Brewers' Best

Each year I volunteer for a bit to help out with the Vermont Cheese Council's booth at the Burlington Brewfest. Microbreweries from around the country and into Canada attend this ever growing event. Typically each year for some strange reason, there is torrential rain and steamy sultry heat right after. This day promised different. When I arrived I thought I was overdressed with muck boots on and a heavy rain coat. But within 20 minutes looking across Lake Champlain one could see black rolling clouds heading our way. Boom. It poured and sogged up the already spongy grass filled with long lines to taste the brewers' best on this day.

Back to why I was there. No, not to drink in the middle of the day on a sun filled Saturday when I am always working my stand at the farmers market..........wait! Why not? I was actually there to help prep and plate 100 tastings for the public to be conducted by Ruth Miller and the Vermont Cheese Council's new coordinator, Calley Hastings (Fat Toad Farm). Calley, Mark Fischer (Woodcock Farm), Masha Stern, and myself squeezed under the dripping EZ UP tent to cut assembly line style. What was on tap?

At 12 o'clock position on the tasting plate... Woodcock Farm's bloomy rind sheep cheese, Summer Snow paired with Alchemist's Saison
Around the clock as follows: Willow Hill Farm Butternut Cheese paired with Switchback Roasted red
Boucher Farm Gore-Dawn-Zola paired with Bobcat Baltic Porter
Fat Toad Farm Herbed Chevre paired with Rock Art Magnumus
Shelburne 2-Yr Cheddar paired with Gardner Ale Hard Cider
Why was Boucher Farm in the 3 o'clock position, I asked? Typically blue cheeses are tasted in pairings last as the flavor profiles tend to dominate one's palate and block all others following.
Ruth explained that the beer used in this pairing was the reason for its placing.
Word has it that it was very well attended and all had fun!

Not a Pesto Season

Well, I hate to sound like a broken record, but this may not be a pesto season due to the evil R---! I relish the thought of sensating its heady sensuous and healing aroma to fill my kitchen with bundles to put up for winter in the form of pesto jars-but alas, it's NOT to happen! I complained as much as possible to get husband to 'rent' a tiller, since ours was "broke", and as fortune has it, or not! He cared not to. So finally I won out with threats of not being able to eat like a king through the winter, our own, organic, homegrown, "just think of all the money we'll save........"! Until it occurred. Works every time.

Well, not really. Not in 2008. I went without a garden in 2008 since said husband exclaimed tiller was broken and that was that. I am not capable of lifting a tiller out of my truck so I "just dealt". Worked out fine. We had a CSA share with River Berry Farm, which was great! But........I adore growing my favorite varieties that I used to seed in my own greenhouse business here on the farm (1990's)....... they are not necessarily readily available in greenhouses around here or are classified as 'weirdo' veggies for Vermont. I love on the fringe vegetables like fennel, broccoli raab, bok choy, hon tsai tai, kyona mizuna, asian eggplants, radicchio, fava beans, artichokes, heirloom French musk melons, arugula, savory, and other ethnic herbs........

But not to worry. Enter, Burlington Farmers Market. I managed to lasso the first of the season basil from Lewis Creek Farm (vendor next to me) and greenhouse tomatoes for salad from River Berry Farm (next to me on other side) and arugula from Digger's Mirth. Not to mention the largest perfect radicchio from Arethusa Farm. All local, all fantastic.

In a hurry as ever, I prepped the basil by tearing it up into medium pieces, and yes, I do use the stems unlike purists, throw all into a food processor, with garlic cloves, salt and pepper, fresh squeezed lemon juice (key to taste and keeping it BRIGHT GREEN) grated Autumn Oak cheese, walnuts and extra virgin olive oil.

Sauteed the radicchio, cut into quarters, and then quick braised in chicken stock. Done! Boil up some penne pasta and all's well with the world-even when it's raining.

Make a Summer Dish and Change the Weather in Vermont

After trying to usher in summer by grilling snapper and imagining it to happen, I do think it just might have. Today is Sunday. Blueberries were in dire need of mowing in between the rows where pickers stand, and it was HOT! The sun blaring and bees buzzing (some of our varieties are still being pollinated) I went out there sunscreen in hand and mower all jump started........things frequently don't work on a farm......and mowed the first 11 rows and then said mower stalled. Hmm. What now? Went to prune heritage rose bushes with bare arms! How silly was that?

