Roots
The Institute just had its mid-winter party this past weekend. It’s a great idea to have a party in the winter doldrums and bring some cheer into the bleak and seemingly endless season.
Still, the holidays that mark the beginning of the end of winter are just around the corner. Fat Tuesday is March 4. St. Patrick’s Day in all of its greenery is March 17. Purim, which gets people out of the house visiting friends (and also drinking), starts the evening of March 15.
But even after spring has sprung, it takes weeks and months for fresh local produce to arrive at the farmers markets. There will be ramps and garlic scapes. There will be fiddlehead ferns.
Now, we’ve got the last of the storage vegetables. For some people, these last few months are proof that eating locally and seasonally in the northeast is sheer folly. I say hogwash. If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to offer a love letter of sorts to root vegetables.
Open That Bottle Night XV
This saturday is the last saturday in February? That’s preposterous.
Holy cow. I just looked at a calendar, and it’s totally true. That means I’m horribly delinquent in reminding you that it’s Open That Bottle Night. I’ve been writing about this brilliant wine holiday since I started blogging.
Here’s what happened. Dorothy J. Gaiter & John Brecher wrote the Tastings wine column for the Wall Street Journal. While there, they came to realize almost everyone was holding onto at least one bottle of wine that was too precious to drink. Given that wine was meant to be enjoyed and not hoarded, the pair decided to create an occasion explicitly to celebrate these super special wines.
For ten years, they celebrated the holiday at the Wall Street Journal, and the paper would share the tales of how readers spent OTBN across the world. The first such recap even includes a fellow from Clifton Park.
A lot has changed over fifteen years, but one thing remains the same. People still are reluctant to pull the corks on wines they’ve put aside for a special occasion or are in some other way too meaningful to drink.
Our situation is a little different this year, but I’ve got a bottle. Let me tell you about it, and what you can do to celebrate.
Waking Up To Cereal
Earlier this month there was a report that documented the decline of breakfast cereal sales in North America. The article seemed to blame younger consumers who are more snackers than sit-down breakfast eaters. But that’s ridiculous. Cereal doesn’t need to be eaten in a bowl full of milk with a spoon.
Who hasn’t shoved handfuls of the stuff into their pie hole and washed it down with a slug of milk from the carton?
Personally, I find cereal to be quite portable. I’ll take my bowl in one hand, my laptop in the other, and move about the house getting ready, eating, and catching up on Facebook all the while.
So I’m not buying that argument about the cause of the decline. Part of the reason is that I would like to believe in a different narrative entirely. One that is a little less kind to the cereal industry. Granted, it’s one that I have no proof to support. But I do have common sense on my side. And no, it has nothing to do with GMOs (even though I’m sure those are a factor for a growing segment of consumers).
The Illusion of Choice
It wasn’t that long ago that our cabinets were filled with organic foods from Cascadian Farm. I ate their granola. The kids ate their cereal. And we kept a supply of their granola bars on hand for snacks.
Everything was good. For a while.
While I knew that Cascadian Farm was owned by General Mills, I didn’t really care as long as the quality and integrity of the product remained the same. Heck, maybe the success of an organic subsidiary might lead to more organic ingredients being used by the parent company. But instead, General Mills started funneling their profits into ballot busting measures aimed at preventing states from passing GMO labeling laws.
That’s when we said goodbye to Cascadian Farm and hello to Nature’s Path. Now our cabinets are filled with their cereal and granola bars, and everything is well with the world again.
Luckily, we live in America where consumers have what seems like an almost endless number of choices. In the latest issue of Consumer Reports, the editors ask if perhaps there are now too many products from which to choose.
I think they’ve fallen for the illusion.
Blogging Bloggers and the Blogs They Blog
Food blogs can be helpful. They can be thought provoking. Some blogs are funny. Others have great pictures.
I rely on blogs a lot. You might too.
As I contemplated leaving Albany for this sabbatical, I wasn’t sure how the FLB would change. Part of me thought that I would start talking more about Princeton and other New Jersey things (and I have to some extent). But the Capital Region is still my not-so-newly adopted home. It’s where I’ll be returning in July. And dammit, I want to make sure to stay on top of those things that matter.
