Warmth from Grandshire Farm

I have been purchasing my herb plants from Connie Hanson from Grand Shire Farm in Rockford, MI for many years. She has a regular spot at the Fulton St. Farmers Market in Grand Rapids, MI in the spring. She sells the 6,000 herbs and heirloom tomato plants grown in the greenhouse on her 10 acre property. Her gardens are chemical-free and home to six beehives. She also sells honey. 

I was pleased to see Connie at the market this winter which is open on Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. She had a busy summer! After the spring herb sales she started dehydrating Michigan vegetables, fruits, and herbs and has created several soups and teas for sale this winter. Warmth just in time! The soups come in 12 ounce packages; there are 14 kinds. Many can be served by just cooking them in water for 8 one-cup servings of soup. For some soups, you could also add your own cooked meat, and for the minestrone, diced tomatoes are added. I call it Michigan Fast Food! The 5 types of teas come in 3 ounce packages; 1 teaspoon can be used per cup of tea.

Connie also does lectures at the Frederik Meijer gardens, Pierce-Cedar Creek Institute, Red Hat clubs, and garden clubs. She offers a newsletter and wrote a book called Herbs: Recipes, Crafts, and Gifts from Grand Shire Farm.

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The Hotel Kitchen

Discovering a booth for The Hotel Kitchen at the International Wine, Beer, and Food Festival this year was a pleasant surprise. I had seen their brand before but did not know much about them. I tasted their samples in the River Front Market area on Thursday. On Saturday I went to a Food Workshop by Josh Ganzevoort, one of their chefs.

The workshop was named Bringing Michigan Summer into Your Winter Kitchen - clearly one of my interests. Chef Josh made simple salad-based meals out of fresh produce that is easy to find year-round in the Grand Rapids area and the Hotel Kitchen products. The product lines include three dressings, two salsas, and two chutneys.

Chef Josh. Chef's hands alway move so fast!

After the class I chatted with Joshua about The Hotel Kitchen. If you know anything about downtown Grand Rapids you know about the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel which has been a gem in the city since the 1980s. It now has two sisters: The Downtown Courtyard by Marriott and the JW Marriott Grand Rapids. The Hotel Kitchen food company is owned by the Amway Hotel Corporation and began from the local food passion of the chefs. When customers ask about where to purchase the salad dressings and other accompaniments, they now have an answer.

The recipes – all tested by Michigan State University – are made annually in season in small batches. They are canned at a small processor in Flint, MI. Chef Josh estimated that 95% or more of the product ingredients are grown in Michigan. The products are only available at the three hotels and in small independently owned stores around the state.

Pick them up when you see them. Since they are made in small batches in season, when they are gone you will have to wait for next year.

 

 

 

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Detroit's Eastern Market

 



 

Last Saturday I spent the day at the Eastern Market in Detroit. It’s hard to believe that I had never been there.

 

It is six-block public market where up to 40,000 people visit weekly. The Saturday market is open year-round from 6:00 am to 5:00 pm. Since it is so large and I arrived relatively late in the morning, I found it relaxingly uncrowded. It is a visual experience, so I have created a visual blog post.

 

We started at Russell Street Deli for lunch. There was a bit of a line to get into the building, and the man in front of us told us all about the market. We were seated European style, and the women next to us said that all of the food was so good that they could not make a specific recommendation. I had the vegetarian Rueben sandwich. When I asked the waiter about Michigan produced food, he said that about 90% of the food served at the restaurant is from Michigan.



Retail surrounds the market, and Rocky’s is one store that features many Michigan products as well as a large bulk food department. There were many packaged MI products that I had never seen before.

Ethel’s is a gluten free bakery that has a stall at the Eastern Market.



Sander’s Candy Co. has been around since 1875.

DeVries & Co. is another store filled with Michigan goods and located in a lovely historic building.  It has been around since 1887.

Michigan products at DeVries.

 

Remember Faygo? DeVries does.

 

Detroit Cheese Company sells rather than makes cheese. They had very little Michigan cheese – but isn’t their sign cool?

 

I loved the murals in the area.

 



This animal is made of vegetables!

 

There are many warehouses adjacent to the market. The whole neighborhood is filled with color whether it is murals, vegetable stands, or graffiti.

After the market we stopped by Motor City Brewing Works. Some of the food served is grown in city garden plots.

I ordered a beer flight; my favorites were the Pale Ale and the Octoberfest.

