Two New Discoveries

I love gin.

In the summer it tastes like linen.

In the winter, pine needles.

Hand me a gin & tonic or a French 75 at any party or happy hour, and you'll find a very happy girl.

Determined to find a GF gin, I went on a woman-hunt and found Watershed Distillery's Gin made from corn. Of course, I found it at the end of the month when I couldn't justify paying for booze over food. And when we got paid, I didn't see it again for at least three months.

On a recent shopping trip to Rossford, I stopped in my favorite liquor store Corks, hoping I might find it again. And there it was, saying, "Manda, you just got paid and I'm perfect for French 75's." As my friend G would say, "Sign me up!"

Seriously, if you are a gin lover, other gins are untouchable. Watershed's Gin is perfectly tart and zesty. Perfect for mixing or for a straight martini. And even better it's distilled with corn. Score for GF! And even better better? It's made in Columbus, Ohio. Score for locavore!

The juniper berries are so pronounced and lovely, I keep imaging what it would taste like with venison. Jamie Oliver's venison tenderloin with juniper berries. Maybe overkill to some, but a match made in heaven to me.

::Sigh::

The only other person I know who loves gin as much as me is my good friend and Spatula co-star Sarah.

Which leads me to my other new obsession: Chicken Pate with Cashews and Basil.

This weekend I lent a helping hand to prep for Sarah's hubby's bday celebration. Part of tradition is to homemake pretzels dipped in lye (sp?). (That all whole situation is for a different blog post, which I had every intention of blogging about that until I tasted the pate.)

For one of the spreads for the pretzels or an app, Sarah asked if I would take charge of the chicken pate. Sure, easy, whatever.

Little did I know I was getting my first taste of a whole new food addiction. (Seriously, are Candy and Jeff coming for me?)

Sarah put me in charge of the pate. I began by browning chicken breasts in butter. And by brown, I meant brown. Each piece was crisp, after a full 1/2 hour and 1/4 gin and soda. Then I added the cashews and garlic and let them cook until the garlic was just about brown. We were worried about time, so we stuck the browned chicken chunks, cooked garlic, and cashews in a freezer-safe bowl for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, I put the mixture into Sarah's awesome food processor, gave it a whiz, added the mayo, cheese, and hot pepper sauce, and then processed it again. It was a little thick, so we added about a teaspoon of chicken stock and gave it a whiz again. At last I sprinkled in the basil and stirred it.

Let's stop talking about it. I'm hungry.

I will say, though, give me a French 75 and Chicken Pate on Nut Thins and I'm golden. So much umami equals so much happiness. If only there were three more meals in a day...

Sunday Beef Stew

I admit.

I have a problem.

I'm a seasonal produce junkie.

I could very well end on Intervention, yelling at Candy that I wanted Jeff, pleading for one more LeCreuset dutch oven before the flight to Texas, and longingly staring out of a mini-van window at the sunset while thinking about the last time I roasted tomatoes or blanched a bunch a kale for the winter.

But by the time the leaves fall and trick-or-treaters carve their pumpkins, I'm done with lettuces, tomatoes, and summer squash, though.

Give me root vegetables and hearty stews, Honeycrisp apples and pears, and lots Butternut squash.

~

Candy: "'Being over tomatoes' isn't dealing with an addiction. What's next parsnips?"
Me: "Right????!!!??? Parsnips are sooooooooooo good. Just give me one more to chop for Jool's Favorite Stew, one of Jamie Oliver's favorite recipes. 
Candy: We can't do that, Amanda...


~


Due to poor planning on my behalf, I missed my sister-in-law's birthday celebration because I have five sections of papers--over 125 papers total--to grade over the weekend. Needless to say, I was depressed. To get out of the funk, I called my good friend and Spatula co-star Sarah for a pick-me-up. Per our style, she suggested a cooking afternoon after a morning of grading on Saturday. Perfect. Done.

We cooked and talked our hearts out. It felt good. It reminded me that breaks are important. That friends and family nourish us as much as food. That being a seasonal junkie is perfectly acceptable in some circles.

