Events

Events / Meals — No Comments
21
Nov 08

Potluck group 1, feast #2

This hearty table was the centerpiece of the scene on Sunday last, when a bunch of good eaters gathered at Heather’s place in Davis Sq for a very attractive display of local food, primarily in pie form. (Thanks, Erin, for the lovely fotos!)

We wrote about this phenom a month ago, here, but back then we were calling it an experiment, wherein a bunch of relative strangers came to our place to chow. And we invited you, anyone who is reading this,to write to us if you wanted in on the next round. We got so many responses that we sorta had to form asecond group of good eaters, who we’ll be potlucking with on this coming Sunday — strangers all, more or less, again.

The invitation is extended once more. Please write [ info at bostonlocalvores dot org ] if this at all resembles your idea of a good time — for this Sunday or any future gathering. Also, if you happen to know of a cheap, easily accessible public venue (where controversial items like local beer + alcohol would be welcome), we are actively seeking a place to stage a very large potluck, in January or February. We would like to demonstrate once and for all to all those killjoys and cynics, that local food is still viable and delicious, even in the grim, sunless days of winter. 

Below — the recipe share that followed last week’s feast.

 

Ana - Quiche w/ Savory Crumb Crust

1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/1 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp salt
a few dashes of dried basil and marjoram
1/2 cup butter melted

- Preheat oven to 350
- Mix together all dry ingredients
- Drizzle in melted butter and toss with a fork until uniformly moistened
- Press into the bottom of a 9-10 inch pie pan
- Bake 10 minutes
* I tend to make 1 & 1/2 of this recipe for a thick crust.

Line the bottom of the crust with grated cheddar once out of oven.
 
Filling: 2-3 potatoes thinly sliced, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, chives, lemon thyme, black pepper, and chopped chard all cooked in a cast iron skillet. Filling: 3 eggs & 1 cup milk, whipped.  Bake the quiche for approximately 35 minutes at 375.

Heather - Cranberry Apple Crisp

 

  • 2 cups cranberries
  • 3 cups sliced peeled apples
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 cup quick cooking oats
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 5 tablespoons butter, room temperature

Preparation:

Combine cranberries, apples, granulated sugar, lemon juice, and salt; turn into a shallow, buttered 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Combine brown sugar, oats, and flour. cut in butter. Spoon over cranberry-apple mixture. Bake at 325° for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until topping is crispy and fruit is tender.

 
Also Apple Pie - Ffrom Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts
 
Crust
  • 1.5 cups unbleached white flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tablespoons sugar (optional)
  • 3-4 tablespoons ice water - I think I used more like 6-7
Preparation:
Combine the flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl.  Work the butter into the flour with a knife, pastry cutter, or your fingers until the mixture with a coarse meal.  Sprinkle the ice water onto the crumbly dough, and with your hands, push the dough from the sides to the middle of the bowl to form a ball that holds together.  Separate into two sections and put in saran wrap and chill.
 
On a floured surface, gently flatten the ball of dough with a rolling pin.  Starting from the center, roll the dough into a circle about an inch larger than the diameter of the pie pan.  Lift the dough into the pan. 
 
Filling:
  • 8 cups peeled, thinly sliced baking apples (about 6 medium apples)
  • 1 tbsp orange juice
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp unbleached white flour
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp freshly grated orange peel (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons milk
 
Preparation:
preheat oven to 375F
In a large mixing bowl, toss the apple slices with range juice, sugar, flour, cinnamon and grated orange peel.  Pour filling into the pie shell.
 
Roll out the remaining dough and place on top of filling.  Tuck and crimp edges of the dough and cut slits to allow steam to escape during baking.  Brush the crust with milk to coat evenly.
 
bake for about 1 hour. Cool slightly before serving.

 

Ryan - Random Asian Slaw*

Grate or julienne any combination of the following (I recommend getting one of these!!) Note that these were just what I had on-hand/in season. You can also add cilantro, regular radishes, green onions, pea shoots, etc.:

   * Rutabaga
   * Turnip
   * Carrot
   * Daikon radish
   * Ginger
   * Nori

Finely chop cabbage (green or purple or both) and coarsely chop almonds.

