Travelogue Part II: Sustainable Booze

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IMG_1452 2 by you.

 

How do you move a 500-pound barrel of bourbon? Roll it downhill, of course! This is what Woodford Reserve does, and has done for years. No fossil fuels or electricity required.And how about getting that sweet flavor and striking amber color in the booze? Could it be some processed corn-derived sweetener? Or lab-produced tint? Nope. Just caramelized oak.

Same idea for the aging process. Mustn’t they consume kilowatts upon kilowatts of energy to regulate the temperature of the warehouse maturing rows of barrels in wooden bunks? As it turns out, the bourbon needs the changing seasonal temperatures to do its thing. Only rarely does Woodford turn on the AC or the heat to adjust what Mother Nature gives them. Continue reading →

Ribbed, Red, and Ready to Whip

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Sex WhiskThe next part of the travelogue is coming up, but I couldn’t resist showing you this in the mean time. Can these people really sell a whisk that looks so much like a sex toy with a straight face? And without blushing?

If you think the resemblance is just a coincidence, consider the one color it comes in: devil horn red.

I’m just sayin’.

Travelogue Part I: Mass Movement

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Last weekend, I was in Massachusetts for the Northeast Organic Farming Association’s annual conference.

What did I see? Well, first we made a stop at Ellen’s parents’ farm. The conference springs forth pretty much entirely from an office just above the basement greenhouse where the seedlings come to life each year. Outside the control room, family photos, country wall paper, and the smell of the wood stove that cooks the food and heats the water…

 

Continue reading →

Good Stuff

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When Cliff Luhn asked how my burger was and I said it was good, he smiled and nodded with approval. He wasn’t just pleased that I was enjoying my Vegetarians are People Too ‘Shroom Burger (two organic portobello mushroom caps oozing with cheese and battered with panko breadcrumbs) as a fellow diner. I could see the satisfaction went deeper.

“A lot of R and D went into that,” Cliff said.

He proceeded to tell me–with some reporter-like prompting on my part–about the process he and Good Stuff Eatery’s chef, Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn, went through to arrive at the succulent burgers, tasty fries, and unique mayos of the new hot burger joint in town.

I was pleased they did enough testing to realize hydrolyzed soy burgers are not the way to go for the herbivores. In addition to that, Cliff said, they tried countless kinds of potatoes to choose the specific type of russets for their fries, which are cut in house.

Although Good Stuff specializes in burgers (R-and-Ded to the perfect ratio of sirloin to ground beef), they have lots of touches a vegetarian foodie can appreciate. Spike has fused his way to fries that will satisfy American, Belgian, and English tastes in chip consumption. A condiment station offers five different mayos including mango and Sriracha, and a bottle of malt vinegar nestles next to the requisite ketchup and mustard on each table. And if you’re not into any of those options for your fries or want a change of what to dip, you can try them with the Vidalia onion rings.

The milkshakes, handspun with house-made frozen custard, include creative flavors like Soursop Hop Strawberry and Toasted Marshmallow. The place even offers points of interest to locavorians and the pesticide-averse–they strive to cull all of the ingredients from within 60 to 100 miles, and like I mentioned, the ‘shrooms are organic. I could go on, but you get the idea.

I appreciated Cliff’s openness. Unless you’re a fancy New Yorker writer covering a chef with tongue cancer, you probably have not gotten an in-depth look at the birth of restaurant fare. I know I hadn’t, and I felt special. It was great, and I’m not just saying that because my meal was comped!

Spike’s sister, Micheline–the friend who connected me to this whole free taste test–also gave me a peek into the process. In addition to the big stuff like making sure the word gets out about Good Stuff, she sees to things most people wouldn’t even think of, like Braille menus for blind customers and sushi bar-style check off menus for deaf folks. Micheline not only has the PR skills, but can get behind the counter to make a mean toasted marshmallow shake to boot. Aside from the obvious whole whole marshmallows and custard, though, she won’t reveal what goes into it.

People Come and Go, But Coffee is Forever

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A feature of my past and current kitchen is a beautifully illuminated and framed post about coffee. A reader and friend was inspired by the piece and thus made it my one and only post to achieve that kind of immortality.

I realized today that it’s been exactly a year since I wrote that.

In that year, I’ve had 2 apartments, taken my first 4 graduate classes, traveled to the other side of the globe and back, changed my cooking priorities, moved out of a relationship and into singlehood, and grown closer to some friends while others have become more distant. And one friend has left this Earth. But I’m still sipping that life-giving cup o’ joe each day. Funny how things change, but vices remain the same.

Hot Fuzz

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‘Tis the time for fresh peaches! But you can only nibble so many whole ones and spoon down so many cobblers. That’s when it’s time to try the new rage this year and put your fuzzy friends on the grill!

To get that party started, I tried a grilled peach slice with a veggie burger at a recent grill out session. It was delish. You can also try grilled peach salsa.

I recommend yellow peaches for all your grilling endeavors. The white ones are too tame, without that sour compliment to the sweetness.

Have fun!

From Weed to Treasure–Callaloo

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Weeds. They spring up in sidewalk cracks, between rows of your favorite garden veggie, and everywhere else they’re not wanted. But as more and more gardeners know and I’m realizing little by little, they’re not all bad. A recent epiphany came from a line on my CSA’s blackboard in the pick-your-own list:

Pig weed (callaloo)

Now, I’d heard of callaloo and I’d seen pig weed make itself at home in the garden, but never connected the two! The next time I yanked out those straight green stalks with Ace-of-spades-shaped leaves, instead of tossing them in the compost, I was debating whether I should steam or saute.  Continue reading →

Down in the Salsa, Two Chunks to the Left

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ChilesIt seems that investigators looking at the salmonella outbreak had jumped into the right party dip, but landed a few centimeters off. While the first supposed culprit was Mexican tomatoes, the discovery of a contaminated jalapeno pepper has them looking at a slicker, spicier suspect. I’m not clear on how one contaminated veggie can change the course of a whole investigation (isn’t it possible that this contamination happens all the time with all different kinds of produce, but people don’t report the salmonella, or attribute it to raw eggs or something?), but I figure they know what they’re doing.

I know I don’t need to say it again, but I will: Eat local, people. You don’t have to be a fancy USDA investigator to figure out that the chain of farm –> farmer’s market –> your table offers fewer chances for screw-ups than big farm –> sorting station –> truck/train trip –> distribution center –> supermarket –> your table.

Don’t give Murphy’s Law any more opportunities to take effect.

Easter Bunny Syndrome

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Easter Bunny Syndrome is what one rabbit breader calls the aversion to seeing those furry, long-eared creatures on the menu. It turns out a lot of people (even those who happily eat other meat) have it. To me, this condition is as silly as it sounds. Why object to a meat just because the animal is supposedly cute? Do our feathered and four-stomached friends not deserve the same respect?

If you’re going to follow that kind of logic in life, you should only be nice to really adorable people and let your inner butcher have at the others. I say if you’re going to eat meat, be an equal opportunity omnivore.