No wonder she's my cooking partner. We speak a language through food that says so much more. What a blessing.

~

It was cold today. And rainy. And dreary. And inside the house was the best place to be.

It was perfect.

First thing in the morning I graded. I pushed through all the syntax issues to finish in time for a little yoga and noontime tea. After lunch I started Jool's Favourite Beef Stew. I diced the butternut squash, cut the Niman Ranch chuck roast in one inch cubes and dusted it in GF flour, and scrubbed clean the taters-precious.

All the while listening to Taylor Swift, Eisley, Tori Amos, Liz Phair, Aimee Mann, and many other fine woman musicians.

I was in a zone, enveloped in the art of making something, centered in between complete knowledge and being completely mindless. What do you call it? Felt experience. I Found Flow. I Felt.

It's all the same.

But what wasn't the same was the beef stew. A recipe I have made countless times blossomed to life. Was it because I felt different? Was it because I finally figured out how to regulate my oven's temperature? Was it because I was making it for my love after a long fall weekend of outdoormanship?

No.

It was because I used carrots I harvest from a crop I planted this summer, I bought the potatoes and butternut squash for an awesome local farmer, and the sage came from my good friend Sarah.

Local is where it's at.

The only thing missing is local beef. Just wish I had more time to get to Luginbill Farms.

~

Candy: Really, would Jeff do a better job than me?
Me: Probably. He's mustache is compelling. A real deal breaker for getting help.
Candy: Will you go?
Me: It depends. Does Texas have local produce?
Candy: What if I tell you you'd be going to a place where there's a strong local foods movement? 
Me: Sign me up. 

Pawpaw Season 2: Admitting Failure.

Kaleidoscope Farms Mt. Cory, Ohio. Another season of pawpaw hunting with the ever-generous tree farmer Dave Reese.

Dave planted new pawpaw trees, but the deer munched on most of them.

Pawpaws: Season 2.

Haven't lost my gatherer instinct.

In the bag.

For pawpaw bread.

Scrapping the membrane--which contains a lot of flavor--from each and every seed.

 Finally a perfect loaf of pawpaw bread.

Failure.

This Week at BG Community Gardens

BG Community Garden at First United Methodist

Sweet carrots

Melon hiding

Baby watermelon

A row of crisp cukes

Cabbage Patch Kid in the making

Squash still growing

If Only I Was the Love Child of Jamie Oliver and Alice Waters...

My obsession with Alice Waters is getting out of hand.

I tried to find her biography on the internet today while thinking to myself, "God, if she was just in Us Weekly and on Perez Hilton, my life would be made."

Alas, the best I have is Waters' recipes, which I am more than grateful for.

And so my obsession with Alice Waters keeps growing and my obsession with Jamie Oliver is as solid as ever. So tonight for dinner, I consummated my "food parents." I planned the meal entirely around what I had on hand and recipes only from Jamie at Home and The Art of Simple Cooking.

No, I'm not that bored, just that crazy.

Oliver's Grilled Lamb Kofta Kebabs with Pistachios and Spicy Salad Wrap are the BOMB! Instead of using the food processor to grind up a neck fillet of lamb, I used ground lamb I had bought from Luginbill Farms at the Perrysburg Farmer's Market two weeks ago. I finely chopped the thyme and pistachios by hand and then mixed, by hand, them with all the spices and lemon zest (in place of sumac) with the lamb. The nutty spicy smell had me under a spell so much so I was considering eating the lamb tar-tare.

Oliver's spicy salad was easy too. I didn't have red onions on hand, but the spring onions that I had just gotten from Homestead Gardens were more than perfect substitutes. And we didn't have flat bread on hand, but we did have tortillas, which worked just as well.

Grilling the kebabs was stressful, though. First of all, watch for flare ups. Lamb is more fatty than most meat. Also, they wanted to slide right off of our metal skewers, so it was sometimes difficult to turn them, and they cook FAST! I was worried when a few of our kebabs (and we got 6, not 4 from a one lb of meat) started blackening. We pulled them off right away with silicone tongs. (Grab them in the middle of the meat. Oven mitts just don't work.) All the kebabs were on the grill for no more than 5 minutes. It was whirlwind well worth it. The charcoal flavor perfectly compliments the game-ness of the meat, the spicy salad, and the cool yogurt. All the stress is forgotten after the first bite, especially if you and/or guests love Middle Eastern food; just be ready to cook FAST.

