tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51021839729398928362024-03-07T09:33:56.632+06:00The Cage Free TomatoLiberating tomatoes, one at a time.The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.comBlogger458125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-11332389605683643012013-04-21T00:23:00.002+06:002013-04-21T00:23:21.307+06:00Make This Now: Nettle Pesto<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This is the third nettle pesto plug I've made here--it's just so good and the season is so brief. The best of nettle season in Cleveland is happening right now, so if you get the chance, cut some, carefully.<br />
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Pesto = toasted pine nuts (almonds are a good sub); Parmesan (any good hard cheese could work); oil (I used half olive half sunflower); just the smallest piece of raw garlic; nettle leaves (tops of the plants blanched for 45 sec in boiling water and then shocked in cold water, dried well, and then the leaves picked from the stems); salt; and pepper. Puree in a food processor or blender.<br />
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The pasta was <a href="http://www.rustichella.it/English/home_eng.html"><span style="color: blue;">Rustichella d'Abruzzo</span></a> Farro Spaghetti procured at the <a href="http://www.theflyingfig.com/market.html"><span style="color: blue;">Market at the Fig</span></a>. The farro pasta worked well--I wouldn't love it in a simple tomato sauce, but here I liked it more than the refined alternative.<br />
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Anyway, if you're into this I'd try this as soon as possible. While the nettles will be around for a while, they won't be as good as they are now for long.</div>
The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-54571615440788634502013-03-14T07:51:00.002+06:002013-03-14T07:51:23.466+06:00Salmon Patties<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Canned salmon. I've never thought twice about getting a nice can of tuna, but for some reason the salmon always skeeved me out. Even after living among native Pacific Northwesterners stocking up and using the stuff despite freezers full of fillets and ready access to more, I was not a believer. But, I've changed my tune, and if you find a good brand, there's not much to complain about. It's inexpensive, it's healthy, compared to shipping fresh fish it's something you can feel pretty good about eating in the Midwest, and it's delicious. We've been using canned sockeye, but pink is good too. Often packed in the US, if you consider Alaska the US, it also appears to be sustainable, as far as it's possible to really know what it means for fish to be sustainable. There are a bunch of ways to make good use of canned salmon. This is far and away my favorite.<br />
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To make, for one drained six ounce can of salmon add: 1 egg, half a diced medium onion (shallots are even better), one slice of fresh bread w/o crust finely minced, a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, and some salt and pepper. Mix well and let that sit for a few minutes for the bread to absorb some moisture, and then form into three or four patties and pan fry in a thin film of oil until browned on each side. When making the patties, form into pucks somewhat firmly--there's no need to be super delicate. Also after flipping it over feel free to press down on the top of each patty with the turner to ensure good texture and contact with the pan.<br />
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For the sauce, it's something I've been putting on fish all winter. Greek yogurt (fat free is perfectly fine) thinned with lemon juice, a little mustard, salt, pepper, and some water if necessary to thin further. Usually the sauce gets loaded with chopped dill, which makes it appear a little less like . . . well, mayonnaise I guess but that's not really what I was thinking when I looked at the picture. Adding an herb or herbs (fennel tops work, parsley is fine, chives are great, so is tarragon) makes this go from very good to amazing and also makes it look very nice. We were just short of herbs, and even though this all purpose fish sauce is on the table pretty often, when I finally got around to grabbing the camera we were herbless.<br />
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Even if you don't like salmon, I can't recommend these patties enough. Seriously, these simple things give crab cakes a run for their money for a fraction of the price.</div>
The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-52881703407448382562013-01-25T20:43:00.002+06:002013-01-25T20:48:47.056+06:00Even More Swede Food<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">thanks for the pic virge</td></tr>
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If the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalecarlian_horse"><span style="color: blue;">Dalecarlian</span></a> horses weren't a giveaway, it's still all Sweden all the time over here. The tablecloth was broken out for company.<br />
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Pictured above are the apps. Quick pickled beets (modified recipe from <a href="http://outsideoslo.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/cod-in-mustard-sauce-with-pickled-beets/"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a>), hearty and amazing <a href="http://www.blackbirdbaking.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Blackbird</span></a> bread, two different butters, and our favorite potato dish from our stay with the S.O.'s S-I-L. I can't figure out what it's called, but there seems to be endless variations on the basic combination of potato, sour cream, roe (typically bleak, we used whitefish), dill, and chopped shallot or onion. The way we learned how to make is was simple--shallow fry thin slices of sliced potato until crispy, and top with the sour cream, roe, shallot, and dill. They can be DIY at the table, or, like here, we made them ahead of time and they held up great. Super luxurious, and pretty stunning to see in person with bright roe, white sour cream, green dill, etc. Check out <a href="http://blogs.sweden.se/food/2012/02/29/vasterbotten-cheese-cream-with-almond-potato-chips/"><span style="color: blue;">this version</span></a>. I can't recommend making this enough. It's like an everyman's bilini and caviar.<br />
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After the classic apps we had a salad along with simply seasoned and baked cod (skin on fillets, baked at 425 for around 12 min) topped with a sauce made of chopped dill, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, and salt, and thinned out with a little <a href="http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/classic-fish-stock"><span style="color: blue;">fish stock</span></a> made from the cod head and bones. On the side was a mix of potato, carrot, and turnip that had been boiled together and run through a food mill. With just a little butter, salt, and pepper, there couldn't be a better side--it's far from mashed potatoes, and depending on the carrot colors, beautiful to look at.<br />
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After all that it was just some cheese with regular and <a href="http://www.wasa-usa.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Wasa</span></a> crackers.<br />
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Root vegetables, quality bread and dairy, a small piece of fresh fish, roe, lots of dill . . . you could do much worse.</div>
The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-72882197452409304132012-12-19T07:44:00.001+06:002012-12-22T22:18:43.752+06:00Buck Tenderloin<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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After a slow start to the season, on the last day for shotguns I finally got a deer. A relatively small nine point buck whose removal was probably best for the Ashtabula gene pool. What it lacked in looks it made up for in meat, as a direct (read: lucky) shot right to the vitals dropped the thing instantly, ensuring clean meat with nearly nothing ruined by the slug. The gutted buck, skin and all, went into the freezer, where it will be held for a week or two with several of its departed friends until the hunting group gets together for a sausage making bonanza. But post gutting and before putting him up, after the sun went down and everyone was drinking beers and trading lies, I reached in and, with just the slightest bit of knife work, removed the two tenderloins. One I left for the group's host, the other was tonight's dinner. It's a pretty standard hunting ritual to enjoy the tenderloins fresh, usually grilled that evening, and if you're the slightest bit familiar with deer anatomy, which you are intimately after gutting, removing the tenders couldn't be easier.<br />
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This deer is from corn and bean country, and one look inside its belly revealed that this guy was getting fat on corn leavings. Some folks staring into a half gutted carcass filled with partially digested corn might be turned off of corn for minute. Me, I immediately thought, "Gee, this meat will go great with grits." So with grits as the base, the badly pictured meal above was really all about eating the last few months of the deer's life. Local cornmeal cooked in chicken stock provided a starchy base, and the fall/early winter vegetables are simply roasted parsnips, carrots, Brussels sprouts, and little turnips.<br />
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For the tenderloin, I cut it in two and seared it all over in a thin film of grape seed oil. Then the browned but still pretty much raw tenderloin got set aside and some red wine was reduced with thyme and sliced prunes. Once the wine was cooked down, in went some chicken stock. The stock got cooked down to a nice consistency and just a little bit of butter got added (this is very lean meat). Then the tenderloin pieces were cut into largish medallions and added to the reduced sauce along with the resting juices and some salt and pepper. The thyme stems got removed, and once the tenderloin pieces were warmed through (and still quite rare) everything was plated up. This is my favorite sauce for deer tenderloin or backstrap (aka loin, depending on who you ask). Dried cherries in the sauce are good. Prunes are better.<br />
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As for eating a buck, there really was never any question. For the most part no one in our group is a trophy hunter. We eat what we kill, and if we have the good fortune of getting a few more deer than we need the meat gets donated to be distributed to the hungry. I hear people talking about deer being gamey, particularly bucks, and maybe if this was a bigger buck or if it was rutting or something that'd be the case. But treated well, any deer I've ever had from Northeast Ohio hasn't had the least bit of an offensive gamey taste, or really any gamey taste at all. And I've had gamey meat to point where it's not enjoyable, just not here. When the group I go out with hunts we gut quickly and cool the meat down quick, and I'm sure that helps, but it wasn't particularly cool out when I took this guy down and the meat was still excellent. My thought is that it's just the diet over here--say what you will about monocropping corn and soybeans, I'm not a huge fan myself although I see the economic drivers for it, but I think our deer are the silver lining of that system. Plentiful, healthy deer with sweet tasting meat. It's our terroir.<br />
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The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-44712619563304024552012-11-18T22:52:00.003+06:002012-11-18T23:06:31.651+06:00Flatbread<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Sorta healthy pizza alternative. Maybe more of a sorta healthy pita pizza alternative. What ever it is it's a pretty good appetizer or light meal.<br />
