To can, it takes a bunch of work to clean and sterilize, probably some peeling, maybe some long cooking; freezing usually needs some prep, an initial blanch; cold storage needs that, cold and storage. Except, after the cans are canned and the peas frozen, there’s not much else to do. Absent some act of God, things should be fine. Not so with stored food. As Mad Eye Moody would say, “constant vigilance.” One must visit their food.
Am I the only guy in town not pleased that the weather’s warmed this week? I’ve already got big bucks in food sitting around the attic, and that food (and me) won’t be happy with warmth. We need chill. So, I stepped in on them yesterday to see how they were doing. There’s two big plastic bags containing half bushels of apples, a box with another half bushel as well as five or so smaller paper bags of apples. In a different part of the attic there are several bags of potatoes, both regular and sweet, plus some celery roots and rutabagas.
Everything seemed fine yesterday. I was most concerned about the roots. I believe the potatoes and apples are more forgiving of the weather variations. They all seemed hard, what I want to see. In my inspection I found one Raritan apple going soft in a spot. Who knew what bad apples would have resulted from this example. Good thing I was there. I snatched. Cut away the icky stuff and snacked away. Take that.
I firmly believe that cold storage as a quiver in the locavore arsenal, and I will stand guard to watch and protect this arsenal.
In our feature on storage and preservation, we make the twin points that these are on-going tasks as well as tasks especially suited and needed in the harvest season. At this point of year, the harvest is essentially over, but the need to work through the bounty is still acute. It is not so much that we are canning tomatoes anymore, it’s that we have to deal with all the food we have. We have a lot of food because of big CSA boxes in recent weeks, and we have a lot of food because I’m busy doing things like buying the last red peppers I can find. A lot of the food we have, will stick around, the potatoes, the beets, the celery roots, but all those red peppers and such, well some food is not forever. I plan on some work today. This on top of work the other day and work my hard workin’ wife did on Monday.
Except for the peppers going in the freezer, nothing else is being truly preserved. Instead, I and my wife are just doing things to make it last longer. Cooking extends vegetable life. Pickles extend their life even more. Keeping in oil, as with the peppers, is also an extender. All of these things will ensure that this Local Family has plenty of local food to eat for the week’s ahead.
How are you working off the harvest?
Those attempting to eat local in an area like Chicago must dance a delicate dance. Do we rush to the first squash and apples of the fall season, or do we gorge on tomatoes until the last taste of sour green. How to divide the weekly food budget, eat now or buy for later. It’s not just how to spend, it’s how to save. What facilities exist for storage? What time exists to process?
I am glad to report that lasting these days is easier than ever. There are more winter markets. Cassie has the goods at her Green Grocer and Irv and Shelly deliver–just look at their site to get a sense of what is still available. The days of eating local on your own are gone. I plan my winter with these places in mind. And with that in mind, here are my short-term eat local goals; rather I should say, here are my short term eat local buying goals.
What’s on your to-do list?
Local eating may save the planet, improve the economy of your community, and make you spoiled for most anyone else’s meals, but it requires the necessary act of food preparation. I complained about the cooking thing the other day to David “Hat” Hammond. He rejected this critique of local. Podding peas. “I like it,” Hammond said. “Beets?” I asked. “Piece of cake,” Hammond countered (although I don’t believe). So, I admit that cooking, including the initial prep is rewarding to some. I will still counter that many people just do not have the time. I’m blessed to local with my ability to work at home. The challenge of having time to prepare food is the hardest part of local eating I maintain.
I specifically do not need to do the weekend cooking thing. I usually have time to make meals to order. Still, a desire to be productive yesterday as well as the knowledge that many of the kinda foods I want to eat can be made in advance, I took to the stoves. I also wanted to make some headway in our over-crowded fridges and deal with some aging items. Those challenged for dinner each night can mimic these dishes. Even without these specific dishes, they should well consider a little advanced cooking.
About 90 minutes, if that much, of cooking on Sunday, and I have lotsa good local food to enhance my week. I could have put in more time, made more dishes, but like I say, I am blessed with weekday time. For those without such luck, make local more possible by getting a head start.
