Carrots are a year 'round item at the Hollywood Farmers Market. But this time of year particularly beautiful carrots can be found in an array of colors, sizes and shapes. I love the little round French carrots; so sweet and carroty. They are the perfect size to pop in your mouth like a little carrot bon-bon, and that’s exactly what I do with them.

So this week I chose carrots for my Market Matters post. Not just any carrot however, I chose a variety of the most unusually colored carrots I could find. Because once you get out of the PigglyWiggly you will discover that there is way more to a carrot than orange. There are red carrots, purple ones, even yellow, white, and two-toned varieties.

You needn’t be frightened of these carrots. They are not some mutinized hybrid with a lot of genetic hanky-panky going on. Nope, most of these carrots are heirlooms.

The Brown Derby is perhaps the most well known of all the iconic restaurants of old Hollywood. Partly due to Lucille Ball and the famous scene between her and the actor William Holden in the I Love Lucy television series of the 1950s.

So, naturally when I am in Panama presenting recipes from classic Hollywood restaurants to Boquete Gourmet I want to include a recipe from this restaurant. It should be fairly easy for me too, because I own the old cookbook from Marjorie Child Husted, The Brown Derby Cookbook. But in flipping through this book I can see one thing right off the bat. Our styles in eating have changed drastically since the era of the Golden Age of Hollywood. It’s hard to imagine Brad Pitt or Halle Berry sitting down to some of the dishes featured in this book. The food is both fussy and simplistic if that’s possible. I mean many of the dishes call for pastry cream and elaborately turned (but grossed overcooked) vegetables. But they are simple in the fact that they are not much more creative than some sort of meat and potatoes presentation with a cream sauce.

The book is interesting from a historical perspective but I don’t really want to cook anything from this book.

I am in a lazy summer mood.

But I still want to bring delicious food to the table. It makes me happy to present meals that are not only tasty, but are also great looking.

This Avocado and Grapefruit Salad is just such a creation.

Grapefruit have a very bright taste. They are a little bit tart which really lends itself nicely to the rich and creamy, full mouth taste of avocado. Together they create a salad that satisfies the palate on many levels.

Grapefruit is quite a surprising ingredient to me. It pairs effortlessly well with so many fresh flavors. Which is why it makes a great addition to any salad. I used tarragon as my herb of choice in this salad, but you could try thyme, basil or mint even with equally good results.

I like spicy food.

I even like really spicy food.

In my current state of broken jaw with mouth wired shut, I seem to be missing spicy food. Even more than a nice chewy cut of red meat. I am sure that particular craving will hit me soon (like a ton of bricks). After all my mouth has been closed for business less than a week now. Give it some time. The worst is yet to come. I am sure it will start to get ugly real soon.

But right now, right here, today, I want something spicy and south of the border in flavor.

I’d really like a torta al pastor from any one of the many thousands of taco stands or trucks that dot the corners of Los Angeles (gosh, you gotta LOVE Los Angeles). But pork is not a tune my teeth can tap to anytime soon. Heck even bread or tortillas are out of the question for several more weeks.

What’s a man to do?

December is nearly gone. This was my last trip to The Hollywood Farmers Market this year. There are many more gems of the December harvest. I had hoped to discuss more of them here.

Alas it shall not be!

So this week I am taking a short cut. I chose two ingredients for my weekly Market Matters discussion.

In case you don’t know I go to the Farmers Market every week. I look for fun, tasty and seasonal (at least seasonal to So Cal) produce to use in my kitchen.

I could not let December pass with out picking up some of the gorgeous walnuts grown here in California. But walnuts are not so unusual as a food item. You probably have plenty of inspiration about what to cook with walnuts! I doubt you need my help.