In season: shishito peppers

10 a.m. Saturday, August 22. Chef Jeremiah Weston of Wrecking Bar. Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com

4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, August 26. Chef Kate Christian of Three Squares Kitchen. Decatur Farmers Market, Decatur. http://decaturfarmersmarket.com/wordpress/

Many markets offer chef demos on an occasional or regular basis. Check your market’s website or Facebook page for more information.

FOR SALE

Just coming into season: roselle

Vegetables: arugula, Asian greens, Asian pears, blackberries, carrots, chanterelles, chard, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, field peas, figs, garlic, ginger, green beans and pole beans, herbs, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, melons, muscadines, mushrooms, Napa cabbage, okra, onions, peaches, pecans, peppers, potatoes, radishes, rhubarb, shallots, sorrel, spaghetti squash, summer squash, sweet potato greens, tomatoes, turnips

From local reports

Shishitos and padrons are two varieties of small green peppers more and more commonly found at local farmers markets. These 1- to 2-inch-long peppers are most often served as finger food appetizers, offered as izakaya in Japan or tapas in Spain or Portugal.

The peppers are similar in a few ways. Cook up a batch and most of the peppers will be mild with a bright peppery flavor. But about 1 in 10 will be quite spicy. The heat level grows as the peppers get bigger, and as the season goes on, the hotter the peppers become.

They’re both commonly pan roasted until just lightly charred. The padrons are most often sautéed in olive oil, the shishitos in toasted sesame oil.

Tasted side by side, it’s reported that the padrons have a smoky flavor and a softer texture that has a melt-in-your-mouth consistency. The shishitos are sweeter and their sturdier skin means they hold up better for stuffing or sliced for a pizza topping.

If you take home a basket of each, they may be hard to tell apart. The shishitos should have a brighter, more reflective surface, have more ridges and a twisted tip, and are usually a little longer.

Ashley Rodgers, farm manager for Serenbe Farms, grows both padrons and shishitos which she sells at the Saturday morning Peachtree Road and Serenbe farmers markets.

“The shishitos are good frying peppers and the chefs really like them. People are starting to become more familiar with them, and some are particular and want one or the other. So we grow both. But if we run out of one, both our customers at the markets and our chefs will usually take the other,” she said.

Rogers is in her second season of managing Serenbe Farms. Before coming to Serenbe, she worked with R. J. Kessler at Planted Rock Farm.

The farm planted their poblano and shishito pepper seeds in the greenhouse in February. The plants were in the field by mid-May, and peppers were ready to be harvested at the end of July. These peppers are prolific, so the farm is only raising 30 plants of each.

Both types of peppers require minimal preparation. The simplest method is to heat olive or sesame oil in a heavy skillet and saute the peppers, turning occasionally, until they’re blistered on all sides.

The peppers, loosely wrapped in plastic and refrigerated, should keep 3 to 5 days.

Grilled Shishito Peppers with Watermelon

Chef Thaddeus Barton of The Farmhouse at Serenbe created this recipe to highlight shishito peppers and their seasonal companion, sweet ripe watermelon. At the restaurant, he offers these grilled peppers with fried oysters, pickled mustard seeds and toasted garlic.

Barton says, “At the restaurant we use a mix of wood charcoal and hickory to grill. At home, you can grill however you like; the important thing is to make sure you can get the proper char on the peppers without burning.”

Tropea onions are a sweet red Italian variety being grown by many metro Atlanta farmers. The onions themselves are oblong in shape and are sometimes sold by the name “torpedo” onions.

1 tropea onion, peeled and diced

2 tablespoons champagne vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

6 tablespoons grape seed oil, divided

12 shishito peppers

Coarse sea salt

12 2-inch cubes seedless watermelon

4 ounces cojita cheese

16 leaves basil

Preheat grill to 400 degrees. Clean grates and lightly oil.

While grill is heating, make vinaigrette: in the jar of a blender, combine onion, vinegar, honey and mustard. Turn the blender on high and blend for two minutes. After two minutes drizzle 5 1/2 tablespoons oil and process until mixture is emulsified. Strain vinaigrette through a fine mesh sieve and set aside.

Toss the peppers in remaining oil. Season with salt and place onto grill, turning peppers once they blister and continue to turn until they are evenly blistered. Remove from grill.

When ready to serve, divide the melon between four serving plates. Arrange three peppers on each plate and sprinkle melon and peppers with cojita. Spoon the onion vinaigrette around the plates and tear basil and sprinkle on top. Finish with a little coarse sea salt on top of each cube of melon. Serve immediately. Serves: 4

Per serving: 370 calories (percent of calories from fat, 70), 8 grams protein, 20 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 30 grams fat (7 grams saturated), 25 milligrams cholesterol, 202 milligrams sodium.