It's my final semester of college, and I'm taking Literature of the Great Depression to finish my English major. I think that my professor often feels badly, though, about assigning texts that are just so darn depressing, so she often opens class with a cheerful question like, "What's your favorite type of pie?" or "What's your favorite breakfast?" Recently, she asked us what our favorite thing about Spring is, and I knew instantly that mine is the delicious new food and produce that Spring brings. Clearly, there's no better way to celebrate these bright new ingredients than with entire festivals dedicated to them! This weekend, we have homages to asparagus, seafood, beer, more seafood, seafood and (my favorite) maple.
Read on after the jump to see where to go for the party, and meanwhile check out these lovely photos from last week's Great American Pie Festival.
As with many people these days, I spend a not-insignificant amount of my time thinking about the environment and ways in which I can reduce my impact. I always have an Envirosax or two tucked into my bag, I try not to buy a cup of coffee unless I brought a reusable mug with me and I use my plastic vegetable bags over and over again.
However, I still struggle with the amount of trash I produce. Last night, as I was cleaning up my kitchen, after an evening of cooking dinner, making some muffin-sized quiches for the week's breakfast (something like these), making salads for lunches and cutting and marinating some chuck steak for dinner tonight, I realized that I had filled the garbage can full up. Now, it doesn't help that I live in an urban apartment and haven't figured out a way to compost yet (although I'm working on it), but most of my trash was unrecyclable food packaging. As I tied up the bag, and headed to the trash room, I found myself wishing for a store where it was encouraged to bring as much of your own reusable packaging along with you as possible.
Reading Treehugger this morning, I discovered that such a store does exist, although its in London, too far away from me to make it practical. It is called Unpackaged and sells all of its products loose. You bring your own container or buy a nice-looking reusable one from the store. Now, I know that this sounds like the bulk section at Whole Foods, but in my area, the bulk-buying options are quite limited and they look at you askance if you bring your own jar in when buying quinoa or popping corn. The idea of a store where that practice is encouraged makes me long for one in my own neighborhood.
With all the information in the news these days about the importance of eating locally and organically, the folks out there who can't afford to add these sometimes pricier ingredients (during the summer months, local farmers market produce is comparable or cheaper than its supermarket brethern) to their shopping lists start to feel sadly left out of the movement.
Novella Carpenter, freelance writer and urban farmer living in California's Bay Area has found a way to keep her costs low and her food as local as possible (last summer she spent a month living only on that which came from 100 yards of her front door). The San Francisco Chronicle recently ran an article by Carpenter in which she interviewed a foodie acquaintance who was finding ways to eat healthy, local, organic and (admittedly) slightly fancy foods, all on a fairly limited budget. It's an interesting read and a good source of eating inspiration.
As mentioned in a recent post, maple syrup prices are soaring due to high fuel oil costs and a shorter season due to climate change.
But if you want to indulge your maple syrup-tooth right now, and happen to be in the Angelica, New York vicinity (about two hours from Buffalo), try Cartwright's Maple Tree Inn. The Cartwrights, a family of longtime maple syrup producers, began serving pancakes and syrup for a few weeks during the harvest season in 1963. They've been selling stacks of buckwheat pancakes ever since, to tourists from as far away as Germany and Japan. The restaurant is only open for two months - from February 12 through April 13 this year. How's that for local, seasonal eating?
The Cartwright's pancake recipe is a family secret, but here's a link to The Minimalist's Pancake Primer - his ricotta pancakes are killer (in case you can't make it to Angelica before April 12).
I'm not a huge tour person generally -- I get antsy and like to explore new cities on my own (or maybe just go shopping). But a food tour is something I definitely think that I could handle. I've been hearing about them a lot lately, as many cities now offer them. More recently, I've come across City Food Tours, which offers both walking and coach tours in Philadelphia and New York City. This company has gotten a bit of press, and they even offer personalized group packages. Philadelphia also offers tours of Reading Terminal Market, one of my favorite spots in the city, and Chinatown tours with some foodie destinations.
I've never taken a food tour, but I'd love to hear accounts from those of you have had -- especially tours that you found especially great or awful.
Cheese traditionalists have won their battle to make Camembert makers use unpasteurized milk to obtain the prestigious AOC label.
This puts an end to the so-called "Camembert War," fought over the past year, between local producers and two multinational companies, who were concerned that the use of raw milk carried too much risk of e-coli potential. Litigation is expensive these days, you know.
The local cheesemakers, however, being French, were livid at the mere suggestion of a change in process. Only lait cru (raw milk) could be used to make traditional Camembert, (and only from local cows!) because it introduced flavors that connected the cheese to its local soil. It's all in keeping with the original recipe, they argued, which was received by a Camembert woman, Marie Harel in 1791, in exchange for hiding a priest on the run from French revolutionaries.
The use of pasteurized milk would make Camembert inauthentic, they said, which would threaten its Appelation D'Origine Controlle (AOC) distinction. That's the stamp of authenticity cheese purists and foodies around the world look for when buying Camembert and other regional products.
