2012 Food and Dining Predictions: #9 {Personal Investment and Ownership}

Have you ever wanted to own a restaurant? What if you could invest in a concept and a minimal rate and hold shareholder rights? Think of it as a community investment that holds conceptual power for menu development, design, PR and operating structure? We believe that the movement to a non-conventional approach in the food service future is necessary, potentially more profitable and inevitable. However, the mindset of people and behaviors are hard to change in this industry, and when they do change it is usually in an incremental and uneven pattern that is difficult to change. As a participant in the movement to a new world of food, many entrepreneurs are leading by example within the context that we know best: Real food and natural products, and innovative and progressive business practices.

You have to admit, it's a 2.0 world and people want to have as much control over their interests as possible. We are living in a downtrodden economy and many innovators and entrepreneurs are going to search for more viable and plausible methods for financing and concept design. Due to intense competition, restaurateurs must look for ways to differentiate their place of business in order to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage. We realize this through years of competitive scoping. The fact that many restaurants are beginning to leverage this concept presents a window of opportunity and an entrance into a profitable niche in the market place.Similar models have proven it's worth, including CSA's and Grocer Coop's. The ability for customers to have membership and ownership rights offers a point of valued loyalty that no other preferred program could touch. A financial investment and commitment will provide a sense of ownership at unparalleled levels.

A  partnership with other local restaurants, chefs, bloggers, writers and critics to pay homage to food culture and transient eating could propel concepts to extraordinary levels of commutative participation from it's customers. Also, promotion of food swapping at a retail level will allow guests to walk out with recipes of the food they’ve just sampled and communicate with the chef {proprietor}. This type of responsibility and collective wisdom is a way to advance an idea in our industry in a very strategic and innovating manner.

2012 Food and Dining Predictions

#10 - The inconvenience of Food

Chopbiscuit Preeminent Booze Review: Long Trail IPA

We figured it's time to get back to our roots here at Chopbiscuit and continue the reviews of The World's Best draughts. We have poked fun at our favorite canned beers in the past, but ultimately we love the best in craft beer brewing. Whether it's a Belgium White, American Brown Ale, Japanese Rice lager or an oatmeal stout - We enjoy a good beer and a firm hand shake.

So, let's continue the exposition with our reviews.

Brewery: Long Trail - Bridgewater Corners, VT 
Beer: India Pale Ale  
Beer style description: English India Pale Ale
Color: Light Gold
ABV: 5.9%

If you've ever rented a Suburu and traveled throughout the Green State - I'm hoping you had enough wherewithal to stop in Bridgewater Corner at Long Trail Brewery. I had the chance to visit the brewery last summer and fell in love with some of it's beers. I recently cracked a couple Long Trail IPA's open and savored them watching Syracuse's crushing defeat against Pittsburgh. Boo.

This IPA pours a nice,clear gold body with a crema like head. The head burrows down a bit but still leaves nice big chunks that stick to the glass. This is usually a good sign of a decent IPA. The smell is dominated by hops - another good sign. It has some malt after tones and  nice fruity citrus kick as well, A good bitter bite in the finish.  The mouth feel is incredibly smooth and almost creamy and is well carbonated. This is a solid IPA for anyone that's not selling fraudulent mortgage back securities. They only drink shit scotch.

2012 food and dining predictions: #10 {The Inconvenience of food}

Welcome to CB.com's 2012 food and dining predictions. I've always loved postulating about where food and food culture is headed. Sometimes I'm spot on, and other times I've failed miserably. We feel that we have a pretty good pulse on this industry and want to look into that crystal ball and lay out some educated guesses on what the food retail industry may look like like in 2012 without any of the Nicholas Cage Mayan calendar nonsense.

Let's get these predictions started!


#10 - The Inconvenience of food

For many years, the goal of food retail was to create a centralized, painless process of food distribution from the manufacturers all the way to the guests plate. We've been so focused on making everything we do as simple and manageable as possible. The more dumbed down, the better.

