Juicy & Sweet Cara Cara Navels

Pickings were a bit slimmer than usual this morning at the Menlo Park farmers' market, due to the rain, I am sure.  But there were plenty of oranges.  These baseball-sized fruits were among Leonard's offerings this week.  They are dripping with juice, sweet, and--incredibly--seedless.

Seedless thirst-quenchers.

Bloody Good Citrus

I tried my first blood oranges last Saturday at Leonard's at the Menlo Park farmers' market. June,  a former-farmer who was polishing tangerines there, suggested these oranges when I asked her what was good that day.  I had my doubts...I have not had much curiosity about blood oranges, assuming they would be very tart.  But Leonard promptly offered me a sample, and I was just as quickly sold.

What I tasted was juicy, gentle sweetness...and...cinnamon.  

Very possibly my new favorite citrus.  They are round and sized like baseballs with orange exteriors that look like maybe they were scraped with red paint.  

These do not look at all friendly to peel, so I just cut them into slices. I think there was just one seed in each fruit I tried.  

MP Farmers' Market Bulletin - Did you say "spring?"

At last! Some sun this morning. Climate wimp here was starting to wilt. Haven't been to the Menlo Park farmers' market in a few weeks.   There, mingling behind their beautiful counter of kale, chard, beets and lettuces was the ever-friendly contingent from Coke farms.

Spring onions

I asked Pam, one of the farms delightful regulars, if they had scallions today and she pointed out "spring onions," which looked to me like scallions but thicker in girth. They also looked like they had on purple stockings. Like their name, they looked like spring.  Someone say spring?

Lavendar and lime green--the colors of spring in spring onions.

I needed scallions for a one-pot pilaf I am making, which I will be eating for four nights in a row since I am too lazy to make anything else.  Leave it to the sun and the farmers' market to lift my spirits this morning.  :-)

Sultana

1149 El Camino Real
Menlo Park, CA 94025
(650) 322-4343
www.thesultana.net

Reviewed 7/12/2008

Think: creamy and thick... I think I may have found my Middle Eastern restaurant--in Silicon Valley anyway. Definitely on the Peninsula.

All the offerings on my veggie combo plate, except of course for the tabbouleh and dolma, were thick and creamy...and delightful. They could call their plate Turkish Delights but of course that might cause confusion. But each offering on that plate was a treat, like the candy.

I can't give it top billing yet since I just got take-out. But I'll gladly give it another star if I continue to enjoy my experiences there, as I did eating out of my Styrofoam container.

So on this day, a mediocre hummus would have satisfied me given the intense craving I was having. Instead I had possibly the best hummus and babaganoush I have tasted short of the kind my Lebanese-raised friend, G, makes. Dolma too. And throw in the tabbouleh.

I can't tell you how often I will order this combo elsewhere and it is too lemony, or salty, and I need a fire hydrant to cool my throat. But I'll order it anyway because I am too lazy to make it myself and I am howling for this stuff. But it looks like I no longer have to settle!

It was my first time trying ezme, which is described as "blended fresh tomatoes, onion walnut, and spices." I would call it a creamy spread the color of roasted pepper soup. It's slightly sweet and a little tangy. And then after you decide you like it, it kicks you in the back of the throat. Ditto for kizartma, which reminded me of ratatouille topped with yogurt. LOVED it.

This place is potentially habit-forming. I feel an addiction coming on.

I want to try the lavash wraps and the lentil soup that I have heard much about.

Will Sultana become the Sultan of my Middle Eastern restaurant options? To be continued, because I will be coming back here.