The French governing body that controls the AOC will formerly approve the rule in coming months, according to press accounts.
Not long ago I posted about an event at the Astor Center in NYC, the annual Head to Tail Dinner put on by Chris Cosentino of Incanto restaurant in San Francisco. I was lucky enough to attend and want to tell you all about it. We'll go behind the scenes in the kitchen before, and just prior to the meal; and follow all the way through the dinner itself. It all started three days prior when I was invited to join the chefs in the kitchen as they started prepping for the dinner.
Chris and his pal, Chef Jonnatan Leiva of the Jack Falstaff Restaurant in San Francisco had flown in on a red-eye after finishing work late the night before. With what little sleep they had on the plane, they went straight to work in the Astor Center kitchen, as they engaged on a three-day binge of Red Bull to keep them alert and local microbrews to keep them sane. Other chefs from around New York state showed up to volunteer and help put the event together.
Good, fresh bread is one of life's great pleasures, at least in my opinion. I love to go to a great bakery and pick up a loaf for a special occasion. I wish I could do that every day, but I know it would go bad in my house. We just don't go through bread fast enough.
It would be even better if I could bake bread at home. I love to bake. Bread is usually just so time consuming and it rarely turns out at home like it does at the bakery.
I was reminded this week of an article I read in the New York Times food section from about a year ago that may change my mind. The Minimalist, Mark Bittman, interviewed/apprenticed with the owner of Sullivan Street Bakery, Jim Lahey. Together, they made a loaf using Mr. Lahey's innovative new method for making bread. The idea is to stir everything together(no kneading or anything), let it ferment (the yeast eats the flour to make alcohol and carbon dioxide) for a very long time, then bake it in a cast iron or ceramic covered pot.
The covered pot becomes a steamer once in the oven so you can get bakery level results from stuff you probably already have. The Minimalist had said that this is innovative, and it is. The only thing you need to make good, fresh bread at home is time, and a few things you more than likely have in your kitchen. The recipe and procedure are after the jump.
Last weekend, I attended a party featuring home-brewed beer. A fellow party-goer remarked that most home-brewed beer parties usually take the same form: everyone complements the brewer, then proceeds to dump the home-brewed stuff in the sink and head to the keg. But the beer at the this party was actually decent, even borderline inspiring (I swear I'd try to brew some myself if I didn't mind foul smells so much).
Anyway, home-brewing is on the rise -- and it may even be responsible for the return of mead, a honey-based alcoholic beverage. According to an article over at Slate, foodies and local brewers (home-brewers included) have spurred a renewed interest in this libation. You may remember mead from such things as the turn of the last millennium, when we all drank some during the banquet celebrating our successful pillage of the enemy castle.
Sadly, the author of the Slate article ultimately concludes that mead is unlikely to re-enter the mainstream completely, so it looks like I'm going to have seek out artisan brewers to get my berry mead. Unless anyone wants to home-brew some for me?
I just have to tell all you Slashfoodies about the new Astor Center in New York City. Some of you may have heard me mention one of my favorite shops, Astor Wine & Spirits before; like when I reviewed St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur. When I lived in NY I stopped by there on a weekly basis, now it's more like 6 times a year, which is pretty good when you consider it's over 400 miles from my new home in Mid-Coast Maine.
For the past three years I have been hearing rumors about the Astor Center being developed by Astor Wines & Spirits and they finally opened just last month. The Astor Center is a state or the art culinary education and events center where they have panels, workshops, symposia, seminars, courses on every aspect of the food and beverage world. They have three beautiful spaces for their events, courses, and seminars. The Study- a seminar hall with stadium seating looking down to a teaching kitchen and podium from comfortable seats set at counters set up for professional tastings; with a light box, running water, and a sink for every seat. No spitting in nasty slop buckets here. The Kitchen- A huge, top of the line teaching kitchen with every gadget you can imagine. The Gallery- a multi-use space for wine pairing dinners, food festivals, lectures, and other events.
Their presenter list is nothing short of amazing with top experts in all areas of the culinary world joining together to explore both the cutting edge and historical aspects of food and beverages. There is a strong focus on wines, spirits, and cocktails; something you would expect from the Astor Wines folks. F Paul Pacult, Jim Meehan, Maximilian Riedel (of Riedel Crystal), Kara Newman, Brian Van Flandern, Timothy Sullivan, Henry Sidel, and more experts on various libations are on hand to delve into the glorious world of all that is wet and tasty; for beginners and experts, consumers and those in the trade.
A year ago, I was totally swept along by the No-Knead bread tide. I thought it was the best thing ever and would often sing the praises of the technique, because for the first time in my life, I was able to make good bread easily. The only problem with it was that you had to be careful of the timing of when you started the bread, because of the specific waiting periods required.
Luckily for me, Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François have solved the timing problem by devising an even easier way of making good, fresh bread at home and they've written a cookbook called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day devoted to their method. They developed a wet dough that can be kept in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. What you do is simply cut off a chunk of dough and bake it off each day as needed. That way one night you can bake up a larger loaf if you're having guests for dinner and the next day, you can just bake off the little bit you need for your afternoon sandwich.
