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By Leslie Hello everyone. Sorry for the silence. We have been a bit busy with life lately. Fortunately, we were able to sneak away a bit to one of our favorite destinations, Italy. I’m sure I will eventually get to telling you all about it. Meanwhile, I’m so happy to be back home and to have some kitchen time. Here’s an easy dish that I made for a wonderful young lady who took care of our Ollie dog while we were away. I found some baby zucchinis in the garden with the flowers still attached and made a sort of variation of a stuffed zucchini flower dish I helped to make at Plum Lyon last summer. Since I only had a bit of zucchini, I decided to make a quiche with caramelized onions, goat cheese, fresh herbs, parmigiano, butter and a bit of olive oil.
Continue reading Quiche aux fleurs de courgettes
By Keith We recently had a superb meal at Elizabeth, a restaurant in Chicago owned and operated by chef Iliana Regan. As is often the case, our Chicago friends have written much more insightful pieces about the restaurant then you’ll get out of me. Check out here, here, and here for an interview with Iliana.
Continue reading “Drifted” Appetite: Elizabeth Restaurant, Chicago
By Leslie Because of the longer, cooler temperatures this spring, the violets have stuck around and have proliferated in lawns all over town. For awhile now, I have been interested in foraging and eating things from the wild. Last season, I was most proud of my plum jelly, made with wild plums I found while hiking on Merry Christmas Mine Hill. (Yes, that is really what the hiking area is called.) My yearning to learn increased even more right after experiencing “New Gatherer” cuisine at Iliana Regan’s Elizabeth restaurant in Chicago. (Keith will post about it soon.) I had never considered eating violets before. All I knew was that they made a sound as satisfying as freshly cooked pasta being stirred in a pan when I went over them with our push mower!
Continue reading Playing with Violets
By Leslie Hello everyone, happy springtime! It has been absolutely gorgeous here especially with the mist and rain. The grass is finally green and sparkling with a million water droplets. I have been checking on my garden almost everyday. Soon there will be enough rhubarb to make my favorite rhubarb custard pie. I’ve used chives in just about everything for a week now. My garlic plants are fat and about a foot tall. This morning, I spotted a patch of wild violets near my Concord grape vines. This year, I think I will finally have a go at sugaring some violets to decorate cakes. Speaking of cakes, I celebrated my birthday recently. Keith surprised me with a cake made by Erin from Enos Farms. I had never been so excited to open a box of cake. A cake in a wooden box with a leather strap! I seriously imagined a fluffy bunny with a half-eaten cupcake inside.
Box made by Piebox in Chicago
Continue reading Birthday Cake from Enos Farms
By Leslie The first sign of spring in these parts is when there is available sustenance again, in the form of maple syrup. This was our third year visiting Cooks’ Woods for their sugaring and open house. Sugaring in the states can be traced back as far as the 1500′s. The whole process always feels like visiting an old friend. As we turned down into their driveway from Ebenezer Rd. there were the familiar rows and rows of Christmas trees (which are sold in season). When the road went up again, there was the humble sugar shack. The steam billowed out of the chimney and carried the scent of maple syrup. A little flag with maple leaves on it swayed by the door. Right when we walked in, we were greeted by an even more intoxicating scent of syrup. The massive evaporator was to the right. It can boil off 35 gallons of water per hour. Ten gallons of sap will make about one quart of syrup (or 2 pints). We spotted Dave Cook, who wore a bright orange cap, chatting with visitors.
Continue reading The Sugar Shack at Cooks’ Woods
By Keith It’s that time of year– the snow is melting, the wind is a little less frigid, and the Wisconsin Grilled Cheese Championship is coming back. Just about a month from now, April 27th, the 3rd annual competition will be held at Harris Park in Dodgeville.
We here at Driftless Appetite have been involved with the Championship since the beginning. First as a competitor (Leslie) and then as a judge (Keith). Judging at last year’s event was a blast and I was thrilled that they asked me back this year.
I believe right now there are a few slots left open for competitors, but you’ll want to act fast. Check out the WGCC website or their facebook page for more details.
You should also check out the Wisconsin Foodie episode filmed at last year’s event (see it here).