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The bread recipe is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Plenty-Vibrant-Recipes-Londons-Ottolenghi/dp/1452101248"><span style="color: blue;">Plenty</span></a> inspired, as trickled down from from <a href="http://www.loveandlemons.com/2012/03/12/yogurt-flatbread-sweet-potato-hummus/"><span style="color: blue;">this</span></a> pretty neat Austin food blog. The S.O. made it by combining 1/2 C whole wheat flour, 1/2 C spelt flour (OH grown at <a href="http://www.westsidemarket.org/vendor.aspx?id=74"><span style="color: blue;">Narrin's</span></a>), 1.5 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and 3/4 C Greek yogurt. See the blog link above for instructions. Or buy Plenty, which looks pretty good.<br />
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After we made the bread it got topped with steamed squash (15 minutes in the pressure cooker), sauteed red onion, bell pepper (last of the season from the yard), and carrot, and braised duck (with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-spice_powder"><span style="color: blue;">five spice</span></a>, red wine, and chicken stock--pressure cooked in 30 minutes). The bread got heated through in a 450 oven and finished with cilantro, red pepper flakes, and some of the duck braising liquid defatted and reduced with balsamic vinegar.<br />
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Next time we might add some shredded apple, but either way this dish just seems right for mid-November in NEO.</div>
The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-9414648504109662192012-11-05T04:47:00.001+06:002012-11-06T00:05:53.808+06:00A Different Berea<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birria"><span style="color: blue;">Birria</span></a>. I've been obsessed with it since a recent trip to Chicago. Recipe from <a href="http://issuu.com/spensermagazine/docs/premier-issue/97"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a> (from a pretty nice online magazine) with a few changes, just two of which are worth noting. First, rather than steaming the goat in the oven I did it in a pressure cooker. After 1 1/4 hours and a natural release of pressure, it didn't take much more than a stern look to pull apart the ultra tender meat. Second, I used shoulder rather than the leg called for in the recipe. It's all they had ready to go at <a href="http://www.westsidemarket.org/vendor.aspx?id=15" style="color: blue;">Turczyk's</a>, a stand at the gracefully aging <a href="http://www.westsidemarket.org/"><span style="color: blue;">West Side Market</span></a>. For goat and lamb it's hard to beat Turczyk's. Not only is the quality good, the people there are generally super pleasant, and custom cut requests are handled very well right on the spot.<br />
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The beans were also pressure cooked (I just got the thing--I'm going a little nuts). Soaked beans cooked to perfection in 10 minutes. It's crazy. <br />
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A few words on my new toy, the pressure cooker, for those that are unfamiliar with its amazingness. I love slow cooking--having a pot simmering on the stove or a braise in the oven all day--as much as the next guy, but unfortunately I like other things too, and even on occasion have to work, so sometimes time is at premium. The pressure cooked goat and beans (done separately, of course) were every bit as good as the slow cooked versions, but were done in a fraction of the time. And for something like chicken stock, the pressure cooker just does it better (and faster). It's hard to ignore the energy savings too. Every bit counts and all that. I've only had the thing for a weekend, but I think I'm a pressure cooking convert, at least for some things.<br />
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A few takeaways from this dish. It's all about the consome--the sauce made with the steaming liquor, tomatoes, and a chili mixture that's ladled over the plated goat. Prepared with some of the fat skimmed, it's addictive in its mild goatiness. Also, prior to roasting the steamed hunks of goat any large pockets of fat and gristle have to go. At least for me, that stuff is just too intense.<br />
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Side note: If you're in Cleveland and like cooking Mexican-style food <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-plaza-supermarket-cleveland"><span style="color: blue;">La Plaza</span></a> is the best. They're so nice, and usually well stocked with all the essentials. I love going there (it helps that I live 5 minutes away). And their summer taco cart offers what I think is the best Mexican street food short of going out to Painesville. It's my happy place.<br />
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This was no substitute for the fare at Chicago's <a href="http://www.birrieriazaragoza.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Birrieria Zaragoza</span></a>, but still, it really is quite nice.</div>
The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-75853190772694307652012-10-30T07:29:00.000+06:002012-10-30T07:29:44.921+06:00Scup<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Or Porgy, or whatever. If you have a grill and feel like watching a video instead of reading, click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhk7i_p50XQ"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a>. That's how it's done for real. Otherwise, read on if you're curious.<br />
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It started with one porgy from <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kates-Fish/328961331843"><span style="color: blue;">Kate's</span></a>. I planned on grabbing a black bass, the default when my brain isn't working early on Saturday morning, but got steered to this instead. The fish was not expensive, but it was familiar. Just like black bass, I used to catch these all the time growing up, typically when pier fishing in New Jersey, and would hand them off to anyone around that was interested. They just seemed bony, and no one I knew kept them. What I didn't know then that I do now is these are great fish. For my tastes, better than black bass, and much better, if not requiring a little more work, than bronzini and other standard fish counter choices.<br />
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This fish got scaled and gutted at Kate's. At home, I salted the whole fish inside and out while heating up a pan with a mix of grape seed oil and butter. I also stuffed the fish with some lemon chunks, just a couple. The fish got dried with paper towels and then placed in the hot oil/butter mix, where it cooked for about 3 minutes--just until the skin got a little crispy. Then the fish got flipped and placed in a 450 oven (hot oil + dry fish = no sticking) for about ten or twelve minutes in the hot oven. After removing the fish from the oven, I threw a little (like 1/4 tsp) of minced garlic in the pan where it immediately sizzled in the oil mixture, and I basted the fish with the now fragrant oil before leaving it to rest until just cool enough to handle. This was dinner for two, so each person got a piece of belly and a piece of loin. I didn't share the collar, cheeks, and what I think may have been the tongue. <br />
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Roasting the whole porgy was a great way to maximize the yield of the bony fish. Fillets would have been tiny. By cooking the fish whole it was super easy to pick the top fillet right off the bone, remove the spine, and then grab the bottom fillet. Any rib bones were easily removed from the cooked flesh before serving. And with the whole fish you get a nice margin of error as far as overcooking goes.<br />
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The fish got dressed with a mix of super light Ligurian olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, capers, sherry vinegar, a tiny amount of minced garlic, and a little salt. Lemons, olive oil, and garlic. Fish has no better friends, even if garlic can sometimes be the third wheel.<br />
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The Brussels sprouts were just roasted in that 450 oven with grape seed oil and salt, while the potatoes were fried in peanut oil, twice, and seasoned with smokey pimenton and salt.<br />
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All in all a nice meal that got me reminiscing about my home state, that may or may not be underwater by the week's end.</div>
The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-69344086914800370112012-10-01T01:58:00.003+06:002012-10-27T03:04:49.816+06:00Haddock<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Icelandic Haddock, just salted and and baked skin side down in a hot skillet in a 425 oven. Topped post-cooking with toasted bread crumbs mixed with some herbs and olive oil. The broccoli soup/sauce is just broccoli boiled in chicken stock and blended with caramelized onion and sweated garlic. Made thick almost like a pea soup and seasoned with salt, pepper, and just a drop of Sherry vinegar (it's good with Greek yogurt and/or some harissa spooned in). </div>
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Seems everyone is all about smoked or fried haddock. Nothing wrong with that, but baked it's a nice economical alternative to halibut. And best I can tell it's as sustainable as just about any other wild fish. </div>
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Fish from <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kates-Fish/328961331843"><span style="color: blue;">Kate's</span></a>. Broccoli from <a href="http://www.coveredbridgegardens.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=8"><span style="color: blue;">Covered Bridg</span>e</a>.</div>
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The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-10928334929607114682012-09-10T05:15:00.001+06:002012-09-10T07:10:30.196+06:00Bravas<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The classic tapa, patatas bravas. No deep frying necessary. Instead, the peeled potato pieces were gently cooked in a cast iron pan over a medium flame with just shy of two tablespoons of rendered lard. Not exactly health food, but a pretty nice treat with the just-crisp outsides yielding to a creamy interior. A 425ish oven would have worked just as well as the stovetop, and probably kept the modest splatter even more humble. Maybe next time. Tossed around every five minutes or so, the potato pieces took just shy of 20 minutes to cook through.<br />
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The dipping sauce was at least as seasonal as the potatoes. One part homemade harissa, one part Hellmann's mayonnaise. Don't scoff at the Hellmann's--more reputable Clevelanders than me base fry sauces on it (commercial grade <a href="http://nrn.com/hellmanns-extra-heavy-mayonnaise"><span style="color: blue;">extra heavy</span></a>, ftw). For the harissa, this wasn't an authenticity contest. I roasted and peeled a few red bell peppers, tis the season after all, and food processed them with salt, toasted and ground cumin and coriander, a handful of lazily seeded fresh cayenne peppers, garlic, and a good glug of olive oil. An all hot pepper sauce would just be brutal, and at least with the roasted red peppers the heat suppressant doesn't take away from the pepper flavor like, say, beets or carrots or tomato or whatever non-chili thing that gets thrown into harissa pastes to temper the spice. The mayo-harissa mix is familiar, like the sriracha/kewpie mayo that pops up at sushi places, food trucks, and everywhere else, but the vaguely French/Tunisian condiment doesn't cause the "why the hell can't I stop eating this" effect so enjoyed with its msg laden cousin.<br />
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Harissa: just one more way to use all those hot chilies you get bombarded with on your way into fall.</div>
The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-46373096712376251212012-08-28T07:10:00.000+06:002012-09-05T22:00:17.362+06:00Dear Gimme! Coffee<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Dear <a href="http://www.gimmecoffee.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Gimme!</span></a>,<br />
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I really like your coffee. While taking a quick vacation to Ithaca you were my rock. All four of your locations up there were excellent. Truly.<br />
