Photo: NatalieMaynor/Flickr

LOCAL TREATS

Farmers Market Fun
This week is National Farmers Market Week! Celebrate the goodness of farming by attending the 37th annual Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) 2011 Summer Conference at UMass Amherst, Aug. 12th-14th. Show up and register on site for any one of the incredibly diverse, educational seminar offerings. Otherwise, use PRK’s handy farmers market map (look right!) to celebrate with local bounty at home.

Summer’s Bounty and a Gardening SOS
Fruits and vegetables are coming in fast at the Harvard Community Garden, including several award-winning forms of hybrid eggplant. They’ve also given a shout-out: have any ideas on how to repel rodents? They’re all ears! Email harvardgardeners@gmail.com with your clever suggestions, or free time. They’re in need of volunteers on Thursday afternoons.

One Man’s Trash…
On August 13th, 9am-1pm, Slow Food Boston and Green City Growers are joining together for a Cookbook and Utensil Swap at the Union Square Farmers Market in Somerville. Bring five dollars (to donate to Slow Food Boston), along with your old cookbooks and kitchen gadgets for barter. Continue reading →

Photo: Flickr/IvanWalsh

From contributor Anna Pinkert

Massachusetts brewers holding farmer-brewer licenses can rest easy for now.

An advisory that would have required 50% of raw materials to come from local sources has been rolled back by Massachusetts Treasurer Steven Grossman.

We reported on the advisory last Friday, along with WBUR’s Radio Boston. The farmer-brewer license is the cheapest and most far-reaching license for beer producers who wish to brew, pour and sell their beer on one site. Though some brewers with the license grow a small percentage of their own hops, and others work with farmers to redistribute spent grain, none believed that the 50% rule was a realistic goal for small brewers in Massachusetts.

Before meeting with brewers on Monday, Treasurer Grossman and Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission Chairwoman Kim Gainsboro lifted the controversial advisory. Massachusetts Brewers Guild President Rob Martin said that the meeting had positive results with the Treasurer acknowledging that the advisory was a mistake, inadvertently putting businesses in jeopardy. The Treasurer’s office is planning a series of public hearings to develop ideas for improving relationships between farmers, brewers and the state. Martin is not sure what changes may come about, but for now he’s “excited to get back to brewing.”

(Photo: courtesy of Katey Tobin)

During the dog days of summer, few people can fathom standing over a stove.

Tremont 647’s Andy Husbands has an appetizing solution: ceviche! Today on Radio Boston’s Farm to Fork segment, Husbands schools co-host Anthony Brooks and producer Dan Mauzy in the art of cool at Captain Marden’s Seafood in Wellesley. We hear the final product was fantastic.

Listen to the segment on today’s show, or find it here (recipe included).

Photo: GetSelfSufficient/Flickr

I’ll get right to the point: I made this falafel sandwich from Green Kitchen Stories last night for dinner, and it was the best thing I’ve made all summer.

Why? Well, for starters, it was delicious. Really, REALLY delicious. But if you need more reasons to make this, preferably tonight, I offer the following:

1. If you’re a vegetarian, your sandwich options are generally pretty slim. Imagine, for one minute, the prospect of visiting a deli counter when you can’t eat roast beef, or turkey, or chicken breast, or ham. (When I was a vegetarian, I practically lived on peanut butter sandwiches – plus an occasional grilled cheese, if I was lucky.)

Now imagine you’re a vegan – and suddenly, your sandwich options dramatically decrease even further. Not only is cheese off the table, but often, so are falafel balls, which are often held together with eggs.

This sandwich, however, is completely vegan – even the yogurt dressing. A nice touch for those of us trying to cut back on animal products.

2. Still: if you’re not a vegetarian, or a vegan, I promise you, this meal does not feel lacking in any way. It’s so filling and protein-heavy that you won’t miss the meat – my carnivorous boyfriend gave the meal a perfect ten.

3. It satisfies any craving for heavy, comfort-food falafel while managing to be healthy, relatively low on carbs , and oddly refreshing. Pistachio and mint make these falafels summery and different – I imagine a couple of them would be  wonderful alternatives to croutons on a salad.

Photo courtesy of Frances Duncan

In a society where efficiency is praised and messes aren’t, being a member of a CSA can be daunting. It takes grit (pun intended) to collect, carry, wash, prepare and get creative with large quantities of vegetables. And it’s tempting to chuck the leftovers.

Thank goodness, then, for Plate to Plate, a Berkshires-based blog devoted to local foods in western Massachusetts and southern Vermont.