Knowing I had my Jamie Oliver recipe all ready to go, I needed to pick an Alice Waters' one that would suit the Middle Eastern theme. I knew exactly what recipe I had to try in The Art of Simple Cooking: Lentil Salad.

Waters' Lentil Salad is absurdly easy and beyond flavorful. The red wine vinegar gives it a tang while the onions (I used my green onions from Homestead Gardens) add a little kick. We added diced cucumber to ours because I had one I had to use that I got from the BG Farmer's Market last week.

I made the salad in the morning and served it cold, and it was fantastic. I just added the cuke right before I served it.

What I'm learning to love about lentils is their versatility. They can be the main course. They can be a side. They are crunchy or can be mushy, if the recipes calls for so. They are sweet and sometimes spicy. They remind me of tofu's ability to take on any flavor well, but lentils have their own distinct flavor nutty, grainy flavor and texture.

I've been in a hormonally pissy mood the past two days (thanks to FD for putting up with me!), but I must say after eating this meal all feels right with the world, my body and my hormones again.

I'm sure that's strictly because my "food parents" are always looking after me and providing me with exactly the right food and nutrients I need.

Now if only I could say the same for Bella and Edward or Bella and Jacob.

Earth Week at Project: Project

In honor of Earth Week, my good friend and fierce blogger Lemon Cadet is hosting guest bloggers on her site and asking them to share their environmental do-good-ing from cloth diapers to Natural Home Essentials.

I'm really grateful that she asked me to contribute a post about food.

Please be sure to check out her blog this week (and forever and always)!

And do your own environmental do-good-ing this week (and forever and always)!

Reflection: A Local Foods Presentation at BGSU

Within the last week about 20 friends emailed me this ad for a local foods presentation that was held on the BGSU main campus:

The Center for Environmental Programs is sponsoring a presentation on January 27th at 4:30 in 274 Overman on locally available food. Joshua Pribanic of Eric Country Coalition for Local Resources will discuss community supported agriculture (CSA). John and Diane Riehm from Riehm Farms and Kurt Bench from Shared Legacy Farm then will discuss the local produce programs that they offer to the region.

My Honors Food Theme class meets at the same time, so we took a field trip to Overman Hall.

And, thanks to well-informed presenters, we learned a lot about Industrial Food Systems vs Local Food Systems.

The three pieces of information really stuck with me. 1.) According to The Erie Wire's Food System presentation, "Since the beginning of the 21st century we've experienced almost 50 epidemic food-borne illness outbreaks that have resulted from the Industrial Food System." 2.) Buying organic doesn't solve the problems presented by the Industrial Food System because many organic companies are part of the industry. 3.) Ohioans consume only 2% or less of food grown in Ohio.

I've been making it a point to buy Ohio products whenever possible or from our surrounding states, especially Michigan, when Ohio products aren't available. But what's difficult for me is the produce situation. During the spring, summer, and even fall, we eat up to 95% local produce. But I just don't have the freezer space or time to can, so during the winter I buy mostly organic produce from California and try to buy from stores that showcase "homegrown" foods such as The Anderson's and Meijer. I feel guilty sometimes, but this is Ohio, and I do my best to buy local when I can. I just wish Ohio had the same climate as California.

Last year the guilt overwhelmed me, and we ate very little veggies all winter. And I was more miserable than I am now. Sometimes this battle against Industrial Foods vs Local Foods feels so overwhelming--to the point I wonder what difference I'm making.

But I know I am making a difference. During the spring, summer, and fall, I feel elated when I eat a tomato that grew organically in a garden of a farmer I personally know. Nothing can replace that feeling of being connected to my food. And we buy local meats from a family farm that are grass-fed or from Bellville Brothers Meat Market in Bowling Green. And the meats we get year-round from these fantastic people.

