Local Food

My husband. I love him dearly. He is my soul mate, my life partner, the father of my children, my BFFWB. But, sometimes, he really pisses me off.

When I told him I was writing about famous food scenes in the movies, the first example I mentioned was James Cagney smashing a grapefruit into the face of Mae Clarke. “Oh, don’t use that,” he said. “That is such a hackneyed example! Every film class, every women’s studies class, uses that clip. You know, most people haven’t seen the movie that it came from -- in fact, most people can’t even name what movie it came from. So, please! Don’t use that one.”

The following post was written by Carrie Oliver, founder and CEO of The Oliver Ranch Company and The Artisan Beef Institute. It originally appeared on her blog last October. We thank her for letting us re-post it here. You can read more about Carrie and her work, below.

From Wikipedia:

Cassoulet (from Occitan caçolet [kæsəˈleɪ; Fr. kasuˈlɛ]) is a rich, slow-cooked bean stew or casserole originating in the south of France, containing meat (typically pork sausages, pork, goose, duck and sometimes mutton), pork skin (couennes) and white haricot beans.

The most e-mailed story on the New York Times website last week was The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating. It’s a list of the most healthful foods that we should, but probably don't, regularly eat.

The idea, according to Times Nutrition reporter, Tara Parker-Pope, came from a article last year on the Men’s Health web site.

I’m thinking a lot about food systems these days. Fundamentally, there seems to be collective agreement that ours is broken (unless you happen to work for Monsanto or Smithfield), so I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about how we might fix it. (Jill Richardson’s excellent “Recipe for America” has a few ideas too - that and her La Vida Locavore blog are well worth reading.)

Specifically, I’ve been thinking about food systems that are:

A new year full of possibilities and quandaries lies before us. If you’re trying to figure out how to feed yourself and your family more home-cooked, tasty, local meals without breaking the bank, purchasing a myriad of strange ingredients, or spending hours in the kitchen, keep reading.

As Mother Nature has decreed it, the start of the New Year in Minnesota is always a cold one. For me, a salad just doesn’t hold the same appeal this time of year as a hot, hearty meal, so I'm getting reaquainted with my slow cooker. Also known as a Crock Pot®, the slow cooker is not a sexy kitchen appliance. But what it may lack in pizzazz it more than makes up for in its ability to do all sorts of heavy lifting, transforming simple ingredients into something far greater than the sum of its parts, all while you’re off doing something else.

There’s nothing like the taste of raw honey. That musky, grainy, slightly tart explosion of sweetness is the most important part of my morning routine. Thickly spread between a slice of toast and a thin schmear of almond butter... and, ahhhh, who needs coffee?

It’s because I’m half-Greek, you know. We Greeks grow up with the taste of honey in our mouths. We get honey in warm milk to help us sleep; honey and lemon juice in hot water to soothe our sore throats; honey straight up to calm our coughs. All that honey almost makes us look forward to the next cold or flu season.

Six months after a major milestone birthday, I approach the new year, the new decade, and the second half of my life with one question: Where do I want to be ten years from now, and what do I need to do – day by day – to get there? This past week, I spent a full day pondering the height, depth, and weight of this question. I sketched timelines, drew charts, made lists and commited a 120-month plan to writing. And then, just to make sure I didn’t overlook anything, I checked my horoscope.

James McWilliams:
Food writer, fellow, professor, blogger, and locagrarian contrarianCommunity. It’s a name for the place where we live, but also for the social connections that we live among. In yesterday's post, it was a word used by two people on two occasions to describe the benefits of opening a new food co-op in the Orono/Long Lake area, and a new farmers market in Edina.

Photo of James Norton by Becca Dilley

This just in from Organic Valley, via a press release:

Organic Valley, America’s largest cooperative of organic farmers, recently won awards for its European Style Cultured Butter and Pasture Butter, two delicious butter offerings from its family of farms. To celebrate the awards—and recent health findings that butter is in fact better—Organic Valley has developed several recipes and serving suggestions just in time for the holidays. 

Ahhh…the power of cheese.™ Do you remember this ad campaign from the American Dairy Association? My favorite of their series of commercials was the one with the cute little red haired girl who had the invisible friend. That was before I became the cheese geek I am and came to realize how a simple selection of quality cheeses could be a guaranteed hit at any party.

