madcity girl

Last night I needed some groceries…

First, I stopped at Whole Foo Market.

Then I bought some Bazil at Copps.

Just discovered this picture of myself in a collection of photos from the farmers’ market taken by 77 Square photographer Michelle Stocker. This was the morning of Crazylegs, a chilly and slightly rainy day. Not much keeps me away from the market. As always, I had a coffee in hand and my market bag on my shoulder, ready to fill with seasonal produce like spinach, ramps, morels, and spring garlic. We had noticed a photographer snapping pictures, but I had no idea she took a photograph of me. Check out the full photo gallery here.

I enjoyed another great lunch at today’s Slow Food UW Cafe. My friends Julie, Jill, and Jill’s co-worker Casey joined in on the fun. Ryan and Kyle came just before I left, too. From the menu offerings, I chose the Jerk Chicken Tacos with caramelized onions and homemade tortillas, Asparagus and Broccoli Hash, Cucumber Gazpacho, and Rhubarb Tartlets. All were delicious—I probably enjoyed the gazpacho and tacos the most.

It’s hard to believe the last Cafe lunch of the semester is soon approaching. I think next week, actually. What will I do during the summer without Cafe lunches to look forward to on Wednesdays? As a way to deal with the void, I’m contemplating implementing a “Wednesday Carts” routine to my week, during which I’ll make my way through the Library Mall food carts, sampling and reviewing dishes. That *might* help get me through the emptiness until Cafe lunches return next fall.

First farmers’ market of the season!

This week’s finds - morels, spinach, ramps, asparagus, and Hook’s cheddar

NY Times’ Mark Bittman at Isthmus Green Day

Celebrating Record Store Day at Strictly Discs

Pickling ramps

Wisconsin Film Festival

Eight films in five days.

The highlight of last weekend was visiting Farmers John and Dorothy Priske at Fountain Prairie Farm, located outside Madison, just six miles west of Columbus. Larry and I made the trip with Slow Food UW. The Priskes generously opened their hearts and home to the group for a tour of the farm, dinner, conversation about local sustainable foods, and a bonfire and music.

John and Dorothy are wonderful people who I’m lucky to call friends. Larry had already been out to the farm (last year he filmed a short documentary there with his class that ultimately played in the kid’s division of the Wisconsin Film Festival), but I couldn’t wait to get there to experience it myself. Not only are the Priskes exemplary in their commitment to sustainable farming and environmental stewardship, they’re just very kind, hard-working, down-to-earth people. And, their grass-fed Highland beef truly is the best! (You can purchase it at the Dane County Farmers’ Market, which by the way, begins its outdoor season on the square this Saturday!)

It was an incredible day and experience. Here are a few pictures from our visit:

Tomorrow is the start of the Wisconsin Film Festival, featuring 150 films shown at venues around campus and downtown Madison over the course of five days. Genres include experimental, foreign, documentary, and independent. Larry and I have tickets to six (make that eight) films and are hoping to get into at least one other that is sold out—Goodbye First Love (Un Amour de Jeunesse). Luckily it’s possible to see a “sold out” show by waiting in a rush-ticket line shortly before the show—we’re keeping our fingers crossed. Following is the list of films we’ll definitely be seeing:

Abendland
The Bad Intentions (Las Malas Intenciones)
Chekhov for Children
Little Matador
Margaret
Monsieur Lazhar
Tomboy
We’re Not Broke

After reading the synopses and watching a few trailers, I’m so excited to see these films—each one sounds incredibly interesting. In case you’d like to check it out, I’ve included a link above to the Director’s Cut festival preview with film fest organizers, presenting directors and host Charles Monroe-Kane. There’s still plenty of time to purchase tickets!

When I first heard about this week’s special at Ian’s Pizza, my jaw dropped. My favorite burger on a pizza? Say no more, I’m there.

Bob’s Bad Breath Burger Pizza pays homage to the Weary Traveler’s legendary burger. The thin-crust slice is topped with beef, cream cheese, green goddess dressing, caramelized onions, garlic, tomatoes, and Piackapeppa sauce. The flavors were spot-on. It’s no Bad Breath Burger, but it’s a damn good slice of pizza.

