Reading "Grocery" in My Kitchen

American food, as explained by Michael Ruhlman's book Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America, makes a very readable and relatable story. (In an earlier post I reviewed this book -- link). Inspired by Ruhlman, I'm going to explore the foods in my own kitchen and how I'm affected by the grocery store options that surround me. Ruhlman says that currently shoppers go to a number of stores, while in the past, most households had one main supermarket where they bought almost everything. At least some shoppers, he says, are much more conscious of where food comes from, how it was raised, and what health benefits it might confer. And grocery store owners, he points out, are very aware of how quickly they have to change as consumer demand changes. I think my experience as a shopper reflects these trends.

To check what drives my purchasing, I'm taking an informal inventory of how I cooked and what ingredients I've had on hand this month. I'm thinking about staple products that I always buy, where they were grown and processed, and which stores they came from, and what's in season. Of course winter isn't quite over here in Michigan -- our last snowfall was less than two weeks ago, so nothing is actually growing right now except in hoop houses!

Now for some details of what I cooked and where I bought the ingredients:

Curried chicken and vegetables. Ingredients: butternut squash from Argus Farm Market,
chicken breasts from Whole Foods (bought as 3 single-pound packages, stored in freezer),
a can of coconut milk from Trader Joe's, other vegetables.

Salmon patties made with frozen salmon from Trader Joe's,
onion from Argus, celery from Whole Foods, eggs, panko
bread crumbs, and spices. Served with hoop house lettuce
from Argus, cucumbers, and lemon from TJ's.

Other food in the freezer besides chicken and salmon includes:

• Ground lamb from Argus (local producer: Ernst Farms).
• New Zealand lamb chops from Costco.
• Ice Cream from Target and TJ's.
• Bread from Zingerman's Bakehouse.
• A box of beef ragout that I made a few months ago for later use. Leftovers are always with us, including little boxes and glass dishes in the fridge.

Pantry and fridge ingredients for cornbread: corn meal, baking powder,
flour, butter, egg, sugar. I usually have all of these on hand all the time.
I buy them at any supermarket where I happen to be when I need them.

Using an LA Times recipe, I tried a new sort of cornbread, topped with brûlée sugar.
Interesting recipe: my usual cornbread includes hot peppers while this is a dessert.

A few more items that I almost always have in my pantry:

• Cereal, cookies, and crackers mostly from Costco, TJ, Target. Not so healthy, but we still eat these items often. Cereal is only the second-most unhealthy food we use. (I think the worst is Diet Coke usually from Costco).
• Dried fruit. I made some into fruit salad with tangerines to go with the cornbread. I use dried fruit for lots of other dishes as well. Costco sells only impossibly huge quantities of dried fruit so mine comes from TJ and Whole Foods.
• Nature Valley Granola bars from Walgreen's -- not even a food store, but they always have the best sales!

Pantry and produce items going into a salad: tuna, white beans, olive oil,
vinegar, Campari tomatoes, parsley, celery, lettuce, bell pepper, zatar.

Tuna and white bean salad. With variations, I can almost always make this.

Besides fresh parsley (from TJ's), I used zatar, a Middle-Eastern spice blend which I brought back from Israel last month. Local summer tomatoes and peppers would of course be preferable for any salad -- if they were in season. I also recently made shakshouka, an Israeli dish of eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce, for which I used the Israeli spice blend, Hawaij, another spice from my trip. My spice shelf is incredible if I do say so myself!

Ingredients for shakshouka: canned tomatoes, spices, garlic, bell pepper, eggs.

Produce that I have on hand now:

• Hoop house lettuce and carrots from Argus.
• Cabbage & celery from Whole Foods. 
• Campari tomatoes -- my favorite for this time of year. They are small, but bigger than cherry tomatoes, and have a bit more flavor than other winter tomatoes. The same brand -- usually grown in Mexico -- is sold at TJs, Whole Foods, Target, and Costco. Prices and quantities vary!
• Grapefruit, apples, lemons, bell peppers, & tangerines mostly from TJs and Whole Foods.