Before laying out all my wife and I bought, let me also direct you to my latest whine on the lack of four season farming. Also, just because my main market, Oak Park wrapped up, and many other area markets wrapped up, does not mean yours has gone to sleep. Green City is outdoors for one more week, then indoors for at least another few months, with apparent plans for even longer marketing. As I wrote last week, you have some Loop-based options. A full slew of winter markets, starting November 8, will meet weekly around the Chicago area. Follow the Local Beet for more details, but for now, you can find the latest schedule here. Still, for me, yesterday was a market like there was no tomorrow.
We got:
Last Friday, I advised you all to seek out some of our regions more unique food treasures. This week, while it may still be fun to buy up some delicacies like wild mushrooms or track down an elusive paw-paw, it is vital to address your most basic needs. Most farmer’s markets will close up shop after this weekend. The end of the line means, obviously, a chance to stock-up for cooler months, and it is an especially good time to stock up because farmer’s are likely to wheel and deal. Make offers they cannot refuse.
This Local Family gets a good amount of its food each Thursday via its Genesis Grower’s CSA; then, we supplement, mostly with weekend farmer’s markets (mostly Oak Park’s). I usually report back around Monday with our haul. Because our CSA box was so full yesterday, and we did so well with Chad Nichol’s at the Eli’s Cheesecake Factory market yesterday, I am going to recount what we have so far this week. Expect another report after the weekend buys.
You know what, after all that, I may not even remembered everything, like I forgot the chestnuts we bought last week. Plus, I did not even mention the local eggs and local chicken from Farmer Vicki. The challenge of eating local, not finding the food. The challenge, eating all that food.
The week in news and blogs in the world of local eating:
I’m gonna skip the accessible/affordable report today. I did spot some stuff in the weekly inserts, but I have not had a Caputo’s run this week. I think we all recognize that the era of easy local is coming to a close. Therefore, I want to point you to where it still reigns, the Loop.
Now, it appears that the Daley Plaza market wrapped up for the season, but the local food seeker has other choices downtown. Today and next Thursday, there is a market at Sears Tower. Next Tuesday is the final appearance of the Federal Plaza market. I did some shopping at Federal Plaza the other day. The shopping was testament to what is still out there as well as testament to what a shopper can do this time of year. First of all, this was no skinny market of gourds and pumpkins. Farmers showed roots and greens and berries and even nectarines (although my last nectarine buy turned out to be what I should have expected this late); there were tomatoes and lettuces and eggplants and peppers to keep winter at bay. The Federal Plaza market has a vendor selling local honey and local cider vinegar to expand your local pantry. Second of all, the farmers, at least some, were willing to wheel and deal. I ended up with a very large amount of pears for seven dollars from one farmer. Make some offers. Everything needs to go, no? So much this time of year will last, the pears and apples and roots and squashes. Moreover, as I am constantly reminding, ensure your cooking needs for herbs, garlic, and onions. See if you can especially bargain for these items.
I highly doubt the Downtown Farmstand will let you haggle. In fact, they will mostly require you to play prices slightly higher than the Farmer’s Market. On the other hand, you can pay by credit card. And in a week, it will be your only game in town, loop-wise. I made my first visit to this vision of a public market. I had misgivings about this market the moment I heard of it, and my initial visit did not dissuade me of these feelings. When I found higher prices, I thought they did that so as not to undercut the farmers at the market. It turns out the excess prices cover margin. Yet, given this is a city venture, what are the real costs? As I heard the farmers were not being charged to place their stuff, I thought it would be more like consignment. Rather, they are treating the farmers as wholesalers. All-in-all, the mark-up does not bother me. I would, however, like to see more products. The fruit and vegetable on sale was less than at the market, but that part was OK. There was a range of speciality products like the very good Das caramels as well as items more mundane like Eli’s Cheesecake and Lou Malnati’s pizza (personally I have no problem with these things). Where it was really missing the chance was to provide the types of day-to-day foods that people need to live la vida local. No meat. No eggs. No dairy. Also, to start picking nits, while I am fine with them carrying the Eli’s level stuff, I would have liked some finds too. I’m not the person to be too surprised these days, but I would have loved to find something new besides some rooftop herbs. And honestly, I did not find the same welcome that I’ve received at Cassie’s.
