Fall is a flash in Chicago . Having the privilege of working the farmers market there is a constant exposure to what’s in season and fall has plenty to offer: Apples, grapes, greens, and squash just to name a few.
Cheese can be seasonal as well. All season I have been very excited about Prairie Fruits Farm in Champaign Illinois . They have a herd of the cutest milk providers I have ever seen and they are making cheese every other day. However being a seasonal dairy farm the does are bred in the fall and have their kids in the spring. This provides a milk season from March to December.
So with that said let’s not hesitate to put these flavors together. The Mouton Frais, a chevre style sheep’s milk cheese is a nice compliment to an acorn squash soup or even on crusty bread with some home made pumpkin butter. The light citrus flavor does a wonderful job of countering against the richness of the soup as well as provides a wonderful vehicle for the maple flavor in the butter. The “Ewe Bloom” is a nice washed rind cheese that does well with the classic apple pie, or any baked apple dish. The rind gives a great fermented nose as its creaminess cuts the sugar goodness of the baked apple dish. These are few suggestions but I certainly want to make mention of their other cheeses we carry. The “Little Bloom on the Prairie” and “Angel Food” are solid bloomy rind cheeses that would do any cheese plate justice. Check out the Prairie Fruits Farm website to look at these beautiful cheeses: www.prairiefruits.com
So come on out to the farmers market for the last few weeks, in Logan Square it runs until the last Sunday of this month, and get ‘em while they last. Or swing by the shop and grab these as well as other tasty cheese options.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Veteran Staff Member Richard Sparks has some recipe ideas!
On occasion some of that wonderful Red Hen bread here in the shop goes into the “day old” basket and is sold at a reduced rate. We are all trying to save a buck these days, so we grab a loaf, head home and attempt to resurrect it into its original, soft-centered, crusty wonderfulness. My most successful method of reviving bread, is to loosely wrap it in a paper bag, run water over the bag so that it is moistened, but not drenched, and then heat it in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. This does a fairly good job, especially if the baguette just became “day old”. But let’s face it, in the end we would all rather have a fresh loaf for that saucer of Monte del’Olivio olive oil or block of Delitia parmesan butter. So what to do with older bread??? Try creating something new out of it!
When I first got my hands on one of these loaves, I went straight to my food processor and made breadcrumbs. I now always have a pile of yummy crumbs on hand for my chops, meatloaf, crab cakes, etc. No more cardboard canisters of “Italian Flavored Crumbs” from the local super stores! Spice up your fresh crumbs any way you’d like and taste the difference! Have you tried mixing in a about a tablespoon of Herbs du Provence or Elements of Spice “Zest for Life” rub with lemon, garlic & parsley?
Another simple idea is to make some good old classic croutons. Use them as stuffing mix, or to top a salad or soup. Just cut the bread into cubes, place in a single layer on a cookie sheet, and bake at 325 for about 10-15 minutes. Better yet, brush the cubes with melted butter or olive oil, sprinkle with a combination of your favorite spices and a little finely-grated Ambriola Parmigiano-Reggiano and then bake.
For dinner lately, my partner and I have been making the ultimate croutons...garlic toast. This has become our starch staple and creates a lovely partnership with favorite pasta dishes, salads, or meat/veggie combos. We slice the baguette at an angle into inch-thick pieces, brush the slices with melted butter, and then sprinkle them with a “healthy” layer of chopped Goodness Greeness organic garlic—the more cloves of garlic, the better! Next pile a decent mound of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano on the top of each slice. I prefer to use the wider holes of my box grater, which gives a nice texture to the cheese once it melts. Place the toasts on a cookie sheet and broil them until nicely browned and bubbly. Don’t worry about a few charred edges, this only adds to the goodness!!