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Our first taste of your magnificent coffee was at the Green St. location. Coffeeshop/bus stop--it's like you were in my head. And when I was craving an affogato--it was hot out--your super-into-it barista suggested I head next door to <a href="http://www.downtownithaca.com/businesses/view/palmer-pharmacy.html"><span style="color: blue;">Green St. Pharmacy</span></a> for a scoop of ice cream (fantastic <a href="http://cayugalakecreamery.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Cayuga Lake Creamery</span></a> ice cream, no less, not that we had any complaints about <a href="http://www.purityicecream.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Purity</span></a>) that he'd gladly pour a shot of espresso over. He does it all the time for himself, he said. I don't blame you for not carrying ice cream in your stores. Really, I loved the minimalist style and lack of ridiculous coffee drink options. You didn't do much, but what you did you did perfectly. Plus the top of the line gear and bottomless portafilters provided all the visuals I needed. And when my request for an off the menu drink was met not with barista scorn, but instead genuine enthusiasm and interest, I just couldn't have been more pleased.<br />
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Imagine my shock and excitement when, on my way to the <a href="http://www.senecalakewine.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Seneca Lake Wine Trail</span></a>, I discovered that your locations were not limited to downtown Ithaca! While that trail did not exactly delight with what I'd consider life-changing wines, the still-fun experience was made all the better after getting jacked up on your espressos in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trumansburg,_New_York"><span style="color: blue;">T-burg</span></a>. <a href="http://atwatervineyards.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Atwater Estate</span></a>, <a href="http://rednewt.com/ww2/"><span style="color: blue;">Red Newt</span></a>, <a href="http://www.lamoreauxwine.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Lamoreaux Landing</span></a>, <a href="http://damianiwinecellars.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Damiani</span></a> . . . . all were worth the visit and the super low tasting fees, with the sparkling at Lamoreaux, at $25 a bottle, being the winner of the day. There were also plenty serviceable whites, though we didn't fall for any reds. Also, the food at <a href="http://www.stonecatcafe.com/Site/Home.html"><span style="color: blue;">Stonecat</span></a> out there was quality and plentiful. And then there's just T-burg itself--what a great town.<br />
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Now, we had coffee elsewhere. <a href="http://ithacabakery.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Ithaca Bakery</span></a> offered a decent cup to accompany a more than adequate breakfast, but the juice just didn't compare. Neither did the bakery offer such stimulating art work as the tasteful sideboob-showing photo at your Cayuga St. spot. That just makes for a real nice way to start the day. But before gearing up for walks like the long loop at <a href="http://www.stateparks.com/danby_state_forest_in_new_york.html"><span style="color: blue;">Danby State Forest</span></a>, checking out the crazy impressive vistas at <a href="http://www.taughannock.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Taughannock Falls</span></a>, and a by the book jaunt at <a href="http://nysparks.com/parks/135/details.aspx"><span style="color: blue;">Treman</span></a>, more sustenance was required. So we dabbled elsewhere, always to return to you.<br />
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The State St. shop too was perfect. And it's right by <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/da-westy-ithaca"><span style="color: blue;">Da Westy</span></a>--with that spot's great drinks, decent looking cart food, and a BK meets Cornell vibe--the kinda sophisticated and chill <a href="http://www.atomicloungeithaca.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Felicia's Atomic Lounge</span></a>, and <a href="http://maxies.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Maxie's Supper Club</span></a> (pretty decent southern food and suprisingly clean seafood). Pretty awesome neighborhood.<br />
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Sure, it was odd to see vegetables aging well past their prime at Cornell's <a href="http://www.cornellplantations.org/our-gardens/botanical/vegetable"><span style="color: blue;">Pounder Heritage Vegetable Garden</span></a>. But a quality meal at <a href="http://www.just-a-taste.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Just a Taste</span></a> with the local wine flight made things better. <a href="http://www.bandwagonbeer.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Bandwagon Brewpub</span></a> looked good too, even if we didn't get a chance to eat there.<br />
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Anyway, I see on your website that you have a retired trailer and are <a href="http://www.gimmecoffee.com/static/community_stores.aspx"><span style="color: blue;">s</span><span style="color: blue;">oliciting suggestions for a new location</span></a>. Have you considered Cleveland? We already have an improving coffee culture--<a href="http://phoenixcoffee.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Phoenix</span></a>, <a href="http://www.risingstarcoffee.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Rising Star</span></a>, Loop, sometimes <a href="http://www.cityroastcoffee.com/"><span style="color: blue;">City Roast</span></a>, a <a href="http://www.thisurbanhomestead.com/index.php/archive/urban-homestead-beanery/"><span style="color: blue;">few</span></a> <a href="http://www.redcedarcoffee.com/"><span style="color: blue;">tiny</span></a> independents . . . even <a href="http://erieislandcoffee.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Erie Island</span></a> does a good job (with <a href="http://www.carusoscoffee.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Caruso's</span></a> coffee?), and I'm sure another spot would be welcome. We also seem to love getting food from trucks here, so I imagine our love of getting coffee from a trailer would be no different. And clearly you know how to hang in the weather. I've got an extra parking space at my house if you need some storage. Free of charge. Let me know what you think.<br />
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The CFT<br />
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P.S. We also really enjoyed the <a href="http://www.ithacamarket.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Ithaca Farmer's Market</span></a>. The Saturday one. Very impressive. The Thursday one was a little bootleg, but I can see the potential.</div>
The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-90846857388771650242012-08-21T06:02:00.002+06:002012-09-02T07:35:17.511+06:00Kanelbulle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Recipe from <a href="http://jennyscommunitykitchen.blogspot.com/2008/04/swedish-cinnamon-rolls-kanelbulle.html"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a>. Some changes. I used bread flour (these are kanelbulle, not cinnamon buns) and added just a bit of vanilla to the filling--you should too. I used nonfat milk in the dough--you shouldn't, this isn't health food. Länge leve Sverige. And no skimping on the cardamom, cinnamon, or <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/pearl-sugar"><span style="color: blue;">pearl sugar</span></a>.</div>
The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-39439890825500293532012-08-17T06:11:00.001+06:002012-08-20T06:56:24.015+06:00Nicoiseish<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Dinner salad, with: lettuce, blanched green beans, Azoychka tomato, tuna canned in olive oil, hard boiled egg, bell pepper, olives, tiny Kennebec potatoes, and avocado with a caper, mustard, lemon juice, canola oil dressing. Lots of summer in there.<br />
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The best of the backyard (tomato, egg, bell pepper), farmers market (lettuce, green beans, potato) and . . . Trader Joe's (tuna, capers, olives, mustard). You could do worse than TJ's for those four ingredients. You could do much better, but you could do worse. <br />
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And the canola oil for the dressing--the good stuff brought back from a trip to Sweden. So clean, and so strange higher end canola/rape seed oils aren't available locally. Salad oil. It doesn't have to come from olives.</div>
The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-34750139853339838222012-06-06T04:37:00.003+06:002012-07-26T07:35:26.147+06:00Sverige Part III: Dining Out<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sadly, we couldn't eat every meal in. But thanks to the internet and some good luck we managed to eat out pretty well. I've already covered my love of <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.gamlaenskedebageri.se/" style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;">Gamla Enskede Bageri</a> </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">a few posts ago--that was by far my favorite place in Stockholm. We also had great coffee at Il Cafe in Ostermalm, a neighborhood with a pretty solid hipster quotient. Il Cafe was very Italian in style with great mini sandwiches in both Swedish and Italian varieties. It also carried fantastic looking breads. Really, any cafe that looked like it would serve good espresso and espresso based drinks did. Their gear and beans are second to none, and they take things seriously without being all stuffy about it. Maybe it's the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fika_(coffee_break)"><span style="color: blue;">fika</span></a> culture? Two other spots worth checking out are <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g189852-d783448-Reviews-Non_solo_bar-Stockholm.html"><span style="color: blue;">Non Solo Bar</span></a> and <a href="http://www.alltomstockholm.se/restaurangbar/article18606.aos"><span style="color: blue;">Mellqvist Cafe and Bar</span></a>, which are right next to each other and in another neat area not far from a pretty cool looking park.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">As much as we tried, we did not live on coffee alone. We also ate at Stockholm's two major markets--the grand <a href="http://www.saluhallen.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Saluhallen Ostermalmstorg</span></a> and the slightly less fancy <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g189852-d532262-Reviews-Hay_Market_Hotorget-Stockholm.html"><span style="color: blue;">Hotorget Market</span></a>. Both markets have <a href="http://www.westsidemarket.org/"><span style="color: blue;">West Side Market</span></a> style fruit and vegetable stands outdoors, and all sorts of foodstuffs inside. We didn't do much shopping for home at the markets, but we did browse and grab some food to eat there.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">Saluhallen is a paradise for a food lover without budgetary constraints. Great European fish (surprisingly to me, the general quality of fresh fish in Stockholm wasn't all that impressive), gorgeous aged beef, game, cheeses, prepared foods . . . all sorts of stuff. It also had restaurants right in the middle of everything. From upscale to cafe-like, the options to grab a bite for sit down or takeaway are serious. While the pictured place (below) caught my eye--just about everyone was eating the same thing, a perfect piece of steamed snow white cod topped with an equally prefect little quenelle of dayglo orange roe--it just seemed a bit too special occasion for a quick lunch. So we ate at one of the more cafe-like places in the market. I went with a Danish-style pork liver pate on brown bread, and the companion had an impeccably prepared shrimp salad. Totally satisfying, especially followed by a trio of French oysters cracked open at one of the fish stands. It's worth noting though that those oysters, from a premier vendor, don't come near the quality of our cold water oysters. So while seeing a case filled with different varieties of Normandy oysters may seem super awesome, the reality wasn't all that special. Regardless of the oysters, this market is a must visit for any self-respecting food nerd. Expect to see many camera toting fellow tourists.