In addition to the standard loaf, Zoë has created an assortment of recipes that allow you to take the basic bread dough and turn it into all sorts of breads from sweet rolls to seeded loaves. The book is written clearly and the recipes are easy to follow. There aren't a ton of pictures, but what are there are gorgeous.
I've personally made several batches of the dough and it's turned out perfectly each time. I even let a batch of dough hang out in my fridge for a full two weeks, to determine if it really was still usable after all that time and discovered that the bread that baked up from that older dough was wonderful, with a distinct sour taste that reminded me of the sourdough I occasionally buy from a local bakery.
One final note about this book is that it is accompanied by an informative website that includes questions from readers and answers from the authors, a section devoted to clearing up an errors in the book and videos of Jeff and Zoe in baking action.
For those who are unfamiliar with the Bread Bakers Guild of America (I'm sure there are a lot of you), it's an organization dedicated to promoting artisan bread making in America. This is the group responsible for fielding the US Bread Team in the Baking World Cup. I think it's an awesome cooperative.
One of my few problems with the Guild, though, is the way they organize events. Whenever they set up workshops, classes, or gatherings of any kind, the events are all in a limited set of geographic locations. They aren't really spread out so that people from more parts of the country can easily attend.
Well, the Guild has out done itself this time. This spring and summer, the group has put together a series of classes called the "Women of the Guild: North American Tour 2008". Not only does it shine a light on women bakers (yay), the tour really does go all over the US. (Well, they could hit more southern cities, but at least the tour is hitting my southern city).
The classes will be taught by a female Guild member and will focus on a specialty of that particular member. There is a lot more information at the Bread Bakers Guild website. You can find out about dates and registration. You can also order a tee-shirt. So even if you can't go to a class, you can look like you did!
A couple of weeks ago, I headed over to DiBruno Bros. to buy some fresh ricotta. I was making a cheesy egg casserole for a Saturday brunch and like to use ricotta to give it some heft and body. It was a Friday afternoon when I headed over and the line at the cheese counter was several people deep as people were shopping for the evening and weekend. The cheesemongers were working with people, helping them determine what cheeses would work best for them and giving them lots of opportunities to taste the cheeses before they purchased. I stood there, patiently waiting my turn, watching as one woman looked for just the right cheese to take with her to a dinner party.
The guy helping her saw me watching as she tasted cheeses and the next time he offered her a sample, held one out for me to try as well. As luck would have it, the sample he offered me was of Twig Farm Wheel. It's soft cheese with a pungent rind that has a powerfully delicious taste. I liked it so much that I kept thinking about it after over the weekend and on Monday headed back to the cheese counter for my own small wedge (which I stretched out over the course of two meals, so as to better relish it).
Fast forward to this afternoon, when I came across an audio interview done by the folks at Cheese by Hand with the cheese makers at Twig Farm. It makes the cheese seem all the more delicious, knowing the background behind Twig Farm and the time and energy they put into crafting quality cheeses. If you like knowing where your food comes from, this interview will appeal to you.
It sits alone and untouched at the end of a long buffet table -- a bowl full of apples and bananas, maybe a seedy orange tossed in as an afterthought. Don't let your fruit salad meet this awful fate, spruce it up instead!
It's my final semester of college, and I'm taking Literature of the Great Depression to finish my English major. I think that my professor often feels badly, though, about assigning texts that are just so darn depressing, so she often opens class with a cheerful question like, "What's your favorite type of pie?" or "What's your favorite breakfast?" Recently, she asked us what our favorite thing about Spring is, and I knew instantly that mine is the delicious new food and produce that Spring brings. Clearly, there's no better way to celebrate these bright new ingredients than with entire festivals dedicated to them! This weekend, we have homages to asparagus, seafood, beer, more seafood, seafood and (my favorite) maple.
As mentioned in a 
The 
Not long ago I posted about an event at the Astor Center in NYC, the annual 
Good, fresh 
Last weekend, I attended a party featuring home-brewed beer. A fellow party-goer remarked that most home-brewed beer parties usually take the same form: everyone complements the brewer, then proceeds to dump the home-brewed stuff in the sink and head to the keg. But the beer at the this party was actually decent, even borderline inspiring (I swear I'd try to brew some myself if I didn't mind foul smells so much). 
I just have to tell all you Slashfoodies about the new 
A year ago, I was totally swept along by the No-Knead bread tide. I thought it was the best thing ever and would often sing the praises of the technique, because for the first time in my life, I was able to make good bread easily. The only problem with it was that you had to be careful of the timing of when you started the bread, because of the specific waiting periods required. 
For those who are unfamiliar with the Bread Bakers Guild of America (I'm sure there are a lot of you), it's an organization dedicated to promoting artisan bread making in America. This is the group responsible for fielding the US Bread Team in the Baking World Cup. I think it's an awesome cooperative. 
Creating the ultimate Mother's Day gift for the carnivorous mom
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Gifts for the vegetarian (or vegetable-loving) mom
