Earth to Table Bread Bar now open on Locke Street!

Opening at long last is the Earth to Table Bread Bar on Locke Street, near Aberdeen. The collaboration between Executive Chef Jeff Crump and Pastry Chef Bettina Schorman of the Ancaster Mill is an oasis of cool on a street that has a culinary scene that features a growing local food presence. Red Fife wheat loaves, delectable and buttery pastries, and pizza is on its way. Check out the goodies and remember: good ingredients matter!

In case you missed it...

Saturday's Cultivating Community event at the Hamilton Mountain Farmers' Market was a great success! The highlight of the day was the series of cooking demonstrations by private chef Wayne Baker. Using ingredients that could be found at the Mountain Market (with a few minor exceptions), he prepared three delicious dishes. The appetizer was a light and tasty Insalata Caprese. For the main course, Wayne prepared the vegetarian form of a Nova Scotia classic, Hodgepodge. Dessert was Fruit Foster - a warm fruit sauce spooned over ice cream.

Here are the recipes Wayne handed out:

APPETIZER

Insalata Caprese

2 large ripe tomatoes, sliced
2 sprigs fresh basil
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tbsp. salted capers (optional)
¼ lb. pitted black olives (optional)
1 container brocconcini or a round mozzarella, about ½ kg (1 lb.), sliced

Slice the tomatoes into rounds about 1.25 cm. (½“) and put them on a platter/plate. The tomato slices can be as thick or as thin as desired. Wash and remove the leaves from the basil stems and place whole over the tomato slices (if necessary more than one leaf can be placed on the tomato slice to cover the slice). Slice the brocconcini/mozzarella into rounds about the same thickness as the tomato slices and lay them over the basil leaves (the cheese should also be about the same size as the tomato slice, so piece together, if necessary). If using the capers and/or the sliced olives, sprinkle over the top. Season with salt and pepper, then drizzle extra virgin olive oil over the top. Serve at room temperature. Can be made ahead of time and put covered into the refrigerator and removed about 15 minutes before serving to get to room temperature. This is the appetizer recipe, but if you wanted to serve this as a side salad it could be layered with the largest slices on the bottom and each layer a little smaller (3 layers would be fine) or 3 slices on a plate in a triangle formation per serving.
Serves 6.

VEGETARIAN MAIN DISH

Hodgepodge

1 cup each (choose all or selected vegetables) fresh green beans, trimmed and snapped; fresh yellow beans, trimmed and snapped; baby carrots or sliced larger carrots; diced turnip; broccoli spears; cauliflower florets; baby onions or cutup regular sized onions; brussel sprouts; baby corn cobs. Should end up with about 8 cups of vegetables, increase selected vegetables to 1½ cups to equal at least 8 cups over all.
2 cups baby new potatoes or cut-up larger potatoes
1 – 2 cups water
6 tbsp. butter/margarine
½ cup half & half
salt and pepper, to taste

All the vegetables should be roughly the same size, cut to size if necessary. Place the selected vegetables in a large pot with enough water to have about 2.5 cm. (1”) deep. If regular carrots and turnip are used they should be cooked 10 minutes before the rest of the vegetables are added. Lightly salt the water, bring to a boil and cook covered over low heat for 20-30 minutes. Add the potatoes, return to a boil and cook covered for about another 20-30 minutes depending on the desired firmness of the vegetables. A little more water may be required. Stir in butter/margarine and half & half (regular, 1% or 2% milk can be used, if desired). Cook for a few more minutes for the vegetables to absorb some of the butter/margarine and half & half. Remove from heat and serve hot. Serves 6-8

DESSERT

Fruit Foster

¼ cup (1/8 lb.) butter
¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tbsp. orange juice concentrate
4 cups ripe fresh fruit (choose any combination of sliced peaches; sliced pears; sliced apples, plums halved or quartered; strawberries, halved or quartered; whole raspberries; whole blueberries; whole blackberries,
1 pint vanilla ice cream
1 tsp. pure vanilla flavouring
About 2 tbsp. dark rum or brandy, optional (rum flavouring can be used instead)

In a 10” to 12” frying pan over high heat, stir butter and brown sugar until bubbling vigorously. Add cinnamon, orange juice concentrate and fruit; turn fruit often with a spatula until sauce is boiling again and fruit is hot, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and just before serving add the vanilla and rum flavouring stirring well. Scoop ice cream equally into four bowls. ** Optional** - just before serving add the rum or brandy and light and shake pan until flame dies. If not choosing the flambéé option, add the rum or brandy just before serving, mixing well. Spoon fruit and sauce over ice cream.


