As Brad and his crew approach the opening of the restaurant, his hours are getting longer. Since it was built from scratch, the construction is still underway. Last week the equipment was delivered and the crew spent the better part of the week cleaning and unpacking and it still looks like a construction site! Jodie, who worked with Brad in Sacramento and was our neighbor, has brought her pastry talent to Cleveland last Tuesday and will be the pastry chef at Urban Farmer! Brad, Reggie and I are very happy and comforted to have her and her dog Bernie just around the corner. The restaurant opening was originally slotted to open on May 1 but has been pushed back to May 5th. Pushing the opening back is a blessing and a curse: Brad is ready for the beast to be open and running and I want that for him so badly as well.
Spring has sprung and spring in the northern parallels means ramps, and people who harvest ramps are in heaven. Enter: Rebecca Traxler, Brad’s PM sous chef at Urban Farmer. She grew up on a blueberry farm outside of Cleveland and has the salt of the earth coursing through her veins. Her resume includes (but is certainly not limited to): making her own mead, vinegar, kombucha, and harvesting ramps; this year she is trying to beat her own 48-pound ramp record. Ramps are a perennial, wild, vegetable in the onion family, which grow in the northeast of the United States and parts of Canada and Oregon. The forest floor is covered with their green leaves and as the wind blows the smell of garlic and salt wafts through the air. Their growth window is four to five weeks at most; so harvesting more than 48-pounds while working alone or in a small group is a feat. Rebecca and her sister showed Jodie, Brad and I a ramp wonderland; we got down and dirty in the forest for a few hours. To harvest, you dig the soil up underneath the ramps, allow the dirt crumbles to fall off and pull the sheath around the base of the ramp off. The sheath was a bit bigger than the bulb since the ramps haven’t reached their prime, but Rebecca promises by next week, they will have reached their prime. We also learned about trout lilies and skunk cabbage; which grow alongside the ramps and add a bit of color to the mix. Trout lilies have a beautiful yellow flower and skunk cabbage is an umbrella of leaves that grow to be a couple of feet high. We are looking forward to harvesting in the coming weeks.
Above: Brad, Jodie and Rebecca
We ordered a couch two months ago and it finally arrived yesterday. After the two months of sitting on an air mattress to watch TV, it was a welcome arrival, until it wasn’t. The couch wouldn’t fit up our stairs and around the corner into our living room so we had to get creative (meanwhile, Brad is at work). Luckily, Peter, our seventy-five year old landlord had pulled up and casually told the delivery men to leave the couch and he would get a couple of his buddies to lift the couch up onto the balcony with ladders (which is on the second story of the house) and into the living room. A few hours later I heard Peter holler my name, so I headed to the front door; no one was there. I hear my name again and realize it is coming from the balcony. Peter has placed two ladders, transported by mini-van, up against the balcony and is climbing off the ladder and over the bannister in his shorts, tank top and flip-flops. His skin has a residual leathery-bronzed look from his five-week vacation in Panama and his wrists and ankles are adorned with native jewelry. “Are you decent?” he asked? I guess it wouldn’t matter if I was or wasn’t because it was too late. He informed me I didn’t need to help and he’d be back in 10 minutes with his buddy the get the ladder up. So Peter and his buddy Michael put the couch on their shoulders and pushed it all the way up the ladders and onto the second story balcony. He took the door off and successfully brought the couch into the living room. I don’t even want to think about what is going t happen when we move. Needless to say, we have the best landlord ever!