Then I remembered some nasty molds that needed attention in my cheese plant. You see, cheese making is such a harsh environment that molds just wish to form on the walls constantly (I believe they have a mind of their own). So I then forayed into the room with mold killer and gloves and all necessary protection to be permeated by the only man made chemicals that can kill those prolific molds.... All scratched up and pondering dinner.......my mind often focuses on the next meal as I had missed lunch.....perhaps the lack of food brings on some dementia? Ha!

When finished, I rushed home to do some yard work and enjoy what remaining daylight I had-while still pondering dinner, of course. I decided, to tackle the refrigerator. What the? Maybe an extra dose of energy from the Vitamin D being outside all day? I came across some Peppadew peppers I bought while on delivery at Healthy Living this week and some wonderful mesclun mix from Arethusa Farm at the farmers market.

Something light and summer-y is indeed in order since I changed the weather personally, and what won out was shellfish. I found some mussels (I am a mussels addict) and some 8/12 shrimp in the freezer. 8/12 shrimp just means there are 8 to 12 shrimp per pound. That is big! I adore these as they have a unique sweet saline flavor and texture similar to lobster. When they are on sale, I dive in! Then again being from Hawaii I can't seem to resist ocean foods on sale.

As most people who know me understand, I also am too lazy to cook inside most of the year. Yes, even in Vermont. I have written about the grill I use before and suffice it to say, I am smitten. Gotta wax poetic for a bit. Please excuse this.......I have owned a charcoal grill, several well known gas grills with all the accoutrements and then the Primo grill. They are ceramic grills/cookers. Not inexpensive, they are made in the USA and boast the largest cooking surface of any ceramic cooker. What is so wonderful about these units is the ability to grill with uber heat and slow cook as well as the best competition barbecue team. Even in winter in Vermont! Now, now. I have no affiliation with this company nor do I receive any compensation from them. I just mention this for the grilling/barbecue addicts out there in search of something better. For a sport that has largely been dominated by men, hypnotized by flame as if looking into Svengali's eyes, I would challenge any man to barbecue, even Bobby Flay, unless of course he had a Primo. Haha! No, this is not a challenge. I only wax poetic, remember?

On to dinner. I pulled out the shrimp to thaw and some grillers like eggplant, zucchini, scallions, radicchio (these are my standbys). Then made the peppadew salsa. 'Peppadews' are tiny peppers from South Africa that are somewhat sweet as well as a tad spicy. Bright red and round in shape, they are usually pickled or canned and cut in half.

PEPPADEW SALSA

3 sprigs parsley, chopped fine
1 sprig mint, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, zested on rasp or cheese grater
3 peppadew peppers, diced
1 small scallion with green tops, diced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 lime, juiced

Mix all together and let flavors develop about one hour.

GRILLED MUSSELS

1/2 stick unsalted butter
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp chopped mint
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 garlic clove, sliced thin
7 peppadew peppers cut in half
1 cup dry white wine
2 lbs Maine Mussels, debearded

Put all ingredients except the mussels in a cast iron skillet and begin to heat on the grill.




This can be done on a charcoal or gas grill. Medium heat. About 350. Close lid. When all are simmering nicely, as in the photo above, about 5-7 minutes, throw in mussels.


Close lid and wait about 4 minutes. DO NOT WALK AWAY. They are done when they open and mussels are just barely cooked through and mustardy-beige in color. To quote Rachel Ray, YUM-O!

Enjoyed a summer feast of grilled mussels, giant shrimp, zucchini, eggplant and radicchio served up with some grilled Gerard's bread.

Apologies for no 'after' pictures, it was so hot we entertained margaritas with the meal and hence no photographs in tow!

