Luna Burgers

There are many debates covering the existence of veggie burgers. It may not initially seem like such a huge deal, but just watch the season three episode ten version of Parks and Recreation entitled "Soulmates". It becomes quite clear that the carnivores despise the idea of a round patty attempting to be meat; and vegetarians take offence in the attack on their lifestyle choice.

Can't we all just get along?
Yes meat is delicious, but why do we need to make a fake meat substitute?

In my opinion a good veggie "burger" doesn't attempt to resemble meat. Instead, it should be a cohesive disk of tasty vegetable matter that makes a great sandwich. (Sounds tasty right?) Vegetables are delicious enough, and although it is seemingly easy enough to create a vegetable patty- it can be difficult to find a ratio that holds together and tastes great, without being dry.

Insert Luna Burger- A local company aimed at making a tasty vegetable alternative to your standard ground beef patty.

Does it taste like meat?
NO!

Should it taste like meat?
NO!

Luna burgers are simply, a compressed loaf of vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes and basically anything that isn't meat. They hold together and aren't bone dry when heated. They aren't the prettiest thing when taken out of the box, but they are a good tasting alternative to you typical sandwich filling.

You can heat them up in several different ways, although I suggest using a lower heat if you are cooking them from a frozen state, otherwise they will remain ice cold inside. Place them between some nice toasted buns and top with an assortment of healthy greens, guacamole, or pickled vegetables; add some chutney or any other sauce, and you'll have yourself a delightful sandwich. They also make an acceptable meat substitute for soups and other things where you can used cooked ground meat.

I personally prefer the kick-starter patty and the barbecue patty over the others. The kick-starter patty is delightfully spiced with high amounts of herbs and other seasonings. As for the barbecue- simply put it is sweet with just a touch of smokey tang, a great affect if you are making them indoors.

Granted, I've not tried a Luna Burger than stands close to matching the Northstar Burger, it is a good available option. While we steadily push towards summer grilling season, it is important to keep our health and vegetarian friends in mind. So put a couple boxes of Luna Burgers in your freezer.

Keep eating,
JTFussy

Canal Junction Black Swamp Gouda

As the city is cloaked with such heavy snow, I found myself craving some gooey cheese nestled between some toasted bread. With all of these blasted grilled cheese restaurants opening up around town, I figured it may be helpful to remind everyone that preparing a grilled cheese takes about five minutes.

The key to a great grilled cheese, besides butter, is the quality of ingredients. When you set out to make a tasty sandwich, you need top quality bread (I'm using Dan the Baker's) and fantastic cheese. When I need a great local cheese, I either choose Laurel Valley Creamery or Canal Junction.

Due to it's greater availability, I often have some form of Canal Junction on hand. Their Headwater's Tome is a great hard cheese with a beautiful layer of ash settled right through the center. The Tome isn't anywhere near perfect for melting, but their Black Swamp Gouda poses a better option. Rich, nutty, and with a touch of funk, Black Swamp Gouda is a great choice for melting over a slice of bread to dunk into soup or just as a sandwich.

2 Tablespoons butter
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon brandy
2 Tablespoons chicken stock
8 Slices Artisan Bread (choose Dan the Baker)
1/2 pound Canal Junction Black Swamp Gouda, sliced thinly

Preheat oven to 250
In a large saute pan melt the butter, over medium-low heat
Add the onions and caramelize over low heat until they are deep brown (about 35 minutes)
Add in the brandy and the stock
Continue to cook until the mixture looks mostly dry, and remove from heat
Arrange the slices of bread on a sheet tray
Layer the cheese evenly over top the bread and bake until the cheese has fully melted
Layer the onions across the bread and form the slices into sandwiches

Makes: 4 Sandwiches

Balance between the sweet onion and the mildly salty cheese creates a great grilled cheese that will remind you of a bowl of french onion soup.


Keep Eating,
JTFussy

Snowville Creamery

Address: 32623 Ohio 143, Pomeroy, OH 45769
Phone:(740) 698-2340
                                        
If you ever wanted to grow up and be “big and strong” I bet you were told that you’d have better polished off that glass of milk. Well, with all standard dairy producers using strange chemical growth hormones, certain farmers have become purists with their cattle, insuring you do grow up healthy.

Warren Taylor, of Snowville Creamery, is one of those farmers. He is a highly energetic man who loves cows and believes strongly in his dairy products. As a result, we have seen his product line creep onto market shelves all over the city. The usual percentages of milk and cream are now accompanied by newer offerings of creme fraiche and desert yogurts.

The foundation of Snowville is the cow, and when we think of cows we typically think milk. Milk can be considered a staple in some kitchens, and is all too often sent down the drain as soon as it passes that little date printed onto the carton. Snowville milk is known to have shorter dates printed on their cartons, but I assure you that it is still fresher than the ultra pasteurized milk sitting next to it.Any percent of regular milk or even their chocolate is a rewarding purchase at the store. Just make sure you shake it. If you don’t you will get really rich cream at the top of your glass (and leaving little for later). Same with the chocolate, as the brown nectar will settle at the bottom of the more decadent version.

If you need a container of sour cream, consider upgrading to their creme fraiche. Rich, smooth, and full of great flavor. You can’t beat what Snowville has to offer, at least not around here. And while we are on the thicker variety of dairy, make sure you check out their harder to find dessert yogurts. Full of probiotic live cultures, the Snowville yogurt line is tasty and begs you to just down it all in one go.

While Snowville is great, it is important to remember they are doing things the hard way. Sometimes it is hard to come across all of their options. Around Thanksgiving, the secret must have been out, as there wasn't a half gallon of whipping cream around town to save my life!