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">Hotorget was a little different. A little more for the common man, it kind of reminded me of <a href="http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/europe/spain/basque-country/san-sebastian/34884/mercado-de-la-bretxa/shopping-detail.html"><span style="color: blue;">La Bretxa Market</span></a> in San Sebastian; i.e. a little too fancy for it's own good. Maybe we're just spoiled by the WSM. Regardless, there was some nice fish and cheese there, and again some quality restaurants. There's doner and classic Swedish food, but I chose the much internet-lauded fish soup at a spot right across from the market's best fish stand. For like $15 you get a huge bowl of a bouillabaisse type thing with a generous scoop of aioli, bread, and a lame salad. The soup is complex and beautiful. No seafaring creature is safe from it. And it's got this never ending thing going on too--while I was on line a fish monger walked over and handed the cashier, who's stationed right by the soup pot, a huge chunk of super fresh cod to toss into the pot. While not exactly cheap, this soup has got to be one of the best values in the city. I grabbed some oysters there too--again fine, but not remarkable. Sweden may have healthcare, bike lanes, education, public transportation, and interior design down, but we've got them beat on bivalves. Yay for us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">For a nice night out, we went to </span><a href="http://www.mathiasdahlgren.com/index.php?lang=En" style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="color: blue;">Matbaren</span></a><span style="line-height: 20px;"> (Food Bar), the less expensive sister to Matsalen, both located in the opulent Grand Hotel. The gentleman with his name on the door, </span><a href="http://www.academie-bocusedor.com/uk/actualite/mathias-dahlgren-bocuse-1997-the-hall-fame,187.html" style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="color: blue;">Mathias Dahlgren</span></a><span style="line-height: 20px;">, has serious accolades and was in the house (must be nice to have two spots in one hotel--it is a big hotel though). There's a fair amount on the web about Matbaren, so I'll keep it short. The butter and crackers served at the beginning of the meal are as good as people say they are (as is the bread served with the meal), the staff was super knowledgeable, the wine list interesting, and you get fantastic little treats at the end of the meal. We had a bowl with nettles, asparagus, egg, and morels, and another with pickled herring, egg, beets, and potato. All just slightly modernist. We also got crab dumplings and a dress-your-own salad where we were presented with the option of Swedish rapeseed (canola) oil or Spanish olive oil for seasoning. There was also Sherry vinegar, salt, and pepper. The canola was recommended, and I'm all for it. Maybe the corporate salad dressing makers are on to something--canola works great, particularly with super fresh lettuces and vegetables. For a $20 salad it would have been nice if they dressed it for me, but still, well played. We also got a cheese plate with mostly Swedish cheeses and rose hip jam--great cheese plate. Total cost for some champagne, wine, and all that plus modest tip--$210, a relative bargain in Stockholm almost-fine dining. We did sit at a bar--but it was a very nice bar.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">For a real not-to-be-missed Stocholm dining experience we went to </span><a href="http://www.pelikan.se/" style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="color: blue;">Pelikan</span></a><span style="line-height: 20px;">. <a href="http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-shows/anthony-bourdain/episodes/sweden"><span style="color: blue;">Bourdain recommends it</span></a>, and so will anyone else you ask in that city. Traditional food in a wonderful location--make sure to sit in the old part of the restaurant. We had cured salmon with potatoes with dill sauce, meatballs, and a another meatball-like dish. Everything is reasonably priced (although oddly the cheese plate costs the same as the one at Matbaren, but we didn't get it at Pelikan so no review on that), service is fine if a bit brusque, and overall it's just a great place to eat and drink even if the food isn't life changing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">Another great spot for breakfast or lunch is <a href="http://www.spottedbylocals.com/stockholm/bla-lotus/"><span style="color: blue;">Bla Lotus</span></a> in Ostermalm. A solid choice for the granola eating crowd and just a real cute spot with pretty good outdoor seating on a relatively quiet street. Tasty and pretty healthful food. Everything in the place looked good. And again, great coffee.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">I'll conclude my dining out in Stockholm post with these words of caution: Even when hungry on the street, you can do better than the street dogs. Yes, spices are added to the dirty water. Yes, there are enticing sounding varieties including the French dog and chorizo. And yes, the ketchup and mustard are dispensed by things that look just like udders. But, although the Swedes do many things well, and many things better than us, the street dogs over there just didn't stack up, at least in my opinion. Your mileage may vary. Just stop somewhere for a coffee and </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;">kanelbulle in</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">stead.</span></span></div>
</div>The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-3163864483785394422012-05-24T23:05:00.003+06:002012-05-24T23:24:20.401+06:00Sverige Part II: Home Cooking<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As mentioned in the last post, our trip to Sweden was not about eating out. We ate in a lot, which worked out just fine. And while we don't have pictures from any of the homecooked meals (or really any of the meals we ate over there), I think they're still worth memorializing here.</div>
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Some of the best food we had was on our trip to Isala, prepared for us by girlfriend's sister-in-law's mom, a native of southern Sweden now living in Falun, about a two and half hour train ride from Stockholm. After meeting her in Falun, we took a 45 minute bus ride to the cabin pictured below. It's an old goat barn--no electricity, no plumbing, and that covered area in the bottom left of the picture is the kitchen--not yet open for the season. The S-I-L's mom provided the the food during this excursion, dividing the meals into a picnic, a dinner, and a lunch the following day. </div>
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Picnic: Once we got to the cabin in Isala we had a hearty snack prior to making a poor attempt at fishing (halfway around the world and we were going for walleye--go figure) and taking a hike. The meal consisted of wraps made with <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_citronit/3101995167/"><span style="color: blue;">tuttulbak</span></a>, a thin flat unleavened bread made of wheat and rye flours and potatoes, surrounding elk. Half the wraps were seasoned with horseradish and the other half with mustard. The elk was tjälknöl, meaning that it was cooked from frozen in a slow oven overnight and then marinated before being sliced for the wraps (see <a href="http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tj%C3%A4lkn%C3%B6l"><span style="color: blue;">this link</span></a> and use google translate for a good time and some background). Really pleasant sandwiches, and unlike the typical wraps served in the States, the wrapper, tuttulbak, wasn't just neat and convenient, it was tasty and healthful and as much a part of the meal as the filling. And, just because it was Sweden, there was also a huge hunk of very serviceable cheese. </div>
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Dinner: After the picnic there was a bike ride into town, an unsuccessful fishing trip, and a hike filled with snacking on sorrel. But man cannot live on sorrel alone, so after the hike we were famished and it was time for dinner Luckily our host was prepared for us striking out in the water, and had brought "reindeer pot" with her to be reheated in the cabin. <br />
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The reindeer pot was made with thin slices of reindeer (sliced while frozen)--think reindeer shawarma--cooked with onion, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craterellus_tubaeformis"><span style="color: blue;">funnel chanterelles</span></a> (brownish chanterelles that are picked in the fall and then dried), cream, bouillon, and juniper berries. Served with a mashed mix of carrots, potatoes, and rutabaga and a side of rowanberry jelly. Like the picnic, dinner was all about a sense of place. Each dish could be recreated anywhere (or at least anywhere where there's access to reindeer and elk), but the context made the meal an experience. </div>
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Lunch: Our host didn't stop with the picnic and dinner. The following day we returned to Falun for a city tour and more traditional cooking. The four course lunch started with hard bread and cheese along with a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leverpostej"><span style="color: blue;">Danish style live pate</span></a>, then came cured salmon topped with small shrimp in a sour cream and dill sauce, then the entree: classic pea soup made with whole yellow peas (ärtsoppa) served with pea shoots (not very traditional) and both a sweet mustard (very Swedish) and a Dijon one (favored adaptation), and finally a rhubarb pie right from the oven with some ice cream. All washed down with some local beer and a juniper soda that would please any grape soda loving American.</div>
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And that was it--back to Stockholm for the remainder of the trip.</div>
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Luckilly, there was one more wild meal wating for us when we got back to the city. The S-I-L's father, not to be forgotten about, had dropped off a tjälknöl of his own. More elk, again with a chanterelle cream sauce! They just don't fuck around over there.<br />
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One last traditional food food we had at home in Stockholm was a delicious combination that started with a slice of fried potato onto which was added some sour cream, a generous scoop of gloriously orange bleak roe, some chopped shallots, and a sprig of dill. I'm not sure what that dish was called, but it was like Sweden in one (or two) bites.<br />
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Next and final Sweden post will cover eating out, which, despite the above, we did a fair amount.</div>The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-81051666227379140722012-05-20T22:15:00.001+06:002012-05-24T19:51:11.178+06:00Sverige Part I of II (or III)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Stockholm. Not exactly known as a culinary destination, but this trip wasn't supposed to be about food. As it turned out, we ate pretty well. And despite being in one of Europe's most notoriously expensive cities, along with a current exchange rate that makes the dollar feel like a third world currency, we managed on a relatively modest budget.<br />
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First, a word of warning to crazy food nerds thinking omg Scandinavian food is sooooo cool right now (as one of those food nerds I'd like such a warning): new Nordic cuisine was not in the cards for this trip. There was a slight dabble, and I'll get to it, but this was really just about spending time with my girlfriend's family, not about partaking in the food world's latest fascination. Not that I wasn't a bit curious--it's just that with prices hovering around of $400 per person for food and drinks at those places I wasn't that curious. This type of <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://ulteriorepicure.com/2012/04/26/rumination-23-sticks-and-stones/"><span style="color: blue;">plated landscape</span></a> </span>just doesn't get my blood pumping. That said, had I known about the small menu at <a href="http://www.mistral.nu/en/"><span style="color: blue;">Mistral</span></a> before the trip I might have given it a shot, but really while I'm glad to see new Nordic trends trickling down to "regular" restaurants (more foraged foods, funky presentations, chefs with neat long hair and nice hygiene), I didn't feel a huge need to spend my limited time or funds exploring that realm. And besides, we still ate a ton of wild stuff--sorrel, elk, reindeer, dried brown chanterelles, nettles--it just didn't cost nothing.<br />