Feigning Caribbean

With summer on its way, I can say I don't remember a season such as this one-rain rain rain. Then again, the seasonal changes in Vermont are not to be understood! When much of the US enjoys wafting cherry blossoms and bright tulips in tandem, in Vermont, lemon yellow daffodils go on and on. Then the tulips rush in, did I mention they were supposed to happen together!......Tulips' blooms last about a day here. Then all of a sudden we're in summer with days in the 80's-no spring in between. So as summer 2009 should be approaching I have been having urgings for HHH. What is HHH? Hazy Hot and Humid, I say. So to feign Caribbean I thought even though it's pouring out, then stops, going to a drizzle again, then sun then rain............I'm gonna make food and usher in HHH! I pulled out some whole snappers that I had in the freezer. Fish tacos? Naw, too much work. I would have to clean and chop heads etc. Whole snapper on the grill with some salsa and couscous. Just the thing to pretend we are in sunny country. Rhubarb season just ended here and I have a bunch of rhubarb from the farm that hasn't been used or frozen yet. Maybe a salsa with the rhubarb-use it up I was thinking. I played around a bit and came up with this:

RHUBARB SALSA
1 medium rhubarb stalk, peeled and diced fine
1 scallion, diced fine with green tops
1 garlic clove, minced
1 medium lemon, zested and juiced-set aside
1 cup finely diced peeled/seeded cucumber
2-3 sprigs Italian parsley
1 sprig mint
salt to taste
olive oil to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and let sit at least one hour for flavors to come together. If you like it spicy add some hot pepper.

Next, the snapper. Just a simple marinade of garlic, olive oil and a bit of lemon juice, salt and pepper. Coated the whole thing and stuffed the snapper with remaining sprigs of herbs (parsley and mint).


Heated up the charcoal grill to about 350 degrees and cooked until done-I press with my finger and peek inside where the fish should appear a bit opaque and slightly firm.


Grilled up some scallions to go along with them-Israeli couscous was the starch. To drink? Casal Garcia rose wine (vinho verde) from Portugal. It was a nice pairing with just enough floral/fruit to marry with the spicy herbal notes from the fish and rhubarb salsa.


Trinidad Tobago here I come!

H.O.G

That's Harley Owner's Group, not hogs as in pigs. And yes, we do have our whey fed pigs available again. Now. Back to the HOG's. Farming is each day. Saturdays consist of lugging my 75 lb tent all by myself and serving up to 1000 passersby a selection of cheeses. Only to have the energy sucked out of me, so to speak, by Sunday. So on my way to town in search of libation for the celebration (Memorial Day) I got trapped in a funny intersection that was blocked off-there was a parade of about 500 Harley Davidsons rumbling thru town. As far as my eyes could see. And rumble they did! My father, now deceased, was a Marine, and a H.O.G. He loved all things that rumbled. Powerful boats, sports cars, and Harley Davidson. There were flags alight and Support Our Troops signs as well.

I dedicate this post with a moment of my own silence.........to all the women and men who sacrifice their lives each and every day to protect us and allow this country to continue to have liberty. Now, on to the libation. A cold fresh Mojito on my deck. Deck! What deck? Oh yes that was a fantasy. My husband's. And where do the extra hours occur to build this deck in between milking sheep and cows, feeding pigs, lambs, calves, making cheese, pruning blueberries, moving pasture, cleaning the house, mowing lawns, weeding the garden.......ok, on to the mojito.

I got the idea for the mojito from Hannaford. They publish an in-store magazine with some great recipes and this month includes a Puerto Rican chicken with mojito sauce......since I already thawed some of our grassfed beef for the grill it's going to be beef with mojitos and mojito sauce. And also I'd like to mention a thank you to Hannaford-a major sponsor of the first ever Vermont Cheese Makers Festival on August 23, 2009 and Shelburne Farms. Gotta go! Heading for the mojito in the grass.......

Work is Easter

As springtime brings lambing on our farm, Easter brings work. Lambing is defined usually by a slow start and then climaxes to a furious frenzy of multiple births one after the other, and the shepherd must attend or watch over if assistance is needed. So like the proverbial new mom, lack of sleep is guaranteed.
This spring's weather has been so wacky whatever happened to global warming? It's more like global cooling. Rain, then sun, then snow, then brutally cold winds! This ain't right.


Most people experience Easter egg hunts and parades with pretty dresses and bonnets, but not in Vermont. I have lived here almost 20 years now and it still shocks me each Easter when we see some flurries. As seasons change, so do our milking and cheese making chores. Some of our cows have dried off in preparation for the next calving and milking season, so we are supplementing our milk by buying a bit in the interim, from our friends, the Bouchers. If you visit their blog, you'll see some piglets they are graciously housing until we can bring them home. I also located some heritage piglets not far from here, but they are a wee bit young to bring home yet. With so many interested now in raising their own food and purchasing locally, we have had a hard time locating young stock to raise ourselves. So after morning lambing chores we loaded our milk cans and ventured off to the Bouchers to pick up milk.



