Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!!!!

I won't be posting this week. I have stuff with the family to do, pumpkin pies to bake, lots of food to eat way too much of, and school work to knock out with three and a half weeks left in the semester. It's crunch time in more ways than one. Until next time, have a great holiday!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Make It Local: Episode 1, Pimp My Apiary

I have a laundry list of things I want to do and try with this blog. My mind doesn't focus on any single thing for very long. (those of you who remember my banana bread making escapades may beg to differ, but I digress) One of my goals in writing here is to promote the eating and production of sustainable local foodstuffs. I believe very strongly in the idea that local, sustainable food production goes a long way to promoting a healthy lifestyle, plus a healthy and vibrant community. In my mind, being able to produce and distribute quality local food at a decent price and make a buck or two in the process is a win/win for all! So, without further adieu, allow me to 'pimp' my first local producer, or in this case, potential local producer: Mad Urban Bees LLC.

Mad Urban Bees LLC is the brainchild of a good friend of mine, Nathan Clarke. For the purposes of full disclosure, no, Nathan is not paying me to write about this. He wouldn't need to even if he wanted to. Nathan is an all around great guy. I have known Nathan and his wife, Beth, for a number of years now. They are what you could most certainly call 'self-sufficient' and 'sustainable'. A high percent of the food they and their two daughters eat throughout the year they grow themselves. They buy local whenever they can, including meats, cheeses, and veggies. Nathan brews his own beer, mead, wine, and other goodies that he loves to share with friends and loved ones. (I have partaken in eating and drinking in his humble abode more than a few times. My memory has been a bit 'fuzzy' regarding these events, but a good time was always had by all!) Nathan has also been beekeeping for the last five years. He owns two hives in his back yard and has helped others start their own. His commitment to all things local and sustainable has lead him to start Mad Urban Bees. He wants to expand his two hives to forty or fifty hosted by local businesses and residents throughout the city of Madison. This would be one of the first apiaries in an urban setting in the United States. He has a page on Kickstarter.com where people can donate to the start-up of his business. As of this writing, forty seven people have contributed $2,275. His goal is $7000 by January 3rd, 2012. He has some awesome gifts awaiting those who contribute, ranging from a personal thank you and updates on the project's progress for a $10 donation, all the way up to a honey themed four-course meal for two, a case of honey, t-shirts(gotta have the swag!) and a beehive donated in your name to Heifer International for a $1000 donation.

I think it's an awesome idea and I want to support Nathan in any way I can. One more local, sustainable business in Madison is good for our economy, our health, and our community as a whole. Donate today. Do it!!!!!

Monday, November 14, 2011

A short rant about mediocrity and Madison.

There are those days where I get mad at the city I currently live in. I'm not from here, but I do take some pride in my adopted home. I was far beyond proud when my fellow Wisconsinites took to the streets this past February to protest the heavy-handed, short-sighted, and downright mean policies of an incoming governor. I'm proud to live in a state that loves its cheese heritage and craft beers. I love that I live in a city of 230,000-plus, yet I can drive 20 minutes to the west and fish for brown trout in a fast-moving stream in the middle of nowhere. I love not living amongst a sea of strip malls and used car lots like I did down in suburban Illinois. I do like it here.

What I get angry about is the fact that, while Madison, Wisconsin is said to have the highest number of restaurants per capita of any American city over 200,000 people, it has A LOT of mediocre food. There is an abundance of chain stores here, but there are plenty of locally owned establishments as well, and some of them are quite good. But, the food culture here seems stunted, as if there is no real sense of identity. Again, please don't get me wrong, there is good food to be had, but for every L'Etoile and Shinji Muramoto, there's twenty or thirty Samba's or Parthenon Gyros.

What has set me off was a trip to Chicago this past weekend. Some friends and I celebrated a birthday at Fogo de Chao in the Loop. It's part of a Brazilian steak house chain that opened in Brazil in the late seventies and now has sixteen restaurants around the U.S., mostly in major cities. The experience was amazing! The meat never stopped! It was quality food, tasty drinks, excellent service, a wine list that wins awards, and an upbeat atmosphere. It wasn't cheap, mind you, (a date night could easily set you back $200+,) but it was well worth it.

