A Tale of Two Ciders

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Judy

Earlier this month, I went to a meeting of a club I have belonged to for many years.  This club has a tradition of members bringing refreshments for everyone to share.  The tipple of choice is usually beer – those of us who don’t like the taste of hops make do with soft drinks or the occasional Woodchuck or Strongbow hard cider.

Looking into the bin of contributed alcoholic drinks, I spied a few bottles of Angry Orchard cider.  Ah, serendipity!  I had just been reading about this new brand of a newly-fashionable product.  I lost no time trying a bottle.

I was a little disappointed with it.  For all the surrounding hype, I found the product to be curiously flat, with little of the complexity promised on the Angry Orchard website.  Here is a sample of their copy:

Our search for particular flavors led us to the traditional growing regions of Europe, where we hand-select bittersweet apples from France and culinary apples from Italy.  These areas were ideal because of their soil composition and climate. The wide range of apples used in Angry Orchard cider contributes to the complex flavor profile of each of our cider styles. (angryorchard.com)

Maybe one or two of their other flavors are more interesting.  I was drinking the Crisp Apple.  There are also  Traditional Dry, Apple Ginger, and a new Elderflower (to cash in on that flavor craze in mixed drinks).

Our host, John, noticing that I was not impressed with my drink, handed me a small glass full of a ruby-tinged liquid.  “Try this,” he said.

It was something very special.  Flavors bloomed on my tongue: layers of fruit, aromatics and spice.  Turns out it was John’s own recipe for taking cider to another level.  He makes four gallons at a time, and doesn’t share much; but he was happy to provide me with a copy of the recipe.  “The Delicate and Subtle Art of Brewing Apple Cider” is a bit of a misnomer, as it doesn’t ferment – the end product is non-alcoholic – but the six-hour process is every bit as complex as home-brew beer would be.

Starting with a blend of apple cider and white grape juice, five different spices, fruit, raisins, molasses, vanilla bean and sea salt, three simmers and strains, maceration overnight, and a final strain into clean vessels, John recommends customizing the recipe with combinations of fresh fruits to create variations to the brewer’s taste.  Believe me, the results are worth it.

He graciously gave me permission to share his recipe, so if you would like the detailed directions for  “The Delicate and Subtle Art of Brewing Apple Cider,” leave a request in a comment.

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Good Food and Drink for a Good Cause

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Judy

This year’s Saturday Night Sips was held once again at the Newseum, and it once again featured an array of creative cocktails, nibbles from the area’s trendy restaurants, and artisanal, handcrafted food by hopeful, entrepreneurial purveyors.    Some new features: a food truck was represented, along with a regional winery, a brewery, and a dessert spread.

And, a brief, magical appearance by Carla Hall!  She had just stopped by on her way to somewhere else, but took time to pose with some of the kitchen staff.

Although local celebrity chef Jose Andres was absent this year, Joan Nathan and Alice Waters were both there, mingling with the crowd.  It wasn’t easy getting a clear shot of Alice – everybody wanted one!

 

 

 

 

 

A long table of mixologists greeted guests with their specialty cocktails.  Drink secured, one is free to visit the chef stations and try each excellent morsel.

Some of the outstanding tables were manned by Will Artley of Pizzeria Orso, offering lobster tacos; Michael Costa of Zaytinya with an interesting spin on stuffed leaves – not grape or cabbage, but kale.   “Kale’s in season, and delicious,” he claimed, and so it was, stuffed with chestnuts, basmati rice, and currents, and served with cumin yogurt.

 

 

The CapMac food truck people were dispensing meatballs.  They assured me that “balls out” and “sloppy” refers to their two specialty styles of mac and cheese.  The chicken parm meatballs are another specialty, and delicious.

 

Waiting in line for the sushi made me too late for the oysters.  Not enough oysters!!  What were they thinking?  But the sushi was excellent, hand rolls with cured salmon, flavored miso, and (in a burst of fusion), Asian pico de gallo, made to order by the chef of SEI.

 

 

Upstairs, Wagshal’s was dispensing bites of Fermin’s Iberico de Bellota Jamon, a rarefied imported ham.

 

 

 

 

 

From the mezzanine, there was a fine view of the news helicopter.

Joan and Alice spoke on behalf of the two charities which benefit from this event.  DC Central Kitchen and Martha’s Table both contribute immensely to the well-being of our community not only through providing meals to the homeless and seniors, but also through providing training in culinary jobs.  How appropriate that all these terrific restaurants and food service folks get together to help their programs go forward!

