Riddle Me This: What's Neither Green nor Stew

Lunch Out Flo

Answer: green chile stew at Flo (1434 W. Chicago). Actually, I generally like the New Mexico-ish food at Flo, but yesterday's red soup with three, count 'em three pieces of chicken did not hit the spot. Still, I blog not to trash Flo, but to praise them. See, toward the end of the meal, after we had received our bill, I mentioned the riddle of the day to our server. With hardly a second to think about it, he gave the best answer possible to the problem. He offered to take the stew off my bill. No prompting. Like I say, I've generally liked what I've had at Flo, and as much as I did not enjoy what I ordered yesterday, I left with a good taste in my mouth.

Of course I should stop here, but I cannot help but compare to an experience at Burger Bar in Las Vegas about a month ago. This was really fool me once, OK, fool me twice, I'm the fool, kinda place. I had a mediocre experience there last year, but had convinced myself it could have been an aberration. Anyways, yada-yada, there was a turkey burger, and yada-yada, it sucked. Greasy fowl-flavored liver on a bun I think my wife called it. As we were sharing, we each tried, resulting in a burger with only two bites taken. The unfinished burger sat on our table all during dinner. No comment. Finally at check time, when I got the obligatory how were things (I mean if you don't wanna know, don't ask...). I said this turkey burger tastes like fowl-flavored liver, explaining the pun. See that's fowl as in poultry. No I did not say anything quite like that, but I did say we thought the turkey burger sucked. Nicely, I said it nicer. And the waiter was like. Cool, dude, never heard that before. Picked up the charge card and ran the full amount.

Local's Where You Find It

What's Local at the Restaurant Supply House

My wife and I have an in that allows us to shop at the restaurant supply house. Unfortunately you cannot walk in and buy the local stuff we found today. Still, if it's at the wholesaler, it may show up somewhere by you. Look. Local IS where you find it (I mean the other day we had a blast finding local at the River Forest Jewel, including Michigan oatmeal, I just did not take good notes to post on it.)

Local at the supply house: incredibly vivid bass from the Great Lakes. They wisely angled the fish to show its magenta gills; not pretty but key for those in the know. Other freshwater fish today included lake trout fillets, lake smelts, rainbow trout, whitefish and carp. There were ten pound and fifty pound bags of Wisconsin potatoes and three pound bags of Michigan apples.

Local as I Wanna Be

Monday Through Friday - Winter



Day 1



Baked local winter squash from storage, Wisconsin maple syrup; chicken and dumplings: hen from John's Live Poultry (5955 W. Fullerton, Chicago), local carrots and parsnips from storage, local peas from freezer, dumplings made with local corn meal.





Day 2



Wisconsin farmed raised rainbow trout from Whole Foods (see here) with local red potatoes from storage.



Day 3


Imported salumi, imported olives, indeterminate packaged artichokes, imported prosciutto, Wisconsin provolone, house-made, hand made mozzarella from Caputo's Cheese Market; imported pasta with local broccoli--broccoli recently harvested from Illinois hoop house--imported Parmesan cheese, local garlic from storage.


Day 4



Mixed greens recently harvested from Illinois hoop house, imported feta cheese; imported pasta with jarred pasta sauce from Tomato Mountain--locally grown, locally produced.






Day 5



That's roasted vegetable, before and after. The veg, all from storage: sweet potato, parsnips, turnips, delicata squash and carrot.

The core of the meal, Jewish cassoulet or cholent. Rumor has it that both cassoulet and the Spanish bean and meat dish, cocido ARE based on cholent, the dish meant to stew while the ovens cannot be re-lit. Not keeping kosher, nor sticking around for a Saturday lunch, we have our cholent for Shabbat dinner.

Michigan dried beans, storage local onions, storage local potatoes, local beef, local eggs. Both the eggs and the meat comes from Farmer Vicki's Genesis Growers (as does a lot of the other stuff we ate this week.)

Day 6

Pancakes made with local flour and local, frozen blueberries. Maple syrup, local.

Considering the Celery

A happy arrival of celery in Farmer Vicki's box got me thinking. And writing my long over-due contribution to the EatlocalChallenge blog. Link

How to Eat Local

Cheater's Paradise

Not that I've conducted a comprehensive survey or anything, but the feeling seems to be, you cannot eat local all the time in Chicago. After all, our growing season is just too limited. Farmer's markets do not get rolling until late May and close up shop come October. Cannot be done. Maybe, if you cheat.

