Menudo...In Athens?

Vaughn and I were picking up some essentials for our Mexican dinner tonight. We love the "International" aisle of Kroger. It has so many great products and hard to find items, including this odd find.

I caught sight of the can out of the corner of my eye. It was tucked away behind a cardboard display for Ortega taco kits or something like that. I didn't know canned Menudo was available in cans. Not that I had been in a great search to find it. I'll probably never touch the stuff. I was more astounded that the Athens Kroger carries this product.

A traditional Mexican soup, in a can, in Athens where the Hispanic population (as of the 2000 cencus) was 1.41%. Not sure if that figure includes the student body. Sure there are probably a lot of non-Hispanic people who love tripe, but I highly doubt that there are many in Athens.

Maybe I'll ask Dave Shull, the general store manager, about it the next time I see him...

Garden Update

Left to Right, Row 1-5

Broccoli, Basil, Cauliflower, ?
Cucumbers, Chamomile, Spinach & Lettuce, Hot Peppers
Fennel, Nasturtium, Pole Beans, Tomatoes
Zucchini, Kale, Swiss Chard, Beets

Cucumbers, Bush Beans, Potatoes

I Think I Found Heaven...

Gah!

While searching for books on food preservation at Alden Library, I stumbled upon a wealth of books about food, food, and more food.

That's it...I'm going to culinary school!

Currently, I'm sitting on the floor of the aisle staring at all the glorious books with James Beard's Theory & Practice of Good Cooking in my hand.

I also found The Professional Chef, the 8th edition Culinary Institute of America textbook. It's so dense! Starts with the basics (tools and ingredients), then goes into full detail about stocks/sauces/soups, meats and fish, veggies, staple starches, and pastas, breakfast and garde mange, and ends with baking and pastry.

My goal is to teach myself EVERYTHING in this book. Start to finish. I know it will take me a while, so I made sure the book is available at the Northbrook Public Library (where I'll be living next). They have it, so I'm set.

So excited!

Bamboo Shoots!

The bamboo that surrounds the garden is sending up new shoots -
time to make a stir fry!

When I was finished working in the garden I wandered around and pulled up a fist full of shoots. They're not like the store bought canned bamboo, and are not as big as the usual fresh bamboo that I've seen pictures of. But Art insists that this is an edible variety, even pulled one up and munched on it during class. He says the shoots are the most tender when under 6 inches tall.


To cook them I removed the leafy layers, trimmed their bottoms, and gave them a good rinse. Bamboo shoots taste a little bitter when raw, so I boiled them in water for 20 minutes to remove the bitterness. When finished, I sliced them in half lengthwise, sliced up carrots, green pepper and mushroom and stir fried it all with cubed tofu and an impromptu sauce. Served over a big bowl full of rice.

Mmmm...delicious!

My only gripe is that the bamboo shoots were a liiiiittle fibrous. But hey, it was an experiment!

SpLatitude!

Ohio University's Latitude 39

Tucked into the southeast corner of Ohio, Athens is known for several things: Ohio University, the annual Pawpaw Festival, The Ridges asylum to name a few. What it's not known for is its "fine dining"establishments. Tonight I met up with Vaughn and Jason to sample the cuisine of Latitude 39, an extension of the OU Dining Services. Yeah, yeah. I know what you're thinking. OU Dining Services and fine dining don't (and shouldn't) mix. The restaurant was established in the new student union, mostly as a place for faculty, staff, and parents to eat. When it first opened there was a $50 steak featured on the menu. Jason worked in the kitchen for a while and gave it the loving nickname of "SpLatitude".

Tonight the restaurant was supposed to feature specials made with local ingredients for earth day, which is the reason we went. However, the server never made mention of this and a menu listed a few local farms that supplied produce to the restaurant.

I ordered the Lentil Cakes served with arugula, radishes, edemame, yellow curry vinaigrette, and
mango chutney. I chose to start with a house salad. The greens were fresh and crisp, no iceberg in sight, dressed with a simple balsamic vinaigrette and topped off with grape tomatoes, sliced red onion, and flavorless fried chunks of bread that turned to an oily mush in my mouth.

The entree was served and presented with a little mountain of arugula atop the three lentil cakes. The lentil cakes were wonderfully flavored, a good Indian dal in cake form, however the texture was, well...there wasn't much texture to speak of. Something reminiscent of a finely ground pâté. I would have enjoyed some of the texture of whole lentils for a little variety. I could have skipped the salad, there was a heap of arugula, radishes and red onions. When the flavors of the toppings - for lack of a better word - mingled with the yellow curry vinaigrette and mango chutney, my mouth was overwhelmed with flavor, but not in a good way. The strong flavors and acidic sauces did a number on my taste buds - my tongue is still tingling.

It was a mixed experience. I don't think I will be going back anytime soon, especially with my student budget. At least I can say that I gave it a try.

It's the little things that matter...

In Alternative Agriculture (I'll call it Alt Ag for short), we are required to give a 20 minute presentation on a topic of our choice. I've chosen to present and demonstrate information about preserving the food that comes out of your garden. I think this is the only time I've been excited about giving a presentation of any kind.

Trese asked us to post our topics on the discussion board of the class's Blackboard site. Many of the topics are broad: solar power, wind power, hemp, fertilizer, etc. These are the cop out topics since there is so much information available and many ways they can present it. Then there are a few students who have specific topics with some thought and effort put into it: agricultural extension in West Africa (Ghana), micro financing in developing countries, and the use of public land for agriculture.

I feel a little silly with my topic, but this is useful knowledge that I want to pass along. If people want to live more sustainably, they need to start small. We're covering a great step toward sustainability in this class, which is growing a small organic garden. But what do you do with the excess crops that you can't eat right away? Preserve them of course!

Last summer, Vaughn worked for Rural Action and often worked at the Chester Hill Produce Auction. Local farmers bring their produce to auction off and anyone can bid on the lots. The auction is a great way to buy farm fresh produce and help the local farmers (farmers are the backbone of our society). Our kitchen was overflowing with peaches, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and so much more. Since we could only eat so much of the plethora of goodies, I taught myself how to can and pickle the leftover produce.

Why buy canned, frozen, and dried food when you can make your own with produce straight from your garden?

China King and the Crayfish

Be my craw daddy...

Today I met some friends at China King for lunch. The buffet menu is forever changing and always mislabeled. In the place I would normally find tofu, there was an interesting culinary surprise. Crayfish. The only two places I have seen crayfish (or "craw daddies" as I call them) were in the gorge next to my childhood home and in Kroger's "fresh" seafood case here in Athens.

A pile of bright red bodies with antennae and claws intertwined lay in a half pan under the sweltering heat lamp. I giggled and picked one out of the stack. I couldn't help myself. This little guy had one front leg missing and I wondered if he had it before he went into the pot.

I ate my noodles, crap rangoon, and everything else until it came to him. I picked him up and his little claw dangled. One of my friends instructed that I just break off the head and suck out the inside of the body then use the head as a puppet. I tried to break off the head but failed and cracked open the body. The green tomalley (the innards) oozed out.

I couldn't bring myself to crack open its tail for that little bit of meat. I just couldn't. Besides, I don't trust any seafood this far from a substantial body of water.

I think the only time I will eat crayfish is if/when I go to New Orleans. That way I can be sure they are fresh and done right.