2009 Ohio Fish & Shrimp Festival

When I first heard about the Ohio Fish and Shrimp Festival a few years ago (it has been running for 8 years), I thought it was too weird to be true.  This year our schedule aligned with my father's band, Bunty Station, being booked at the show and we had to go see for ourselves.

The festival is held at Freshwater Farms of Ohio in Urbana.  After an out-of-cellphone-service induced series of misdirections, we made it to the small farm.  The first person we saw was an elderly man who handed us a brochure and told us excitedly about the sturgeon petting in the fish barn.  Sturgeon petting?!?

The next thing we walked by was this menu:

What to do?  Touch a fish I never knew I wanted to pet or eat Michael's local potatos?

Lil made the decision for us as she ran towards the fish barn.

Entering the small door to the very large one story metal barn, we were first drawn to the tanks upon tanks of Ohio freshwater species.  The blue gill, catfish, snapping turtles, crayfish, and more were in neatly labeled tanks for demonstration and research.  The farm welcomes individuals to tour the farm and shop their farm market Monday - Saturday.

After touching a painted turtle and frog, we finally came to the sturgeon tank.  Lil dove in and pet one of the five foot, seventeen year old fish right between the eyes.  Not a fan of slippery things, but still curious, I touched one as well.  It was slimy and hard.  I mentioned that the sturgeon's strange face reminded me of the Dunkleosteus head at the Ohio State University's Orton Hall Museum.

Talking to the well informed fishery keeper and some Wikipedia research revealed that I wasn't far off.  (I do hold a degree in Geology.) Sturgeon first appear in the fossil record about 200 million years ago and still very much resemble their ancestors.  Unlike most modern fish, the sturgeon has bony plates as a skull and a host of other unusual characteristics.  The can live up to a hundred years and grow to enormous size.

First spawning between 20 - 25 years of age, sturgeon population increases slowly.  Due to humans' huge appetite for caviar (sturgeon roe, harvested by killing the mother fish), the sturgeon population is endangered throughout the world.  Fresh Water Farms keeps their sturgeon specimins alive to see if they might be able to induce captive spawning to help repopulate Ohio.

The rest of the farm's large tanks are populated with catfish, trout and pond fry.  Fish can be purchased as stock for your own pond.  They sell a variety of retail fillets and smoked fish products available for pickup in Urbana.  Freshwater Farms supplies a large portion of Ohio restaurants with Ohio trout as well.

After all the fishy excitement, I was hungry and convinced the family to walk back towards the food.  In addition to the big menu served by Freshwater, there were several other food vendors.  We came for the Ohio foods and happened to be gifted my father's comp meal ticket, so we stuck with Freshwater.

The food line was long because everything was hand cut or battered and fried just before service.  By the time our fried catfish, hand cut chips, au gratin potatos, cole slaw, green beans, and hot dog arrived, I was so hungry I forgot to take pictures!  Bad food blogger!

Everything was tasty and obviously home made.  The chips were the clear winners of the night.  Alex watched them double fry each batch and you could tell: perfectly cooked, crispy, and salted.

Lil and I explored some of the ample kids activities while waiting for Dad's band to play.  They had a large sand pit, balls, and a ball catapult for kids to play with.  Earlier in the day were some organized activities.  Finally Bunty Station went on and we enjoyed the show.

I have to admit that my expectations for the Fish and Shrimp Festival were low.  I was prepared for smelly fish barns, troublesome waste, and/or that corporate farm feel.

Happily we found only a wholesome business.  I can recommend Freshwater Farm's as a local, sustainable fish source.  The festival, an easy hour's drive from Columbus, was great free entertainment on a perfect early fall evening.  Even if Bunty Station is not invited back, we will return to pet the sturgeon again!

Taste the Future

A few days ago I participated in a twitter contest hosted by local blogger Columbus Foodie. I won a pair of tickets to Taste the Future, Columbus State Community College (CSCC)'s fundraiser food tasting!

We arrived at an inner plaza in the urban CSCC campus.  I had no idea they had such a beautiful spacious commons.

Our wrist bands came with five drink tickets.  It is no surprise that we quickly made our way to  a drink stand.  The beer and wine selection was mediocre, but five drinks of even mediocre booze has merits.

I always attend charity food events with a bit of hesitation.  Will they have vegetarian friendly food?  Is anything sourced locally?  Are they doing anything to control waste?

The answer in Taste of the Future's case is Yes, Yes, and Yes.

Many vendors were happy to give me meat-free versions of their tasting bites.  The grits at G. Michael's were amazing.  Several tables had mushroom based appetizers, the Mitchell's Steakhouse having the best of those I tasted.  (I verified with the chef later that the vegetarian appearing dish did contain the veal demi glace I tasted. Oh well, it was delicious.)  I had a number of vegetarian soups and desserts.

Quite a few restaurants featured local ingredients.  Every time I saw this claim, I asked where exactly they sourced their produce.  Local is a subjective word, after all.  Several mentioned their Ohio tomatoes came from big distributors like Sysco and Roth.  I am glad to see they are making attempts to include state-local producers.