By Leslie I think we can safely say goodbye to the polar vortex now. Happy springtime to all of you! A lot of the ice has melted. The nearby creek is robustly flowing. Ollie dog and I went for a two hour ramble the other day and he got properly happy and muddy. Some of the trees were showing off tiny yellow-green buds and it was wonderful to see bright green moss growing on rocks. Soon the rhubarb will be popping-up its brainy heads in the garden and foragers will be delighted to have morels, wild leeks, fiddlehead ferns, and watercress to pick. Today, my favorite maple farmer, Dave Cook, said that the sap is finally flowing in time for sugaring season. What are you excited about?
Come along with me to the beautiful city of Lyon to whet your appetite for the upcoming bountiful season. If you have not been following the blog, check out the first part of my cooking adventure at the Croix-Rousse Market. We spent a day shopping at the market and cooking up a multi-course meal at Lucy Vanel’s teaching kitchen, Plum Lyon. Heaven.
Continue reading “Drifted” Appetite: Plum Lyon Teaching Kitchen
By Leslie Keith and I just paid a visit to the Walker House for the opening day of its bakery. For now, it will be open on Saturdays from 8 AM until noon but orders can be made and picked-up during the week. The place was abuzz. There were a lot of items to choose from: elephant ears, pasties, muffins, cookies, loaf breads, peanut cake bars, donuts, coffee cakes, blueberry pie, caramel apple rolls, cupcakes, sheet cakes, and many more. We enjoyed some coffee and a few bites of strawberry cream cheese cake. I ended up chatting with Brooke Garrison, who was filling up the shelves with more treats. It turns out she was the assistant baker. She invited me up to the kitchen to meet head baker, Lisa Govier.
Continue reading The Walker House Bakery
By Leslie Hi everyone! I’m writing in bed with a wool blanket, two down comforters, and the puppy on top of me (with a glass of wine nearby). Keith is in Paris right now doing secret scientific stuff which has me reminiscing about my French cooking adventure this past summer in Lyon. Before going anywhere, I usually search for food blogs in the area to try get to know a place from the locals. In researching Lyon, I stumbled on Lucy’s Kitchen Notebook, a scrumptious blog by American expat Lucy Vanel. Even more exciting, she had recently started a cooking school, Plum Lyon, out of her home in the historic Croix-Rousse district. I signed up for her market to table class and counted down the days until I could be there.
Keith and I stayed in a room on the fourth floor of an old building with unusually large and winding stone steps and windows that opened onto the courtyard. There were large pots of multi-colored hydrangeas and birds darted in and out a lot, their squawking amplified by the stone courtyard so much that it felt as if I had a flock right above my head. You could also hear everyone’s conversations (mostly they were talking about how loud the birds were!). Golds, burgundy, and emeralds dominated the room, just how I imagined it to be. The curtains were a heavy silk and damask combination held open on one side by a thick rope of gold and silver silk. The walls were covered with a a shimmery cream wall paper with ornate pattern. There was a marble and cast iron fireplace and the lights just bright enough to make everything look even more golden. In the sitting area were red velvet chairs (perfect for writing in my journal or lounging with coffee). The bathroom was bright and modern with a full-sized tub. I was pretty in love with all of it.
I walked to Lucy’s neighborhood on the first morning in the city toward the old silk district. It was lovely and hilly. I wore my favorite flowy lace skirt, a striped t-shirt, sandals, and black sunglasses. The stair steps were neverending. My favorite part was going through a traboule that was like a secret passageway. It was actually used for silk transport back in the day so that the fabrics didn’t get wet. Finally, I got to 49 Rue des Tables Claudiennes, Lucy’s cooking school. We had a little coffee while we waited for one other student that day. Her name was Gina, from Mt. Prospect Illinois, of all places! We headed out or shall I say “up” to the market. I saw the reason for Lucy’s market bag on wheels.
Continue reading “Drifted” Appetite: The Croix-Rousse Market & Cooking in Lyon
By Leslie The other day, I made some marshmallows for the first time. Keith and I fun pretending it was summertime and we toasted some using our fireplace. Marshmallows plus fire or marshmallows plus chocolate is never a bad idea. One of my favorite treats is Gail Ambrosius’ hot chocolate mix. It’s a rough mixture of chunky Columbian dark chocolate. When you open the brown bag, you’ll get a strong, intoxicating aroma that will make you feel an extra jolt of verve during these frigid, wintry days. Trust me, you’ll want to make a warm cup of this delicious elixir. Make sure you’ve got some really good milk. We love Sassy Cow Creamery.
 Continue reading Hot Chocolate
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