Valley Glads

 One of the first things I did when I moved out here was bought some gladiola bulbs. Glads are one of my most favorite flowers. I planted them in front of my condo right away. I was surprised (though I shouldn't; things grow very well in the valley) that they grew so well! These white flowers were the first to appear, but I also had 2 stems of magenta flowers as well! I will 'gladly' be digging these bulbs up in the fall and taking them back to Ann St.

PrePress

What's even more exclusive than 'hot of the press'???

Cold pre the press!!

Here's my article for this weeks newsletter (not even printed yet!!).

Farm to Table Experience

Some people claim that eating locally is just another food fad that will come and go. I've even been called a 'hippie' for my food choices and been accused of jumping on the local 'band wagon'. However, I do not believe that eating local is going to fade away any time soon. Eating local and seasonal is a tale, literally, as old as time.

The very first people who roamed these lands, depended on the soil around them to supply them with the necessary resources to survive. They didn't have the option of running down to the village supermarket and picking up the week's groceries. They spent their days living off the land. Cultivating, foraging and hunting. This is how man kind has survived for hundreds of years.

During the Industrial Revolution things began to change and farming practices were not an exception. Vitamin supplements, antibiotics and synthetic pesticides allowed farmers to decrease input and increase output. Although the population grew, the number of farms shrank. In the 1930's nearly a quarter of America's population worked in agriculture. That number has since plummeted to an alarming 1.5 percent of our population.

There have always been people who have seen the problems with this approach to 'farming'. It seems that in recent years they have finally received the attention they deserve and their voices have finally reached the masses. Eating local has hit the scene and through the media and social networking, has been labeled 'trendy'. However you call it, I view it as a practice as old as time that has been given a fresh face. It is reaching a new audience and young people are listening and getting involved.

I first became involved in the local scene just over two years ago. And while I am still new to the movement, I can think of nothing else that has grabbed my attention so quickly and so fully. For me, it started with the food. It just tasted better. I wanted to cook with local ingredients because they were simply better tasting. Once I got involved with a few area farms I quickly discovered how time consuming responsible growing is. I was inspired by the time, labor and dedication the farmers put forth in the face of social adversity and environmental challenges to produce their crops. Seeing their hard work gave me more respect for the food and a responsibility to uphold its integrity until it reaches the table.

This year has been a continuation of my learning, both here on the farm and at L'Etoile Restaurant in Madison. I have the unique opportunity to experience both sides of local food. Since I have been working here in Wisconsin, local food has become less about the food and more about the people. I have a huge sense of pride when I see 'Harmony Valley Farm' in italics on the L'Etoile menu because I know where it came from, the people who grew it, picked it, cleaned it and drove it across the state to our kitchen.

This weekend, I had the chance to sit down with Tory Miller, executive chef and co-owner of L'Etoile Restaurant and Graze gastro-pub, and chat about his experience with local eating and sourcing. Tory first became interested in local when he moved to Madison in 2003. He said that the first summer he spent in Madison blew his mind. He got a job working part time for Odessa Piper at L'Etoile and visited the Dane County Farm Market every week. He got to know farmers and vendors and began to establish relationships and partnerships. His desire to support the local community grew.

When Tory bought L'Etoile and then decided to relocate to a larger venue, I don't think it is a coincidence that he ended up on the farm market's front lawn. Every Saturday morning you can find him and his large Graze wagon making their rounds at market. Tory says, he feels like a kid in a candy store when he goes to market. He allows the ingredients and people inspire him and his menus. He has the kitchen on the edge of our seats, waiting to see what he will bring back, knowing that it will affect our prep lists for the rest of the day. Some weeks it results in major menu changes and others just minor adjustments.

This weekend I experienced his whimsical farm market adventures first hand. He returned from market with a bag full of what looked like the worlds tiniest watermelons. I was told that these 'mouse melons' would be replacing the cucumber on the heirloom tomato salad. I replied with the obligatory 'Yes, chef' but thought how strange it was to replace cucumber with miniature watermelons. Until I cut into one. I discovered they aren't melons at all! In fact they are related to cucumbers! Knowing that I would soon have to speak to the servers about this little oddity, I popped the entire kumquat sized 'melon' in my mouth and was surprised by its big flavor. It tasted like concentrated cucumber with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Exposure to these new and exciting ingredients is, well exciting, however eating locally in Wisconsin also means eating seasonally. It can be challenging both as a home cook and restauranteur to maintain a local menu in the dead of Wisconsin winter (Those people in California don't realize how good they've go it!). As a newbie to this area, I asked Tory how he deals with the challenges of our climate here. He laughed and replied simply, 'root veggies'. His winter menu is laden with beets, potatoes, turnips, radishes, carrots, rutabagas, celery root and of course onions. He elaborated saying that he intentionally over purchases throughout the summer to allow for putting by. We dry a lot of tomatoes and mushrooms, freeze fruit purees and pickle vegetables. He also mentioned that there are quite a few innovative farms now who use hoop houses and heated green houses who, for a price, help stock his coolers. He concluded by saying that the cooks come out in the winter. It is easy to cook with a seemingly endless supply of beautiful, fresh produce but it requires a creative mind to over come the difficult restrictions presented in a cold climate.