Whatever displeasures I have with the Downtown Farmstand pale to my happiness that there will be a source for looptime local shopping for several more weeks. Also, to relate to one of my peeves, I am very happy with a source of local food that is daily and with later hours (although I wish it also opened earlier than 11 AM). We are ending a period where local food was accessible via neighborhood grocery stores, let alone via neighborhood farmer’s markets. Local food is not, however, going away, and options remain for those in the Loop.
When I was thinking of unwelcome thoughts the other day, I had three things that I wanted to report, in the vein of just the facts Ma’am. Well, when time came to do the post, I could only think of two things, the rotten tomatoes and the over-priced apples at Costco. I tried to remember the third, but when my brain failed me, I resorted to the more greenly packaged apples at Trader Joe’s. A stop by Gaper’s Block today reminded me of that other one.
I’ve crowed about the victories achieved by our local cheeses. Thus, I must also report that our local beers did not do especially well in the recent Great American Beer Festival, at least on the scale of local cheeses. Now, I’m plenty happy with my local beers. I really liked the Oktoberfest beer from Three Floyds. Still, I must honestly report ‘em as I see ‘em.
It has been asked before on the Vital Information blog, I’ve addressed the question on other blogs. I’ve heard from chefs what David Hammond has heard, that sourcing local grains was a challenge. Can the local diet include grains grown and milled around here. My experience, born from traveling and visiting farmer’s markets is that yes, yes, there are local grains. The challenge, though is twofold. First, if you expect to find all of your local foods at your nearest farmer’s market, even if you shop at Chicago’s Green City Market, you might not be able to find local grains. Second, even with the few markets with grains, like downtown’s Daley Plaza Thursday market, the places selling local grains are few and far apart. Roadtrip to Elkhart Indiana anyone?
Before getting to the local grains that can be found, let me relate my wife’s biggest peeve, the difficulty in finding the plainest whitest flours to use for pies and other baked goods. We did eventually find such, at a gourmet store in Detroit, who’s name I cannot quite remember but I can tell you it’s on Woodward just north of downtown Detroit. And I could not even remember the name on the flour, so I went to our basement, and it turns out the flour has no name. It just says “Michigan Grown Unbleached Pastry Flour” “Recommended by Achatz Bakers” (yes that family*). Anyways, this is the only stuff quite like it, local, we have ever found in our travels.
That said, it’s not that hard to track down local grains. At the Daley Plaza farmer’s market, there is a stand featuring the products of the Midwest Organic Farmer’s Co-op. Included in their fare are grains from Ackerman Farm from downstate Illinois–you have tomorrow and next Thursday to try.
Near DeKalb is a small operation called Ted’s Grains. And I mean small, the grain grinder is no bigger than a meat grinder you might have on your counter. He procures and grinds a variety of grains. Cassie frequently carries his stuff at her Green Grocer, and I know that you will be able to find it at the forthcoming winter markets (info soon).
If you run around with the Amish crowd, especially in NE Indiana, you are likely to find places that sell the “New Rinkel” flours of Greenfield Mills. I wish some places closer to Chicago would carry their stuff.
My absolute favorite place for local grains is the Bonneyville Mill near Elkhart, Indiana. This is an hones-to-god water driven gristmill that dates to the mid-1800’s. It was taken over and revived by the Elkhart Park District. If you can make the trek out there until 10/31, you can get things done the rightest of ways.
Speciality sources aside, there is a decent amount of wheat farming in Wisconsin and more than a decent amount of rye farming in Michigan. There is also oat farming in Michigan. At the Dane County Farmer’s Market, you will usually find someone selling something grainy. At stores in Wisconsin like Outpost Natural Foods and Willy St. Co-op, you can find local grains–except probably for pastry flour.
So, yes there is a thing as local grain. It does not mean tracking it down is easy, nor does it mean that at the end of the day, you will even find the grain you need.
I told my wife, a key member of the Local Family, about this post looking at negative facets to local eating. I said I was going to call it “Brutal Honesty”. She suggested something softer and nuanced. I know she would never use “Fair and Balanced”, but now I cannot remember what she had said. I cannot get her idea because she’s already gone a-bakin’. I’ll just note the notes below as “Honest Local”. See, I may a huge advocate of local eating in Chicago, but I am also eminently fair. No one challenges more than me, no one makes a better case than me (in my honest opinion).