Dressing consisted of soy sauce, sesame oil (just a teensy bit), olive oil, rice wine vingear, sesame seeds, sriracha, and a teaspoon of peanut butter.

Toss together and chill for a while to let things become friends with the other ingredients.

 

Jess - hot hot sauce
Ingredients:

12 hot peppers (I used scotch bonnet)
1/2 C white vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
a couple of cloves garlic, minced
pinch cumin and/or thyme if you want
dried ancho pepper or other spices as desired — lots of room for experimentation here

Remove stems and cut the peppers in half, seeds and all — WEAR GLOVES for this, or your fingers may really burn if your peppers are hot hot.

Simmer peppers in vinegar until almost tender, add minced garlic, simmer until truly tender. Strain off liquid into a container and keep. Put soft peppers into blender and blend, adding strined liquid as needed. Put back on stove and add salt, sugar, and any spices desired. Add more vinegar to monkey around with desired thickness. Put in jar in fridge with skull and crossbones if needed. Yee Haw!

Me - cottage pie, aka shepards pie when it’s made with ground beef, not lamb

about 1-2 lbs of taters (ours were from our belmont csa winter share)
about 1 lb of ground beef (ours was hardwick beef, grassfed bitches! from the harvest co-op) 
celeriac or celery
carrots
onions
gahlic (all the veggies were from belmontcsa and leftovers from our red fire farm csa)
chicken or beef broth
whatever fresh seasons you’ve got (rosemary and thyme, from dying plants in our kitchen)

-boil the taters, mash ‘em up, add a tablespoon of butter (or more!) and whatever else you like to taste
-saute onion in olive oil, add chopped carrot and celeriac — slow and low; then add the meat and kick the heat up a bit
-i like to put the garlic in at the end, just as the meat is browning
-then when it’s all good lookin and soft, add a tablespoon or a bit more of flour
-and the broth — a cup or a little less
-then the goods — rosemary and thyme + nutmeg
-once it thickens a bit, you’re done!
-pour the deliciousness it in a pie plate and spread the taters on top
-VERY IMPORTANT — put more butter on the taters, little bits all over, it will be pretty later
-throw it in the oven for 10 minutes at 400, then another 10 or less on broil to make it nice and toasty lookin on top

Events / Meals — 2 Comments
15
Oct 08

Local potlucking

We hosted a local potluck in our home last week. It was a sort of experiment whereby we invited about a dozen relative strangers who we’d met at our various events to come over and chow. The only rule was that everyone bring a dish made with as many local ingredients as possible. It was delicious AND fun and we were able to start plans for our future farm and corresponding revolution.

We like to keep these going, at least once a month. The hope is we’ll rotate to different apartments and generate enough interest from others to get more than one group of strangers going with the concept. In late September, we had a feast. In March, it’ll be rough. But that’s sort of the point.

If you’re interested in potlucking with us, do drop a line: info at bostonlocalvores dot org.

And here is what we ate… (what we drank, incidentally, were varied and many local beers)

Jess: Amaranth greens and Sweet Potato quiche:

First, the crust –

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup white unbleached flour
pinch salt
4 T butter
water

Mix butter and flour till you have a grainy texture, add enough water to soften to doughy consistency. Make a ball and (ideally) chill it in fridge for 30 minutes before rolling out.  Use a 9″ pie plate.

Filling:
6 eggs
1 large sweet potato
1 yellow onion
about 1/3 lb amaranth greens, aka callaloo
olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh rosemary

Chop sweet potato and toss in a bit of olive oil and roast at 400 or so until tender (30 minutes?) On low heat, saute finely chopped onion until it caramelizes, add rinsed and chopped greens and cover to steam until wilted. Beat eggs. Place all veggies into your prepared crust with rosemary, salt, etc. to taste, gently pour eggs in to cover. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes or so.