What if you have a super-secret source that grows vegetables for you during the dead of winter. She also parcels out crops kept well stored including giant onions and red apples. Is it cheating because she only sells her wares to a few?

Don't care. I'm damn lucky to be friends with Farmer Vicki of Genesis Growers, and I'm damn glad she trucks out to Oak Park even in January. The picture is of the haul. Head lettuce, mesculun, turnips, carrots, celery, rosemary and broccoli all grown in her greenhouses; plus an onion and apples from storage. I cannot be that pissed that she cut but forgot the parsley. It was so nice to sit down the other day, in a the bungalow well insulated from the cold, to a nice, locally grown, just picked, green salad.

Eating local year round in Chicago is not easy. It is possible. It helps, of course, to cheat.

Culling the Heard

Strike these from the inventory: about five shriveled parsnips that had somehow escaped bagging in the basement fridge; a beet or two likewise on the lam; cabbage sprouts that I never knew quite what to do with anyways and some broccoli that I did not even realize we had. On the other hand, we did find usable broccoli that we also did not know we had.

The inventory did grow this week, but that's for another post.

PS
I did find the 50 # bag of Wisconsin russets off to the side in the attic. No sign yet if this weeks warm-up is harming things.

First Impressions, Fine

MenuPages Fallout Fallout

I respect, admire, and appreciate what Adam Peltz does with his blog, MenuPages.com/Chicago; in some ways his aggregation and comments of reviews was what I originally had in mind for this blog. He does it a lot better than I could have done, and I'm happy to have the Eat Local beat. Anyways, Adam takes a little umbrage with the early reviews of Lao Beijing on LTHForum

Yes, editorkid, we agree with you. Newly opened restaurants should get a chance to get settled before they're reviewed, and the more influence a reviewer has, the more he or she should abide by this code of conduct. Unfortunately, it seems impossible to put the genie back into the bottle. LTHForum could establish a policy of not allowing reviews for restaurants less than a month old, say, but this is both unlikely to happen and almost beside the point, anyway. The rabid foodies of the Internet cannot be made to follow rules in the quest for information (and to be first).

Nope. Count me as one who does not agree, nor with his commentor, editorkid who first raised the issue. It is basic. Commerce, if you charge for a meal, you should expect the customer to be satisfied. And you should be aware that someone is going to talk about it, online or off.

I'm all for cutting a restaurant some slack in its opening, to the extent that it needs slack, but I also do not believe the slack should stay hidden. With some places, as in the restaurant in question here, Lao Beijing, early eaters may be able to put the experience in context against the track record of the owner. So, for instance, G Wiv, who has eaten at other places owned by the owner of Lao Beijing expects things to improve. Perhaps. On the other hand, how can a restaurant improve if they do not get critical feedback. Also, first impressions, even mixed experiences, can drive traffic to a place. There's not much experience in Chicago with Northern or Beijing style Chinese food. Just hearing about meals at Lao Beijing will raise interest in this style of food and get people to try for themselves. Besides, foodies are gonna talk about their experiences whether they post it or not. Would not the restaurant, besides the public, be better that this chat take place in the open?

I surely concede that there can be problems if the reviewer does not inform the reader that the place is new, assuming, of course (and it's not always obvious) that they know it's a new place. Without such information, the reader cannot put the experience in the right context. Yet, the failure of some reviewers (and this is not the case cited) to best disclose does not mean that any and all first peek reviews should stop. Once a place is taking your money, they are fair game as far as I can see.

Eat Local, A Trend

Jealous Too

Via Ramon's LinkTH's, I found my way to this web site spotting trends. First, they tell us about a store in Sussex, the United Kingdom, that only sells food produced within 50 miles of the store. Then, they point out this store in Brooklyn that will primarily sell food and dry goods produced less than 100 miles from Brooklyn.

Eat Local Fish

The Vie Way

Chef Paul Virant of Vie restaurant in Western Springs is also a fan of Great Lakes fish. He has graciously allowed me to reprint the following recipe that uses whitefish. Note, I have not tried the recipe itself. All I can say is first, it sounds great, second, it looks complicated!