In successive posts, author Frances Duncan offers resources for preserving a variety of vegetables, snapshots of raspberry and blueberry patches in which you can feel the sun and smell the sweetness of her wanderings, and even a list of ideas for using cucumbers in new ways.

A Korean cold cucumber soup, anyone? Or perhaps some cucumber kimchi? Duncan definitely makes her readers think twice before crushing summer’s bounty down the disposal.

Photo: Flickr/Plinkk

Radio Boston explores this issue on today’s show. This update from producer and occasional PRK contributor Anna Pinkert:

On Monday, the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission sent out a new advisory that beer brewers who operate under a “farmer-brewer” license will need to grow 50 percent of their raw material themselves, or buy it from local farms.

Up until Monday’s advisory, there had been no specific farming requirement attached to the farmer-brewer license. Rob Martin, president of the Massachusetts Brewers Association and owner of Ipswich Ale Brewery, says his business has good relationships with local farmers. He buys local pumpkins and blueberries for his seasonal beers, and gives his spent grain to a cattle farmer for free. However, he says that it would be impossible to find enough local grain and hops to produce his beer.

Continue reading →

And now, a visit to a bakery in West Concord where bread is made…slowly, and a glimpse of how Pete Lowy and Jen Hashley raise their animals.

5.) Nashoba Brook Baking Company, 152 Commonwealth Ave., West Concord

Few things can beat the smell of freshly baked bread. At Nashoba Brook Baking Company in West Concord, this is no exception. What is extraordinary, however, is the company’s commitment to the slow-rise baking method. Because Nashoba bakers allow their dough to rise twice—sometimes three—times, their breads are often tolerable to those with gluten allergies. Extra hours of rising, in batches large enough to fit in trash barrels, allow enzymes to break down complex carbohydrates more thoroughly, easing digestion and our ability to access the bread’s nutrients.

Continue reading →

Photo: Courtesy of Butrcreamblondi

Summer love looks like this.

Local blogger Butrcreamblondi has created a tantalizing Peach Almond Crumble that’s easy to assemble and sophisticated in taste, thanks to the goat cheese ice cream and cherry & amaretto sauce she spoons on top. OMG. Now THAT’s a dessert.

LOCAL BITES

Table Travels: A Journey In Pictures
A new exhibit at the Museum of Science invites guests on a world food tour that captures the daily diets of men and women across the world. Photographer Peter Menzel and writer Faith D’Alusio joined together to create portraits of the food consumed in one day with corresponding calorie counts. The photo collection “What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets” catalogues the everyday eats of Indian goatherders, Iranian bakers and American truckers, among many others. The exhibit runs until January 1st.

Thoughtful Drinking: Exploring America’s Bar History
Christine Sismondo, author of “America Walks into a Bar,” is holding a book signing at The Boston Shaker in Somerville on Monday, August 8th, 5-6pm. Guests can meet Christine, brush up on their bar history and snack on treats from Eastern Standard Kitchen.

Seriously Holy Guacamole
On August 9th, 6-8pm, guacamole takes center stage in Boston for Guacaholics Anonymous 2 at Poe’s Kitchen at the Rattlesnake. Be forewarned: the event probably won’t cure your addiction since the city’s avocado masters are coming out in droves. Look for Zocalo, Ole, Temazcal Tequila Cantina, La Verdad, El Pelon, Boloco,Papagayo and Anna’s Taqueria, all of whom are trotting out their guacamole ‘best.’ A portion of the proceeds will benefit Lovin’ Spoonfuls and Community Servings. The $15 tickets go fast.

All Day Tomato
Smolak Farms in North Andover is celebrating the harvest with their First Annual TomatoFest on Saturday, August 13th, 11am-5pm. The event features food and drink demonstrations by local chefs and a “Tomato 101” course (how-to grow ‘em, cook ‘em, keep it local). Admission is free.

A Wine Honor
Newburyport’s Ceia Kitchen + Bar recently received the ‘Award of Excellence’ from Wine Spectator for its stand-out wine list, the only Newburyport restaurant to receive this distintion. Read the Spectator’s article for full details.

Birthday Eats at Blue on Highland
Celebrate the fifth-year anniversary of Blue on Highland in Needham, MA, with a month of dining specials. Guests can also attend a birthday party on August 20th featuring complimentary Island Creek Oysters and beer from Harpoon Brewery. RSVP by emailing press@blueonhighland.com or calling 781-444-7001.

Continue reading →