The Mountain Market, located just off Concession St at 19 Viewpoint Ave, will be open every Saturday from 7am to 1:30pm until early November. Be sure to stop by to pick up your ingredients and to re-stock on fresh, local produce, as well as other delicious and healthy items.

For more information on Wayne and his cooking services, check out his Cooking Is Fun and Easy website at www.cookingisfunandeasy.ca.

Up to our ears in corn!

Hamilton Eat Local was at the Ottawa Street Market last Saturday, to join in celebrating the 2010 corn and peach harvest! There was a great turnout, and besides the variety of fresh, in-season fruits and vegetables to choose from, market-goers also got the chance to enter a draw for a big basket of produce, sample fresh corn, pick up some farm maps and recipes, and try out some peach cobbler muffins, courtesy of Caroline, the market manager! The market is open on Fridays and Saturdays year round at 204 Ottawa Street North, from 7am - 3pm. They always have some great, seasonal festivities going on, so be sure to check them out this weekend!

Big Event at the Mountain Farmers' Market!

To thank its customers, recognize its vendors, and celebrate the consumption of locally grown and produced food, the Hamilton Mountain Farmers’ Market will host its “Cultivating Community” event on Saturday, August 14th from 9am to 12pm, though the market will be open from 7am to 1:30pm.

This is the market’s premier event for the summer, and will feature live cooking demonstrations, raffles, games, and plenty of information for customers. The event will provide a unique opportunity to learn more about the production and use of local foods and, of course, buy locally grown and produced goods.

The Mountain Market is located in the parking lot across from Sacred Heart Church at 19 Viewpoint Ave., just off Concession St. between Upper Wentworth and Upper Sherman. It will be open every Saturday from 7am to 1:30pm until early November.

Hope to see you there!

NAME: Cultivating Community –

A Day of Celebration at the Mountain Farmers’ Market

LOCATION: Corner of Viewpoint Ave. & Mountain Park Ave.

Hamilton, ON

DATE: Saturday, August 14, 2010

9:00am to 12:00pm

Eat Local at the North Hamilton Community Health Centre Children's Breakfast Club

Many of the 96,000 Hamiltonians living in poverty are children. In the most crucial development stages of their lives, they do not have access to the nutritious sustenance that is required for healthy physical and mental growth, or social development. By contrast, breakfast programs not only ensure that children are well-fed before school in the morning; they also provide a positive space for learning and interaction. They are a key part of giving young students the best opportunity possible to benefit from their education and childhood years.

At St. Luke’s Anglican Parish Hall in Hamilton’s North End, students of Benetto Elementary School frequent a program run by the North Hamilton Community Health Centre. In a diverse and welcoming environment, they are offered fresh fruit, homemade muffins baked fresh by volunteers, cereal and sometimes even smoothies before heading to class. Parent and community volunteers, as well as a surprisingly rare paid coordinator of the program, usually arrive at 7am to allow students to eat and play at a relaxed and enjoyable pace.

Student Nutrition Programs (SNPs) in Hamilton rely on this sort of community support. The City of Hamilton, unlike Toronto, does not match the meagre funding provided for SNPs by the Ontario government through the Ministry of Child and Youth Services. If Hamilton is serious about striving to be “the best place to raise a child,” it needs to step up and offer its support.

Hamilton Eat Local wishes to lend a hand in offering locally grown fresh food offerings to students of various backgrounds and cultures. Fruit and dairy that’s grown and gathered in the Hamilton area will go into Operation Smoothie, one of the newest emerging SNP-oriented initiatives of Eat Local. To learn more or get involved with the project, please contact Karen Burson at kburson.eatlocal@environmenthamilton.org.

