Eat Old Cheese

Hook's 10 Year Old Cheddar

Sometimes I'm in bliss eating a local cheese that's less than a week old, find some Fantome Farm goat cheese at the Dane County Market. Other times, like today, I get my cheese bliss from the aged. And I mean old, Hook's ten (plus) year old cheddar, which I had for lunch today.

You can read about the Hook's and their aging process here. The Hooks say.

Some people say they don't like aged cheese," Julie says. "They think it's bitter. But chances are they haven't had an aged cheese that's done well.

Well, maybe it's not bitter, but 10 year cheddar is not starter cheese. It does not taste like cheese you may know. For one thing, it is crunchy. Do you expect your cheese to crunch. Hook's 10 year cheddar is not the only cheese to crunch. Most often from calcium lactate, the crunch, or crystals, can be found in other aged cheeses, including English cheddars and older Parmesans. The tiny crystals in Hook's aged cheeses add an unexpected pleasure. The other thing though, that's maybe not as unexpected. That is the funks of aged cheese. OK, it's not bitter, but it aint smooth. Maybe a bit sour, whiffs of ammonia, the taste of aged cheddar is not one of decay or stink like a mold ripened cheese, but it is far from nuanced. It helps to balance a cheese like this against something, some keeper apples, the maligned red delicious add the necessary off-setting sweetness as I had with my local ploughman's lunch.

The Hook's are usually at the Dane County Farmer's Market in Madison, so you can learn about their operations and buy many of their cheeses; they make excellent blue cheeses too. I've heard that some Chicago area Binny's carry Hook's cheeses, but I have not seen them. Keep an eye out. It's a local cheese worth finding.

What's In Season Now - Ramps!

Guest Blogger David the Hat Hammond Blogs the Rampfest

About the first thing to arrive in the ground around these parts are ramps, and man about town, David Hammond happened to be there as they sprouted. He contributed a report to WBEZ's 848 on the annual Rampfest at Spence Farm, and he also agreed to write a post for the blog.

Rummaging for Ramps

Ramps are funny vegetables. They’re the first tender premonitions of springtime, delicate, yet resistant to being torn from the still cool earth. As Marty Travis of Spence Farm explained, “You have to get under them,” with a shovel or spade, and work them up gently, or they break and you’re left with a fistful of greens.

Travis is one of the coolest guys I’ve met in a long time. Supplier to Frontera/Topolobampo, Vie and many other higher-end Chicagoland restaurants, Marty is an unassuming man who speaks with simplicity and gentleness that reflects the rolling land of a farm that’s been in his family since 1830.

Every year for the past few, Travis has worked with Terra Brockman of the Land Connection to host a ramp dig, which is now a major attraction among chefs who come to get their hands dirty ripping up ramps and reconnecting with the source of the food they serve their patrons.

After a few hours of ramping, there’s a farm lunch that’s about as wonderful as one could imagine. Some of the area’s most adventurous chefs bring in favorite dishes in an unspoken, gentlemanly competition to shine in a room of some of the brightest culinary minds. From Frontera, there was incredibly tender and subtly piquant roast pork with fresh tortillas; from Vie, full flavored pate, brilliantly crisp housemade pickles and goat butter pound cake. There were many other miraculous contributions, but perhaps the most memorable sensation was the feeling that these chefs were coming together to make great food but also to rediscover and reconnect with the source of that food.

Like I said, ramps are funny. Fresh from the ground, they are almost unpleasantly strong tasting, a kind of vibrant hybrid of garlic and onion, aggressively green. Cut into, say, an egg salad and kept a day, they lose their anger at being ripped out of the earth so young, and gain a subtle tang that makes them a special and pleasing, though transient, taste of spring.

Some pix from the dig, courtesy of the Hat:

Paul and Janet Virant, ramping

Dean Zanella of 312 Chicago, along with a coterie of other ramp-loving chefs, cleaning the leek-like shoots

Goat butter pound cake

Goat, done birria-style

What's in Season - April

On Your Own

The newest list of seasonal and available local products is below. April's a mixed blessing for the local food lover. It is the first month that this list grew (compare to last month or the month before). On the other hand, the outlets for local food are somewhat sparse right now. Aside from the Geneva local superstore, there's no area farmers markets (that I know of) this month.

Last week, Cassie had Wisconsin potatoes; Irv and Shelly have the ever present sprouts and a few other items, but outlets for local foods are not ample this month. Lucky folks like me have Spring CSA subscriptions. Farmer Vicki made the first delivery of her Spring CSA yesterday. Farmer Vicki, at least, however, has limited space for her Spring CSA. The best place for locavores* this month, for sure, will be a few hours northwest of Chicago, the Dane County Farmers Market in Madison, Wisconsin, which goes outdoors on April 19. I'll be there.

Meat

Beef, lamb, chicken, pork

Fish

farm raised tilapia and trout
trout
smelt
commercial Great Lakes fish - pike, whitefish, perch, white bass, carp

Field crops

asparagus
rhubarb

Greenhouse crops

beets
turnips
spinach
chard and other greens
lettuces
arugula
herbs
sprouts and microgreens
mushrooms
burdock
radish

Storage crops

onions
potatoes
carrots (also greenhouse)
parsnips
apples

Wild and weeds

ramps
morels
watercress
dandelion

*I was using the spelling "localvore" in respect for Drake's site, but since he's gone long dormat (hopefully he'll be up again) I'm going to the more common spelling.

Use Local Dairy

Yogurt, Ice Cream

Earlier this week, I blogged about all the good local milk that goes into local cheese. There's other ways to use our local milk.

I find three ways to make great yogurt. First, drain the stuff. You get a thick spread with a nice mouth feel. Second, use whole milk. In fact, the great yogurt in Greektown is the result of both of these steps. The third way is to use pasture-fed, organic, high quality local milk. There's at least three places around us doing that. There's Sugar River Dairy from Wisconsin, Whispering Meadows Farm from Illinois and Traders Point Creamery from Indiana. The first two are somewhat hard to find around Chicago markets (now), but my sources tell me Sugar River yogurt might be showing up at some markets, including farmers markets soon. Traders Point Creamery yogurt can be found at most Whole Foods and also Fox & Obel.

While Traders Point Creamery yogurt can be found at a lot of places, I do not know many places to find their ice cream. Luckily, it's just another good excuse to visit Cassie's Green Grocer. Her freezer case contains the vanilla ice cream from Traders Creamery, and when I say ice cream, I mean cream. This is an ideal variation on the theme of cream, one in its more solid state.

Discover how our local farmers are putting their milk to good use.

Farmer Blog

Harmony Valley

The farmers at Harmony Valley Farm in Wisconsin have taken to the blogisphere. Some interesting stuff on how organic, year-round farming works. Harmony Valley products, especially their ramps, can sometimes be found in Chicago area Whole Foods. You can also stop by their stand at the Dane County Farmer's Market.

What's Local, Whole Foods, Maxwell Street

20 Varieties of Sprouts, Some Mushrooms

Whole Foods and the rest of the businesses with their complex near Roosevelt and Canal succeeded in moving the Sunday Maxwell Street Market a block away from them. So, if their plan was to keep the Maxwell Street shoppers out, they failed. I stopped in at that Whole Foods last Sunday. With my Maxwell Street bags.

I espied the chalkboard. 26 local items this day it said. My family and I played local hide and seek. Could we really find all 26. It took a few minutes to find something, beets from Wisconsin. We looked more. We asked. We looked. 25 to go? We asked. Someone put the number up, but no one could account for it. We checked for apples. This winter we did once find Michigan apples at a Whole Foods. We looked for potatoes. We have seen organic potatoes from Igl Farm of Wisconsin before. Onions. No. Finally, we made it to the sprouts. Most of the sprouts came from area greenhouses. Maybe if we counted. Then, again, there was at least one pack of Wisconsin mushrooms. 26?

Eat Local Cheese

Continued

Here's Jeanne Carpenter's, of Cheese Underground, list of favorite Wisconsin cheeses. Not a bad list, not a bad list...

Eat Local Cheese

NYTimes Highlights Wisconsin Cheesemakers

I bought the NYTimes yesterday, partly for the Spring Travel Mag; then I noticed that part gone when I sat down to read. I found it soaked, this morning, in the backyard. I must have dropped it. Luckily, Daisy on the Mouthfuls site tipped me off to the great spread on Wisconsin cheesemakers in the magazine that I could find online.

The piece gets it pretty darn right. Profiling (briefly) the really famous, Uplands; the almost as famous, Carr Valley; the one known to those in the know, Bleu Mont Dairy; the one who's almost just as known for not being able to have her cheese, Fantome Farm, and the one who's working hard to be known, Hidden Springs Creamery.

It's certainly a who's who of my favorite cheeses, with Bleu Mont's bandaged cheddar and Hidden Springs spreadable sheep milk being about the two best cheeses in the bungalow right now--being given some competition from some Hook's 10 year old cheddar I found hidden in our basement fridge.

Vie, The Menu

No Pork Sausage for You

A day after our Vie meal, Chef Paul Virant created (and posted) a new menu. Unfortunately, it appears you won't be able to try his house made pork sausage. My guess is that he ran out. My further guess is that this menu will soon be ramp-redundant. If you want your baby artichokes, now's the time to hit Vie.