What's inspiring about this movement is the momentum and the hope. While I am IN LOVE with our local farmer (who happens to be one of the instructors in our Composition program), I was really excited to learn about Riehm Farms and their CSA, which I think would be awesome to join. But I'd still buy a lot from Homestead Gardens, especially their potatoes, which I'm craving right now. At this moment...

Local tastes so much better.

At the Start of 2010

I rang in the new year with beef tartar.

And several other delectable dishes part of Revolver's New Year's Eve special seven-course 5:30 service. Keeping our tradition of going to Revolver for NYE, FD and I had a fantastic meal gave us time to reflect on 2009 and welcome 2010.

And I'll forever be obsessing about the best beef tartar I've ever had in my life. And probably ever will.

God, I love raw beef.

~

Today on the Epiphany, I had an epiphany: use cubed steak in a chili. I got the idea from my pal KC, but after tasting the chili I felt like I had an epiphany. It was divine, and so tender after an afternoon of simmering on the stovetop.

Resolution 1: use cubed steaks for chili.

Resolution 2: make my own bread.

After reading Ruhlman's Ratio, I vowed to start making my own bread. He made it sound simple enough, and I do own a scale that needs more use. My only dilemma is I'm in love with Zingerman's breads that the totally sweet folks at Happy Badger General Store sell. So I'm thinking I'll ease into it. I'll make bread and until I get good twice a month I'll buy a Zingerman's loaf. That sounds like a plan. And the Ratio app for iPhone and iTouch is totally helpful, especially if you are NOT math inclined, much like myself. Michael Ruhlman rocks.

~

Resolution 3: accept that I rock--sometimes.

During our break I've been reading lots of food writing--be it books, blogs, columns, or recipes--and I've keep thinking to myself, I have no clue about food. What the heck am I doing? (Resolution 4: stop cussing like a sailor.) I started feeling kind of down about my palate, my blog and my perspective on food because it's so everyday. But then after much more obsessing I decided an everyday perspective on food is important. I'm a snob on many levels, but I don't think I could ever be a food snob. And I shouldn't want to be. I see food as something way more than nourishment but I don't think it elevates my status or qualifies me to be a preacher. I just want to share my food adventures, start a dialog, and create a bond through food.

Lately I've been attending mass again, and the more I go, the more I see the connection between body, soul, and food. And I want to express it, mostly by cooking. I need accept that's what I do. I cook. I make mistakes cooking. I'm learning. Like most other cooks I know. We're all learning, right? I hope I'm adding an everyday perspective to the conversation about food. I hope I give someone who wouldn't dream of eating chicken livers the courage to try a nibble. Or someone who wants to try a local diet the motivation to do so. Or at least I hope I'm staying in touch with my loved ones through this blog and my Connotation Press column. I guess what I'm trying to say, ultimately, is I shouldn't feel like I don't belong in the world of food. Here I am. I should embrace it.

Cheers to 2010. And many more years to come!

Gift

It's 14 degrees outside.

I know because I have a dog.

And I know because there's no more local kale in my life.

Until my local farmers gave me one of the best Christmas presents ever: A bag of kale mix from their own stash.

Thank you, Santa and Homestead Farms, for making my dreams come true.

I'm saving it for the last day of classes--tomorrow night. Just going to flash sear in a pan with butter, olive oil, and lemon--my favorite way from Molly Wizenberg. And I'm going to savor it.

Or at least try to...

A Bit Overdramatic But Sincere

I got this email from my local farmer yesterday:

"The deep freeze has hit us hard and the market growing season has been ended. The produce we now have to offer is in cool storage.

See next 2 pages for current produce and herb offerings. The weather is expected to be very unsettled with snow and ice possible, so delivery may be changed or delayed if conditions are bad.

Thank you for your business."

The end of the season is here. And while I love the snow, ice, and greyness of winter, I will miss my weekly veggie delivery--the potatoes, onions, lettuce mixes, radishes, cabbages, beets.

I will miss my kale.

A lot.

Sometimes I wish I lived in California.