The holiday season is the party season and when you’re looking for non-fuss, quick appetizer, cheese has your back.

Creating a great cheese plate is as simple as 1, 2, 3.

Ann Yin at Local D'lishAnn Yin has been selling local food – everything from gourmet chocolate to everyday groceries – at her North Loop general store, Local D’Lish, for a little longer than a year. We recently caught up with her while she, her daughter CC, and staff member Stefan, prepared for an event later that evening. As they sliced cheese and chocolate, we chatted about Ann’s experiences over the past year, and her plans for the future. And we were even lucky enough to snag some cayenne shortbread, which truly was d’lish!

In the second installment of this gift guide – written while the beginnings of our first major snowfall are floating to the pavement – I thought it would be good to offer you some shopping alternatives that don’t necessarily separate you from your bunny slippers. Or your cup of hot Northwoods cocoa (see yesterday’s post).

I found some local Minnesota gifts that would be simple, good and tasty to give; they're all available online, and they all meet my shopping criteria, which I outlined in yesterday's post:

Photo credit: Erincooks.comMy family celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas, and with today being the first day of Hanukkah, I can practically fry a potato - or a sweet potato - in my mind. I've often wondered how the ancient Jews in Israel knew that I'd be wanting to serve up seasonal food in Minnesota this time of year. Proof that God exists? You tell me.

Chef Mike Phillips won't be serving this tonight.Tonight's the night, friends. Simple, Good, and Tasty is excited to host our December event at the Craftsman Restaurant in Minneapolis from 5:00 - 7:00. Here's a quick rundown:

I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it: I'm a lucky guy. Not only do I get to spend my time with some of the most important and talented food producers, chefs, restaurateurs, and organizations in the world - I also get to work with these people I greatly admire - people like Chef Alex Roberts - to create local food events that are truly unique.

When I ask Molly Herrmann of Tastebud Catering (aka Tastebud Tart) how she wants to be known, she doesn't miss a beat. "I'm the gal who throws a great party," she says, and I believe her. 

Maybe it's because Molly has a warm smile, a great sense of humor, and a friendly way about her. Or maybe it's because each time I see Molly she feeds me delicious things - like the time I was working nearby and she let me taste her heavenly combination of goat milk ice cream and cookies with smoked salt, or the time she introduced me to a family recipe for cheese spread on fresh bread. Whatever the reason, whenever I meet with Molly, I feel nourished.

We were down to very slim pickings when this week's Harmony Valley farmshare arrived (now that we've hit the cold months, the box comes just once every two weeks). I had been excited about it for days, especially as it became increasingly clear that we didn't have enough carrots to last the week.

Thousand Hills Cattle Company, a leading producer of grass fed beef in the Midwest, has its work cut out for it.

First of all, there’s the cost of their product. Although their cattle are relatively inexpensive to raise, according to founder Todd Churchill (they just eat grass, right?), the cost of transporting, processing, packaging, and shipping 24 grass-fed cattle each week is enormous - there’s just not much economy of scale. By the time it gets to the grocery store or co-op, Thousand Hills beef costs more than its corn fed (non-organic) counterparts, nearly every time.

A few weeks ago, in an earlier blog post, I joked that the most authentic way to find a pasture-raised, grass-fed turkey for Thanksgiving dinner was to hunt for it with a bow and arrow or rifle.

According to a recent article in the New York Times a new generation of meat eaters, who are interested in local, free-range, organic food, are doing just that.

I love vegetables. My family and friends make fun of me, but when I look at their kaleidoscope of colors and shapes, they delight my senses in ways I can’t explain. So imagine my joy when I opened my CSA box yesterday and pulled out this Romanesco cauliflower!

Now I’m a registered dietitian and have been touting the benefits of eating your veggies for years, but I had never seen anything like this fluorescent green head of swirling spirals. I actually squealed with surprise when I pulled it out of the box. My husband and daughter came running to see what all the excitement was about. They both burst out laughing when they saw the thrilled look on my face, although you’d think they would be used to my exclamations by now.

Ask most Americans what they’re having for Thanksgiving dinner, and they'll recite the standard list of dishes: roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, candied yams, pumpkin pie, etc.