POACHED WHITEFISH, BRAISED SAUERKRAUT,

LITTLENECK CLAMS, SHALLOT AND DILL VINAIGRETTE


Braised Sauerkraut


2 C sauerkraut, rinsed in cold water

1/4 C diced bacon

4 T butter

1 onion, sliced

2 ribs celery, peeled and sliced on a bias

1 t each coriander seed, dill seed, fennel seed, caraway seed, toasted and coarsely ground

1 C riesling (preferably Alsatian)

1 C chicken stock

salt and pepper


1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a heavy bottom wide saucepan render the bacon until crisp, about 5 minutes.

3. Add 2 T of the butter, onions, celery, and toasted seeds.

4. Sweat for 5 minutes.

5. Add the rinsed sauerkraut and wine, bring up to a boil.

6. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil

7. Cover with a parchment paper lid and place in oven.

8. Bake for 45 minutes.

9. Remove from oven and keep warm (there will be extra).




Vinaigrette


1/2 lb littleneck clams

2 T minced shallots

1/4 C champagne vinegar

1 t honey

1/2 C olive oil

2 T chopped dill

salt and pepper


1. Cook the clams with 1/4 C of water in a covered saucepan for 2-4 minutes (or until the clams open).

2. Remove clams from shells and strain liquid (if any) into a mixing bowl.

3. Add shallots, honey and vinegar to the mixing bowl.

4. Whisk in the olive oil, season with salt and pepper.

5. Add chopped dill and clams and reserve.



To Finish

4 3oz portions of whitefish

1 qt rendered duck fat or chicken fat

1/4 C dill sprigs, loosely packed

2 T julienne house made pickles

1 T olive oil


1. Season the fish with salt and warm the duck or chicken fat to 150 F in heavy bottom saucepan.

2. Place the fish in the fat submerged.

3. Poach between 10 and 15 minutes in the fat until firm, remove from heat.

4. Heat up the sauerkraut finish with remaining 2 T butter.

5. Place about 1/2 C sauerkraut on the center of 4 warm plates.

6. Place poached fish on top.

7. Spoon about 1T vinaigrette on each plate with 3 clams.

8. Garnish with salad of dill sprigs and pickles tossed with olive oil.

9. Serve and enjoy!

Vital Boston

Well, I would not call this the definitive list of Boston restaurants, but it is a path that will guide you to some pretty good eating based on my family's visit in the last week of 2007.

Christmas means one thing to a Jew. Chinese food. From our hotel, the Boston Hyatt, we could practically smell the tofu. We peeked into Grand Chau Chow but got the wrong vibe. East Ocean City (25-29 Beach St.) seemed more hopping. I wanted one of the cods swimming in the tanks, but the waitress warned us off, too big for our party of four. Instead, we got the decidedly non-local baramundi. I cringed a bit as we all, especially the kidz, liked the fish. We liked nearly everything: steamed oysters with black beans (also not local! Canadian Pacific); fried soft shell crabs with "house sauce" (something ketchupy and not that special, although the crabs were fine); baby bok choy with garlic (excellent); and best, salt and pepper shrimps with something like deep fried chili sauce.




I expected to find more places like Charlies Sandwich (429 Columbus) in Boston. A barely altered diner. The above picture kinda captures it. I rued that we skipped the fishcakes and eggs, after all, it's a fishcakes and eggs kinda place, but my wife and I did not go wrong when we split the house special turkey hash and the french toast with cranberry compote.

While my plan included visits to Union Oyster Bar AND Durgin Park, family obligations and a too long list of need to try places got me only to the latter. Both are part of the Faneuil Hall/Freedom Trail complex, which is not quite as gaudy as it could be. (Durgin Park is at 340 Faneuil Hall Market Place, parallel to Quincy Market.) The lobster roll was expensive, over $20, but about worth the money. Better, the lunch special of scrod, baked with crumbs and a good amount of butter. Fish chowder needed a bit of something beyond the butter. And I liked the Indian pudding, but the kidz found the molasses too much. Go for lunch when the prices, lobster roll aside, are lower.

