Harvest Apple Pie with Cheddar Crust

Apples partner well with cheddar and here the cheese is built right into the crust. For another variation, use your favourite crust recipe and top with apple crisp topping.

From Ontario Apple Growers. Serves six.
 
Cheddar Crust:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 cup cold butter (cut into small pieces)
1 3/4 cups old cheddar cheese
5 to 6 tbsp ice water

Apple Filling:
6 cups sliced peeled harvest apples
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 egg yolk
1 tsp milk

In large bowl, combine flour and salt. With pastry blender, cut in shortening and butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in cheese. Stir in water a little at a time until dough holds together. Press into 2 round disks; wrap with plastic wrap and chill 30 minutes.
Meanwhile prepare filling: In large bowl toss apples and lemon juice. In small bowl, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon; stir into apples.
On lightly floured surface, roll out pastry for bottom crust to 1/8-inch thickness. Place in 9-inch pie plate; trim edge even with rim. Roll out pastry for top crust, cutting steam vents. Add filling to bottom crust, place top crust over apples, trimming to 1/2-inch over the edge. Tuck overhang under edge of bottom crust and finish edge as desired. In a small bowl, beat together egg yolk and milk; brush top of pie with mixture.
Bake on bottom rack in a 425°F (220°C) oven for 15 minutes then reduce temperature to 350°F (180°C) and bake for about 40 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown.

Food, glorious local food

View from the Strip
By Casey Lessard

Erryn Shephard of F.I.N.E. asked me the other day what I like to eat. I struggle to respond, but here goes. I love pizza and fries, a good burger, pasta, Indian-style food, burritos, and chocolate. Lots of chocolate.
One catch, though. I’m vegan, which means I don’t eat animal products. So my pizza has no cheese, my burger is a veggie burger, and my chocolate is dark chocolate. And while we’re at it, let’s talk organic and local.
It’s not easy shopping or eating out as a vegan, I must admit. There’s not a lot of pre-packaged food for me to eat, and restaurants often struggle with the concept (although some, like the ones featured in this issue, are eager to experiment). So, against all odds, I’ve learned to cook. And I like it.
I love eating high quality, local and organic vegetables, and finding creative ways to use them. I wasn’t always this way. Five years ago, I was on my way to being overweight, and I didn’t like vegetables that had funny names. It’s not my mom’s fault. You can ask her.
Now that I’ve discovered real food (thanks to Anjhela’s insistence), I don’t know what I would do without it. I’m sure our restaurant friends at F.I.N.E., Hessenland, and elsewhere would agree.
Good food is all around us, and we’re lucky to live surrounded by such abundance. If we don’t appreciate it, it won’t be here forever. I suggest you take a cue from the people at Sunnivue in Ailsa Craig, and embrace real food while you can. This is a great season to eat local food, so what are you waiting for? Aren’t you hungry yet?

I would walk 100 miles

Alternative View
By Anjhela Michielsen

Somewhere between 1500 and 3000 miles (or 2400 to 4800 km) is the average distance your food has travelled to land on your plate (Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University). And the numbers are climbing. In our modern era, these may not seem astonishing because we have come to accept and reap the benefits of a globalized market. It is not shocking to see produce stamped with the words Product of Mexico, Israel, Peru or, most frequently, U.S.A.. With most shoppers concerned about the price of their food, few care where the produce is coming from.
This is slowly changing. Our food security is diminishing, and our concerns about the environmental impact of imported products are growing. These concerns include: pesticide and herbicide use; genetically altered crops; fuel consumption due to transportation; and human and animal rights concerns. As a result, some people are looking for alternatives to the supermarket shelves.
In 2005, B.C. couple, Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon decided to try something that is now coined ‘The 100 Mile Diet’. They committed to eating within a 100 mile radius (160 km) of where they live for one year. They have since written a book recording their journey and findings called The 100 Mile Diet – A Year of Local Eating. They found many environmental, social and health benefits from their experiment, and have since continued with their commitment and challenging others to follow their example.
The environmental benefits to eating locally are the most obvious: as confirmed by Iowa State University researchers, regional diets decrease fuel consumption by up to 20% as opposed to typical North American diets. There are many other reasons that eating locally benefits the consumer individually: an increase in taste because of freshness; direct connection to the farmer and their farming practices; support to local economies and consumption of less processed and packaged food, leading to weight loss and better overall health.
We are privileged to live in one of the most prosperous farming areas in the world. When you really think about it, there is a lot you can get within 160 km of where we live. There are many resources right under our noses, like the Grand Bend and Pinery farmers markets, the Sunnivue organic farm - featured in this issue - and all of the various local farms that are too numerous to count. You don’t have to drive far to start seeing farm after farm. We even have wineries for wine lovers out there.
It may take some creativity and a little more thought, but eating a local diet is highly beneficial for the environment, the local community and personal health.
If you decide to take up The 100 Mile challenge or have already, the Grand Bend Strip wants to hear about it!