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A Farmer, a Chicken and a Bureaucrat Walk Into a Bar…

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Judy

There was a chicken.  There were lots of folks in blue jeans and flannel.  There was a genuine Amish farmer with a beard.  There were butchering, fermentation and worm-bin-building workshops; and food, much of it locally-produced by the very farmers attending the sessions and exhibits of the 14th Annual Farming for Profit and Stewardship Conference in Lansdowne, Virginia.

Sponsored by Future Harvest-CASA, an organization devoted to promoting sustainable agriculture and local food systems, the conference provided a two-day immersion in raising and distributing food in the Chesapeake watershed.  Although I could only attend one day, it was a valuable opportunity to meet local producers and learn from fellow food distributors who are successfully working to provide alternatives to the agribusiness-industrial complex.

At the Farmers Market Managers Workshop, Carmen Humphrey of the USDA spoke about the Farmers Market Promotion Program.  This is a source of grants for farmers markets to promote activities such as food hubs, agritourism, on-line marketing, etc.  A fine use of our taxpayer’s dollars – assuming it will be funded in 2013, which is not certain.

Ben Bartley of the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture spoke about his Mobile Market, a farmers market operating out of a converted school bus.  It serves food deserts in Washington, DC, bringing fresh produce to low income areas at affordable prices.  In addition, they educate folks about how to prepare and serve the produce they supply.

I found myself eating lunch with Polly Festa, livestock manager for the Accokeek Foundation.  “I love Jersey cows,” she said.  “I was once the Jersey Cow Queen of New York!” and I believe her.  I hope to schedule her for a chef demo at OFAM.

After lunch, I went to the Backyard Chicken session of the Local Food Communities track.  Pat Foreman is passionate about raising chickens, and brought along a “co-presenter” named Oprah Hen-free (a Canadian breed called Chanticleer) to help make her case.  Oprah was remarkably calm while strangers petted and fussed over her, although one drawback to having house hens became clear.  “They’re spontaneous emitters,” said Pat.  Cute, but not house-trained.  Pat has a book called City Chicks she sold in the hallway, where Oprah helped attract a crowd.

Pat makes a case for backyard chickens with four major arguments: enhancing backyard agriculture, providing eggs, meat and fertilizer; diverting waste from landfills, by eating table scraps; deceasing oil consumption and lowering your carbon footprint, by bringing a food source to your backyard; and enhancing national defense, by ensuring a local food supply independent of remote food chains.

My last session on Local Food Communities featured the Farm Alliance of Baltimore, a  non-profit, cooperative arrangement of nine small-plot urban farmers.  I had made their acquaintance at the Urban Farm Fair in Baltimore last September.  They pool their output to sell at the Waverly Market as well as at individual stands in their neighborhoods.  They are idealistic, urban pioneers, and I wish them the best of luck!

After the formal sessions, I wandered into the exhibit hall.  Tables of farm products, agricultural agencies, and services for farmers and distributors filled the hall.  Washington’s Greengrocer, a produce distributor, had a nice retro-themed display (remember when the milkman came every day? I do!)

Other tables had products for farmers, such as fertilizer vendors.

There was a silent auction, where we could bid on items donated by the vendors and contributors to the dinner.  The one I lusted after (and was hopelessly outbid on), featured dinner at Volt in Frederick.

Another item was the worm-bin composter, which had been built at the workshop that morning.

After a delicious buffet dinner (true to Michael Pollan’s third principle, mostly vegetables, but it did have some yummy beef), the music started.  Alas, I had to leave at that point.

For farmers and those engaged in farm-related activities, January and February are full of meetings of this kind.  Future Harvest-CASA’s is one of the best.  What a great opportunity for networking, learning, and enjoying the fruits of the harvest!

 

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TICKETS ON SALE FOR SIPS & SUPPERS

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Judy

Last year, I reported on these two related events  in this space (see My Amazing Alice Waters Weekend Parts 3 and 4).  This year’s events promise to be just as enjoyable for participants and beneficial for the two charities doing such good work: DC Central Kitchen and Martha’s Table.

José Andrés, Joan Nathan and Alice Waters band together to lend their names to the Friday night party at the Newseum on January 26th, and a collection of home-hosted suppers around the area on January 27th.  For more information, see:  www.sipsandsuppers.org or www.twitter.com/SipsSuppers.

 

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First Winter Market at Museum a Winner!