Disconcerting thought number one: At least once a week, I report back on the fact that local food is currently accessible and affordable, basing my data on weekly inserts in the poorly designed Trib and visits to Angelo Caputo’s in Elmwood Park. Well, over the weekend, I visited a Costco, the Coscto in Oak Brook. Given a choice of apples, the consumer could find apples from Washington and apples from Michigan. Going just on price, the consumer would have to had chosen Washington.
Disconcerting fact number two is related. We also stopped in at Trader Joe’s, in Downer’s Grove, this Sunday. They had apples too. One came in plastic; one came in farm fresh white paper. Yes, my friends, it was the Michigan sealed in petro-plastic. It was the New York in the olde thyme sacks.
Switching subjects, when were were putting together the article on storage and preservation, I was met with a bit of scepticism about the keeper tomatoes. I stuck to my guns, and it stayed in the final draft. Putting money where my keyboard was, my wife and I bought about fifteen pounds of keeper tomatoes from Nichol’s at the Eli’s Cheesecake market. I dutifully wrapped the tomatoes in newspaper and put them aside while we still had other tomatoes. Then, the other day, I noticed something stinky. After getting my daughter to put away her dirty soccer uniform, I noticed the smell again. Soon, I zeroed in on the source. It seemed that white gobs of mold had attacked most of the tomatoes. I salvaged maybe five. The rest went in the garbage disposal. Really, this surprised me. I am not sure why they spoiled so quickly, but as I tell the kids all the time, poop happens. At least I am honest with you all. And I guess disconcerting fact number three is that tomato season will be over a bit sooner than I thought.
Never let it be said that I do not give the full experience of eating local, nor do I hide any facts (in my opinion).
I like to eat many things, but I only like to cook some things. I reluctantly use recipes, and I hate the act of measuring. This puts baking beyond my kitchen skills. Likewise, my patience or lack thereof, limits my desire to tackle things like stocks. Or so I thought. I told you that vegetables have a very long life, indeed, but they do need a peaceful place eventually to be put to rest. Facing a couple of dishes that could have used vegetable stock, I decided, what they hey, give it a swirl. It pleased like hell, the miser in me, using a bunch of items in the fridge that would have otherwise gone in the compost heap. Then, it turned out to be something at my level. And it turned out really darned good. From now on, all my old vegetables are going into the stock pot.
Clearly, I am a convert to vegetable stock because vegetable stock requires no formula, no recipe. It is a dish with one guideline and three easy steps. The guideline: use about any vegetable except for those in the cabbage family. The steps: 1: sweat an onion in a some pure olive oil or other light oil; 2: add a bunch of odds and ends vegetables found–I used arugula that had wilted, a chunk of daikon still around (similar to turnips often called for in stock recipes), parsley stems (see why to save), two over-ripe tomatoes (good for color too), a few thyme stems, a few carrots; 3: cover with cold water. OK, those three steps will not quite get you stock. Season aggressively with salt. I added several peppercorns, a few cloves of garlic (don’t have to peel) and a few star anise seeds (a brilliant touch if I say so myself). Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Let simmer until you decide you got other things to do. Strain into another pot, pressing down on the veg to extract as much juices as possible. Use.
Use. This was was rich, complex broth that could meet many kitchen needs. The specific dishes that I needed to draw vegetable stock from were in the Sephardic Jewish repertoire. Kosher laws requiring milk and meat apart makes vegetable stock more versatile in the Jewish kitchen. Vegetable stock is parve or goes both ways. I would be happy, however, to use this stock in a braise or for poached meats. I could see using this stock for some gravies, after all, my intended purpose was for an egg-lemon sauce. Soup would be just around the corner with this stock, and with a bit of bones, a chunk of sausage or something, it could be properly carnivorous. It really opens opportunities to have good stock around. It really is not difficult to have good stock around when you can turn your oldest vegetables into stock. If I can do it.