But then ask what’s for Thanksgiving breakfast, and you’ll likely get blank stares.

Breakfast?

Oh, no. Have you, too, overlooked the second most important meal of the year? Even worse, are you actually planning to skip breakfast on Thanksgiving, thinking you’ll save the calories for later? That would be a huge mistake. Why? Three reasons:

Photo Credit: Univerity of MinnesotaWith the last of the mild fall weather eeking its way out, my friend and I decided to make the annual pilgrimage to the apple orchard and winery last weekend. Aamodt’s Apple Farm and the St. Croix Vineyards – conveniently located together just west of Stillwater – make the short journey too easy to pass up. If you’ve ever spent an afternoon on this idyllic little bit of land, you know how nice it is to escape the city, watch the kids jump around on hay bales, taste some lovely wines, and go home dreaming of what to do with your big bag of apples.

Today’s post is the final half of a two-part interview with Curt Ellis (the first part of our "Big River" article is here), who will be in Minneapolis this week showing “Big River,” a companion to his 2006 documentary “King Corn.” Both films will be screened at the Riverview Theater on Wednesday, November 18 at 7:00, with a panel discussion afterwards. Admission is $10.

This shopping bag won't be around for long.

What a year it's been! Since April, Simple, Good, and Tasty has been asking you to participate in monthly local food events at many of the Twin Cities' best local food spots. In May we brought you to the Birchwood Cafe. In July we met at the Strip Club. In September we invited you to Boom Island Park for the biggest local food pig roast and potluck this town has ever seen.

Slow Money: The book that started the movement

What would the world be like if we invested 50% of our assets within 50 miles of where we live?

What if there were a new generation of companies that gave away 50% of their profits?

What if there were 50% more organic matter in our soil 50 years from now?

The following excerpt is from “A White House Chef Who Wears Two Hats,” published this week in the New York Times. It offers a profile of the Obama family’s personal chef, Sam Kass, who serves up policy advice along with his own style of local, organic cooking. Read how a 29-year-old with a history degree and looks that earned him a slot on People magazine’s 100 Most Beautiful People list is now one of the most influential advocates for a better, more sustainable food system.

The only reasons why I do anything are because it is fun now, it allows things to be fun later, or it ensures that things will continue being fun. Eating? Fun now. Working? Fun later when I eat what I bought with my paycheck. Shoveling the walk? Ensures that when I haul my groceries into the house, I don’t slip, fall, and ruin the fun of eating them.

So, obviously, the main reason why I’d buy local food is because it’s fun in so many ways:

Bottled water ain't all it's cracked up to be. Sure, it's better than the alternatives you'll find in a Coke machine, but filling your own bottle with tap water is even better. An excellent, recent Lighter Footstep article gives us Five Reasons Not to Drink Bottled Water. Here's an excerpt:

Thanks so much to the nearly 50 people who came to last night's local food event at Spoonriver last night. It was terrific to have you there! Here are some photos from the event, taken by Kate Sommers of Les Petites Images.

Here's a picture of Spoonriver Owner Brenda Langton, thanking guests for coming. Jennifer Patterson from Unplanned Cooking, Molly Herrmann from Tastebud Catering, and Michelle Gayer from The Salty Tart are looking on (among others).

Obama campaigning in Iowa, January 2008.

While the debate over healthcare reform continues to rage in Washington, other political news can get lost in the cracks.

Case in point, did you know that President Obama recently nominated two "Big Ag" executives -- with connections to Monsanto and CropLife -- to key posts in the U. S. Department of Agriculture? The story wasn't covered by the mainstream news organizations, so I didn't hear about it until I received an action alert from Food Democracy Now.

We've got just a few reservations still open for this Sunday's local food event at Spoonriver. If you've been to a Simple, Good, and Tasty event before, you know that the food is just part of the fun (here are a few pictures from our last event at Lucia's). Still, the food is an important part. Here's a sneak peek at the menu:

Star Tribune Photo by Kyndell HariknessMy family and I (pictured above) are happy and amused to have been featured in a Star Tribune article by Julie Pfitzinger this weekend entitled "Eat Well, Be Well." Most people who know us don't think of us as the world's healthiest family, although this quote from the article is certainly true:

Image Credit: Kate SommersHas there ever been a food more perfect than the carrot? Delicious raw or cooked, skinned or peeled, if I edited the dictionary, there'd be a carrot next to the word "superfood" (if I edited the dictionary, the word "superfood" would be included, yes). The picture would show those lovely orange roots (with green tops, of course) in my 7-year old boy's just-washed hands.