Yesterday's Must Read

3 New Farmer's Markets

Actually this was Saturday's Must Read but I'm just getting 'round to catching up on a lot of things to blog. My friend Monica Eng reports on the good news of three more farmers markets opening, and the especially good news that they will be serving "food deserts", areas generally lacking in fresh food options. The good news is somewhat tapped down by the reporting

Farmers markets sponsored by the city have strict rules that allow only those who grow the food to sell it and prohibit the sale of prepared foods. The new hybrid market in Bronzeville will allow cooked foods, antiques vendors, music, re-sold produce and other items prohibited at regular markets.

As I have become friends with Robin, who did such a fantastic job organizing this season's winter markets (which ended with a bang yesterday), I've learned that there's some tension between antiques, crafts and the what-not and farmers at markets. Essentially farmers don't seem to like the artsy types. Me, I not much for that kinda stuff either, although my wife can spend as much money as I do on food as on home-made earrings, but I think any thing that drives traffic to a farmers market is a good thing. I, obviously, have problems with the re-sold produce.

The rationale for the third party produce is that the neighborhood has such limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables in the first place."We wanted the opportunity to have some resale of things like citrus and bananas," [market manager] Johnson-Gabriel said.

Me, I think that's a recipe for trouble, a vicious circle in the making. Too many market visitors will get tempted by the lower prices of the re-sold produce. Local farmers will give up on the market. I mean during the farmers market season do people need access to citrus and bananas? I would be more sympathetic to that argument if the market ran year round. I also know I'm being overly cynical and perhaps a bit, no it's really not racist because I see all kinds of people sticking to the least local food at the Oak Park Farmer's Market, but what, classist, I do not know, but I certainly don't trust people to make the local choice (always) on their own. I'm an eat local Trotskyite.

Today's Must Read

Factory Farmed

From today's CTrib, a California dairyman looks to bring Cali-style milk farming to the Midwest. The words that give away the game:

Much of the feed for the cows he milks on his dad's land comes from the Midwest, and a good portion of the milk is shipped back to the Midwest. Bos said it doesn't take a business genius to figure out how to increase profits. "It's more expensive getting feed to California and hauling the milk back," he said. "It's more efficient to put the cows where the feed is."

Me, I prefer my milk from cow's that eat grass, on pasture.

Factory dairymen taut the economic benefits they bring, transforming a sagging part of the agricultural economy in Illinois.

He estimated the farm would create 40 jobs, paying about $10 per hour.

Wow

Now, I'm not against business and commerce and success. Farmers should be able to make money and best use their land (cf what's wrong with the current farm subsidies), but there's also good farming and bad farming. This is bad farming. Bad animal husbandry (I know I've toured a factory milk operation in Arizona), bad tasting milk (cows need grass), tremendous enviromental risks (google Smithfield). For forty jobs. Instead, try producing good milk that can demand a premium at the market, local milk.

Eat local encapsulates a lot of things for my family and me. We use local milk--I would say drink, but 95% of our milk purchases goes into morning coffee, so it's more like a condiment than a beverage--as part of our greater commitment to local. Local means supporting good farmers. Local means supporting sustainable agriculture. Local means finding products that tastes great. You can have it all. Here in the Chicago area we can chose from such dairy as Crystal Ball Farms or Oak Grove Organics or the most accessible, Farmer's All Natural Creamery from Kalona, Iowa. (Compare your milk here.) Be willing to pay the small premium for this kind of milk. It's worth it.

The Vie-Dict

Spring Break at Vie

Aside from a quick jaunt to Madison, we did not leave town for spring break. With Trillinesque logic (as well as an about to be expired gift certificate) we planned on visiting Vie this week. The chance to arbitrate between Ulterior Epicure's stellar meal and Abby from Gaper's Block trying experience gave me all the more reason. Fodder, fodder, fodder.

And, as long time devotees of my eating can suss, the winner is Mr. Epicure. This is no offense to Ms. Abby. Bad meals happen to everyone. Our dinner last night met all our expectations for Vie in terms of deliciousness, innovation, ingredient quality, and generosity. I'm just always left ready to return. Is there no better endorsement than that?

My daughters are somewhat reluctant gourmets. In fact they pushed for delivery pizza as this week's splurge. At Vie, both had a hard time deciding what to get, especially the younger who decided she was in a no-split kinda mood that day. Still, after tense ordering, Sophia sez with confidence, "I always look forward to the amuse. I may not like it, but I'll always try the amuse." What a proud papa moment.

The amuse is always good at Vie. Most of the time I am left with the desire to have about five more helpings. Yesterday's meal started with a fritter dotted with green garlic, served over a green garlic mayo. We all picked up a bit of curry of what not. It reminded us of the pakoras we had last weekend on Devon (Da'bomb).

First course for me was a touch choice between house made salami/mortadella and house-made pork sausage. I'm glad I went with the later. One of the best dishes I've had a Vie. For one thing, I loved the sausage with its high funk and lose texture. For another, the garnish really made this dish. It was marinated chick peas (a Virant signature ingredient) with bright preserved oranges (think more than one meaning of bright) and a smoked paprika vinaigrette. Seems like a lot, no? It was a prime example of a Vie dish; the combination of fresh and tang, use of the wood stoked grill, and mostly, the hand, the special taste that only small batch sausage can have. Moreover, not many think molecular gastronomy when they think Vie, but here was a dish were all of those disparate elements (plus some miner's lettuce) combined into something wholly greater than their parts. A true recipe.

My wife's scallop appetizer converted older daughter to a scallop lover; really garlic heavy salad enticed the other daughter (what's that you are always saying about wine friend food Paul?). The New Zealand venison combo I shared with my wife offended my localvore convictions but not my palate. Chef Virant is incapable of sending our an inferior plate of gnocchi. It was nearly all good. Just so you know I am not a shill, I will point out a few things.

My younger daughter, who loves a good amuse, also has a thing for just trying stuff on a menu. Why something appeals to her, I'm not quite sure. In Madison, shrimp de jonge called out to her; last night it was the baked farinata or chick pea cake. She and pretty much the whole table, found it bland (especially compared with so much else on the table). The fresh bacon, crisped on the surface and gooey within, between my wife and I, tasted good, fatty-good, but was, perhaps, just a bit too much fat even for me. Maybe. The house made giardinara helped cut the richness. Fatty or not, we still made empty plate.

We really made empty plate from that venison. The venison itself, seared leg and smoked loin, was somewhat inoffensive, not bad, but on its own probably boring. Chef Virant takes this blank space and fills it with good things: wild rice and preserved pecans and preserved blueberries. He cooks down the juices of the preserved items and makes a sauce with browned butter. With tiny, earthy fried sunchoke chips atop, this was a pick your plate up and lick clean kinda dish. Maybe next time, sticky customer that I am, I might just have them skip the venison and have the wild rice as a side dish.

The rest of the meal proceeded with an array of tasty food. Mid entree, for the table, house manager Jenny brought over a special of ramp cake with fried egg. As much as this is spring and local and new ramps, what made the dish was the perfectly cooked, awash in butter, farm egg. Pre-dessert, the kidz got sorbe made with mandarins, my wife and I got sorbets made from white wine. Like the egg, the fritter, Vie's techniques are so good. The sorbets had that fruitier than fruit quality to them. The kidz shared a creme brule, my wife and I the gooey butter cake, and we split an order of donuts with caramel corn. Our last bites were tiny whipped up nutty meringues. We were stuffed.

Today's Must Rant

Phil Vettel, Tired of Root Vegetables

In today's CTrib, Phil Vettel writes:

No more rutabaga! I mean it. Don't get me wrong; I love root vegetables. Roast me up some beets, throw a turnip in the blender and I'm a happy guy. But it's the end of March. Subterranean vegetables have been a part of Chicago menus since, oh, October. And if I have one more hunk of braised meat on a bed of parsnip puree, I'm going to do something drastic. Like move to Mexico. I've given a name to my pain: Culinary Cabin Fever. It's caused by a prolonged, harsh winter and an endless stream of seasonal menus.

I hear your Phil. I mean who's suffered more from the endless winter then me and my apple loving daughters. I should be like, "right on bro", right? I'm not. Sure, I get the bit of humor in his rant, but frankly, the bit did not ring true. I think the end of the article gives it away.

Chicago's most respected produce wholesaler offers this advice to Phil:

"We're starting to get strawberries," he says, "and the answer is, look to Florida. I love the Florida berry. And in the early spring, first off, we'll see the fiddlehead ferns, morels from the woods, ramps. Green garlic—it's wonderful for soup. Then the rhubarb, and finally the California delta asparagus."

Does that sound like a man living off his root cellar?

Drink Local Water

It Tastes Better

For a while, we were uncorking a bottle of Polish fizzy water per dinner. It had a bright, clean taste. More importantly, it was only about a dollar per bottle (16 ounces). As Mom and I drank wine or beer, the inclusion of bottled water helped make the meals seem a bit more complete for the kidz.* For reasons stated in this Monica Eng piece, we've mostly ditched the bottled water.