One of the things I enjoy most about working at L'Etoile is that the whole staff believes in the cause. Tory joked that he just gets lucky with the people who apply to work for him, but I believe it's more than luck. He puts forth an effort to motivate the staff and share his passion with us so that we all have a greater understanding for his goal. We take field trips to visit the farms that supply our coolers and local businesses that stock our shelves. We go see the land where our food comes from and the people who make it happen. We return to work with a renewed sense of responsibility and respect for the products on our cutting boards.

The industrial farming industry has pushed our natural systems to the limit. Whether on the farm side or table side, I feel compelled to be part of the the change and restoration. Label me what you will; hippie, locavore, too picky, or eccentric, I am proud to be a part of the local movement. I am proud to bring people pure and healthy food. To support the people who devote their lives to growing and raising the best possible products. And to experience the full circle of food from the soil to the table.

We interrupt this work day...

...to bring you blue skies from the farm.


After a bit of a rough morning (I locked my keys in the car), I took a moment after lunch to kick my feet up on my porch and sip a coke (don't tell the farm about the soda!!).

This evening will be spent making dinner and testing recipes for this weeks vegetable feature: peppers and featuring within the feature: poblanos.

Tonight I am making lime marinaded flank steak with poblano risotto (I call it, Mexitalian!), a tomato salad, perhaps some buttermilk fried poblano rings and cantaloupe with honey and lime zest.

Tomorrow I'm going to try poblano chicken salad sandwiches.

It's not a competition but....

...my church is cooler than yours.

OK. I obviously can't know that. But, I think my church out here is pretty neat.

I have been attending Black Hawk Church since I moved out here but I usually drive to the main campus which is on the other side of the city from my apartment. With a list of things I wanted to do today, which included sleeping in, I decided to visit their downtown location this week. A quick 6 miles from my front door.

cell phone quality pics!

The service is held in a old theater just around the corner from L*. As I rounded the corner and recognized the building I remembered the last time I walked past this theater. It was a Saturday night after work and I was surprised to see that the people standing in front of it were not wearing any pants. I later learned that it was hosting a 'No Pants Party' that night.

Interesting place to also hold a church service.

But the greeter at the door was fully clothed so I figured it was safe to go in. I was surprised by the well kept condition of the interior. The floors were clean and the chairs were comfy. It is a small venue, but totally my kind of place.


The welcomer mentioned the information desk in the back and when I turned around to check it out I noticed the full bar and beer pulls behind the counter.


I just had to laugh. What an unlikely place to go to church. But I really liked it. Like Jesus said, it is not the well that need a doctor! I can imagine that in the course of time, some No Pants Party attender heard that the same venue also is host to a Sunday church service and mustered up some courage and curiosity and went to check it out. I like to believe that now he/she attends more Sunday morning events that Saturday night events.

Feta is Betta

Some words about Feta as seen in the HVF cheese newsletter....

Feta is one of the world's oldest cheeses. It is most commonly associated with Greece and rightly so! Feta has been made in Greece for hundreds of years. The ancient Greeks regarded cheese as the 'food of the gods'. Little wonder then, that Greece has the world's highest per capita rate of cheese consumption. And no Greek table is complete without a slice of feta.

Since the ancient days, the production of feta has spread across Europe and into the United States. In 2005, the European Union granted Greece Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status for feta. This means other feta-style cheese produced anywhere else in Europe must be called by a different name. I would venture to guess that the European Union will soon press the US to discontinue using the name feta as well. Similar to Parmigiano-Reggiano or Stilton, only Feta made is Greece will be able to bare the well known name of 'feta'.

Feta is traditionally made with sheep's milk and sometimes a combination of sheep and goat milk. In most of the US, feta is made from pasteurized cow's milk or sometimes buffalo milk. (You can see why the European Union would want to enforce the PDO in the States). Feta is pure white, soft to semi-hard and has no skin. It is usually formed into cakes and stored in brine which gives it a tangy and salty flavor, ranging from mild to sharp. If you buy feta from other sources, sometimes the brine can make it taste of little else than salt. In this case, you can soak the cheese in cold water or milk for a few minutes to relieve the saltiness.