Bel Lago Bistro takes the cake for most local.  Located on the Hoover Reservoir, the Bel Lago  chef Jeff and his wife grow much of their restaurant's produce in an organic garden on restaurant property.  Their entire table was decorated with homegrown produce and their feature dish, a caprese salad, included heirloom tomatoes and basil from their own garden.  He also told us about a relationship with Westerville School's high school hydroponics class as a source of year round herbs.  We will visit Bel Lago soon to check out their entire menu.  Note: Their website projects, as so many restaurants do, a loud soundtrack.  You have been warned.

The CSCC commitment to waste-reduction throughout the event was well integrated and publicized.  Nearly all the tableware (plates, utensils, and cups) was compostable and labeled trash cans directed patrons to separate compostable and recyclable trash.  I even heard an announcement from the jazz stage directing people how to use these receptacles.  Having been at other tasting events that involved a whole lotta styrofoam, I very much appreciate the footprint reducing efforts.

The Columbus Fish Market took a risk and brought raw oysters to Taste the Future. The Mid Western palate isn't always attuned to oysters, nor is warm weather conducive to keeping raw fish fresh.  We talked to the chef and the oysters were as local as you can get here in Ohio - they were Connecticut Blue Point Oysters.  Small batches were refrigerated indoors, brought out to a huge cooler full of ice, and hand shucked right before service.  Alex, with his New England roots, enjoyed both the raw on the half shell oyster and a oyster/greygoose vodka/cocktail sauce shooter.

Another top taste pick from the evening was Sage's crispy pork belly with jalapeno ketchup.  I tried a bit of the ketchup and it was outstanding.  I love a restaurant that not only makes outstanding a la minute sauces but also fine reductions. Unfortunately the pork belly dish was flying off the table so fast that I didn't get a good picture.

I have been saying for years that Jeni's Ice Cream is the best ice cream in America.  I was surprised at the number of people in line who clearly had not tasted her frozen goodness before.  Beyond the superb taste, Jeni is passionate about using sustainably raised Ohio ingredients. Generous scoops of Sweet Corn with Black Raspberry and Berries and Burgundy were the perfect ending for our evening.

Although the event was free for us, Alex and I agreed that Taste the Future would be worth the $100 per ticket.  The atmosphere was fun, yet not crowded.  We waited in only a few lines and there was plenty of space to sit and enjoy dishes when we wished.   Thanks again, Columbus Foodie, for making our tasting possible.

Ideas for the Tomato Tonnage

After you have made tomato sandwiches, salads, stews, and more, it is tempting to just toss the rest of you CSA or home garden tomato harvest in the compost heap.  Preserving tomatos is not that hard and you will thank yourself in the fall for putting up farm fresh goodness.  Here are a few ideas for easy preserving: Make pseudo sun-dried tomatos: Halve and dry in a dehydrator or low temp (as low as you can get it, ideally 145 deg F.) oven for 12 - 24 hours.  They will be ready to store at room temperature when you can break one in half and see no beads of moisture.

Make easy sauce: Most tomato sauce recipes call for blanching the tomatoes, which is the most time consuming (and burn inducing) part of the work.  It is easier to just skip the blanching and puree the whole tomato.  Freeze your sauce for less work than canning.

Make ketchup: Ketchup (catsup?) requires a tremendous amount of tomatos.  Just yesterday I made a batch with about 15 pounds of tomatos and ended up with a meager three half pints of ketchup.  Homemade ketchup is fabulously delicious, making it worth the effort.  These are basic directions, which I modified by substituting molasses and honey for sugar and juniper berries for aromatics.  If you aren't obsessed with canning like me, just freeze in small containers.

Freeze: As a last resort, throw your maters in the freezer.  Whole is fine.  Put them in a container to reduce freezer burn.  When you thaw frozen whole tomatoes, the texture will be completely broken, but they are still useful to add to stews and sauces.

Even if you do compost rotten tomatos, all is not lost.  Our compost heap volunteers have turned out to be fabulous producers!

PawPaws and Shrimp

Two of Ohio's hidden local foods are going head to head in festivals on the weekend of September 19-20. The 2009 PawPaw Festival will be held in Albany Ohio.  The fest boasts producers, enthusiasts, and paw paw beer from 10 AM - midnight Saturday and 10 AM - 4 PM Sunday.  Admission is $5 per adult; kids 12 and under are free.

The Ohio Fish and Shrimp Festival will take place in Urbana Ohio.  The fest, held at Freshwater Farms, will be open from 10 AM - 8 PM Saturday and 10 AM - 6 PM Sunday with free admission.  I have heard rumors of the delicious shirmp at this fest for the last few years but never made time to go.  This year we have the perfect excuse - my father's country eastern (i.e. hippie) band Bunty Station is playing at 5 and 7 PM Saturday.