Our neighborhood, Tremont, is located west of the Cuyahoga River, which flows through a shallow valley. Cleveland sits on the other side and nestled on the banks of the river are the steel mills. Tremont used to be home for the steel mill workers when there were multiple mills in production, now, there are only one or two. People say Tremont used to be a very dirty place because of all the particles that were kicked up by the wind. Slowly but surely, it is being gentrified along with the other neighborhoods right outside of the city. Reggie’s dog park is in the valley, tucked behind the steel yard, down the street from an animal clinic, about a mile from our house. We have taken him there through snow and sleet. Once the snow melted we realized there were football fields, baseball fields and a huge parking lot and is very busy in the summer. The actual dog park, about the size of two tennis courts, is distinctly sectioned off by a 14-foot fence and is a self-fulfilling prophecy – when you put up a 14-foot fence with double gates and post a strict leash rule (outside of the park), you’re going to attract dogs that need a 14-foot fence and a tight leash! Or worse, their owners, toothless men with sunken faces running around with pit bulls, older ladies with dogs who look like their owners, it’s a true mash up of characters. Ninety percent of the time I run into the same problems; some dog is either attacking Reggie’s ball, attacking Reggie or barking uncontrollably (I’m looking at you, Maya and Norman). They all seem to have the same thing in common; lousy parents. One afternoon, Norman’s owner was getting mad at me because Norman stole the ball and wouldn’t give it back. “I just don’t know when he is going to let it go, I just don’t know.” OK, lady, I have an idea, why don’t you take it out of his mouth? Reggie and I had to leave the park before the dog let the ball go and the owner ended up putting the ball in the tree and we picked it up a couple of days later. But this is neither here nor there, just a simple observation: Cleveland has characters.
All around, we are truly enjoying it here. I even earned my first speeding and “no turn on red” ticket. A two for one!
End of Winter Treat - Homemade Marshmallows & Hot Chocolate
I started work last week for a small marketing company in downtown Cleveland! Three brothers and their childhood friend started the company in 2001and in December 2013, they sold the company to an investment group in NYC, which will allow them to fine-tune their efforts by hiring more staff and re-focusing the biz (enter me...new staff). So far, so good! I have met some really wonderful people and am looking forward to learning this industry!
Brad has been going through the hiring process for sous chefs and sourcing farmers to supply the restaurant. He hired Jodie, his pastry chef in Sacramento to come out and join the Cleveland effort, so she will be moving out in a month or so. And we will get to see another familiar face, Ryan Seng, the bartender at Grange, will be consulting for Urban Farmer Cleveland and will be here for a week in April.
For now Brad and I are focusing our efforts on getting through the freezing and the snow. Well...if you can’t beat it, join it. In honor of winter, we indulged in our favorite childhood treat! Our buddy Alton Brown helped with the recipe and we made up the rest.
Heads-up: The ingredients aren’t typically something a household has on hand unless you are a baking wizard. You may have to shop for these supplies ahead of time!
Homemade Marshmallows
3 (1 ounce) packages unflavored gelatin
1 cup ice cold water, divided
12 ounces granulated sugar, approx 1 1/2 cups
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
nonstick cooking spray (we used wax paper which works just as well)
Directions:
1. Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with 1/2 cup of the water. Have the whisk attachment standing by.
2. In a small saucepan combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer* onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat.
3. Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes**. Add the vanilla during the last minute of whipping. While the mixture is whipping prepare the pans as follows.
4. Combine the confectioners' sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Lightly spray a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture and move around to completely coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the remaining mixture to the bowl for later use. (you want a THICK coat, this is what allows the mallow not to stick).
5. When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan, using a lightly oiled spatula for spreading evenly into the pan. Dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
6. Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using a pizza wheel dusted with the confectioners' sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining mixture, using additional if necessary. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
Servings: Ten-dozen small marshmallows or two-dozen jumbo marshmallows.
*It calls for a candy thermometer but we just allowed the sugar, corn syrup and salt to boil for 9 minutes after it came to the boil.
**We let the mixture mix for a good 15-16 minutes; you will really see the transformation take place around minutes 11-13.
Hot Chocolate
Ingredients:
1 Semi-sweet bar of good chocolate
1 stick of cinnamon
2 cups of whole milk
1 cup water to boil
Directions:
1. In a saucepan, on med-low temp, heat milk and cinnamon stick.
2. In double boiler*, bring water to a boil in bottom. Place the chocolate in the top part and allow to cook until chocolate is smooth, stirring as needed.
