Fifty Mile Meal

Legend has it that many years ago a native American Chief removed his knife from the trunk of a sugar maple tree, where he had thrown it the night before. As the sun got higher, the sap began to drip from the gash in the tree. The Chief’s wife tasted the sap and discovered that it had a pleasing taste, so she used the sap to cook that day’s meal. After a long simmering, the meat and sap mixture was cooked and the sap had boiled down to an amber syrup. The irresistibly sweet scent and taste of the mapled meat so delighted the Chief that it soon became the tribes most prized dish…and so it began, our long love affair with maple syrup.

March is the month of great changes;  the nights are freezing but the days warm to encourage the flow of sap in the sugar maple trees.  Maple syrup is one of my many guilty pleasures.  I recently visited Jim Loomis of Loomis Barn and Country Shops in Rushville, NY.   Better known for their commitment to fine crafted American made furniture they are slowly making a name for their locally made maple syrup.  Jim and his brother-in-law, Paul Curtis, have taken this hobby and turned it into an integral part of their retail store.  Loomis Barns features their handcrafted maple products in the on-property restaurant called the Corn House Cafe.  I found their sugar shack through the New York Maple Producers web site.  The site listed all the maple producers in New York state, I found this web site to be very helpful.  I ended up picking the Loomis Barn because of it’s close proximity to the New York Wine and Culinary Center; I was teaching a class that day and wanted some place close. 

After I arrived Jim and Paul took me down to the sugar shack and began to explain the whole “sugaring” process.  Paul walked me through the whole procedure…step by step.  He dripped with childish excitement…one thing I have noticed when talking to local producers, they love to spend time with you and are eager to share all that they know.  Talking with the producers is becoming my favorite part of this project. One of the many pearls of wisdom I gleaned from my conversation with Paul is that New York state uses less than 10% of the sugar maple to produce maple syrup.  State officials are beginning to see the un-tapped (sorry about the pun) potential in this cash crop.   They both see increased maple production in the coming years.   While at the retail store I purchased a pint of light and a pint of medium amber syrup…it was fantastic!  Both bottles combined cost me $22.00, well worth the investment.

One of the mysteries of buying syrup is figuring out whats on the labels.  Here are some of the grading and labeling information that you may run into as well as what to expect from the product in the bottle:

•  Grade A Light Amber, is very light and has a mild, more delicate maple flavor. It is usually made earlier in the season when the weather is colder. This is the best grade for making maple candy and maple cream.
• Grade A Medium Amber, is a bit darker, and has a bit more maple flavor. It is the most popular grade of table syrup, and is usually made after the sugaring season begins to warm, about mid-season.
• Grade A Dark Amber, is darker yet, with a stronger maple flavor. It is usually made later in the season as the days get longer and warmer.
• Grade B, sometimes called Cooking Syrup, is made late in the season, and is very dark, with a very strong maple flavor, as well as some caramel flavor. Although many people use this for table syrup; because of its strong flavor, it’s often used for cooking, baking, and flavoring in special foods.

Maple products are made throughout the northeastern United States and if you are outside my radius it would be very easy to locate a producer close to you.  I have provided a link to MapleSource.com which is a great resource for finding local producers and getting your maple questions answered. 

I have now replaced my store bought syrup with locally produced maple syrup, I encourage you to do the same.  I am fast on my way to clearing out my pantry while I search for Great food that is Just Around the Corner. 

Can a thirteen year old boy tell if his dad has changed the milk he uses in his morning bowl of cereal?  To be honest, I didn’t think so…well I was wrong.  This week I introduced my family to Pittsford Farms Dairy, a local dairy that produces some of the best milk and dairy products I have ever used.  Pittsford Farms is a small family run dairy farm that uses local milk and processes everything at their Pittsford, NY location.  They are famous for their heavy cream, which looks and pours like white paint and their eggnog, a holiday staple

When I told my family of my plans for this summer I was met with some grumbling…mainly directed at me messing around with the stuff that worked, like our milk.  We were happy with our milk, it did the job; it got the cereal wet.  What more could we ask for?  Knowing that there might be a bit of resistance with me bringing home different milk for them to try, I used bit of culinary psychology …”here everybody try this chocolate milk I bought today”.  One sip and they were hooked.   Let me tell you about Pittsford Farms chocolate milk, in short it is the best chocolate milk I have ever tasted…think chocolate cream.  Sometimes when you drink other chocolate milk it has this re-processed kind of “minerally” taste.  Pittsford Farms milk is rich and tastes like chocolate.  Once my family’s eyes were opened to the quality of Pittsford Farm’s milk it was easy for them to accept  the rest of the dairy products I brought home.  My son even commented that this was the first milk he has finished with his morning bowl of cereal.