My wife first read about the local food centered market, Lionette, in one of our in-room magazines (I think). I'll cover Lionette and some related places in another post. We did not love-love brunch at the associated cafe, Garden of Eden (571 Tremont Street)--although we had an open mind, honest! we were less than impressed with the New England cheeses that were one of our dishes. Smoked bluefish pate could have used more ooph. Still, our visit made me fall in love with the South End. That is, there were all these restaurants that just looked great, especially the so French it could not exist in France Aquitaine. Two places above all else that called to me.

When I became obsessed over the idea of a meal starting with oysters at B&G Oyster Bar (550 Tremont) and finishing with meat at the Butcher Shop (552 Tremont), I had no idea that they were brainchild's of one of Boston's top chefs. I had no idea who was Barbara Lynch. I do now. The planned meal, if it was not quite as sublime as I hoped, it was because B&B was so good, Butcher Shop could not compare. At B&G we had three East Coast oysters, and I am a convert to East Coast oysters, so much more intense. Then, we had oysters shucked and fried, a dollop of tarter sauce put in the shells, and the oysters placed back. My kidz are now fanatics over fried oysters. At Butcher Shop we had a small portion of hanger steak (arrived a bit cold), oxtail pot au feau and crispy skin roast chicken, whose side of mustard potato salad made with bacon fat was that good.

I'm no expert on Boston restaurants, but the oyster bar may be the best thing about in-town eating. Was Neptune (63 Salem) a better oyster bar? Classic, white tile and all, to B&G's more modern stone, fried clams instead of fried oysters (and now the kidz like fried clams too). I would return here just as fast as B&G.

We had one more Charlie's and two more visits to Chinatown. This Charlie's is Charlie's Kitchen (10 Eliot St., Cambridge), and you can get two lobster rolls for less than half of one at Durgin Park. It was not quite as good, but not nearly 1/2 as bad. Great selection of local beers and top caliber juke box. One time we visited Chinatown for dim sum breakfast at Chau Chow City (88 Essex, h/t Galleygirl). Generally better dim sum than in Chicago. Lobster dumplings! Another Chinatown breakfast Pho Pasteur (682 Washington) was generally not quite as good as we've had elsewhere, an especially fishy batch of beef noodle soup.

Of course there was corporate but well done seafood at Legal (bring your child for the $17 whole lobster deal); internatonally corporate Wagamama (fine respite on a rainy afternoon); ice cream at Emack and Bolio's (good) and Herrell's (better) and really good espresso in the North End. My list of places not tried is long including Peach Farm Chinese, No Name, Flour Bakery, South Street Diner, Summer Shack, and Henrietta's Table.

Eat Local Fish

Rainbow trout, whitefish, huh? Said about five times as I roved the River Forest Whole Foods looking for a better cell spot. Whole Foods did have a whole case full of fish: halibut, salmon, tuna, sustainable and not, it's just as a localvore, we are forced to eat from our foodshed. To us, local fish meant Great Lakes whitefish, sold at Whole Foods as fillets or Rushing Waters rainbow trout sold head-on but mostly boneless. Sure it's a bit of a conceit, to ignore all the ocean fish, even the farmed catfish from North Carolina, but we believe in local. I heard trout. Bony, I mentioned. Huh, trout? Trout? OK. I took the trout.
Local fish matters to us for a few reasons. Aside from frozen lamb and off-season asparagus, is there more miles on a consumable? Take Whole Food's squid, while vast amounts of squid, in season, can be found off or Rhode Island Whole Foods was shipping them in from Greece. One example. The distance matters, but even more, taste matters. Fish tastes better fresh. C'mon. We bought whitefish at Robert's (2916 W. Devon Chicago--see below) that was alive the day before. Was any of the ocean fish at Whole Foods.

Really fresh fish is just so good. Try some freshwater fish and you will find out. That's the last reason. We are on a mission to expand the market for local fish. Create demand. Help the environment for sure, but also more demand will make the local fish options that much better.