3. Pour melted chocolate into heated milk, stir until mixed.
4. Pour into your favorite mug, place a mallow on top (or two!) and enjoy!
It’s Valentine’s day! Here we are in Ohio, getting settled and trying to learn the nuances of living in actual snow. Our windshield washer fluid froze because the fluid in there wasn’t anti-anti-anti-freeze (it only could withhold temperatures of 32 degrees or above…). Which, in turn, broke our windshield wiper fluid valves, and led us to having a salty, dirty windshield for a couple of days. The holding container still has frozen fluid – the only way to defrost it is to blow dryer it since the temperature never goes above 32 degrees. Subaru suggested I pour rubbing alcohol in the container to help it thaw out. Oh, and park it in the sun…there is no sun.
We live in a neighborhood called Tremont, two miles from downtown Cleveland. Which lands us about two miles from the Indians Ball Park, the Cav’s Arena and three miles from the Brown’s Stadium. We can see two of them from our bedroom window and in the summer hope to ride our bikes to games! We have decided to cheer for the Indians, as they aren’t in the same league as the Giants.
Our neighborhood is home to multiple fantastic restaurants including Fat Cat’s which is directly across the street from our house. The owner/chef, Ricardo Sandoval, also owns Lava Lounge in the hood, which we haven’t been to yet but is apparently open late night. We got to eat at Fat Cat’s for a quick brunch the day we arrived, I had delicious breakfast tacos which included humus, quinoa, scrambled eggs topped with a little cilantro. We also snuck in for a late dinner two nights ago and enjoyed Brussels Sprouts, Lumpia (crispy egg rolls), and warm escarole to start. The escarole could have been a touch warmer as the consistency became a little slimy and made the dish loose its integrity. We split the Mac and Cheese with grilled onions, plum jam, marinated chicken breast, and cheddar cheese. It was great because it didn’t have too much cheese on it (however, M&C connoisseurs may want that crispy, bread crumby, topping holding the heat and goo in, but I don’t love melted cheese so it was perfect). Michael Symon’s restaurant, Lolita, is two blocks away and we’ve heard it’s better than her touristy sister, Lola, in downtown Cleve, which we hope to be true. There are plenty of great pubs and bars, sushi, and cafeteria-style food as well, which we can’t wait to try.
(West Side Market)
About a mile from our house is the West Side Market, one of Cleveland’s many claims to fame, and it is worth the hype. Brad and I stopped in on Saturday to pick up cheese and meat for his charcuterie boards he was fixin’ for an event with the Cleveland Orchestra at the Calfee Building. The market is bustling beyond belief. There are three rows of over 100 vendors, which span the long length of the building. The display cases are packed full of meats, cheeses, eggs, produce, baked goods, seafood, chocolates and coffee & tea. You could spend hours in there, walking around, eating lunch on the top deck to watch the swarm, and sampling liver mousse if you want, but Brad and I were in on business. In…-cheese-cured meat-ice-…out. At the cheese counter I picked up a recipe for Goat Cheese Sugar Cookies, which I decided to make and adorn with red sprinkles for the hallmark holiday. I changed the recipe a bit and may continue to make adjustments, but for now I thought I’d share. The original recipe comes from Lake Erie Creamery. I botched the directions a bit and my cookies, although incredibly tasty, turned out fluffier than I think a sugar cookie should. If you don’t like goat cheese, these aren’t for you. If you like it then nom nom nom your way over here and get ‘em while they’re hot!
Ingredients:
2 ¾ Cups All Purpose Flour
½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
½ Teaspoon Salt
1 ½ Cups Sugar
4 oz Goat Cheese (they call for their goat cheese which is superb, but any will suffice)
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup applesauce (they call for veggie oil, but I don’t love cooking with oil so I made applesauce in the Vitamix. 1 med. Apple is about 1/4C)
1 Large Egg (You could also use 1TBL of chia seeds mixed with 1TBL of almond milk to have the same effect of the egg)
2 Tablespoons Almond Milk (unsweetened)
1Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Nonpateil sprinkles or sanding sugar (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Combine sugar, goat cheese and melted butter in a bowl and whisk until mixture forms a smooth paste. Whisk in applesauce (or oil). Then add egg (slightly beaten), milk, and vanilla and stir until smooth.