*I'm a big believer in the little things make the meal matter; theory of eating at home. We hardly ever allow ourselves to eat dinner in front of the TV; at least two courses helps, a bowl of olives or a plate of pickles increases the pleasure of the meal. Good bread makes a difference and fresh bread is nearly always good bread. Things like that. You cannot eat local unless you make the dining experience worthwhile. And the ephemera of dining makes a difference.

Locally Grown With Love and Dedication

Look Who Has a Web Site Now

My favorite farmer, Farmer Vicki of Genesis Growers has gone online. Information for ordering from her CSA is on the site and a nice schedule of her forthcoming crops (pdf).

Site Meter

Turn Over a New Leaf...for Life! Eat More Watercress

The crawler from Watercess.com got my site today. Who knew! I do agree with the sentiment from the banner on their site.

End of an Era/Era Continues

Thai Grocery/Abruzzo's

Just some quick vital info:

Thai Grocery (5014 N Broadway St., Chicago), the source for all things Thai food, and repository of the finest curries (head straight back, choose three from six or so, with rice for $4.50) is closing. They are having a retirement sale now. The always smiling man behind the counter (what's his name Erik M?) will use his laser pointer to show you his favorite fish sauce, sweet chili sauce, mushroom sauce and more amongst the array crammed into his store. While contemplating the curries, other good things you'll find in the back include mash-ups of herbs, spices and peppers called nam prik, battered fried ribs that hold up better to time than someone's corn dogs, and house-made sausage. This is a place who's departure will be sorely missed.

In Melrose Park, at Abruzzo's (1509 Division St, Melrose Park*) when you hear "How ya doin' Bobby", six heads turn. When my wife and I first tried the buffet at Abruzzo's, we were the only ones in the crowd not named Bobby. OK, maybe not everyone was Bobby, but amongst the Tony's, Nickys and such we were the only ones not known to each other. It did not make a difference. The staff appreciated our visit and the food made us return. An Italian wedding spread still exists Monday through Friday, lunch, in Melrose. There's a pasta or two, the lasagna noodles are house-made, the salad has that kinda delicious vinaigrette that I can never figure out how to make myself. Once it was Chicken Vesuvio, heavy with dried spices; another day nearly the same type of baked chicken was smothered with pickled hot peppers, olives and artichoke hearts and called hunters's. There's things like bite sized sausage and simmered greens and beans. The bread from Labriola is amazingly good, and to finish, there's slices of pound cake, three varieties per day. The food is refilled as needed. For roughly $8, a great lunch option in the Near West suburbs.

*Don't let the address fool you. It's the same Division but Division does not run through from Chicago/Oak Park/River Forest. The easiest, pretty much the only way, to get to this place is off of 15th Avenue (see this Google map). It's worth the schlep not just for the classic Melrose Park Southern Italian fare, but it's a short jaunt then to Caputo's Cheese Market on the other side of North Avenue on 15th.

You Know You are a Localvore

Watercress

We worked our dinner last night around a few sprigs of watercress, but before I get into that, let me amend something I wrote yesterday. I said hooray, something grown in the ground, the watercress. Now, there have been all sortsa things local to eat, all winter, grown in the ground, using hoop houses. These polyethylene plastic contraptions trick Mother Earth, keeping the ground from freezing, and allowing for various plants to grow around here in the winter. For instance, all winter long, Paul Virant at Vie has been serving a salad with lettuces from Wisconsin. The frost kissed spinach from Snug Haven Farms is grown ala hoop. Hoop stuff is grown in ground stuff. It tastes real, natural. What I really meant to say is that the watercress is the first thing grown outside in the ground. Nature grown.

It's a great thing watercress, certainly this wild watercress from Wisconsin. When you start nibbling you get a pleasant, anise-ish taste in your mouth, just a bit vegetal. Then, before you know it, the mustard's creeped up on you and soon that pleasant taste in your mouth is not one of licorice but of spice; not habenero hot, but nicely hot. It's worth building a meal around. One of the best ways to use watercress, I think, is with egg salad. Now, being a local eating family but also a snobbish family at that, it cannot just be egg salad. First we have to run to the Dominick's on Lake Street in Oak Park. We cannot have egg salad with mere Hellman's. This store has absolutely one thing we like about it, only one thing to ever cause us to set foot in it: Davidson's Pasteurized Eggs. My wife and I, even with Farmer Vicki's farm eggs, feel safe(r) making our mayo from the pasteurized eggs (of course I say we, but only one person makes the mayo in our house and it aint me). What did we find. Three cartons of Davidson's eggs, two expired and the third with a broken egg. We trucked to the next closest Dominick's, the one in River Forest (an even worse example of the modern supermarket). They had maybe three cartons as well, a few days past their sell-by date, which seemed good enough. So it's a-boiling eggs, whipping up mayo. That's not good enough for our cress. I have to boil maybe twelve red potatoes to make salad to side our egg salad. Dinner came eventually.

Watercress garnish for egg salad sandwich makes little dent in our stash. I went to bed last night dreaming of watercress ideas. One of the most famous dishes in the modern French era was the late Bernard Loiseau's frog legs with parsley sauce. I figured given the natural proximity of frogs to water and water to watercress, would not this dish be more interesting with a watercress coulis? Having also looked at several watercress soup recipes and washed about 10 small freshwater snails outta our cress, I wondered about a cream of watercress soup with snails and garlic croutons. Let me know your watercress ideas.

Winter's Just a Market Away - For One Last Day

This is It

This is your last winter market and also last farmer's market (except Geneva) in the Chicago area until May. Stock up. Market notice/details below.

It’s officially spring, and time for the
F I N A L
Winter Farmers Market
of the 2007-2008 season!
~
Winter Farmers Market & Brunch
Sunday, March 30
10 A.M. TO 2 P.M.
Grace Lutheran Church
7300 Division Street, River Forest, IL (One block West of Harlem & Division)

Plenty of free parking on-street, in the Concordia parking garage just South of the church, or in the Priory lot to the North across the street.

Brunch
will be served while quantities last,
featuring ingredients from participating farm vendors.
Suggested donation for brunch is $8 Adults, $4 Children under 12

This Market will feature:
* Natural, hormone-free meats

* Organic lettuce, kale & chard

* Organic herbs (including basil)

* Micro-greens & shoots

* Tilapia (farm-raised in Illinois –no mercury!)

* Organic potatoes

* Fresh mushrooms (several varieties)

* Onions & shallots

* Michigan apples NEW to the market this week!

* Organic wheatberries; several varieties of milled flours

* Cheese, in a variety of flavors

* Yogurt, in a variety of flavors

* Honey, in a variety of flavors

* Apple & pear butters

* Goats’ milk soaps

* Pet products

* Mead (honey wine) NEW to the market this week!

* Spa & beauty products

* Freshly made basil vinaigrette dressing & pesto NEW to the market this week!

* Infused vinegars & dried herbs

* Wool yarn & woolen goods

* Sorghum syrup

* Beautiful fruit tarts & pastries by the Sisters of Fraternite Notre Dame

* Fair trade coffee, chocolate & tea

* Fair trade organic olive oil from the Palestinian region

* CSA (community supported agriculture) subscriptions for fresh, locally grown vegetables this summer—available for pickup at the Oak Park Farmers Market!

* Free blood pressure screenings and nutrition information by members of Grace’s Health Cabinet

* And much, much more!

What's In Season Now

New Products Spotted!

The localvore has a few new things to try these last weeks of March:

Spinach - "frost kissed" spinach from Snug Haven Farms has been available all winter on and off from Irv and Shelly's Fresh Picks. It's on now and should on for the rest of the month. Snug Haven was also selling last week at the Dane County Farmer's Market. I also expect them to be there through the end of the month.

Watercress - Something from the ground! Watercress really is cress from water. It grows right up against many streams and creeks and such in these parts, and has actually peeked its little green heads up out of the ground already. At the Dane County Farmer's Market, there's a man who specializes in these types of things, wild-ish/forest-y kinda products (he got my kids to buy some slippery elm). If you cannot make it to Madison, you might be able to forage some of your own.

The previous edition of March's What's In Season Now is below.

This month, we will not see local asparagus, peas or green garlic [all items on the Chez Panisse menu this month.] We do have a couple of interesting items this month. March is generally maple syruping time in the Midwest. Here's a listing of some maple festivals [most of these are past]. In addition, those little wild onions that gave Chicago its name, ramps (try Google), will begin their short season in March. Read about past ramp digs at Spence Farm here and here, and consider the Rampfest on March 28.

