel Farms in Petaluma was $7 and worth every bite. I wasn’t sure I had a tomato in my budget, but its beauty was speaking to me, and owner William Henpenn was cheering me along. I adjusted a chef/cookbook writer Yotam Ottolenghi recipe that includes fresh ginger, sherry vinegar,* olive oil* and cilantro. I bought the shallot with my last dollar from Nancy at Picoso. Total FM cost: $12.
Grilled sourdough black olive Fougasse from Moulin Bakery in Napa. Sliced thin, grilled. No spread needed, just soak up the tomato & salsa juices with it. FM Cost: $7.
Main course: Tagliatelle pasta with shredded rotisserie chicken, leeks, baby shiitake mushrooms and grilled cauliflower. Also used garden thyme* and parsley,* topped with aged parmesan* and fried chicken skin. Tagliatelle from The Italian Corner from Petaluma is $10 for 10.4 oz. I bought two. $20 for the roasted chicken from Oakland-based Roadside Rotisserie. A small bag of shiitakes from Far West Fungi are $5, cauliflower from Orozco Farms is $4. Total FM cost: $51. Here’s a tip for the chicken skin. Slice it thin, pan fry it in neutral oil until crispy and crumble it over the pasta. Makes for a flavor-packed crunch.
Dessert: Grilled O’Henry peaches with organic honey* and baby Thompson Seedless grapes. Danny Duenas of Dhillon Farm picked the best three peaches for grilling right-now for me. “These are great for grilling,” he tells me. “Start skin side down.” I drizzled the honey over them, hot off the grill. Grapes are from Hamlow Farms. Total FM Cost: $15
What I’d do differently next time
Using so many great ingredients it would be difficult if not criminal to make a poor meal. Putting humility aside, I’d say the entire dinner, from the ‘chokes to the peaches, was outstanding. If I took a do-over, would I change anything? Of course!
Tagliatelle & chicken – I made twice as much as needed which is typical for me, especially when it comes to pasta. While the family enjoyed the leftovers, next time I’ll make half as much, freeing up about twenty dollars for lingcod from Freshway Fish & Meats to make ceviche, a hunk of Broncha cheese from Pacheco Family Ranch to grate over the pasta, or lemon yogurt from The Frenchy Gourmet to spoon over the peach. Would also have freed up $5 to buy a whole loaf of fresh-baked bread from West Won or Ollie’s Bakery, both from Napa, instead of the Fougasse.
Mission accomplished
As I finished wash-up the next morning, I thought about my choices, my menu and how practical the hundred dollar budget is for a dinner party feeding six. It’s crazy how quickly the money turned into edibles, but it’s no secret that we pay more for high quality food. Yes, the hundred dollar budget is doable…with a little help from your pantry.
That being said, next time I’ll bring along an extra twenty.
You made it: the end of this week’s Eat Drink Cook: a life-journal from a Napa Valley dad, wine expert and enthusiastic cook. Up to twelve subjects, often intertwined, with an emphasis on food, wine, cooking, being a dad and just a guy enjoying these crazy times the best I can. Read me for food & wine tips, recipes, and stuff I come across that you may find interesting too.
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Next time family meal planning from the market on a budget?