Apparently Ian’s has devoted their specials for the month of April to celebrating Madison’s “most inspired” burgers.  The pizza recipes were developed by chefs at the featured restaurants and are made with beef from Fountain Prairie Farm (only the best). The first week was the V Burger (Brasserie V), and next up are Stable’s Best (4/16-20, Quivey’s Grove) and Black Bean Burger (4/23-27, Bluephies).

There’s still time to get your slice of Bob’s Bad Breath Burger Pizza—but it’s only on special through the end of today. The Bad Breath Burger on pizza—this, my friends, may never happen again. Get it while it’s hot!

The original (and much beloved) Bob’s Bad Breath Burger

I enjoyed another great lunch at yesterday’s Slow Food UW Cafe. I picked the following options from the menu:

-Pesto, sun-dried tomato and homemade mozzarella on rosemary, fig and olive bread
-Grain, feta and Russian red kale salad
-White bean soup
-Semolina cake with orange whipped cream

I probably say this every time, but it was one of the best lunches I’ve had yet. All dishes were fantastic. And I met and dined with two new friends—a post-doc Entomology student from Pennsylvania and a BMES graduate student from Colombia. We talked gardening, Madison, and the trouble with organic labeling and certification. Always an interesting meal and conversation!

Last week I took an Indian cooking class with Larry’s mom. The class was taught by Neeta Saluja, author of Six Spices: a Simple Concept of Indian Cooking, and held at Willy Street Co-op East. Cooking classes at the co-op are just $15 for members—and luckily I recently became a member. It was actually my very first cooking class. Ever.

Neeta made the following dishes during our 2.5 hour class (the  menu focused on the southern part of India):

• Rassum (Hot and Spicy Soup) - simple yet delicious tomato soup, seasoned with fresh ginger and curry leaves.

• Shrimp Curry in Creamy Coconut Sauce - marinated shrimp cooked with fresh ginger, garlic, onions and spices. Coconut milk is added later to give a rich creamy taste.

• Saffron Rice - fragrant basmati rice cooked and flavored with Indian spices and saffron. This rice dish is mildly flavored, and makes a perfect dish to accompany Indian curries.

• Fried Noodles Pudding (Sevinya Ki Kheer) - fine roasted noodles are simmered with milk and sugar. Later cardamom and fragrant saffron are added to give this dessert a wonderful aroma and taste.

The goal of Neeta’s cookbook and classes is to present a simple introduction to Indian cooking. The whole concept of her book revolves around using just six spices—mustard, cumin, chili, turmeric, coriander, and asafoetida. Indian cooking can seem so overwhelmingly complex, but she clearly has a knack for making it understandable and accessible for cooks of all levels.

I loved the class. It was so inspiring to watch Neeta move between dishes and the way she expertly worked with the ingredients—touching and tasting in an all-knowing way. Her patience, warmth, and down-to-earth attitude were endearing. And the aromas wafting off the pans were almost too much to handle! Thankfully, Neeta shared generous portions of each of the finished dishes with the class.  I loved them all, but especially enjoyed the soup and dessert. I took copious notes and hope to re-create the entire meal at home very soon. I can’t wait to take more cooking classes at the co-op.

One of the students working at today’s Slow Food UW cafe lunch told me she has four mid-terms tomorrow. I don’t miss those days. And yet, despite long to-do lists and looming exams before the eventual reward of spring break, the team from Slow Food let their creativity and energy shine as they put together an impressive Moroccan-themed lunch menu. I chose the following:

Rabbit b’stilla (Moroccan Pastry Pie) with ginger pesto
Carrol Salad
Moroccan Vegetarian Chili
Baklavah

All were good. I particularly enjoyed the crunchy Baklavah. It was also interesting to try the rabbit pastry pie. I’m not sure if I’ve ever had rabbit before—it was similar in look and texture to chicken. The ginger pesto was nice and the flaky pastries were fabulous. It wasn’t quite what I expecting when I read “pastry pie,” through—seemed more of a meat stew with a side of pastry. My friend Kim ordered the Sunchoke Sandwich on Hearty-Grain Bread with Sprouts. She was most impressed with the bread— still warm and fresh from the oven. I had a little taste and it was heavenly.