Ana + Tom: *_Cabbage Gratin_* (pain au chou)*__*

Butter & freshly grated parmesan for the dish (admittedly the parm wasn’t local)

1 ½ pounds green or Savoy Cabbage, diced into 2 inches squares
1/3 cup flour
1 cup milk
¼ cup crème fraîche or cream
2 TBS tomato paste
3 eggs
3 TBS finely chopped parsley or dill
Salt and black pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Butter gratin dish and coat sides with cheese. Bold the cabbage in salted water for 5 minutes, then drain and rinse; press out as much water as possible. Whisk remaining ingredients until smooth, add the cabbage, and our mixture into the dish. Bake until lightly browned, about 50 minutes.

Composed of: locally grown cabbage (Stillman’s) & parsley (our own), and local dairy products. Recipe from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, by Deborah Madison.
Heather: Pumpkin soup!

onion (red or white)
garlic
milk
vegetable bouillon
cumin
cayenne pepper
butter
salt
sugar

Steam the pumpkin. (Save the water you use to steam the pumpkin.)Saute onion and garlic in butter. Add 2-4 vegetable bouillon to the water used for steaming. (depending on the size of your pumpkin) In a blender add pumpkin, onions and garlic, water and some milk. (I usually add the first four ingredients and then fill the rest of the blender with milk. You will have to do this twice because all of the pumpkin will not fit the first time.) Put your blended mixture into a pot to simmer.  Add cumin, cayenne pepper, butter, salt and sugar to taste and voila, you have a yummy soup that warms the tummy.

Ryan: Ensalada
Red leaf lettuce, carrot, radishes, pepper and very pretty pea tendril flowers
ALSO a mysterious li’l fruit known as a “passion popper” : yummy but not exactly local
AND three pints of Toscanini’s ice cream that never made it to our apartment, but of which I still dream

Us: sausage+peppers+onions+taters

sausage (stillman’s chorizo!)
green bell peppers
onions (from our red fire farm csa)
leeks
potatoes
garlic (miscellaneous farmer’s market buy)
oil, salt & pepper

first we parboiled the potatoes. then we cooked the sausage whole, and let it rest. after sauteing the onion, garlic, leeks and peppers, we cut the sausage into pieces and added it. we cut the potatoes and fried them in oil and the leftover sausage grease and a little olive oil (in the name of crispiness) and added them last.

also .. H-O-T mulled cider and LOCAL rum

1 qt cider (carlson orchards, harvard, ma)
rum (Berkshire Mountain Distillers, made way out in the hinterlands, ma)
whole cloves
cinnamon stix
orange peel

simmer cider, cinnamon, cloves and orange peel for 15 minutes. add 8 oz rum we toured this distillery and tried their stuff (rum, vodka, gin). it’s super high quality stuff, the gin is like stuffing a bunch of sweet and savory herbs into your mouth and up your nose. no crappy alcohol after taste. the rum is more like cognac, and distilled in an olde new englande style that the guy claims holds up really well to the strong flavors of the cider and stuff. all true!

Beer / Events — 1 Comment
14
Sep 08

Local hangover!

Good drinkers! It was outrageously fun supporting regional brewers with you last night.

To our supreme delight, we filled little plastic cups with beer for 100+ people at our local bender. Friends and strangers seamlessly indulged together on the filthy wall-to-wall of the Muddy Charles. The beer was tasty and respectfully sipped. And when twilight crept in, flavor became irrelevant and sips evolved to vigorous gulps. This morning we awoke to glorious local hangovers. We hope you did too.

Good news! Donations nearly covered the cost of the beer and pub rental. Many thanks for those, and for the loving work done by our co-conspirators Ryan, Erik, Kim, Jeremiah and Rachael. Also, Randy, the dude from Modern Brewer.

For those who joined us and for those who did not, here is a listing of what we served and some pointers about where to find ‘em.