My goal for this whole project is to completely replace all the ingredients I use in my house with something local but what do I do if I can’t find a local replacement?  Three things I use on a regular basis are fresh mozzarella, ricotta cheese and yogurt and now that I have found a superior quality milk, I decided not to look for local replacements, but to make them from scratch.  At first I thought this was a great idea, well the main reason I have not posted in awhile is because I have been locked in my kitchen trying to perfect fresh mozzarella.   I have to tell you…it was a blast!   The best part about it was the amount of money I saved by doing this myself.  To make 2 quarts of yogurt, 2 pounds of fresh mozzarella and 8 ounces of ricotta cheese I need a gallon and a half of whole milk; the cost to me $5.35.  To purchase the three items that I made, I would have spent well over $25.00.  How cool is that!?!

I shyed away from doing this sooner because I thought it was a huge time commitment but time was not an issue. To make mozzarella you need to invest a solid hour, there are no short cuts.  After you have made your mozarella you will need the whey that is produced to make your ricotta cheese, which in Italian means to re-cook.  The process is simple and only takes about 45 minutes.  The yogurt is another story; all said and done it takes about 8 hours to make a really thick firm yogurt.  Most of the time spent making yogurt is dedicated to keeping the milk warm so the cultures can bloom.  Look for the recipes for all three items in the recipe section of the blog in the coming days.

Fresh Mozzarella

Fresh Yogurt

To recap my dairy experience I was able to replace my milk, heavy cream, butter, fresh mozarella, riccota and yogurt with all local and high qualiy products.  My next assignment is to head into the woods and find out what makes New York State maple syrup the best in the world.  Spring is here and Great Food is Just Around the Corner…

When deciding to eat locally one of the first and most logical places to start would be to join a Community Supported Agriculture or CSA as they are known.  CSA farms attract members who will pay in advance for a season’s worth of farm fresh products. This is called a share.  A member can usually buy a full share or a half share.  What is in your share depends on the variety of crops a farmer grows.  Selling shares in advance allows the farmer to collect money before the season starts.  This reduces the farmer’s need to borrow money at the beginning of the season in order to purchase farm equipment, seeds, tools and fertilizers.  It also guarantees the farmer that they will have a market during the growing season, which is one of the hardest parts of farming for a living.

If you are a member of a CSA it is often your responsibility to pick up your weekly share.  This might happen at the farm of maybe at some convenient community hub or center.  Some, but not all, CSA’s require members to work a few hours a month on the farm or in the distribution of the shares.  This helps to keep the cost of a share down.  The lastest trend in CSA’s is to offer a one stop shop.  These farms offer dairy, eggs, meat, poultry, fruits and vegetables.  If you are lucky to find one of these in your area, I would strongly encourage you to join ASAP!

Joining a CSA is a decision that some people might need to make after they look at the pros and cons.  Some of the reasons you may choose to join a CSA might include the following:

• You know where your food comes from and you know the people who are growing it.
• You are guaranteed fresh in season produce.
• It allows you to eat from the abundance of the season…just about the time you get tired of a particular vegetable, a new one comes into season to stir your creative juices.
• It supports local farmers and the local economy.
• Fresh in season food, picked days from consumption is better for your body and tastes incredible.
• You don’t have to eat everything you get every week…it’s a great way to be introduced to putting up foods. (canning and freezing)
• I think it is one of the best examples of stewardship for our land that we can demonstrate to the young people in your home.
• Last but not least you get to know farmers…some of the coolest people in the world!

Some of the reasons a CSA might not be for you:

• CSA’s are not for picky eaters…kale, eggplant, Swiss chard, parsnips and other notable vegetables of infamy often show up in your weekly basket.  You need to have a broad pallet.
• The location of the CSA may not be convenient for pick up on a weekly basis.
• You pay for your share in the beginning of the season and you basically get what what is produced every week.  This means if the weather does not cooperate, your share might not be as large as you would like, or there may be limited products in your share.
• You still have to supplement your share with other produce purchased elsewhere.

For me the decission is easy, I think using a CSA is the best way to go.  BUT…for this project I have chosen to forgo joining a CSA because I really want to explore my radius and use as many farms and producers as I can.  I have listed a few CSA’s near me that have a great reputation.  If you are looking for a CSA near you, the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets provides an opportunity for CSA’s to list their farms on the Department’s website as a member of the Pride of New York Program or in the Farm Fresh Guide.  In addition, there are several national websites that provide lists of CSA’s in the U.S., a quick google search and you are in business.  I hope now that spring has sprung, although some of the crocuses have a bit of snow on them right now, that you will get out and look for the Great Food That is Just Around the Corner!

The Birthday Dinner!