Making the trout could not have been easier. An oven pre-heated to 350, salt pepper (fish needs a heavy hand with the salt), a solid Le Crueset pan, a spritz of olive oil (not local), a spritz of white wine (not local) and bake until done, about 20 minutes. The fish was so fresh that the skin turned so blue a Frenchmen would have belted the Marseillaise as proudly as they did here (who does not get a bit teary at that scene!). Boiled local potatoes the obvious side. The trout came a few days after a whole roasted whitefish.
Like an old transaction on Maxwell Street, we mock challenged Arturo Venegas, who ably carries on the traditions at Robert's (he can explain to you which fish may be kosher but are still now blessed by the CRC). Fresh, he unfolded the whitefish to show us innards still crimson, practically beating. As I said, the fish was alive the day before. About following the recipe in last month's Saveur, I roasted the fish whole.

I will concede a few drawbacks to the local fish. It's surely not clear how much Great Lakes fish one should safely eat, and probably twice in a week is enough. Culinary-wise, the fish can be a bit softer. OK, the whitefish is a lot softer than tuna or salmon. You know it's fish. And bones, there's always bones. You have to handle the bones, but if my daughters can deal with the bones, cannot you. Eat local fish.

How to Eat Local

Prepare, Prepare and Prepare to Prepare

This is our third winter of eating local. The more we do it, the more the same truisms apply. Eating local is like being a boy scout. Be prepared.

First of all, each week of meals needs some forethought. Be prepared on Monday for what you will eat on Friday. Mainly, it is a question of defrosting meat. As there is no steady source for local beef, pork or lamb in our area, our supply is what is in our freezers. It takes time, a fair amount of time for bigger cuts to defrost, surely to defrost safely. Thus, we need to prepare for our Friday night meal early (took out a round roast that we will braise).

Second, be prepared to work each meal. It is a truism of truism that nearly every meal in the bungalow begins with some form of low impact aerobic exercise. Down the stairs to the canning room, another trip down to basement fridge. My wife commented the other day that tight homes would make for limited local eating. We are lucky to be in an older home with a big (full size) basement and an attic. We have food planted strategically. Each meal begins with a game of hide and seek. After finding the food, be prepared to work more. I was reminded of this on Friday as I peeled just a few more beets to supplement the already made beet salad. Excruciating work, the older beets do not necessarily skin easily, and I only did about ten. Eating local means nearly always starting with food in its rawest of states.

Third, be prepared to prepare. As I have said many times, you cannot just jump into the localvore thing. What you need to do is try, experiment, see what happens. We are constantly working on the best storage options, what to store, where to store, how long will it last us. Plus, we search out markets and vendors. Last year, Farmer Vicki of Genesis Growers helped us paper over a lot of months with our hot house produce. This year, we plan also to shop the winter markets. Next year, I expect to have more options. Still, each day of eating local this year helps me prepare for eating local in coming years.

I Search for My Food

Missing Bag

The other day I checked on the state of our food in the attic. Today, I needed to bring a bowl of shallots back to the basement (and along the way, take some meat out of the freezer for later in the week), so I thought I'd check on the basement stuff. For the most part, the onions are doing fine, as are the squash, but there are several red potatoes lost to sprout. I can live with some shrinkage in the red potato as there are more up in the attic. Plus, we bought a fifty pound bag of Wisconsin russets back in latke season. The only problem, I cannot seem to find the big bag of potatoes.

Eat Local Food

The World's Greatest Hot Dog Stand

Really, I plan on blogging a lot more in 2008. Localvore (or locavore) was the word of the year according to the folks at Oxford. Yet, if this is arrival, it hardly feels like it. In Chicago at least, local food seems like a dabble, a week long challenge still. It hardly seems popular. It needs more blogging! (No?)

More farmer's markets covered, lists of what's in season, preparing for the hungry months, highlighting restaurants and caterers that go local. And the backlash, damnit; yes an ocean liner carrying lamb from New Zealand is much more energy efficient than that truck bringing Wettstein lamb to the Oak Park Market, but really did the Wettstein's use more fossil fuel. Moreso, are those New Zealand lambs slaughtered at the pier--does the lamb's meadow end at the pier--these backlashers who point out the existence of teeny ol' cars in the local food chain, I mean does everything in the industrial chain move by grand ship and mighty rail? Do people buy their Chilean peaches at the harbor? C'mon.