FARMER BROWN by The People’s Pint, the darling of the tasting. Farmer Brown was the sweet, smooth, rich beer we poured from bombers (the big bottles). He hails from Greenfield, Mass., 123 miles from Boston. The People’s Pint is a small brewery (and brew pub) that opened in 1997. The owner and brewer, Alden Booth, runs a farm in Gill, Ma., where chickens eat kitchen scraps from the restaurant and later, provide eggs to the cooks there. His farm also provides many of the produce for the restaurant. Also, the People’s Pint feeds it’s leftover mash from the brewing compost to area goats. We like that. You can find it at Whole Foods on River St in Cambridge, The Wine Gallery in Brookline and Downtown Wine & Spirits in Davis Square.

WACHUSETT IPA and NUT BROWN by Wachusett Brewing Co. Founded in Westminster, Mass (30 or so miles west on Route 2) by three guys who went to Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Ned, Peter and Kevin. Today they employ 50 enthusiastic beer-drinking folks from the area. This stuff is pretty easy to come by. Go to this page on the Wachusett site for a full listing of retailers.

FISHERMAN’S BREW by Cape Ann Brewers, in Gloucester, 40 miles from Boston. Michael Beaton and his brother-in-law Jeremy Goldberg started Cape Ann about five years ago. They live in Rockport, Mass, and set up the brewery in nearby Cape Ann, which is a part of Gloucester. The inspiration came from Jeremy, who spent a year working on the film American Beer, a documentary about micro-breweries around the country. When he was done, he told Michael he wanted to devote his life to being a beer-maker. Michael, a home brewer, was totally on board. They give part of their proceeds to Northeast Seafood Coalition, a nonprofit that supports fishing families around New England.

SANKATY LIGHT (eh, not our favorite) and WHALE’S TALE PALE ALE (quite good) by Cisco Brewers, 100 miles from Boston. Cisco is a craft brewery near Cisco Beach on Nantucket. Randy and Wendy Hudson (a married couple) started the biz about 10 years ago as a tiny operation. Wendy Hudson had been a home brewer for years before, while living in California. In 1992 she moved to Nantucket and met Randy. Instantly, she knew that Randy was her soul mate, and that he would also make a great brewer. So she bought him a kit…

IPSWICH HARVEST, Ipswich Ale, Ipswich Nut Brown, all by Mercury Brewing Co., 35 miles from Boston. Also STONE CAT Blonde and Stone Cat ESB, also by Mercury Brewing. Mercury began in 1991 with owners Paul and Jim brewing a couple beers. These days they’ve got a mini empire on the North Shore. But when we contacted them for info on their beers, it was clear, despite their success, they’re still a tiny operation. Just a couple of people in the office. One of them even answered the phone when I called! You can find this stuff EVERYWHERE. We get ours sometimes at the Harvest Co-op in Central Sq, but it’s also at the big liquor store in Davis and Marty’s in Newton.

TREMONT ALE by Shipyard Brewing Co, in Portland, Maine 112 miles from Boston. Shipyard scooped up Tremont Ale a few years ago. But true to its name, Tremont was indeed originally brewed in Boston.

Events — No Comments
13
Sep 08

Cheap! Local! Beer! TONIGHT!

This evening… SATURDAY, SEPT 13, from 7 to 11ish, we will be hosting a LOCAL BEER TASTING at the Muddy Charles, a pub on the MIT campus. It will feature several New England-brewed beers and an unbelievable bargain. You must be there. And here is why:

We will be serving varieties of Cisco (Nantucket), Wachusett (Westminster, Mass), Stone Cat + Ipswich (both from the North Shore), Tremont (Portland, Maine) and Fisherman’s Brew (Gloucester). There may even be a guest appearance by the People’s Pint (Greenfield, Mass). About 12 different beers, all told.

How it will work: You donate $5 at the door and get unlimited FREE “tastings” of these brews. We’ve purchased a lot of beer (ahem! with our own money) and if my calculations are accurate, it will work out to something like a total of three beers (or more) per person. Three local beers for 5 bucks is, as they say, a steal.

