Niman Ranch Weekend: Des Moines Farmers’ Market, Appreciation Dinner, and a Giveaway

Hello my loves! As you may have noticed, sadly, I didn’t make it to the next round of Project Food Blog. Ah well. C’est la vie, non? Regardless, it was fun while it lasted, and I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for the tremendous support you showed! Also, it’s been so fun meeting new friends and fellow bloggers to follow now, so all was not lost

Today, we have a post from Ms. Danielle Tsi. As you may remember, she had attended the Niman Ranch Weekend to bring you some porkalicious goodness straight from the source. She continues her story now, bringing us on a tour through the colorful Des Moines Farmers’ Market, and ending with a recount of Niman Ranch’s 12th Annual Hog Farmer Appreciation Dinner.

Peppers and Tomatoes at the Des Moines Farmers' Market

Following a full day of socializing and feasting with our fellow companions at the Willis Farm, Saturday morning dawned heavy and grey with a light drizzle foreshadowing a heavy downpour. One look out the window and it was enough for me to accelerate my morning routine and head out to the Des Moines Farmers’ Market.

Reputedly ranked among the top Farmers’ Markets in the country,  this market has grown from 15 vendors and 200 shoppers in 1976 to more than 200 vendors and an average of 18,000 visitors every Saturday from May to October.  Coming from Northern California, home to San Francisco’s esteemed Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market, I was more than intrigued to check out what Des Moines had to offer. After all, this was the heart of the Midwest.

The historic Des Moines courthouse overlooking it all

Spanning four blocks, including the side streets off the main drag on Court Avenue, the Market stretched as long as your eye could see. The rain was a blessing, resulting in a more placid crowd than the usual bustling horde that descended every weekend. Produce on offer was transitional – there was a remaining cast of tomatoes, peppers and corn, slowly giving way to huge globes of pumpkin and squash in all shapes and textures.

Fall is here!

It was also interesting to see a fairly strong Asian representation here courtesy of the Hmong population. I, for one, never expected to be able to find lemongrass in Iowa, but there was no shortage of vegetable sellers offering a whole array of IndoChinese vegetables and herbs: Thai basil, eggplant, galangal, kaffir, and peppers.

Tiny eggplants

To add to the dizzying variety of fresh produce were a selection of purveyors selling their wares. Warm and toasty Salvadorean pupusas were highly popular, evidenced by the long line at their stall, as were the croissants and array of French pastries from La Mie Bakery across from them. With my weakness for French pastry, I skipped the line and chose instead to pick up a blueberry danish and chocolate croissant for lunch. Comfort food, perfect for munching on from the warmth of the hotel room as the rain poured that afternoon. My only regret was not buying more of their goods for breakfast the next morning.

La Mie Bakery's Blueberry Danish. Yum!

The Des Moines Farmers’ market isn’t just about shopping and eating and shopping some more. Every few steps brings you within earshot of strumming banjos, synthesizers or the harmonious synergy of acapella singers, making you want to linger as you sip your latte and observe little kids discover their sense of rhythm. That in itself was worth braving the chilly winds and drizzle to see. Mix it together with an incredible bounty of produce from some of the warmest and most eager farmers willing to talk to any and everyone about their farm, and there you have the perfect activity for a Saturday morning in Des Moines. The city itself isn’t much to write home about, but the market, now that’s a different story.

Dinner that evening brought together farmers, their families and many other Niman Ranch guests for the company’s 12^th Annual Hog Farmer Appreciation Dinner. Seven renowned chefs from all over the country were flown in to prepare a course each featuring Niman Ranch pork. Apart from the food, this event also honored those farmers that had met and exceeded Niman Ranch’s pork quality standards, those who had partnered with Niman Ranch for more than 10 years and awards from the Niman Ranch Next Generation Scholarship Fund for farmers’ children who wished to pursue agricultural studies in College before returning to the family farm.

Des Moines-based Locally Grown Clothing Company was on-site to sell their gorgeously designed t-shirts, including a couple from their partnership with Niman Ranch.  For every t-shirt sold, Locally Grown Clothing would donate $5 to the scholarship fund, as their way of building the next generation of farmers. Tempted by the many designs on offer, it was fortunate (for my suitcase), that there were limited sizes available.

For the farmer in all of us

At cocktail hour, Chef Sara Jenkins (Porchetta) whetted our appetites with her porchetta sandwiches. I will limit my gushing here and let the picture speak for itself.

