Revamping the spice drawer

We all have them - stuffed full of faded labels and expired "use by" dates - the dreaded spice drawer or cabinet!

In the interest of full disclosure - here's mine - BEFORE!



We have only lived in our house 6 years, but we must have moved some spices from our old house, judging by the expiration dates. This seems to run in the family, because I remember Mom having a tin of mace from an A&P long after we had moved away from any branches of that famous chain grocery.

I admit it - this was a dysfunctional mess - I could never find anything, so I ended up either using whatever fresh herbs I had on hand or nothing at all - boring!!!

Judging by the cost of spice bottles in the grocery store, revamping the drawer and replacing the spices and herbs seemed overwhelming and too expensive, so I kept putting it off. And then along came Citizen's Co-op...

During their first day open, as I was browsing the shelves, I realized that all their stock of organic herbs and spices was brand new and super fresh. The bulk jars called my name and later at home I daydreamed ways to redo my spice drawer.

Since I happened to have a large number of very inexpensive small, clear plastic containers, I thought they would be perfect. I figured out how many would fit in the drawer, put them all in a box top, grabbed a Sharpie and headed off to the Co-op.

Once there, Gretchen put one of my containers, with the lid, on the scale to determine its weight so that when they weighed the full containers, the cashier could enter the tare and only weigh the spice or herb.

Choosing only 20 was fairly easy - and then I added a couple of new taste sensations to play with - for a total of 24 containers - just the right number to fill my drawer. I labeled the tops with the spice name and the price to make it easier to check out. And the payment was painless - the total for all the spices and herbs was only $9.00

So the total cost - a couple of hours and $10 - including the cost of the containers!

Once home, I just emptied and cleaned the drawer, lined it with a towel, and lined up my containers of fresh spices and herbs. So here's the AFTER!






It's worth the time and "expense" to have an organized drawer of fresh herbs ans spices at your fingertips - and bulk spices and herbs make it oh so easy to do!

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

I had fun in the kitchen today. I roasted a spaghetti squash and since I had the oven on, I also roasted a pan of eggplant chunks and another of chopped san marzano tomatoes. When the eggplant was done, I tossed it with some chopped fresh basil and a little olive oil. The tomatoes were tossed in olive oil and oregano before their pan went in the oven. The cooked and shredded spaghetti squash was tossed with a little butter, some roasted garlic (hey, the oven was on, so I took advantage) and thai basil.





When everything was done, I layered it in a flat casserole dish with Thomasville Tomme from Sweet Grass Dairy and more fresh herbs.



Covered the pan with foil and baked it 45 minutes at 350 degrees - on a cookie sheet since I used a glass pan.




What a winner! Looks great - tastes great - can be easily made vegan, but I am a cheese lover, and the Tomme was just assertive enough to stand up to the eggplant and garlic.

I will publish the recipe in Hogtown HomeGrown eventually, but until then, play with your food and have fun in the kitchen - you'll be surprised what you can create.

Come eat my food this Sunday

So this Sunday is the Kickoff for the 2011 Eat Local Challenge and as part of the festivities we have 5 guest cooks (and yes, I am one of the cooks) who will do cooking demos every half hour from 12 - 3pm.

I've decided to cook Anna's African Greens

The recipe came from someone in Kenya via our very own Anna Prizzia. The combination of garlic, tomatoes and ginger just makes the greens melt in your mouth. It also has the added benefit of creating a powerhouse of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals all accessible in one tasty side-dish.

Hope you can come enjoy the Kickoff and Party at Kumarie's - but if you can't, get a bunch of greens and cook up a pot of yumminess tonight!

Tips to get ready for the Challenge!

Well, just one week to go until the 2011 Eat Local Challenge begins. Since this is the 4th annual Challenge, I have learned a few tips to make sure I am ready to go on the very first day - which means we need to start now.

First, we need to eat up any non-local food we have in the house that we won't be eating during the Challenge - that little bit of ice cream in the freezer, those cheeses in the fridge and even the loaf of bread still in the breadbox. Not that we will go hungry with ice cream from Sweet Dreams, cheese from Cypress Point and bread from any of our locally-owned bakeries.

Next, we must make sure our pantry is stocked - basics like oil, vinegars, spices and herbs can make the difference between a bored locavore and a happy one! If you have decided to include them, also check your stock of grains, beans, flour, sugar and yes, butter. Consider using some substitutes during the Challenge - local ground corn products for cereals and flour, local honey in place of sugar, and while I suppose you could make your own butter - let's just not go there!