The fall recreational soccer leagues are now behind us. And with them, the nutritional pitfalls of post-soccer snacks.

If you’re a parent with a kid who plays some kind of sport, chances are you know what I’m talking about. For some reason, snacks have become such a ubiquitous part of recreational sports that questioning their necessity is met with the same disdain as, say, suggesting that our children play their next game with their hands tied behind their backs.

Not that I’ve ever suggested such a thing – kids playing with their hands tied behind their backs, I mean. But I have, on several occasions, tried to gently convince whomever will listen that the post-game goodie grabs do more harm than good.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to eat five huge leeks each week? Who do the people at Harmony Valley Farm think I am? How much soup can I possibly eat? Don't they want me to spend my time writing blog posts? For goodness sakes, people, I'm doing the best I can!

Every Tuesday morning, the supplier, under cover of pre-dawn darkness, packs up his truck in rural Minnesota to make his weekly delivery. His drop-off site is a nondescript, middle-class home in a Minneapolis suburb, where his regular customers begin to converge around 8:00 a.m. They drive up, park, pick up their orders, leave cash, then return to their everyday lives.

What they’re doing is illegal, but the contraband isn’t cocaine, krugerrands or even Cuban cigars.

It’s milk. Straight from the cow. Whole, non-pasteurized, non-homogenized, non-industrialized, raw milk.

Last night's Simple, Good, and Tasty local food event at Lucia's was truly amazing. Sure, there was the menu, created by Lucia Watson herself and perfectly executed in every way. And there was the great service, attentive and generous. There was the opportunity to meet and mingle with an astounding collection of people, just over 60 of us in total. There was the beautiful setting, the terrific organic wine, and the t-shirts that Lucia sent us all home with that said, "We know our Farmers better than we know our Doctors."  But what really made the night so especially fulfilling wasn't any of that.

It was the farmers.

Photo credit: Kate SommersThese days, I'm actually kind of grateful that the Minnesota Twins play in a dome. You see, I'm originally from New York, and the members of my family who have not (yet) moved here are going to get another look at our fair city this week during the American League Division Series (go Twins!).

People who love to eat typically love to try new food—and for good reason! Exploring the world of flavor isn’t just a hobby. It’s a way of life. Are you a food adventurer?

Great Reason Number 1: It’s easy to start!

My six-year-old nephew won’t eat anything he hasn’t already tried. (He doesn’t have an allergy. He’s just picky.) If this is the rule that guides his choices for life, then when he is thirty he will only have eaten macaroni and cheese, toast with peanut butter, purple grapes, and milk.

Here's a video of New York Times food writer Mark Bittman speaking at the TED conference in 2008. Mark is as compelling a speaker as he is a writer. And I can't think of another time someone used the phrase "cow farts" in a presentation and it wasn't even a little bit funny. Here's what the good folks at TED wrote by way of introduction:

In this fiery and funny talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what's wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants; too much fast food, too little home cooking), and why it's putting the entire planet at risk.

Take a look:

If you thought we'd already hit all of the great local food restaurants in the Twin Cities, think again - we're just getting started! November's Simple, Good, and Tasty local food event will be held at Spoonriver, another of my favorite Minneapolis spots. For those who don't already now, Spoonriver is owned by nationally renowned restaurateur and chef Brenda Langton, who has been one of the Twin Cities' foremost experts and purveyors of local and vegetarian food for nearly 30 years.

Mississippi Market is on a roll these days. Having hosted a terrific grand opening at the new Mississippi Market site just this past July, one might think that St. Paul's favorite locavores would take the rest of the year off. Think again, silly friends. Mississippi Market has recently published their fall calendar of classes. It's an impressive list, offering something for every locavore.

