What Is the Value of Artisanal Food

“We learn from our gardens to deal with the most urgent question of our time: How much is enough?”
Wendell Berry, The Reactor and the Garden. 1979

Please don’t be mislead into thinking that global warming is the most pressing ecological issue of our age. First of all, global warming is a projection, a guess at the future and thus left best within the care and credibility of astrologers. Global climate change however is a fact, and, having studied the discipline, not one we should welcome. Secondly, global climate change is a symptom and not a cause of our ecologic catastrophe.
What, then is the cause? The driver to desertification, rising sea levels, unprecedented species extinction rates, radically augmented atmospheric composition, contaminated surface and ground waters, crashing and mercury tainted fish stocks, epidemic cancer rates, rampant deforestation, and the overall decline in the capacity of self renewal (health) of our bios is: us. Not as a species inherently. But you and me. Us. Our consumption. I mean, if it ain’t mined, it’s grown. Right? And don’t blame the third world. That’s bullshit. I fault them for no more than their foolish willingness to adopt our consumerism so desperately, and with such glibness.
The main impetus for greed, destruction, the abortion of our progeny’s future is consumerism. It is THE environmental problem. And, it is entirely in our minds.
In this way, our environmental crisis is a spiritual problem requiring a change or heart more than anything else. To paraphrase my above quoted hero: The energy crisis in not due to a lack of fuel source, but due to a lack of moral fortitude, and a weakness of character.

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One of the great constraints on artisanship is the juxtaposition of quality and quantity. These two, in this case, are inversely related, and the artisan too must be concerned with ‘How much is enough?’ Industrial food, and the ‘food service industry’ is entirely unconcerned with such a balance despite what any advertisement may claim. The investors and complicitors of these businesses see only growth and make sacrificial worship to the mythical beast Infinite Growth.
An artisan business is not necessarily growth driven. It may grow, and have growth incentives, but in reality it is in fact driven by the deep personal need to create and make. The business must be productive enough to produce a fair living, yet without the limiting control of quality the food falls from artisanal grace. Moreover artisanal food should not be consumptive of people and places; it does not destroy them in the wake of its own ‘progress.’ Rather, in its use of materials and talents, it should create opportunities, apprenticeships, and markets for others to explore and occupy from year to year and generation to generation. Akin to a garden, artisanal food makes people and places productive in a wholesome and productive way that “speaks powerfully of the abundance of the world” and also demonstrates that abundance is limitless, given moderated and responsible use.

G’ amar Yom Tov. May you all have a powerful and meaningful season.

The Green Green Grass of Home

If you know me and love me then you know what a kvetch I can be. And, there is a lot to bitch about when it comes to the aesthetics of East Central Illinois. I won’t pull any punches about the paucity of accessible beauty here. For the record, it’s not the ‘flat’ thing. The flat itself is an astounding remnant of continental glaciations that ground nutrient rich limestones into the parents of +12,000 year old grasslands of unparalleled productivity. It’s how the hands of our people have lain upon the flat earth here that leaves us poorer for the effort. If you know me, then you know that I pine for home.

The East Coast of America is a beautiful place, despite, but not invincible to, its population of 40 million. We visited the Connecticut coast of Long Island Sound, and faced the true Atlantic from a New Jersey barrier island. We sucked mountain air from Pennsylvania’s Poconos and visited my stomping grounds of Philly’s Italian Market and the greater Delaware Valley area. We ate seafood: sushi, mussels, fish and chips, fried clam strips, lobster, oysters, garlic crabs, and the piece de resistance: dayboat scallops. If you have never had any of these foods, I urge you: wait until you are out there to do so. Anything else is a facsimile.

We also visited farm markets, an incubating co-op, met an enterprising young couple managing an organic farm, visited with my culinary mentor and a beloved peer. What we learned surprised me. Contrary to that whole West Coast->East Coast->Midwest trend thing, our modest region appears to be a real leader in culturing local eating. For example, while we dished on seafood, we largely abstained from meat while out east. The farmers markets are nascent: two to three years old, but growing well. And, in New Jersey for instance, caterers can’t use eggs from a non-USDA approved site. Here several restaurants use local, state licensed eggs, as do we. We should consider ourselves lucky to have retained what will hopefully become the core of a resurging farming culture (agri-Culture, right?). Back home they have lost most of theirs by now; the valuable land was parceled into mini-estates, starter castles, fashion farms and outright sprawl. Those that remain face high costs of production augmented by limited access to farm resources like feed, tools, and supplies, congested distribution routes, and burdensome taxes. This combo of farm loss and high cost produces a double whammy for young farmers either entering or returning to farm work. It is uphill there (at least they have hills though, right!), but the populace seems willing to buy. Anchor Run CSA whose managers Derek and Dana joined us for homemade pizza one night, have 180 shares in their CSA! That is a massive responsibility. There remain some beautiful, productive holdings in easement or private care that could bring forth really artisanal goods. The professional culinary scene is full of great talents just hungering to get their hands into real food and to get that food in to the mouths of epicures and neophytes both. If you can get it to them, those 40 million souls suddenly look like a great incubator for the food culture that could precipitate so many beneficial changes in our land, home, and country.