'Easy' Tomato Sauce

One of the more difficult parts of most tomato sauce recipes is blanching the tomatos.  Removing the skin has to be done in small batches and then you are left with slippery juicy innards to chop.  Not to mention that one more pot of boiling water on the stove means more chances to burn oneself. Sometimes when we make sauce, like when we made pepper tomato sauce last week, we skip the skinning.  The resulting sauce has a meatier texture than sauce made with blanched tomatos.  It's a fair trade in my book at the end of a long canning season.

The 'easy' routine is:

Chop tomatos and other ingredients roughly

Stew until soft

Blend until smooth

Simmer until thick

Can or freeze

Viola!

Learn to Preserve at Wild Goose!

I am co-hosting two events coming up at Wild Goose Creative ( 2491 Summit Street Columbus, OH 43202)!  Please come fill out the audience so I'm not talking to myself. First, I will join Holly Davis of PlumLife for the Farm to Table to Freezer event from 3 - 5 pm Sunday August 16.  We will be demonstrating several methods for preserving local harvests without canning.

Then, from 12:30 - 3 pm Saturday August 22, the public is welcome at a Students for Food Soverignty planting party.  I will be demonstrating two techniques to preserve summer flavor year round.  There will also be an herb planting project, in-house farm stand, and coffee.

Unfamiliar CSA produce?

When we first became members of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), we received plenty of produce that we had never encountered before.  CSA managers are getting better about identifying everything in the share, but in the very beginning, we were given some veggies we couldn't even name! Here's my quickie guide for using your CSA share to full potential when you aren't even sure what you have.

Taste it raw. Not sure what part is edible?  Try them all!  Your CSA will contain nothing that is going to poison you.

If you like it raw, cut into slices/sticks for snacking or toss in a salad.  Raw veggies and fruit contain the highest nutrient content, so keep them raw if you like it.

Saute quickly with a little olive oil and butter.  Try cooking just a little and see how the flavor changes.  Again, the less cooking you do, the higher the nutritional punch.

Bake or roast. Fruits can be mixed and baked into a crumble.  Just add sugar to taste and top with a mix of 1 part oats 1 part flour 1/2 part butter 1 pinch salt.

Veggies can be sliced, layered with butter salt and pepper and baked into a gratin.  Saute, add eggs and bake for a fritatta.  Toss with olive oil and roast until soft.

Share. Sometimes you will run into something you really don't care for.  Find an adventurous friend or family member and offer them your extras.  Better yet, donate fresh produce to your local food pantry.

The best part of CSAs as I've mentioned before is the variety of healthy local fruits and vegetables.  I hope this guide helps you enjoy a new favorite soon!

Make it Yourself: Honey Berry Jam

The strawberry dilemma of a few weeks ago was solved this Wednesday when we got another six quarts of berries from our Wayward Seed fruit CSA.  I was thrilled!!

In the span of a few hours on Thursday, I made three quarts of berries into jam. Many people bemoan jam making, but it really is quite simple.

Over the last few years I have developed a recipe using honey instead of refined sugar for the sweetener.  Honey is arguably healthier and provides a delicious compliment to the tart strawberries.

Here's how I jam:

1) Wash three quarts berries

2) Remove stems and chop into pieces (I do this in my hand dropping pieces right into a ten quart cooking pot )

3) Place eight pint jars in your canner (I use our pressure cooker pot), add water, and bring to a boil.

4) Place lids (new) and rings (can be reused) in a smaller pot, fill with water and bring to a boil.

5) Back to the berries: Mash with potato masher and add one packet of Sure-Jell Fruit Pectin, Low Sugar.  Mash more until all large pieces are broken and Sure-Jell is well mixed.

6) Put strawberries on a burner set on medium and bring to boil.

(Yes, you now have three pots on the stove.  I suggest doing this on a cool day.)

7) (Meanwhile) Once jars are boiling, carefully lift out and place on a towel next to strawberry burner.  I use cooking tongs in one hand to grab the jar and a towel in other hand to hold it as soon as it is out of the boiling water.  Dip a ladle into boiling water to sanitize it too.

8) When strawberries are at boil, add in four cups of honey.  Stir frequently.

9) Allow strawberry/honey to return to boil and then keep at boil for five minutes.  Stir frequently.

10) Turn off the heat.

11) One at a time, fill jars:

• Funnel jam into santized jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of the top. I use a Stainless Steel Wide-Mouth Funnel to make this easier.
• Wipe rim with clean towel
• Place lid centered on top
• Screw on lid to finger tight
• Carefully place into canner

12) Fill canner with enough water that all jars are covered by at least one inch.

13) Return canner to high heat.  Boil for ten minutes.

14) Remove jars to a towel.

15) Allow to cool completely (24 hours).

16) Remove rings and wipe away any jam that may have escaped to the sides.

That's it!  I know 16 steps sounds like a lot, but it really isn't hard and only takes about two hours start to finish.  The quality is astounding compared to store bought jam.

Making jam is an investment initally.  Thrift stores often have appropriate pots and sometimes pint jars too.  You can see that I don't use or recommend a canner specific pot - any tall sided pot will do.  Jar tongs are handy but not necessary.  You do need to buy new lids each time to create a proper seal.

Do you make jam? What's your favorite kind?