Will you please check out that cube of crispy pork skin??

It’s kind of hard to stop at just one or two of these, but self-control was imperative, considering the feast we had ahead of us that evening.

Chef Randy Waidner (Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse) created a Reuben with a Twist for our appetizers – corned pork tenderloin on a homemade rye and gruyere cracker with pickled kohlrabi and spicy mustard. Effectively a deconstructed reuben sandwich, its different components melded perfectly, although we weren’t quite sure about the mound of dark stuff on the plate. Was it the pickled kohlrabi? The rye? A mystery ingredient? We may never know.

Reuben with a Twist (Randy Waidner, Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse)

Of all the courses we would be fed that evening, the next one, Sweet Corn Soup by local Chef George Formaro (Centro) was to be the highlight of our evening. A simple puree of sweet corn with caramelized onion and pico di gallo, topped with chicharron, this comforting, creamy and spoon-licking delicious soup had all of us asking for more.

Sweet Corn Soup (George Formaro, Centro)

Next, Chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo (Animal) served up Buffalo-style Pig Tails with celery, radishes and ranch dressing. Apart from its bony structure, this tasted pretty similar to your standard buffalo-style chicken wings. It’s a genius approach to using up the more exotic and cheaper cuts of meat that butchers and farmers often find themselves left with after selling off the popular cuts.

Pig Tails (Jon Shook & Vinny Dotolo, Animal)

San Francisco’s own Chef Alexander Ong (Betelnut) took care of the salad course with his Hand-Shredded Pork Wrap served with Asian pear kimchee, scallion puree and butter lettuce. This was a break from the classic fork-and-knife tradition, requiring a deft use of one’s hands in order to fully experience the diverse flavors of the dish. By the time we were done, the next course, a Pork Osso Bucco by Chef Martin Murphy (Canoe Club), proved almost daunting with its ragout of beets, carrots, potatoes and squash. Yet, it was hard to resist those soft chunks off meat that were practically falling off the bone.

Apple Pie (John Hinman, Marczyk Fine Foods)

Despite the feast, we managed to save some space for desssert, a cardinal rule in any multi-course extravaganza. Especially when the chef goes to great pains to deliver the dessert to the table. The day before, Chef John Hinman (Marczyk Fine Foods) discovered a lack of baking pans to produce the many Apple Pies needed for dinner. After scrambling to find the requisite number of pans, there was the unenviable job of staying up way past midnight to peel all the Cortland and Mollies Delicious apples for these pies.

The day of the dinner, rested with oh, just about four hours of sleep, he turned up for work only to discover that the machine to roll out the dough had failed. Everyone who could, chipped in, creating an assembly line of pie crust makers in the kitchen. Once the pies were prepped and ready to go, the oven in the Marriott’s kitchen decided to go on strike, forcing Chef John to bake his pies at Centro, two blocks down the street.

Chef John Hinman (Marczyk Fine Foods) drowning his pie-baking worries in an Iowa pork sandwich at Centro

With a history like that, there was absolutely no excuse not to eat this pie. And when it was served with a mound of whipped cream and the most delicious, crumbly bites of cheddar cheese from Prairie Breeze? Passing on dessert would be a real travesty.

The meal aside, the true spirit of that weekend for me came together in Simran Sethi‘s keynote speech. Talking about the current state of the food system, food security, the impacts of industrial agriculture on the environment, she managed to avoid the hardline tone you’d expect from advocating these causes, but instead evoked our shared desire for community and its expression when we gather to share a meal. In 10 minutes, Simran brought in the simplicity and magic of the prairie from Paul Willis’ farm into the ballroom, making for a thoughtful conclusion to an inspiring weekend that connected us to the sources of our food, and the people that provide them.

And now for our Giveaway! To win this super soft cute t-shirt from Locally Grown Clothing Co., simple leave a comment here telling me: What’s your favorite way to eat PORK?

Giveaway deadline is Friday 10/22, 11:59 pm PST. Winner will be chosen at random.

(The shirt is a women’s size Large, but it runs pretty small…)

Disclosure: This giveaway was made possible by Niman Ranch and Locally Grown Clothing Co.

A Rare Breed

Update: Congrats to Wendy, winner of Lick My Spoon’s Niman Ranch T-Shirt Giveaway!

Related posts:

1. Niman Ranch Weekend: Farm to Table at the Willis Hog Farm
2. Spring Bounty at the Farmer’s Market