Fold flour mixture into paste and mix until no dry ingredients remain.
Pour sprinkles in a small bowl. If dough is too soft to work with, put in the fridge for 15-30 minutes. Portion out the dough into 1 TBL balls, then roll in the sprinkles to coat. Arrange on baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until cookies are just set and slightly cracked. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to wire rack.
This weekend Brad and I are going to check out the Toboggan Run at the Cleveland Metro Parks and hit up the Brite Winter festival in Ohio City, next to the West Side Market.
In the words of Chef Cecchi, “stay away from restaurants, it’s amateur night folks!” –Speaking about dining out on Valentine’s day.
Sorry, meatless Monday. Oysters + Tenderloin for dinner! Valentine's day came early this year (more like Christmas came early, but who's counting?) #coolcleveland (at Reggie's Den)
We’re about to finish the next issue of Lucky Peach, the Street Food issue, this week. This time is called “the close” by nerds in the biz and it is often regarded as “hellish” because we are a bunch of priggish & effete wusses who know nothing of real pain. Sharing this set of Kawanabe Kyōsai sketches, via WFMU’s twitter feed, as a reminder of what real hell might be like, plus, also COOL DRAWINGS.
Stopped by the new Maurice Luncheonette in Portland yesterday! Quaint and quiet space, a tasty menu and of course, sweet treats! @miette1965 thank you! #pdx #mauricepdx (at MÅURICE)
Quick recap; Brad applied, was offered and accepted a job as the Executive Chef at the new Urban Farmer in Cleveland Ohio. The original Urban Farmer is in Portland, Oregon tucked away on the 8th floor of a hotel called The Nines (very fancy). Brad left Sacramento for training in Portland on December 1st while I stayed behind. Almost two weeks later we met up in Cleveland, both our first time there, got engaged (yippee!), found a place to call home, saw the space for the new restaurant (hard hats!), and ate our way around the city (Lola, Café Luna and Momocho to name a few). After the weekend we each returned to our previous destinations until the holidays, which were spent, together with our families in Sacramento. We then drove from Sacramento to Portland in 10 hours with a pit stop in Redding to see my Uncle Pat and Lucas, my childhood dog. Finally, we are together in Portland, enjoying each other’s company, eating incredible food, spending quality time with Brad’s childhood friend, Jameson and his incredible wife, Lauren and hoping Reggie doesn’t hate us too much for dragging him all over the country by car.
Above: My Uncle Pat and I at McDonalds. In his left hand is a burger for Lucas who couldn't get out of the truck because he is nearly 15 years old!
(Above: Lucas, our childhood dog who has found a new home with my Uncle Pat. He enjoys walking in the forest and eating burgers with his human.)
Above: Engaged and it is snowing!
Before we left for Portland, Brad poked fun at me saying, “as soon as you arrive in PDX, someone is going to ask you for directions because you look like you belong there already”.
I wasn’t sure (and I’m still not) if that was a compliment or his sweet way of calling me a hipster, but regardless he was right; if not on a physical appearance then definitely on an emotional one. The trees alone make me feel like Tom Cruise on Oprah re: Katie Holmes. But that is neither here nor there.
Above: Reggie enjoying the crisp Oregon air!
Portland is divided into four quadrants. Before the New Year, we were staying in the North West side of town in a dirty shanty through AirBnB. In fact, while Brad was gone for five days over the holiday, a woman – whom he had never met – decided to let herself into the apartment and take Brad’s beer and avocados. He thought he had drunk the beers before he left and just forgot. He mentioned this to me and a not 30 minutes go by and a grocery bag mysteriously appeared on the doorstep with three beers, two avocados and a note from a woman named Judy saying, “sorry, thought you had checked out”…ummm who his Judy? What about all of his personal belongings in the apartment? What about the other food? You just went shopping for what you needed? Needless to say, we are still working on a refund for that one.
Long story short, we moved to the North East side of town and have a beautiful, clean, well-lit apartment in the basement of a sweet bungalow. Brad has to duck to get through to certain rooms but that beats an anonymous sifting through our stuff.