But you won't have to worry about that with the feta you receive in this cheese share! This feta is from Butler Farms, located in Whitehall, WI. It is the first licensed Grade A sheep dairy in the United States and also produce camembert, aged tomme, fresh brebis and ricotta. Outside of the cheese share, the only place you can purchase Butler Farms cheeses is at the Dane County Farm Market in Madison on Saturday mornings. Their stand is conveniently located right next to Harmony Valley's!

True to tradition, Butler Farms feta is made from sheep's milk and then packaged in oil and herbs. The consistency is softer than most feta which makes it easy to spread on sandwiches, mix into dressings and melt into pasta sauce.

Naturally, feta goes well with Greek and Mediterranean influenced foods such as cucumbers, tomatoes, olives and spinach. Some traditional favorites are spanakopita and as the crowning top to a Greek salad. Feta is also great in omelets, quiche and crumbled on pizza. Another classic combination is watermelon and feta. My Grandpa always sprinkles salt on his watermelon, a practice I could never understand. While I'm not about to salt my melon, I do love to eat it with feta! The saltiness of the cheese brings out more of the melon's sweetness. Mint also compliments feta very well. One of my salads is with strawberries and mint. Just chiffonade or chop a few leaves and mix with your greens.

What ever way you decide to eat your feta, it's hard to go wrong with such a great cheese!

H20melon

Words and recipes about watermelon! as seen in last week's newsletter! written by yours truly!

Watermelons are the quintessential summer fruit: 100% fun, refreshing and reminiscent. A summer isn’t complete until I’ve eaten almost an entire watermelon in one sitting, spitting the seeds into the lawn and letting the juice run down my hands. It’s one of those things I simply can’t resist.

Luckily, watermelon is a guilt free indulgence! In fact, we might do well to indulge a little more often! They are packed with vitamins, especially A and C, and contain the most lycopene, a cancer fighting antioxidant, than any other fresh fruit. They are their own delicious multivitamin!

Watermelons, like pumpkins and squash, grow on sprawling vines with broad leaves. They can be round or oblong with crisp flesh that can be pink, yellow or even white! They range is size from just a few pounds (like our personal-size melons) to upwards of 90 pounds! The watermelon that holds the Guinness World Record is 268 pounds, although some unofficial records show melons weighing in at up to 290! Though they look quite tough, watermelons have to be hand harvested. Store your uncut melon at room temperature for several days and keep any extra cut melon covered and in the fridge.

Watermelon is great simply sliced and eaten, but there are many ways to enjoy watermelon. Because they are 92% water, they are a natural for blending and incorporating in to margaritas, spritzers, lemonades and frozen into popsicles, granites and sorbets. One of my favorite summer drinks is watermelon aqua fresca; blended watermelon, sugar and citrus juice. Watermelon flesh is easy to cut and can be presented in cubes, balls, triangles, batons, or large, thin slices. Cookie cutters can even be used to cut more elaborate shapes! Not many people know that even the rind and seeds are edible. Once pickled, the rind is a great addition to salads, with pork chops or a crunchy snack on it’s own and in Asian countries, roasted watermelon seeds are either seasoned and eaten as a snack food or ground up into cereal and used to make bread. If you are in need of a quick side dish to bring to a picnic, cut up watermelon and toss with crumbled feta cheese, thinly sliced red onion and mint! Reserve the hollowed out rind as a presentation bowl! If you are feeling extra creative, watermelons are popular for carving. Visit www.watermelon.org for instructions and design templates.

Watermelon-rind pickle salad

adapted from Gourmet Magazine

great with pork chops or seared tuna

1 c watermelon rind

½ c rice vinegar

1 T honey

½ t salt

1 t whole allspice

1 t whole clove

1 c carrot, julienned

arugula, or seasonal greens

½ T olive oil

In a small sauce pan, bring vinegar, honey, allspice, clove and salt to a bare simmer.

Meanwhile, remove tough, green layer from rind with a vegetable peeler and discard. Julienne the rind by cutting the rind into thin slices, about 1/8”, then stack few slices and cut into matchsticks.

Stir in watermelon rind and cook about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and let stand 25 minutes.