Well here it is…the first meal in my radius.  This is the “standard” yearly birthday dinner I prepare for my wife Amy.  Pan seared beef tenderloin with a brandy cream sauce, ginger glazed snap peas with carrots and mashed potato spring roll.  I have been cooking this for her for the past 16 years and it has gotten to the point where I can do it in my sleep.  This year was different…I gave this year’s dinner a great deal of thought.  I felt very confident that I could get at least 95% of the meal locally.  I was wrong.

These are the local ingredients.

These are the only ingredients I could find in my area.   Tomatoes from Intergrow Farms , Yukon gold potatoes from Tomion Farm in Penn Yan, NY and grass fed beef tenderloin from a beef grower in Interlaken, NY.  It was challenging trying to find ALL of the ingredients local but since this was my first meal this way, I cut myself some slack. 

In my mind all I had to do was call up some of my farmer friends and I would be in business; to be honest I thought it was going to be easy, wrong!  Several phone calls later and an equal amount of No’s and I was starting to panic.  Can I really do this? That’s when Sharon Nagel from Fire Fly Farms came up huge.  She led me to Tomion Farms in Penn Yan, they are the only farm that still has local potatoes for sale.  I was able to purchase 5 pounds of some high quality Yukon Gold potatoes and I was fast on my way.

Local Grass Fed Tenderloin From Interlaken, NY

When choosing beef the number one thing you should look for is well marbled meat.  Tenderloin typically is very lean, which yields dry flavorless meat.  The flakes of fat found in these fillets gave them a rich final product.  These animals were grass fed which also improves the flavor.

The Salad Course

My favorite dish of the night, simple, I know but these tomatoes are un-believable.  I used Intergrows cocktail tomatoes with some fresh mozzarella cheese, cucumbers and red onions; dressed with a light red wine vinaigrette. 

Gingered Snap Peas

Fresh snap peas sauteed in a ginger glaze with carrots rounded out the meal.  I didn’t get an individual photo of the mashed potato spring rolls…they don’t last too long! 

It was a great celebration and it gave me an opportunity to format the rest of this project.  As soon as I figure out how to post my recipes separately I will do so.  I also plan on listing all the ingredients and where they come from.  Keep watching for new posts and please share this with all of your friends!

Great Food is Just Around the Corner!

So here’s my radius!  I used Palmyra, NY as my center point, it’s only a few miles from my house so I figured it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. My reason for this was because I wanted to cover the entire Finger Lakes region as well as Syracuse.  Albion, NY made the cut to the west which makes me very happy because Albion is the home of Intergrow greenhouses.  Intergrow is one of the premier hydroponic growers in the country that produces some of the most amazing tomatoes. 

Imagine my relief when I looked at the area where I will be doing my exploring, I have to say…this is the bread basket of New York state.  Now comes the hard work!

Let me lay out the guidelines that I will follow on this adventure:

Almost all of the ingredients that I use in my daily life will come from within this 50 mile radius with very few exceptions.  I will try and replace everything in my pantry and in my coolers with locally grown and produced products.  For ease of organizing this project, I can break my list of supplies into 3 groups.  

Great Food Group:  These are the foods that can be found in my 50 mile radius.  This group will make up the majority of the ingredients that I will use, all the produce, meats, dairy and cheeses for example.

Empire State Foods:  These are the products that are made in New York state but might be outside of my radius.  There should only be a few foods in this grouping.  These might include some speciality items and seasonings. 

Adopted Local:  If I can’t find a pure 100% local equivalent for any ingredient I will try to find the closest local form.  This last group will be the smallest, for example how will I handle coffee and chocolate?  For the sake of my sanity and my marriage, I need to have coffee in my diet.  It is a given that we do not grow coffee in the Finger Lakes so I will use imported coffee beans that are locally roasted, fair trade of course.

The goal is to have as many  foods as possible fall into the Great Foods Group, have a very limited amount of foods from the Empire State Foods and only have one or two from the Adopted Local group.  I want to make it clear that I will try my best to be as local as possible but understand there will have to be some compromises.

With that said, I think I am ready to get this thing started!

Great Food is Just Around the Corner.

Hi, my name is Jeff Christiano and I am a high school culinary arts teacher and professional chef.  My mission in life is to find the absolute best quality foods, but here is the hitch…I only want my food to come from a fifty mile radius. 

I would like to invite you to take this journey with me.  I plan on transforming my home kitchen into one that only uses locally grown and produced products.  I will share with you all that is involved in this process.  I will bare my soul…well OK, not my soul but for sure my pantry.  I will show you the farms I visit and we can even swap recipes.  This will be a journey that I hope we can both grow from taking, I hope you will join me.

I can’t wait to get started and I can’t wait see where this whole thing will take us.

Great Food is Just Around the Corner