Local Heroes

 

As promised, eNews readers get the announcement first.

 

Each year Edible asks its wonderful readers to nominate the people they feel are Iowa’s Local Heroes in five different categories.  These heroes exemplify the passion, hard work and perseverance required for excellence in their individual fields of endeavor.  Our readers are the ones who know local food best, and each year they delight us with their selections.

In this third year, the Edible Iowa River Valley Local Hero Awards have now seen their first repeat hero, first Iowa City Restaurant hero, and first non-wine Beverage Artisan hero.  We are very proud to place their names in the pantheon of not only our own Iowa heroes, but also those from the other 61 Edible Communities member magazines across the US and Canada (see the winners nationwide at the ECI website).

Congratulations to each of this year’s winners, and be watching for the 2010 nominations to begin in our Harvest issue, due out on the streets September 1st. Please be sure to stop in and visit with these Heroes, pat them on the back and give them your business and support – they deserve it!


Despite losing a barn to the 2008 storms, Susan Jutz has continued to operate one of the area’s most popular Community Supported Agriculture ventures, Local Harvest.  With lots of help from fellow farmers and artisans, Jean Donohue of HueHill Farm who grows the herbs and most of the vegetables for the winter share, and Laura Krouse who also operates Abbe Hills CSA in Mount Vernon, Susan has expanded the operation to include winter shares, multiple pick-up locations and even Thanksgiving turkeys.

As if that weren’t enough, Susan also helped create Local Foods Connection, which as you’ll read below is now a two-time Local Hero Award winner.  Active in many organizations that support local, organic, sustainable agriculture, Susan is a true hero to women in farming and to fans of good fresh food everywhere.



All of us at Edible are a little extra proud that this charming café in our humble home town got the nod from readers this year.  Masae and Harriet are doing wonderful things with food from loads of local suppliers: Café del Sol Roasting, Johnson Honey Farm, Chocolate Manor, Ruzika's Meat Processing, Highland Vista Farm, Organic Greens, Pavelka’s Point, and Farmers Hen House to name but a few.

Originally a simple tearoom with a wide selection of high quality teas and tisanes, Leaf Kitchen quickly won favor with Iowa City residents for their fresh homemade breakfasts and lunches (do not miss the buckwheat crepes).  Recently renovated and expanded, Leaf has just begun offering dinner too – can’t wait to get there for that.



We’d like to think Edible readers became fans of this amazing cheese after reading about it in the pages of our 2009 Harvest issue (it was issue 13, with the cute little girls and the pumpkins on the cover), but more likely it was the luscious quality of the cheese itself that carried the day for Mike and Jason and Frisian Farms Gouda.

As Eve Adamson wrote of the cheese back then, “The washed-rind cow’s milk farmstead cheese has a fresh, tangy taste when young, and mellows into a rich, complex, nutty, sophisticated cheese as it ages – surely the final, happy result of happy cows.”  A diet of 70% forage and the rest homegrown grain makes these happy cows healthy too, and six months of aging brings out the unique character of this Dutch-style classic.  Our readers clearly see bright things ahead for the Bandstra brothers.



These days you can find just about any kind of beverage made by someone, somewhere in Iowa, but you’ll own find one producer of high quality hard cider, and that’s Scott Ervin at Sutliff.  His own website puts it best:

“We are dedicated to the culture of apple growing and their use in premium apple ciders. Our handcrafted ciders always contain 100% fresh squeezed juice and are never blended from concentrates. We use a combination of table apples that include, but are not limited to, Jonathan, Gala, Cortland, and Macintosh. The apples we use come from many local orchards, including our own small orchard on the estate where we are growing many varieties of traditional cider apples. We use an old style rack and cloth press because we believe this method allows our ciders to have exceptional taste and freshness.”

Their newly renovated tasting room in the historic old barn on the orchard grounds will reopen in April – great place to visit on a country drive or a bike ride.



We’re not sure we could have thought of a better choice to be the first repeat winner of the Local Hero award than Laura Dowd and Local Foods Connection.  Laura’s tireless work for this important cause is a testament to the vitality of the movement for real food.

Local Foods Connection, which was founded in 1999, is a charity that recruits volunteers to help on CSA farms, and in turn collects shares from those farms to distribute to families who cannot afford them.  More than that, they provide cooking and nutrition education, farm visits, even cooking utensils, pots and pans.  Laura often liked to say that while some families are reluctant to go on the requisite farm visits, the only thing harder than getting them to go is getting them to leave – they enjoy the farms that much.

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On the Air

 

This coming Tuesday, March 2nd, @10am CST, tune in to Iowa Public Radio to hear from some of the heroes mentioned above.  On the daily call-in show Talk of Iowa, Dennis Reese will play host to our heroes, discussing their work and the importance of local, sustainable foods.

 

There is a list of the stations statewide located here.  If you're out of the market, you can listen online here.  If you can't catch it live, it'll be archived as a podcast here.  So there are no excuses - tune in!

 

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The Langeland Trophy

 

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our partners and readers.  At the ECI annual conference in Santa Fe last month, Edible Iowa was overwhelmed to receive the organizations highest honor, the Langeland Award for Excellence in Community Service.  It is your support of our efforts that made this honor possible.