The Pawpaw Adventure

After eating a lunch of Rocky Mountain Oysters last Friday with my new foodie friend Sarah, she and her hubs celebrated their 4th wedding anniversary dinner that same night at Revolver, my all-time fav restaurant. For dessert, Sarah had pawpaw creme brulee. Then she had a pawpaw meltdown-turned-obsession, which I completely understand and am grateful for because her food "crazies" inspired a wonderful food adventure.

The kind folks at Revolver shared with the Sarah the name and phone number of the farm from

which they acquired their pawpaws. Dave Resse owns Kaleidoscope Farms, a fantastic, glorious, maticulously manicured, award-winning Christmas tree farm. When we arrived in Mount Cory at the farm, he warmly greeted us with a pawpaw infused soft pretzel, which only heightened our enthusiasm for this rare fruit. With our old jeans and ready-for-action boots, we followed a neat trail lined with Christmas trees to a opening of woods. Through the woods we hiked along a beaten path of burrs and thorns until we arrived at the first pawpaw tree. Dave pointed to a little green-ish jellybean dangling from a thin branch: "There's a pawpaw." Using his extension scissors, he cut the fruit from the branch, and Sarah precisely caught it to break its fall.

The pawpaw fruit is very fragile. It bruises easily and seems to burst open even easier. When the fruit is ripe, it has a little give much like the top of ripe pear. Dave told us that he never planted the pawpaw trees; they've just "been here." Meaning, native Ohioians, the original people of the land, Native Americans, probably ate fruit from these same trees. The history-lover in me couldn't contain a sqweal of delight! The meat of the fruit is bright yellow, and it's layered with flavors: citurus, mild nuts, mango, a hint of sweet grape, and earth. It's succulent and wild but also elegant and distinguished.

Because most of the pawpaws trees were extremely tall, Dave abandoned the extension

scissors, and we resorted to gently shaking the

trees, hoping all the ripe pawpaws would fall

lightly. For me, this was the best part of our adventure. I loved spotting those little pawpaws that blended into the green of the woods, gingerly rocking the thin trunk of the tree, alertly watching where the ripe pawpaws fell, and quickly gathering those little tasty treats. My gatherer instinct kicked in, and I was on fire. It was immensely rewarding and satisfying to gather something in the wild that would become a dish I would eat.

But Sarah is going to have to cook the pawpaws; she has the pawpaw cookbook. Dave had just been to an Ohio PawPaw Growers convention where he kindly picked up a copy of The Edible Pawpaw cookbook for Sarah. This isn't a fruit I would wing a recipe for. I don't know much about it, so I'm leaving the cooking to Sarah. But I guarantee I will be a taster as she works through the 7 lbs of pawpaw we gathered. And I guarantee I will be buying the cookbook and buying pawpaws next year when they are in season for the small window of weeks from September through October.

While gathering the last of the 7 lbs, Sarah and I dived to the wood's floor to save several pawpaws and emerged stung by nettles. Resourceful Dave immediately found jewelweed, which he rubbed on our stings, and which healed our minor run-in the nastier side of nature.

After trekking back through the woods and through the tree farm, Dave took us for a ride in his Kubota, one of my all-time favorite vehicles, to show us the rest of the farm. The best part of our ride was watching the sunset over perfectly lined pines. I remember breathing so deeply and feeling purely happy and at peace, at home in my home state.

On our way home, unintentionally coming full-circle but intentionally craving good food, Sarah and I stopped at Revolver for the pawpaw creme brulee. Unfortunately, they were closed for a private party, but ever-awesome chef Michael made us two helpings for take-out. (Thank you, Michael and the whole Revolver gang, espeically Jonah!!!!)

Outside on the dusk-and-candle-lit patio, we gleefully cracked through a perfect sugar coat and celebrated the success of our pawpaw adventure.