Upon our return we then had to unload the milk into the tank to keep it cool and then on to more work, wrapping several hundred La Fleurie cheeses for sale.



Then on to feeding chores again. And when it was all done? Time for the humans to eat! Alas, I was too exhausted and frozen to make our ham on the grill, so conjured up a pot of homemade chicken soup from a roasted chicken a few nights before. Ummm. Soul food. I didn't miss the ham a bit. I'll make the ham in preparation to meet with Uncle Sam.

Cheese Demo Healthy Living

A few days ago I was scheduled to do a cheese demo at Healthy Living Market in Burlington. What a great place to do a demo! They have an actual demo 'station' where there is a commercial oven, sinks, granite counter, and a refrigerator. The coordinator, Gerta, set me up with tulips, bowls, signage and cutting boards. I brought three cheeses with me: Butternut, Paniolo and Mountain Tomme. It was such fun that the 5 hour time frame went by quickly as I gabbed away with customers and even some regulars of mine from Burlington Farmers Market. I was told at the end it was a record for sales of a demo. I brought so much cheese and it was almost all sold while I was there! Perks of doing events like this? Gerta fed me from a separate demo! Amir Habib's shiitake mushrooms on flatbread pizzas.

Gluten Free Fish Fry

With all the gloomy, grey, grim early spring weather I had a craving for a Paula Deen moment: FRIED FOOD! Supreme comfort food, fried food has the ability to squelch even the poorest moods, if but for a moment when the indigestion kicks in. But it's well worth it. A close friend is gluten intolerant so I thought I would try a 'dry run' of the menu before inviting her over for dinner. I have made a lot of fried foods from many cuisines and usually use regular flour-which means it comes from wheat.

Many people do not know this or perhaps the information is located somewhere deep in the brain as wheat products are so pervasive in almost every single ingredient list on supermarket shelves today. I began by purchasing the protein ingredients which I decided were going to be Asian and brought home some shrimp, cod, mussels and locally made tofu. Vegetables on the list were zucchini, eggplant, button mushroooms and Napa cabbage.

Most important part of the menu was the Gluten Free flour I would need to use. I chose rice flour as it gives a wonderful light crispy texture to the finished product. Sadly I can't give precise measurements here as I am a cook that doesn't measure unless baking breads or cakes. But I can illustrate some descriptives. When using regular flour (i.e, wheat based) one must mix the frying batter and let it rest for about 30 mins to let the Gluten develop. Well here with non-gluten frying that's not an issue. In fact, it can hurt the final texture and make it less crispy. Therefore less time involved. Yay! I made up a classic tempura batter of ice water, rice flour, club soda and two egg yolks. Basically you want to wait until the last minute to mix this up right before frying. I decided with all the fried goodies I needed a palate cleanser. That's what the Napa cabbage was for. I shredded it up, added some fresh ginger, garlic and rice vinegar and let it all steep together until the food was ready.


While that awaited me, I prepped the vegetables by cutting them up and drying them on towels. This is a must for frying otherwise it will spatter and come out soggy and not as crispy crunchy.


Next up was cutting the fish, and tofu. Same process, making sure everything was dry and ready to fry.





I discovered a great product to make prep time even quicker. This frozen package of mussels, cleaned, debearded and ready to go!



The local tofu is made by Vermont Soy a bit north of here, and what great packaging!



All that was left was a dipping sauce for all and to get fryin'! I grated some fresh ginger and garlic over a bowl,


added some tamari sauce (San-J wheat free), sesame seeds, sesame oil, scallions and rice vinegar all to taste.


Meanwhile the rice was cooking and the oil in the fryer was heating up.



Next I made up the fryer batter which consisted of ice water, rice flour, 2 egg yolks and some club soda. I do this by sight and it should be made right before frying. Asian cooks actually mix it with chopsticks until barely come together with lumps left in. I used a fork as I had no chopsticks on hand. The thickness should be that of thin cream. And I actually put the ice right in with the water.
Below is tofu being dipped in the batter before lowering into the fryer.



And some cut up cod fillets in the fryer.