The word convenience has resonated with people that have busy lives and just don't have the time or energy for anything of added appreciation. The more automated, the better. The quicker, the better.The more efficient, the better. It's a mobile 4G world now - I completely understand. But, something is starting to resonate with food and the intrinsic principles on how we harvest, serve and eat. There's starting to be a heightened awareness around foods sustainability, de-commoditized and grass rooted approach. People are willing to spend a little more money and wait a little longer for the well being of what they are putting into their mouths. The inconvenience real food offers is becoming it's selling point.

The pleasure of eating and knowing the animal welfare of some of our favorite staples is starting to win the battle over the mass produced farm convenience at your local grocer. The efficient and accelerated service you receive at most fast food outlets will hopefully lose some market share to business models that are built on doing the right thing instead of being the fastest and cheapest. With the world around us being connected and moving at the speed of light - diners and food engagement will slowly turn in the opposite direction towards a holistic approach around the food that has a deeper connection. It's no longer ap pro po to have everything, everywhere and at all times. People and business's that are crossing that line are starting to see the benefit at many levels. I often buy my meat from my local farmer's market or local farms and drive or walk by many outlets and retailers that offer the same product. It's an inconvenience that is now part of my DNA. It's this type of disruption that will work for food retailing in 2012.

Chopbiscuit Interview: Meet Joanne from Fifteen Spatulas

Editor's note: This is a series of food related interviews with industry professionals, writers, bloggers, executives, farmers and folks who have made a positive impact on the food cosmos.

As an industry professional that's incredibly curious about the landscape of food development, I've been drawn to a few folks online that have been making a mark with their food blogs. Joanne over at Fifteen Spatulus is one those innovative thinkers.  She has a very eclectic staple of recipes that we've made and were often blown away by the taste profile and minimalistic approach she uses. I recently had the chance to ask Joanne a few questions about her passion and how food blogs are influencing the landscape of the online culinary underbelly.

Tell me about how Fifteen Spatulas came about?

I was about to start work at a finance company and quickly realized that it wasn’t right for me.  It was one of those things that seemed right on paper given my education, but didn’t excite me at all.  I wanted a life devoted to cooking and food, so I started the blog as a first step into the food world and as the beginning of a career in food. I had no idea what to expect when I started, but the experience has been nothing at all like I imagined.  It’s easily one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done.

You obviously have a creative side that comes out through your recipes. Was starting a food blog an avenue for you to release this?
 

Absolutely! The food blog has not only been a great place to share my recipes, but the whole blogging experience has only made me more creative over time.  You start to gain a following and you want to excite your readers every day they come by to read, so you play around more and take more risks. Food blogging has also helped me discover who I am as a food personality, and what I stand for.  If the dish is good enough, I believe in plate scraping and licking, societal norms be darned!

  

How do you see social media impacting the world of food innovation?

 

Not too long ago it seemed that many recipes were “top secret,” not just restaurant recipes but also family recipes.  You see it sometimes watching certain food shows featuring a restaurant, where they’ll say, “Now I’m going to add the secret ingredient, but I can’t tell you what it is.”  I think that’s totally lame.  The secrecy seems to be gone now for the most part, and I think it’s social media that we have to thank.  People want to share their creations and recipes with others, and I think that’s how it should be.  Food bloggers generally have an immense desire to help people make tasty food at home and provide any tips they have.

  

You had an opportunity recently to film a series at the Food Network studios. Describe that experience to us?

The Cooking Channel flew me up to the NYC Food Network studios to film my Potato Bacon and Caramelized Leek Stuffed Puff Pastry and do a short demo, and it was probably the coolest food world experience I’ve had yet.  You watch these cooking shows on TV but you don’t see what’s going on behind the scenes, and you realize that it’s quite a production.  Right next to the studio they had a prep kitchen that looked just like the one Bobby Flay uses on Throwdown, and there were several cooks prepping various stages of my recipe. You should have SEEN the hundreds upon hundreds of pots and pans in that room.  I’m glad I wasn’t doing the dishes.  Rachael Ray was in the other studio filming a new season of 30 Minute Meals, which was really cool too!  The energy in the entire place is buzzing.

