Silver City Culinary Extravaganza

[Verjuice]

Okay, I have way too much space left in my car (and it's not a big car). Someone give me something else to bring. A barrel of pickles? A keg of beer? A bushel of green chiles? A troop of go-go dancers? Fireworks?

I will be stopping at Whole Foods and Talin (Asian market) on the way. Can stop at Trader Joe's if requested. Anything?

[gfron1]

Please no chiles! - the carbon footprint of chiles from here, sent there and brought back here would be too much for my conscience to handle! My store just switched to corn bags to compensate for just that sort of thing!

The go go dancers on the other hand

Verjuice is bringing us buffalo which I hope she'll report on. The ranch she is going to is famous for its white bison which was recently on Leno. White Bison is ironically also the name of a 12-step program that my centers run for recovery in the Native American tradition.

I just got back from the radio interview. It went super and the DJ ended with a song called Scotch and Chocolate - some bluegrass diddy. Very fun. The buzz is definitely in the air - Kerry's class is almost full and I'm fielding lot's of calls.

[gfron1]

Two little bits of info.

When I woke up this morning, following yesterday's storm, the cars and windows were covered in dust. I assumed it was a bad case of our normal dust, but apparenlty its volcanic ash from Chile! How exciting, but now I have to go clean my store windows.

This morning I was requested to make a birthday cake for someone in town. I've always turned these down since I'm not a pro, but her request was unique enough that I didn't think anyone else in town could do it, so I'm gonna take. I told her she can make a donation to the high school culinary program in lieu of payment to me. The cake is needed next weekend and I'm already running crazy, but I'm a glutton, so what the hey!

And, the chocolate arrived this morning - geez doesn't look like much, and we added three more registrants since the interview! Only 2 spots left.

[gfron1]

As the pace of preparation picks up (nice alliteration), my meals are becoming less worth talking about. Today for lunch I had an Indian meal to go. These are my favorite hiking meals because you can boil them in water and put some tea bags in the pot and have no clean up at all.

I served it with another tea sample from Ming - lychee green. His lychee black is one of my two favorites (the other being jasmine pearl), but this wasn't quite as good as the black. Still nice, but I'm not a fan of greens.

I'm off for a dog walk.

[Kerry Beal]

I'm going to check out some cheese to bring along - something Canadian.  Maggiethecat suggested a cheese called Sauvagine, which she suggests will have us groaning with pleasure.  Apparently smuggling will be necessary because it's unpasturized.

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Kerry, you implied above that you're driving to Buffalo, and thus keeping your flights entirely in the US rather than dealing with international flights. IYHO, is it easier to smuggle good cheese on land, or in the air?

(Not that either of us or anyone else on eG would ever dream of doing anything along those lines, of course! )

Wish I could witness the festivities first-hand, rather than vicariously.

MelissaH

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Smuggling seems to be a crapshoot either way. I've been checked out crossing on the boat, in the car and on the plane. Probably a little less likely in the car.

Turns out the cheese is pasturized, so I guess I don't have to smuggle this one.

[Verjuice]

And, the chocolate arrived this morning - geez doesn't look like much...

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The bushel of green chile was offered in jest. The dancers, on the other hand...

Do you need me to bring some chocolate as backup?

[Kerry Beal]

I'm bringing a couple of kilos of milk chocolate since we will use the most of that.

[Kerry Beal]

Just mentioned to hubby that I was running out in the morning to grab some cheese to take with me to NM. His response - "is it legal to take cheese across the border?" This is the guy who will ask what the value of the stuff we bought is before we cross the border - I always make sure he doesn't find out the truth afterwards - he's only a convincing liar when he thinks he's telling the truth.

[gfron1]

Silver City is not for everyone. Almost everyone loves visiting. Many think they would love living here. Few actually are able to live here.

Look - we're remote. You can't get around that. Its the appeal, and the drawback. If your idea of a good time is seeing what's new at the mall, you won't make it here. If you live for the corporate chains, you won't find them. One of the most common complaints from outsiders is that its so brown here. Of course it is, we live in the high dessert. But, I can drive 10 minutes in any direction and be in the wilderness. Outside of Alaska, I don't think there is another place like it.

So when I walk the dogs I'm acutely tuned in to the colors - not the browness. I see the glistening yellow on the tip of the agave early in the morning. I see the rust hue of the pine tree bark at sunset. I see the red dirt under my footsteps. The ultra blue sky. That's the color of Silver City.

Look ma! Its Mexico!

I took my dogs out to Pinos Altos this afternoon (a town just north and 1000 feet higher), and walked in an old mining area. Today I turned to go off trail and after about 10 feet realized I was on an old mining road. I followed it a couple of miles up the mountain and enjoyed the briskness and view south to the border. Always beautiful flora on these hikes.

I know for some this picture is ugly - to me its incredibly beautiful. Look at that sky. Look at that agave stalk. Perfect.