Also: Folks from The Modern Brewer in Cambridge will be there, for those interested, with a full home brewing set up for demonstration purposes. Some samples too, we’re told…

And! The Muddy Charles is, in itself, a proper bar. So if for some reason our tastings are running low and you want to do a side-by-side comparison with non-local swill, there are brews on tap which you can purchase directly at a *very* low price. I believe they serve pitchers for something like $10. You can order food for delivery there, too.

Note: We’re not doing this to make money or advertise for anybody. We’re simply trying to let people know there is plenty of excellent beer brewed in these parts. The donation will merely offset the expense of the beer and renting the pub.

To get there: The Muddy is on the first floor of Walker Memorial, a big fancy building on Memorial Drive — #142 to be exact. Parking on campus may be risky, but it’s quite close to Kendall Square, where parking is pretty OK. It’s also a five-minute walk from the Kendall T stop.

If you take the T, it will drop you on Main St in Kendall Square. Find Ames St, walk towards the river/Memorial Drive. Take a right before you hit the street — the hulking structure in front of you is Walker Memorial. Walk around to the front of the building (which faces the Charles), enter through the baroque doors. The Muddy’s on your right. Check this site for a map.

BRING FRIENDS! COME EARLY! We look forward to seeing you there.

Events — 4 Comments
26
Aug 08

Local bender; you really ought to come

On the eve of Sept 13, a not-so-distant Saturday, we’ll be at the Muddy Charles Pub, alongside the MIT Food Initiative, to present you with a small but serviceable variety of brews from Massachusetts and surrounding states. (The roll call is forthcoming, once we settle a few things with distributors.) The idea is we will chat with you, relative strangers, passively learn about local beers, and actively taste them.

Because it costs a bit to rent the Muddy and a bit more to purchase the beer, we’ll be asking for a small admission fee — $5. We wanna keep it reasonable for you less ambitious capitalists in the bunch. For the high achievers who turn out, however, we encourage you to *donate* a little more. Just to help us cover the cost.

We’re really really excited to see you there. Please bring friends!

Cheese / Events — 5 Comments
17
Jul 08

Holy crap, that was fun!

admittedly it was a bit of an experiment, that thing we did last night at the growing center. we had no idea what kind of successful outreach and interaction, if any, we were having with the interweb, or how likely it was to expect dozens of people we’d never met to find a sort of remote part of somerville and hang out with us. just before we headed over with our civic full of every plate we own and a couple pounds of local cheese, darry and i were estimating on our hands that probably, maybe, 15 people might show up. and most of them would be our friends that we made promise to go.

so it was with profound surprise and happiness and gratitude that about 50 people, most of them strangers, arrived at the growing center to eat cheese with us. and put on silly name tags, and introduce themselves to strangers and linger in the fading light of a quiet urban garden. it was awesome, and i am seriously, seriously really glad you all came. it was a pleasure. also, it would have been a load of cheese to take home if you had not been there. thanks.

and since a bunch of you asked, the following is a reprint of the cheese bios that were on display (and perhaps a bit confusing — my apologies for the clutter) last night.

LOCAL BENDER … next month. we shall gather again to drink local beer.

the cheeses… all of these are available at some combo of farmers’ markets, Whole Foods, Formaggio Kitchen, Foodie’s, City Feed and Supply, Lionette’s, Dave’s Fresh Pasta, Harvest Co-ops and the Dairy Bar.

GREAT HILL BLUE - This is made in Marion, Mass., in an old barn on the shores of Buzzard’s Bay. The cheesemakers use raw, unhomogenized cow’s milk from neighboring farms. The result is softer than your average blue cheese. And rather light and elegant. Put it on salads, please! Price: $14.99/lb. We get this is at Whole Foods on River St. It’s also at the Dairy Bar in Somerville.