Jameson and Lauren also live on the North East side. It is similar to mid-town Sacramento in that it has plenty of restaurants, shops, bars, etc., but has a smaller town vibe. As if Old Fair Oaks Village was on crack: main street, houses, parks, restaurants, shops, river, repeat.
A Hipster Intermission
I ventured into a “booty-love” class at a yoga studio last week which was fantastic, except for the lone male participant with a full on green track suit. He publicl made note of how he was the only male in the class and proceede to the back of the classroom to watch all the “booty love” up front. The worst part about him? He carried in a wine bottle filled with water as his water bottle. I have never wanted to personally violate someone’s personal space as much as I did during that entire class. A WINE BOTTLE? Hfaofjsoehouealouthsoekhffafjnaeuhaoeth
And we’re back -
Casey, Brad and Jameson’s other childhood friend, came to Portland last weekend to visit. Unfortunately, Lauren was at home with a fever all day so we had to catch up with her on Sunday. We kicked off the day at Woodsman Tavern, a restaurant in the South East of Portland. We splurged, as good eaters do, and shared a dozen oysters, a half a grapefruit with caramelized bourbon and honey on top, smashed potatoes with Siracha mayonnaise, a couple of bloody Mary’s, and each ordered our own dishes; eggs, oven baked pancakes, double cheeseburger, biscuits and gravy (which Brad begrudgingly ordered and devoured). The pancakes were formed in cast iron skillets and then baked in the oven, resulting in a crisp crust on the outer parts and a doughy fluff on the inners. No syrup needed. Casey pointed out the first thing he ate that day was an oyster, and Jameson fallowed up with, “are we rich?” We collectively decided that no, we are not rich but we are going to eat like this the rest of the day anyway. Which went like this: beer, football, beer, football, dinner (delicious Miho), beer (Cascade Brewing Barrel house, home of sour beers which all three gentleman couldn’t get enough of), a post-dinner food truck snack, (French fries, Puttanesca wood-fired pizza, a grilled peanut-butter-pickle-gruyere-grilled onion-sandwich, and Home Run berry and apple pies for dessert), and finally a post food truck beer. I was the DD otherwise I might have croaked after beer but before dinner.
Above: Food truck shenanigans
Sunday we gathered at Jameson and Lauren’s for breakfast and watched more football (go, niners!). I got to work on the quilt I’m making for Brad all day until we left for Podnah’s Pit for dinner. We hammered down some incredible BBQ and cocktails before sending Casey back to California. The sausage links were juicy and spicy with crisp skin and textured chewiness on the inside. The Black-Eyed Pea Salad or “Cowboy Caviar” had just the right amount of vinegar to bean ratio, and the ribs were bigger than my head and fell off of the bone absolutely perfectly. We also indulged in dirty rice with lamb hearts, pulled pork, collard greens and corn bread, all extremely well prepared.
Above: Brad, Casey and Jameson in front of Jameson's house.
Hopefully we will work off the extra six-packs we grew over the weekend at the dog park with Reggie all week. Until next time!
Above: Alberta Park
Restaurant and Bar Tab:
Before the weekend:
Fireside (pdxfireside.com)
Dove Vivi (http://www.dovevivipizza.com/)
Firehouse (firehousepdx.com)
Biwa (biwarestaurant.com)
The weekend:
Ecliptic (http://eclipticbrewing.com/)
La Taq
Woodsman Tavern (http://woodsmantavern.com/)
Horse Brass Pub (http://www.horsebrass.com/)
Old Town Brewing (http://www.otbrewing.com/)
Miho (http://mihopdx.com/)
Cascade Brewing Barrel House (www.cascadebrewingbarrelhouse.com)
P’s and Q’s Market (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ps-Qs-Market/301608186633044)
The green dresser is done! Brad found this at the Salvation Army for $80 bucks. Besides a few dings and gross contact paper in the drawers, the dresser was in fantastic condition. We went with Kelly Green paint, adorned it with Anthropolgie drawer pulls and finished it off by upholstering the drawers with a bit of padding and cloth. Brad wanted his clothes to lay on a "pillow", who doesn't?
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