Here in Madison, we have Samba. It's owned by a couple who also own several other restaurants and a couple of liquor stores and are taking turns serving time in prison for tax evasion! The last time I was there, (also for a friend's birthday,) the lamb was game-y, some of the other meats weren't very well cooked or spiced, the salad bar was pretty good, the drinks were ok, and the service absolutely sucked. All of this and I only paid $10 less for the meal than I did for Fogo de Chao.

I'm not sure I have anything constructive to say about Madison's food scene at the moment. There are quality restaurants here and places I love, but some folks here have an attitude that the scene here is on par with Chicago, and I'm here to tell you...it's not. I'm going to sleep on this one and we'll see if I have anything more to say about this issue. /rant

Friday, November 4, 2011

I *heart* chili!

I *heart* it so much, I'm going to share a recipe with you.

It's November and in Wisconsin that means 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and below freezing at night. By February, we'll be lucky to have seen the sun for more than three hours in a week and Ice Road Truckers will be starting their runs across Lake Mendota's three feet of ice. Wisconsinites take this all in stride; we are a hardy bunch, and fourteen below zero weather doesn't stop us from carrying on about our day. One of the ways we in the north get through our winters is consuming a fair amount of soups, stews, and anything we can cook in a slow-cooker for hours on end. Both East and West coasters love to make fun of us chubby, pasty-white Midwesterners. But unlike coasties, we can survive arctic temperatures with minimal discomfort and can maintain a relative amount of sanity after five months of frigid weather. (Though I will admit to the fact that this is made easier by fostering a certain level of lunacy to begin with.)

One of the ways I survive winter is making chili in my slow-cooker. As I write this, my first batch of chili of the season is simmering in my kitchen and it will be doing so for the next ten hours, (for a total of twelve hours.) I was given the recipe almost twenty years ago by a guy who lived on the same floor as I did when I was stationed at Castle Air Force Base in California. For the life of me, I can't remember his name, only that his nickname was "Tex". He was from somewhere just outside of Houston and one day, after I made some chili in the first slow-cooker I ever owned, (my mom's old slow-cooker from the early 80's,) he decided that it was his civic duty as a Texan teach a "yankee" how to make chili properly. I have used this recipe, tweaking it every now and again, ever since.

It is now MY civic duty to share this recipe with you. Feel free to tweak as you wish:

Jay's Texas chili recipe

3 tbsp Bacon grease
2 lbs. beef stew meat or tri-tip, cut into cubes
1 medium white onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 Jalapeno pepper, diced
3 cloves of garlic, diced finely
1 14.5 oz can of chopped tomatoes
1 29 oz  can of tomato puree
2 16 oz cans of beans, (red, black, kidney, whatever you like)
3 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp of cumin
1 tbsp white flour
1 tbsp of vegetable oil

In your slow-cooker, mix in tomatoes, puree, beans, chili powder, and cumin and set the temperature to Low. Cook two or three strips of bacon in a frying pan to draw out grease. Eat bacon when done. (Mmmmm...bacon.) Saute onions, peppers, and garlic in bacon grease on medium heat until onions are translucent. Pour contents of pan into you slow-cooker and mix.  Lightly coat stew meat in flour. Pour oil into pan and cook meat on medium-high heat until lightly browned. Pour contents of pan into slow-cooker and mix. Cook chili on low heat for a minimum of 8 hours, stirring every 2 hours or so.  I cook mine for at least 10 hours. Feel free to thin out chili with water or beef stock if it becomes too thick during the cooking process.  After cooking is finished, you may eat right away, but chili, much like good stews and soups, is better after it has cooled for at least 12 hours, allowing the flavors to "marry" further. If you choose to do so, simply reheat, serve with your favorite toppings and enjoy!