GRAFTON CHEDDAR (sage + maple smoked) - This hails from lovely and terribly remote Graftonv, VT! Grafton Village Cheese Co. is literally the only thing happening in this town, and it employs a bunch of people. The cheesemakers use hormone-free milk from Jersey cows that live on New England farms. If you’re gonna buy cheddar, it’s way better to buy Grafton cheddar than some faceless, glow-in-the-dark orange crap you can find in any Grocery Store. It’s a quality, localish (most cheddar is not) and with a seriously good bite. And good news: Grafton is sold just about everywhere! Any Harvest Co-op, Whole Foods, Shaw’s, Hannaford’s should have it. Also, it comes in several tasty flavors, as well as regular old sharp cheddar, and it’s relatively affordable. Price: $6.99 for 8 oz wheel; $4.99 for 8 oz bar

CONSTANT BLISS, Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro, VT -  Bliss is made from fresh, raw cow’s milk. Starter culture is added before the milking is even finished! The slow lactic fermentation that takes place overnight renders the milk yogurt-like by morning, Each cheese is turned daily for the first two weeks, after which they are turned twice a week until they have developed a rind and are ripe! Price: $10.99 for 5 oz wheel. We go this at Whole Foods too.

BAYLEY HAZEN BLEU, Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro, VT - Bayley Hazen Blue is a natural rinded blue cheese made with the early morning (raw) milk of Ayrshire cows. Ayrshire milk is particularly well suited to the production of blue cheese because of its small fat globules, which are easily broken down during the aging process. The paste of a Bayley Hazen is drier than most blues and the penicillium roqueforti takes a back seat to an array of flavors that hint at nuts and grasses and in the odd batch, licorice. It is aged between 4 and 6 months. It’s drier and crumblier than most blues — and damn strong. You need just a little taste to get the job done. Price: $21.99/lb. Whole Foods!

CRYSTAL BROOK FARM GOAT CHEESE, Mediterranean Marinade - This is made in Sterling, Mass., by Ann Starbard, a very spunky and rather iconoclastic lady. (Ye who ask her why local cheese costs more than Grocery Store cheese, BEWARE!) Ann also keeps a herd of 70 alpine and saanen goats. They’re wily and beautiful. And very well cared for — so are the pastures they spend their days on.  (Tidbit: Ann’s husband Eric is a sawyer; he producers lumber on the farm.) Price: $3.25 per serving. I got this at the Davis Sq farmers’ market on Wednesday. It’s sold at other markets. Check their web site for a listing.

CAPRI, Westfield Farm in Hubbardston, Mass. - Ten years ago, the family that owned Westfield Farm wanted to retire. They put a classified in the Globe’s real estate section and Bob and Debbie Stetson, two urbanites looking for a change, made an offer! They ended up moving in with the family for a month to learn the ropes. The property is no longer a working farm; the Stetsons opted to just take over cheese production. But they do buy milk from four local goat dairies. They make fresh and aged goat cheese,  including an aged bleu goat cheese and a feta. But their wee logs of chevre are the easiest to come by. It’s creamy and the flavor is quite gentle. Plus, the Stetsons are very nice people. And this is sold at the Brookline Farmers’ Market. Price: $5.49 for 5 oz log. I got this at Whole Food’s but I’ve seen it around. Check the Westfield Farm site.

FIORE DI NONNO or “my grandfather’s flower” - Holy, holy crap. Here is the crown jewel! Lourdes Smith makes this mozzarella every morning right down the street in the Tazo chocolate factory in Somerville. Lourdes’ grandfather, an Italian immigrant, ran a dairy shop in New Jersey when she was a kid. As a grown up, she sought out to emulate his perfect hand-stretched mozzarella and went to study with a fellow who’d apprenticed under her grandfather. Thus, the recipe she uses today is pretty damn close to what he brought over from the old country. This mozzarella is nothing like the shrink-wrapped stuff in the supermarket. It’s meaty, perfectly salted and melty in your mouth. If you eat it with fresh tomatoes and basil, it will rock your world. You can get it at Davis Sqare, Belmont, Lexington, Copley Square and Kendall Square farmers’ markets. Also at speciality shops and a couple of fancy restaurants. Price: $5 per serving. Lourdes sells at Davis Sq, Lexington + Belmont Markets. Dave’s Fresh Pasta and Lionette’s. Check her site for the full listing, though.