Whoops. You could see the face of LTHForum.com Moderator Cathy2 when I started on that rant at the holiday party. But more blogging. One of the things I seek to explore is the notion of local food, local foods and local cuisine. Local foods in the Chicago area are wide and diverse; citrus aside, nearly everything grows here. We have all kinds of meats, cheeses and freshwater fish. Local cuisine, I am not so sure, and that's a topic for another day. Now, local foods, that we have as much as local food. Local cuisine, I guess, I'm making this up as I go, is about a style of cooking, how the various ingredients taste. Local food is the raw materials, what grows or is harvested around here. Local foods, on the other hand, are created items that are popular to eat and associated with this region. Like deep dish pizza. Italian beef. Hot dogs.

Yes, hot dogs. The Chicago dog. Is there anything more local? It is what this localvore family had for dinner last night. A happy return to the World's Greatest Hot Dog Stand after about six months of pescatarianism from older daughter (Yes MikeG it was the bacon). Gene and Judes, in the words written a few years back.

The greatest hot dog stand in the world serves neither hamburgers, nor polish sausage, nor grilled chicken sandwiches. There is no grill, no char-broiler, no spinning mound of gyros. At the greatest hot dog stand they only need buckets of simmering water for dogs, steamers for steaming buns and Supreme tamales and ever bubbling vats of oil for the fresh cut fries.

You can see the greatest hot dog from far up the street. Because the greatest hot dog stand is all glass and harsh florescent lights and stands as a beacon for all who are hungry. If you see a line, you know it will move fast.

The greatest hot dog stand follows few of the rules laid out by the experts. Their buns are poppy-seedless. They offer few condiments beyond mustard (no ketchup on site). They do not dust their dog with celery salt. Yes, it is a Vienna sausage, but a skinnyish one at that. You really need to eat more than one at the greatest hot dog stand in the world, and many of the customers do (Sample customer, "I'll take seven hot dogs and an [extra] order of fries”).

The cooks at the greatest hot dog stand in the world occupy their time in between orders by thrusting fresh Idaho potato through a machine that converts them into perfect sized french fries. These amazing sticks of pure potato get tossed on top of each offering so that if you want to eat them inside your hot dog bun, well you can and maybe should.

The greatest hot dog stand in the world is a throwback to a world when people ate hot dogs. A throwback to a time when a great stand could keep their buns steamed just right, and their red hots, hot but not limp. So a Gene and Jude hot dog snaps right back at you. Interactive eating. With a side of hot fries, you will know you are at the greatest hot dog stand in the world.

Gene and Judes
2720 River Road
River Grove, IL 60171-1325
708-452-7634
On the corner of River Road and Grand

Local As I Wanna Be

On Beet

A simple dinner.

Three versions of house made bureks from City Fresh Market at Devon and Kedzie, Chicago*: cheese, spinach and sauerkraut. Plus, the salad pictured. About 25 keeper beets getting soft, boiled until tender (over an hour), then peeled; cubed and dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, harissa from Middle Eastern Bakery (Clark and Foster, Chicago); garnished with local cilantro that has somehow survived our fridge.

*Chicagoland seems awash in "Fresh" supermarkets. As far as I can tell, there is no relationship between City Fresh, Garden Fresh, Fresh Market, Fresh Farms, etc. Many of these places have a Russian orientation and are good sources for smoked fishes and garlicky "Korean" salads. City Fresh, on Devon has some Balkan in it, as especially marked by its homemade pies including the bureks. It also sells a few versions of Bosnian pita bread. No house roasted meats however. In general, I am inclined to like any grocery with Fresh in the store name, and I mean that literally.

I Visit My Food

Toys in the Attic

Wine geeks place furniture in their cellars to hang out with their wine. I poke around the attic to check on my fruit (and veg). As I have mentioned before, this is the first winter we have used the attic as a storage option. It is unheated and pretty (although not completely) dark. The attic seems appropriate for everything but alliums (which should be mixed with potatoes in the first place, and need a warmer locale in the second).

We have not dined in home in over a week, really since the lamb neck, Boston and all. Today I wanted to see how the food was holding out. Good. All of the attic apples are solid as are the squash. The white potatoes, including Yukon Gold and fingerling seem no worse for the wear, but some of the red potatoes are sprouting. Turnips too, a few turnips are growing proto-leaves. Still, the turnips seem firm and mold-free, all I want. Beets, however, are a bit looser. We will cook some tonight.

