Cathy Erway Interview and Aphrodisiac Dinner for Singles 2/11

Cathy Erway has been a ubiquitous presence in the New York Cook Off scene. It shouldn't be any surprise that her blog -Not Eating Out in New York is one of our favorites. Cathy's book, The Art of Eating In, is hitting the shelves and she is celebrating with an Aphrodisiac Dinner for Singles at Jimmy's No. 43 on February 11. (See sidebar under Upcoming Tasting Events for details!) If you don't know her- check out this brief interview, then hit her blog, then buy the book!

How weird did it seem to your friends when you stopped eating out, now over 2 years ago?

Pretty weird, but then my friends already knew me :). It was strangers who were most shocked when they heard that [I was not eating out anymore], and would always exclaim, I don't know how anyone could do that!

Were you a writer before you started noteatingoutinny.com, or were you inspired enough by the concept to become a writer?

I always wanted to be a writer, but paying gigs didn't seem to be falling on my lap too easily. That's why I started a blog, to self-publish my food writing, and not get paid for it either!

Do you have a day job? If so, what?

I work as a freelance writer; I do copywriting, and some writing for publications like Edible Brooklyn on the side. A flexible schedule was all mastered so that I could take food photography in daylight!

How did you come up with your 5 course aphrodisiac menu? (See menu below) Oysters and pomegranates seem natural for Valentines, but why have you included beef cheeks?

The menu is roughly based on a five-course meal that I cooked for a group of ten at my place one night, which is recalled in the book. It was an elaborate prank between me and three friends to invite someone whom we had a crush on to dinner, and hopefully woo them with aphrodisiac foods, which are featured throughout the menu (pomegranate, basil, etc.). We didn't tell any of this to our guests though, and as it turned out, none of us got lucky, nor had a very good time -- at least, until the other guests had left and we were left to ourselves again, to just have fun. Anyway, the food was really good at least!

As an off shoot of your "not eating out", you became a leader in the amateur cook off movement in Brooklyn. What was the first cookoff you participated in? Do you compete to win? What are some other cook offs that are coming up?

The first cook-off had to be a Chili Takedown way back in '07. I made something with chicken and hominy, and did not win. Since then I have never thought very seriously about trying to win the cookoffs, but just have a great time with the other chefs, hosts, and generally awesome people who show up to eat.

There is just one seating for Cathy's Aphrodisiac Dinner for Singles- a five course prix fixe dinner for $25/ per person (tax, tips and drinks not included). Seating at 7:30 followed by a reading and Q and A with Cathy in our Back Room. The menu for the Aphrodisiac Dinner for Singles includes:

Oysters
Risotto with spelt (freekah), arugula, pinenuts and basil
Braised beef cheeks w/ pomegranate and butternut mash
Spiced fennel salad
Almond pudding with amaretto crumbs

Thanks for talking to us, Cathy, and best of luck with your new book!

January 20 Vegetarian Beer Dinner with Sixpoint Craft Ales' Shane Welch

When Shane Welch of Sixpoint Craft Ales asked to host a beer dinner at Jimmy's No. 43, we weren't very surprised when he begged off the bacon and steered us to a vegetarian menu. The vegetarian dishes will be simple- 5 courses paired with 5 Sixpoint Beers (prix fixe $45.00/ per person). We are flexible about many things- including beer dinners- so an a la carte menu will be available as well, including several meat, sausage, and bacon dishes should you so desire. To whet your appetite take a look at what we have been working on for this event (Wednesday, January 20, 6:00- 10:00 PM):

Braised cabbage and carrots with local polenta;
Smoked herring on toast with onion/dill relish;
Winter squash gnocchi, sage, aged cows milk cheese;
Shushan snow sheep's milk camembert, baked apple;
Bread pudding w/ hazelnuts, six point otis reduction

Here is a brief interview with Shane:

What is it about beer (your beer in particular) that makes it so very food friendly?

The range of esters, varietals of hop strains, and depths of malts in craft beers create a vast and diverse spectrum of flavors to work with. Our beer, in particular, has a signature yeast profile that tends to be an all-purpose suitor for good food.

Do you have a secret or house style of yeasts or malt?

Yes, we use unorthodox and uncommon ingredients, which distinguishes our beer from most others. Just like most breads/beverages/food on the market, most beers use the same yeast strain and same basic ingredients, and that is why a lot of them taste the same. Craft beers, of course, are the exception.

If you weren't making beer in NYC, where would you make beer?

In Amsterdam. And in my basement or garage.

Recently, I tasted the Brownstone on Martha Stewart Radio / Whole Living. It stole the show! Enough said? We also tasted several Belgian Dubbels... at 10am!