In the mean time, I’ll be grateful for what we do have: world class ingredients and farmers without whom we could not do the work we do here.

Holy Crêpes

I know, low hanging fruit. Forgive me. Not too deep down I am a disciple of Mel Brooks.
Why don’t we cook with crêpes more often? Thanks to the non-stick pan they are a snap to make and the recipes themselves are frugal to the point of utter simplicity. I’ll share the one I used. It comes from a blog called Cream Puffs in Venice . Check it out.
3 eggs
1c milk
¾c flour
Beat the eggs. Stir in the milk. Stir in the flour. Y= about 15 crêpes.
Boy, that was so tough we better call ‘em something French so people fear to make them at home – let alone on a week day night!
How to cook:
OK, so the actual cooking of the crêpes appears to be the more intimidating part, but as I said, a simple non-stick pan is heaven sent. I keep a pair of, and could use three, 8” Wearever pans for this task alone. Here’s what I do: Ladle some batter into a measuring cup and heat your pan(s) to medium high. Do not add butter. (I know, something you never thought I’d tell you). When ready, lightly pour the batter into the center of a pan until the circle of batter you are pouring into the pan is the size of a medium diameter pancake ( maybe 3”-4”). You should already be holding the pan with the non-pouring hand. Lift the pan and deftly begin to lilt the pan in a rotating manner letting the batter run around the bottom of the pan to coat it evenly and begin cooking into a wafer thin pancake. Allow to cook on the flame until the edges of the crêpe release from the pan, about 2-3 minutes. Use a fine non-metal tool to tease out the edge and grasp it with your fingers. If you don’t smell burning hair you are not doing it right. Flip it and cook the opposite side until a few toasty spots appear (maybe 1 minute). Remove the crêpe to a towel to cool, and then stack them under another towel to hold as you cook the others. You may lose the first one or two getting the knack or adjusting the heat, but these really are a snap.

The real trick is making many at the same time. Any reasonable pro should be able to work three pans and get other stuff done in the kitchen. In fact, the real measure of culinary talent is not what you cook well, but how many things you can cook well at the same time. Four plus pans however, takes your full attention.

How to use: The Savory Blintz
I implore you to not be intimidated by the crêpe. In the end, learning and using it will save you both time and money. The crêpe is a very dexterous, frugal little paste of egg, milk, and flour. It does of course make sinful desserts, but is a real workhorse of the ultimate humble pie: leftovers.
Now, crêpes can be made in advance and used as a showpiece for entertaining guests with crêpe dishes that are sweet or savory, light with a salad, or rich with onions, duck confit, demiglace and morels. But to really appreciate them use them to make last week’s leftovers into this Wednesday’s smash hit dinner : Savory Blintzes.
The blintz is a stuffed, pan fried crêpe (now you can bring that butter back, Baby!). Here’s what to do: Make and begin cooking the crêpes. Now round up your leftovers. Say rice, wilted spinach, some grilled tofu or chicken. Chop it up and heat/brighten it in a sauté pan with some fresh leeks etc. maybe some lardons, a little chevre what have you. Reserve this mixture.
Take a crêpe a place it in front of you. Put a few tablespoons of the mixture in its center oriented more East-West than North-South. Kapish?. Fold in the sides, then the bottom and roll forward over the top edge. It’s just a little Jewish burrito, see! Make them all. (For a party make them to this point and reserve a few hours). Now toast the little buggers, seam side down, in hot butter, flipping once.
Eat hot with salad and white wine. Send the kids to bed early and lay a few smooches on your spouse.
Not bad for a Wednesday.