We did buy navel oranges, tangerines and grapefruit today.

Winter Break

The family and I are off to Boston tomorrow. I hope to indulge in as much local food there as possible (as well as partake in that sacred of customs, Chinatown on Christmas). I may or may not blog between now and January 2, 2008. Happy Holidays to all. Eat Local. Eat Well.

For those in need of something to read look at my meager blogroll. There's always activity on LTHForum.com and this may be the greatest blog ever!

Between Nose and Tail Eating

The Neck

Fergus Henderson, through his books and TV appeaarances has (at least) raised the foodie awareness towards odder parts of the animal. He extols not only the liver (usually salted) or the marrow bone (now famous). He pleads for you to try the parts at the extremes, say frying up an ear and including it in a salad. In this spirit, there is the neck.

Our organic, local lamb from Wettstein's farm had a neck. It gamely lowered its jaws to the ground so he (or she) could nibble and nosh in his (or her) short but happy life. It is a cut less used in American cooking. Joy speaks silent of its joys. Yet, there is was. Taking up a great use of our upstairs freezer. It became the centerpiece of our Shabbat meal.

There really is no way of cooking a neck beyond braising. That said, there is, I imagine after one neck preparation, no hard way to ruin a neck. A pan, some flavored liquid, some aromatics and time, time, time. It is a hunk of product, mostly bone and fat--and long solid bone. We had expected we could cut the neck into something approaching osso buco style steaks, but that bone is long and big. You need a band saw. Our neck bubbled away for about 3 hours with stock and assorted middle eastern style spices like cumin. Local red potatoes and not local green olives went in twenty minutes before the finish. Local (frozen) peas and local parsley went in at the final five minutes. It took a certain amount of poking and digging to get morsels of meat to feed the crowd. For that you get very rich, to some a bit too fatty, rich, soft, lamb meat.

If you do not have a lamb neck in your freezer, I do see them at Middle Eastern butchers like Sahar, 4829 N. Kedzie, Chicago.

Winter Farmer's Markets

Don't Fret

Tomorrow is the last day of the Green City Farmer's Market for several months. Eat localers might think themselves stuck with their inventory on hand. Fret not, there are some markets open in the coming months. For the most part, I cannot vouch for these markets, or more importantly, tell you what will be there this winter. Still, it's a start. I DO hope to visit many of these--if anyone has any intel on these markets please pass them forward.

I've included a couple of Wisconsin markets. I'll post about options in Michigan and Indiana in another entry.

[Unless other indicated, the quoted material comes from the Illinois Department of Agriculture's web site, which has excellent eat local materials.]

Churchs' Center For Land & People

Via Bill Daley at the Trib's blog, I learned of this organization and the series of winter farmer's markets and market/brunch's being held in the Chicago area. Here's the schedule.

Twin City Farmers Market

"Indoor market. Historic building. Meat, permanent freezers of beef, pork, pastured chicken and pastured bison. Fresh eggs. Seasonal produce(much of it grown organically), baked goods, some locally made products (soaps, candles, baskets, rugs, woodwork, metalcraft, etc.)and gift baskets. 106 AVENUE A, STERLING, IL 61081

Heritage Farmer's Market
Located on Route 9 East of Pekin; 18837 STATE ROUTE 9 PEKIN, IL 61554

Geneva Winter Market

The Winter Market in Geneva, IL starts Thursday, November 1st and will run every Thursday (except Thanksgiving Day, and between Christmas and New Years) through the middle of May. You'll enjoy shopping for the finest local produce, cheese, meats, eggs, cheese, nuts and honey; as well as baked goods, and more! Farmers and Vendors who will be there are: Curds & Whey Cheese Company, Pine Row Farms, Unicorn Farms, Grandma's Eggs, Schramer's Meats, and Inglenook Pantry! Location: Winter Market at Inglenook Pantry 11 N 5th St, Geneva, IL 60134

Dane County Farmer's Market
One of the premier farmer's markets in the USA. So great that is makes me depressed--I can never fully hit all the stands, by the time I have shopped a part of the market, put some stuff away, taken a coffee break, the other part is packing up for the day! The market meets once a week during the winter at the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Monona Terrace. Here's what the Market web site sez about the winter fare:

Wondering what you can find at the DCFM Winter Market? Here's a listing to help guide you.