Are you still as creative with only 14 spatulus?

 

I’ve found I’m about 7% less efficient with 14 spatulas.  Haha I kid, but 15 is really the minimum in my kitchen, and broken spatulas are immediately replaced. Sometimes people ask me, “Why so many spatulas?”  And to be honest, I’m always dumbfounded by the question because I really do use them all pretty frequently.  The food I make is so good that I can’t leave any behind in the bowl.  I’ve become quite skilled at scraping!

 *Make sure you watch all of Joanne's videos here!

Chopbiscuit at home coffee review: El Gallo Breakfast Blend - Intelligentsia

Every morning when I'm not on the road, prior to performing 100 one-handed push ups (Jack Palance) style, and flying head scissor moves on my neighbor, I make my cup of morning Joe. Generally, I have a new blend from one of the many favorite joints and roasters I've seen throughout my years on the road. I've recently bought some Intelligentsia blends and I've really enjoyed their roasting style and balanced varietals. Intelligentsia is a staple for coffee lovers in Chicago so make sure you stop by one of their locations the next time you're in town.

This month's shipment featured a seasonal selection - Intelligentsia El Gallo Breakfast Blend

This breakfast blend is a perfect morning coffee with a velvety mouth feel and a well-balanced fruit like acidity. This blend comes from the Nicaragua region which gives it a nice note of caramel. There's a very clean finish to this coffee with a nice snap. Some may say this coffee may be a little bright for a breakfast blend, I say cockadoodle bolognese - it's the perfect balance for a morning cup.

As the coffee starts to cool, I noticed more of a nice floral play. Which is a good thing if you're a slow slippa. (Great rapper name) The brightness starts to mellow a bit more as the coffee cools.One of the great things about this craft roaster is that they are selling their beans at more and more locations every year. So, I don't have to visit Chicago every other week.

{Happening Soon} Me - go grab me a beer. My son - Can I have a sip?

Literally and figuratively

I hope everybody had a great Turkey weekend. With all the food, fun and football, it's hard not to enjoy yourselves. For me, this weekend brought in a bit more than my usual laying on the couch watching football. My first child was born Thanksgiving Day. His name is Jack Finnegan Carberry and he's currently out back behind the garage doing one-handed push ups in preparation for Navy Seal Training.

Kidding aside, it's been the most memorable weekend of my life. I'm just keeping him far away from Bernie Fine.

From our family to yours - Happy Thanksgiving

The Chopbiscuit crew at a county fair in Arkansas

As a bunch of food scoundrels, we enjoy what Thanksgiving brings every year. Family, friends, booze, dessert, football and inappropriate conversations with family members. We enjoy eating too much turkey and then putting on our favorite sweatpants before 6pm. We love that enough people are in the house to bring you another beer from the fridge. We love that we're not on the cleanup team after throwing down two pounds of white meat.

So enjoy your time with family and friends and be thankful for everything you have. Even your crazy uncle.

Poncho

Fresh Catch in Connecticut: A baker and fisherman's story

When traveling for work or pleasure I try to enjoy a little of the local culture, including meeting up with local yocals to see what kind of Tom Foolery I can get into between meetings and work. Fortunately, after traveling 1000's of miles over the years you begin to have a great network of incredible folks that are just weird enough to enjoy the same things that you do. For example, this trip to CT a few years back where your buddy has this great fishing boat and his folks live right on the harbor in Stonington for easy water access.