Drain the watermelon rind, remove spices and toss with carrot, arugula and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Grilled watermelon and tomato salsa yield: 3 c

2-3 slices watermelon

2 T jalapeno, fine dice

½ c onion, small dice

¼ c green pepper, small dice

1 ½ c tomatoes, medium dice

1 T basil, chopped

1 T cilantro, chopped

½ Lime, juiced

tt S&P

Coat the slices of watermelon with olive oil and grill for 30 seconds on each side; just enough to mark the flesh.

Remove rind and dice watermelon. Mix all ingredients. Allow to set for 20-30 minutes to allow flavors to combine. Taste and adjust; adding more jalapeno if you desire a hotter salsa.

Scenes from the Valley

Just a few pics from my drive into the valley.

up on the ridge: hill side farm and cabin

in the valley: rock formations on the side of the road

up on the ridge
I took this picture a couple months ago...
this barn is no longer visible from the road as it is now engulfed in corn!

Love from Home

I've reached the peak; the half way point. It's all down hill from here. 14 weeks down, 14 to go.

Don't get me wrong, I like my jobs and I like Madison. I even like my roommate's buggy-eyed, bow-legged cat. But if any of you have ever lived away from your home for a while, you'll understand why I'm keeping track of the weeks. I have been fortunate enough to make it home for some really important events, but it still sucks to miss birthdays, holidays, wedding planning, sister tubing trips and visiting the cottage. Not to mention I haven't had any good soft serve this summer! No one does it like Blue Moon! (fyi: though close, frozen yogurt is not soft serve).

So, even though I try not to count the days or weeks and try to focus on the positive, I can't help but to look forward to the end of the season.

A big thanks to all my support from back home. The love I find in #322 has been unexpected and a huge encouragement to me to keep on, keepin' on.

Just a little bit of the love I've received from home.

Gettin' Corny in Wisconsin

As I'm sure you Michiganders have noticed, it's sweet corn season!
Sweet corn is following me from one side of the state to the other. And then back again.

Last week, on the farm, I was given the task of freezing the extra corn. 100# of it. No, not 100 pounds of extra corn...100 lbs of frozen product. If my math is right, that's a lot of ears of corn. I started with the small amount that was left over from market and yielded 5 pounds. only 95 pounds to go.

This weekend, at L'Etoile, Tory came back from market and onto the line biting into an ear of corn with the husk pulled back and announcing he hadn't been this excited about corn in a long time. And thus, a new soup graced the menu Saturday night. Corn chowder.

The silky, smooth corn soup is poured at the table, over corn 'nibblets' (as chef calls them) cut from the cob and sauteed with house made (duh!) Spanish chorizo style sausage and a grilled scallop! I was never sad when there was a little corn and sausage left in the pan!

Returning to the farm, I spent the better part of 2.5 hours husking, grilling, boiling and cutting more corn. I didn't have time to get to the packaging part, if I'm lucky, I'll hit the quarter way mark.

As for grilling vs. boiling, I prefer grilling. But for time sake, I was cooking them both ways.

That's a sink full of summer!
Grilled corn on the right, boiled corn on the left.

With all that delicious sweet corn just sitting in the colander, I couldn't resist tasting some. You know, for quality assurance. Well, someone else must have had the same idea. When I reached in the fridge for the pound of butter that has been designated for corn cob buttering, I notice the butter seemed freshly melted....

I took my buttery corn outside and as I bit into it the sun streamed through the over cast clouds just in time to catch the juice spraying in the air. Yup, now that is summer.

Curds and Hops

Here is my article and recipes for the cheese newsletter.
Topic: beer and cheese pairing

Curds and Hops

Little Miss Muffet had it all wrong. Forget the whey, she should have been eating curds and hops! At the first mention of pairing cheese with beer, you might have some doubts. Isn't cheese supposed to be paired with wine? Well, the great thing about rules is, they are always best when broken! And this is a rule you definitely want to break!

It's said, in regard to relationships, that opposites attract. She might be a planner but he prefers to fly by the seat of his pants. She could be a procrastinator but he gets things done days before the deadline. Yet some how it works. The trick is that the two people also have to have some sort of common ground. They must posses some similar interests or common link or they will always be at odds with each other. This philosophy can be also applied to pairing beer and cheese. That being said, beer may be the soul mate to our beloved fromage!

Long shot metaphors aside, beer compliments cheese because of the harmonies and contrasts the beverage brings to the match. The harmonies experienced is derived from a similar origin; grain. Barley, is a cereal grain popularly used in making beer and milk is a by-product of an animal eating grass and grains. This link may seem like a bit of a stretch, however as a result, beer and cheese complement each other by sharing some common characteristics in both aroma and flavor. The flavors and aromas in beer echo the flavors and aromas in cheese. Both can be described as earthy, nutty or malty.