Belgian Dubbels are best at 10am. And they go really well with bananas for some reason...

Fork in the Road Part 2

In part 2 of Fork in the Road's feature, Jimmy Carbone talks about some of his favorite things.

Interview with Nogne O Brewer

We love the passionate commitment behind Nogne O Norwegian craft beers. Writer Josh Bernstein interviewed the brewer at a recent tasting at Jimmy's No. 43. Click here to read more.

Captain Lawrence Dinner

The NYC Craft Beer Week starts on September 12. In conjunction with NYC Craft Beer Week, Jimmy's No. 43 will create a dinner to complement the beers from Captain Lawrence Brewing Company, a local brewer in Pleasantville, NY. This special dinner will take place on September 15.

I had the chance to ask some questions of Captain Lawrence brewmaster Scott Vaccaro (he's the one on the right) in anticipation of the September 15 dinner.

How did you first become involved in brewing?

I became involved with brewing my third year in high school after going over to my friends house and seeing his father brewing on the stove. I asked if he would show me how to brew and that was it for me... I wanted to be a brewer.

What style of beers do you hope to emulate?

I brew beers I like to drink. I will not brew a beer that I don't want to sit down and drink any day of the week.

Are you the pride of westchester?

I sure hope the people of Westchester are proud to have us. I know we are proud to be brewing our beers in Westchester County.

Why is the smoked porter so good?

Because it tasted like beer and smells reminiscent of roasted meats...two of my favorite things.

Thank you, Scott, for your time and for sharing your brewing talents. For further information about the Captain Lawrence Dinner, see the Jimmy's No. 43 website.

Slyboro Cider- An Interview with Dan Wilson

Dan Wilson is the owner of Slyboro Cider, a local farm operation that produces an excellent European style cider. Hicks Orchard, which is Dan's farm, is located in Granville, NY about 4 1/2 hours north of NYC. It is close to the southern tip of Lake Champlain and a stone's throw away from the Vermont border.

Currently, Jimmy's No. 43 is the only restaurant in NYC to be serving these ciders.

Dan, could you give us some background on your farm?

I am a second generation farmer with a background in art and psychology (perfect foundation for a career in horticulture). My wife and partner Susan keeps us all together- including two kids and various other animals. Our esteemed winemaker Andy Farmer rounds out our winery operation. You can find more information on slyboro.com. That site is just a front page now while our designer is fleshing it out at this very moment. More will come soon. Our main site hicksorchard.com has more stuff up.


When did you first get into the cider business?

Hicks Orchard is New York's oldest "U-Pick" orchard. We recently celebrated our 100th year of inviting the public to our farm to share the harvest of tart cherries, berries and apples. Since 1974 when my folks bought the farm, we've been focused on building the business around the desires and expectations of our customers wanting a day on the farm, including fresh apple cider production, farm store, cider donuts, fudge, barnyard activities for the kids, school tours, etc. Apple season feels alot like putting on a show; lots of preparation backstage, a cast of workers to train, promotion to orchestrate, all around the attempt to create an experience for our "guests". While it is gratifying to work this way (especially seeing the course of generations of visitors who make an annual trek to the farm to re-create a family tradition), the farm has a life and arc of it's own, not always in line with Susan's and my more basic desires for creative expression, our interest in food and wine, as well as our need to grow and diversify the farm business into its most sustainable direction.

We started experimenting with ciders about seven years ago, learning from all the older locals whose grandfathers invariably had "a barrel in the basement" (it was always referred to using this exact phrase, some kind of code, I think). Many of the recommended recipes produced some really nasty stuff, better for removing paint than consuming. We learned that there is a deeply embedded tradition of cider through this region, but the knowledge and production was pretty much wiped out during Prohibiton, and never recovered after its repeal. However, during this period of basic research, we sampled enough well-made cider to sustain our confidence that truly good fermented cider was possible. We worked with the Cornell enology department to refine our technique and started fermenting each of our many apple varieties singly, especially focusing on the older, heritage types, to discover their strengths and weaknesses, in order to gain more control over the finished, blended, flavors. A fateful trip to Quebec one summer introduced us to a new product called ice cider, similar to ice wine, which was so glorious that we knew we had to try this too.

Before our winery and tasting room opened in July of 07, we entered our ciders in several international wine competions just to see where we stood in the grand spectrum of ciders out there in the world. We were stunned by our success- seven entries in three separate competions and we medalled seven times! Including a Double Gold medal in the Eastern International for our sparkling Hidden Star, and a Concordance Gold medal from the Indy International for our ice cider, called Ice Harvest.

We are currently selling from our tasting room and a few local venues. We're looking for more outlets, and would appreciate any suggestions!

