I often come across articles, events or tidbits about cooking or local food, but they’re not enough on their own to warrant a whole article. So, I thought I would start collecting these and post a miscellaneous article with random thoughts, resources and interesting information. Here goes:
First up, the
5th Annual Ramp Fest at the Garfield Park Conservatory on Friday, April 5. Ramp Fest is The Land Connection’s annual Spring fundraiser, inspired by the wild ramp,
allium tricocum, which is the first edible green to come up each spring, and which Chicago was named after
(who knew!). Enjoy spectacular dishes featuring the vegetable of honor created by the likes of Paul Kahan: Blackbird Restaurant, Carrie Nahabedian: NAHA, Sarah Stegner & George Bumbaris: Prairie Grass Cafe, and Paul Virant: Vie Restaurant. For ticket information, visit
TheLandConnection.org > events.
Which leads me to my second feature:
The Land Connection.
Their Vision: to support and foster the growth and creation of community-based food systems in the Midwest, in which every farmer has the opportunity to grow food in a sustainable manner, and every person has the choice to enjoy local and organic foods.
Their Mission: to establish successful farmers on healthy farmland, ensuring an abundance of delicious, local, and organic foods.
A great cause that is worthy of our support
(and you get to eat ramps!). For more information, visit
TheLandConnection.org.
I found out about the Ramp Fest and The Land Connection in the latest issue of
edible Chicago, a magazine featuring news of the region’s family farmers, brewers, food artisans, chefs, home gardeners, and others who have a dedication to producing and using sustainably produce, local, seasonal foods. You can pick up free copies at various locations around the city and suburbs
(I grabbed mine at the Chopping Block), you can read the
content online, or you can
subsribe and have it delivered to your door four times a year for $28.
Chicago’s Downtown Farmstand is now open on a permanent basis and offers edible local and seasonal products all produced within 250 miles of Chicago. The Farmstand was recently featured on
WGN Lunchbreak and highlighted local buttermilk, scone mix, soups and more that are available for purchase. For hours and more information, visit the
Farmstand’s website.
And one more local, seasonal shopping spot that’s not open
quite yet
(as far as I know, but someone please correct me if I’m wrong), but very soon we’ll be able to buy local, organic and healthy food at the
Dill Pickle Food Co-op in Logan Square. For updates and more information, visit
www.dillpicklefoodcoop.org or call 312-523-8299.
Click on an ingredient and link to a past 24 Boxes post using that item.
One medium monthly share:
Click on an ingredient and link to a past 24 Boxes post using that item.
Click on an ingredient and link to a past 24 Boxes post using that item.
Click on an ingredient and link to a past 24 Boxes post using that item.
This week I’m trying out a new recipe format with one of my favorite Spring treats – Radish & Chive Sandwich with Cream Cheese. Some recipes don’t fit well into a traditional format. Either they’re much too simple to really justify a recipe at all or the preparation is such that specific measurements and directions aren’t necessary. The Visual Recipe format offers a simple, concise visual recipe that’s easy to follow and easy to prepare. I would love to hear what you think of the new format!
Radish & Chive Sandwich with Cream Cheese
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Click on an ingredient and link to a past 24 Boxes post using that item.
This is more of a public service announcement than a simple book review. I am so enamored with A Homemade Life that I feel it’s my mission to make sure that all of my foodie (especially my female foodie) friends READ THIS BOOK. It’s more than a memoir and not necessarily a cookbook (but there are lots of recipes). It’s funny, familiar, poignant, sometimes sad, bittersweet and very romantic.
The Simple Series is back! It’s actually harder to compile three simple preparations than it is to post a more complicated recipe. But with Kale, I’ve been finding that the simpler the better and while I’m a fan of all three recipes featured in this Simple Series (including Raw Emerald Kale Salad and Steamed Sesame Kale), I am absolutely addicted to the Kale Chips. They are exactly what they sound like – crispy pieces of Kale with just a sprinkling of salt and a little olive oil to help them crisp up (baked, not fried). I realized just how good they were when a friend asked me how long they would keep in an airtight container, and I said “I have no idea – they’ve never lasted that long in our house!” Guilt-free chips...
Simple Series :: Kale
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My box season is starting so much earlier this year thanks to my new 2009 Spring subscription from the Genesis Growers CSA. I anxiously picked up my first box, not really knowing what to expect. It is, after all, April in Chicago, and there’s not much growing. But the box was heavy and packed with onions, beets, potatoes and giant carrots – some of the biggest carrots I have ever seen (the beets were giant-sized, too!). After a winter of heavy, warm foods I was craving this crisp, tart but slightly sweet Carrot & Apple Salad with a yogurt, mint and honey dressing. Exactly what I needed to brighten a dreary, rainy Spring day.
Carrot & Apple Salad with Yogurt, Mint and Honey Dressing
Ground Beef (2 lbs)
I finally broke down and purchased a slow cooker that I had in my Amazon wish list for almost a year. It’s been close to a month since it arrived all shiny-new and stainless steel and, funny thing is, the only thing I’ve made so far is chicken stock – lots and lots of chicken stock. It’s become a joke now in our house that I’m stocking up on stock (you can never have too much homemade chicken stock). Making stock in a slow cooker cannot be any easier. And after doing some research online and reading up at Cook’s Illustrated, I determined that you don’t need a lot of ingredients to end up with a really flavorful, full-bodied stock. Throw some chicken (wings, backs and/or necks), an onion (with the skin, adds a nice golden-brown color), garlic, salt and bay leaves in a slow cooker, set it to cook and forget about it. Eight hours later (or four hours on high), you’ve got yourself three quarts of homemade stock that you can use within a week or freeze for up to three months.
For safety reasons, it’s always a good idea to cool down soups, stocks or stews before transferring them to the refrigerator. Putting hot-off-the-stove foods directly into the refrigerator can increase the interior temperature to more than 50 degrees – which is unsafe for all of the food inside. You can let the food cool down on the countertop for an hour and then transfer to the refrigerator. Or, you can cool it down more quickly with a cooling paddle. A Rapi-Kool Food Chiller, or cooling paddle, cool sauces, soups, stews, and other hot foods quickly and easily. It allows you to insert a shaft of cold directly into the core of the food. You can find cooling paddles at restaurant supply stores online such as Ace Mart, item number KATRCU-64.
Slow-Cooker Chicken Stock