Local Vegetable Garden Tours by Project Harvest

You are invited to the Project Harvest Vegetable Garden Tour in Hamilton! On Sunday, August 29^th, enjoy an open house-style tour of six vegetable gardens across the city. For a $10 donation, drop by any or all of the locations between 10:00am and 4:00pm to see the unique and inspiring features of each garden.

The garden locations are as follows.

1. See what growing up is like.

Paul and Sandra’s: 64 Barclay St

Between King St West and Main St West turn on to Paisley Ave South, then onto Barclay St

2. See an intelligent use of small space.

Rita Bailey: 84 Pearl St South

Travelling East on Main St, take the first right after Locke St. 84 Pearl St is at the corner of Pearl and Jackson St West. Enter the garden from Jackson St.

3. See what a joint effort can produce.

Hill Street Community Garden: Hill St, half a block east of Dundurn

Travelling south on Dundurn St past Main St West, turn left on Hill St, which is just south of the railway overpass.

4. See an urban garden in the heart of the city.

Sapphire Singh: 73 Stapleton Ave

From Barton St East, turn north on Kenilworth. Take the first left at McAnulty Blvd, and then the first right at Stapleton Ave.

5. See large beds, solar panels, windmill for electricity, cistern for rainwater.

Marjorie and Cecil Cooke: 15 Lister Ave

From Upper James and Rymal Rd, go east on Rymal one block, turn right on Ryckmans, and right on Lister Ave.

6. See large award-winning rustic country garden, heritage plants, xeriscaping.

Beth Powell: 440 Concession 1 Rd, R.R. #1, Canfield

Take Hwy 56. 10 Miles south of Binbrook, turn left on Concession Rd 1, and Beth’s property is the third laneway on the right.

Project Harvest works in seven Guatemalan communities to develop and apply an integrated horticultural method, allowing campesino families to enjoy more nutritious and self-sufficient ways of finding food. Visit www.projectharvest.org to learn more.

For more information, please contact Rita Bailey by phone at 905-525-1198, or by email at ruby101@sympatico.ca.

Berry (in) Kind!

The Fruit Tree Project and Hamilton Eat Local came together recently, and both projects gained a new appreciation for the time and care invested in berry picking, as they harvested juicy yet very fragile raspberries from Jerry's Berries Raspberry Farm in Copetown this week! As the raspberry season comes to an end, Jerry and Glenda welcomed staff and volunteers onto their farm to pick berries for an upcoming student breakfast initiative. We came away with litres of the tender, bright, sweet fruit which will be frozen and used in developing this tasty addition to breakfast programs in the coming school year. Thanks to our volunteers who braved the heat and armies of beetles to glean the fields, and much gratitude to Jerry's Berries for their generous donation of fruit to the development of our new program!

Locke Street Farmers' Market Grand Opening

Locke Street Farmers' Market Grand Opening

All aboard! Rural Routes helps city folks discover their roots

Thanks to all who made our first Rural Routes tour a success! Despite rainy skies and the threat of thunderstorms, 55 people filled an articulated HSR bus on June 12^th, selling-out our trip to ManoRun Organic Farm. Between bread-baking in the woodfire oven, visiting the barn animals and picking up some fresh produce to take home, participants got the chance to meet farmer Chris Krucker and learn about how their food is grown.

Many thanks to Chris and Denise from ManoRun Organic Farm and, of course, Hamilton Eat Local's partners in this endevor: the HSR, Hamilton Smart Commute and Tourism Hamilton.

If you missed this tour, do not fret! There are still 3 more trips happening this summer. Up next is Mordern's Organic Farm Store on July 10^th. Followed by Puddicombe Estate Farm and Winery, and Carluke Orchards on August 21^st and September 11^th, respectively. Tickets are already getting scooped up, so stop by the Bread and Roses Cafe to get yours!  The cost is only $5 per person or $2 for children and seniors, which includes a small cup of organic fair trade coffee served before we depart that is roasted in-house at the cafe (not local but very fresh) -- so be sure to come early!  We board at 1pm sharp.  For more details please visit:  http://cms1.smartcommute.ca/hamilton/ruralroutes .