I got so fry crazy I began to fry everything in sight! I even fried little cuts of scallions. Just to hear that sizzle and take in that wonderful fried food smell. Unfortunately as time is of the essence in this sort of meal, I stopped taking photos when it was done. And the food was on! What's next? Fish and chips. This time a beer batter for the cod. The gloomies are gone.

Endnote: everything was fried at 375 degrees F.

Comforting Casserole

I haven't written in a bit as we have been frantically frazzled like chipmunks preparing for winter stuffing their little holes in tree trunks with nuts. Seriously though, we have been working to finish up more planks in the cave to age lots of 'Butternut' cheeses we have been making lately. The weather has been so incredibly brutal and dry this winter that each week it seems we have yet another cold front affronting us! So to evade monstrous cold hauling to the cave, we moved a slew of Butternuts before one hit. We moved 80 wheels in one day and stocked planks full. Back and forth, back and forth to the cheese house. I must say my biceps better be getting stronger!

In addition, my husband had been hauling logs out of the woods and sawing, chopping and splitting each day. It's been so cold that we have had to burn one extra woodstove to keep the house warm at night. You see we burn wood that we harvest ourselves from the land, in an outdoor wood boiler. Then we also have the back up woodstoves inside the house. While he has manned the outdoor boiler, I have essentially womaned the woodstoves...


After making cheese, moving cheese, doing firewood, one can barely get enough energy to make dinner. So I decided to just throw a few things together and arrive at a comforting casserole. The kind that finds you in the chair asleep ten minutes later. First I made some elbow pasta, then a roux (mixing butter and flour together in a paste and adding milk from the dairy until thickened), then chopped up some of our ham from the night before, a bit of spinach from the market and grated Butternut on top.............and voila!


Perhaps I should confess, asleep in five minutes.

Yes We Can...and we did!

Wow! What a day for America. On this day last year, there was doom and gloom among us and not much to look forward to-for the economy. Or our cheese business. Well, that changed in 2008 and so now has our whole country.

When JFK poetically said decades ago, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what YOU can do for your country" now resonates with our 44th president of the United States of America. This great country was built on what I called 'a tossed salad' in my entrance application to college many years ago. I had the task of writing an essay describing why this country was a mixed bag or salad of different peoples, if you will.

I too am from Hawaii and largely raised by my maternal grandmother, I also attended Punahou School, as did Barack Obama. I have traveled quite a bit, as has he, and this brings with it a sense of open mindedness that is not often found when one lives in one town or place his or her entire life. That is not to say I generalize. It is just that one is exposed to many different types of people, cultures, beliefs, cuisines etc. And early on. We all bring with us our own life experiences.

Today was and IS an incredible day. As I ventured out on deliveries today after the cheese make I noticed the roads totally devoid of cars. The buildings were mostly empty. Only those who must work were out and about. I delivered to one tavern and saw the entire place packed with people, mostly young, at the bar, watching Barack Obama's inaugural address. I listened to it, mostly, in its entirety in the car, with great coverage on NPR. Brilliantly written, I resonated with what he had to say especially to inspire service, and responsibility. We are living in the techno age, the most recent young generation, about to graduate from high school or college has grown up unlike any other generation. I think they call it the X gens. Mostly exposed to computers, emailing, texting-- things appear like instant gratification. Baby booming parents often times, instilled in them a sense of deservedness, perhaps from a well-intentioned desire to provide what they did not have. The people who have come before us without peace in the world and economies in disrepair know the true value of hard work and service. I am hoping in this time now with Barack Obama, the younger generations that come after will be able to rise up to the challenge and work hard, give service, volunteer. It is not about the almighty dollar, or getting good grades to attain the highest paying job but about mindfulness, gratitude and being a steward of the world. As farmers, we like to call ourselves stewards of the land. This means we don't own the land for ownership sake but 'own' our behavior on it. That is to say, we must account for our actions. Just like we must be accountable for our actions in service, at work, and to our Mother Earth. I can say this as I have been a farmer most of my adult life, therefore quite trained at hard work and accountability. Anything that happens on a farm aside from acts of God (weather) is at the conscience of the farmer. And even though I have both a B.A and a B.S (quite over qualified for the job), I feel as though my service to these animals and this land make me more whole. I strive to provide healthy food, humanely raised to the folks we encounter here on this little piece of the Earth. So now on to better things and giving service. Let us begin and ride this next journey..........It shall prove to be a very powerful one.