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Judy

We had a great turnout for the first indoor Olney Farmers and Artists Market of 2013, inside the Sandy Spring Museum.  Although there was not enough room for all of our usual vendors, many were there (and others will be there in the coming weeks).   And so were the other amenities: music, demos, kid’s activities, cafe seating.  And: indoor plumbing!

The Dr. Bird Room (the big, octagonal room) held the food vendors, cafe seating, a wine and chocolate tasting, and acoustic music.

The Winery at Olney teamed up with Steven Howard Chocolates to present a wine and chocolate tasting.  Two of my favorite tastes at once!

 

 

Our farmers were lined up in the Produce Hall, except for Homestead Farm, which was set up outside the Museum.

 

 

The Exhibit Hall and Quilt Room each held artists.  The kid’s activities were in a room right off the Quilt Room.

 

 

Nancy MacBride of Falcon Ridge Farm was selling her knit scarves.  She has promised to lead a knitting workshop on February 24th.  We’re off to a great start!

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FOOD Exhibit Part 2: Miss El Chico and Mrs. Mondavi

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Judy

Just as my favorite part of the media event for the Julia’s Kitchen re-opening back in August was meeting Julia’s niece, Philadelphia Cousins, the best thing about this exhibit’s event was meeting and chatting with several of the object donors.

Two members of the Cuellar family, John Cuellar and Carmen Cuellar Summers, were there.  They are  descendants of the founders of the El Chico chain of Tex-Mex restaurants, and were glad to tell me all about the wonderful sequin-spangled dress on display.  Worn by “Miss El Chico” for food demonstrations, promotions, parades, and the Texas State fair, it has traditional embroidery as well as the shiny embellishments.  It’s an example of a China Poblana-style native festival dress from Puebla, made about 1960.

Margrit Biever Mondavi was there to regale me with stories of her life helping to build Robert Mondavi Winery into the one of premier establishments in Napa Valley.  She told me that the reason there are palm trees in Southern California is that, during Prohibition, they were a sign that wine could be bought underneath!

She came from Switzerland in the 1960’s as a young girl and got her start in the wine industry giving tours for Charles Krug.  Her husband Robert was determined to develop California wines into a force to challenge the best of Europe, starting with the fume blanc.  In his hands, it became a crisp, dry white meant to go well with food.

As the winery became successful, Margrit developed the Summer Music Festival.  Although they were not advertised, the concerts always sold out.  Other concert series followed.  Then there was the Great Chefs Cooking School.  The Mondavis built an art collection, travelled, ate, drank and hobnobbed with chefs and artists the world over, all the while building the reputation of California wine.  With the help of Janet Fletcher, she has documented it all in a lovely book.

Margrit Mondavi’s Sketchbook is a beautifully produced memoir of a life lived to its fullest.  Illustrated with photographs and her own watercolors, it presents a picture of her appreciation of food, wine, friendship, and family.  In her own words and in short ” reminiscences” by such luminaries as Wayne Thiebaud and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, as well as family members and wine industry colleagues, it presents a picture of a life well-lived, with (lagniappe!) recipes.  I look forward to cooking her Braised Rabbit in Wine Sauce, and Mont Blanc with Strawberries for dessert!

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You Know You’re Old When…

Posted on January 5, 2013 by Judy

(and this is NOT a joke!) when you see the stuff of your childhood behind glass at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History FOOD Exhibit, for which Julia Child’s kitchen is now the centerpiece.  Granted, it is subtitled “Transforming the American Table 1950-2000,” so I should have been prepared, but still –  a Swanson’s TV dinner tray? A Corning Ware casserole? Tiki cups?  Aluminum tumblers? All could have come straight from my mother’s house.

Worse yet, Stalking the Wild Asparagus, Moosewood Cookbook, and the Time-Life Foods of the World series.  Bought new, these are all still in my collection! And a fondue pot, of which I received three as wedding presents.  I could go on, but you get the idea.

The exhibit traces the evolution of the American palate from the postwar reliance on convenience food and bland commercial products to the threshold of our present happy state of eclectic experiment.    It brought back memories of my childhood, and not all in a good way – my mother totally bought in to the “cooking is so hard, use our instant products and canned vegetables” line.  The section titled “New and Improved” explored the forces behind her choices: the growth of agribusiness, manufactured foods, supermarkets and their distribution systems, microwave cooking (including a microwave oven from 1955 the size of a washing machine), and availability of cheap junk food.  One of the stranger curatorial choices: showcasing a selection of plastic coffee cup lids.