Finally, we check to see if we have enough pet food, dishwashing soap and paper products to last the month. I really try not to enter any big-box stores during the entire Challenge, although last year, I found myself doing late night runs (in disguise, of course) to get dog food and toilet paper. This year, I am stocking up in advance!

The Eat Local Challenge is not a road map to Locavore Nirvana, it is just a chance to see if you can eat a little closer to home, a chance to have fun with a new way of eating, and a chance to shake things up. Make the Challenge fun - get together family and friends to cook most of your meals at home, but be sure to visit some of our locally-owned restaurants that source local food.

Italia

Italy has a been a revelation. The best food is fresh and seasonal - just the way I like it - but served very simply, without many spices or condiments. This allows the natural flavors of the ingredients to blend with each other, creating a more powerful taste than any spice or condiment could evoke.

My favorite so far? This simple, but luxurious, primi of artisan Bergamasque cornmeal with white truffle shaved over the top. The aroma was heavenly and the taste earthy - the entire dish was so satisfying that I was tempted to lick the plate - only thoughts of good manners and my mother's disapproval restrained me.





Now I have made polenta before, but the creamy texture and pure corn flavor put my efforts to shame. I don't know what it was, but I will try all the tricks I know - freshly ground cornmeal, slow even cooking for a long time and a wooden spoon for stirring.

As for the truffles - well, fresh truffles only have about a three day lifespan - so unless I decide to mortgage our house (second mortgage, that is) to fly one over from Alba, I will have to make do with a few meager slices of the jarred truffles in liquid I am bringing home. Oh well, my memory will be with me at least!

Got Cheese?

Text and photos by Erin Rauch, intern for Hogtown HomeGrown

With the help of master cheese makers, extensive research and community support, Florida now boasts three licensed artisan cheese dairies. In their new book, Summer of a Thousand Cheeses, Russ and Peg Hall describe artisan cheese as “produced primarily by hand, in small batches, with particular attention paid to the tradition of the cheesemaker’s art.”

Dairies across Florida are reintroducing the European artisan cheese tradition and expanding their presence in the local food market. “It was actually the more artisan cheeses that got us re-interested and made us think there was a story to be told,” Peg Hall said.

Russ and Peg Hall mention Winter Park Dairy, licensed in 2008 as the first raw milk cheese maker licensed in Florida, in their book. David Green, owner of Winter Park Dairy, learned how to make cheese at the University of Vermont. “Cheese is extremely complex,” Green said. “You need to learn the intricacies of making it.” Green makes Tomme and Bleu Cheese, both he described as uniquely natural rind cheeses. The rind is the outer shell of the cheese and is usually edible. He also said he hopes to make Gouda in the future.

Green said he likes the Bleu Cheese he makes because it’s alive and it has a lot of flavor. His Bleu Cheese, known as “Bleu Sunshine,” was the first raw milk cheese produced in Florida. “It is the freshest raw milk product that can be legally purchased,” according to their website, www.winterparkdairy.com.

Winter Park Dairy originated as a citrus farm. After a bad freeze, Green started the dairy. “Cheese isn’t seasonal and it’s not subject to plague or frost,” Green said. “It ages indefinitely, it just gets better.” Green milks eight cows, twice a day, with help from Leah Steele, an intern studying at the University of Central Florida, and he brings in milk from other dairies as well.

He sells his cheese at the Winter Park Farmers Market on Saturday mornings and at the Audubon Park Community Market on Monday nights. Green said the market for his cheese is only limited by the U.S. Postal Service. While he sells cheese as far away as Napa Valley, California, his commercial accounts include major hotel chains such as the Waldorf Astoria, Hyatt, Marriot and Hilton.

It was David Green and Winter Park Dairy that sparked John and Nancy Mims’ interest in artisan cheeses. The Mims have been in the dairy business for about 34 years. Their newest venture is Cypress Point Creamery, a cheese dairy on their farm, RexRun Farm in Hawthorne, Florida. John Mims built the cheese plant about a year ago in 2009.

“We were looking for something that added value, rather than just wholesaling all of our milk,” John Mims said. Cypress Point Creamery is a farmstead cheese manufacturer because they produce cheese using only the milk from their cows. With the help of hired workers, John Mims milks 160 cows, twice a day.



The Mims’ make cheese about once a week. They are currently making Gouda, Havarti and Tomme because people recognize their names and love their taste. By law, raw milk cheeses have to age for a minimum of 60 days in order to be sold for human consumption. Their first venture, Gouda, should be ready to sell soon. “It’s just a mild, white cheese,” John Mims said. “It melts well and has a good creamy texture.”