Finally, the refrigerator always has orange juice, milk, Diet Coke, eggs, jam, mayonnaise, catsup, mustard, peanut butter, butter, yogurt, industrial and artisanal cheeses, deli meat for sandwiches, and a large variety of other condiments and sauces for Asian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, American, and other dishes. Just as Ruhlman suggests about my fellow American cooks, I'm brand-conscious on some products and price-conscious on others. Of course, he also discusses the other Americans who aren't cooks, and who shop quite differently.

From the Argus Farm Stop Website.

Ruhlman believes consumers today utilize a number of markets: I think I exceed the number frequented by his typical American. I shop, as my photos and lists indicate, at several different types of food stores which are very conveniently located in my area. Big national chains where I shop include Costco (3.5 miles from my house), Trader Joe's (1 mile), Whole Foods (1.7 miles), Kroger (2.3 miles), and Target (3.6 miles). The Argus Farm Stop (half a mile from my house) is an innovative consignment shop where local farmers and small-scale processors bring products including meat and produce, locally fresh-ground coffee, honey, maple sugar, jams, eggs, dairy products, and various other foods. Zingerman's Bakehouse (located fairly close to Costco) is a local source of very good bread. There's another locally-owned specialty market nearby called The Produce Station where I shop less often. There are no local chain supermarkets here like the family-owned Cleveland chain Ruhlman describes: the last one sold out to Kroger a few years ago.

What's missing in my kitchen that Ruhlman finds most popular with shoppers today? That would be food from the ready-to-eat food counters at Whole Foods, the pre-made foods in Trader Joe's freezer and refrigerator cases, the ready-to-eat foods in almost every food department of Costco, and many types of takeout food. I rarely use these products except when I'm in a temporary vacation rental without a fully stocked kitchen. (I've had more Costco rotisserie chickens in Hawaii than at home.) I'm really not with the times in this respect.

The fact of the matter is that I do look carefully at the things in the deli and the hot food counters at Whole Foods and on the tasting tables at Costco. However, I use these sights and samples as hints for dishes I could cook. I've been doing this for a long time as the Paris Charcutiers offered very similar ready meals during my various long visits there. After purchasing these very appetizing treats, I realized that duplicating a beautiful salad or roast from these elegant counters was far cheaper and the results were often fresher. Same is true here and now!

 

I'll be sharing this post with a group of other bloggers who write about their kitchens and what they have that's new and different. You can find them all listed at a blogging event called "In My Kitchen This Month," hosted by Sherry's Pickings. Check the list here to see inside the kitchens of bloggers on several continents!

Note: none of the markets or product brands I mentioned is sponsoring this post in any way. I never take any money or products or books for any mention on this blog! I respect bloggers who disclose economic connections when they have them, and I avoid blogs where I see obviously unacknowledged financial connections.

Farm to Table

Southwest of Ann Arbor, less than half-an-hour's drive from our house, an area of beautiful farmland remains productive and relatively undisturbed by urban growth. In many cases, farms have been in the same families for several generations. Shopping at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market, I've often bought eggs, chicken, lamb, wheat-berries, and other produce from the Ernst family farm in this area. Curious, I drove around there near the address on their food packages and took a few photos.

Beautiful silos, grain cribs, animal barns and fields of corn still stand unchanged, although closer to town, much farmland has been bulldozed for subdivisions and shopping centers. Also among the farms are quite a few barns that have now been turned into wedding venues or other non-farm uses.

This cow seemed to be checking me out as I drove by.
(I wasn't that close -- this is taken with a long lens!)

Ernst Farm products are now available at the new Argus Farm Stop near our house, along with meat from several other local producers and local fruit, vegetables, cheese, and more.

Ernst Farm meats in the Argus freezer -- we bought some brats, and...

After defrosting the brats, we threaded them with scallions on skewers to grill on the barbecue.

Along with the brats, we cooked some portobello mushrooms. If anyone is growing
mushrooms locally, I don't know where they sell them -- not at Argus or the Farmers Market.
We bought these at Kroger's. I'm hoping someone starts a local mushroom farm!

Brats on the grill.