After several days of meetings we were ready for a little break late one afternoon. We headed out and got started by gathering a huge bucket full of clams which took no time at all. There is something about warm salt water sticking on your face in the late afternoon that brings back some of my favorite childhood memories. Plus, anytime I get to repeatedly dive off the boat, I'm in. You begin by digging your fingers and then toes into the sand so you could find the clam beds. As soon as you locate the clams, you hold your ground, waves and all, and yell for the person working the big clam basket rake thingy. This rake came in real handy because some of the clams where huge and would dig down and hold into the sand for dear life, but they were no match for Danielle. The bucket was full of clams in which we moved to catching blue fish. I really wanted fresh scallops but it was way too early before the season begins to even see any scallops. Plus, when the Bluefish are hitting the top of the water it's a HOOT. (literally and figuratively)

We needed to catch around 3-4 of these beasts.  

FISH ON!

One after the other we were landing the blue fish into the boat. We hit a school as soon as we got around the point looking over to NYC. This was beginning to be a great afternoon especially because we had been talking about "if" we have some extra time one afternoon we would head out to grab some fresh local seafood and spend some time cooking and telling fisherman tales. As we landed the last couple of blue fish we began heading towards the lobster pots. I know very little about the harvesting of lobsters, but I couldn't help notice all of the fancy colored art work on the buoys as we headed out from the harbor. So, I couldn't help but ask "what's with all of the artwork on the buoys?" Our captain (my buddy Tom) explained that if you have a license for lobster pots you have to create your own color buoys and the buoy must be on your boat of you are checking you pots. After locating the first couple of pots we were on another hot streak because we were already approaching the number of lobsters we need for dinner but I wanted a few extra just to make sure. You never know who will show up for dinner when you are in a smal fishing village and sorry but this is no time to share if you only have a few, so we grabbed a couple more traps and a good thing we did because nieghbors began to show up quickly once they learned Tom had been fishing and was now cooking.

The sun was beginning to set and all I could think about was eating our catch of the day. Tom is even a better Chef and Baker than a seaworthy fisherman. Tom makes an incredible seafood chowder and this begins with a great broth. He made the broth by adding the clams, local shrimp, lobster and fresh fennel from the garden. This gives you some serious eats. Then, we simply steamed the lobsters, melted some butter and grabbed some crusty Italian bread and ate for as long as we could stand it.

There are few things in life as good as fresh caught seafood. Add gathering, harvesting and fishing for your own dinner with folks you love equals memories of a life time. And this is the exact way one should live their life -  filled full of great memories. Build the memories now for life is way too short to eat shitty seafood.

Be Well Eat Well & Live Well

Chopbiscuit Preeminent Booze Review: Saranac Pale Ale

We figured it's time to get back to our roots here at Chopbiscuit and continue the reviews of The World's Best draughts. We have poked fun at our favorite canned beers in the past, but ultimately we love the best in beer making. Whether it's a Belgium White, American Brown Ale, Japanese Rice lager or an oatmeal stout - We enjoy a good beer.

So, let's continue the exposition with our reviews.

Right beer - wrong glass

Brewery: Matt Brewing Company
 
Beer: Pale Ale 

Beer style description: English Pale Ale


If you live in Upstate New York, you're familiar with Matt Brewery. Many of us growing up have thrown down a Utica Club or ten. USA Today reported in 2005 that sales increases of beers such as Utica Club and Pabst Blue Ribbon are part of a 'retro' beer trend among younger beer drinkers during the past several years. It's the PBR with out all the nostalgic douchebaggery.

Let's chat about Saranac Pale Ale. The Washington Post provided a unique perspective on both the Saranac Pale Ale and on the Matt Brewery itself. Saranac Pale Ale was named a finalist in the newspaper's "Beer Madness" tasting, a competition that playfully mimics the NCAA Men's College Basketball Tournament.

Good cheers to the team from Utica.

Saranac Pale Ale is a good English Pale Ale. The beer has a nice and decent balance to it. This beer is minimally priced for a Pale Ale in Upstate NY. Even though it's often a safe guard for me, I do like buying this beer and supporting the brewery. Pretty light on the palate but it has a pleasant taste and an above average body. Very refreshing and simple ale.