We have relationships with several farms near you, such as Bardwell Farms in Vermont and Three Corner Field Farm in Shushan, NY. Is this region a traditional agricultural area? Is it going through a revival? Is it one valley or micro-climate?

I think that, primarily because of geography, with rugged hills and fertile valleys, most of the farms up here are small. We've remained relatively undiscovered by developers (until recently), so land prices have been low compared to Vermont, next door to the east, and the Lake George to Saratoga Springs corridor, to the west. The agricultural industry in this area is struggling, though still viable, so the infrastructure (tractor dealers, large animal vets, Cooperative Extension, etc.) is still in place. If I'm not mistaken, our Washington county still produces more milk than the entire state of New Hampshire. We're also reasonably close to major markets. For all of these reasons, and I'm sure others I'm missing, these farms are conducive to entrepreneurial experimentation. We also seem to have an exceptionally well-educated, well-travelled group of growers here who have set the bar quite high for quality and innovation.

How would you describe your sparkling cider? At 9% it seems more of a sparkling wine than a typical bolted cider. =

As a matter of definition, "hard cider" is an apple product, sometimes made from apple concentrate, that is 7% alcohol or less. The federal definition of fruit wine includes a provision for wines made only from apple, allowing them to be called "cider". So, technically, our ciders are wines, ranging from 8 to 13 percent, but they are purely from apples, and, importantly, don't fit the generally held assumptions people hold for "apple wines", in terms of sweetness and flavor. So, cider. Our ciders are comparable to several traditional cider styles from England and France.

What is your favorite season on the farm?

I'm blessed to live a life so deeply connected to the change of seasons, and also to live in an area that (for the time being) expresses all four seasons distinctly. The orchard requires work year round. We're currently pruning, as weather permits, and when it doesn't, I'm in the winery. Each day I can choose which project will get my focus, and at the end of each day I can actually see what I've accomplished. Not too bad. My favorite season is the one I'm in.

Willow Farm Interview

Willow - you want to fall in love with her name- she's built a beautiful sheep farm in Vermont out of unused land. I met her recently in NYC, at Jimmy' s No.43. She was in one night with a crowd of young, hip cheese mongers: Sashi from Marlow and Sons and Anne from Saxelby Cheesemonger.

Willow, what were the first products you raised/ grew on your farm?

Well, my background is 10 generations of beef on one of the largest cattle ranches in the USA. I wanted to raise animals but needed cash flow while we built fencing and a house to live in on our abandoned dairy farmland that we bought. So we put in several acres of raspberries, strawberries and blueberries as well as perennial flowers and herbs. We also operated a 5 acre diversified vegetable garden to sell locally to co-ops and farmers market. Back when we did 3 markets.

When did you become a certified organic farm and why?

We were organic from this farm's inception in 1991. It is a philosophy and not motivated by money. In fact, our products actually have always been priced on par with conventional ones. We wanted to raise our animals in a healthy manner, without GMO's in their feed or routine antibiotic use. Also with an eye toward selecting a herd for our farm that was stronger and hardier thru selection and without use of crutches like antibiotics. Remember the old adage? Only the strongest survive? There is certainly no guarantee that GMO's are not in anyone's food but if you are buying organic feed (and I mean grain here) it's very strictly enforced. We buy all our hay locally and some grain as well. And also recently dropped our certification since it became too costly. We still manage organically and use herbal medicine when necessary with not only our family but also our animals. In organic dairying, it is all about managing a herd for prevention. Prevention of sickness and disease. It's very management intensive and not for every body. One must keep detailed records on each and every animal and observe the herd over time and make adjustments.

What is your favorite season of the year on the farm?

Wow, that's a good question. I love summer. I am originally from Hawaii so I think I gravitate to warmer weather. Vermont falls are definitely gorgeous though.

How many sheep do you have, on average? How many did you start with?

We have on average about 100 ewes and their lambs and breeding rams at any one time. What alot of folks don't know though is that we have also been milking and making cow's milks cheeses since 2000. I never thought I would allow cows on this farm, being tired of them growing up, but we got some beef cows when my father died. We raised grass fed beef like our ranch for a number of years and just recently downsized to just our dairy cows. Oh-back to the question-we started with 8 sheep to milk and build the herd. Then we also had to build fence, a house and a barn after ours burned just 5 years after we started. So really we should have called this farm "Build-on Farm". It seems continual! We'll get there one day...

That's it. Pretty simple. The NYC cheese people are really excited about your products! Keep up the good work.

To learn more about Willow Hill Farm and cheese, visit the following websites willowhillfarmdiary.blogspot.com and sheepcheese.com