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Eating Local by the Jar

As I sit listening to the crusty snow under car tires, I recall the holiday celebrations with friends and family over the past weeks. Twisted Vine in downtown Rockford was one of my holiday destinations at the suggestion of a long-time friend. We arrived early because the tables in this small eatery fill up fast at lunchtime. Twisted Vine is a deli, catering company, bakery, and gourmet retail pantry. They feature Michigan produced foods by Brownwood Farms and American Spoon. These products are essentials for a Michigan locavore during the winter months.

The business opened in September 2010 and is located at 51 E. Bridge St, Rockford, MI. Their phone number is (616) 866-2828. Here is an article by WZZM TV 13.

The catering and deli options are prepared using the Brownwood Farms and American Spoon jarred foods and the owners, Laura DeWilde-Cummings and Dawn Nelson also use the food from the Rockford Farmers Market in the summer. I had a grilled sandwich and potato salad, and my friend had the cherry peach pumpkin chili. The Chili was made from American Spoon’s Pumpkin Chipotle Roasting Sauce and Cherry Peach Salsa.

Anything that Laura and Dawn can do to incorporate Michigan foods and still stay in their target price points, they do. Stop by and tell them that you are shopping and eating there because they serve Michigan products.

Not a Book Review

I am the first to admit that I don’t enjoy writing book reviews. So, when I heard that Joel Salatin had a new book AND is visiting Grand Rapids, I figured that it was time to NOT write a book review. Salatin is the owner of Polyface Farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Polyface Farm and Joel Salatin became the voice of the grass fed farm animal movement after their feature in Michael Pollan’s bestseller The Omnivore’s Dilemma and in the movie Food, Inc. The Polyface website states that they are in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture.

The book is Folks, this ain’t normal. It was published in 2011 by Center Street (Hachette Book Group). And, I have started to read it hoping to be through a few chapters before he comes to town. At this point, I have not made it through the first chapter yet, which makes me an appropriate candidate to not write a book review. If you really need a review, here is one from the book’s website.

On January 16th he will be signing his book at Nourish Organic Market from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm. He will be speaking at the Calvin College January Series on January 17th. The title of his speech is Dancing with Dinner. If you cannot make it to the Calvin campus, there are remote webcast locations, or you can listen to it live online.

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Blueberry Boy Bait

When I traveled north to view the cherry blossoms last Spring, I stayed at the Bellaire B & B. Owners Jim and Dave are great hosts. The attention to detail is impeccable from the nicely appointed rooms to the departing gift of locally made chocolate truffles. While there, they served Blueberry Boy Bait for breakfast.

The history of the recipe is that it was a Betty Crocker Bake-Off winner in the junior category. When the teenage winner was asked why she named it Blueberry Boy Bait, she said that whenever she makes it, the boys come around. The recipe is below in celebration of the Michigan blueberry season.

Blueberry Boy Bait
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour (I used Jennings Spring Wheat whole grain flour)
1.5 cups sugar
¾ cups shortening (half butter, half margarine)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 egg yolks
1 cup milk (I used Edensoy soy milk)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg whites, beaten stiff
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1. Grease and lightly flour a 9 x 13 baking pan
2. In a large bowl, blend the flour, sugar, and shortening together with a pastry cutter until it resembles a course meal. Remove 1 cup of the mixture to use for the topping and set aside.
3. To the mixture remaining in the bowl, add the baking powder, egg yolks, milk, salt, and vanilla. Mix with an electric mixer until very smooth.
4. In a second bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the mixture. Pour into the greased and floured baking pan.
5. Place fairly dry blueberries evenly on top of the batter. Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture over the fruit.
6. Bake for about 40 minutes in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F.

Enjoy and let me know who you snag!

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Under the Strawberry Moon

By mid- June I have berry-stained fingers. It’s strawberry time: my first big push for food preservation. It’s very rewarding. Strawberries are such a delight all year round. Over the past week or so I have dehydrated eight quarts. Each quart yields a cup or so of dehydrated strawberries. They store well in the pantry. I made a note in my food journal, so I can track whether I dehydrated enough. I keep notes each year to help me to plan.

To dehydrate strawberries, remove the stems then wash and pat them dry. Slice them up to one half inch thick and place them seed side down on the dehydrator trays. My dehydrator has a fruit setting, and that is what I used. It took nearly 24 hours because I had to turn it down for a while when I was away during the day. I check them every few hours and turn them around if they are starting to stick to the trays. Near the end, I pull out the smaller pieces that are finished and let the others remain until done. I will use them in muffins, oatmeal, and perhaps make a trail mix.

I also made freezer jam –this is very easy. So easy that you really have no reason not to make freezer jam this year. Pectin even comes in small packages; each making two jars. So you can make jams from many fruits throughout the season. Essentially you combine the sugar and pectin; then add fruit. Stir for three minutes, ladle into jars, and let it sit for one half hour before putting into the freezer. No canning. But, really it is not that difficult to cook and can jam. And, here is a link from a fellow west Michigan blogger for making microwave jam any time with fresh or frozen berries.