Transparency

Recently, a member showed some concern about our consumptive use of plastic wrap. Below is my unedited response:
“Your situation is a unique one in that due to J-'s diligence with our containers and the configuration of the cooler, I choose to usually leave to lids on the pyrex. For most we take the lids with us after delivering the meals into the cooler. I assure you that if I had not calculated the evil to be a necessary one then I would not have chosen it. The wrap is not only a safeguard for transport, but is a cost effective measure for guarding our container investment - an investment that is more than worth its weight in avoiding disposable take-out style containers. Containers are a constant battle for us due to breakage, inconsistency from model obsolesce, and attrition to members. Our investment so far, over 2.5 years is ~$1500. The lids are half again the cost of the containers, at best. So we stock only enough for weekly reuse, and opt for plastic wrap to handle in-home storage. While I am glad that we convey an attitude of attention to detail, pack out is streamlined across all members of a similar share size, with all meals getting the same treatment and handling before semi-randomly being placed into their transport bags. It is this 'sharing' of the labor across the meals that keeps the per meal cost of membership very affordable for its quality level and is a good example of how we are all in this together as a community supported kitchen.”
My attempt here is not to scold members about our containers. Rather, I’d like to consider the footprint of the Community Supported Kitchen, and engage further the concept of membership as it relates to the social/environmental impact of this business.
We do use plastic wrap, it is necessary to prevent spills and provide a lid. Deliveries take 2.5 hours worth of fuel at about 16mpg, I’d guess. We cook with gas and use a ton of water – way above the national household per capita. There is a price for everything. I wonder though, how does our net use compare to the cumulative consumption of every member’s burners and sinks and washing machines and schleps to the supermarket to cook themselves individual ( or family) portions of equivalent meals? Can heating 1 oven for 24 loaves be less efficient than 24 ovens for the same? Maybe.
In a way the calculable results are less important than the quality of the idea itself: Is a CSK a good thing? Does it improve the integrity, stability, and beauty of its community? Or, does it do otherwise? This is the important thing – the crux of what we are trying to do here. We are looking at the unity of business and place within an ethical construct. We don’t use local produce because it uses less natural resources to produce (certainly debatable), but because the food is so very very much higher in food value than that offered conventionally, and because I know that buying it from Jon, and Lisa, and Jim or Dianne, or Stan, or Leslie and Wes is the right thing to do. And, it’s the right food to cook for you. Considering the farms, families, animals and plants themselves – most of which I’ve seen firsthand – it is good food. Ethically good food.
Aldo Leopold, the godfather of conservation and, I would say, environmentalism in this country was a visionary and naturalist of monumental capacity who left a largely unaddressed legacy to help us heal our connection with our place and our selves. It is his definition of good mentioned above upon which we hinge our measure of success. He knew that no amount of policy, subsidy, propaganda, or even education would ever help people solve the “land problem” as he called it. The answer lay in the application of ethics to our decisions. It had to come from within. He called it “The Land Ethic.”
This idea defies calculation, and perhaps this is why his work has been mostly ignored by our established investigative institutions. Yet it contains far more truth than most any peer reviewed journal article I’ve ever read.
So, while I will not accept a business model that is inherently or flagrantly wasteful, our aim is not to count carbon exhaust units emitted or cubic feet of landfill space occupied, but to examine, test, refine, and perhaps propagate an idea. The idea that an intermediary business can be an integral and good member of a local food system. That entrepreneurs can start from relatively accessible means and offer themselves an opportunity and add a significant, stable contribution to local economies. That people can procure food from a market place abundant with options as opposed to one that is concentrated, manipulated, and monopolized – and that all are better off for it. And, finally that talented artisans of all stripes can make a fair living with integrity and opportunity for future generations.