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So now to the meals, most of which aren't pictured. This might be pretty boring, because I'm using these posts to keep track of just about everything we ate on the trip, but this blog has always been pretty diary-like (diaretic?).<br />
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First, we had an epic layover in Newark, and I had a chance to re-live some of my New Jersey youth eating Portuguese food there. We went to <a href="https://www.solmar-restaurant.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Sol Mar</span></a> where we had octopus clay tile style (?) with potatoes and olives and a chicken and rice stew made with chicken blood, both off of the specials menu and both excellent. We also had some seriously salty sausage that was set ablaze on the bar, and some nice Portuguese red wine and espresso. Everything being served in the restaurant looked good, the portions are insanely generous, and service was super nice. It certainly beat waiting and eating at the airport, and the cab ride was totally reasonable. After lunch we walked up Ferry Street to Teixeira Bakery for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastel_de_nata"><span style="color: blue;">pasteis de nata</span></a> and little round cookies that were like Portuguese biscotti. I had never had pasteis de nata before--they were unreal. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironbound"><span style="color: blue;">Ironbound</span></a> is just where it's at.<br />
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After the Jersey binge we arrived in Stockholm early on Saturday morning, heading right to my girlfriend's brother and sister-in-law's place in Blasut, a residential neighborhood on the edge of the city. Stuffed from the prior day's Portuguese meal and over-the-top food provided by Scandinavian Airlines (which included things like booze, smoked salmon, and organic butter over the course of a dinner and a breakfast), I accompanied the girlfriend's sister-in-law and niece on the short walk to the niece's school in the adjacent neighborhood of Enskede (pronounced something like: ein-hweah-da) , one metro (T-bana) stop past Blausut. After dropping the niece off we went to what turned out to be my favorite place of the trip, and a place we went to over and over again.</div>
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<a href="http://www.gamlaenskedebageri.se/"><span style="color: blue;">Gamla Enskede Bageri</span></a>. Not only have I never been to a better bakery with a cafe, I've never been to a place that serves better espresso either. Baking and making coffee are two different arts. It was a treat to see one place so successful with both in a comfortable, laid back light filled cafe. I had lots of great espressos on trip, along with plenty of pretty rough coffee. This place was the best. And everyone working there was super nice.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Well made lattes and mini sandwiches were the standard. Gamla Enskede Bageri's were the best.</td></tr>
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The bakery is set up with small individual sections for the baked goods, cafe foods, and coffee along with some seating. It's small but airy. For those who care, the shots are pulled on a sweet La Marzocco machine. One time we were there the barista actually apologized for the beans being too fresh--too much foam rather than crema (that really can be a problem). "It's a luxurious problem to have" she said. A very Stockholm problem I thought. Anyway, the espresso was perfect, as it was on each visit. If you're a Chicago person, taste wise think more <a href="http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Intelligentsia</span></a> than <a href="http://www.metropoliscoffee.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Metropolis</span></a>. Very new school. If you're more into regular coffee, there's enough gear there to satisfy any brew method fetish. The tea selection is serious too, if that's your thing, and there's wine.<br />
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In the food area they've got a soup of the day, little sandwiches (pictured above) on their amazing wholesome bread, and lasagna (lasagna was everywhere?!?!?). The sandwiches may look ordinary, but like the espresso they're perfect. Great ingredients combining to exceed the sum of their parts.<br />
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In addition to the soup, sandwiches, and lasagna, the bakery takes care of any <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fika_(coffee_break)"><span style="color: blue;">fika</span></a> needs as well. Fika, if you're not aware, is like tea time for professionals. Ideally twice a day, fika consists of drinking coffee, eating a pastry, and hanging out. I guess in warm weather countries there are siestas. In the north it's fika. Fika is awesome.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">kanelbulle, cinnamon and <span style="font-size: x-small;">vanill</span>a</td></tr>
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For fika, or breakfast, or whatever, Gamla Enskede Bageri has kanelbulle, cinnamon buns. There's also a vanilla version, flavored with cardamon. These pastries are available everywhere, from the train cafes to convenience stores, but we didn't have better than the ones here. They're soft and buttery and perfumed of their flavor. A coffee cake would be embarrassed to be in the same room as kanelbulle. It has no equal. That it's hard to read this without at least thinking about Cinnabon makes me sick--the toilet water at a proper kanelbulle bakery is superior to anything from Cinnabon. Probably healthier too.<br />
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I can't explain enough how much I loved this place. Whether picking up a hearty walnut bread to go with dinner, grabbing an espresso, or eating breakfast or lunch, the place was perfect. They've created a warm environment and offer products that are beyond reproach. It's also right by a T-bana stop, so I can't imagine a visit to Stockholm without a stop there.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCr7nhH5PBfqfc9pOXpm0PYfbFbi7tewO7xUitOZH-HLBsIrG88SA2NX_75OHEFEBpXqRk9vxCroQBNYg82Sld8mVhV_urwUcMKGR7OuWiLMNoKVqK8X0khwfV0-FzQL-xljqxEOlNB2s/s1600/kidscoffee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCr7nhH5PBfqfc9pOXpm0PYfbFbi7tewO7xUitOZH-HLBsIrG88SA2NX_75OHEFEBpXqRk9vxCroQBNYg82Sld8mVhV_urwUcMKGR7OuWiLMNoKVqK8X0khwfV0-FzQL-xljqxEOlNB2s/s400/kidscoffee.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">fika, ftw</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
For dinner that first night we enjoyed some of the walnut bread with pickled herring (sill), smoked herring, cheese, butter, and crispbread (knacke). Good, healthy bread and dairy was a trip constant, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0e8TBKhN5SFiG1x9rpqam628SwPpXxYxWM8170zPtHFhJX2cz899xYREz_HjzZv0ayaasqkhnFqReHEuxu17JTalVPFj70yzLgIYMqOskFC6cDN2IN6MstmzgOVKgqRKiAwmuHm6kN9Y/s1600/rosendalewgreenhouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0e8TBKhN5SFiG1x9rpqam628SwPpXxYxWM8170zPtHFhJX2cz899xYREz_HjzZv0ayaasqkhnFqReHEuxu17JTalVPFj70yzLgIYMqOskFC6cDN2IN6MstmzgOVKgqRKiAwmuHm6kN9Y/s400/rosendalewgreenhouse.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The next day we had an early lunch at <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g189852-d2201594-Reviews-Nystekt_Stromming-Stockholm.html"><span style="color: blue;">Nystekt Stromming</span></a>, an outdoor stand selling fried herring in a square outside the Slussen T-bana station. I went with a deluxe plate--a rookie mistake unless you are a professional eater with an abiding love of mashed potatoes. A wiser person than myself would order a knacke (pronounced, sort of: kaneck-keah), which is a piece of hard bread with a normal portion of fried herring and some toppings (dill, onions, etc.). Either way, the place is not life changing but it's quality food and the best I've had from a non-restaurant in a while. And sitting by the water in the Slussen square is hard to beat. The deluxe plate might be nice for 2?<br />
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After the Slussen herring stop, we went to <a href="http://www.rosendalstradgard.se/section.php?id=0000000073"><span style="color: blue;">Rosendals Tradgard</span></a>, a small part of which is pictured above and below. It's a huge park where some farming takes place, and there's a cafe where you can eat in greenhouses or sprawled out in a super old apple orchard. Since the apples were blooming we chose the latter, enjoying fresh baked organic snacks and cold beers surrounded by couples and families enjoying a beautiful spring day. The food at Rosendals isn't cheap, but it's very high quality, and the rest of the experience there is free, so the value is there. It's urban farming at a whole new level.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQPyhjX6Xqp0CJxYBBE_NE6Lp57c7FGUuH_1H0zMUZMCeaKNdAaR0OXORpweVqhxRk1nDbVzPAUNHEkbCRt4lvbx-LxXyhne1Ry4f-D04mQBI3Anw9vcVhXmtbbJXgwNeMPpMP8dmo34/s1600/rosendale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQPyhjX6Xqp0CJxYBBE_NE6Lp57c7FGUuH_1H0zMUZMCeaKNdAaR0OXORpweVqhxRk1nDbVzPAUNHEkbCRt4lvbx-LxXyhne1Ry4f-D04mQBI3Anw9vcVhXmtbbJXgwNeMPpMP8dmo34/s400/rosendale.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
After returning from Rosendals the girlfriend's sister-in-law, a native Swede, decided we should get all Scandinavian with it, so we foraged for nettles in the neighborhood. We blanched the leaves for just a second or two and processed them in the food processor with olive oil (yeah, yeah, we should have used the local canola), pine nuts, and Vasterbotten, a Swedish hard cheese to make a nice little pesto for a pasta dinner. I also ate some of the nettle leaves raw, which is great for shock value, but completely painless and delicious when the leaves are folded properly.<br />
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The next day was up and out early for a trip to a relatively primitive cabin in Isala with some solid traditional food.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwbQf6UTEdXzeakL8fUKp69ZL_Oqs6M9t2cC_FPDKxumnF5Zrq57VPgVnfy8yWPD0PCAaQRZ8y6JucEJEu_elbgmc7A8dtDSX_XqZFdefMtdb259-uQOjPqigdZf7q9G23Vx6f9kcnBLA/s1600/cabinviewboat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwbQf6UTEdXzeakL8fUKp69ZL_Oqs6M9t2cC_FPDKxumnF5Zrq57VPgVnfy8yWPD0PCAaQRZ8y6JucEJEu_elbgmc7A8dtDSX_XqZFdefMtdb259-uQOjPqigdZf7q9G23Vx6f9kcnBLA/s400/cabinviewboat.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isala, Sweden</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
To be continued.<br />