Here's the most famous site in Pinos Altos - The Buckhorn. Its been in operation for over a 100 years and has many bullet holes inside and out to show the remnants of the past.

[gfron1]

One of the things I'm anxious to show Verjuice is the local food movement. We have a restaurant in town that claims to be slow food - but, by definition, they aren't. They are a very good restaurant however. But we have a number of people doing special stuff with foods. Sunny's Holiday Foods make a great green chile hot chocolate. Hector Sosa makes a salsa that I would put against any other. I've already mentioned our two coffee roasters. Sarah van Horn makes nice flavored vinegars. The list goes on. One of our favorites is PA Orchards which grows most of their fruits and offers over 50 flavors of jams, jellies and preserves. Her orchard and shop is up in Pinos Altos. Good stuff.

[gfron1]

Dinner with no energy or enthusiasm.

I used to make most of the savory dishes. Now, I just don't do it. Our schedule is more conducive to Tyler making dinners. So, when he travels, I'm in a bind. Tonight I had to use up any leftover vegetables from when Tyler was here. That meant carrots, cabbage, and celery. I also found some dried shiitake, wild Minnesota rice (Singing Pines brand), vegetable broth and these little guys that we sell, but don't really know much about. Sure they're seaweed, but what's their purpose/use?

If anyone knows - please do tell. But, I just dropped them in 15 minutes before serving and wow! They were really good. They made my base definitely darker, and added a nice sweetness. I really enjoyed this soup.

A lot!

And enjoyed my favorite wine with the soup.

I would price this at a $20 wine, but its only $8 per bottle, so we buy it by the case. I think we went through 4 or 5 cases last year - it is my absolute favorite table wine.

[gfron1]

After a brisk dog walk I had a light breakfast of an egg fried in parma butter, and this granola.

Some of you from the Denver area may recognize this. The company is called Two Moms in the Raw. The daughter of a friend of ours was diagnosed with MS a few years back, so she overhauled her diet. One of the things she found was that it was very difficult to find snack foods that were good for you. She and a friend created a line of granola and a line of chips. Both are organic, vegan, raw, dairy-free, wheat-free, etc. and surprisingly very, very good. I liked it enough that I brought it to my store - and we have very tight shelf space so that's a major compliment.

I'm running out of time to prepare my dessert components for Friday, so that needs to get done. I'm thinking about having a base of Pierre Herme's lemon pound cake filled with a blackberry mousse and topped with a celery meringue that I've been playing with. My test runs have been moderately successful, but not over the top, so I hope I can pull of the Hail Mary before dinner on Friday.

[CaliPoutine]

I'm watching this topic with great interest. As someone who's made candy with Kerry, I'm anxious to see what you all are going to make.

I'm soooooooo jealous, its freezing here too!!

[Anna N]

I've been out shopping with Kerry all morning so I know the treats that will soon be winging their way to Silver City and I am JEALOUS! It should be quite a time for everyone and I am wishing all of you a great deal of fun and food and learning!

[Kerry Beal]

I've run home for two seconds before heading out. One of the cheeses is vacuum sealed, wrapped in parchment, vacuum sealed in another bag and finally you can't smell it anymore. I can't wait to see how everyone at the cheese tasting feels about this one. It kind of reminded me of the bottom of the litter box - but in a nice sort of way!

[ludja]

I've been out shopping with Kerry all morning so I know the treats that will soon be winging their way to Silver City and I am JEALOUS!  It should be quite a time for everyone and I am wishing all of you a great deal of fun and food and learning!

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Me too! Thanks for the lovely photos from around Silver City to set the stage, gfron1!

It sounds like I'll have to wait until Kerry is in New Mexico to hear a reply but I'm curious how the altitude in Silver City (over 6000 ft?) will require adjustments for the candy making. gfron1 certainly seems successful at turning out baked goods at altitude but I guess the temperatures for sugar work might be different at that altitude.

Edited January 9, 2008 by ludja (log)

[birder53]

Thanks for the photos of the landscape. High desert is beautiful. The light in NM is amazing and the views we get due to our elevation are unbelieveable. I recently me a woman who had retired to Silver City. She loved the place but hated trying to get to anywhere else from there. She moved to Santa Fe because you still get the high desert but she is close to airports - which is important to her. You really are away from it all down there. Keep the photos coming!

[gfron1]

Today I'm down in Deming (1 hr SE) and will capture some pics of the local food finds. This is the home of 2 wineries, El Rey Carniceria, countless Mexican restaurants - my favorite being Irma's, a pretty decent classic Italian - Palma's, a tamale factory, a tortilla factory, and chile processors. Deming actually produces more chiles than the famous Hatch (don't quote me on that), but its really all the same dirt. On my way back to town I'll stop by a local farmer's market to see how chile sales went this year - as judged by how many bushels are sitting out front still. I'm also having to watch the road conditions because the highway between Deming and Silver is often closed due to dust storms caused by overgrazing of the land.