Beef, lamb, chicken, pork - Winter markets; farm direct, Cassie's Green Grocer, Freshpicks.com
Grains - Winter markets, farm direct
Eggs - Winter markets, farm direct, grocery, Cassie's Green Grocer, Freshpicks.com
Farm raised tilapia - Winter markets
Farm raised rainbow trout - Grocery
Great Lakes fish - pike, whitefish, pearch, white bass, lake trout, carp - Grocery, speciality stores
Microgreens, sprouts and related - Winter markets, Freshpicks.com, grocery
Lettuces - Winter markets, farm direct
Carrots - Winter markets, farm direct, Freshpicks.com
Potatoes - Winter markets, farm direct, grocery, Freshpicks.com
Apples - Winter markets, farm direct, grocery
Herbs - Winter markets, farm direct, Freshpicks.com
Mushrooms - Winter markets, Grocery, Cassie's Green Grocer, Freshpicks.com
Onions - Winter markets, farm direct, grocery
Burdock root - Freshpicks.com
Horseradish - Freshpicks.com
Radish - Winter markets (limited quantity)

Those interested in February's What's In Season, see here.

Vie Not Bad After All

Hold the Presses

Just moments later, we find a new verdict in, this one from the blogger and poster at various food forum, Ulterior Epicure. He likes Vie.

Vie No Like

Sez Abby

Because I am nothing if not a fair man, I bring you (a link at least) to the most trashed I have ever seen Vie. Abby over at the Gaper's Block finds about nothing worthwhile at Vie. I plan on taking the girlz to Vie this spring break. I am pretty sure I will enjoy my meal more. I'll report back soon.

Local Mystery Meat

We did not fully commit to local when we committed to local. We were just not ready to pay the price of getting all of our meat from the farmers markets. We could get some of our meat there, but given the prices, my wife and I agreed that we could not get all of our meat there. We have since leaped the price hurdle by buying our local meat in bulk. Although we can now comfortably eat local meat, we still face problems.

I've complained before about the frozen nature of our meat. It means that all meat meals must come with a bit of fore-planning--in fact I could not quite understand how the Top Chef chefs bought meat at the Green City Market and then used it shortly thereafter????? [ed. TV Magic?]. The other problem with local meat, one I'm sure I've mentioned before, especially local bulk meat, is the mystery of it all. One never know quite what will be in side the white paper packages until they are unwrapped. It happened the other day when I decided to cook skirt steak or as I'll call it, "skirt steak".

I could tell from the feel of the package that it was not a big steak. It was not to be an Atkinsesque meal. Instead, I planned on making big salad with the steak and some our mondo lettuce head. I did not expect to find steak pinwheels. Inside my package marked skirt steak were two rolls of meat, each pinned in place with wooden skewers. The meat itself was about the size of a garter snake all rolled up. They were perhaps the skirt or from that part of the cow. Perhaps, they were surely quite fatty but also with the livery-ish flavor of hanger steak. I pan grilled one rolled and one unfurled (the kidz like their steak more well done).

Like all of our meat, it featured the sweetness of our cow's diet of surplus fruits and vegetables. It may have been too fatty. How it got packaged as a skirt steak, well that's a mystery.

Da' Inventory

Spring Has Not Sprung

Updates from the last inventory are marked in italics.

Cranberries - two packages, amazingly these seem to be holding out. What they are for, I have no idea. - No change

Celery - Farmer Vicki gifted us with a brand new, simply enormous head of celery. It looks like those vegetables that grow in Alaska. We plan on freezing and drying much. - No change

Herbs - rosemary, thyme, basil, cilantro - In addition, now have mint and even more basil

Winter squash - Our pace right now is: toss one about every two weeks; that still leaves about five. Like the cranberries, we are gonna have to find a use soon. - No change

Keeper onions - we are very good on onions. We added about ten the other day from Farmer Vicki. - While we make great use of onions in our cooking, we are fine on stocks

Sweet potatoes - I thought we were low here, but found a stash. These are mostly holding up well. Some have been used in my wife's famous sweet potato kugel. - No change

Garlic - like onions, we are holding fine and should have enough garlic to last us through until the new crop. - See onions above

Cabbage - I finally tossed the ugly head of white that has been in the basement fridge, but we still have a head of red. - No change

Sunchokes - 2 lbs - Our emergency food - No change

Carrots - We were running out, but I got about five pounds a few weeks ago at the Geneva Winter Market. - Have used about 25% of current stock, should be enough to last until newest harvests soon.

Parsnips -We have used some, but parsnips like the sweet potatoes keep magically re-appearing - No change

Potatoes - Dwindling but fine. All of the bigger russets have been baked, but there's still a good amount of odds and end sized; the 1o lb bag of reds is hardly touched and the heirloom types are partially there. - Using, but also obtained some (5 lbs of pinks--also, we'll be able to add from Robin's forthcoming Winter Market this Sunday)

Apples - These are about gone. We have about five yellow delicious. The rest were dedicated to baking, Granny Smiths, Rome and a bag of seconds. We might need to dip into the Granny Smith's for kidz lunches. - All of our yellow delicious are gone; obtained a five lb bag of Michigan red delicious from Costco, noted but did not buy Michigan yellow delicious at Fresh Farms market on Devon (da'bomb)

Lettuce - Alaska sized head of leaf lettuce from Vicki - Gone through about 1/2 of that lettuce, obtained a bag of mixed lettuce

Microgreens/Sprouts - When I went foraging with Robin, I got a big container of peashoots in Elburn. We have been working our way through them since. - We have this up the wazoo. Using but but getting new

Mushrooms - No current crop of mushrooms - Obtained one lb of shitake and one lb of oyster

Celery root - 2 lbs - no change - No change

Burdock root - 1 lb - No change

Additions since March 17, 2008
Wild watercress
Arugula
Spinach

Local Pantry
Cheeses, yogurt, eggs, noodles, pork, beef, lamb, bacon, granola, grains, milk, cream

Every Week NOT a Market

Winter Market Update

Do note, Robin's got no markets this weekend. Stay tuned for her final extravaganza. Details to be posted next week.

In the meantime, go shop at Cassie's Green Grocer or order from Irv and Shelly.

What's Not Local

Eat Local Wishlist

Mike Sula, in this week's Reader, reports on an Uzbek [ed. is that Uzbeki?] restaurant in Buffalo Grove that I've been meaning to try. The women behind Chaihanna lament their vegetables:

"In Uzbekistan, she says, the carrots are light yellow and taste better."

Maybe, perhaps, there is no carrot grown around here that tastes as good as Uzbekistan, but I tend to doubt that as carrots are especially suited for our Northern climate. In fact, when the ground thaws just a bit more, Farmer Vicki of Genesis Growers is gonna remove the carrots that have been whiling a way in her ground growing ever so large and ever so sweet. See the thing is, I doubt very much that Chaihanna's cooks buy from Farmer Vicki. Neither do the cooks at any Thai, any Vietnamese, Middle Eastern or Mexican place that I know. Wait, scratch the Mexican. Rick Bayless may not buy from Farmer Vicki, but what he does not grow himself, he buys from other local farms (in season at least). These cuisines centered themselves so much around great produce. Imagine your fatoush, your orange curry, your quesadilla de flor de calabeza made with local, farm fresh stuff. When an "ethnic" foods tend to get spruced up, your Pasteurs, your Alhambras, most of all, your Arun's, there's a tendancy first of all to dicker with the recipes; more important, most of the extra money seems to go into the decor. Why not the sourcing?

When I dream local, I don't so much dream about fresh produce in March, year round markets or a chicken that can be had non-frozen (although these are all on my wishlist), what I really dream about is a person running a little ethnic joint that is working hard to find great ingredients for his or her food. My dream faces five challenges. First, there is time. Sula's Uzbek ladies were so busy baking their breads and pickling their watermelon, did they possibly have time to shop the markets. Second, even if, per chance, they could hit the market, what would they do come winter. Even Paul Virant sneaks stuff in sometimes. Third, there is cost. Can many of these places recover the higher food costs for local food? Fourth, there is the is the menu problem. Bayless uses local farmers when. All of these places have their near set menus. Menus based on expectations for that food, best sellers if you may. Do any of them adjust their menus seasonally? Finally, and probably most pervasive, there is no infrastructure in place to get these people local foods. Some of that dovetails to the first issue, time to shop, but I think it's more. Like I say, do those woman even know such a carrot can easily be found. Really, these issues are near impossible to overcome. I can dream.

Eat Local Lamb

Try Locally Raised Lamb for Easter (or Passover)

Good article from today's CTrib on local lamb.:

"When you're buying from a local grower, you're buying from someone who really knows his own land. Many revel in the uniqueness of the flavors of regional lamb,"

The article includes a small sidebar on buy-direct sources for local lamb. The article also mentions Marion Street Cheese Market as an outlet for local lamb (Country Cottage). A couple of other places for local lamb are Cassie's Green Grocer and the Inglenook in Geneva. Both of those places sell the lamb from Mint Creek Farm.

What's Local, Costco, Down by the Riverside

Apples are Always

Big ol' bag of Michigan red delicious apples for sale today at the Costco on Damen, just north of Fullerton, Chicago. To think we were running low. (Unfortunately the one thing we needed, turns out to be a seasonal item. Anyone know a good store for a keyboard?)

Eat Local Disscussion

Chicago Green Drinks

I wish I could attend this event tonight at Jefferson Tap & Grille (325 N. Jefferson Chicago), but alas I am needed at PADS.

Save This Restaurant

Orange Garden Chop Suey

Putting my palate on the line, I eagerly signed up for Gary Fine's Orange Garden expedition. You can read about our meal at the end of this thread.