I asked Cory Bernat, the curator of the plastic lids, where they came from.  She assured me that there are “collectors for everything,” including the lids and Weber kettles, like the cherry-red kettle in the exhibit.  I believe her.

 

Another section, “Resetting the Table,” explores sociological forces, including the influence of immigration, the counterculture, and the “good food” movement (including Alice Waters’ continued influence), which will – if we’re lucky –  carry our country’s food evolution into the future.

The third major section covers the rise of the American wine industry, with a major emphasis on California.  “Wine for the Table” features, among the array of winemaker’s tools and other artifacts, the two bottles of California wine that won the 1976 Paris Tasting, triumphing over all French entries and announcing the arrival of serious American competition for the European wine industry.  The rest, as they say in the museum trade, is history.

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A Locavore In Baltimore – Woodberry Kitchen and Future Harvest-CASA’s Partnership

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Judy

Future Harvest CASA is an admirable organization dedicated to sustainable farming in the Chesapeake region.  They have a yearly conference that’s a great opportunity to learn about and network with farmers, restaurateurs, and allied folks concerned with the health of our food-production ecosystem here in the mid-Atlantic.  Although I was aware of their other programs, I hadn’t participated in many of them; but a few weeks ago, I got a notice of an event that I couldn’t resist.

It was billed as a Field Day and organized primarily for the benefit of members of their Beginner Farmer Training Program.  We snagged two of the 10 spaces available for non-farmers.  Here is what they promised would happen:

Noted farm-to-table chef/restaurateur Spike Gjerde will take us behind the scenes at Woodberry Kitchen. At Woodberry Kitchen, not only do fresh ingredients star on each day’s menu, the kitchen excels at preserving seasonal ingredients in-house for future use. Chef Gjerde will talk about what chefs need from local farmers to make sourcing relationships work and show us what happens to our lovingly raised farm products once we leave them at the restaurant door.  Lite fare included.

And we were not disappointed.  We gathered in the restaurant and enjoyed freshly-made iced tea while we waited for the group to gather.  Then we toured the extensive kitchens, storage and prep areas while learning how Chef Spike utilizes the locally-sourced ingredients arriving at his establishment.

We started in this prep room, where Spike explained his philosophy of establishing partnerships with producers and butchering whole animals in the restaurant.  He has a special interest in Mid-Atlantic heirloom vegetables, and partners with at least 70 farmers in the Chesapeake region.  We were salivating over the plank full of tasty morsels, but were led away from it to the other areas of the kitchens.

George, the butcher, explained nose-to-tail butchery.  His crew breaks down large cuts – cooks some, cures others.  The aging room is full of house-cured cold cuts.

 

 

We moved on to the baking area, where we met Isaiah.  He makes bread and other baked goods for the restaurant and the recently-opened cafe (Artifact Coffee).   Also, house-made spelt noodles.

 

 

Spike does not have a candlestick-maker (yet!) but he does have a large pantry with shelves full of preserved fruit and vegetables.  He explained that a restaurant which is committed to locavor-ism in our climate needs to solve a problem: how to find local produce in the winter?  Woodberry Kitchen is addressing this by putting food by.

We passed other areas, including fresh fruit and vegetable storage, a wine cooler and a storeroom piled with sacks of flour and grain.

We returned to the dining room we had started from, to find that the goody-laden plank had been magically transported to the middle of our table.  House-cured meats, house-made crackers, local cheeses, fresh and pickled vegetables, dips, and deviled eggs, supplemented by flatbreads from the wood-fired oven and iced tea, were sampled while we continued the discussion of supply and utilization of the most excellent products of our region.

Woodberry Kitchen is an example of how a secure source can encourage small farmers to succeed in our era of agribusiness.  Here’s to its continued prosperity!

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Foodie Adventures At The Inner Harbor

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Judy

Recently, I attended a non-food-related conference at the Pier 5 Hotel in Baltimore.  This is a small hotel built on one of the piers at the Inner Harbor, and I was surprised to learn that it has conference facilities, let alone a catering department that turns out better-than-average food for those conferences.

The highlight, though, was the “crabby hour” it dishes up for both conference attendees and regular hotel guests.  Every weekday at five o’clock, a counter in the lobby is set with burners and chafing dishes, and a chef holds forth with a demo dish of crabby goodness, together with  complimentary wine.  Old Bay crepes with crab filling and creamed crab dip were featured during my stay.