Editor’s Note: The book is available at The Currant Organic General Store on Parkhill’s Main Street.

Cooking local, seasonal fare

Photos and story by Casey Lessard

If you’re thinking of eating local food, but don’t feel like cooking, the seven area restaurants that are dining partners with the Grand Bend Farmers’ Market can help.
The farmers’ market’s Simply in Season dining partnership is halfway through its second year, and diners can enjoy a meal including seasonal items with produce from the market. Among the partners are F.I.N.E. A Restaurant, The Schoolhouse Restaurant, Aunt Gussie’s, The Colonial Hotel, Back ‘n Time Diner, Paddington’s, and Hessenland. Each restaurant will feature at least one recipe from the Simply in Season cookbook published by the Mennonite Central Committee three weeks this summer.
“We want as many people as possible who prepare food to think local,” says market manager Christine Bregman. “We want the consumer to be both the customer and the professional preparing the food.”
“This year I changed it a bit to something I could give in our breadbasket,” says F.I.N.E. owner Erryn Shephard, whose restaurant is next featured August 27 to September 2. “I did strawberry soup from the book, and a lemon thyme bread so people could get a sampling from it.”
When possible, restaurants are asked to purchase their raw materials from the farmers at the market. For F.I.N.E., it’s an extension of a policy to aim for local food whenever possible.
“We get our meats from Metzger’s, a great butcher,” Shephard says. “It’s an old German family. It’s an awesome place. This summer, Metzger’s has a cold-smoked pork chop, and we’re selling the heck out of it, with caramelized onions and pineapple salsa. Then we get our perch and pickerel just down the road here from Forbes, where we get our corn, too.”
Being able to access large quantities of local food is a challenge for Hessenland, which increasingly relies on the banquet business.
“It’s challenging to source a lot of stuff locally because of quantity and consistency,” says Frank Ihrig. “When you’re cooking for 200 people, I can’t say I can necessarily get potatoes for that many people from someone’s backyard or garden.”
Both restaurants enjoy easy access to special items at various times of the year.
“As the season comes, tomatoes will be on soon, and we’ll be making chili sauce and canning it for sale,” Shephard says.
“I can almost walk (to Mike Masse’s pumpkin patch) and pick up my pumpkins and squash for soups and salads,” Ihrig notes.
“We use honey from Ferguson’s for desserts and for sauces because honey has a more intense sweetness and is more rounded. It gives a nicer transition from salty to sweet.”
And the sweetness translates into local suppliers’ wallets, too.
“If we can get it locally, the quality is higher because it’s not traveling as far,” Ihrig says. “If we can keep the money in our own community, there’s an economic spin-off as well.”

Food feature - Forest Hill Orchard

Forest Hill Orchard
Owners: Ron & Melody Arnhold
Where: Pinery Flea & Farmers’ Market

While they carry a whole variety of produce, this time of year is prime time for their harvest apple, the Lodi.
“It’s the old-time favourite harvest apple. It’s fantastic because people can make applesauce and they don’t have to peel it. They boil it down and all they need is a sieve to remove the skins and the seeds. It’s tart and when it first comes off it’s nice and crisp. As it ages, like any early apple, it will go softer and then at that stage it’s for sauce only.
“They have a unique flavour that is a quality of that apple. I can tell an Ida Red pie and a Spy pie. This one’s nice and tangy; it’s refreshing.
“These apples should be refrigerated. They’ll break down real quick.
They’re picked and packed the day before market, and we store them in our cooler.
“Our price is high because the labour we pay in this country is what we have to pay. For the imports, the pickers are being paid $1 a day. I can’t pay someone $1 a day.
“A lot of people don’t know what season their food is grown in anymore. People in Toronto are asking me for cherries in May because they see them in the stores and they don’t realize cherry season is the end of June to the end of July. As a society, we don’t know our growing seasons and we don’t have the appreciation for food we once had.”

Food feature - Bayfield Berry

Bayfield Berry
Owner: Marlene O’Brien
Where: Grand Bend Farmers’ Market and Pinery Flea & Farmers’ Market

Bayfield Berry has a variety of produce, but their specialty is berries, and they carry one unique to this region of Ontario. Saskatoon berries were imported from Saskatchewan and are grown at their farm northeast of Bayfield.
“Saskatoon berries are between a blueberry and a blackberry, and once you bake with it, it has a taste of almond.
“You can eat them fresh or baked. A lot of families like to do their own jams and they want a fresh product, which has a different flavour than when it’s been sitting on a shelf for a week.
“Farmers’ markets get our name out and hit a unique crowd that come just for the product. They know it’s on a Wednesday or Sunday and they plan their day around it.”