For those wondering why the hell Orange Garden Chop Suey is showing up on this blog, I'm a long time "fan" of this place. I believe strongly that it needs urgent landmark protection. Really!

Also, to address a something that's come up a few times in recent days, both in seriousness and last night in mockery: I am perfectly happy with my eat out exception to our eat local rules. I believe in local, try to eat local, but I also thoroughly enjoy eating out. I am not gonna give up one for the other. Still, as I have said before, we eat in much more than before. Hat Hammond asked me for the 848 segment, what about the cost of eating local. I conceded that our food costs were probably higher than before, in house, but we were still spending less on meals because of the decrease in restaurant meals. Eating out is expensive, a family outing to the World's Greatest Hot Dog Stand approaches a twenty these days. We do, however, go out a few times each week. For the variety, for the convenience, for the company, you will still find me and my family at restaurants, including restaurants that don't serve local.

Orange Garden Chop Suey
1942 W Irving Park Rd
Chicago, IL 60613
773-525-7479

Eat Local On Air

848, Friday

Listen in this Friday as David Hammond discusses eating local, cooking local and all things Virant on his segment for WBEZ's 848. 848 airs from 9-10 AM. I do not know when in the broadcast the eating local segment will appear. Podcast will be available here.

PS
Pay heed to a certain higher pitched but yet bellowing voice here and there in the segment.

Vie Menu, a Day Later

Latest in Vie Menu's

Believe it or not, it took me a whole day to notice Vie's new menu. He's still in artichoke mode. When I was schmoozing with him last week, Chef Virant noted that he's a bit more willing than usual to stray from his Midwestern farms. The kitchen's a bit tired of cooking from winter products. So he's getting his hands on things like the baby artichokes and stinging nettles and using them in his current menu. I'm happy to cut him some slack. In fact we're going next week with the $$ from the CTrib article. I got my eye on the fresh bacon with house made giardiniera.

The Color of Local

Color Your Way to Health

They, those guys, they say that you should eat colors. Healthy food is colorful food. The more colors you see, the healthier you will be.

One of the first things you learn if you attend farmer's markets regularly is that color changes. Each week brings a new dominant color. Early on, the color is primarily green; at the height of summer, the market radiates gold from the corn and peaches. There's a time when it's all red, peppers and tomatoes. It would follow that a localvore's plate would be so colorful. Then.

Around the start of March our plates had a color: brown. Baked Wisconsin russet potatoes stuffed with Wisconsin mushrooms, brown. RP Pasta with mushrooms, brown. Pizza with long cooked onions, brown and brown. So, let me tell you it was a real treat last night.

A simple dish, par-boil some purple potatoes; take the thaw off of a bag of frozen broccoli, drain; cook an onion until soft in a cast iron pan, season the onions with garlic; add the potatoes and broc, a bag of peas from the freezer, all of that stuff to the pan. Stir up good over medium heat. Open a package of firm tofu, dice and include. Finish with your secret sauce (my wife's had soy, tamari, hoisin and some other stuff; as I have said before, she will not reveal her exact ingredients for the blog). When the tofu comes to temperature find yourself with a pleasant break from drab food.

Cook's note: the peas can be added frozen, but the broccoli throws off too much water. A minute in the microwave and a strainer will keep your stir-fry from getting too diluted.

Current Inventory

An Apple a Day Means They Will Eventually Go Away

Localism makes you loopy. As everyone else curses the weather getting cold again, I rejoice in another week of storage. There is, however, a dwindling supply of food, especially apples. We plan a foray to Madison this weekend to stock up a bit.

(last inventory report)

Cranberries - two packages, amazingly these seem to be holding out. What they are for, I have no idea.
Celery - Farmer Vicki gifted us with a brand new, simply enormous head of celery. It looks like those vegetables that grow in Alaska. We plan on freezing and drying much.
Herbs - rosemary, thyme, basil, cilantro
Winter squash - Our pace right now is: toss one about every two weeks; that still leaves about five. Like the cranberries, we are gonna have to find a use soon.
Keeper onions - we are very good on onions. We added about ten the other day from Farmer Vicki.
Sweet potatoes - I thought we were low here, but found a stash. These are mostly holding up well. Some have been used in my wife's famous sweet potato kugel.
Garlic - like onions, we are holding fine and should have enough garlic to last us through until the new crop.
Cabbage - I finally tossed the ugly head of white that has been in the basement fridge, but we still have a head of red.
Sunchokes - 2 lbs - Our emergency food
Carrots - We were running out, but I got about five pounds a few weeks ago at the Geneva Winter Market.
Parsnips -We have used some, but parsnips like the sweet potatoes keep magically re-appearing
Potatoes - Dwindling but fine. All of the bigger russets have been baked, but there's still a good amount of odds and end sized; the 1o lb bag of reds is hardly touched and the heirloom types are partially there.
Apples - These are about gone. We have about five yellow delicious. The rest were dedicated to baking, Granny Smiths, Rome and a bag of seconds. We might need to dip into the Granny Smith's for kidz lunches.
Lettuce - Alaska sized head of leaf lettuce from Vicki
Microgreens - When I went foraging with Robin, I got a big container of peashoots in Elburn. We have been working our way through them since.
Mushrooms - No current crop of mushrooms
Celery root - 2 lbs - no change
Burdock root - 1 lb

As always, there's stuff (meat, veg) in the freezer. We have some local grains but would kill to find a source of local all purpose/white flower. Riddle me this: what kinda flour did the pioneers bake their pies with?

Winter Marketpalooza

Winter Market Reminder

Robin works very hard for your markets. She was out again, foraging away. Come see her handiwork at 3, yes 3 markets this weekend. Market details are a few posts down. Here's what she said about what's coming up:

What's new? Hmmm. I got some sweet and tender baby (micro) greens from Heritage Prairie Maket, a mix of red and yellow chard, radish, and something else. They consider it their "chef's blend"; also some radish micro-greens.

AquaRanch* will be attending the Lemont and Elgin markets, so if anyone wants to get up close and personal with the aquaponics man, Myles Harston, here's your chance.

The markets have very different times this week, as noted [below].

Each market will have plenty of tilapia, lettuce and kale, basil, mushrooms, pea shoots, cheese, and more, but with three markets this weekend, some items will be spread pretty thin (particularly fair trade olive oil and the above mentioned micro-greens); Epiphany (Ashland & Adams) is likely to be the odd-market-out and I won't be there (my sister will cover for me) but if someone wants something particular, or a particular kind of cheese, catch me (via email robininwinter@aol.com) before I divvy it up tonight.

*Am I the only one who thinks this sounds like the secret fortress of some superhero?

Sneak Some Local In

3 Meals A Day

Breakfast - Try Milk and Honey granola with Traders Point Creamery yogurt.

Lunch - Pack some dried fruit from Seedling fruit of Michigan. Order online or pick some up at Pastoral.

Dinner - Pick up a nice piece of fish, local fish from the lakes around here. Home base for the nice piece of fish is Robert's. Now in the able hands of Artuo, he can hook you up with the best whitefish around.

Bonus Late Night Snack - You have no shortage of local candy to pig out on, but do you know La Maison du Bonbon, more like La sub-Maison du Bonbon. A tiny shack of a store attached to Shanahans on the Forest Park Strip (7353 Madison). For a very long time, they have been making French cremes, something a bit more substantial than a Three Musketeer bar but not quite as solid as chocolate itself. Now, don't let the allusion to Three Musketeer bars fool you. These may not be the finest of fine chocolates, but they really satisfy in a very old fashioned kinda way.

The Ice Age Recedes

Good for?

Winter is not all bad for a localvore. Nature's refrigerator provides much extra storage room. For instance, we can barely enter the bungalow from the back because of the six packs of beer nestled by the door, staying cool and staying out of the way of needed space in the fridge. We take fullest advantage of the weather in our attic. During the winter it gets cold enough there to keep our apples, or potatoes, our stored roots very happy. And Mother Nature is taking that away.

So, at dinner last night, we were talking about what's left in the attic. After baking potatoes on Tuesday night, our 50 lb bag of russets is reduced to the odd sized. We still have a fair amount of sweets (some to be reserved for my wife''s famous kugel come Passover); there's a good sized bag of reds and some heirlooms from our jaunt to Madison a while back. It's potatoes every day I announced.

Younger daughter, "cool".

The Pleasures of Participation

House Made Sausage at Freddy's in Cicero

I said to my wife as we were walking to our car after lunch at Freddy's--typical Freddy's lunch (and say it to yourself with your best Cicero accent): some mah-ska-choli, a pork cutlet sang-wich wit da jar-dun-yar and beef gravy, some steak pizz-E-ola, and some bread my friend to mop up. I said, we got the two best places to be VIPs at, Freddy's and Vie. I said this after telling her that the 1/2 pound chunk of house made soprasetta in my hand was marked n/c, no charge. Joe does that a lot when we stop by. There's always a bit of something on him.