VERMONT BRIE, Blythedale Farm in Corinth, VT - This cheese is new to us. What we know: it’s made with pasteurized, whole milk from Jersey cows. And the cows are hormone-free and have year-round access to pasture. Indeed they look pretty happy in the photos on the Vermont Cheese web site. Price: $8.99 for a wheel. Whole Foods!

SMITH’S COUNTRY CHEESE, Gouda from Winchendon, Mass. - The Smith family keeps a pretty large herd of Holsteins on their farm. They use raw milk from the cows to make this gouda. The rind on these babies is wax — so don’t eat it! The cheese — like all cheeses made with raw milk — is aged 60 days. That’s the law. The Smiths have a rather big operation out there in Winchendon and their cows are grain fed, which we are a bit dubious about. But still, this is not a factory produced cheese. It’s the real local deal, and just about the only gouda we’ve been able to find made in Massachusetts. Price: $6.99 for 8 oz wedge. I got this at the Dairy Bar in Somerville.

HANNAHBELLS, Shy Brothers Farm in Westport Point, Mass. - The Shy Brothers are, in fact, two sets of twin brothers. Bizarre, no? They grew up on their dairy farm and, a few years back, when it looked like they might have to sell because mega, monoculture farms like to crush small operations like theirs, the Hanleys moved to town. The Hanleys are very nice business people who worry about the future of food. They decided a good way to save the farm was to turn it into a slightly more specialized place. Hence, these fancy little artisanal cheeses were born and the Shy Brothers became cheesemakers. Their cows graze, the milk is pasteurized and the cheese is ready to eat after about two weeks of aging. The cheese itself is modeled on a French recipe. It comes in fun flavors too! And the Hanleys insist the unique ocean-y climate in Westport Point gives the milk a super special edge. Price: $6.99 for 4 oz. Dairy Bar. But these also sell at a bunch of Whole Foods, Foodie’s Market in the South End and maybe Formaggio Kitchen.

Events — 1 Comment
15
Jul 08

Cheese tasting, the roster.

good eaters,

The time is upon us to gather. This WEDNESDAY, 16 JULY 2008, we + The Growing Center will host a local cheese tasting. (See details below.) This is the first cheese tasting Darry and I have ever organized. It’s also the first one we’ve ever attended. I’m not sure what that will mean for all of you, but rest assured we eat lots of [LOCAL] cheese, we relish proselytizing about it and are highly skilled at feeding people, from both a professional and cultural position.

Please come! It is FREE! There will be cheese. There will be snacks to accompany the cheese, and extremely fascinating details about from whence all of this deliciousness came and how can you get your hands on it. Most likely, there will also be plastic cups filled with iced water and perhaps a donation bucket so that at future events there may be wine served in reusable cups instead.

So here’s the roster, so far:

Great Hill Blue — Marion, Mass. blue cheese
Grafton Village — Grafton, VT maple-smoked cheddar and sage cheddar
Westfield Farm — Hubbardston, Mass. chevre
Fiore Di Nonno — Somerville mozzarella that will alter the course of your life
Hannahbells from Shy Bros Farms — Westport, Mass. super fancy, thimble-sized hard cheeses

we’re also trying to get our hands on:
Hillman Farms — AGED goat cheese from Colrain, Mass
and whatever regional delights Formaggio’s got on hand tomorrow

DEETS:

The cheese tasting starts at 7 and ends roughly at 9. It’s happening at the Growing Center, a sort of community garden site on a very steep hill outside of Union Sq in Somerville — 22 Vinal Ave. Parking is ample, and it’s easy to drive to. It’s a pretty long walk from Central, Davis or Porter t-stops, though not impossible. The 87 and 85 bus routes drop off nearby on Somerville Ave. Bus routes 80, 86, 88 and 91 go right through Union Sq. See the MBTA site for directions.

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