August 2009 | Simple, Good and Tasty

This Week from Harmony Valley Farm

Posted in Farms & Gardens on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 6:25am by lee -

You'll notice that the list of what's in our Harmony Valley Farmshare is getting longer. I should also point out how amazingly good the food is. And despite the fact that I have shamefully tossed out my amaranth each week, I'm happy we got it again - just in time (again) to try out that amaranth and goat cheese pizza recipe I've been talking about from Amy Boland's site (see our picture below - it was delicious). My wife wonders when enough is enough, but even she gave me grief for not picking up a few more eggplants from last week's "choice" box.

Eating Local at the MN State Fair

Posted in State Fair, Out & About on Thu, 08/27/2009 - 1:43pm by lee -

When I talk about eating local food at Minnesota's great get together, the MN State Fair (which starts today!), friends roll their eyes as though I've just suggested going to New York City and eating at Applebee's - why on earth would you eat local food at the State Fair, friends ask, when you can get fried alligator on a stick?

Recipe: Red Stag Supper Club's Corn Puree

Posted in Recipes on Thu, 08/27/2009 - 6:28am by lee -

This recipe comes directly from Brian Hauke, Head Chef at the Red Stag Supper Club. His corn puree absolutely delighted the guests who ate it with house made tortelloni, mushroom duxelle, and pecorino tuscano (pictured here) at our monthly local food dinner. Now you can make it yourself:

Food Porn from the Strip Club

Posted in Out & About on Wed, 08/26/2009 - 6:30am by lee -

Last week, I blogged about the exquisite Simple, Good and Tasty local food dinner at The Strip Club in St. Paul. Today, I'll let the beautiful images, taken by Kate Sommers from Les Petites Images, speak for themselves.

Chef JD Fratzke, Todd Lein (from Thousand Hills Cattle Company) and I kicked things off by talking a bit about what we do and why. Here's a picture of JD holding court.

Recipe: Summer Vegetable Tian

Posted in Recipes on Tue, 08/25/2009 - 6:38am by lee -

Adam Anderson, former chef at Lucia's (currently at Whole Foods), creates and shares Simple, Good, and Tasty recipes on an ongoing basis, using the ingredients from our Harmony Valley Farm CSA boxes.

Simple, Good, and Tasty in the Star Tribune

Posted in Books & Media on Mon, 08/24/2009 - 10:00am by lee -

Image Credit: David Joles, Star TribuneI was delighted to find myself quoted in the Star Tribune this morning, in an article entitled: "Making the local food movement accessible." The article, by Hayley Tsukayama, is all about how to eat local food on a student's budget, and includes terrific advice from Lucia Watson from Lucia's, Tracy Singleton from the Birchwood Cafe, and Jennette Turner. Here's an excerpt from the article:

If a Fly Won't Land on it, is it Food?

Posted in News & Views on Mon, 08/24/2009 - 6:40am by Alex Christensen -

Michael Pollan, Mark Bittman, and many others have given sustainable foodies reason after reason to advocate for reform of the food system and local food in the US. Their work is incredibly well-researched and poignantly written. I stumbled upon another good reason to support food system reform from a lesser known source a few weekends ago. I was at the Bancroft, Wisconsin, VFW for a family reunion listening to my dad and his cousins reminisce about their Uncle Ralph. Ralph was a dairy farmer in central Wisconsin who was rather fond of asking, “If a fly won’t land on it, why would I want to eat it?” Good question! The fact that I don’t have a good answer means that the effort it takes to eat real, local, and sustainable food is well worth it.

This Week's Farmshare Bounty

Posted in Farms & Gardens on Sun, 08/23/2009 - 6:55am by lee -

Oh Harmony Valley, you're so good to us! How many CSAs package tomatillos, jalapenos, and cilantro together in "salsa kits"? Or pre-wash and bag a variety of salad greens? Shoot, I dunno, but probably not too many, right? The food is becoming more plentiful, and the variety is truly amazing. Here's a list of the cool, tasty stuff we got in this week's farmshare box. All of the descriptions and suggestions - and the photo - come directly from Harmony Valley's newsletter. Enjoy!

Obama Wants a Farmers Market at the White House

Posted in News & Views on Fri, 08/21/2009 - 6:34am by lee -

Check out this quote from President Obama's interactive health care strategy meeting yesterday (via The Huffington Post):

The Strip Club Does Not Disappoint

Posted in Out & About on Thu, 08/20/2009 - 2:45pm by lee -

Ground cherry image credit: Straight From the FarmLast night's Simple, Good, and Tasty local food dinner at the Strip Club in St. Paul did not disappoint. In fact, Kate O'Reilly Hillesheim described it to her friends on Facebook as "no joke, best meal of my life." Here were a few highlights: