The Return

So we are back. After being away a month, I have to say I am feeling refreshed and ready for the last of the hot months here in Florida. Yesterday I went to check on the garden. Now going away in July was risky business because growing veggies in the summer in Florida is tricky...bugs...torrential downpours...bugs...and blazing blazing sun.

We have our first garden event this weekend, a wedding reception, and thanks to our amazing crew at 29 South the garden looks great. The sunflowers have all sprouted, the okra is practically six feet tall and dripping with the slender slimy fruits. There are only two plants that need to go, the zucchini due to bugs and the pole beans due to being fried out. Then there are the tomatoes.

There are sixteen beautiful plants of all different varieties...heirlooms...organics...farmer's picks you name it. They are full, green, and flowering. Just one thing is missing fruit. Loads of little yellow flowers and According to one of our farmers this is because of the heat. I put them in the ground too late and the lazy vines don't like to produce if it is too hot. So, I just have to keep them alive until late September when it cools down and we will have fruit for fall. Tomatoes in October....Florida has its perks!

Next week I will plant Buckwheat in all of the remaining empty plots to keep the soil protected from the brutal August sun. So that is a little garden update. Have a great weekend and check back Monday for a fresh taste of EcoCulinaire!

Ten Bites from the Big Apple

There is one city in this country that demands you to eat and eat well, and that is none other than New York, New York. It doesn't matter if you are grabbing a hot dog from a greasy man with gold caps or sitting down to a six course prix fixe meal set on a white tablecloth, the Big Apple is a place where food of all walks of life just seems to taste better.

Chef, Lil' Bit and I just wrapped up our trip to the mountains with a whirlwind culinary sprint through NYC. This is our second trip to "the City" this year and like every other visit our itinerary revolved around food. Below is a list of our ten favorite restaurants we have eaten at thus so far. If you live in the city and you haven't eaten at them yet, do. Sooo do. If you happen to visit the city make a point to make a reservation. If the place doesn't take them, go any way. It will be worth the wait.

The Spotted Pig: This bar is rock n' roll and the food is absolutely unbelievably wonderful. I had the best Bloody Mary of my life here, and one of the most delicious hamburgers I have ever put in my mouth.

Prune: I had my birthday party here in February and we came back for an encore last Sunday for brunch. This food is authentic, straight forward, and simply perfect. If you go for brunch, get there when they open at 10 am, or be prepared for an hour wait. If you order the fish plate, order it as a shared appetizer because it is a whole lot of fish for one person to take down.

Momofuku Noodle Bar: I had been dying to eat here, and finally did last Saturday for a late lunch. The picture above is of their steam buns with pork. We ate our first serving and had to follow up with a second order because they are literally one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth. If you live in NYC go and eat them. Go quickly.

Barney Greengrass: I have an affinity for fish, particularly when it is smoked or pickled. Barney Greengrass, as it is spelled out grandly on the sign of this landmark restaurant, is The Sturgeon King...and if you are into smoked fish this is the place. Bar Pitti: This is a little Italian joint in the West Village that is beyond amazing. Any restaurant that is running 20 specials on a chalkboard brought to your table you know is going to be good.

Momofuku Bassam Grill: For $200 you get a pork shoulder that feeds ten with a wide variety of accouterments that make for a fabulous feast. Bib lettuce, oysters, rice, kimchi, hoisin sauce and other delectables.

Katz's Delectassen: The word deli and New York are basically synonymous. Katz's has been around since 1888, and while there are other deli's in the city that may be a little less on the tourist map quest, this place has a killer pastrami sandwich. Remember the orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally? That was filmed in Katz's and basically sums up the experience perfectly.

Babbo: Owned by Mario Battali, we had the eight course here. It was phenomenal, but the most memorable thing about this place was the music. There is nothing like fine dining with David Bowie and Beck booming.

Back Forty: We just ate here this past weekend and the vibe is warm and casual and the food creative yet accessible...kinda like what we do at 29 South. If you like donuts...they serve them warm for dessert. The night I was there they were drizzled with a cherry glaze...major yummy factor.

Locanda Verde: Located in the Greenwich Hotel owned by Robert DeNiro, we had a great meal here. The waitress gave us the run down of the menu and described each dish as "meant to be shared." We took this to a whole new level when the man at the table next to us shared his lamb chop. The one thing you are not going to want to share on this menu is the fettuccine with white bolognese...beyond delish.

ps. I have to share our one celebrity sighting in the city. After dinner with friends at Locanda Verde we went to this great little bar across the street. When I say little, I mean tiny. It was about midnight when this big guy in a black T shirt and long jean shorts walks in with his dog. When I saw him I thought to myself...this guy is so mafioso...definitely the muscle in the neighborhood. Then, he turned and low and behold... James Gandolfini. He asked if the bar served food, and then walked out whistling for his pup who followed leash dragging behind him. Poor guy can't shake the character even in real life.

Skeeter Season

Mosquitoes. Skeeters. Mozzies. Ruthless blood sucking bugs that seem to exist everywhere on the east coast. From Bar Harbor to Key West, the miserable bugs are everywhere. They can travel up to 7 1/2 miles in one evening, and in the process they can turn a perfectly wonderful summer evening into a nightmare.

While these relentless little pests in their current evolutionary carnation have been around for over 30 million years, their lifespan is only 1 to 2 weeks long from start to finish. That is if they don't get squashed first.

I think the worst thing about mosquitoes is killing them. This is for two reasons. One, it usually requires smacking yourself, and in my case they seem to have an affinity for my head. The slap in the face is almost as bad as the bite itself. Something to think about next time you get bitten by a skeeter, only the females bite. They use the protein in the blood to make eggs, which leads us to the second reason why I think killing mosquitos is disgusting.

The blood. There is nothing like swatting a mosquito against your arm before it bites you only to have some other person's blood come gushing out of it. This immediately makes me think of disease. Only the granny mosquitoes, the old ladies, the cougars of the swarm spread disease. Dirty bitches.

I thought in honor of skeeter season I would list some all natural remedies for keeping the vampy little bugs at bay. Some of these I have tried myself, others are suggestions I have gathered along the way. If you have any other suggestions to add to the list please do!

1. Eucalyptus oil and lemon balm oil

2. Lavender oil, particularly the Spike Lavender variety

3. Listerine: Don't spray it on you directly, but instead on the area around you. While Snopes says this is a false remedy, I have seen it in action and it works for a little while, but not long.

4. Citronella candles

5. Cactus Juice : This is a brand of repellent that I use. It is made from the Prickly Pear Cactus. It smells good and is kid friendly.

Farmers Market Travels

Farmers markets are a great way to get a taste of local culture when you are traveling. Whenever we are on a trip I try to make a point to find the farmers market in the region and if possible check it out. They are wonderful places to buy foodie souvenires and gifts for friends and family, and often times you will also find booths where you can sample some local cuisine.

Exploring farmers markets abroad can also give you a taste of the ecology of the place you are visiting. For example, at this particular market they had a stand that sold local mushrooms, which is something not offered at our market in Florida. These are not the magical kind, mind you, but a wonderful array of culinary fungi.

Chef has finally joined us on our mountain vacation, and we decided to visit the farmers market here in Great Barrington to do a little shopping for the inevitable feast parties that will follow his arrival. We bought some Shitake, Oyster, and Hen of the Woods mushrooms, as well as hanger steaks, short ribs, whole chickens, veal sausage, and pork chops. For Lil' Bit fresh blueberries, peaches, and cherries.

The market here is thriving, bustling with activity and has a fantastically diverse group of vendors. It is open every Wednesday and Saturday, and I hope to pay it another visit soon.

Crunchy Lady

Since Lil' Bit and I have been without our personal Chef for the past ten days we have been doing our own cooking. One of the greatest aspects of having a chef as a life partner is that he is like a living recipe encyclopedia...and he can make anything ten times fast than the average human.

I decided I wanted to write a post about cooking a simple meal completely out of local ingredients that would be easy for anyone to find in their communities. Without Chef here I didn't have my culinary sounding board, so I began to rack my brain for an idea...and then it hit me...the classic french sandwich...the crunchy lady...aka la croque madam.

Now, the saying goes "Ladies first" but similar to Adam coming before Eve in the Jewish book of fairy tales, the croque monsieur is the impetus for the madam. The origin of this classic ham and cheese sandwich stems from the lunches of French factory workers in the early 1900's. The story goes that because they did not have any refrigeration for their mid day meals, they would leave them near the radiator and the cheese would melt.

The croque madam is the same hot ham and cheese sandwich, only with a fried or poached egg on top. It is told that this sandwich got its name because the fried egg on top resembles ladies hats of yesteryear.

While finding local ham is a bit tricky, every other ingredient in the croque madam is fairly simple to source. Uncle George, Lil' Bit and I set out to gather our ingredients and managed to collect all of them in just a few hours. We started with a trip to the local bakery.

First we drove to the Berkshire Mountain Bakery which is located in a old brick building down a state road. We went inside where a small display case set up beside the door showed their goodies of the day. Behind the little counter was a bakery in full force...big tables with dough being needed and rolled, big stainless steel shelves being wheeled about, flour everywhere. I couldn't help but wonder how long most of the people there had been awake. Bakers keep strange hours. We scanned the breads and settled on a lovely loaf of French peasant bread, and also bought a pan au chocolate for dessert.

Next we headed to Rubiner's, the acclaimed Berkshire cheesemonger paradise. Here you can find the finest cheeses you will ever put in your mouth, some of which come from faraway places, but many also from dairy farms across the USA. We asked the cheesemonger on duty what local cheese he thought would melt the best and he recommended cheese from Cricket Creek Farm. He cut us a nice wedge from the wheel and off we went to Guido's for eggs.

Guido's is the local gourmet grocery store in Great Barrington, and it was here that we purchased the last four ingredients to make our meal complete. First we chose our eggs. Rather than using a chicken egg, which is the traditional topper for a croque madam we decided that duck eggs would make the sandwich just a little bit more glamorous. We bought eggs from Lucky Duck Farm, and in each carton they slip a little downy duck feather in with the eggs.

Then we grabbed a stick of artisan Vermont butter. This is some of the most delicious creamy butter I have ever put in my mouth. Vermont is only about an hour and a half away, so we counted the butter as a local item.

Last but not least, we wanted to get some accouterments for our pan au chocolate dessert. Raspberries from a local farm, and a pint of creme caramel ice cream from SoCo Creamery, which sources their ingredients from local dairies, did the trick.

I decided in order to stay true to my mission to eat an entirely local sourced meal to forgo using ham on my sandwich since we were unable to find any local ham. Uncle George swung by Taft Farm and picked up a 1/2 pound of ham that is cured and smoked there, but they were not sure where the pig was from. He then hustled on over the The Berkshire Brewery for a growler of beer. A growler is a large glass jug of beer, and if you bring your own jug it only costs about $8 for a refill. Not a bad deal.

We arrived home with all of our goodies and decided to wait until Lil' Bit went to sleep before we began to cook. It turns out that the croque madams make for great late night snacks. We It was 9:30 before we sat down to eat. After frying the sandwiches, Uncle George, who had been sipping on various adult beverages since about noon was unable to eat the steaming sandwich mainly because he found the glorious duck egg yolk unappetising to look at in his lushy state. However he had no problem helping me polish off dessert.

Here is a quick recipe for the croque madam. It is truly one of the easiest hot meals you can make from local ingredients, and I recommend you try it! It is deliciously rewarding!

Good Life Recipe #8 / Croque Madam, local yokel style

Ingredients

• loaf of bread from a local bakery
• cheese (Gruyere is what is traditionally used) and butter from local dairy (Local Harvest)
• eggs from local farm - check Local Harvest for farm near you
• ham, again check Local Harvest, but this can be option

Directions:

• Smear butter on both sides of two pieces of bread.
• Melt butter in frying pan.
• Stack cheese and ham on bread (sandwich) and fry in pan
• Remove sandwich, and add more butter to pan
• Fry egg in pan
• Top sandwich with egg and season with salt and pepper
• If you want to get fancy with it you can make a bechemel sauce. You can find a recipe for it at Epicurious

Community Currency

Money is something that we all have a relationship with...for better or for worse, it is a definite part of our ecology. Tangibly it takes up space in our wallets, purses, pockets, and piggy banks, and symbolically it buys us everything from food and drink to heart stints and toe nail clippers. We rely on the Federal Government to supply it, one way or the other. Well...not all of us do.

This region of the USA, The Berkshire Mountains, has its own currency called a Berkshare. Berkshares made their debut in 2006 as a means for the community here to explore an alternative economy based completely on local industry. Today over 370 businesses accept this currency, and over 2 million Berkshares are in circulation. Uncle George has a friend who even pays her monthly rent in Berkshares. Each bill is a work of art designed by premiere local artists, and celebrates a hero of this region, and of our nation.

The Mohican Indian is the given the honor of being the face of the 1 bill of Berkshares. The Mohican tribe was 20,000 strong living along the Hudson River before European settlers arrived in the seventeenth century. The Stockbridge Mohicans were only one of two tribes to side with the colonists against the English during the Revolutionary War, and George Washington gave them a commendation for their service. Now known as the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohicans, they live primarily on a reservation in Wisconsin, but they still see the Berkshire Mountains as their true ancestral home.

The 5 Berkshare bill is dedicated to Dr. W.E. Du Bois, which is fitting because Great Barrington is the birthplace of this great intellectual who founded the civil rights movement. From a young age Du Bois had a innate understanding of not only the ecology of humanity, but also our relationship with the natural world, much inspired by the beautiful landscape of the Berkshire Mountains. On the 100th anniversary of his birth, Dr. Martin Luther King described Dr. Du Bois as "a tireless explorer and a gifted discoverer of social truths." 

Co-founder of Indian Line Farm, Robyn Van En established the first Community Supported Agriculture farm in the USA in 1984. She sparked a revolution in the USA by reconnecting Americans with the culture and heritage of their food. In 1997, Robyn Van En passed away unexpectedly at the age of 49 leaving behind a legacy that continues to flourish as CSAs continue to sprout up across the nation, building communities based on the foundation of sustainable agriculture and economics.

A whale of a story teller, Herman Melville's mug graces the face of the 20 Berkshare bill. Mariner, author, poet Melville wrote Moby Dick here at his home in Pittsfield, MA. While he was never recognized for this work of literature while alive, it is now apart of the American cannon. It was considered experimental for its time because of the manner in which he delved into the biology of whales and today it is recognized as an early example of environmentalism in literature.

Last but not least, the 50 bill celebrates the quintessential American artist Norman Rockwell who also lived in this region. His comedic depictions of small town America are iconic, and a true testimony to the America our grandparents remember. Later in life, the civil rights movement and the war on poverty became the subjects of his work. A true patriot, Norman Rockwell deserves a place on a bill more than most Presidents.

The Berkshire Mountains are so rich in American history, and as a region they have decided to commemorate their heritage with currency. It is that innovative and pioneering spirit that brought so many intellectuals and artists here throughout the centuries, and it is good to see it alive and well today. Driving through this area you feel as if you have stepped into a place that is truly authentic, and that authenticity still holds true in little pockets across this country. I think this is what politicians are referring to when they speak of "Real America."

Baby Date

Going on a baby date is like going on a blind date. The conversation is awkward. Sometimes games are played. You don't know if the other person is going to like the food at the restaurant you chose. You leave feeling insecure about what you are wearing (on a baby date this is due to the fact that you are wearing most of your child's dinner). And then of course there is the chance that things could go really bad.

My tiny travel buddy and I have been on two dates this trip so far. We had breakfast together Sunday at a little restaurant in downtown Great Barrington called Martin's. Lil' Bit and I wake up usually between 5:30 and 7:30 on any given day. I decided that since Uncle George had other house guests, all of them 20 somethings who keep very different hours, my daughter and I should head out of the house early and start our day with a meal.

Whenever you walk into a restaurant before 8 am on a weekend you can be sure of one thing...families with children. On this particular Sunday there was a table by the window with a family of four...2 adults and 2 preteens looking particularly miserable as their parents described all the vacation activities for the day. Lil' Bit and I grabbed a table in the center of the restaurant, ordered a spinach and cheese omelete with a side of fruit, and so our baby date began.

Within five minutes of our food arriving another family walked in to the dining room. It was a middle aged couple with their son who was maybe 8 years old. Lil' Bit's sole purpose when dining out is to engage with as many people as possible, regardless of whether or not their food has arrived, or if they are in the middle of a heated conversation. She is so aware of her ecology, and her need to build relationships with all that is around her. Within seconds, Lil' Bit targeted the threesome at the table next to us.

First she went after the son, who had brought 2 race cars with him. He did his best to ignore Lil' Bit and focus on his cars, but when her gaze grew too unnerving he told his mom. The mom then began speaking to Lil' Bit asking her how she was doing, how are her eggs...telling her how adorable she is...and I responded for my baby in open ended questions...

"How are you little one? What do you think? Are your eggs good? What do you say? Do you say thank you?" We continued this conversation back and forth until their food arrived.

This is always the tricky part for people who have fallen into Lil' Bit's web. They don't want to be rude to the baby by ignoring her, but they want to eat their food. I try my best to distract her with her own meal, I give her ice to play with, and cold spoons to chew on, toys, crayons if available...but usually to no avail. I have to be honest, I find it facinating to watch grown ups try to ignore her. You can tell a lot about a person in how they react to unwanted baby flirtation.

The woman politely turned back to her family and began eating her food. Lil' Bit realized that she needed to step up her game. She began to pick up handfuls of omelet from her plate and throw them with great force down at the feet of the woman at the other table. Each landed with a splat. The woman looked down at the food and smiled, I am sure thinking to herself how glad she was to be done with the baby stage. I began picking the food up toss by toss, and then had the brilliant idea to remove her food from her reach. I asked for the check and paid cash as soon as it came, making a quick getaway.

Most meals I eat out with Lil' Bit end up on the floor of the restaurant. I say most, but not all because she loves Indian food and rarely does any of it end up anywhere but her mouth or shirt. Lil' Bit and I went out for Indian last night and had a feast.

First of all, this restaurant had booths, which I find essential to a successful baby date. I plop Lil' Bit down in the the booth next to me, kick up my leg along the edge so she doesn't fall, and we both peruse the menu. Me with my eyes, her with her mouth. We ordered veggies samosas, chicken tikka marsala, and spinach stuffed naan.

As we waited for our meal to arrive Lil' Bit immediately tried to scale the back of the booth. The heads of two Indian men peaked up over the edge of the booth next to us. The temptation of their beautiful thick black hair was too much for her. For ten minutes she tried to reach and grab and peek at them, until she got her shoe stuck in the crack of the booth and she gave up. Luckily, after a few rounds of peekaboo, the food came.

I transferred her to the high chair and she was content munching down all that was in front of her. We finished the meal with a fantastic rice pudding sprinkled with cardamon. As we were waiting for the check she demanded to sit in the booth, where she decided to crawl at top speed traversing the four feet of booth, only to ram her head into the wall next to it. Lil' Bit let out a mind splitting cry, which brought our check and doggy bags back to our table remarkably quickly.

Baby dates, like bad blind dates, have the tendency to end abruptly. There is also that moment of relief when you get into your car and you know that it is over. You buckle your seat belt and drive a way with a little bit of guilt, not because you know you are not going to call the next day, but because you left a pile of food under the table for the waiter to clean up. At the same time, the mess is half the reason why you decided not to eat at home in the first place. Better them than me, so I just make sure to leave them a great tip to make it worth their while.