Josh is billed as a “Harbor Magic Specialist.”  He is not only a chef, but an evangelist for good works that the hotel’s management participates in, such as partnering with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in their oyster re-seeding program.  They aspire to be a green company, and they want their guests to know it!

Showmanship is a big part of this shebang, as is audience participation.  You can cook your own crepe, and you also get to wear the hat.  A surprising number of jaded conferees agreed to it.

 

I had a free hour during the conference, so I walked over to Harborplace and the McCormick store (McCormick World of Flavors) I had spotted on the way to the hotel.  Those of us who have lived in Maryland for a while remember when McCormick was a major presence at the harbor.  Their headquarters building was torn down some years ago now and replaced by a hotel, but I still remember how the smell of spices would waft out on the wind and scent the Inner Harbor.  To get that experience now, you have to truck out to Hunt Valley.

But now McCormick is back – and how!  The store is enormous, and contains not just the herbs, spices and extracts you would expect to find at any supermarket, but products from McCormick subsidiaries specializing in Latino condiments, French baking mixes and decors, and Canadian honey; package sizes from single-serving blister packs to gallon industrial jugs; tea, both black and herbal; and experimental products (“some available only here,” according to Nijah, who helpfully answered all my questions), like fruit preserves and jellies; about a dozen varieties of chocolate bars; candles; tapenades, salsa, olive oil, vinegar, salt, not to mention wonderful old-style mixing bowls and other kitchen equipment; and Old Bay.  Not just the original but different flavors of Old Bay.  I sprung for some “with blackened seasoning.”  Paul Prudhomme would probably frown, but it smells amazing.

Oh, and there are interactive experiences (Find Your Flavor Profile), and static exhibits of historic packages, teapots, advertisements, cookbooks, and text detailing the history of the company from its founding by Willoughby McCormick in 1889 to the present.  And cooking demos.  And helpful recipe cards, and helpful staff.  And custom gift baskets; and shipping, back to where you can’t get all this wonderful stuff, for you tourists.  Am I gloating that I live in the neighborhood?

This is their first retail outlet, more are planned if it does well.  The scent of cinnamon wafts through the store, much like that of mixed spices used to just outside the doors.  Excuse me while I have an attack of nostalgia.

Oh, one more thing: at the end of the block, there is a parking garage draped to look like  a huge tin of Old Bay.

 

 

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The Cardoon Adventure

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Judy

Last Sunday, we went down to the Takoma Park Farmer’s Market.  One of the farmers was selling cardoons.  They were bundles of stalks two feet long, and they looked pretty formidable, like great big, overgrown celery.

Cardoons are cousins to artichokes, but the stalks are cooked and eaten instead of the flower buds.  They have to be boiled a long time before they are tender and lose their bitterness.

Now, I had seen cardoons for sale around here only once before, in the DuPont Circle Farmer’s Market.  I had bought them and cooked them, but that farmer had not blanched them, and they were hopelessly tough and bitter.  Not a good start; but these folks assured me that they had blanched them properly (which is to say they hilled up the dirt around them as they grew, to deprive the stalks of daylight and turn them pale).

And they did, indeed, look properly pale, so I bought a bundle and brought them home.   They barely fit in the refrigerator.

 

Research indicated that they should be boiled until tender.  Most recipes (in the new edition of Larousse and my go-to Italian cookbook, The Silver Spoon, were heavily into calorie-filled oil, cheese, or cream-based recommendations, but I found an exception to the rule in Silver Spoon: Cardoon Salad (Cardi In Insalata), in which the boiled cardoons are dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, chopped hard-boiled eggs, parsley and browned bread crumbs.  I decided to add some leftover cooked turkey to make it a supper.

First, though, I had to cut those monster stalks up, strip the strings from the outer sides and the little “thorns” from the edges, clean them and cut them into 2-inch pieces.  And part them from their wildlife.  It turned out not to be a job for the squeamish.

 

The books were silent on the question of cardoon leaf edibility.  They resembled celery stalks so closely that I thought I would include the tufts of inner-stalk leaves in the pot.  This, it turns out, was a false cognate.  Those leaves were so bitter they could be used to strip paint!  I had to fish them all out.

When boiled for two hours, they turned a lighter shade of pale and became tender.  They made a good dish of warm salad, and two large containers of leftovers.  I have since added them to a frittata, to pasta with tomato sauce and cheese, and there are still some left.  If the first definition of eternity is two people and a canned ham, two people and a cardoon plant is a good second!

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