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<br /></div>The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-24287081867467110772012-03-30T04:18:00.001+06:002012-03-30T04:20:24.495+06:00A Step in the Right Direction<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz8TYonJ5eoJSTCNp6pnxJKwB6zWysi01s_JnurhL15i6ryV1sKMrcSKqtDaWCNGa1erwMs4WLSZyq38-lPTa5JsynJqM6XZZRQi3qstIFWMwk9DmWkrdFLVF6Pdv-1T6hSDtKwKBhsZA/s1600/ediblepic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz8TYonJ5eoJSTCNp6pnxJKwB6zWysi01s_JnurhL15i6ryV1sKMrcSKqtDaWCNGa1erwMs4WLSZyq38-lPTa5JsynJqM6XZZRQi3qstIFWMwk9DmWkrdFLVF6Pdv-1T6hSDtKwKBhsZA/s400/ediblepic.jpg" width="361" /></a></div>It's about time we got one of these. Kind of sad the profanity in my <a href="http://www.millgatefarm.com/index.php"><span style="color: blue;">Millgate</span></a> article got edited out, but all in all, a really great thing for the region. Well done <a href="http://www.ediblecommunities.com/cleveland/"><span style="color: blue;">edibleCleveland</span></a>. Looking forward to future issues.</div>The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-39196076761747523902012-02-25T02:58:00.002+06:002012-02-25T03:01:48.051+06:00Puff Pastry PSA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://thecagefreetomato.blogspot.com/2011/10/priceless-lesson-in-cooking.html"><span style="color: blue;">Another pastry class</span></a> from a Cleveland legend. Pics below of Parker Bosley making puff pastry followed by written instructions from the session along with a classic pastry cream recipe.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzB5dmOCzUTxcS3F6bZWVn3DCbHWRMk-aEBrRxcliMAeLMc-mMsR7m9lHSBPWlqxXeA1qxCcFBqqMAis8lqa224LRIL23QnmW2ePohdfJY2MY5ofwJILe0FWSguD4-wooo6K8bhfn60g/s1600/puffstep1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzB5dmOCzUTxcS3F6bZWVn3DCbHWRMk-aEBrRxcliMAeLMc-mMsR7m9lHSBPWlqxXeA1qxCcFBqqMAis8lqa224LRIL23QnmW2ePohdfJY2MY5ofwJILe0FWSguD4-wooo6K8bhfn60g/s400/puffstep1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>That's 250 grams of each flour and butter, 125 grams of water, and 4 grams salt being chopped together with a dough scraper<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSDesDb3-NgGMgel6VI3RaYvjMLdkWntoUTfrG4rdqQYzyNmVwk6vcvDyCsSnCVpUumDsWoOhCkSdqTigtRJHSCFA2g_wext1PdsXDtwLiP7aPyc6bt7FyYZNLHjmpx0D3xTvmOYcwLWI/s1600/puffstep3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSDesDb3-NgGMgel6VI3RaYvjMLdkWntoUTfrG4rdqQYzyNmVwk6vcvDyCsSnCVpUumDsWoOhCkSdqTigtRJHSCFA2g_wext1PdsXDtwLiP7aPyc6bt7FyYZNLHjmpx0D3xTvmOYcwLWI/s400/puffstep3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Shape into a nice rectangle. It's okay if it's a little crumbly. Clumps of butter are fine and even desirable.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilcGKRGBDLp1i0ZeFX7LYgwPZZG2Z78_DtLYcEF5lAppVyFaeHcosAc_6tRiujDPxf22lTffao8nJ4yVywV_263E8ViFWIZYlzdqjOtw0JaVOdEE9cxPVvnYmNzeYeZFR1aPBHNMzFfA8/s1600/puffstep4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilcGKRGBDLp1i0ZeFX7LYgwPZZG2Z78_DtLYcEF5lAppVyFaeHcosAc_6tRiujDPxf22lTffao8nJ4yVywV_263E8ViFWIZYlzdqjOtw0JaVOdEE9cxPVvnYmNzeYeZFR1aPBHNMzFfA8/s400/puffstep4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Flour and roll. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEwotjFIz9RoNz17FbhdECAPak96FBDyEYELEi6-GUytnvzMzDgpryJcJE_niJytk1O2d7JGH1fNTjovGvw-52N0bgWj_6j_RAjtb-L_UK2y5vu3F42DlUP-McF-7iCPVrNnQL2AaGd50/s1600/puffstep6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEwotjFIz9RoNz17FbhdECAPak96FBDyEYELEi6-GUytnvzMzDgpryJcJE_niJytk1O2d7JGH1fNTjovGvw-52N0bgWj_6j_RAjtb-L_UK2y5vu3F42DlUP-McF-7iCPVrNnQL2AaGd50/s400/puffstep6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Fold like a tri-fold business letter with opening to the right. It may take 2 or 3 roll/foldings at this stage to get it to hold together well.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPCWIsTAbeZSriyFNx1c-mHvTsBhHUS3Gw-dcchMdrBiYU-L5qsCnxYEJ8VlVCBu5ZqZMaPqMVqsnWiANZwjKWwpowoIcHZVZ7azj0tTu-MqwbZNhFisbs3dI8mK6yuxZ_2PIwX3BMbPU/s1600/puffstep5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPCWIsTAbeZSriyFNx1c-mHvTsBhHUS3Gw-dcchMdrBiYU-L5qsCnxYEJ8VlVCBu5ZqZMaPqMVqsnWiANZwjKWwpowoIcHZVZ7azj0tTu-MqwbZNhFisbs3dI8mK6yuxZ_2PIwX3BMbPU/s400/puffstep5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It doesn't have to look perfect after the first roll out (which may take the aforementioned 2 or 3 rollings and foldings), but it should hold together well and the rectangle shape should be pretty spot on. We've now completed the first turn.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmw7D7YJPAH6h7WLcV1vg6Tn9k2MjjHimv1_VC2S4UreI0T7rgWsig_Vir2FdAcW-p_vEHhyphenhyphen3l7H5sFs5Xcou9n91VespHHHc54A4RBvm5FolpuRzkv1MrBWk4SDEbMPR-Ciq6aIJftno/s1600/puffstep9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmw7D7YJPAH6h7WLcV1vg6Tn9k2MjjHimv1_VC2S4UreI0T7rgWsig_Vir2FdAcW-p_vEHhyphenhyphen3l7H5sFs5Xcou9n91VespHHHc54A4RBvm5FolpuRzkv1MrBWk4SDEbMPR-Ciq6aIJftno/s400/puffstep9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Repeat the rectangle roll out, starting from the middle and then working up or down--not going back and forth. Keep the edges as straight as possible. Flour as necessary.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWlYcFgGXqOVa44_BwrQyoQ2ha7A1lVZGOcs8phRndE3Ko6zmhfyzskpGALPUvtf_tOfBaRLBTBs23GzfGfjEebmX1zCYladymgMs_eEfRn6KFcZP1bcIqKUCwKy7EV-MjgCvF-Fc8Vnk/s1600/puffstep7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWlYcFgGXqOVa44_BwrQyoQ2ha7A1lVZGOcs8phRndE3Ko6zmhfyzskpGALPUvtf_tOfBaRLBTBs23GzfGfjEebmX1zCYladymgMs_eEfRn6KFcZP1bcIqKUCwKy7EV-MjgCvF-Fc8Vnk/s400/puffstep7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Above Parker's starting to fold after rolling. This is part of the second turn.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPQvpsPbYP2geMf7lM-wrNTwuKK5jlBqsuIpBafbuX3uPUzi9fv9FDdZnI9e-eeL-8Bz9osqUK6p7ZLVenK_Mc_dzr3_UHHsLxZpH0C0imOsiChURQpFZVK3QXj9QGWTQeHO0eG9y5_dk/s1600/puffstep8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPQvpsPbYP2geMf7lM-wrNTwuKK5jlBqsuIpBafbuX3uPUzi9fv9FDdZnI9e-eeL-8Bz9osqUK6p7ZLVenK_Mc_dzr3_UHHsLxZpH0C0imOsiChURQpFZVK3QXj9QGWTQeHO0eG9y5_dk/s400/puffstep8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
That's the tri-fold. The opening is always on the right. This completed the second turn and the dough goes into the fridge for at least and hour.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijY7mS5bodBOnIgr-yVgAL8_mCcwNL9B_R5FxllfsmqpKsgUWE1VnVfYC6VMaXLectvx5A3AkKls6h-2MdYykrKWit19mvZ2vQkz_9K6tOrmhnpAr7KTdbcZPBCXADbgYp-emEXLT2trw/s1600/puffstep10.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijY7mS5bodBOnIgr-yVgAL8_mCcwNL9B_R5FxllfsmqpKsgUWE1VnVfYC6VMaXLectvx5A3AkKls6h-2MdYykrKWit19mvZ2vQkz_9K6tOrmhnpAr7KTdbcZPBCXADbgYp-emEXLT2trw/s400/puffstep10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Now the dough has rested and is being rolled out for the third turn. After it's rolled it will be tri-folded again.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">After folding the dough is rolled out again and folded to complete the fourth turn.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9h2gjPrECd5_ylEplkHvFN2GhFQHmvAqgJLb2E835fySyYkYb6Om2AtUYlLnDZr1H57qFtJe4SV0E8v3nU0SpoSTNgdwx4wLmm66qDeAYVRklQYp8-p5NL-BGfXiQML3IglzB1qBIweU/s1600/puffstep11.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9h2gjPrECd5_ylEplkHvFN2GhFQHmvAqgJLb2E835fySyYkYb6Om2AtUYlLnDZr1H57qFtJe4SV0E8v3nU0SpoSTNgdwx4wLmm66qDeAYVRklQYp8-p5NL-BGfXiQML3IglzB1qBIweU/s400/puffstep11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">After the fourth turn the dough is indented so you remember how many times it's been turned (those are two indents above--my pics got out of order, imagine there are four dots). Now the dough could rest in the fridge overnight, and the next time it comes out it's taken for two more turns. The puff pastry calls for a total of six turns.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Ad83MfJtGnVMk2QQlg960qxtoalUprA_jnu35CaJuYL_gSs6a09XstafgAAvrHs4PRtQH7IlAGIiJuZzMzPKCn3BAxjAAAgp2HwKjJBw6_lzVNjJ2H3tKR08YdZiDjmU2IN-2aKnMIo/s1600/puffstep12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Ad83MfJtGnVMk2QQlg960qxtoalUprA_jnu35CaJuYL_gSs6a09XstafgAAvrHs4PRtQH7IlAGIiJuZzMzPKCn3BAxjAAAgp2HwKjJBw6_lzVNjJ2H3tKR08YdZiDjmU2IN-2aKnMIo/s400/puffstep12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
After the pastry has completed six turns it's left to rest in the fridge. The only remaining step is to use the dough as called for. For the squares above, the rested dough was quartered and rolled out into a rectangle. The rectangle was cut (with a sharp knife--no pastry cutter or tearing here) into four equal sized squares. So this recipe yields a total of 16 puff pastry squares that can be kept frozen until needed.<br />
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Here's the recipe and instructions as recorded by <a href="http://www.whistle-to-me.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Virginia Houston</span></a>, Cleveland transplant extraordinaire.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1HEag2NVOX-8fRw3jsk8Su-MCvN8GiAZJaIi1zHjdEE7-_WZ_1e_Fiv1el7Up3V3tRligHAzoif1ZPajh3xJF7-8a45eTelvjYQF3tuW6umM4I-WGhEi5Uztx5PGi_IucOdD52Hfz3Xo/s1600/instructions1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1HEag2NVOX-8fRw3jsk8Su-MCvN8GiAZJaIi1zHjdEE7-_WZ_1e_Fiv1el7Up3V3tRligHAzoif1ZPajh3xJF7-8a45eTelvjYQF3tuW6umM4I-WGhEi5Uztx5PGi_IucOdD52Hfz3Xo/s400/instructions1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMjX4vf2OMO7pSewjM2BmERFA5q1hK9lI6JhA3ExVVnAXV_QVA-HFwVU3srGmOIIDB17aMbux3qCha5wZ_TD4kbjiFdYFN_pTktfPgRZrIOaSsIvuLWNYlGLdX7LIWcO4vyGsEhJcHxSE/s1600/instructions3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMjX4vf2OMO7pSewjM2BmERFA5q1hK9lI6JhA3ExVVnAXV_QVA-HFwVU3srGmOIIDB17aMbux3qCha5wZ_TD4kbjiFdYFN_pTktfPgRZrIOaSsIvuLWNYlGLdX7LIWcO4vyGsEhJcHxSE/s400/instructions3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv_fRZWqFVeUJLrNifN-WiEhNy0gBu2bvAM1Fkl03v_qjl26g1tXszC0fqZzt67u41dLlTaTqLkbY4tuVX9ZrHk0kKW_yMvJYkWJk-yyavADAcsiWD5St2LcWKrOHdyOo1fwBq1PMuiw0/s1600/studentandmaster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv_fRZWqFVeUJLrNifN-WiEhNy0gBu2bvAM1Fkl03v_qjl26g1tXszC0fqZzt67u41dLlTaTqLkbY4tuVX9ZrHk0kKW_yMvJYkWJk-yyavADAcsiWD5St2LcWKrOHdyOo1fwBq1PMuiw0/s400/studentandmaster.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
That's Parker and Virg working away.<br />
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What to do with all this stuff? Below is one savory option.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCpBlbKyU3fELiPK-K4EzlpiyHkV8rOA190372H6S3Ln_mfJcDI1Xo6MVa0sPxzH5QAqSwxsVGbuLZORjXn5_dRrWJ0siCk96z852KsQIG2CW6bOIwueCoLnSt4KaedCULzT4Az4wbydY/s1600/seafoodthing1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCpBlbKyU3fELiPK-K4EzlpiyHkV8rOA190372H6S3Ln_mfJcDI1Xo6MVa0sPxzH5QAqSwxsVGbuLZORjXn5_dRrWJ0siCk96z852KsQIG2CW6bOIwueCoLnSt4KaedCULzT4Az4wbydY/s400/seafoodthing1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Puff pastry with shrimp, scallop, and shellfish cream sauce</td></tr>
</tbody></table>We also filled the pastries with sauteed apples and pastry cream. Super good. Parker recommended hollowing out the cooked puffs and stuffing them with soft scrambled eggs as a sure way to woo an overnight guest the morning after. Will have to take his word for it.<br />
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Enjoy.</div>The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-81206300988282659052012-02-19T04:03:00.003+06:002012-02-19T04:33:45.954+06:00Pate Maison<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfqQL_qfJSCkSctfx9oI_3_rzCHterz8DiTDkJs25B1EONYmUojBiKbFH0Jao4kpTwVXstT3zd4KbuwDjAhaEV_E_lGnTQn93M7lMbxn4HWdECweYROdarUV9si35rfhMfjDdSCiDtN-4/s1600/pate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfqQL_qfJSCkSctfx9oI_3_rzCHterz8DiTDkJs25B1EONYmUojBiKbFH0Jao4kpTwVXstT3zd4KbuwDjAhaEV_E_lGnTQn93M7lMbxn4HWdECweYROdarUV9si35rfhMfjDdSCiDtN-4/s400/pate.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jacques-P%C3%A9pins-Complete-Techniques-P%C3%A9pin/dp/1579121659"><span style="color: blue;">Complete Techniques</span></a> #189, with one major liberty taken. If you don't have the book I'd recommend it. It'd be hard to imagine a better cookbook for the price.<br />
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The recipe calls for equal parts pork liver (pureed), shoulder (ground), and fat (pureed). I used 1 part liver and 2 parts belly. Otherwise I followed proportions of ingredients pretty exact. The mix on the left is wrapped with some homemade bacon that got sliced a little too thin to enjoy breakfast style, and on the right it's wrapped in thin slices of ground pork fat that was frozen in a block--after barely thawing the block it was pretty easy to cut some cohesive slices off of it (if you have caul fat kicking around for wrapping more power too you). That one on the right isn't pretty, but it worked, and the fat melts off anyway.<br />
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No detail here with technique because it's all in the book, but one thing to note is that this cooked a lot quicker for me than expected. My oven runs hot, so it was more likely me than Jacques. A thermometer was helpful. Also, despite Mr. Pepin's assurance that it wasn't necessary, I placed a brick (wrapped in foil) on plastic wrap over the terrines when they came out of the oven to weigh them down. After trying a test min-terrine I'm not sure that was necessary, but sometimes it's just as easy to go belt and suspenders.<br />