So, when I kvell over the soprasetta, consider yourself fully disclosed. One of the joys of being a localvore in the Chicago area is our sah-sage. Who cares if our one fresh fruit for months on end is the apple, we have sausages. From the Vienna hot dog (my family especially likes the big ones, 2 to a lb) to each of the 100 or so Polish markets around town, just as many (more) Mexican places with their fresh made chorizo, fresh made Italian pork sausage, brats at Paulina and Ream's Elburn, to the Thai Grocery's sausage; Chicago is awash in great sausage. Yes, much of it is made from meat of non-local origin. It is still made here, and it is still good.

Right on top of that pack are some of the offerings at Freddy's. His soprasetta is wide, not too wide, about five inches across and covered with the most beautiful bloom. You never would know mold could be this gorgeous. The white contrasts so wonderfully with the fire-red of the spice induced meat. As is wont in sausages made in small quantities, there is a looseness in the bite that brings eating pleasure. It brings extra mouth feel and chew. Then, there is that spice. Joe's sopra will not make you run for the drinking fountain. It will leave gentle reminders with your endorphin receptors. Maybe you'll have to pay for your soprasetta at Freddy's. It's worth it.

Freddy's
1600 South 61st Avenue
Cicero, Illinois 60804
2 Blocks West of Austin Blvd. @ 16th Street (On the Corner)
Monday - Saturday: 10 am - 7 pm Closed on Sunday

Proof is In the Taste

Nashville Chef Goes Local

Chef Jeremy Barlow at Tayst (via)

To prove his point, Barlow took his staff to a local farm to pick and taste radishes, carrots and other produce right from the ground. "Oh wow. This is what it's supposed to taste like," he said, re-enacting his employees' reactions. "The mustard greens tasted like you were literally spooning Dijon into your mouth."

The restaurant's web site is here.

Eat Mo' Local

Five Servings a Day

More ways to add some local to your daily diet.

• Bake a bread from local grain. When I went out foraging with Robin, one of our stops was Ted's Grain's near DeKalb Illinois. Besides hearing the woeful tale of a cheatin' husband, we got to see the operation. Does not take much of a grinder to supply our winter markets with local organic grains.
• Have some of last season, preserved. Did not can or freeze, find someone who did. The easiest way to get some fruit from last year is in jelly. Hit the Amish country in NE Indiana or wind your way to Door County, you'll find all sortsa great jellies and jams made with in season local fruit. If you stick close to Chicago you can at least find American Spoon. Try Whole Foods for instance.
• Relive your hippy days. Back then you called them sprouts. Today hip chefs call them microgreens. Irv and Shelly sell a bunch on their site; Robin has them at her winter markets. You knew how to use them then, figure out how to use them now.
• Get you kidz funny looks at school. Pack those sprouts as a little veggie side, or give them the sandwich my wife invented: Wisconsin cranberry cheddar, sprouts and jam, preferably on a whole grain bread. If you cannot get them to eat sprouts, try Papa Lena's beet chips available at Cassie's Green Grocer. As I like to say, they get chips and a veg, you're both happy.
• Sneer at Saveur. They picked 30 great butters, but could not manage to find one from the Midwest. Get them some of Mt. Sterling's goat butter or Clarendon Hills (see what she sez). In a pinch, there's always Organic Valley.
• Yesterday I mentioned some of the finer in local cheese. There's a time for that and then there's a time for gooey, guilty cheese. Cheese spread. Really, is their anything more pleasurable to eat (at times) than from a plastic tub of Wisconsin cheese spread. Probably the most famous, maybe the best, is Merks. If you want to feel ever more upscale, there's Brunkow's raw milk spread.
• A loaf of mini-rye, cheese spread, a six pack of Leine's Big Butt Dopplebock, you are almost ready to watch the debut of Top Chef Chicago. What's missing. Summer sausage of course. Mitt garlic, mitt nitrates, mitt lotsa fat, it's Wisconsin's gift to the world of chaucuterie. Bobby Nelson's is a real blast from the past and my favorite source for summer sausage. Rob at Curds and Whey in Geneva often snags some for sale.
• Scramble some local eggs. I was lucky enough to get to hang out in the kitchen of Vie the other day (to be on a WBEZ segment soon, I'll post when I know). Chef Paul Virant showed us his technique for making creamy eggs. Here's what I can tell you: whisk like crazy and fold in whipped cream. Using farm fresh eggs matters too.
• And remember, save a rain forest by eating a potato today.

Eat Local Meat

"Where'd Ya Get the Cow?"

As my older daughter's been highjacking the computer--who now knows more about her research topic, SNL, me or her? I never responded to PJ's question in the comments. It's a good question. Where'd the meat in our freezer come from.

3 or so years ago, when we starting eating local, our local was not quite as local. We ate some local meat, but we balked a bit at the price of some of the meat being sold at the farmer's markets. We just were not ready to pay that much for all of our meat. Buying meat in bulk has been a real Godsend. We had the chance to purchase 1/4 of a heard of cattle raised by Farmer Vicki of Genesis Growers. Nearly a year later, we are still eating that cow. We also have 1/2 lamb that we purchased from the Wettstein's. The per pound price for bulk meat makes it a lot more affordable. Getting the meat that way has ensured us that much more of our diet is local.

Genesis Growers is not a viable source right now for meat. There are plenty of options though. The Farm Direct site lists tons of farms in Illinois that sell local meat. The site includes the Wettstein's who sold us our lamb as well as Arnold Meat and Farm Direct Black Angus who sell at Robin's winter markets. See below.

Local meat is very doable.

Winter's Just a Market Away

Shop Local

March is not without its local. Really.

T H R E E
Winter Farmers Markets this Weekend!
Saturday, March 15 ~ Lemont
Saturday, March 15 ~ West Loop Gate/Chicago
Sunday, March 16 ~ Elgin

~ 1 ~

S A T U R D A Y

10 A.M. TO 1 P.M.

Winter Farmers Market
in Lemont at
St. Alphonsus Parish
www.st-als.org
210 E Logan St
(Corner of Logan St & State St)

~ 2 ~

SATURDAY

10 A.M. TO 2 P.M.

Fair Trade + Farmers Market + Café
in the West Loop Gate neighborhood of Chicago at
Epiphany Episcopal Church
www.epiphany-chicago.org
201 S Ashland Ave
(Corner of Ashland & Adams)

~ 3 ~

SUNDAY

10 A.M. TO 2 P.M.

Winter Farmers Market
in Elgin at
Unitarian Universalist Church of Elgin
www.uuce.org
39W830 Highland Ave
(about 3 miles West of Randall Road-Hwy 34)

Last Thursday I had the chance to forage for the market with Robin. What thanks we owe her! I imagine she'll have this same sorta stuff this weekend:

Cheese, in a variety of flavors

Yogurt, in a variety of flavorsHoney in a variety of flavors

Organic lettuce, kale & chard

Organic herbs (basil, dill, sage, oregano, parsley)

Spicy greens & shoots

Organic Yukon Gold potatoes

Fresh mushrooms (several varieties)

Onions & shallots

Jams & preserves

Apple & pear butters

Goats’ milk soaps in heavenly scents & fun shapes

Infused vinegars & dried herbs

Organic wheatberries & several varieties of milled flours

Maple & sorghum syrups

Fair trade coffee, chocolate & tea

Fair trade organic olive oil from the Palestinian region

Eat Local Now

Welcome Aboard

Again, thanks Colin for giving me the space in your paper. The ability to keep me appearing sane speaks well (very) for your editing skills. All the people stopping by, have you added some local to your diets this week?

March may not seem like the best time to start eating local, but the budding localvore can find it with not that much effort.

• Shop at one of the winter markets Robin works so hard to pull-off. There will be three this weekend. I will post details soon.
• There's always apples, mushrooms, onions and potatoes.
• Drink local milk. I think I'm too young to remember the way milk "was supposed to taste." I think it tastes a lot like Kalona Organic, milk you need to shake (non-homogenized). You can find this at Whole Foods and many speciality markets.
• Eat local cheese. That's not a hard one, finding say a big block of yellow cheddar from Wisconsin. Consider, however, one of the grand cheeses from our area, a Roth Kase Private Reserve, a tub of Driftless fresh sheep's milk cheese from Hidden Springs Creamery or the Carr Valley stuff nestled away at your neighborhood Costco.
• Come Thursday, shop the local superstore in Geneva. Pick up some of your local cheeses from Rob at Curds and Whey.
• Talk local with Cassie at her Green Grocer. She'll stock you up on all things local you did not even know about.
• Order local. Irv and Shelly's Freshpicks have 24 (!) local produce items for sale this week as well as local meat, lamb, eggs, yogurt, etc., etc., etc.
• Try a seasonal beer. Spring crops are still (very) far way, but we have Spring beers like Capitol Brewery's Maibock and Leine's Big Butt Dopplebock.
• Take pride in your pork. Nueske hams and bacon from Wisconsin are excellent and from Iowa probably comes as good a prosciutto as you will find (La Quercia).
• Splurge local. Some chefs give the ol' "we use local when" spiel. Some chefs really do use local, and then there's Chef Paul Virant who has made his restaurant, Vie, in Western Springs a beacon for fine dining and local eating. Want to know how good it is, try his creamy farm eggs or local lamb.
• Dream local. While you are waiting for the farmers markets to get going and onions do not sound appealing anymore as a vegetable, visit the web sites of some restaurants that pride themselves on their local and seasonal cooking. Fergus Henderson only cooks whats ready, and his whole beast ethos is true to the Eat Local movement. Dan Barber is lucky enough to have his own farm to create from. And all localvores need to check in weekly on the menus at Chez Panisse.
• Believe local. Alice Waters may be serving a spring vegetable ragout this week, but Larry Russo in St. Paul and Tory Miller in Madison are working right now with almost all Midwest local products. On the Eat Local Challenge Blog you can find a bunch of others who embrace their local eating.