More on Meat for the Masses

Back to the topic of serving local, quality meat to your home minions, whilst on a budget.
Your main ally in this quest should be ground meat. Pork, Beef, and Turkey are all available at the market, each with different attributes, availability, and cost.
What makes ground so valuable to you is that it thaws quickly, is versatile, nutritious, and often economical. A good habit to get into is to simply grab a frozen pound from the freezer and toss it into the sink. The next morning transfer it to the fridge and figure out how to use it during the week. A day or so after that one is gone, replace it with another. In a pinch, you can thaw one in a bowl, under running tepid water in about an hour. Oh yeah, and I'll bet some of you have microwaves too.
So, what to do with the ground? First see our post on meatloaf. Don't dis it...meatloaf if real good food with a high pedigree. Also, kids enjoy making it. Its fun and so tactile to mix the meat, egg, spices, and breadcrumbs with your hands, squishing and folding and shaping. Make little 'meatloaf' patties of ground pork with sage, red pepper flakes, fennel, and garlic and you have knock out breakfast patties or kick butt meatballs for penne and tomato sauce.
Next, I'd like to offer this technique: simmer it.
Id consider Bolognese sauce, taco meat, and Sloppy Joe to all be in this category of simmered ground meat, and the basic technique is this:
1)Saute onions and garlic.
2)Add a spice paste or whole spices or both.
3)Add the pre-seasoned meat in little dollops and raise the temp a bit to sear the meat. As it begins to brown, stir and break up the dollops allowing the uncooked bit to brown.
4) When 90% of the meat is done have some liquid ready-tomato sauce, leftover bean liquid, or a sweet and sour mix of vinegar, tomato, and brown sugar. Pour this over the meat and deglaze the pan. Allow this mix to simmer to the desired consistency and sup well.

Truly the usefulness of ground meat is nearly infinite so stock up, and then use it up!

Making Much from Little

A comment that I often overhear is: "We can't afford to eat organic."
Since my general socioeconomic environment is fairly fortunate I can assure you that this comment is relayed from someone who is gainfully employed and supplied with the accepted accoutrements of both necessity and comfort. Eating well, to dodge euphemisms, has more to do with know-how than pocketbook power - athough frugality has been know to empower those same purses. A pall of post-holiday debt and mandated furlougs is settling on our twin villes, so I feel motivated to tackle some of the obstacles to justifying bringing the very best food to your homes.
Meat - is the number one hurdle for families that want off the industrial food supply. Local meat can be expensive. Store bought, especially organic is very pricy, and still dodgy if you ask me. So what to do?
1) Buy direct. Go to the market, meet the farmer and family/ employees. You start a crucial relationship and eliminate paying a markup.
2)Get a chest freezer. These start under $200. Fill it with food from the market bought in season.
But most importantly:
3)Learn how to cook inexpensive cuts of meat. Sure we treat ourselves to some steaks($7-$9/#), very rarly prime cuts (up to $18/#), but mostly we feast heartily on ground, sausage, and peasant cuts like top round, stew meat, pork shoulder, etc. These items are very versatile, very nutritious, and often on special. The Moore's for example are specialing ground pork at $2/# for 5 pounds. That's a steal for pasture raised heritage breed pork.

So, lets talk shop.
Braising- should be your number one tool for cooking cheap meats. Braising means 'to cook with liquid.' In a nutshell you slowly simmer the meat in water, broth, wine, you choose, until it is palateable. Crock pots do the same job and can be indespensable to busy, savvy eaters.
Lets consider stewing beef ( or lamb, or goat, for that matter). Here's what I would do:
Saturday afternoon while running to the basement for more TP I hop over to the freezer and pull out three 1# packages of beef stew meat. These I toss unceremoniously into the sink to thaw while I forget about them. Before bed I put the packages into a container and refrigerate them.
Sunday afternoon I cook. Open the packages, rinse and pat dry the cubes. Season them with S&P. Get an ovensafe pan with straight walls and heat some oil. Turn your oven on to 325-400 depending on how fast you need it to be done. Slower is better. When the oil is hot, add the cubes. Don't over crowd the pan - cook in batches if necessary. Brown ( this means what it sounds like) the cubes on their sides, and moderate the heat as necessary. When all the meat is seared off, add enough liquid to the pan to cover the 'shoulders' of the pieces. Don't let 'em swim. Add seasonings as you see fit, mire poix, bay leaf, fennel etc, bring the whole thing to a simmer and then transfer it to the oven and just let it cook as slowly as you can allow, but figure a minimum of 3 hours.
When fork tender, the meat is done.. It serves as the perfect base for beef stew, pan roasts, or soup. Or, drain the meat & reserve the broth and then cook up some onions with latin spices, add the shredded meat, some beans, and a little tomato for real tacos or great chili.
Remembe the important technique is braising the beef. What you do with it during the week is limitless. Between the nutrition, versatility, and production of both bef and broth, this is a very resourceful delicacy at $4.50/#.

Fake Camels

When my parents returned from their visit to Israel in 1984, they told me this story:

We were driving outside the city and your Aunt exclaimed “Oh! Look at the Camels!” And sure enough right outside our window there were people with camels waving and smiling.
From the front the driver grumbled ”Those are fake camels.”

From the first I got what he meant, but I understand it more each day.

