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News from North Pond November 2008
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Current / Upcoming (North Pond) Happenings
 ˇ This Tuesday, the 4th of November, North Pond will be closed for the day to allow us all to focus on the bigger picture: the future of our country's leadership. Please get out to the polls and exercise your right to vote!
ˇ Beginning Wednesday, the 5th of this month, the Green City Market moves northwards, indoors to our cozy (and classy) new digs at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. We've got a special tent to accommodate the farmers and crowds, right outside the museum off Cannon Drive. Come Wednesday and Saturday to buy the products you've come to know and love - and perhaps discover some new ones.
ˇ And if you plan to be in New York City on the 10th of this month, please consider joining the Chefs Collaborative as we celebrate Joan Dye Gussow, at a special dinner in her honor at the Astor Center. Nationally acclaimed chefs Rick Bayless, Greg Higgins, Peter Hoffman and Michel Nischan headline what promises to be a delicious evening to raise money for the Collaborative. For more info, click here.
ˇ Monday, November 17th, come out to the Museum of Contemporary Art for Food & Wine's 10th annual Entertaining Showcase, which will not only be as it's name implies, but will surely be a showcase of culinary prowess as well. Come taste mouth-watering creations from the all-star cast assembled at this unique taste-around event. For more info and the evening's lineup, click here.
ˇ The restaurant will be closed on Thanksgiving Day so that our staff may enjoy the holiday in their own unique ways. Of course, we'll be open Wednesday and Friday, so don't hesitate to bring your own special friends (or the turkey in your family) to share with them our distinctive slice of the city. Regardless, we hope you each have a memorable holiday wherever your final destination may be.
ˇ Last month I promised to report back from my time in the Galápagos Islands. Holy marine iguana!  WOW. Not sure what adjectives to appropriately characterize my experience, but remarkable, extraordinary, prehistoric, and brilliant might be four good ones to start. I include only a couple of pictures here to try and capture just a miniscule hint of what we saw, but haven't the space in this electronic letter to even begin to scratch the surface of the reality. Please ask me next time you're in the restaurant for a tiny glimpse into a forgotten - but not yet lost - world.
ˇ  Futility and Frustration. And I'm not talking about the dive in the stock market here. Another year, another devastating collapse of our beloved -and miserably hapless (loveable?) losers- the Cubs. Arghhh.
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Tips from the Fish and Meat Market
Let's talk Turkey!
It's only appropriate we talk a little turkey this month: heritage turkeys, like the Bourbon Red, Broad-Breasted Bronze, Holland White, Blue Slate and Narragansett breeds. "Heritage" is a term to connote a breed which mates naturally and enjoys a relatively slow rate of growth, requiring at least 28 weeks to reach a mature market weight --as opposed to the short 18-week time frame for the grain-fed conventional Thanksgiving Tom. And the heritage  birds tend to be way-juicier, richer-tasting and altogether more meaty than their insipid American Broad-Breasted White counterparts. Much like the threat associated with consuming fewer and fewer varieties of fruits or other more widely propagated species of other foods, unless we begin to eat a more diverse group of turkeys, we risk their disappearance.
The heritage turkeys also spend much of each day outside on pasture --yet because they're allowed to walk (ohmygosh) and sometimes actually fly(!), there's a danger they'll fly away if not gathered by nightfall. The typical industrial American bird, on the other hand, usually matures in a confined henhouse or barnyard, if it's lucky. In addition, these rapidly-raised birds tend to have disproportionate-sized breasts which can account for up to 70% of their body weight -Pam Anderson, take that!-- rendering them incapable of ever leaving the ground. Seek out a farm or farmer to source one of these tastier
turkeys for your family and friends this year. Here's a link to Chicago farms raising the birds: Slow Food Chicago and here nationwide: Heritage Foods USA
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Recipe of the Month
Sherry-Braised Lacinato Kale
Yield: four servings
8 oz dinosaur or lacinato Kale leaves, net weight, no stems
˝ medium onion, large dice
˝ medium carrot, large dice
˝ celery stalk, large dice
1 T vegetable oil 
1/3c Sherry Vinegar
2c chicken stock
3T honey
2 t salt
pinch white pepper
ˇ Bring large pot of generously salted water to a boil.
ˇ Add kale leaves, return to the boil and after one minute, remove them to ice bath.
ˇ Dry and reserve.
ˇ In non-reactive rondeau, heat oil over low heat and sauté onion, carrot and celery 10 minutes, or until just softened.
ˇ Add sherry vinegar and reduce by two-thirds.
ˇ Add in kale leaves and stir to coat, then add in chicken stock, honey, salt and pepper.
ˇ Bring to a simmer, cover loosely with parchment paper and cook on low heat for 60-80 minutes, or until kale is tender.
ˇ Retrieve and discard fully cooked onion, carrot, celery pieces.
ˇ Adjust seasoning and, if necessary, reduce excess liquid then add back to kale.
ˇ Serve immediately or chill and reserve for later use.
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Farm of the Month
Hope Creamery, Hope, Minn.
Minnesota's tiny Hope Creamery has been churning out the butter for close to a century. Literally. It was once one of two dozen creameries in a county then-considered the butter capital of the world. Though today only Hope survives, still making butter the old-fashioned way by slow-churning local whole cream until it forms fat solids in the turning vat. Victor and Kellie Mrotz have been sending us their delicious cultured butter for our table service for many years, much to the delight of discriminating diners. Though it's not yet available in retail shops around our area, it's almost always available on our tables. For more on the story of keeping Hope alive, click here: Minnesota Public Radio
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Tips from the Green Market
Roots
Celery Root, Parsley Root and Rutabaga  aren't usually found on the average American dinner table, yet these are autumn roots worthy of consideration at mealtime. The former two -celery root/celeriac/celeri rave and parsley root-share names with their distinct herbal cousins but are different plants, grown for the blanched treasures underground rather than the green growth above.
Each of the three thrive, harvested this time of year and (miraculously!) pair well with other fruits and vegetables sharing the season. Celery root, for instance, is conventionally paired with apples, each shredded then tossed in a citrusy mayonnaise for a refreshing starter or side salad. The three roots have a common characteristic taste of earthy and sweet bitterness which is delicious when blended with creamy buttery potatoes like the German butterball or used as a defining aromatic in meat braises or soups. Parsley root can be a delightful addition to a simple chicken broth on one of November's cooler days, though we're using it now in our root vegetable sformato and serving it with a fennel salad and end-of-the-season concord grape jam. And the much-maligned - but highly economical - rutabaga is quite palatable and (even downright tasty) when baked into a root vegetable gratin with some of your other favorites and cheese. We're currently roasting these globed nuggets whole then cubing and serving them with slow-braised beef shortrib and seared New York strip steak in a beet consommé. If you can't make it in to try our take on these seasonal favorites, at least take one of these roots home from the market to experiment and eat it on your own.
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Cocktail of the Month
Brandy Apple
1 ˝ oz vodka
1 ˝ oz Pommeau de Normandie*
3 oz apple cider
˝ oz apple cider reduction
*An aged alcoholic aperitif made from apple cider and Calvados
1. Fill highball glass with ice and add vodka and Pommeau.
2. Add apple cider, then top with the apple reduction.
3. Garnish with an apple slice dipped in prosciutto or bacon dust.
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Charity of the Month
Chefs Collaborative (617-236-5200)
Each year, we accumulate donations through our wine program for a number of deserving organizations. Their inclusion on our list is based on their work to help preserve diverse food choices, contribute to the local community, support local farmers, and help commit to a more sustainable future. This month, we highlight a group near and dear to my heart.
Chefs Collaborative is a national network of members promoting sustainable cuisine by celebrating the joys of local, seasonal and artisanal cooking. The organization seeks to support local farmers and economies, preserve diversity and traditional practices, and educate the community about the interconnectedness of the environment and our food choices.
Chefs Collaborative
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Autumn on the Pond
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Another Pithy Article / Think Piece
While hopefully most of you have read Michael Pollan's powerful and intelligent letter to the next president in the October 10 New York Times, perhaps some of you haven't heard this interesting interview with him on NPR's FreshAir: Pollan on NPR
Also, with the crash(es) of the market this past month, I thought it might be entertaining to revisit some of the world's classic economic models -- with cows!
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