 

In 2007, Edible Communities, Inc. created the Langeland Award, named for its first recipients, Doug and Dianne Langeland, publishers of Edible Cape Cod, the second Edible magazine to launch. The award celebrates the Edible magazine publisher who provides their local food network with the most community service. 

 

The presentation was a total shock, rendering Edible Iowa publisher Kurt Michael Friese uncharacteristically speechless.

 

Our heartfelt thanks to all our readers and advertising partners.  You make our mission, to Preserve, Protect, & Celebrate the Flavors of the Heartland, not only believable, but possible.

 

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Cochon 555

 

Mark your calendars for April 24th, when the Big Pig returns to Des Moines for another edition of Cochon 555 - the only culinary competition to focus on heritage pigs and local farms.  This year Edible Iowa River Valley is the official media sponsor.

 

Last year friend of the magazine Matt Steigerwald of Lincoln Cafe in Mt. Vernon walked away with the trophy as the "Prince of Porc."

 

The competition is straightforward, though perhaps not simple and certainly not easy.  Five chefs will prepare five whole pigs to be paired with five wines (thus the 555 in the name).  They will be judged by a panel of culinary experts, including EIRV Managing Editor Kim McWane Friese, and there is also a "People's Choice" award as well.

 

Sure, you should come because it's fun, tasty, and for a great cause - The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society - but if you need another good reason, we have 3 words for you: Bacon Ice Cream.

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New Issue

 

Whew! had to get all that info out first before we could even get around to mentioning - O BTW - we have a new issue coming out!

 

Spring 2010, Issue #15, will hit the streets starting in Ames on Monday, March 1.  As we've mentioned here before it takes about 2 weeks or so before it is fully distributed around the state.  If you want to be the first to get it, and not miss an issue, you have 2 choices.  You can subscribe here,

or you can contact Kim about being a distribution angel.  Basically this means you get a free subscription (and our profound thanks) in exchange for distributing Edibles in and around your neck of our great state.

 

The new issue features an article by farming guru David Mas Masumoto, features on farmed game, a review of Lisa Hamilton's new book Deeply Rooted, a look at the food system at Cedar Falls' Price Lab School and a lot more.  Pick up a copy and share it with your friends, and don't forget to support the advertisers - they're the ones who make the mag possible. Tell'em thanks for supporting real, local, sustainable food.

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RAGBRAI Issue

 

And speaking of new issues, #16, our summer issue, will be dedicated to the towns and farms, food and people all along this year's RAGBRAI route.

 

If you know a good story you'd like to see covered in this special issue (or if you are one!), please contact Kurt and clue him in about it.

 

BTW, during the ride itself, Kurt won't be riding this time but actually cheffing ("Cheffing?" is that a word? Well it is now.) For RAGBRAI Team Cuisine, preparing local fare for the team of 30+ riders all along the 400+ mile ride.  When the time comes you can follow each farm and meal via twitter @EdibleIA (like it says below) and on Kurt's blog.

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Edible Radio

 

  Edible Communities has entered the fabulous world of podcasting with the launch of Edible Radio.

 

Last month’s inaugural Edible Institute was a round up of some of our favorite and inspiring sustainable food advocates from around the country. You can listen in on some of conversations that took place on the Edible Radio podcasts with host Kate Manchester of Edible Santa Fe. Don’t miss Lisa Hamilton talking grass fed beef and alligators with Will Harris of White Oak Pastures! Tom Philpott of Grist.org talks about the risks of small farms participating in the CSA model, and Elissa Altman spells out the missing ingredient in the sustainability movement: “Sustainability doesn’t mean a thing if we can't get people to cook.”

 

What's more, beginning in April you'll get to hear EIRV publisher Kurt Michael Friese hosting interviews on there as well.

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Seasonal Recipe

 

Edible Publisher Kurt Michael Friese also writes for many other publications (we're not jealous or anything).  Here's one of his recent recipes from hot new food site NourishNetwork.com:

     Parsnip Fries

Parsnips have an earthy sweetness to them, making them an interesting alternative to same-old, same-old potato fries. These, with sliced garlic and Parmesan, are downright addictive.

1-1/2 pounds parsnips, peeled cut into 1/4-inch x 1/4-inch x 3-inch batonettes
2 tablespoons Organic Canola oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced paper thin
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

Preheat oven to 425.

Toss the parsnips with the oil and garlic until thoroughly coated, and then toss again with salt and pepper. Lay out on a cookie sheet in a single layer (keep the bowl for later).

Place sheet in the middle of the preheated oven and bake 15-20 minutes, turning with a spatula about every 5 minutes. Then cook an additional 10 minutes or to desired crispiness.

Remove from the oven and return parsnips to the bowl. Toss the fries with the cheese, rosemary and additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Serves 4 

OK, we don't mean it's actually edible, we mean it's Edible - as in from the magazine.

 

 

 

Want one?  Just send two bucks and an SASE to us at

 

River Valley Press

22 Riverview Drive, NE

Iowa City, Iowa 52240-7973 

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