Chopbiscuit at home recipes {cookin' with Mark}: Cornbread and Southern Style Dressing

Thanksgiving with the family

I love everything about Thanksgiving - especially sweatpants. It has all of my favorite "F" words associated with it. Family, Food & Football. Family time is by far my favorite. (I'm home for two weeks straight first time this year) Usually the McDonough's trek over to Uncle John & Aunt Dianna's house in Sturbridge, MA for the "Triple F Holiday",  but this year we are going to party up at home. Our son Paden and his new puppy are coming home along with several of his friends for a traditional Thanksgiving Feast.

Below is my favorite recipe for cornbread and dressing. Now there are tons of recipes that take on the battle of Dressing versus Stuffing - but really who cares what you call it or where you stuff it. Just make what you love and call it what you want or start your own tradition. My recipe is called dressing because my Grandmother called it dressing and she used cornbread and sausage. In my mind there are only a few rules in cooking, which is probably why I became a chef.

My cooking philosophy:

K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) By simple I mean no processed foods, very high quality ingredients and keep it local - but quality always trumps local. Use as few ingredients as possible for a simple clean flavor. Don't muck it up by making it into something it's not suppose to be. This only creates uncertainty and confusion.

*Start with making the cornbread recipe below

Cornbread

A.P. flour (sifted, twice) - 1 1/3 Cups
Sugar - 1/4 Cup
Baking Powder - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Butter (unsalted & melted) - 1 Cup (2 sticks) room temperature
Buttermilk (DO NOT SUB MILK)- 2.5 Cups room temperature
Eggs (lightly beaten) - 2 large eggs room temperature
Yellow Cornmeal - 2 Cups
Lard (YES, PIG FAT) - 1 Tablespoon (Don't use anything other than lard, bacon fat or duck fat period)

Place your cast iron pan (Don't have one? Stop now and go buy one) in a preheated 375F oven for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together the dry ingredients and set aside. Mix together the wet and join the two and mix until all ingredients are incorporated.

Remove the pan from the oven and place the lard in the pan making sure you coat every inch of the inside so the cornbread doesn't stick (You want all of the brown chewy edges, that's the best part) Pour your cornbread mixture into your cast iron and place back into the oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes and check using the ole' clean toothpick trick. Once it's clean, remove from the oven and immediately remove from the pan by placing a plate over the top and and flipping out on the plate.

Southern Style Cornbread and Sausage Dressing

Oscar's Smokehouse Country Sausage - 1 pound (Use your favorite sausage but remember quality over local)
Red pepper flakes - 1/2 Teaspoon

One large yellow onion chopped (not too small) 
Three large celery stalks finely chopped
Cornbread cut into 3/4 inch cubes - 2 lbs or 12 cups
Fresh sage finely chopped 3tbsp
Three large eggs, lightly beaten 
Organic chicken stock (nothing else will do) 1-2 cups
Lard - 1tbsp

The stock varies here because if you like it a little drier, go with the 1 cup. I use about 1.5-1.75 cups and bake a little longer because I really like the crusty stuff.

Start with frying your sausage on med-high heat and as soon as the sausage begins to brown remove 1-2 tablespoons of grease and  set aside. Add red pepper flakes and onions and let cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir a little and then add your celery and lower heat and cover. You are looking to cook and steam so leave the lid on for several minutes before lifting and stirring. DO NOT let it burn.  Cook until onions and celery are translucent not brown. Remove from heat and stir in the cornbread. Mix well then add your lightly beaten eggs and your stock. Make sure your dressing is mixed really well

Here is where I use my cast iron or Le Creuset pan. You want the thickest pan you have, so the heat distributes more evenly to give your dressing a nice crust. Pre-Heat your pan in a 375 oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and spread the lard evenly in the pan and place the dressing in the pan and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove and consume.

Be Well, Eat Well and Live Well