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The liver, belly, and fat was from <a href="http://www.millgatefarm.com/index.php"><span style="color: blue;">Millgate Farm</span></a>. Super clean meat and offal.</div>The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-90658227708994845742012-02-09T08:37:00.003+06:002012-02-09T19:46:06.341+06:00Eggs with Dinner<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijUpeeTpr-mviL1z7zhF3j2eq1FO5qFWWtt-nEJ2nzc0Olrqmn8VFtCXUo780Laas2HGwUcush0ju0H7PgvUUyU-TkXzoONv_o8wTBeUu0O226vuUOdaYsCyRfUhCu-3heoGBFJTUadMQ/s1600/hamquaileggs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijUpeeTpr-mviL1z7zhF3j2eq1FO5qFWWtt-nEJ2nzc0Olrqmn8VFtCXUo780Laas2HGwUcush0ju0H7PgvUUyU-TkXzoONv_o8wTBeUu0O226vuUOdaYsCyRfUhCu-3heoGBFJTUadMQ/s400/hamquaileggs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>After seeing a <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/food/egg_stra_egg_stra_PTbw2vYh0YgXdHVFExv6KM"><span style="color: blue;">NY Post article</span></a> bagging on putting eggs on everything I suddenly had a real craving for the stuff. Reading the quotes from a Bon Appetit (the hoi polloi Gourmet) face man calling eggs things like "the Ugg boots of food" just stoked the hunger. So when it was time for quick dinner tonight going breakfast style just made sense.<br />
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The breakfast potatoes are pretty standard--peeled diced potatoes cooked on a medium flame in pork fat in a cast iron pan. Tossed occasionally and seasoned with just salt and pepper, they were crisp on the outside and creamy within. Sometimes simple is best.<br />
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When the potatoes were done they were removed from the pan and it was time for the pork. The pork comes from a pig raised in Ashatabula at <a href="http://www.millgatefarm.com/index.php"><span style="color: blue;">Millgate Farm</span></a>--now available at the <a href="http://www.shakersquare.net/farmersmarket-indoors.htm"><span style="color: blue;">Shaker Farmers Mkt</span></a>. (full disclosure, Tod, who owns the farm, is a friend. fuller disclosure, if his pork/beef wasn't great I wouldn't eat it and we'd probably still be friends. it's seriously high quality and the way it's raised is beyond reproach. go the market. ask Tod about his pork.). I split a pig with some friends, and this piece was strangely labeled "picnic ham." Since we didn't get any of our meat cured or smoked (and miss all the fun of doing it ourselves?!?), this was a fresh, bone in slice from part of the pig's shoulder. Rumor has it this cut is good bbqed, but it's also very good cooked quickly on the stove, and boned and pounded it makes great schnitzel or just a super fast cooking tender piece of meat. That's what's pictured above. Pounding boneless meat is where it's at--I don't even miss the bone.<br />
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While the pork was cooking (total time about 6 minutes over high heat) I dropped two quail eggs to cook sunny side up in the same pan. Sauce making ingredients were limited, and as noted in the aforementioned Post article runny egg yolks make a simple dressing. Sure, eggs can be abused, but there's the baby and then there's the bathwater. Quail eggs just sitting in the fridge are babies. I got these from <a href="http://www.westsidemarket.org/vendor.aspx?id=76"><span style="color: blue;">Irene Dever</span></a> at the <a href="http://www.westsidemarket.org/"><span style="color: blue;">West Side Market</span></a>. They're also available all over <a href="http://www.asiatowncleveland.com/"><span style="color: blue;">AsiaTown</span></a>.<br />
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It may not be beautiful (I hadn't planned on taking a picture), but it's an easy one pan dinner that would satisfy just about anyone (barring any dietary restrictions) without being particularly expensive or fussy. And when I saw that the folks from <a href="http://quarrylanefarms.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Quarry Lane Farms</span></a> were heading out for brinner at maybe not one of Cleveland's finest establishments, I just had to speak up. There is an alternative.</div>The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-47867327715431165332012-02-08T05:55:00.002+06:002012-02-08T18:28:55.150+06:00Dutch Oven Chicken<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_9x8A0lkToJBvrUEQOLTIBfMTcnY_Cvwm4i4flVFVTOjTgMJ_QxU3kipOdRw5cyUVaZqMPaFIz3AHO8SdSl8d_0zVbSPb5X53LkOmlou9trrD5_xvGNaPtvyNJ0sr_sAJCO7BulpbAvQ/s1600/chixpoulet1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_9x8A0lkToJBvrUEQOLTIBfMTcnY_Cvwm4i4flVFVTOjTgMJ_QxU3kipOdRw5cyUVaZqMPaFIz3AHO8SdSl8d_0zVbSPb5X53LkOmlou9trrD5_xvGNaPtvyNJ0sr_sAJCO7BulpbAvQ/s400/chixpoulet1.jpg" width="285" /></a></div>Roasted chicken may get all the love, but I've been addicted to Poulet en Cocotte this winter. It's easy, quick enough, low maintenance, and never sets off the smoke detector. As a bonus, root vegetables are easily cooked in the pot. It's perfect. You won't even be sad about the lack of crispy skin.<br />
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For the pictured dish I preheated the oven to 350 while I trussed and salted a small chicken. The chicken got seared on its front, back, and sides in lard in a dutch oven, and then placed on it back while halved turnips, carrots, and whole garlic cloves were scattered in the pot and mixed around to get a light coating in the fat. The veggies got a little salt and pepper, and some herbs de provence was scattered on the top of the chicken. Once that was all set, the dutch oven got covered and placed in the oven for the short side of an hour.<br />
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After about an hour the chicken was tender and smelled delicious, and the veggies were fully cooked and soft. The chicken and veg got removed from the pot, and the accumulated juices were set aside in a measuring cup. The pot was set over high heat and some shallots got sauteed in olive oil along with some yellow oyster mushrooms. Once the mushrooms were cooked, some white wine was added and reduced, and then the chicken juices got mixed in and reduced with the onion, mushrooms, and wine. Vinegar got added to taste (butter or cream would have been a great addition, but wasn't necessary).<br />
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While the sauce was reducing the well cooked and incredibly moist, and still pretty hot, chicken was easily cut into pieces for serving. This was the perfect time to eat the chicken oysters before the whole mess of chix, veg, and sauce was brought out to the table with a side of lightly dressed watercress.<br />
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This is a terrific seasonal dish, and nearly all the ingredients can still be found from local producers. The chix was from <a href="http://teahillsfarms.com/default.aspx"><span style="color: blue;">Tea Hills</span></a>, mushrooms from <a href="http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/features/0404/mushrooms/index.shtml"><span style="color: blue;">Killbuck Valley</span></a>, and the turnips from another vendor at the <a href="http://www.shakersquare.net/farmersmarket-indoors.htm"><span style="color: blue;">Shaker Square Indoor Winter Market</span></a>. Garlic from <a href="http://www.urbangrowthfarms.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Urban Growth</span></a>. Seriously life changing one pot chicken dinner.<br />
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For a classic version of this see a Julia Child recipe <a href="http://www.boston.com/ae/food/articles/2004/08/18/poulet_en_cocotte_bonne_femme/"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a>.</div>The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-16563519981303560282011-12-24T04:17:00.001+06:002011-12-24T04:24:04.226+06:00The 12 Gravlax of Christmas<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX5FSftNLMtl7JIvgD19wS8hAb8rj6Xhj09OgRV1LmADKREKoVhcpZ4Hd7wFahsngm75lpmeFfMLDFvDgHwUaJobRayyBx2wkR3RbyII_x3FEc55vXC1bgRNhTv7MCoy0H5zurBCcuUAM/s1600/lax.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX5FSftNLMtl7JIvgD19wS8hAb8rj6Xhj09OgRV1LmADKREKoVhcpZ4Hd7wFahsngm75lpmeFfMLDFvDgHwUaJobRayyBx2wkR3RbyII_x3FEc55vXC1bgRNhTv7MCoy0H5zurBCcuUAM/s400/lax.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>Quickly becoming a holiday tradition around here. Decidedly not local, but if Hawaiians can have <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lomi_salmon"><span style="color: blue;">lomi-lomi salmon</span></a> in the middle of the Pacific we can have this in the Midwest. Below is one link I use and 11 ideas (sometimes with untested links).<br />
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(1) <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/dining/091hrex.html"><span style="color: blue;">My go to</span></a> (with some changes: coriander for fennel and an addition of star anise)<br />
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(2) Modern Mexican: Mezcal cured salmon<br />
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(3) The Brooklyn: <a href="http://www.makersmark.com/recipes/45-maker-s-mark-cured-salmon-br-with-bourbon-mustard-sauce"><span style="color: blue;">Bourbon</span></a> gravad laks<br />
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(4) The Dated Trend: Bacon cured salmon<br />
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(5) The Scandinavian: Beet cured salmon (Darina Allen has a nice looking recipe in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Skills-Cooking-Time-Honored-Recipes/dp/1906868069"><span style="color: blue;">Forgotten Skills of Cooking</span></a>)<br />
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(6) The New Scandinavian: Local salmon cured with foraged herbs, home distilled aquavit, and something you didn't know was edible<br />
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(7) The New New Yorker: <a href="http://shop.russanddaughters.com/store/product/239/Pastrami-Cured-Salmon/"><span style="color: blue;">pastrami cured salmon</span></a><br />
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(8) The Modernist: regular gravlax started in a <a href="http://www.cabelas.com/f-8-flavor-maker-vacuum-tumbler.shtml?WT.tsrc=CSE&WT.mc_id=GoogleBaseUSA&WT.z_mc_id1=1261848&rid=40&mr:trackingCode=F75533C6-8ECB-E011-9A77-001B21631C34&mr:referralID=NA"><span style="color: blue;">tumbler</span></a> and then vacuum sealed prior to being cured, thoroughly blended, and formed back into "gravlax" with the help of hydrocolloids; possibly served on <a href="http://www.tastespotting.com/detail/64/Bacon-on-Trapeze-at-Alinea-Chicago"><span style="color: blue;">a trapeze </span></a><br />
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(9) <a href="http://events.nytimes.com/recipes/8866/1998/11/11/Vincent-Hodginss-Moroccan-Spiced-Gravlax/recipe.html"><span style="color: blue;">Moroccan Style</span></a>: get some preserved lemons in there<br />
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(10) Japanese Style: <a href="http://www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/s/sake_and_miso_cured_salmon.html"><span style="color: blue;">sake and miso</span></a>, add yuzu and it sounds pretty good<br />
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(11) The Portland: Columbia River salmon cured with barrel aged cocktails while wearing plaid (<i>see also</i> The Brooklyn)<br />
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(12) The Cleveland: Salmon cured with fish from <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kates-Fish/328961331843"><span style="color: blue;">Kate's</span></a><br />
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</div>The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-55082149194307097202011-12-09T00:08:00.003+06:002011-12-24T04:30:32.423+06:00More Seasonal Eating<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6C9hPxxtosNjZ7dUv45s8Guj_8iw_n6ojoVUELL62jXwnRJpqEoE0FiHg7_Ncg9RrYbRKJFncQD6Lfnzrtc4wMlMo2HKpCMJzcByvUAGeo-aQuirJH9B2W9mWdpOuoQZnimpRGsgChDc/s640/blogger-image--804830116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6C9hPxxtosNjZ7dUv45s8Guj_8iw_n6ojoVUELL62jXwnRJpqEoE0FiHg7_Ncg9RrYbRKJFncQD6Lfnzrtc4wMlMo2HKpCMJzcByvUAGeo-aQuirJH9B2W9mWdpOuoQZnimpRGsgChDc/s400/blogger-image--804830116.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>Because it's hard to garden in the winter.</div>The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-87012704890216369142011-11-01T06:14:00.002+06:002011-11-01T06:23:14.317+06:00Is this local?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9EsIEOdcS59AkKuheuXrnYwnbjeV1We2MSPlEZc_XsGeNC7kD8ku70s1nZykqVtmWtGdH9jS4w2WqJwpJtc6WBd0INiI-Lgu7KE3LFCiPi4_LTnvoRR1Eg_ZDOd6r98NWesuAtKNNkQU/s1600/walleye1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9EsIEOdcS59AkKuheuXrnYwnbjeV1We2MSPlEZc_XsGeNC7kD8ku70s1nZykqVtmWtGdH9jS4w2WqJwpJtc6WBd0INiI-Lgu7KE3LFCiPi4_LTnvoRR1Eg_ZDOd6r98NWesuAtKNNkQU/s400/walleye1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Walleye<br />
