We love embracing a sustainable, organic & locavore lifestyle! Our Saturday mornings are always spent roaming around the Scottsdale Old Town Farmers Market in search of local eats and fresh produce. So you can imagine our heartache to hear that the Scottsdale Old Town Farmers Market season is coming to a close at the end of May. We are already going through tearful withdrawal at the thought of waiting until fall. For us the highlight of going to the Farmer’s Market is the feeling of community, a home away from home. Listening to live music and meeting with local growers, mom and pop stands and some of our favorite artisan’s & specialty vendors face to face is always a joy ( no middleman here!).

When we arrive at the Farmers Market we immediately walk around and explore & converse with the various vendors before filling our BYOB. The farmers are eager to show off their harvest. As we peruse the produce tables our minds begins to race a thousand miles per hour.  What to buy? What to cook? and importantly How to cook it? Lucky for us we had the opportunity to attend, sit in and taste a few dishes at Scottsdale Old Town Farmer’s Market Farm Session. We were thrilled to hear that local chefs would be putting on their chef hats and preparing a signature dish with some of our favorite farm fresh local ingredients during a Farm Session cooking demo. The Farm Session is a unique “farm to table” outdoor experience where renowned local chefs lead a seasonal cooking class with local ingredients and help average cooks like us in the kitchen. The Farm Sessions are a great way to get inspired by the bountiful array of  vibrant seasonal produce and specialty foods available locally.

What is exciting about each Farm Session is that the chef’s  begin their culinary session with a farmer’s market shopping excursion for ingredients . There is one catch…in order to pay tribute to Arizona’s wonderful diverse set of farmers, ranchers and food purveyors participating chefs can ONLY use locally sourced ingredients from the farmers market or Arizona. It is not hard to get inspired being surrounded by the Farmers markets tastiest, freshest, and intoxicating aroma of fruits, herbs and vegetables lovingly grown by farmers who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. We have been tempted many times to nibble on a carrot or bite into a juicy tomato on the spot (some restraint was needed!). Cheese, homemade pasta’s, pastries, artisan ice cream and fresh baked bread beg to be devoured (we can’t help ourselves). No avid foodie or hungry passerbyer’s can resist the smell of good things pulled from the earth or out of the oven. Not to mention the opportunity to support passionate local farmers & food artisans.

We had the opportunity to be spectators and taste testers at our first Farm session. Of course our hungry bellies could not resist!  We got to witness culinary genius Aaron May (owner of Over Easy, 18 Degrees, The Lodge, Mabel’s on Main and famous Sol y Sombra) turn up the heat in the kitchen. While he chopped, diced, stirred & sauteed he spilled the beans about his upcoming restaurant Iruna, a Spanish kitchen and lounge.  The restaurants menu will reflect the culture and cuisine of Northern Spain and the Pyrenees mountains. Iruna which is named after the Basque word for the Spanish city of Pamplona will open sometime in May in the Pischke’s space in Old Town Scottsdale.

Iruna will be Chef May’s second stab at Spanish cuisine since closing Sol y Sombra – his DC Ranch Spanish eatery. Iruna’s seasonal menu will showcase Spanish flavors, ingredients and local produce. Although the menu is hush hush he did say that it will consist of smaller plates and tapas. If you are the adventurous type razor clams, turbot, octopus and sea urchin will grace the menu. Diners will also get to taste dairy ingredients popular in the Basque region of northeastern Spain. The menu will be pared with an extensive Old World wine and well crafted cocktail list that will transport diners overseas. Iruna will have a casual dining atmosphere with industrial, handcrafted and contemporary flair. So, we can’t wait to make a reservation. The grand opening is still tentative but we will make sure to blog and tweet when the doors open. But until then we will just have to wait and ponder hungry thoughts of Spain!

Now with out further ado – on to the delicious photos and simple tasty dishes Chef May cooked up during The Farm Session using ingredients from the Farmer’s Market. All of these mouthwatering dishes inspired by locally grown produce from the market and locally sourced ingredients are some of his favorites that we have come to love. We have even included one of Chef May’s recipes from The Farm Session, a refreshing Shrimp and Jicama Fruit Salad which is perfect fool proof summer fare. Perfect for any occasion! We hope this dish will inspire you to get in the kitchen. Enjoy!

During the Farm Session – Chef Aaron May produced 3 improvisational dishes. See photos below.

“Pamplona Tomato Bruschetta”

“Curried Radishes”

Demo & Recipe: Chef Aaron May’s Shrimp with Jicama  Summer Salad

Ingredients: (Chef May eyeballed the ingredient measurements-tweak recipe to suit your palette & serving needed)

• Jicama
• Jalapeno
• Grapefruit
• Orange
• Pear
• Pepper
• Salt
• Fresh uncooked deveined shrimp
• Cinnamon
• Penzey’s Spices: Smoked Paprika
• Star Anise
• Pillsbury Rose Wine
• Canola Oil

Directions

1. Cut top  & bottom of Jicama and peel like a cantaloupe or  honey dew. The Jicama is sweet, savory & crunchy bursting with water.

2. Cut Jicama to manageable size pieces, slice thin. You can use a mandolin slicer to get the work done or practice your knife skills in the kitchen.

3. Toss thinly sliced Jicama in a bowl and set aside to serve as the base for rest of the dish.

4. Cut & slice 2  Jalapeno, cut off top then cut in 1/2 and discard seed bed which contains heat. Juliene the Jalapeno and add to bowl.

5.  Zest grapefruit and orange and set aside for garnish. Then peel down the grapefruit and orange and slice to get nice pinwheels of citrus (make sure to remove pith which is bitter) and place in bowl.

6. Slice pear thin and add to bowl for a nice crunch. The pear adds sweetness to the grapefruit while the oranges add tartness.

7. Roll an orange to loosen section, then cut in half to squeeze juice on top of the fruit and jalapeno’s in the bowl. Make sure to catch the orange seeds. The orange juice creates a base for a dressing and brings together flavors of a composed dish. The citrus also prevents oxidation and browning of the fruit.

8. Add some black pepper and a pinch of salt.

9. Add 16-20lbs of deveined raw shrimp and leave on the tail (purchase fresh seafood at Rocky Point, Costco’s or Wholefoods) in another bowl. Pour cinnamon and Penzey’s Spices Smoked Paprika over the shrimp to add some spice.

10. Add enough cornstarch to coat the raw shrimp, this will help thicken the sauce.

11. Toss all the ingredients in the shrimp bowl together with some tender lovin’ care.

12.  Cook shrimp for 8 minutes. Heat pan w/ canola oil, once hot add coated shrimp. Chef May’s Rule of Thumb: “Don’t overcrowd the pan”

13. Once shrimp is half cooked add star anise to the pan, it releases oil & licorice flavor.

14. Add Pillsbury Rose Wine (not to sweet or to dry)  to the bottom of the pan. Rose Wine pairs well with shell fish and adds nice flavors and help steam shrimp. You can also use a Chardonnay.

15. Shrimp is done when they turn opague or in a “C”  fetal position.

16. Pour cooked shrimp and juices over Jicama fruity salad and serve hot or cold. Toss together for a refreshing summer salad.

Iruna

Please let us know if you tried this recipe – also are you excited about Chef Aaron Mays new restaurant Iruna?– Leave a comment below and let us know.

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If you do stop in to Iruna tell them Bloggin’ Good Food sent you. Now we are off on another foodie adventure, so taste buds stay tuned!

Thanks,
Adam & Wendy

Some Animoto Fun >> Iruna Shrimp in 30 seconds.