Seasonal Shopping
If you are trying to economize on those days you don’t have FN meals, be sure you are shopping for seasonal food. It is simplest economics, and it helps if you garden. In cool seasons, cool season crops are most abundant, so they are cheaper and vice versa for hot seasons. Cool season crops are cabbages, roots, and some leafy greens right? Tomatoes, melons, green beans, and sweet corn are not, so you pay premium price for an inferior quality with a higher ecologic impact from transportation and third world production.
If you really need a lycopene fix however, try the technique below.
When my 2 year old and I go into the produce section of the supermarket we inevitably walk past the icebox watermelons, strawberries, and grapes on our way to get parsley, escarole, rutabagas, or bean sprouts. He says to me now, “Those are fake watermelons aren’t they, Papa?”

Citrus is the glorious exception. Get it now at its peak and gorge a little bit. The orange-grapefruit hybrid is my favorite.

Sun Dried Tomato Sauce

Rehydrate 2 handfuls (cups) of sundried tomatoes ($2.89/# ~4 cups) with hot water in a lidded container. Overnight is great. These keep in their liquid 5 days, refrigerated. Cook onion, garlic, and aromatic herb/spices/fats. Add 1 cup tomato product or other liquid/broth etc. Puree and add the sun dried toms and simmer the sauce until tight. This rocks on pasta, pizza, or swirled into a stew or soup.
For greater quantities just convert cups into the parts of a ratio. Ratio cooking is the key to jazz cooking. And, did you get a scale yet? Are you using it?

Upon the cusp of seasons.
And, our cuisine can reflect it. Who wants ratatoiulle now? Roast up some pumpkin, bake some beans, pluck some frost sweetened spinach and kale from the cold frame and tuck into the best tucker of the year. As grateful as Washington was for the springtime arrival of our founding fish Alosa sapidissima at Valley Forge, and as important as the descent of the first fruits upon our palates at the summertime festival of Shavuot there is a reason that the great feastivals arrive in the late autumn. The rich, nourishing, savory harvests of meats, dairy, grain, fruits, and roots are in and we need to buffer ourselves with their nutrient gifts from the assails of the dark months to come. So gather round the hearth with wine, bread, and friends...food's roasting anyway.

We're growing!

Yes, big can be be beautiful, and in the kitchen I have an acquired affinity for big. Big slabs of meat, big quantities of onions and potatoes, big honkin' squash that call for serious strength and care to butcher safely, and yes big cookwear that lets us ensure that your ingredients are prepared in the technique that best suits their flavor, nutrition and exceptional initial quality.

I thought that the piece de resistance of the stew was the kale. Sauteed and added at the end it was positively sugary. Just great great food here. I hope to really feature it next week.

Oh, and those carrots from Blue Moon... I think they are my fall favorite. Taste them and remember what carrots can be. Buy as many as you can and keep them in a spare fridge if you have one. A big tupperware works great. They will last months. I got 200#.

How thankful we all should be for this foodshed that supports us.
For example, I began a recipe for salt and air curing of a whole ham. In the recipe it reads:" If you have access to unique or organically raised hogs, we highly recommend you try this." Well Hell's Bells! How fortunate I am to be able to readily tke them up on their recommendation. Or you for that matter. Anyone started a guanciale yet?
More interesting however, the authors of Charcuterie note that provided with a little care, the quality of this product rests entirely in the initial quality of the meat and fat. Moreover, that quality is directly derived from the care affored the animal by way of its environment, diet, and age.
How fortunte we all are here.
I have grown accustomed to the availability of the extraordinary produce that we all so enjoy in our community. And, shame on me. It doesn't happen by fortune, or entitlement, or even providence, thought that has its role. It happens through damn hard work and sacrifice. It happens though support. And it happens though dilligence. That these factors are at play, and that we can actively participate in them is something for which to be thankful too because it allows us access to something we desperetly need in America: a healthy and viable food culture.
I am grateful for the work I have and for the support of our members. I feel privledged to spend my efforts procuring and preparing meals from the very best of each season for you. It is a position of trust and care. It is a relationship. I feel proud to know that this community supported kitchen is the first and only one of its kind in the country, so far. I believe we are doing something good. And you, members and supporters, are part of it and should be proud of that too. Our little CSK spends a good bit each week within our local economy, and we all know what positivity that has. Right, Dr. Enshayan ?
So, thank you growers. Thank you members. Thank you Urbana-Champaign, our place.