[gfron1]

Talk about harrowing winds! My goodness - just to add a bit of drama to the weekend.

But I'm back with a few pics from Deming. Here is the imfamous El Rey Carniceria. The great news is, for years they've talked about putting a restaurant in, and I saw contractors working in there today. When we go back next week, I'll be sure to actually walk in.

Just down the road is one of their major wineries. Many will be surprised to know that NM has quite a few wineries between here and up in Santa Fe. This one puts out a few really good wines...and some not so good. I know we'll see some at the cheese party on Saturday.

Here is the market just north of Deming. You can see the chile stack is getting lower.

and their ristras are looking a bit peeked (sp?).

Lunch for me came from Campos, one of the better Mexican joints in town. One of my co-workers suggested the salmon which I would normally NEVER get from one of our Mexican restaurants, but for the sake of the blog...

And guess what? Sometimes risks pay off. It was no Fisherman's Warf fare, but it was very tasty. I'm not sure what the sauce was, nor that I want to know, but it was a bit sweet. The glop in front is zucchini with chiles and cheese, and behind that some type of alfredo-esque pasta. I washed it down with horchata which is my favorite drink. A bit weak, but still refreshing.

A little birdy told me that 100 pounds of buffalo has just arrived in town!

[Verjuice]

Hola from a hotel room in Silver City... the drive took seven hours to the minute, including stops for styrofoam coolers, petrol, sweet rice flour and buffalo.

I haven't met Rob yet (dinner is a couple hours off) but he is already my hero, having spared me two hours of agonizing starvation with some treats.

I've already eaten all of these, having left Santa Fe early fueled by tepid coffee and a Clif bar.

Addictive and delicious.

[Verjuice]

Just got back from dinner with Rob and friends. Unfortunately for this thread, the conversation was far more captivating than these pictures will be.

Four-cheese calzone with mushrooms, roma tomatoes and red onion:

The damage. The smallest glass contains the dregs of the prickly pear pilsner that was unanimously determined to smell just like Midori:

Edited January 10, 2008 by Verjuice (log)

[gfron1]

Those pictures make it look like a dream sequence...not quite - just a brew pub. The fun thing about that brew pub is that he didn't brew his own beer for the first couple of years. He kept a bucket of wet hopps in the back so he could have a vintners license. NM liquor laws are incredibly messed up. They don't issue any new full licenses, and haven't since around 1920. So a full license now sells for around $250K - they're like water rights. You can get beer and wine licenses and vintners, and a few others, but not the full license which allows package. We don't have a package store in our town - can you imagine! So anyway, Bob the Brewer kept a bucket of wet hopps to satisfy the license requirements until he started brewing this year. And lo and behold, he's actually pretty good. Much of his beer he gets from Truth or Consequences, but I had his honey wheat tonight which was nice.

Wanna see what was in my gift pack

Let's start with our own Saveur 100 Rancho Gordo:

Followed by CHOCOLATE! These are from The Chocolate Smith, which is a much celebrated choc shop in SF. Tonight I scarfed - I mean enjoyed, two the peanut butter and the caramel. The caramel was so soft.

Lexi and Lucia also got some goodies, but we don't need to talk about lungs here in eGullet...actually I'm sure we have somewhere.

My lemon cakes are in the oven right now...if they come out fine, then I have all day tomorrow to figure out this celery obsession.

EDITED TO ADD: The alarm went off and I checked the cakes. Big disaster - way over rose - consequence of altitude. I'll see if they can be saved or if I'll need to try again tomorrow.

[gfron1]

I woke up, enjoyed a lemon cake for breakfast, and realized that they may be ugly, but they're very good. My plan is to cut them up anyway, so off to the freezer with them! I've got a plating design developing in my head, but I want to make sure it plays off the dinner, so we'll see.

I'm off to...you guessed it...walk the dogs, then Verjuice and I will go to my favorite coffee shop and grab a chocolate croissant. Then I'm off to the big box to get the last of Kerry's supplies.

[Verjuice]

Went for a walk with my imaginary dog at 6am. Came back and ducked into the hotel breakfast room long enough to make a cup of PG Tips with milk (brought the bags and the organic whole milk from home) and to assemble this sesame bagel with cream cheese.

It was crisp and salty, and not half bad.

[gfron1]

Today I want to show Verjuice our arts district and introduce her to some of my favorite restaurants. A few of them are trying to use local produce and product. Here's some flora from the walk.

A glorious yucca plant pom

I think of these as the kings of the dessert even moreso than Tucson's saguaros - they're the guards.

The prince

Lexi the yucca assassin. I don't know why she likes to destroy them, but she does.

Right now our juniper are covered in berries, which are covered in glowing yeast. I was inspired and guided by hummingbirdkiss a while back to make a starter from this yeast, and everyone who tried the bread thought it was fantastic. Juniper Berry Sourdough Starter

And finally, my town, nestled in a shallow mountain valley.

We're off for coffee.