Fruit
Apples; Cider; Jams, jellies, and preserves; Pears; Pear and apple butters; Raspberry products

Stored Vegetables
Carrots, Garlic, Potatoes, Shallots, Turnips

Fresh Vegetables
Chard, Greens, Kale, Lettuce, Micro-greens, Radish, Spinach, Tomatoes

Meats
Beef, Bison, Brats and sausage, Chicken, Conventional and special cuts, Emu, Ground beef, Highland beef, Jerky, Ostrich, Pork, Roasts, Turkey, Steaks

Decorations
Bison products, Emu products, House plants, Orchids, Ostrich products, Potted flowers

Cheeses
Flavored cheeses, Goat cheese, World-class aged cheeses, Fresh cheese curds

Baked Goods
Flat breads, Biscotti, Cheesecake, Pastries, Cinnamon rolls, Sweet breads, Torts, Cookies, Muffins, Panettone, Sourdough bread

Specialty Items
Mushrooms, Maple syrup, Wool products, Candles, Honey, Pesto, Vinaigrettes, Eggs, Hot sauces, Flavored sea salt, Goat milk soap, Salsa, Yarn, Sheepskins, Hides and leather, Soups, Pasta sauce, Fresh-ground whole wheat flour, Herbal vinegar

Milwaukee Public Market
The sheen has faded slightly from this market, with the closing of some of the food stalls. It does not help that last year I got a chance to visit the even cooler Detroit and Cleveland Markets (to be discussed in a forthcoming post). Still, last year, the Milwaukee market sold a bit of local produce all winter, including some much need garlic. This is a stellar source for Wisconsin cheeses, and the C. Adams bake shop is worth the visit alone.

The Inventory

On Hand

I vacillate over whether we are prepared for the winter. I think we have enough until we make a big meal (like Thanksgiving), and then I feel like we have used too much!

The following is a good list of produce. In addition to the produce, we have plenty of frozen local cow, local lamb and local pork (chicken we buy live from John's at Fullerton and Central). We have about five pounds of local walnuts, bags of local wheat (several types of flour plus bulger) and cornmeal. I'm not listing general kitchen staples, canned goods, beans, noodles, etc. Some of the staples are local, some are not. We get eggs weekly from Farmer Vicki's Genesis Growers. We buy milk and cheese (local) and bread (sometimes local) as we need it.

Cranberries - about twelve packages, in our basement fridge
Cabbage sprouts - 3 heads - basement fridge
One of Vicki's greens that I've never heard of - basement fridge
Bok choy - one head - basement fridge
Swiss chard - 1 bunch (this will be used tomorrow for dinner) - upstairs fridge
Broc - 3 or 4 good sized heads - basement fridge
Pie pumpkins - maybe 4 - Storage room, attic, living room and basement
Celery - 2 bunches - upstairs fridge
Herbs=parsley, cilantro, sage, thyme and mint - upstairs fridge (to the extent they are not spoiled)
Bacon - upstairs fridge (generously gifted by MikeG); downstairs fridge (not local)
Winter squash - plenty including acorn, delicata, turban and butternut - storage room, attic, living room and basement
Keeper onions - - about 30, at least - storage and kitchen
Sweet potatoes - a good amount, 20 or more - attic and storage
Garlic - about 25 heads - storage and kitchen
Cabbage 1 whole/1 half - basement fridge and upstairs fridge
Sunchokes - good amount, say two meals worth - basement fridge
Carrots - plenty, at least 20 lbs - basement fridge and upstairs fridge
Parsnips plenty, at least 20 lbs - basement fridge and upstairs fridge
Beets - red - plenty - basement fridge and attic
Turnips - good amount - basement fridge and attic
Potatoes small round red, yukon gold, russet, fingerling - we are especially long on the red and we have a 50 lb bag of russet (less those used for latkes) - attic and storage
Apples - rome, gala, sungold, yellow delicious, others - about 50 lbs - dining room and attic

I do not have an exact tally of what's frozen but it includes many bags of greens, green beans, peas, asparagus, corn, apple sauce, pesto, broccoli, red peppers, cherries, grapes, raspberries, blueberries.