Market Report

Valerie Gordon is the woman behind Valerie Confections. She's doing a line of farmers market-inspired preserves. She's currently inspired by Barbara Windrose's smoked dried tomatoes. She cooks the smoked tomatoes down with smoked chipotles, fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, ginger, salt and pepper. Soak the smoked dried tomatoes and chipotles to rehydrate them. She is also using Weiser Farm onions for a marmalade. Slice the onions thinly and cook it down with brown sugar, apple cider vinegar and Peacock farms raisins.

Valerie sells her preserves at her shop (3360 West 1st Street) and at a stand at the Sunday Hollywood Farmers Market. She also offers preserving classes with Kevin West.

Onion Marmalade

Yield: 8-12 oz. jars

Christopher Schubert sells organic walnuts and walnut oil from La Nogalera. They are Coastal Payne walnuts, harvested in the fall. He is selling a variety of flavored nuts including smoked walnuts, cocoa/chipotle and cumin/cayenne. Use them for everything to add a complex flavor to baking or salads. Christopher likes to add the cocoa/chipotle walnuts to ice cream.