Cookin' in the 'Cuse

Leavin' on a jet plane...

This is a big week--we leave for vacation in just a few hours.  This photo shows the area where my husband grew up--I can't wait to get in that water!  Also, on Thursday Cookin' in the 'Cuse turns two years old.  So in case I don't get to post on that day--please know that it is my deepest joy to write this blog knowing you dear readers are out there sharing this delicious life with me.  You have my everlasting gratitude.

What's Brewing in Syracuse

Ever have an encounter that makes your heart leap with joy?  That happened to me today after spending just a few minutes with the owners of Freedom of Espresso.  I've got to go back and do a full interview and such but there were two things that made me so happy that I had to post about it now.  The first is their green tea coffee--that's right:  GREEN TEA COFFEE.  I had a taste of it this morning and it is fantastic--a Freedom of Espresso exclusive.  Now my conflict over drinking green tea or coffee in the morning is over!

The other thing that made me happy is their new cafe over in Franklin Square.  It opened while I was in the throes of Holy Week back in early April.  It is a beautiful spot over on the corner of Solar and Plum in the Lofts at Franklin Square.  I'm having major fantasies about getting up early in the morning, going for a run along the Creekwalk to the Inner Harbor and running back to Freedom of Espresso for coffee and a read of the paper--I can't wait!!!

In other cafe news, Pascale's Bakehouse is moving--right now--from its location in the Hawley-Green to the Hotel Syracuse downtown.  This is great news for downtown and still great news for those in Hawley-Green.  Word on the street is that a bistro is planning to open in Pascale's old digs so watch for that in the coming months.

After I return from vacation in early June (we're off to the Bahamas and I won't be posting much beginning Monday) I'll be posting in earnest about other places that are getting me hooked back on coffee--like the Kind Coffee Company on West Fayette and the radical roaster guy who will deliver freshly roasted beans to your front door.  Stay tuned.

Tasting New York Wines

Oh I have so many posts and hardly enough time to get them up...there's so much going on right now.  It really is a good time to be in Central New York.  I've been lacking in the wine news area for a while so let me tell you about a few things to whet your whistle.

• This Saturday, from 1pm to 10pm is the New York Wine Festival at the OnCenter in Syracuse.  I've not heard about it till tonight and there is no real website.  I can't even tell you how much it costs to get in.  But there will be a least 20 wineries represented and I'm interested to see who will show up given that I just gave someone advice about not expecting some of the best wines to make an appearance at the Taste of Syracuse. 
• If you can't get to the Wine Festival on Saturday afternoon, make it to the CNY Regional Market or the Ithaca Market in the morning--the tastings are guaranteed free.  Pheasant Ridge is pouring next to Wendy Gornick in Shed A at the Regional Market and I picked up a super-lovely dry Riesling from Bloomer Creek Vineyards while at the Ithaca market recently. Glenhaven Farm Winery is also out at the Ithaca market as is Treleaven--the latter should be at the Taste of Syracuse too.
• If you do have more time, get out to the New York Wine and Culinary Center in Canandaigua--I had a delicious lunch there last Friday with a glass of the 77 Riesling that debuted last year (it was a perfect match with my fried chicken--post to come).  Plus, I picked up some Shinn Estate wine (Long Island) that I wouldn't soon find until my trip to the north folk later in July.

And, of course, there's nothing like getting to the tasting rooms themselves.  It is getting on perfect weather for a picnic lunch in the vineyards of the Finger Lakes so find a day, grab a friend, pack a lunch, and enjoy!

Archive Alert:  This date last year I had just put all the veggies in the garden.

Know Me, Know my Fridge

I wasn't going to do it but then I couldn't help myself.  Opening my fridge for all to see--it almost verges on TMI (too much information).  But then others were doing it and if Sam started it how could I not be inspired?   So here it is, in all its unedited, unstyled glory.  For those who think I'm some organic, all-local purist, you'll see that I'm not--and we won't get started on my husband (the hot dogs and cheese slices are his).  But this is how we live and how we eat.  Where are the photos of the freezer you may wonder--well, I gotta keep some secrets.

Just for the record, we don't usually store our lettuce on top of the Gateau Lawrence chocolate cake but it was about to be eaten--the lettuce, not the cake.  Next to the cake are those incredible oxtails--we ate them last night.

Yes, I'm a condimaniac.

I'm not sure why we'e so heavy on the soy and tamari sauces--and mustards.  But they're staples, just like the sour cream and unlabeled sun dried tomato pesto and bacon fat on the middle shelf.

Yes, lots of greens but note my two prized possessions--the locally harvested ramps on the left (thanks Travis!) and the mega hunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (thanks Nancy!) on the right.

Pasta Pantry Pickings

It is a well known fact that some of the best dishes are accidental or thrown together at the last minute--the classic Ceasar salad comes to mind.  Well, this is my mid-day masterpiece, destined to become a classic on my table if nowhere else.

I had about 30 minutes for lunch and a profound desire not to run to the store and buy something.  So I rummaged through the fridge and through the pantry and came up with this spicy, delectable, irresistable dish.  It was so easy.

While I boiled some pasta--we had some parpadelle on hand--I found some bacon slices and threw those in a skillet to cook until crisp.  Meanwhile, I found some pitted olives which I rough chopped and then went back to the fridge to consider my options for a sauce.  Wouldn't you know it but there was that package of Tomato Garlic Dipping Oil looking right out at me.   Not having any stretch bread on hand I thought, why not take Cheeky Monkey's advice and try it as a sauce.   That it is a local product sealed the deal.