Although the direct effects of these synthetic hormones on humans remains to be inconclusive, one thing about choosing grass pastured products holds true among popular opinion- it tastes better without comparison.

Whether it be beef, pork, chicken, or fish all animal proteins apparently taste better when they are allowed to do what nature intended. Well let’s not stop there. I believe it’s safe to say that all food, allowed to run it’s natural course with minimal human intervention, tastes better. Yes it costs more, and it does take longer to do things the right way, but if we could make the cultural shift to better our food supply, we would be better as a whole. I bet you’re planning the debate about not being able to keep up with demands, but consider just how much food you have been tossing out lately.



Most every part of everything we buy to consume can be used in some form. The problem: We buy far too much of things we don’t really need, or that we are conditioned to want. As a whole, we need to educate ourselves on where our food is coming from, and work towards improving our habits. Support your local farmer, and you will be creating a better world around you. Why not start with just changing your milk? Baby-steps, my dear.

Keep Eating
JTFussy

Tavern Vinegar Co.

If you don’t know what that missing ingredient in a recipe is, or you’re trying to figure out Grandma’s secret to almost anything...chances are it’s vinegar.

“Yuck!” is what most people instantly think, as their mind flips over to distilled white vinegar in gallon plastic bottles (you know, what you have tucked under your sink for cleaning.) Sipping vinegar, is a subject that has been lost to most of our minds, but when you break it down, I bet we all have at least 2-3 varieties tucked away for making vinaigrette, and marinades.

Tavern Vinegar Co. is the brainchild of Chef Jonathon Sawyer up in Cleveland, and now resides in the confines of Middle West Spirits in the Short North. The vinegar is all hand crafted from single origin alcohols and provides a variety of flavors you don’t typically see on the shelves of many markets. Although I didn't make it to the vinegar open house at Middle West, I have tasted a few of the vinegar options available:

• Riesling Wine Vinegar: A supple sweet vinegar with a lightly fruity character- perfect for citrus dressings and splashing on oysters

• Chardonnay Wine Vinegar: A mild vinegar tanned with light notes of oak- a nice choice for cocktails, or sharp vinaigrette, perhaps a fish marinade 

• Rose Wine Vinegar: Super acidic, super sour, almost like nail polish remover

• Craft Beer Vinegar: Dark Winter Ale: Sharp acidity with redeeming hop notes and a hint of caramel- perfect for a marinade or adding brighter notes to beer cheese soups

• Craft Beer Vinegar: Doppel Bock: Rich and smoky, this vinegar is destined to be a favorite, add it to just about anything you wish! 

• Stout Vinegar: Dark and full with notes of coffee and caramel- this robust vinegar will be great in hearty stews, or go great with your Pittsburgh filet 

So think twice before you reach for the generic bottle of vinegar on the supermarket shelf. Show a little creativity and pizzazz, try out these flask-like bottles of vinegar when you need something to add that missing character to your next meal. You pretty much can’t go wrong with the darker options, but be wary of that rose wine option.


Keep Eating,
JTFussy

Watershed Distillery

Address: 1145 Chesapeake Ave, Columbus, OH 43221
Phone:(614) 357-1936

Welcome back to the work week for those lucky ones just now returning from the holidays. Whether you are doing everyone else's work or just not ready to get back into the swing of things; I’m sure we all could use that cure for the Monday’s. Yes, I’m talking about the cure that generations have fought for, and the one that can humble the most persnickety of us all. A good ol’ fashion libation.

Like most all other aspects of the food world, the foundation of any good cocktail are the ingredients. If you use subpar liquor and mixers, you are bound to have a feeble drink. All alcohol types have different flavor profiles, and each one varies from brand to brand. Personally I’m a gin drinker: Gin (for those of you not in the know) is the polarizing pine-tree spirit missing from most all frat boys liquor cabinet.



Enter Watershed Distillery a progressively growing business, founded on my favorite poison, but they didn't just stop there. Watershed brings affordable, great tasting, local hooch to the shelves of many bars and liquor stores in the city. Their line up includes: vodka, four peel gin, bourbon barrel aged gin, and bourbon, all packaged uniformly in proudly labeled glass bottles. All of their offerings are solid, and many gin-haters, end up liking the citrus notes offered in this variety, but personally I’m not much for the bourbon barrel aged gin (I guess it’s just not the gentle caress of juniper that I've come to covet)

Apricot Infused Simple Syrup:

½ cup water
¼ cup sugar
5 dried apricots, chopped

1. In a small saucepan combine together the water, sugar, and apricots
2. Bring the mixture to a boil, over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar
3. One at a boil, remove from heat, and allow to come to room temperature
4. Strain the mixture into a container and chill in the refrigerator

A Fussy Top and Bottom:

1 oz Watershed gin
1 oz apricot infused simple syrup
1 dash of bitters
4 oz Black port wine

Yield: 1 drink

1. Pour the gin, simple syrup, and bitters into a cocktail shaker with ice
2. Stir the contents of the shaker until fully chilled (you can tell from the beads of sweat forming around the outside of the shaker)
3. Pour the chilled gin mixture into a red wine glass
4. Slowly pour the port down the side of the glass so that it settles at the bottom

Always drink to good fortune, and always drink responsibly. It never hurts to unwind with a little firewater, but all good things in moderation. So, the next time you go out, hit up the bartender for something better than the rot-gut they’d have given you before. Show you’re a classy person and call for some Watershed, you will get your night started out right.


Keep Eating,

JTFussy