The mushrooms, with garlic slivers inserted in the gills,
were sprinkled with rosemary & basted with oil and balsamic vinegar.
They were quite delicious. Another recipe from Steven Raichlen.

Leftover brats and mushrooms went into a pot of chili with adobo peppers,
black beans, corn kernels, etc.

Good Local Food

Though the day was warm and beautiful, the sun sets early in October. So here is Lenny, grilling in the dark.



Chicken from Ernst Farm is available about once a month at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market -- and you have to order your chicken well in advance. Ernst Farm chicken has more flavor than any other chicken that I have found at the market or elsewhere (including Whole Foods' air-chilled chickens, which are good, but not that good). Some day I hope to visit the farm, which is around 45 minutes drive from here.

Today's chicken was quite large (over 4 lb.) and we spatchcocked it (that is, cut out the backbone and flattened it, using skewers to hold it in place on the grill and bring heat to the inside of the meat.

Fresh rosemary was available at another of my favorite market stalls this morning. I cut it up, inserted under the skin, and sprinkled the rest on the chicken along with a little orange juice and oil. Lenny patiently grilled the chicken, burning the rosemary stems and unused leaves -- this takes quite a while. He also grilled some eggplants that I used for baba ganoush.



The result was subtle and delicious.

The first frost seems to be rather late this year. Raspberries, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and other items that are often out of season by October are still on sale at the market. Besides chicken, herbs, eggplant, beautiful little raspberries, tomatoes, and peppers, I bought apples and a blue pumpkin -- though it looks greenish in the yellow indoor light in the photo. The woman who sold it to me said that her blue pumpkins were good to eat, as well as making unusual jack-o-lanterns. The orange pumpkin is also local, and sold as a "pie pumpkin."



Yes, that's a pomegranate in the basket too, mainly for decoration.

Cooking

At the farmers' market today I bought ingredients for trying out recipes from my new Dooky Chase Cookbook. (See my post on the book from a couple of days ago: Leah Chase, New Orleans Princess).

From Ernst Farm I bought chicken gizzards, from other favorite market stalls I bought green pepper, onion, and corn. I didn't find celery or other chicken at the market, but bought them elsewhere -- and above you can see that I made the very exotic dish "Giblet Stew" (p. 35). It was delicious, spiced with thyme, paprika, and parsley.






I have some okra from the market in reserve for another of Leah Chase's Creole recipes. And earlier in the day, for lunch we had a more usual salad of red and yellow tomatoes, basil, and yellow pepper from the market. We have apples, a disappointing melon, and some leeks that I already made into leeks vinaigrette. The Ann Arbor Farmers' Market strikes again!

Fall at the Farmer's Market

Another chicken that I ordered from Ernst Farm was ready for pick-up at the market this morning. A few farmers still have tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, and other summer produce -- I think they must have plastic or glass covers for these crops. Root vegetables, apples, cider pumpkins, squash, and cabbage are still plentiful. I bought my favorite treat: maple sugar candy.

Ernst Farm Eggs

Another item from the Ann Arbor Farmers Market

What's a WheatBerry?

Among the items I bought from Ernst Farm at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market Saturday was a package of wheatberries. My motive: curiosity. So I googled around to find out what to do with my $1 investment. I did know and could see that these were the unhulled, unmilled, unground wheat grains.

Above you see a 3-grain salad, result of my research. I used roughly equal parts of wheatberries, rice, and wild rice (total: 1 cup of grain), tossed in hot oil for a bit with a chopped small onion (also from the market), slowly steamed for 1 hour in chicken broth with frequent stirring and additions of water as the grains swelled and toasted on the bottom of the no-stick pot. Then I let the pot cool a bit and tossed the grain with dried fruit (total 3/4 cup) and vinaigrette dressing, and topped the salad with some toasted walnuts. It was very nice: chewy but seemed fully cooked.