Freezing strawberries is easy and they come in handy throughout the year. They can be mashed and frozen in plastic containers for use on ice cream or short cake. I prefer to freeze them whole; their use is a bit more flexible than already mashed berries. To freeze whole strawberries, remove the stems then wash and pat them dry. Put them on cookie sheets in a single layer. Place them in the freezer for several hours until frozen. Store them in plastic bags. By freezing them individually, you can pull out as much as you need. They are great in smoothies.


Of course constant strawberry eating is essential in Michigan in June. This morning I made cinnamon toast rolls. For the icing, I mashed two strawberries through a hand strainer and caught the juice in a small bowl. I mixed that with powdered sugar and drizzled it onto the rolls.

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Smoothies

Summer is smoothie time. Michigan fruit is great in smoothies and can easily be to preserved for winter smoothies too. I had often used a banana as the thickener in my smoothies. But, they are not native to Michigan. So, last year I began experimenting. I came up with several recipes and tried some banana replacements.

My basic smoothie recipe included fruit (usually strawberries) and fruit juice along with the banana. Sometime I added Japanese style tofu to make it thicker and add protein. I tried to replace the banana with a Michigan apple – that did not work out. The texture was way off - pulpy. I did have luck replacing the banana with a fresh pear. They are difficult to keep for very long however. Then, I tried baked apples/applesauce and that made all the difference. Below are the recipes that I experimented with over the past year. All recipes are original and made in a blender.

Baked Applesauce for use in Smoothies
Put a bit of water in the bottom of a casserole and place chopped, cored apples inside. Be sure to cut into ½ inch or so chunks. Big pieces could explode. You can peel them if you want to, but it is not necessary. Then, drizzle MI maple syrup over top to taste. Bake at 300 degrees for 60 minutes – stirring every 20 minutes. Then, mash with a potato masher and bake uncovered to cook down the liquids for another 20 minutes. This freezes well for future use.

Banana-Free Smoothie
Blend together
¾ c (baked) applesauce
¾ c partially thawed strawberries
½ cup Welch’s grape juice
1 heaping Tablespoon of soy protein.

Basic Fruit - Yogurt Smoothie
Blend together
1/3 – ½ cup Thomas Yogurt (made in Michigan)
1 cup almost thawed fruit or spiced peaches.

Pear and Strawberry Smoothie
Blend together
1 fresh pear, chopped
9 partially thawed strawberries
½ cup Welches grape juice
1 – 2 T soy protein powder, optional to thicken

Zucchini Smoothie
Blend together
1 medium zucchini, chopped (good use of all of that extra zucchini)
1 cup baked apple sweetened with MI maple syrup or lightly sweetened applesauce
½ cup frozen tart cherries, partially thawed.

Tomato Smoothie – serve chilled or pre-chill the tomatoes
12 oz of home canned tomatoes
¼ cup Garden Fresh hummus
Several frozen crushed basil leaves (or a sprinkle of dried basil)

I served this with deviled eggs and the flat crackers from The Great Bread Company.

PB&J Breakfast Smoothie
This smoothie was inspired by a one that I saw listed on the breakfast menu of Sable Restaurant in Chicago. I did not order it; I inquired. It included yogurt which I replaced with the vanilla soy milk.
1. Cook (I did it in the microwave) 1/3 cup of quick oats in one cup of water. It will be runny.
2. Stir in 1/3 cup of Koeze Sweet Ella’s smooth organic peanut butter while the oats are warm.
3. Cool the oat – peanut butter mixture in the refrigerator.
4. Blend the oat-peanut butter mixture with one cup of Edensoy vanilla soy milk and 2 Tablespoons of maple syrup until smooth.
5. Add about 10 MI strawberries and blend again.

This is even better if you chill the whole mixture again before drinking.

Apple – Cardamom Smoothie
You may want to start with less spices than directed and add more after you taste this smoothie. Blend together the following.
2 small baked apples
½ cup plain, non-fat yogurt
1 Tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon ground Cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground Cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Cherry - Almond Smoothie (I had to have one with a banana.)
Blend together
1 frozen banana
1/3 cup Naturally Nutty Organic Almond Butter with flax and hemp seeds
1 cup Vanilla Almond Milk
When smooth, add 1 cup of fresh or frozen pitted cherries (sweet or tart) and blend again.

Three Berry Smoothie
Blend together
1 cup strawberries
1/3 cup blueberries
½ cup fresh raspberry juice (strain to remove seeds)
½ cup yogurt (plain or vanilla)
Adjust the sweetness with honey or sugar if the fruit is tart.

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Taking Stock I: What’s Left?

As spring makes a strong attempt to push through this blustery weekend, I took stock of my 2010 food stash. Late summer and early autumn last year I had canned sauces, jams, and vegetables. I had dehydrated cherry tomatoes and apples. And, I had frozen peppers, cauliflower, eggplant, fruits, roasted garlic, green beans, corn, herbs, squashes, spinach, and spiced peaches. I even froze a large batch of stuffed peppers.

This work – which for me is a labor of love – kept us fed this winter. It contributed to holiday meals and to parties. I just made a list of what we have left. I helped me to plan meals for the week. Our meals will include:

- Squash risotto with butternut squash from the freezer
- An Indian rice dish made up of green peppers and cauliflower from the freezer with my own home-canned Indian spiced sauce – and fresh potatoes from the farmers market
- Spaghetti with my home-canned marinara-style sauce and roasted garlic topped bread
- Stuffed peppers with a side of delicate squash

This food preservation was all done last year the midst a demanding full-time job and everything else that comes with adulthood. It did not take up a lot of extra time really. It’s a hobby. I do it a bit each week as the fruits and vegetables arrive to the farmers market at their peak of freshness and vitality.

The mission of this blog is to educate readers on how to find, prepare, eat, preserve, and enjoy local food. You only have to do as much as you want. I hope that you will start to consider preserving more of Michigan’s bounty. Maybe this is your first time and you select two foods. Or, maybe you have been canning and freezing regularly and want to add more to your stash. Last year was my first year of freezing herbs, eggplant, and cauliflower. It was also my first year of canning Indian sauce. As I make my list for 2011, I will for sure freeze cauliflower because it went great with the Indian sauce. The sauce recipe needs some tweaking – you will know when it is ready to be posted.

No matter how much local food you eat now, I invite you to start to think about eating more of it.

One Muffin, Many Ways

Late last year I blogged about the tasty Michigan flours from Jennings. Since discovering how great the flours are I have been making healthy whole grain muffins regularly. The flours are also certified organic. Jennings provides various recipes for use with the flours. The one that I use most often was developed by Mattie Jennings and is below.

Spelt Flour Shortcake
2 ½ cups spelt flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ cup oil
¾ - 1 cup buttermilk (I add a bit of vinegar or lemon juice to soy milk to make vegan buttermilk)
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
a little honey

Mix all together and bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes.

I mix the dry ingredients together and then the wet ingredients together before combining the two. Only mix until just combined. I have used the recipe as shortcake served with strawberries or blueberry-strawberry fruit compote. And, I have made many batches as muffins. The recipe makes a dozen and works well with the spring wheat, spelt, or multi-grain flours. For muffins, I find that when I add fruit, the baking time often is longer. And, if I bake them on the outdoor grill, the baking time is shorter.

I have used the spelt, multi-grain, and spring wheat flours. I have even baked spelt blueberry muffins outdoors on our gas grill when it was too hot to bake indoors. The multi-grain flour is heavier than the others.

Sweet Variations:
- Blueberry
- Cherry, almond slices, and almond extract (instead of the vanilla extract)
- Banana, blueberries, and walnuts
- Walnuts, cranberries, 1/3 cup orange juice, regular soy milk instead of buttermilk (used less because of the OJ)
- Pumpkin and walnuts
- Apple cinnamon with streusel topping

Savory Variations (be sure to refrigerate muffins with cheese):
For the savory I had to make a few adjustments. I cut the sugar to 1/3 cup and did not add the vanilla.
- Farm Country Cheese sharp cheddar with sage leaves (frozen last summer) with multi-grain flour
- Dancing Goat Creamery goat cheese with basil leaves (frozen last summer) and the first chives of spring with spelt flour.







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Squash Bisque

From November through May we celebrate the cold weather with Soup Sundays. This provides us with inner warmth and healthy left overs. Recently Bob developed a butternut squash bisque at my request. Warm and lovely, it is a fabulous addition to our stock of soup recipes.

He researched recipes on line to understand the basic formula for how they are put together. Then, he added his own ideas. My contribution was the idea to roast the butternut squash rather than steam or sauté it. That adds a sweet, rich flavor without adding sugar. There is a small amount of half and half, but the end result is a pretty low-fat and delicious meal.

Start out by roasting one and a half large butternut squashes. Cut the squashes in half and clean out the seeds and pulp. Place them upside down on cookie sheets. Bake the squash until fully cooked (30 -45 minutes or so) in a 350 oven.

Visit my earlier blog on how to roast the seeds for snacking.

1T olive oil
1 T butter
½ C onions, diced
¾ C carrots, diced
4 C pre-roasted butternut squash
3-4 C veggie stock
½ t ground nutmeg
1/8 t cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, minced
½ C half and half (or heavy cream)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oil and butter in large pot
2. Sauté onion and garlic in pot until soft
3. Add 3 cups of stock, carrots, and bay leaf; simmer for 15 minutes
4. Add roasted squash and simmer another 15 minutes
5. Add nutmeg, cayenne, salt and pepper
6. Puree until smooth (do not over puree: just until smooth), adjust thickness with additional stock if necessary (the bisque should not be overly thick)
7. Stir in cream and serve

Enjoy the last days of National Soup Month!

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Michigan Millers

I probably baked quite often with rancid whole wheat flour until I met Archie Jennings at my local farmers market. This is because whole wheat flour contains the germ which has natural oils that can go rancid quickly if not stored properly. The flour needs to be stored in the freezer or refrigerator. Now, I purchase freshly milled flours from Jennings Brothers; they sell buckwheat, spelt, whole wheat, and whole wheat pastry flours as well as corn meal. And, I store it in the freezer. It does not actually freeze, so I can use it at any time.


Recently, I took a drive to visit Archie and his wife Mattie at their farm in Barry County, south of Hastings, MI. I drove up to the yard - with a classic tire swing in the tree - where the white house sits in front of the two barns and acres of grains. The house has what I refer to as an old Michigan fieldstone basement. And, that basement contains two walls of shelves filled with home canned products. Very impressive!

Back in the barn, the antique milling equipment is nestled along the sides of an airplane. Wait. What? Yes, Archie is a pilot and owns a 182K Cessna plane which is stored in one of the barns. That day, corn was drying prior to becoming corn meal. The corn is all open-pollinated and organic. He has: Truckers Favorite (developed in 1907), Reed Yellow Dent (1846), Bloody Butcher (1856), and the 6,000 year old Hopi Blue. One of the “parents” of Reed Yellow Dent was, according to Archie, the yellow corn that the Native Americans shared with the first settlers of New England.

The corn is shelled, cleaned, ground, and packaged with the equipment shown below that Archie purchased second hand. The equipment was built during the first half of the 20th Century - when things were built to last. The parts of the grain not meant for human consumption are sent to other farms to be used as animal feed. It’s a truly sustainable production process. The Jennings’ sell monthly at the Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids farmers markets, and the grains are available through the West Michigan Co-op.

Click here for the Jennings recipe page.

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The Chicken and the Egg

I had been a vegetarian for longer that I can remember. Recently, I started occasionally eating naturally raised poultry. My definition of naturally raised prominently includes the well-being of the birds. I figured that if I were going to eat animal products, then I should look them in the eye. To do this, I went to visit Rusty and his daughter at R & R Poultry Farm. R & R is a partnership between Mark Schaub from River Valley Poultry Farm and Rusty Rhodes from Rhodes Farm. They sell at the Fulton St. Farmers Market.

He keeps his breeding flock on his home property. Barred Rock Hens + Rhode Island Red Roosters = Black Star chickens that lay great eggs. The flocks reside at three different farms. I visited two recently – both on Amish Farms nearby.

The first had a large barn with laying areas on each long side and a feed trough in the middle. The chickens eat a feed purchased from the Amish along with what they find in the ample fields where they roam. Rusty does not over feed them with the packaged feed; they are encouraged to be outside finding their own food and fertilizing the property. In the winter, the barn has some artificial light to keep the birds laying eggs.


The laying areas are not the fluffy straw-filled scene that you see in Easter cards. They are made of wood and contain no straw. He does not want the birds to hang out in there, because they will damage or soil the eggs. The eggs have a natural bloom on them that is left on. It protects the shell (and therefore us) from bacteria.

The second farm is also on Amish property. Green house type structures house the birds. When I visited, there were chicks. Walking into the greenhouse with a lush carpet of new grass and cheeping chicks is like walking back in time to Spring. There is also a field waiting for the chicks as they grow and can tolerate the weather.

At another site, Rusty has twelve small pigs. They are rooting around a 5 acre plot of land cleaning out brush and turning the soil. His animals improve the land just by being who they are. There were half eaten pumpkins laying around the pen; Amish feed supplements their natural diet. Next year, an adjacent field will be planted with rutabagas and turnips to be used to feed the pigs.

I left feeling confident in the care of the food that I eat from R & R. Don't forget that the Fulton St. Farmers Market will be open on Saturdays this winter starting on Jan. 8th. Visit Mark and Rusty from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm.


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