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Wisconsin's
Hometown Flavors A Cook’s Tour of Butcher Shops, Bakeries, Cheese Factories, and Other Specialty Markets By Terese Allen |
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Wisconsin's Hometown Flavors |
AboutWisconsin's
Hometown Flavors The region’s specialty food markets---family run bakeries, country meat markets, prize-winning cheese factories, homemade chocolate shops, and more---house the culinary traditions of a culturally rich state. Wisconsin's Hometown Flavors celebrates these treasures with recipes, stories, photos, historical perspective, and travel information. Taste Swiss cheese, dried cherries, Bohemian "kneecaps", spicy bratwurst, Danish kringle, Mexican tamales, and much more. Learn how Wisconsin’s famous Cow Pie was born and hear the tale of the last limburger cheese factory in the nation. Meet characters like the Weber brothers, a quartet of fourth-generation meat cutters, and Herby Radmann, a rainbow trout farmer whose slogan is "Eat My Fish!" Try your hand at regional favorites including Smoked Whitefish Chowder, Bison and Wild Mushroom Stew, Traditional Limburger Sandwich, and Maple Rhubarb Pie. Wisconsin's Hometown Flavors, copyright 1998, softcover, 176 pages, 8 1/2-by-11 inches, recipes, photographs, maps, cross-indexes, historical chapter introductions. |
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What people are saying aboutWisconsin's Hometown
Flavors:
"Terese Allen, arguably Wisconsin’s No. 1 food fan, has come up with another food/travel guide that will have you tucking a napkin under your chin even before you start you car’s engine." ---Lee Aschoff, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "A regional masterpiece." ---Catherine Tripalin Murray, Author, A Taste of Memories |
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Order Wisconsin's Hometown
Flavors To order Wisconsin's Hometown Flavors, call Trails Media/Prairie Oak Press Toll-free 800-236-8088 This book is also available in bookstores. |
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Limburger: The Strong Cheese Survives Excerpted from Wisconsin's Hometown Flavors Limburger, like liver and lutefisk, is a food people either love or love to hate. Stories that surround the famously stinky cheese are legend, like the one about the grocer who repeatedly sent back smelly shipments, thinking the cheese had spoiled. A Swiss immigrant named Rudolph Benkert cured the first Green County limburger in his home cellar in 1867. The following year Nicholas Gerber, another Swiss immigrant, established the first limburger factory in the area. Taverns all over the county were soon serving the potent cheese with locally-brewed beer, a combination patrons relished so much that when saloons closed during Prohibition, limburger sales went into decline.  These days, it isn’t a lack of beer that holds limburger production back, it’s changing tastes. Most people prefer the mild cheeses that are more typical of today’s streamlined cheese production. But even though there’s just one limburger factory left in the nation, the Chalet Cheese Co-op, there are still enough limburger lovers to consume close to one million pounds a year, the amount the cooperative produces annually.
"The key to enjoying limburger is knowing the date it was made," notes cheesemaker Myron Olson. "When it is real young, it is very firm, crumbly, and salty, much like feta cheese in taste. At six weeks, it’s soft on the corners but still has a hard core that’s salty and chalky. At two months, the core is almost gone." He says most people prefer limburger between six weeks and eight weeks old." From two to three months, the core is gone, it’s soft and spreadable, the salt has blended in, and the cheese has a kind of sweet flavor. Older than three months, there’s intense smell, intense flavor. It’s pungent and almost bitter. If you like it, you’re a real limburger lover." If you like it, you may be an old-timer who has enjoyed limburger all your life, or you may be one of a new breed of gourmet diners that Myron calls "adventure eaters." Either way, you’re one of the relatively few consumers today who are helping a strong cheese survive. Recipe for Traditional Limburger Sandwich |
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Smoked Fish: Classic Wisconsin Catch Excerpted from Wisconsin's Hometown Flavors There’s all kinds of freshly smoked fish in Wisconsin, including lushly textured whitefish from towns along the shores of Great Lakes Michigan and Superior, delicate, pink-fleshed rainbow trout raised by inland farmers, and imported specialties like Canadian lake trout and Pacific salmon.  "The classic, old-time Wisconsin smoked fish is chub," says Chris Voight of Charlie’s Smokehouse, located at the tip of the Door County peninsula in Gills Rock, where for three generations his family has been brining the local catch and smoking it over maplewood. Small and thin-bodied, smoked chubs (which are in the whitefish family and when fresh are properly called cisco) are mild-flavored and agreeably oily. It’s the most popular type of fish sold at Charlie’s and is Chris’s first choice, served simply, with bread and butter.