Eat Local in the News

C'est Moi

I hope you all had a chance to read the piece I did for the Chicago Tribune this week. Thanks to Colin and Monica for the opportunity. I read great (better) with editors.

For the many people dropping by for the first time, sorry I could not put up something interesting today. My daughter was glued to the computer for a school project.

For those looking to learn more, check out some of the sites to your right, especially the Eat Local Challenge Blog, which I contribute.

Eat Local In the News

Keep your eye on the Chicago Tribune's Perspective section this Sunday.

What's Local at Whole Foods, River Forest - Now!

Go Find Out! - Support West Suburban PADS

Ok, I'll post later on the number we did at Whole Foods, River Forest, but if you happen to be near there and are reading this, Wednesday afternoon, please go do some shopping. Today, today, Whole Foods, River Forest, is donating 5% of your purchases to West Suburban PADs. All the stuff you wanted at Whole Foods that you thought, well, maybe, today's the day to get it. You have several hours. Shop. Now.

Winter's Just a Market Away

Two Markets (Again) for Your Shopping Pleasure

Saturday, March 8 ~ Beverly
Sunday, March 9 ~ Park Ridge

~ 1 ~
S A T U R D A Y
10 A.M. TO 2 P.M.
Winter Farmers Market & Café
in the Beverly neighborhood at
Beverly Unitarian Church
http://www.beverlyunitarian.org/
10244 S Longwood Dr (in the Castle)
(Northwest corner of 103rd St. and Longwood Dr., a few blocks East of Western Ave.)

~ 2 ~
S U N D A Y
10 A.M. TO 2 P.M.
Winter Farmers Market & Brunch
in Park Ridge at
Park Ridge Community Church
http://commch.park-ridge.il.us/
100 S. Courtland Ave.
(in the triangle created by Courtland Ave, Prospect Ave, and Park Place)

I hit the winter market last Saturday in Chicago's Austin neighborhood. I filled my environmentally friendly canvas bag to the brim with several types of herbs, balsamic vinegar, a few heads of lettuce, the days only supply of radishes, two types of cheese and locally roasted coffee from Blue Max.

Here's what you should find at this week's market:

Cheese, in a variety of flavors (NEW this week Fresh Mozzarella!)
Yogurt, in a variety of flavors
Honey in a variety of flavors
Organic lettuce, kale & chard
Organic herbs (basil, dill, sage, oregano, parsley)
Spicy greens & shoots
Organic Yukon Gold potatoes
Fresh mushrooms (several varieties)
Onions & shallots
Jams & preserves
Apple & pear butters
Goats’ milk soaps in heavenly scents & fun shapes
Pet products
Raw wool and rovings (Park Ridge only)
Mattress toppers*, comforters* & wool batting (Park Ridge only)
Bath & body products
Infused vinegars & dried herbs
Organic wheatberries & several varieties of milled flours
Wool yarn & woolen goods
Maple & sorghum syrups
Beautiful fruit tarts & cakes by the Sisters of Fraternite Notre Dame
Fair trade coffee, chocolate & tea
Fair trade organic olive oil from the Palestinian region
Opportunities to learn about CSAs (community supported agriculture) and purchase your subscription for this summer
And much, much more!

Inventory

Requiem for the Roots

(last inventory report)

I was thinking this morning, what happens to the potatoes in our attic when (if?) the weather warms. It's been a great storage spot, but its days are numbered. We did manage to remove all of the roots from the attic last week, cooking the last of our turnips and beets--with about a 2:1 ratio of usable to spoiled. Reasonably, the end of February should be the end of stored roots. I think we carried the stuff about as long as possible; plus, it's time to eat something else. The question is what? Updates to what's there (excluding freezer goods) in italics:

Cranberries - two packages no change
Pie pumpkins - 1 - no change
Celery - about 2/3rd of a head, usable for cooking - a few stalks hanging in
Herbs - rosemary, thyme, parsley - Added! - oregano, mint, cilantro
Winter squash - about six including acorn, delicata, turban and butternut - no change
Keeper onions - good stock - Added 10 lbs, so onions are fine
Sweet potatoes - low stock - no change
Garlic - about 20 heads - used up a few heads, so maybe 18. On the other hand, I did find some garlic in a different spot, so we had more than I thought
Cabbage - 3 heads of white cabbage, one head red; the whites have varying states of decay - Used 2 white, the worst of the white is still there, I'm not sure why I'm keeping it.
Sunchokes - 2 lbs - This we eat when there is nothing left (?)
Carrots - low stock - Used our 3 large carrots from Freshpicks, very limited stock
Parsnips - low stock - Used about 4; we have more parsnips than carrots
Beets - very low stock, about six usable beets - Used all the beets
Turnips - very low stock, about four usable turnips - Used these turnips*
Potatoes - very good stock - Used some, but stock remains strong
Apples - medium stock - Purchased 3 lbs of Michigan red delicious, but used them all in "Project Sandwich" lunches. Significant dent in apple population in bungalow**
Lettuce - 1 bag of mixed greens, one head of boston lettuce (non-local) - Existent lettuce finished, purchased two bags of aquaponic lettuce at last week's winter market.
Microgreens - 1/2 bag of sunflower shoots - Existing sprouts eaten, purchased peashoots at winter market; sunflower shoots at Whole Foods.
Mushrooms - cremini, mixed oyster/shitake (cultivated) - Used existing mushrooms, purchased new mushrooms at winter market.
Celery root - 2 lbs - no change

Purchased radishes at winter market, but ate them, with their greens last night.

*Roots resurrected: I found two turnips in the back of our vegetable bin this morning. Sprouting yes, but still usable.

**For a change of pace, we went heavy on non-local fruit this week. We purchased blood oranges and honeybells at Trader Joe's, and we got a good deal on bananas at the wholesaler. We purchased two bunches of bananas there (which still have not ripened since last Thursday).

What's In Season Now - Chicagoland - March

In Like a Lion Out with the Ramps

Those interested in last month's What's In Season, see here.

Every week come Monday, I check the Chez Panisse web site--it's always updated for the week ahead by Monday. I surely appreciate Alice Water's approach to eating, so her menus are inspirational in that sense. I also check to get an idea of what's in season. Not what's in season for me...

This month, we will not see local asparagus, peas or green garlic, all items on her menu this week. We do have a couple of interesting items this month. March is generally maple syruping time in the Midwest. Here's a listing of some maple festivals (some were last weekend, sorry!). In addition, those little wild onions that gave Chicago its name, ramps (try Google), will begin their short season in March. Read about past ramp digs at Spence Farm here and here, and consider the Rampfest on March 28.

Beef, lamb, chicken, pork - Winter markets; farm direct, Cassie's Green Grocer, Freshpicks.com
Grains - Winter markets, farm direct
Eggs - Winter markets, farm direct, grocery, Cassie's Green Grocer, Freshpicks.com
Farm raised tilapia - Winter markets
Farm raised rainbow trout - Grocery
Great Lakes fish - pike, whitefish, pearch, white bass, lake trout, carp - Grocery, speciality stores
Microgreens, sprouts and related - Winter markets, Freshpicks.com, grocery
Lettuces - Winter markets, farm direct
Carrots - Winter markets, farm direct, Freshpicks.com
Potatoes - Winter markets, farm direct, grocery, Freshpicks.com
Apples - Winter markets, farm direct, grocery
Herbs - Winter markets, farm direct, Freshpicks.com
Mushrooms - Winter markets, Grocery, Cassie's Green Grocer, Freshpicks.com
Onions - Winter markets, farm direct, grocery
Burdock root - Freshpicks.com
Horseradish - Freshpicks.com
Radish - Winter markets (limited quantity)

Cabbies, There's a New Joint in Town

Tabaq

Actually, the cabbies have more than discovered the recently opened, clean, well-lit space, Tabaq. Maybe the word got out because of the ample parking on this stretch of Clybourn just north of Division. Maybe word just got out on the good food being offered. Maybe, maybe, cabbies are going upscale. Cabbie joints, foodie-speak for a kinda places that are a) roughly convenient to the drivers who mostly found themselves around downtown; b) met their gustatory needs for Indian-Pakistani style food; and c) could serve as a bit of a hangout. A corner tap rolled into a diner rolled into an afterwork hangout. The cabbie joint promised the foodie exceedingly authentic food of the sub-continent, but often with a dose of danger. Well, slight danger in the sense that the joints, operating near but not in downtown, were in, well, let's call them non-pedestrian friendly zones. Really, the danger lay in their foreignness, their clubbiness, it was walking into someone else's world. But a funny thing happened on the way to eating pleasure. First, these locations no longer seemed so threatening. Second, it was soon learned that one's clientele was quite enjoyed by the cabbie joint staff. Eat bubbala we were told.