Food feature - Smoky Hollow Farms

Smoky Hollow Farms
Owner: Joan Brady
Where: Grand Bend Farmers’ Market

Brady is one of the members of the original steering committee for the Grand Bend Farmers’ Market. A former full-time hog farmer, she sold her 125 acre, 90 sow farm outside of Dashwood and now owns a five-acre plot northeast of Grand Bend.
“We didn’t see a lot of hope or future in the hog industry and we sold the farm in 2006. I like to play in the dirt, so this place suited me well.
“We still have 40 hogs under our roof, and we take out 10-12 every year to sell. When you have a good butcher – we use Metzger Meats – you can dare to sell your products.
“I have perennial cut flowers, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, beans, herbs, raspberries for our own use, and strawberries that were frosted off this spring.
“Local food is better because it’s fresher. It holds onto the nutrients and for the most part, people support the market because they want to support local farmers. It gives the town of Grand Bend a bit of flavour as well.”

Food feature - Mumsie’s Garden

Mumsie’s Garden
Owner: Mark Moskal
Where: Pinery Flea Market

Moskal grows heirloom tomatoes on 1/8 acre east of Ailsa Craig. His products are featured at many London boutique restaurants, and they can hit your plate, too.
“I’m a city boy and I worked in finance. I didn’t know anything about growing anything. I met my wife and moved out here, and they asked if I wanted to put anything in this garden. I said, sure! After three years of that, someone at work suggested I try heirloom tomatoes.
“I discovered how much better they taste and how much people love them, and having a little extra I decided to sell them. The restaurants ate them up.
“After doing 18 plants last year, I thought, let’s see how much we can get rid of. Now, I have 550 plants. I started all of them from seed; I grow them in my basement to start and move them into a bigger area under a larger grow light, and come mid-May, we (friends and family) put them into the ground.
“I do the most of the Pine Fog. I took them to one restaurant in London and they said, “If you have any more of these, just bring them. I will take everything you have.
“I can pick them off the vine and deliver them that day. I’m not using herbicides or pesticides. If they want to come out and pick it, they can. I’m more than happy to show people what I do.”

Look for: Pine Fog, Carbon, and Pink and Purple Brandywine. Best in salads and eaten raw.

Serving up local food on the world wide web

Technically Speaking
By Tamara Nicola

Next time you are having a hard time deciding what’s for dinner, turn to the internet for some great ideas.  Time Magazine recently featured one of my favourite recipe sites in their 50 best websites list, www.opensourcefood.com.  This site really gets your cravings going.  Their motto is “Amazing recipes, delicious food and beautiful photography. Created and rated by you and fellow food-lovers from all over the world.”  Some other old time favourites include www.allrecipes.com, www.epicurious.com and www.foodnetwork.com
Don’t feel like cooking?  Browse local restaurant menus online before heading out.  You can find menus for F.I.N.E., School House Restaurant, the Colonial and more.  It’s a great resource if you are thinking about ordering take-out, or if you can’t decide which restaurant to choose.

I have discovered that a surprising number of local restaurants still don’t have a web presence.  For those planning to take the plunge here are a few suggestions to consider while designing your site.
Feature menus with prices; avoid pictures of food dishes unless you hire a professional photographer.  Focus your website pictures on the decor and features like an outdoor patio.  Include a brief history of your establishment and spotlight the chef and staff.
Make it easy for people to find you.  Along with your address be sure to include a map to your location.  Include your hours of operation and telephone number for reservations.  As you gear up your operations each spring, your website is a great place to list employment opportunities.
Want to step ahead of the crowd?  Allow customers to place a takeout or delivery order online.  It is easy to setup on your website and when an order comes in you receive an email, a fax or the alert can be integrated into your existing point of sale system.  Check out www.ziptogo.com.  How about including a simple Paypal.com shopping cart to offer up your famous special sauce or signature t-shirts?   Get creative and have fun.

As computers get smaller and cell phones get smarter more people will be browsing on the go.  Offering wireless internet access at your location could bring you additional business clientele and a loyal following from the generation y crowd.  Jalapeno’s on Main Street offers a free internet hotspot alongside their killer hot sauce.  Way to go Jalapeno’s!

Local farms honoured

By Casey Lessard

It’s appropriate to raise a glass to Twin Pines Orchards and Cider House (left), who we featured for their winery last fall, and to one of our favourite farms, Sunnivue of Ailsa Craig. Both won regional awards for the Ontario government’s Premier’s Agri-Food Innovation Excellence awards. Each won $5,000 for their innovation; Twin Pines won for making their farm a destination and offering more than just fruit for sale. The farm offers school tours in addition to the winery, which creates apple wine and apple cider. Sunnivue Organic Farm, outside of Ailsa Craig, is a not-for-profit land trust that produces and sells organic milk, beef, veal, chicken, pork, and a large variety of fruits and vegetables.

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