Ramping up!

Ramp season is coming to a close probably in the next week or two so I needed to post to encourage everyone to ramp up this weekend!  Ramps, for those who don’t know, are also referred to as “wild leeks” and have the flavor of an onion-garlic mix with a fresh grassiness (because of their beautiful and totally edible delicate, flat green leaves).  Ramp season is short but it usually means the start of spring (hallelujah!).  At the store we’ve been getting in lovely ramps from Michigan and so I’ve been using them in all sorts of things.  A favorite and simple combination is ramps and eggs.  I like to take it a little further and make a ramp fritatta.  I sauteed ramps and River Valley Ranch portabello mushrooms in a little butter while simultaneously preheating the oven to 375.  In that oven I placed an oven safe stainless steel 8 inch skillet and coated it with a little oil.

I beat 7 Milo’s pasture raised eggs together (good idea to always use quality eggs but especially when they are such a key player in a meal) and once I knew the pan in the oven was hot enough, used an oven mitt to remove it and place it stove top.  I poured in about 1/3 of the eggs, topped that with a healthy layer of my ramp/mushroom mixture and then covered that with a little Prairie Fruits Farm’s fresh goat cheese.  Then another 1/3 of the eggs, more ramp/mushrooms and then the rest of the eggs.  I grated a little fresh parmesan on top and put it back in my hot oven.  I baked it for about 25-30 minutes or so but just test when the top is golden brown and the center is no longer liquid.

Take that baby out and let it cool a couple of minutes.  I like to serve a simple salad on the side-this one was Here locally grown arugula, lemon juice, olive oil, salt/pepper and fresh Parmesan.  And wine.  Don’t forget the wine…

Weekend Brunch Goodness

Everybody must get sconed!

For those of you in the Chicago area (or the Midwest in general), it is highly likely that tomorrow you will be snowed in.  Some might be disappointed by the fact that they won’t be able to drive in on the Kennedy for their typical 45 minute commute but instead have to hang out in their warm house for the day.  Sad!  So, what to do all day?  Well, there’s probably a closet that needs to be reorganized or you could finally upload all of those photos onto Facebook from last year’s vacation or….you could bake!
In my world, nothing makes me feel cozier than crappy weather outside and the smell of something simmering on the stove or baking in the oven inside.  I normally consider myself a cook rather than a baker.  I’ve found that baking generally takes a level of precision and patience that I usually do not have.  However, a few weeks ago I decided to bake some scones after being inspired by a blueberry lemon scone recipe on the Homemade Mothering blog (here’s the link:  http://www.homemademothering.com/2011/01/blueberry-lemon-scones.html).  What I found was that making scones is actually pretty simple!  I substituted 1/3 of the all purpose flour for whole wheat flour and upped the moisture content a bit (probably because the air in our apartment is dry as a bone) and they were absolutely delicious.

I also used the scone making as an excuse to whip up some of Alice Water’s lemon curd using some gorgeous Meyer lemons given to us by one of our customers (thanks Richard!).  Here’s the recipe upon which I based my curd:  http://justpigs.posterous.com/lemon-curd-4.  Holy decadence, Batman!  The lemon curd was the perfect rich/tangy balance to my slightly crumbly scones.

To accompany the scones and curd we brewed up some of Intelligentsia’s single origin Kenyan coffee and curled up on the couch under a blanket.  So I say forget the projects that you have to do tomorrow and enjoy your snow day with a little scone, coffee and perhaps a good book.

The Season of Giving

That’s what people call December-the season of giving.  I get it-lots of December holidays that traditionally involve an exchange of material goods with friends, family, co-workers and others.  Gifts are nice, don’t get me wrong but I guess after a while the stuff gets to be too much.  Know what I mean?

I’ve witnessed Christmas morning scenes that look like a group of hungry Tazmanian devils ripping into packages of raw meat.  Wrapping paper flying, teeth gnashing, no one really taking notice of what’s in the boxes and then 10 minutes after the gifts have been given people have promptly forgotten them.  Or they’ve started talking about the other things they want that they didn’t get.  Or they complain that XYZ item doesn’t work like they thought it should.  Well that’s because it was made in a developing nation probably by someone making a couple dollars to crank out hundreds of XYZs that day.  But I digress….