Once the bacon was done I put it on a paper towel to drain, I poured the bacon drippings into a jar for another day, and poured in the tomato oil.  I crumbled up the bacon and added them to the skillet along with the olives to warm. Once the pasta was done I lifted it out and dried them on paper towels too.  I know that sounds weird but remember, oil and water don't mix.  I wanted the pasta dry enough to take the tomato oil. 

As the sauce heated up it took on a broken consistency (that's where the oil separates out a bit) so I drained a little of the oil off, put the pasta in the skillet, mixed it all together, and into the bowl it went.  It took all of, what, ten minutes?   This delicious combination of the slightly sweet and pinquant sauce with crisped bacon pieces and olives is a definite keeper.

N.B.  Tomato Garlic Dipping Oil is found at a few locations in Syracuse, Ithaca, and Skaneateles but they're willing to ship--and it is worth it.   

Archive Alert:  On this day last year I was Eating Local and Quasi-Seasonal.

Warning: This is a Rant

Let me begin by saying that today I had a wonderful morning.  I took Chase, my Miniature Dachshund, for a walk in the neighborhood--my broken foot now nearly healed.  Then I had a slice of quiche that I made of local bacon, eggs, flour, butter, cheese, and cream (so you see, that walk was really important).  After that breakfast I set out for Ithaca to see what was up at the farmers' market.

My plan was to bring back some seedlings to augment what I plan to sow in my garden, aka Dorset Harvest Farm.  It was a wonderful trip.  I touched base with farmers, artisans, and winemakers that I hadn't seen over the winter months.  There will be more posts coming about this soon--my intent today was to write about last minute sign ups for CSAs (it isn't too late!) and to talk about the difficulty of keeping a small organic farm aloft in a current industrial agriculture-based economy.

But then I came home and found that the movie, Fast Food Nation, was up on Time Warner cable's pay service.  You know, I never got to see it in the theaters it was gone so fast--now I know why.

This movie made me ill.  I mean, I'm sitting on the couch writing this and my stomach feels awful.  I read Fast Food Nation, the book, nearly five years ago and it changed my life.  I had given up Chicken McNuggets years before when I read something about how the workers were treated.  But after reading Fast Food Nation I reassessed my entire diet in light of the political, immigration, environmental, agricultural, and health implications that I often write about on this blog.  In fact, when folks ask me about when I really began to care about where my food comes from, I tell them that my passion for these issues went into warp speed after reading Eric Schlosser's book. 

Here's what I want to know:  How can anyone in their right mind watch this movie and still crave a Big Mac?  How can anyone watch this movie and not have big questions about their food?  As I drove to Ithaca NPR had a soundbite about the possible contamination of 25 million chickens from wheat gluten feed from China.  What, we don't grow enough wheat in this country for chicken feed?  Oh yeah, this wheat gluten was the same stuff responsible for killing numerous cats and dogs because it was in the pet food.  How in the world can we go on eating the way we do from conventional producers?

Near the end of the Fast Food Nation film is a scene from the kill floor of the beef processing plant.  As much I wanted to I didn't avert my eyes.  But watching it made me wonder if I should go back to being a vegetarian.  But that isn't the answer for me. 

This morning I picked up a couple of oxtails from McDonald Family Farm.  I understand that my choice to eat meat means that I participate in an unpleasant fact of the food chain--animals are killed so that I can enjoy a good meal.  But I have no doubts about the way Peter McDonald raises his animals and I know that they are killed and processed in ways that are as humane as possible.  This is true for any meat producer listed on this blog.  These are about the only conditions under which I can continue to eat meat.  But I want to do a Michael Pollan and see for myself how animals are butchered and processed--that will be a goal this summer.

But beyond that I want to help others understand how messed up our food system is.  Industrial agriculture--conventional AND some USDA organic--continues to offer cheap food and food products that put our health and our planet at risk while small family farms fight for survival.  This is crazy. 

Fast Food Nation the movie was never going to make it big.  Films that tell too many harsh truths rarely do.  And it is unfortunate because a film like this would not only change minds but it would change hearts.  And then we might get somewhere. 

Working the Pyramid

This is a page from George Siemon's powerpoint presentation on Coorperatives and our Hope.  Siemon, of CROPP Cooperative writes in the Organic Valley newsletter about how important co-ops are to ensuring that healthy, organic food gets to the market--CROPP (Cooperative Regions of Organic Produce Pools) is the largest organic cooperative with 900 farmers in 24 states producing dairy and meat products. 

What I like about this pyramid is that it shows the national Organic Food Production Act (with that USDA Organic label we now look for) as the foundation--meaning the place to begin--in a journey of eating better for self and the planet.  At the top of the pyramid is "Grow your own".  Siemon encourages us to explore the continuum "each in our own way."

Looking for the organic label is a great place to start but if we are going to ensure the survival of our small and mid-size family farms we will have to encourage others to explore the continuum--work the pyramid.  Now that we're in May and the trees are finally beginning to bud I want to encourage everyone to begin shopping our markets again--both the Ithaca Farmers' Market and the CNY Regional  Market are open.  While it may be too soon to fill your market basket with lush produce, it is the perfect time to pick up packs of seedlings of tomatoes, lettuces, onions, or anything thing else you want to stick in the ground or in a pot to get your home garden started.  And, oh yes, if you buy that little pot of rosemary and tend it--you are growing you own. 

So go on, work the pyramid.

Archive Alert:  This date last year I was just starting the 2006 Eat Local Challenge.