<br />
Brussels Sprouts<br />
<br />
Parsley<br />
<br />
Capers<br />
<br />
Olives<br />
<br />
Olive Oil<br />
<br />
Lemon<br />
<br />
Espelette Pepper<br />
<br />
Salt<br />
<br />
First three ingredients are from here. Remaining six are not. Thoughts?<br />
<br />
</div>The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-78099252817043986232011-10-18T07:42:00.000+06:002011-10-18T07:42:17.017+06:00A Priceless Lesson in Cooking<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH4Hz64EdOFZuV3WMtlxkLyrgrIAp_yAsuNilE-hXUnKR4Ap3Dt_ITmSS8RCRlSmppI52_nt7UbVo36kqxjQO-wasnn3ux_LRd8w8CExHASKGoiQRX6f9P5C1yd9zTGVOX3ISx033XJNU/s1600/parker1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH4Hz64EdOFZuV3WMtlxkLyrgrIAp_yAsuNilE-hXUnKR4Ap3Dt_ITmSS8RCRlSmppI52_nt7UbVo36kqxjQO-wasnn3ux_LRd8w8CExHASKGoiQRX6f9P5C1yd9zTGVOX3ISx033XJNU/s400/parker1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>I'm not going to sully this up with too much text. The short of it is that recipes, in note form, for a traditional American lard crust apple pie and a traditional French tarte Normande are below (thanks <a href="http://www.urbangrowthfarms.com/who-we-are/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">VA</span></a>), and Parker Bosley knows how to give a cooking class. Totally hands on, super educational, and just a really good time. And sorry <a href="http://www.theflyingfig.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">Karen</span></a>, for drinking you out of house and home.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiee3b02GylKQ_BQOytGp5Wl5xv29miBrXDukEOk3oGJr0X4pU97q5sBhW8pn98p7jZwPKCVSnQ6H3NBzC3-gQ6sIoFwZnUaCzMm00x2oO9AAUgyv_LXT1pSuQVUhhtdMQN2nVFLdi4-ZE/s1600/pieday1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiee3b02GylKQ_BQOytGp5Wl5xv29miBrXDukEOk3oGJr0X4pU97q5sBhW8pn98p7jZwPKCVSnQ6H3NBzC3-gQ6sIoFwZnUaCzMm00x2oO9AAUgyv_LXT1pSuQVUhhtdMQN2nVFLdi4-ZE/s400/pieday1.jpg" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parker came with two completed doughs so we'd <br />
have pies baking while we made doughs to take home. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji6QEPtyxA7IvCDkCgBGHDFcJkgtUKaJKpq5woLxfjDn1r2_jyHZtoEoE4VE3HlYQQlJAtSY1xh1Kd3ZZ_r20d9MELuDlm20LDxYalR1W4T72AVIcLcDPfE-MPdslNNtdbUtmFCKJEvpo/s1600/lardcrustingmaking1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji6QEPtyxA7IvCDkCgBGHDFcJkgtUKaJKpq5woLxfjDn1r2_jyHZtoEoE4VE3HlYQQlJAtSY1xh1Kd3ZZ_r20d9MELuDlm20LDxYalR1W4T72AVIcLcDPfE-MPdslNNtdbUtmFCKJEvpo/s400/lardcrustingmaking1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbQnF31dwdlCQfSjuMapRFGbmZ8VN1FQ5ziGosp380OgxmkjkV2zebNQCHQ_3b0NipuUKllmNjeJ8a3q0Oavb1LxJfsAmT0k7fcm6vsRfris4HM8sYLGNMHGtgePdnzZbiU16qGQdnIA0/s1600/tartebuilding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbQnF31dwdlCQfSjuMapRFGbmZ8VN1FQ5ziGosp380OgxmkjkV2zebNQCHQ_3b0NipuUKllmNjeJ8a3q0Oavb1LxJfsAmT0k7fcm6vsRfris4HM8sYLGNMHGtgePdnzZbiU16qGQdnIA0/s400/tartebuilding.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We were a little light on the almond mixture</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3BB1GUeJp3L2bdT7zwqOl1Uj1b4OfJDVYftBcK9Mdgartf5UrowX44IGCKLfL1OX7OQVPJnnKF23Oj3-k2VmD4s7cKyNKp72ChqsyCCWMfz75nvAJaNLZyP_-06dHuwlYCtyd-eLRmWk/s1600/tarte.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3BB1GUeJp3L2bdT7zwqOl1Uj1b4OfJDVYftBcK9Mdgartf5UrowX44IGCKLfL1OX7OQVPJnnKF23Oj3-k2VmD4s7cKyNKp72ChqsyCCWMfz75nvAJaNLZyP_-06dHuwlYCtyd-eLRmWk/s400/tarte.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQic3JIBrf3aRHf7Q-o5ark1RaRJkuiD65WA3onDv6kiME-2e-3ZIF7Glh1dvitlvczElubgWfgy9EPJ_GM0KGEh5pcREZzl9zbLjMegE4_O-_xqCCVLT2UUAYtrO4eIxS-9R-tCMrmjI/s1600/tarte1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQic3JIBrf3aRHf7Q-o5ark1RaRJkuiD65WA3onDv6kiME-2e-3ZIF7Glh1dvitlvczElubgWfgy9EPJ_GM0KGEh5pcREZzl9zbLjMegE4_O-_xqCCVLT2UUAYtrO4eIxS-9R-tCMrmjI/s400/tarte1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> All in all, pretty redic.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUEZhJANp08giM1UKifdpN3GIbM43-vUhLyS9Zz3EcwPfmpbH2zt22hD2DiKM500i6g1SYUyAPMlW8j5sw8MMO0M7LGb9GJPVkQJk65kLeMI0_y5iQNbdqqAeMtL-pgVlFb8XCZ2AhK-k/s1600/parkeractivity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUEZhJANp08giM1UKifdpN3GIbM43-vUhLyS9Zz3EcwPfmpbH2zt22hD2DiKM500i6g1SYUyAPMlW8j5sw8MMO0M7LGb9GJPVkQJk65kLeMI0_y5iQNbdqqAeMtL-pgVlFb8XCZ2AhK-k/s400/parkeractivity.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at that man supervising the ladies.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb2GSy-Sr0PHyVhwjuIy6OBUXH8zDRFJQkGCYchb4LNvxzWAkymzrYXiio70Jh-ojkB2gSViOtkXos-Bdb6FbIedrrRBxXIc25oxVYBgFDhCkXsHSVaDN_qaC5z5OllOrBy8hOF2gLqE0/s1600/parkerandkaren1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb2GSy-Sr0PHyVhwjuIy6OBUXH8zDRFJQkGCYchb4LNvxzWAkymzrYXiio70Jh-ojkB2gSViOtkXos-Bdb6FbIedrrRBxXIc25oxVYBgFDhCkXsHSVaDN_qaC5z5OllOrBy8hOF2gLqE0/s400/parkerandkaren1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Karen Small and Parker Bosley. Local Food 4 Life.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>And for all of us Clevelanders, at least those who like to eat the good food, it doesn't get much more amazing than that last picture. Two of the most passionate people I've ever met.</div>The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102183972939892836.post-23282603079455486772011-10-05T05:06:00.005+06:002011-10-09T21:41:02.882+06:00Pawpaw Pondering<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibB6Z2bvgnPL56oa6FeOUc3XCjpWrKWv9lFvvpVY3_zGnF5M91FKUbH8C9-OZkixWQFjwncnHFALSCwoikKYawcZroaumBDm-R-5pHuNzBK2oozD4lINExEnlv-xYejtH9_DSG_ofRiaM/s1600/pawpaw1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
<img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibB6Z2bvgnPL56oa6FeOUc3XCjpWrKWv9lFvvpVY3_zGnF5M91FKUbH8C9-OZkixWQFjwncnHFALSCwoikKYawcZroaumBDm-R-5pHuNzBK2oozD4lINExEnlv-xYejtH9_DSG_ofRiaM/s400/pawpaw1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">It has been a while and there’s been much cooking without much photographing, as I’m relearning the pleasures of eating hot food fresh off the stove/out of the oven.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;">There’s been a </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bouchon-Thomas-Keller/dp/1579652395" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">Bouchon</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;"> brandade wrapped up in some smuggled/imported piquillo peppers. Pawpaw ice cream. A southern breakfast feast with fresh, thin picnic chops, ¼" bone in chops (</span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/MillgateFarm" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">Millgate</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;"> is selling whole and half pigs--I got half of one), biscuits (thanks </span><a href="http://www.urbangrowthfarms.com/who-we-are/" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">Pete</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">) and jam, redeye and sawmill gravies, fried green tomatoes with sriracha remulade, and some eggs. And a </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">ridiculously</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"> simple and satisfying dinner of roasted/braised chicken in vermouth with quartered carrots and baby turnips. The next night it was sake braised pork cheeks over </span>polenta<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"> with the braising liquid and vegetables. Add to that, just this past Saturday the backyard looked like an urban version of </span></span></span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087553/" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">The Killing Fields</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;"> as we thinned out the </span><a href="http://www.urbangrowthfarms.com/csa/" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">CSA's</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;"> flock..</span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a;">We’ve been curing a bit too. </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Hand-Paul-Bertolli/dp/0609608932"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">Bertolli’s</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a;"> tesa, a standard guanciale recipe (S</span><i style="color: #2a2a2a; font-style: italic; line-height: 20px;">ee</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a;"> </span><a href="http://www.babbonyc.com/in-guanciale.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">Batali</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a;"> and </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Skills-Cooking-Time-Honored-Recipes/dp/1906868069"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">Allen</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a;"> for nearly identical recipes), bacon (</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Craft-Salting-Smoking-Curing/dp/0393058298"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">Ruhlman</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a;"> via </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/09/dining/091crex.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">NYT</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span id="goog_1639244244" style="font-size: small;"></span><span id="goog_1639244245" style="font-size: small;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a></span>). Also some headcheese/souse/brawn/whatever seasoned like Bertolli's coppa di testa. Leftover red wine vinegar and cabbage are fermenting. Naturally fermented hard cider in the basement is on it’s way too (fingers crossed). It's been busy.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiehuGQOGiBaahQ9x3kbTSPQdb0OJ6q0J8nzzhX7Rh3nNMoksE1HvSjrhIc5dCfKHKfcHLJXDJsKN_AGCHKhUKqP1xxRD5RdKbXEQdfn7YaEcXlNmi07gqkpJCjgI7ri7xecjuPw8fBYtg/s1600/southernbfast1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiehuGQOGiBaahQ9x3kbTSPQdb0OJ6q0J8nzzhX7Rh3nNMoksE1HvSjrhIc5dCfKHKfcHLJXDJsKN_AGCHKhUKqP1xxRD5RdKbXEQdfn7YaEcXlNmi07gqkpJCjgI7ri7xecjuPw8fBYtg/s400/southernbfast1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 20px;">It’s hard to motivate to post recipes that are already posted about so well (or even not so well) all around the web. For example, NPR can handle the </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/09/29/140894570/the-pawpaw-foraging-for-americas-forgotten-fruit" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">pawpaw posts</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"> better than I can. And there are some great </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">photographers</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"> (although how people find the time to take day-it pics and still afford the food is a trick I’d like to know; and lightboxes just are not going to happen here), and plenty of beautiful writers. </span></span></span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">The point here has never really been about saying “look at how cool this is!” or "where can this blog go?" or "here's the new hot thing." It’s more about the tons of great food around here (and elsewhere), how we’re eating it at home, and most importantly where it’s available in and around Cleveland. I still think there are tons of people in Northeast Ohio that don't realize how good we have it in terms of availability of ingredients.</span></span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">So it may continue to be slow around here. Hard to say. While there’s no doubt that the summer in NEO is hard to beat in terms of fresh, healthful food, winter tends to be my time for hunkering down and giving more thought to meals, maybe </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">precisely</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"> because there’s not so much fresh stuff around, and that's what usually leads to posts. In the meantime, the archives run deep.</span></span></span></div></div>The CFThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05483045584440887436noreply@blogger.com2