One last option, to finish off that day-old, is inspired by peasant workers from marble mines in old Tuscany. Slice the bread at an angle as with the garlic toast above, but this time go a tad thinner. To make life easier, pop the slices in a toaster and brown them to your liking. Drizzle the toast with a little olive oil, lay a thin slice or two of the LaQuercia Lardo onto the bread. Top this with a slice of fresh tomato-- hopefully there are still a few left hanging on the vines in the garden??? Sprinkle with some freshly ground pepper and sea-salt and dive in. Experiment with any number of flavorful variations—Delish! By the way, the salume Lardo is cured pork fat that is layered with rosemary and other spices. The traditional Lardo was cured in vessels made of marble mined from Carrara. Lardo was first considered to be peasant food and I read that meals brought to the mines were oftentimes variations of the recipe above. The workers probably had a good bottle of vino to wash down their meal. So let one of us at Provenance help you find a lovely Tuscan wine, or any of your favorite sippers to pair. Bon Appetito!
When I first got my hands on one of these loaves, I went straight to my food processor and made breadcrumbs. I now always have a pile of yummy crumbs on hand for my chops, meatloaf, crab cakes, etc. No more cardboard canisters of “Italian Flavored Crumbs” from the local super stores! Spice up your fresh crumbs any way you’d like and taste the difference! Have you tried mixing in a about a tablespoon of Herbs du Provence or Elements of Spice “Zest for Life” rub with lemon, garlic & parsley?
Another simple idea is to make some good old classic croutons. Use them as stuffing mix, or to top a salad or soup. Just cut the bread into cubes, place in a single layer on a cookie sheet, and bake at 325 for about 10-15 minutes. Better yet, brush the cubes with melted butter or olive oil, sprinkle with a combination of your favorite spices and a little finely-grated Ambriola Parmigiano-Reggiano and then bake.
For dinner lately, my partner and I have been making the ultimate croutons...garlic toast. This has become our starch staple and creates a lovely partnership with favorite pasta dishes, salads, or meat/veggie combos. We slice the baguette at an angle into inch-thick pieces, brush the slices with melted butter, and then sprinkle them with a “healthy” layer of chopped Goodness Greeness organic garlic—the more cloves of garlic, the better! Next pile a decent mound of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano on the top of each slice. I prefer to use the wider holes of my box grater, which gives a nice texture to the cheese once it melts. Place the toasts on a cookie sheet and broil them until nicely browned and bubbly. Don’t worry about a few charred edges, this only adds to the goodness!!
One last option, to finish off that day-old, is inspired by peasant workers from marble mines in old Tuscany. Slice the bread at an angle as with the garlic toast above, but this time go a tad thinner. To make life easier, pop the slices in a toaster and brown them to your liking. Drizzle the toast with a little olive oil, lay a thin slice or two of the LaQuercia Lardo onto the bread. Top this with a slice of fresh tomato-- hopefully there are still a few left hanging on the vines in the garden??? Sprinkle with some freshly ground pepper and sea-salt and dive in. Experiment with any number of flavorful variations—Delish! By the way, the salume Lardo is cured pork fat that is layered with rosemary and other spices. The traditional Lardo was cured in vessels made of marble mined from Carrara. Lardo was first considered to be peasant food and I read that meals brought to the mines were oftentimes variations of the recipe above. The workers probably had a good bottle of vino to wash down their meal. So let one of us at Provenance help you find a lovely Tuscan wine, or any of your favorite sippers to pair. Bon Appetito!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Provenance Field Trip to Two Brothers Brewery
Sunday September 20th is our Annual Field Trip! This year it is to Two Brothers Brewing in Warrenville, Illinois. We will depart from our Logan Square shop (2528 N. California Ave) at 11a, taking a school bus the 1hr trip to Two Brothers. There we'll be given a tour, lunch & tasting, with time to relax and talk with the brewer and others on the trip. We plan to leave to head back to the city around 4:30, but we'll continue to imbibe a bit on the bus with more beer from Two Brothers. Cost is $45/person, and spaces fill up fast, so call 773.784.2314 or email tracy@provenancefoodandwine.com to book your spot! 21 and over, please.Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food
Check out this article. It's so relevant to what we do at Provenance Food & Wine. After reading Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma, I felt that we are providing such a meaningful shop for our customers. This article provides a snapshot of what Pollan writes about:
Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food
Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food
Saturday, August 15, 2009
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