While our adventure further strengthened our friendship bond and brought Sarah and I closer to our food-souls, the one thing that really became more clear to me was my love for Ohio. I know a lot of people think our state doesn't have much to offer or they think that there's nothing special about Ohio. But I beg to differ. I'm finding that while living in a rural Ohio community, the more resourceful I am, the better my life here in rural Ohio is. Finding true family farms, like Dave's and Luginbill's, or local cheeses and breads, or taking a driving tour of Wood County to learn its history, or participating in local community projects and activities only further connects me to the land, my land, the state I love. I'm a Cleveland-girl at heart, but I'm learning to appreciate all the communities of Ohio, which in turn only fuels my love of Ohio as a state with lots of something-specials to offer. I'm learning that the appreciation of place helps me live in the present moment, and the present moment helps me build a home for where I am right now in my life. And my heart is at home in Ohio.

***This post owes a special thanks to Dave Reese, Micheal Bulkowski, and Jonah. Without these three good-hearted men, our adventure wouldn't have been as safe and as wonderful as it was. Thank you all!

Canada Goose: It's What's for Dinner

Waterfowl is season approaching, so we're determined to use up the wild game in our deep freezer to make room for this year's prizes. (Go, FD!)

For a long time I haven't been a fan of goose, until FD prepared it with this recipe:

Spice-Rubbed Canada Goose

The Rub: equal parts of coarse sea salt, ground pepper, cumin, chili powder, & garlic powder. (If you feel adventurous consider using coriander, cinnamon or any other spice you like.)

Directions:

1.) Filet breasts horizontally so that you two equal pieces.

2.) Rub goose with spice rub.

3.) Grill in hot pan with EVOO until medium-rare, usually about five minutes a side. It's better to undercook than overcook goose. If it seems undercooked to you, just place it back on the grill and cook it a few more minutes. You don't want to overcook goose; that's when it will taste gamey.

4.) Slice against the grain like London Broil.

5.) Serve on its own, in a sandwich, taco, salad, etc. Spice-rubbed goose is great with a hot mustard or sweet jam.

I know wild goose isn't widely available to folks unless you have a waterfowl hunter in your household, but I wanted to share this recipe with folks we've given goose to and with those who do have it on hand but haven't found a good way to cook it.

If you have a goose recipe you like, please let us know. We're always looking for waterfowl recipes!

Dinner: Rigatoni (Not Really) with Sweet Tomatoes, Eggplant, and Mozzarella (Jamie Oliver)

First, I must give my deardeardear friend Babine a shout out for "turning me on" to Jamie Oliver.

Before: English Gardener at the BG Farmers' Market.

After: For recipe please support your local bookstore or local library for Jamie Oliver's cookbook Jamie's Dinners: The Essential Family Cookbook.

*Meal was PERFECT with House Wine.

Playing during dinner: Goonies on TBS.

Dinner: Vension Steaks with Herbed Potatoes & Beans

Venison steaks from a family friend with a red wine reduction and herbed heirloom potatoes--both herbs and potatoes from Homestead Gardens--and green beans from BG Farmers Market.

Teamwork: it's how FD and I cook. He was on the venison & I was on the veggies.

As awesome as this meal was I want to quickly note a few revisions I would make:

Cook reduction a bit longer and the venison a bit shorter. Separate the veggies--to cook, simply stem, add butter and parsley, mint, chives, and basil--from the meat. Roast the potatoes after steaming. Add more rosemary to the venison meat.

What to keep the same: WINE, ingredients, china (Kate Spade Gramercy Park), company (FD, my fav foodie companion for life), and music (Hank Williams: cooking & dinner; The Amps: dish washing.)

(Dan just rushed in my office, saying, "Everything we cooked tonight was Ohio based, except for the flour, wine, and vegetable oil." We don't count our Spanish Blood Orange EVOO because we buy it from the Olive Tap in Medina, Ohio with thanks to my sis-in-law Tra. If we broke down the cost, we don't have a meat cost and with the veggies we got about 4 servings, which would be about $.75 per person. Not bad, especially when the majority of the profit goes to local farmers! Oh, and FD simmered the reduction for 5 more minutes and it was perfect. Still learning; as G.I. Joe would say, "Knowing is half the battle!")

* To keep it "everyday" photos are taken with my iPhone. No fancy photography, just quick snapshots, then on to the eating.