Just because we returned from the market with more tomatoes, cherry and heirloom, and that our CSA included eggplant, did not mean that it was another week of wistful shopping. When we were unpacking, I remembered that I had forgot to even look for cucumbers. I would have been very happy if I found them, but overall, this is now a time to look ahead. I did not take my advice and seek out interesting products (and add chestnuts to that list). Instead, we took care of some key long term needs yesterday. First, we purchased many onions. Second, we purchased apples and pears to store. Our CSA has been so full, this week and such, we have plenty of food in the Bungalow. Maybe we could not afford the luxury of speciality shopping, but we could afford this week to look ahead.
We addressed our onion need. We bought a boat-load of onions from the eponymously named Farm, a sack with over 20 lbs of yellow onions. From Farmer Vicki’s Genesis Growers, we got 2 quarts of red torpedo shaped. From Vicki and Nichol’s, we got cipollini’s. As I have noted before, one needs to buy onions to last not just for now, but all the way until next May. Also, as I may or may not have mentioned, onions are not quite as easily found around town as potatoes, the other main winter vegetable. Do stock up. I know we will get plenty of onions from our fall CSA, and we will continue to buy, but we are in good shape onion-wise.
I mentioned on the Vital Information blog that this winter, we want to be a bit less devoted to the apple. We are counting on pears to spread the burden. Thus, we have been buying a lot of pears of late, including some Michigan pears we are finding in sources besides the farmer’s market. Yesterday, from Nichol’s Farm, we got a few more pounds of pears. Most of the pears are being stocked away in the basement fridge. For everyday fruit, we have seasonal berries, 2 quarts yesterday from Skibbes, and grapes, a few quarts from our CSA. We are buying apples too, to put away; I acquired a 1/2 bushel of mixed apples yesterday from Skibbes that went straight to the attic. The apples that are coming in our CSA, go to “daily eating.” I expect to continue to buy apples for several more weeks at the various markets. I also expect apples to be available in the months ahead, both at winter markets and in more conventional sources (we found Michigan apples at Costco last March), but now is a good time to buy for variety and price. While apples and pears will not be our sole fruit options, we will buy some citrus, some bananas, maybe a kiwi or two, we will still draw heavily from our stock of apples and pears. And frozen fruit, we have frozen fruit for pies and other desserts. And, and, we also have canned spiced peaches!
Like I said above, it is easy to look ahead because the CSA is doing such a good job of keeping us with fruits and veg. Besides the things already mentioned, we got this week, several green peppers, more collard greens, turnips with their greens, one of those odd Asian greens that Farmer Vicki always socks us with, in this case bekahna (or something like that), which looks like a big head of romaine lettuce. We also got two acorn squash that will last a bit, and carrots that will also last us a bit, but one big red onion that has already been used even if it would have lasted us a bit–see do any bit of cooking and you will find your onions gone soon. Oh, and a head of red cabbage.
For all of the stocking done, we have a few acute needs. We have hardly got potatoes. This is mostly on purpose as I plan one of these days to buy a 50 lb bag or Wisconsin russet potatoes at the wholesale market. I also expect to find potatoes fairly easily throughout the year. Any time we hit Madison, I know I can come back with delicious heirloom potatoes. We do need, however, to buy more root veg. I am counting on Vicki’s operations at Green City Market through November to supply me. Because root vegetables are the hardest thing to store in a Suburban house, I just do not want to get too ahead of myself on these things. There will be a time for rutabagas and other roots, just not this week.
It’s been another easy week to be a Local Family. It was also a week to take steps to ensure it stays easy to be a Local Family. Good luck in your local eating.
A while back, the Editor-in-Chief and I were talking why’s. Regardless of the arguments over food miles, Michael made the excellent point that local food is special because it gives you a taste of your region. That it is still a very good thing that we all do not eat the same things every day. To eat local is both to wallow in our native products and to be fortunate enough to get a hold of certain tastes. Fall is especially a time when the best or most unique of the Midwest foods come to bear. You might be able to find some of the items below at area farmer’s markets; some you might need to roadtrip or work to uncover.
Finding and eating unique foods is one of the best reasons to be a locavore. Great luck this weekend in your hunt.
The week in news and blogs in the world of local eating:
From The New York Times Magazine “Food Issue”
Elsewhere:
