Fuller on Food: Thoughts on farm fresh food, fresh chocolate dessert
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 11:47 PM PST
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E-mail this articleColumn by Don Fuller
For The Daily News
One of my Christmas gifts was a book “Chefs on the Farm.” The setting of the farm is near Colville, Washington, and the home of the Quilisascut Farm School for the Domestic Arts.
Owners Lora Lea Misterly and her husband Rich started the school to help chefs understand the potential of the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement. Their efforts have been influential in helping professional chefs understand the differences that local farm-produced products can make in the quality of restaurants’ menus.
The CSA movement has gained a great deal of popularity throughout the country. Many consumers are convinced that the practice of choosing the most food at the cheapest price has serious consequences to the environment and to their personal health.
One of our Christmas letters was from longtime friends, Chris and Neal Woodruff, who now live in Lewisburg, PA. Because of such books as “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” the Woodruffs resolved to buy a subscription to a local CSA and thus own a share of the farm’s produce.
In their letter they recounted their experience. Their words best describe how they were affected:
“We certainly didn’t predict the degree of anticipation or the excitement generated by diving into the bulging brown paper bag each week to see what goodies it might contain. What came to light certainly added adventure to our cuisine. Before joining we had pledged to ourselves that we would consume every bit of provender that arrived, without exception, and almost everything that came along was more than easy to love. Think shiitake mushrooms!
“However, early in the summer arrived what Chris dubbed ‘The Chard Challenge.’ (Neal’s mother, bless her, had turned him off that vegetable for life—probably by cooking it to death, as did so many.) We met that challenge successfully and charged onward, even enjoying previously-scorned kohlrabi.”
I know that such an experience is not easily or quickly available to the general society, and it will be a long time before global issues of hunger and starvation can be managed through such an agricultural revolution.
Still, the seeds for a more sustainable system of conservation of our natural resources have been sown. For this change to flourish, we need to think more like our friends Chris and Neal.
That brings us to the new year, when it doesn’t hurt to make a few resolutions that will make life better for ourselves and our community.
This idea about the value of optimism is best captured in one of my favorite short poems.
Joseph Green, a poet and LCC instructor, shared his poem “December” with us a few years ago. In the poem he talks about the waning year and the aspirations that have not been realized during that year. Referring back to them he concludes by saying, “Surely you must have more where those came from.”
I hope that each of you have a reservoir of resolutions that can set a positive path for your new year.
Lest you think all of the food movement is about loving kohlrabi, this week’s recipe features healthy chocolate and farm fresh eggs.
OK, the cream and half and half is a bit more than a cardiologist would endorse, but, hmmmm, it is so good ... and this version is much simpler to make than the water bath version.
CHOCOLATE POT de CREME
(Serves 8)
5 egg yolks
5 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup half and half
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
10 ounces Ghiradelli chocolate (60% cacao) bars
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon instant espresso coffee dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
Whipped cream and chopped chocolate garnish
Chop the Ghiradelli cacao bar into approximately 1/4-inch pieces and place into 1 1/2 quart bowl.
Whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl until well-blended. Add whipping cream and half and half and blend together.
Turn mixture into a heavy pan and cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom to prevent scorching. Continue cooking until the temperature reaches 175 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Below 170 degrees and the mixture will not set; over 180 degrees and it will curdle.
When the mixture has reached the desired temperature, pour the hot mixture through a sieve over the chopped cocoa. Let set for five minutes and then whisk until the custard is smooth. Add the vanilla and the coffee mixture, blending well, and pour the mixture into a 1 quart pitcher.
Divide the mixtures equally among 8 (6 ounce) ramekins. Let cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least four hours. The pot de crème can be made up to 72 hours before serving. Serve with whipped cream and garnished with chopped chocolate.
— Adapted from a recipe video on Cook’s Illustrated’s American Test Kitchen.
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