Brewed Fresh Daily

My colleague at Purdue, Scott Hutcheson, has written “an essential guide, recipes included, to the foremost sources of local foods in Indiana.”

What’s Hot: ‘Home Grown Indiana’

Visit the web site here.

Meanwhile in Lexington, KY, a new study focuses on consumer attitudes toward local food.

Local Food Study Highlights Universal Concerns

Nice review from Matt:

The restaurant is a nice mid-size space with what I can only call an “old school” feel. It reminded me of going to some of the cooler restaurants with my family back in “the day”. This is not a bad thing! It’s just the opposite: it’s a comfortable, warm area where you feel like you are going to eat something special. It’s the opposite of the excruciating “corporate chain” experience…

As for the food? It’s described as “Euro-American Bistro”. The menu had a mix of solid standards and more interesting dishes to please us. We shared a (slightly) spicy shrimp appetizer to start. I had their chicken soup, which could have been considered a stew or a pot pie because it was so thick and savory. The biscuit served on top was amazing. Finally, I had the pot roast and my friend had the smoked-and-grilled salmon. We were both very pleased with everything and left happy.

If you’re looking for someplace to go for a good meal, check it out. It’s very easy to reach, being just north of I-90, where Eddy Road dead-ends into the lake in Bratenahl.

Americano in Bratenahl | Bakaitis.com.

Great thoughts from Norm. Make sure you click thru for his excellent pics too:

Until I started brainstorming about local foods with City Fresh’s Maurice Small, I never thought about the industry of food, and how much more sense it makes to grow and produce food for a community within the community - food for a home within a home. Considering taxpayers pay government to maintain huge amounts of “public space”, why is that space usually planted at our expense with grass and trees that do not produce food, when it would be less costly to make these lands farms, creating industry for individuals and feeding them in the process? It seems to make such sense. But then I stumble upon something that makes even less sense than not growing food, which is seeing fruit ripening on a tree in a place where people can’t afford to eat well, and people not reaching up to pick the free food and eat it… seeing hundreds of good apples rotting on the ground. That shows us how far we have strayed from a sensible society, and how much we need to change. Everything…

Qustion of the Day: Why isn’t there food growing everywhere, and why don’t we eat it when there is? | REALNEO for all

via Peter McDermott @ LocalFoodCleveland.org >

Each year SustainLane releases the “most complete report card on urban sustainability in America”, which ranks the 50 largest cities in categories like air quality, green economy, metro congestion etc.

This year Cleveland placed first in two categories: local food/agriculture and water supply.

As I see it, these are arguably the two most important categories in the entire study. Without a sustainable food and water supply, the basic functions of a city cannot be met. As the challenges we face in creating a sustainable regional economy become more pressing, it is essential that we have this basic infrastructure in place to meet the needs of our city. It’s great to see that we’re getting national recognition for all of the hard work being done by leaders in Northeast Ohio.

The report notes “12 farmers’ markets and 225 community gardens reported, serving truckloads of fresh food to its population of over 450,000. A nearly 600 percent increase in total number of farmers’ markets and a sizable increase in community gardens since 2006 explain Cleveland’s ascent in this rankings category.”

In fact, Cleveland has over 20 farmers’ markets but we’ll let that slide.

I’d like to do the same with my mulberry tree:

In an effort to eat fewer imports during Cleveland’s winter I made a decision to learn to preserve food this summer. I began with the fruit that grows in the backyard of my century-old, Ohio City rental. First, I tackled the annoying mulberry tree by my driveway. Giving myself an attitude adjustment about the mushy, stinky, fly-attracting mush, I decided to pick the ripened fruit before it hit the ground. I got some recipes online, some mason jars, and some pectin and made my first ever batch of jam. It was fun, edible, empowering, useful and gift-worthy…

You really should click thru and read the rest of this post, it’s packed with info and well-written.

Lustfelt 4 My Rustbelt: A Lady’s First Larder

From Michael Feigenbaum:

So after labor day here we are at the farmers markets every week the tables are full with the bountiful harvest.The selection gets better by the week, i am curious why the consuming public always seems to thin out about the same time? This is due to 1. kids back in school 2. weather is less perfect 3. people have less time to shop. Are these accurate answers? i do not know but would love to hear from some people who could help understand this phenomena and suggest how we could increase the traffic when the food is so abundant…

for heaven’s cake: market musings

Great blogger meetup at Americano tonight. We did a session like thinkrs & drinkrs with everyone tossing a question into a hat, then discussion each one. I’m pretty sure everyone enjoyed that, but hopefully they’ll comment.

Had a chat with Chef V and finally got the right blog address for him. Check out his latest post:

Got these beautiful fresh Californian figs, came up with nice daily special…love combination goat cheese or blue cheese with nice ripe fruit. Going to serving tonight and the next couple days, Fresh fig, babe watercress and goat cheese fritters’s apitizer, dressed with my beet and red wine vinaigrette,( the one I’m using for salmon) should be a killer combo…sweet…warm ..crispy …

Vytauras Sasnauskas Chef V: long couple weeks

This sound like a good time:

It’s getting harder and harder to turn around these days without hearing about local produce, reducing one’s carbon footprint, etc. Grovewood is proud to have partnered with Fresh Fork Market, a local start-up company that teams farmers with local restaurants.

Most produce grown in the United States travels an average of 1,500 miles before it gets sold. We have grown accustomed to the convenience of year-round strawberries, tomatoes, and melons. We settle for food that is picked unriped and shipped halfway around the globe so that we can “enjoy” a caprese salad in February.

Transporting food from around the country and the planet has environmental costs and public health costs. The way we eat has an enormous impact on the health of the planet. By focusing on local produce, we can curb global warming and air pollution, avoid toxic pesticides, support local farmers and enjoy fresh, tasty food.

Food tourists, grab your passports and join us on a visit to our own backyard. Bob Gavlak of Fresh Fork Market and Tricia Phelan of Vintage Wine Distributor will make brief presentations. We are featuring local produce paired with local wines, in a specially designed menu from Grovewood’s award-winning kitchen. A complimentary recipe book of the dishes served (but adapted for the home kitchen) will be presented.

Wine Dinner

Jackie writes:

my fiance frank is half-puerto rican, half-cuban. he is a spanish/caribbean/south american food aficianado, and had been missing his plato montanero and arroz con pollo pretty badly since we moved. cleveland’s culinary scene seems to be lacking in this one area…

Where do you go?

a quest for spanish food - Vox