Youth Farm and Market Project, a Twin Cities community treasure since 1995, has lofty goals. These include:

• Building young leaders
• Promoting healthy lifestyles
• Creating neighborhood connectedness and opportunities for contribution
• Developing and nurturing healthy relationships

The program focuses on kids ages 9 - 18, and uses a hands on approach to urban agriculture and gardening to teach life lessons. Started in 1995, the Youth Farm program now teaches more than 500 Twin Cities youth every single year.

Is it possible to miss a bag of mixed salad greens? We've been getting them from our Harmony Valley Farmshare like clockwork, but this week, we're bag-o-mixed-salad free (fortunately, we've still got a bag of spinach). I'm totally okay with that, mostly because I've been eating tomatoes like a crazy person, thickly layered on my hummus sandwich nearly every day for lunch. I've also taking to grilling just about everything that comes, including cauliflower, which is fantastic with olive oil, black pepper, and sea salt. I haven't tried my celeriac yet, but I'm hoping to this week, especially now that I know I can grate it and fry it up like a potato pancake.

In ayurvedic medicine, good health begins by living in harmony with nature. That means eating seasonally appropriate foods (which, by the way, supports local farms) is an important building block to a healthy lifestyle.

I notice my cravings change along with the seasons. One month ago, I couldn’t eat enough tomatoes; my garden couldn’t keep up with my appetite for those fragrant, juicy, sweet yet tangy spheres of bliss. But last night, those same tomatoes just didn’t taste as blissful. I can’t get excited over lemonade, lately, either, preferring hot tea to hydrate me. What’s more, I am considering investing in a slow cooker as the thought of stew has taken over the culinary chamber of my cranium.

Not all locavores live in the cities. There are plenty of suburbanites, like me, who appreciate the benefits of buying and eating locally grown, sustainably harvested food. That’s why so many of us suburba-locavores (New word! Are you reading, Merriam-Webster editors?) shop at Lakewinds.

I wandered into Lucia’s To Go a few Sundays ago, on my way to the Uptown Market. I don’t get to Uptown very often, so I will take (or make up) any excuse I can to visit one of my favorite Minneapolis spots.

Satellite image of the Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone, courtesy of Phytoplankton Dynamics Laboratory, Texas A+M University

Every time I take a bite, I can’t help but remember two of the biggest ecological challenges we face. Both are caused directly by agricultural practices. Both are driven by the U.S. appetite for cheap food, and lots of it. Here they are:

1. Factory farming degrades the oceans.

The time has come! Dave and Don brought over the pig last night - an 80 pounder from Hidden Stream Farm, purchased from Clancey's in Linden Hills, MN. Within an hour, we had prepared the pig with a bunch of tasty seasonings and enclosed it in a homemade China Box. I think Dave and Don - both experienced pig roasters) are getting sick of my nervous quips, but what do you do when you come face to face with your first dead pig? Frankly, getting to know my food makes me a little bit uncomfortable.

Here are a few pictures from last night's preparation. They're not for the squeamish, but I think they're worth seeing and thinking about. Here goes.

This is my friend Dave Micko, getting the pig ready. In the absence of a table, we made due with an old door from my house, covered with foil and resting on the China Box.

It’s been a weird growing season in the Twin Cities this year. We had a hot spell in spring, then crazy rain, then a dry but cool summer. Not so much fun for my flowers, but good material for grousing with fellow gardeners. It puts me in mind of that old saw, “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.

Nobody says that very often anymore, perhaps because it’s no longer true. Most of us do, in fact, contribute to the root causes of unstable weather, the climate change it heralds, and the general planetary degradation that marks our age.

Lucia's Restaurant at NightWho is your farmer?

Most people know their hairdresser, insurance agent, doctor and many others, but few today know their farmer, perhaps the most important person in their lives. Knowing your farmer can change your health, your approach to cooking, your respect for food, your stewardship of the earth and even your social and political circle. This dinner will introduce you to 12 different farmers and producers.

In yesterday's post, I highlighted local foods I ate this week at the MN State Fair. I'll admit it from the start - the list of foods I ate is much longer than the list of foods I didn't. This is a point of pride in my house - I'm not ashamed. That said, there were a few locally produced foods that didn't make it into my belly this week. For example:

I didn't know what to expect at the Minnesota Cooks stage, located outdoors at the Minnesota State Fair's Carousel Park, but I was pleasantly surprised at every turn.

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).

 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.