While they wait for their cheeses to age, they enjoy the fruits of their labor with almost every meal. After positive reactions from friends and neighbors, they said they are looking forward to selling their products at market soon.

Another Florida cheesemaker is Wainwright Dairy in Live Oak, Florida. They produce Grade A Pasteurized, non-homogenized milk and all-natural cheeses. The Wainwright family has been in the dairy business for over 30 years, according to their website, www.wainwrightdairy.com. They were the second licensed raw milk cheese maker in Florida.

Chris Campbell, manager at the dairy, said they just built a cheese plant and a bottling plant. They currently make cheese twice a week, according to their website, and it can be found for sale at local retailers. The different varieties they produce are Colby, Pepper Jack, Baby Swiss, Cheddar and fresh Cheddar curds.

It was Cheddar cheese that was the main part of Russ and Peg Hall’s family cheese roots since they grew up in New York. One of the Hall’s first experiences with artisan cheese was in Florida. As they wrote their book, Russ Hall said their biggest discovery was the new cheese makers in Florida.

The Halls describe the significance of the bond between cheese, cheese maker and customer in the book Summer of a Thousand Cheeses. “It’s kind of like a little partnership,” Russ Hall said. “You know the cheese is good, clean and fair because you know where it came from.”

Summer of a Thousand Cheeses shares the Hall’s adventurous discovery of the new American cheese and the book can be purchased online at www.lighthallbooks.com. The Halls “want to share the fun we had doing it,” Russ Hall said. “We want people to enjoy and learn things along the way.”

While there may be only three raw milk artisan cheese producers in Florida, the variety is amazing. “We are all doing different styles with different herds and techniques,” David Green, owner of Winter Park Dairy, said. “It’s a good thing.”

Farmers Feast at Georgia Organics Conference 2010

A recent trip to the Georgia Organics Conference in Athens, Georgia was an eye-opening experience to a foodie culture that we did not know existed in semi-rurual Georgia. We went to attend workshops and hear Carlo Petrini - we left with a respect (and a little jealousy) for what Athens has been able to accomplish by promoting, serving and savoring local foods.

Our first night in Athens was spent dining at Last Resort Grill - a hard choice made from a list of Athens restaurants that serve local food. We had a fabulous meal and a wonderful experience.

On to the Conference - I attended workshops about family dinners, farm-to-school programs, youth-led activism in New Orleans and a Cafe Campesino and Cooperative Coffees workshop about free trade coffee cooperatives and roaster cooperatives.

After a quick lunch of local green salads, veggie chili and cornbread (I was scandalized - there was sugar in all the cornbread!), and a long walk through the expo with more than 100 vendors with everything from vegetables seeds to casseroles to cook those veggies in, we were looking forward to a chance to relax at the Farmers Feast.

Rumors of the feast circulated as the day went on — more than two dozen chefs, local wine, lots of desserts — it was a good thing lunch was light. The most bizarre rumor turned out to be true — while everyone received the same starter, there were four different menus! We entered the ballroom and quickly moved through the burlap-covered long farm tables, looking for a “menu match.” It was a very hard choice, since they all sounded wonderful and there were at least one vegan and four vegetarian choices on each seven item menu. While we got to know our table mates, the food parade began, with the chefs bringing out each table's seven dishes in family-service sized bowls and casseroles. We passed the food and wine, chatting with our neighbors about flavors and seasonings. Greens and root vegetable were heavily represented due to the time of year, but their presentations were flavorful and innovative.

Dessert cannot be described, but I did lovingly videotape the groaning dessert tables.


The dessert parade was even grander than the entree parade.


Each table was presented with a cake by a chef who described and served the heavenly creation.

I must admit, while our table was served a luscious-looking Coca-Cola cake, I knew that somewhere in the room was that delightful Southern specialty, Hummingbird Cake - spice layers with a pineapple-fruit-cream filling. (It was the last cake pictured in the parade of desserts video.) I boldly took my slice of Coca-Cola cake and went in search of a trade. Across the room, a kindred spirit's eye's went wide when I flashed my cake and offered a trade for hers. Oh, was it worth the effort!

The conference was wonderful, the workshops excellent and enlightening, the atmosphere in Athens was welcoming and inspiring! And Carlo Petrini signed my copy of one of his books -

If you want to read more about the conference look in the March 2010 Hogtown HomeGrown