Once more from the farmers market

What did I make with the cornmeal from Ernst Farm? Here it is:

Cornbread
Ingredients
1 cup Ernst Farm stone-ground cornmeal
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 ounces cheddar or similar cheese
3 small skinny medium hot peppers from the farmers market (or jalapenos)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease an 8-inch-square baking pan.
• Remove seeds from the peppers. Mince 1 of the peppers. Slice the other 2 peppers.
• Grate cheese & divide it into 2 parts, one 4 ounces, one 2 ounces (approximately)
  
• Combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and 4 ounces of the grated cheese in a medium bowl; mix well.
  
• Combine the 1 minced pepper, eggs, milk, oil, in a small bowl; mix well.
  
• Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Pour into the prepared pan.
• Arrange the pepper slices evenly on top of the batter and sprinkle with the remaining 2 ounces of cheese.
  
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. Turn oven to broil and briefly finish browning the cheese on top.
  
• Serve warm.

For my other spicy cornbread recipe see this post from last year.

Michigan Harvest Time

8:15 AM: Breakfast at Sweetwater's inside Kerrytown

Shopping at the market for me includes appreciating the beauty of foods whether you are going to buy them or not. I've been thinking about all the different reasons why I like the market because of silly critics. They forget -- or never experienced -- a lot of the most fun things. Like meeting friends and talking to strangers while waiting to buy from lots of different vendors. The silliest critics are currently at large in the Freakonomics Blog in the New York Times. They focus on the most exaggerated claims about what markets and local foods can do, and then blame the markets for not living up to the exaggerations.

Kapnik Orchards has been run by the same family at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market since 1938.
The market has been in business for 90 years.
Does it build community? You bet!

Mrs. Ernst phoned me yesterday to say that she had the chickens that people had preordered. Along with one fresh and one frozen chicken, we also bought beef, eggs, cornmeal, and wheat berries from Ernst farm. At other stalls we bought tomatoes, lettuce, napa cabbage, fresh sage, onions, arugula, apples, potatoes, peppers, plums, pears, and pumpkins.

Poached Peaches

From my little paperback French cookbook came a recipe for peaches poached in wine. I made it as written, but only made around half, using an unconscionably good wine that just happened to be leftover from a couple nights ago. And from my peck of peaches, I have only 2 left that aren't cooked!


Peaches in Wine
3/4 cup red wine
3/4 cup water
2/3 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
4 peaches, peeled & cut in quarters

Bring the first 4 ingredients to a boil in a pot just big enough for a layer of peaches. Add the peach quarters to the boiling mixture, turn down to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the peaches, boil down the liquid a bit more, pour over the peaches, and chill.

It was quite delicious, very subtle -- and especially good following pasta with slow-roasted tomatoes and other local produce, along with a bit of Canadian goat cheese and Gilroy garlic.

Now of my peck of peaches, only two raw ones remain for tomorrow's breakfast. Of my peck of tomatoes, also two remain uncooked, plus a few slow-roasted tomatoes for bruschetta, a bag of them in the freezer, and some leftover ratatouille. We've eaten quite a few dinners of exclusively farmers market produce and Ernst farm meat. I admit that I was afraid I had over-bought, and I'm glad I applied myself to making good use of all the bounty.

What I bought at the farmers market

Some people post what they bought for $10. I'm afraid I wanted a lot more -- the basket of peaches alone cost more than that. However, I'm very happy to have eggs, peaches, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, onions, herbs, squash, and more. Not shown: lamb and beef from Ernst Farm.

The maple sugar candy is a special treat -- I was very sorry to hear that the man from whom I bought it in the past took ill and died over the winter, though his sons are still sugaring and making the candy, fortunately.

Half the basket of tomatoes and half the peppers are now in the oven roasting slowly -- here are the tomatoes on the baking sheet. By midnight we'll have a delicious batch of semi-dried tomatoes, as well as some roasted hot peppers.

Eating Well

Quite early this morning, we went to the farmers market; first, we refilled our supply of Ernst Farm lamb and beef. Last night we cooked the last of our leg of lamb steaks, as shown.

Despite an early rainstorm, the market was pretty busy. I enjoyed looking at the exotic items such as red currants and gooseberries, but I bought more ordinary things like basil, snow peas, mushrooms, and blueberries.