This might sound like some sort of liberal-anti-consumerism-hippie-dippy-do ranting about Capitalism and how everyone should ask Santa for world peace instead of Wii but I promise you it’s not (not entirely anyways).  My main thought about giving (whether it be the season for it or not) is that not only do I wish for world peace but also for all of us to take a moment and consider not only the recipient of our gifts but also the sources and impacts.

When we give gifts, rarely is the recipient thinking about what we spent on them.  Most of the time they are thinking about the time we put into thinking of this gift that has meaning and significance (small or large).  As a 30-something business owner who spent almost a decade in the corporate world making decent money, I find that there are few material things that I really desire.  Sure I like cute clothes and shoes as much as the next person but those aren’t the things that really get me going.  For me it’s experiences!  I like food (duh), drinking (double duh), travelling, shows, memory creators!  Now I swear I’m not writing this in any way to pressure any of you readers to get me something for Christmas (or am I?) but instead to say that I think a lot of people out there are like me!

The nice thing about consumable gifts (food, drink, tickets to performances, etc) is that they are typically available for a variety of prices (handmade caramels for $6 or a weekend in New York for $1000 and everything in between) and they are, well, consumable!  With all of the waste that has already been created in our world, could we consider giving some gifts that don’t create it?  Of course there are some beautifully crafted items made from recycled or eco-friendly materials (clothes, furniture, jewelry) which can be lovely and thoughtful too!

What’s my point here?  I suppose it is that when giving a gift try to imagine the 3-dimensional-ness of the gift.  Could part of the gift you give be the story behind it (an artisan producer, a socially conscious restaurant, the support of an independent business, band or theater company) or the memories it will help create?  Could it be a donation to an organization about which your recipient is very passionate?  I think it can and I think that the person to whom you give this thoughtful gift will love you (or like you if that’s what you’re going for) even more for your efforts.  Less waste.  More thought.  The Holiday Hippie has spoken.

Breakfast frittata!

Gary and I have been working a lot lately.  For those of you who haven’t been in the store of late, we’ve rearranged almost everything there and we did it basically on our own in two days (two very long days might I add!).  So this morning, feeling like we needed a little relaxation and comfort, I decided to make a simple veggie frittata.  We happened to have a zucchini, half a red pepper and a shallot in the house that all needed to be used quickly.  I referred to Deborah Madison’s “Local Flavors” cookbook for inspiration.  Now, although my veggies were not local (organic yes) I checked out her recipe for a zucchini and marjoram frittata.  My favorite idea from the recipe was to grate the zucchini instead of dice it.  Would have never thought of it but man was it a fabulous idea!  So here’s what I did:

Grated 1 zucchini, mixed it with 1/2 tps of salt and placed in collander (in the sink) for about 15 minutes.  Rinsed it quickly and squeezed it to dry.

Finely diced a shallot and sauted the shallot and zucchini at medium/medium high heat  in a cast iron skillet with some olive oil for about 5-6 minutes.  I thought that for future reference this would be a great substitute for hash browns for people who are sensitive to a lot of carbohydrates.

After about 5-6 minutes, I removed the zucchini/shallot mix from the skillet and placed in a bowl.  Wiped out the skillet.  Then in another large bowl I beat 5 nice farm fresh Milo’s eggs (Wisconsin, pastured raised).  To the eggs, I added the zucchini, finely diced red pepper and some Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese (from Uplands Dairy in Wisc).  This cheese is similar to a gruyere in nature but much better than any gruyere I can remember.  I only used about 1/3 cup grated. 

After the skillet was wiped out, I brought the heat back up and added more olive oil to coat the bottom and rolled the pan around so it coated 1 inch up the sides.  I poured in the egg mixture and lowered to heat to medium low.  Covered skillet with a sheet pan for about 9 minutes.  Then I popped the frittata under the broiler for about 2 minutes to finish off the top of it.

Then pulled the skillet out of the oven and flipped the frittata out so that the nice golden brown side was face up.  Clearly it looked and smelled so good that we couldn’t take a picture of it before we ate so here’s what’s left.  This was super easy and really delicious.  AND economical!  We’ll have the rest for a late lunch today (can serve at room temp the way you would a quiche) and put a nice Windy City Harvest salad next to it. 