And eat well we did. Kababish, on Orleans a few blocks north of Chicago offered one of the best versions of fish taco around (masala dusted fish, fried to order, served with fresh made chapati and garnished with a mysterious brown sauce). Kababish is now closed. Into the breach steps Tabaq. Whereas Kababish had four booths, Tabaq has seating for about 80. The whole place is decorated in the type of thick, shiny plastic that's maybe a step up from Ikea. Much more decor than before. Still, it has one of the defining features of these kind of places, a steam table with several curries of the day. In addition to the curries, Tabaq offers grilled items like the beloved Khan on the north side of Chicago.

My wife and I got one of each. I'm a grilled meat a-loving' guy to begin with, and I love their way with meats, the interplay with spices and fire. Seekh kebab, the sausage shaped thing is usually a favorite. After asking about how spicy, the man behind the counter suggested instead, tha chapli kebab. This is a patty shaped, but the meat was thoroughly mixed with flakes of red pepper. I wish I had the camera to show the contrast of near black meat against bright red Chile. For our wet dish, we picked a chicken over a goat, a fish and a ground meat. The jalapeno garnish signfied this was one spicy curry. A nice touch, our server came over and offered us more gravy as we were sopping up the last of the curry. Sopping is thing thing to do here, as this place has some very good naan too. I'm guessing they allowed it to rise a bit longer than most naans. It was thick and yeasty, like a good pizza crust.

The prices are a dollar or two more than the old Kababish. I did not mind in the least. In my maiden visit I found all I want in a cabbie joint. Parking, warmth from the staff and heat from the food. Definitely worth a try.

Tabaq
1245 N. Clybourn
Chicago, IL
312.944.1245
9AM - 2AM

Shop Local

More Stuff for the Winter Markets

As I indicated earlier, Robin did some foraging today. Here's the additions to the market offerings not previously mentioned:

From Erehwon Farm in Elburn: living (potted) lettuce, cilantro, spinach, tiny radishes, spicy greens (very limited quantities of each--these will be at Austin only)

From Heritage Prairie Market Farm in Elburn: broccoli micro-greens, sugar pea shoots

From Ropp Jersey Cheese in Normal: Raw Milk Cheddar Cheese

From River Valley Ranch in Burlington, WI: gorgeous mushrooms this week--big clean white button mushrooms; more cremini than usual, and larger than usual; plenty of shitakes; just a few portabellas; and a few bags of oysters

What's Local at the Restaurant Supply House

Local Safety Net

Pretty much the same as last visit: Michigan apples, Wisconsin potatoes, Great Lakes whitefish. Add to the list, Wisconsin yellow onions.

I know what will be on our menu a lot the next few months.

New Vie Menu Up

Chef Virant Gets Deal on Artichokes

When I dined at Vie a few weeks ago, I was talking black walnut with Chef Virant. He mentioned how expensive they were, yet he still loved them and loved using them on the menu. It turns out that I knew a store in Detroit that had them for 1/2 the price he was paying. He offered me the chance to buy for him, and I'd love to fulfil that deal soon. In the meantime, his latest menu features a bit of non-local that he got his hands on--artichokes show up twice and there's some Meyer lemons too. On the other hand, he has a local lamb combo that sounds ideal and looks like he made good use of Wisconsin's Rushing Water trout.

Winter Market Reminder

Two This Saturday

Monica Eng notes some of the things you might find this weekend at Robin's winter markets.

Just because the Green City Market has shut down its outdoor and indoor locations for a few months, it doesn't mean farmers market-type organic shopping has to go into hibernation too. With the "Winter Farmers Markets" in local churches, you still can buy organic produce, prepared goods, toiletries, clothes and toys from the makers. When we recently visited one in West Town, we were greeted by more than a dozen vendors, including a young girl spinning wool, a nun selling tarts and baguettes and a grandfatherly character in a fluffy fleece sweater selling products from women's cooperatives. We knew this was going to be crunchy. We immediately picked up a couple of tarts ($3 each) as well as a bag of delicious lemony madeleines ($4), a crusty baguette ($2). Next were a pair of hand-knitted mittens ($16) and an organic yarn goat toy made by a women's cooperative in Kenya ($8). It's not super-cheap, but you will rarely feel so good about spending so much.

See here for market details. Note also, Robin's out foraging today, and she might have a few new goodies when she gets back. I'll post an update when I hear more.

Save This Restaurant

Orange Garden Chop Suey

This week's CTrib At Play was the Chris Borrelli 'zine. There's pupusas, there's a great piece on Nighthawk diners (hint: Chris, come to me for the follow-up). More importantly, he highlights one of the true treasures of Chicago, Orange Garden Chop Suey (1942 W. Irving Park Rd.). Sure, Chris's experience was like mine every time I visit, awful. This restaurant must be saved no matter. Of course the exterior with its stainless steal sign and red enamel is worth it, and I can see some misguided preservationist stopping there, but the purity of its art deco interior is just as special. This place needs to be landmarked PDQ.

Drink Local

North Shore Tasting at Binny's

Via Drive Thru:

Binny's South Loop will be hosting a free tasting this Friday from 5pm -8pm of North Shore Distillery Products

Eat Local Out...Maybe...

Naha

Or perhaps. My wife knows my predilication for naming posts playing off of our mantra: Eat Local. So, when our waiter returned a long (long) time to address our question about what exactly was local on the menu with a very specific answer, "Carrie told me to get the hell outta of the kitchen"; I said to my wife, I'll call today's (yesterday's) post "Eat Local Maybe". And she said, "Eat Local Perhaps". The question, of course, was what exactly on the menu was local.

We got the same song and dance we got a few weeks ago at Lula's. "Oh, the chef uses local." "The chef is committed to local..." Then, the scare words, "when possible." We, to compare notes, see how someone else does it, to encourage local eating, to make us feel that much better about our dining choice, wanted to know specifics, and don't be speaking too much in generalities 'cause your menu has red peppers on it. Our waiter, who did not much like the grilling in the first place, he had tables to cover, promised to find out. Which turned into a promise to ignore us through two of our three courses. It came right about the time we started to have misgivings about Naha. But after a poor set of appetizers, the food got much better. We left ready to give Naha and Chef Carrie the benefit of the doubt. For now. Wink, wink.


Naha has been a place we've been meaning to try since the Green City BBQ. How could I not resist a menu with local AND mezze AND pork belly. Triple threat. The new Chicago Restaurant Week gave us the excuse to finally pull ourselves from Vie (although Vie is not open for lunch, so that excuse only goes so far). Restaurant Week means a three course lunch for $21.95. There were two desserts, two appetizers and three main courses, so my partner and I could not quite get the full menu. Our waiter, when he still liked us, helped us pick from the mains, advising us on the duck confit over the fried chicken salad--the other entree, whitefish with pork belly was a given.

It was a good thing he steered us to the duck confit. When I dug into it, after the appetizers and the what local comment, it insta-changed my mood. That good. That good after appetizers that featured creme fraiche that really did little for the oysters and bits of oyster shells that did even less for the oysters and tepid squash soup that tasted more of broth than squash. Then, the whitefish bacon thing, honestly, really, this was, about the best piece of whitefish I've ever eaten. One problem with whitefish, and one reason I think people favor ocean fish, is that whitefish can be on the soft side. This was a nice slab of whitefish, a fish not known for its slabiness, and it was cooked in a way that crisped and firmed it, without losing the fatty sweetness of the freshwater fish. The pork belly did not necessarily add to the experience, in a marriage kinda way, but what the hey, I was not pushing it aside. Desserts kept things on the upswing, a mousse-ish chocolate cake with "black forest cake" ice cream and a coconut tart. If we were not already lovey-dovey towards Naha, they finished us up with good mirgandaise, a tiny pyramid of passion fruit curd on a buttery crust and swatch of opera cake. Naha may not be the localvore luncher's lunch, but it's still a delicious dining experience.

What's Local at Cassie's Green Grocer

A Lot!

It's good to eat local--look to the right side of this blog for some reasons. And while I do enjoy a certain amount of the effort to eat local, I'd also appreciate less effort too. I want local to come to me a bit more. The new store Green Grocer is bringing local to me. Here in one store, mushrooms from Wisconsin, salsas made in Wisconsin, (and salsas from Wisconsin mushrooms and made in Wisconsin); local eggs, local milk, local lamb, local, local, local [ed., and books on eating local too, no?]. Sure, not everything Cassie sells right now is local, but her focus is local with a capital L. Based on my two visits and my conversations with her, I know the inventory will only get better.

I did not get a lot today, but it was just the kinda things I want/need: Papa Lena's beet chips--put a vegetable and a chip in your kidz lunch at the same time! Bennison's bread (because Evanston's about as easy to get to for me/Oak Park as Madison, WI) and the intriguing Mu Tofu made from Wisconsin soy (read about it here).