Like this issue with the cork tax. Deanna Fox on her Times Union blog called attention to a follow up story by Chris Churchill at the Times Union about this troubling legislative maneuver. If you can see a tipped over wine glass in the top right of this page, that means my campaign to promote these small wine distributors is still underway. Please check it out, and share the news with your friends.
Blogs also help me keep up with local chefs and provide inspiring recipes. Last night I made Ellie Markovitch’s Acarajé. She’s someone who loves beans, legumes and pulses almost as much as the Profussor. It never occurred to me that you could make a black eyed pea fritter. Damn that was fun.
And then there was this unexpected Best of Albany list I recently stumbled upon.
Challah French Toast Pancakes
They said that 2014 was going to be the year of the mashup. After the knock out success of the croissant-donut there have been many other food hybrids looking to capture some of that attention. I heard the ramen hamburger was an experience, but it’s not one I felt compelled to try.
I’ve long been a proponent of the deep fried Buffalo burger at Swifty’s. But mostly, I’m a simple man with simple tastes.
Never would I dream of trying to set forth upon a bold culinary adventure and try to come up with something novel for novelty’s sake. But here I was on Sunday morning. Two hungry kids were looking to me for nourishment. And I was trying to figure out how I could get them to eat a stale, misshapen, end-piece of challah that was leftover from Friday’s dinner.
In the past, challah French toast bread pudding (which is effectively a mini single-serve version of challah French toast casserole) failed to excite them. The problem was textural: it was too custardy. When the kids imagine French toast, they are looking for something that’s fried in butter. And who can blame them.
That’s when it occurred to me. How about challah French toast pancakes?
The Alternative to Crap Chocolate
You know how to tell someone special you love them? It’s not with partially hydrogenated oils, artificial vanilla flavor and FD&C Yellow 5. But those ingredients can be found in boxes of supermarket chocolates from Whitman’s, Russell Stover, and even the much fancier sounding Ferrero Rocher.
If you’ve forgotten that it’s Va-Day-Day and you’ve got to get something quick, don’t panic. Whether you need to get something for your valentine, or just to sit and munch on yourself while watching a Breaking Bad marathon, you don’t have to resort to desperate measures.
The solution is easy. At its core, you really just need two ingredients in addition to a spoon and a small pot. If you can boil water and stir, you’ve got this nailed. If you want to get fancy, you can add a couple more ingredients and knock your lover’s socks right off. Or the two of you could even make this together at the end of the night for a little sensuous fun.
It starts with a chocolate bar.
Oh the Humanity
There is a rant that’s been building up inside me for a while. It has to do with the federal government needing to revisit the standard of identity for many food items.
Cream is now milk with thickeners. Bread is pretty much flour-based goo. Cereal is mostly sugar-coated corn, except for when it’s corn-enriched sugar. The yogurt aisle resembles a candy store. Frozen dairy dessert parades around like ice cream. Chocolates are no longer chocolates but rather candy made with chocolate.
It’s Orwellian. But we haven’t even gotten to the best part.
What do you think happens these days if a supermarket labels its chicken as raised “in a humane environment” and “cage free” when it lives a life protected from cruelty and free of cages? Well, in Los Angeles that supermarket gets served with a lawsuit.
A Quest To End “At Rest”
Sometimes I feel powerless. When the gears of government start turning, they tend to take on a life of their own. And there doesn’t seem to be a thing you, or I, or anyone else can do to stop it.
It’s not as if the opposing political party would be any less inclined to help big business get their way at the expense of the consumer.
When I found out that the state of New York was seriously considering “at rest” legislation that endangered the existence of small wine distributors I was shocked. It made no sense. Small wine distributors are able find incredible bottles from all around the world, made by independent producers in limited quantities. These may not be the wine brands that you know, but these are the wines that you want to be drinking.
These are the wines that I want to be drinking.
Now there is an effort out there to “Stop the Cork Tax” which will help you generate a letter to your state legislator. It’s a fine and important step. Please click here to add your name to the pile and share the news about this lopsided legislation.
Still, I felt like we should be able to do something more. After a little bit of collaboration with Adam Morey at Empire Wine & Spirits, I think we have the making of the best protest ever.
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