Day 23 (AKA: Don’t read Julia Child’s “My Life in France” while on a raw, vegan diet)

You might ask yourself what kind of masochistic person would choose to read a book that extols all things rich, buttery, meaty, winey and flaky when she herself is eating nothing but raw foods?  Me.  I’m the masochist.  I guess I really didn’t think too much about it when one of our lovely customers at the store let me borrow “My Life in France”.  I forgot how when Gary and I saw Julie and Julia, we non-smoking vegetarians left the theater craving a steak, red wine and a cigarette.  Julia has that effect on you I suppose.

So, I really should have thought about it before I jumped into this lovely book while still on our raw diet.  Despite my occasional drooling while reading her book, the raw diet overall is great (really, I mean it!).  We’ve invested in a couple of cool new kitchen gadgets-namely the Excalibur Dehydrator (the 2500 series) and just yesterday we got our used Vitamix (“Vitaprep”) which Gary has enthusiastically starting making smoothies faster than we can even drink them.  We’re both feeling really good and in fact, Gary said his sinuses are clear for the first time in his life.  Wow!  Shows how much food we normally eat that can congest the body (and we eat pretty healthily normally).  All these wonderful and exciting things aside, I still shouldn’t go to bed with visions of buttery sole meunierre and croissant in my head.  It just messes with me.

Being on day 23 of the RDA, we’ve definitely experimented with a number of raw recipes and I’d like to share a few favorites with you:

Green smoothies-this is Gary’s answer to how to ingest at least some sort of dark leafy green that on their own, doesn’t do it for him.  Since you blend them with fruit, the bitterness of the greens are masked.  The Vitamix is pretty magical for making really smooth and creamy blended things (see pic of the greeness we drank for breakfast today).  There are some easy and yummy recipes for green smoothies at: http://www.gorawhavefun.com/.  You’ll also find some interesting short articles about all things raw and good for you.

Raw “spaghetti”-Gary didn’t like this one as much as I did but we’ve had several guests over for raw dinners and this dish has gotten rave (or “rawve”) reviews.  I like to make the pesto recipe following and mix it with the tomato sauce.  http://www.living-foods.com/recipes/rawspaghetti.html

Living Pesto-who doesn’t love a little rich and basil-y pesto?  In my opinion, this is just as good as pesto with cheese and in fact, we even sell a raw aged parmesan at the store that we could add in if we were so inclined.  http://vegweb.com/index.php?action=printpage;topic=13119.0

Sunburgers-You do need a dehydrator for these little hearty guys but they are super good.  I’d been craving something hearty and chewy and these definitely helped: http://www.veggiewave.com/sunburgers

Spiced apple tart-Oh damn is this ever good.  My mom was visiting in town and she had it for dessert and for breakfast the next morning.  And my mom is NOT a raw foodist at all.  The website calls it a pie which I find a bit misleading so I like to call it a tart.  Seems to be more accurately descriptive:  http://kellysfacesmells.blogspot.com/search?q=spiced+apple+pie

Organic energy bars-Kim from our store gave me this easy and quick recipe:  1 1/2 cup dates (pit those bad boys before blending), 1 cup nuts (I used walnuts and macadamias), 1/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (you can dehydrate your own or buy non-raw stuff at the store) and 1 tbls vanilla extract.  Food process everything, spread onto a parchment paper covered baking sheet and chill for at least 1 hour.  They are really good and Gary and I ate a lot of these yesterday.  I mean a lot.

We’ve still continued to have a lot of salads-usually one a day.  The base we use mostly is this incredible organic sprouted salad mix from Growing Power in Wisconsin.  It’s by far the best salad mix I’ve ever had-baby kale, chard, lettuces, arugula, mustards, spinach as well as pea shoots, sunflower sprouts and radish sprouts.  You must try it!  We then top it with lots of other veggies-most of which are not local but they are organic.

We did “cheat” slightly on our RDA by having a beer on Sunday night to toast our two year anniversary of Green Grocer Chicago being open.  This was a big milestone for our little business so we felt it appropriate to have a little cheers!