NOISE: Dig In

Brussels Sprouts Part Deux: From Snowy Garden to Your Dinner Plate

Tonight I headed out into the wintry garden out back where the leeks are just starting to wilt.  The Brussels sprouts were still going strong, but I decided it was time to harvest at least one of the hefty stalks and tuck it under the basement stairs in the interest of some extra freeze-damage insurance and easy access.

First, by standing up the stalk and going to with a paring knife, I removed the leaves and loose dirt and snow.  Then I snapped off enough sprouts for tonight's dinner (braised beef with Dutch noodles and Brussies) and sliced of their pithy bases.  A quick dunk in boiling water prepped the sprouts, then they got a tossing in butter and safflower oil in a hot skillet with local wild mushrooms.

DO NOT overcook your Brussels sprouts.  Halve or quarter them before blanching in boiling water or steam.  Once they swell and loosen and their green color reaches a peak of richness, immerse the sprouts IMMEDIATELY in a bowl of icy water.  From there you could simply toss them in a zesty dressing (say horseradish vinaigrette), or give them a further final cooking as in the above saute.

A smashing alternative would be to give them a nice browning with animal fat as shown in our last homage to the old-timey, robust and nutritious Brussels sprout.  

Last night Ryan Deery inspired me with tales of his recent wild fermentation culinary experiments, to the point that we dipped into the sauerkraut on the front porch.  Too salty, and not enough liquid: we added some fresh water; the adventure continues...  

 

Eco-Conscious Art Makes a Statement

In a dim, high-ceilinged industrial space in Northwest Lansing I walked behind a soft-spoken guy as he led me through circuitous passageways and up utilitarian stairs.  Before long we were in a shared artists' workspace, with several young people engaged in various stages of art production.  "She's my intern," my guide said in reference to a passing young lady.

We rounded a corner and were in a well-equipped wood shop.  Local artist Russell Bauer hopes to offer use of these spaces to other creative types in need of a place to work their magic.  Bauer himself has a number of stupendous artifacts he has created strewn about: a huge costume that looks like a trash pile, old (really old) TVs and shopping carts rigged with complex hydroponic vegetable life-support systems, and more.  

Perhaps you've seen the house on the northeast corner of Oakland and Pennsylvania Ave.?  The one with all the re-used plastic tanks for ingenious hillside raised beds?  Bauer lived there while getting the project started.  In addition to more 'arty' flouishes, responsible urban survival mechanisms like his Urban Smart Cisterns figure largely in Bauer's work.

What's more, Russell uses his skills and resources to help guide others interested in sustainably minded art and life.  Partnering with other local go-getters, Bauer's mark is being left everywhere from art galleries to neighborhood garages. Get a look at Russell Bauer's world on his website, rabwork.com.  Other artists and exhibitions are featured, as well.

 

5th Annual Cardboard Classic

Old school fun:  Gather friends and family, build your cardboard sled (cardboard, paint, tape and glue only) and fork over five bucks to benefit LCC Radio and the Mystic Lake Camp Fund. Next, compete for best design, fastest, best wipeout and more! Live music and race commentary by Audio Logic DJ.  The 5th Annual Cardboard classic at GIer Community Center is Saturday, January 22.   Registration begins at noon, races start at 1 p.m.

Sauerkraut Got Your Back

Sauerkraut can taste terrible or terrific--the differences are in its source and preparation.  Fall cabbage is easy to grow, pest resistant and keeps well.  A week ago I sliced a dozen medium heads and threw them in a glass crock with pickling salt.  

After sufficient pounding with a jar, the cabbages' own water rose and bubbling commenced shortly thereafter.  A few days in our 64F kitchen and then down to the basement with it to chill with the sweet potatoes down here at about 50F.

 

Pretty soon the kraut will be out on the unheated porch (~35-40F) for the winter.  There is a bit of light maintenance, but well worth the chance to dip into the crock for some brat topping.  Fling it on anything bland to make it pop, or enrich classics like corned-beef with this 100% scratch winner.

Meanwhile, the snow is falling (perfect kraut-keeping weather) and keeping warm is survival.  While the kraut will keep close above freezing, we humans (and many other animals) will make it through the winter at varying degrees of warmer temps; through hibernation, fattening up, and use of shelter and fire (or BWL, or...) as available.  

What are your plans for this winter's heat solutions?  Wood stove?

Going to the Source for Foodways Wisdom

Have a good time, do your health a favor, and benefit from some straightforward, unpretentious, unselfconsciously wise--and often witty--life instruction at the same time: consider a musty, stained cookbook instead of the web when looking for a meal to remind you why cooking is the catalyst of culture--or just a recipe for some hard-to-please old-timers at holiday time.

For anyone who has yet to have had the pleasure, Curious Book Shop ought to be visited soon and often, hectic life be damned.  To all who are familiar with the treasures stacked in its cozy vastness, experience proves the allure of manifold manifestoes.  The labyrinthine scope of the holdings feel and function as equal parts museum and bookstore.  Surprises abound in ways the internet cannot hope to match.  For one, the olfactory satisfaction of books young and old mingling on aged wood shelves is both unmistakable and unique.

The cookbook section goes much deeper than sinful Amazon could ever hope.  Here are many shelves, offering all manner of tomes.  The selections span a century. The oldest, oftentimes regional, cookbooks are unexpectedly informative and entertaining.

A typically amusing caption insists: LAMB SHANKS STUFFED WITH BARLEY WILL APPEAL TO THE CLEVER HOSTESS FOR THE RUMPUS ROOM DINNER.  One cookbook from 1939 gives the Michigan Dutch names of recipes, like Hoolandandsche Appel Koes for Dutch Apple Cake, another cookbook from New Orleans made cryptic allusions to avoiding poisonings from slaves.