However, too much of the same can be, well, too much of the same. Luckily, cheese and beer have just enough not in common to compliment the relationship. As in any good relationship, their differences amplify the others opposite trait. For example, cheese has a high fat content and coats your mouth with delicious creaminess. In contrast, beer is carbonated, giving it a brisk, palate cleansing characteristic. In addition to preparing your palate for the next morsel of cheese, a swig of brew lifts up the nuances of the cheese that could be missed when covered up with heavy tannins or sweetness of wine.

So, how do we go about playing match maker and orchestrating harmonious pairs? My approach may be a little abstract, but I am a firm believer of eating and drinking what you like. If you don't like barley wine, does not mean you have to drink it just because it pairs well with Stilton. Others though, may take a realism approach and adhere to these strict pairing rules. Perhaps a compromise is made with an impressionism approach and general guidelines can be followed or deviated.

Generally, delicate beers should be paired with young or fresh cheeses (chevre with hefweizen), malty beers should be paired with nutty and aged cheeses (smooth, sweet, aged Greyere with porter) and hoppy or bitter beers should be paired with tart or sharp cheeses (cheddar with IPA). Although I'm sure you will find many happy matches that break these guidelines, it is a good starting point for thinking about beer with cheese. Play off similarities. Pair by region. Or challenge your self by considering subtle contrasts.

With beer pairings hitting the food scene, there are a lot of opportunities to learn more about the relationship between cheese and beer. The Isthmus Beer and Cheese festival kicks off the year in mid January at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison. In April, LaCrosse hosts Between the Bluffs to celebrate beer, cheese and wine and in Kenosha the Dairy State Beer and Cheese festival raises money for the Boys and Girls Club. Also, restaurants have begun to offer beer pairings along side the wine pairings for food and cheese.

Cheese and beer have humble beginnings, being made on farms by regular people like you and me. No viticulture experts or heirloom vines. Just simple ingredients and simple methods. And here, in a state known for beer, cheese and the Green Bay Packers, it shouldn't be too hard to create some really great pairings with out crossing any state lines. Beer and cheese is a match made in Wisconsin!

Cheesy polenta with broccoli

3 c vegetable stock

¾ c medium grind cornmeal

4 T butter

1/8 c cream

¼ c Otter Creek Summer Cheddar

1 c broccoli chopped florets

tt S&P

In a medium sauce pan, bring stock to a boil. Add the cornmeal in a fine stream, whisking constantly with a wire whisk. Once all the cornmeal has been added, reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Stir the mixture, using a wooden spoon, every 5 minutes and continue cooking until all the liquid has been absorbed and the mixture is very creamy, 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a second sauce pan of salted water to a boil. Blanch broccoli for about 2 minutes. Shock in ice water and reserve.
When polenta is finished cooking, remove pan from the heat and stir in the butter, heavy cream and cheese. Season with salt and pepper and fold in the blanched broccoli.

Melty Camembert with cherry compote

1 T brandy

3 c sweet cherries, pitted

1 T ginger

2 T sugar

¼ c water

½ t black pepper

½ t thyme

1 t corn starch

1 T water

First, add brandy to a medium sauce pan and boil to cook off the alcohol. Add cherries, ginger, sugar, water, pepper and thyme. Simmer for 3-5 minutes until cherries are just soft. In a small bowl stir together corn starch and water and stir in to cherries. Simmer for another minute. Remove from pan and cool to room temperature.

To serve, cut a baguette in ¼” slices. Place a thin slice of camembert on the bread place in a 400 degree oven until bread is toasted and cheese is slightly melted. Place on a serving platter and spoon compote over top.

Escape Pigs

I don't know if the grass is greener on this side of the fence, or the other, but the crab apples seem to be!

Three of our little piggies wiggled their way out of the pasture to devour some crab apples, sticks, tasty grass and anything else they could find outside the kitchen window. I saw one trying to eat one of Jack's toys and I'm pretty sure I saw a bit of a bird hanging out of another one's mouth. (sick).

I'm told that down yonder, Viroqua is host to Wild West Days where you can get a team together and wrassle yer'self a hawg.

Only in the valley....

I'm just glad I didn't get voted for the task of getting them back in the fence!

UPDATE 8.3:
the pigs don't seem to want to stay in the pasture. Every day this week the pigs have slipped under the fence and wandered around the back and side yard. It's just now lunch time and the pigs have be herded (with no help from Jack) back into the pasture twice!