Chris is "smoke master," a title he admits to with a modest, joking nod. But genuine expertise is revealed as he details the smoking process: First the fish are gutted and cleaned, then soaked overnight in salted water (this adds flavor, and just how much salt is added to the brine is a trade secret). Then the fish is rinsed in cold water and prepared for smoking; chubs are hung by the tails while chunks of whitefish are placed on screens. A slow fire is started in two large iron pans that sit in the floor of a blackened, double-doored smokehouse. For the first few hours the upper door is kept ajar while the fish dry out, but later the fire is built up into a pyramid and both doors are firmly shut to keep the fire smoldering--but not too hot--during the smoking process. "It’s all real variable," says Chris, meaning the volume of the catch, the amount of brining time, the heat of the fire, the size and type of fish. Even the width of the maplewood makes a difference. The Voights cut their own from a 36-acre family plot, in picturesque view across Garret Bay from the smokehouse. Recipe for Smoked Whitefish Chowder |
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Recipes from Wisconsin's Hometown Flavors |
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Fresh Market Wisconsin Recipes, Resources and Stories Celebrating Farm Markets and Roadside Stands By Terese Allen |
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About Fresh Market Wisconsin
There are as many compelling reasons for frequenting farm markets as there are ears in a cornfield. People are realizing how hungry they are---hungry for fresh, satisfying food. Thirsty for a sense of community. Craving a healthier environment and a fair shake for small farmers. Born of necessity, fed by demand, farmers’ markets and roadside stands are going strong---growing, you might say, like zucchini in August.  Come celebrate fresh market foods and the people who produce and sell them. Take a fond look at seasonal markets---their history, what they offer us today, and how you can best take advantage of it all. From field to kitchen, Fresh Market Wisconsin will help you buy fresh, cook fresh and eat fresh.
In addition to recipes, the book features a selection guide, harvest calendar, storage and preparation hints, and stories from growers and market enthusiasts. Recipes include treats like Salad-in-a-Sandwich, Blackberry Grunt, Asparagus Dill Soup, Fresh Herb Biscuits, Grill Salad, and more. Fresh Market Wisconsin, copyright 1993, laminated full-color softcover, illustrated, 176 pages, 7-by-10 inches, with recipes, market history and lore, listing of markets statewide, produce selection guide, harvest calendar. |
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What people are saying about Fresh Market Wisconsin:
"Allen’s devotion goes beyond...regal asparagus spears, gnarled horseradish, organic chickens, pungent cheeses and sweet bright preserves. She focuses on the concept of community again and again." ---Carol Guensburg, The Milwaukee Journal "Terese Allen has done an excellent job of putting us in the know about where to find fresh produce....[and she supplies] not just a few recipes but a mouth(watering)ful of them that span the standard favorites to the more unique." ---Faith Meyer, The Country Gazette "If it sounds like Allen has gone bananas for produce and the people who produce it, that may be correct. Allen taps into a network of growers that not only feed her body, but her soul." ---Geri Parlin, LaCrosse Tribune |
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Order Fresh Market Wisconsin
To order contact Guest Cottage/Amherst Press Toll-free 800-333-8122. This book is also available in bookstores. |
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The Seasons They Go ‘Round and ‘Round: Madison’s Dane County Farmers’ Market Excerpted from Fresh Market Wisconsin There’s not a market in the nation that can outshine the Wisconsin state capital’s for food quality, product diversity, crowd size and plain ol’ people-watching good fun. Every Saturday morning, thousands of basket-toting market lovers throng the sidewalks that ring the stately domed capitol building in downtown Madison. The Dane County Farmers’ Market (DCFM) hums and buzzes with deals made, greetings shouted, questions asked, gossip traded. Sometimes music is playing: soft guitar strums or maybe the blast of a circus organ. Inviting smells hover at nose-level, changing as you pass each stand---a faint trace of apple, a sharp hit of basil, next a wave of chocolate, and then, oh, someone must be frying sweet peppers in butter. Breakfast is served, sample by sample: cubes of cheese, chunks of melon, sips of cider. You can fill up without spending a penny.  Colors tell the season. In spring, the greens reign: asparagus, lettuce, bedding plants, watercress, fiddlehead ferns, all under a giant canopy of over two dozen tree varieties. In summer, it’s a riot of brightness and intensity: purple peppers, blood red tomatoes, snow white cauliflower, a rainbow of gladiolas. Autumn comes in gold glory with pumpkins and apples and onions and potatoes. When bad weather brings out colorful, bobbing umbrellas, even the rain has a hard time dampening the richness of this market.
The astounding scope and success of the DCFM is a tribute to the cooperative efforts made by those who started it in 1972, and to those who tend it carefully today. Ron Jensen, a Farm Management agent with the Dane County Extension during the 1970s, knew what a weekly market could mean to area farmers and Madison consumers. He worked with Jonathan Barry (then a farmer and eventually the County Executive) to find a location for the market. Turned down by area shopping malls, they got a better reaction from the Central Madison Committee, which was connected to the Chamber of Commerce. Both offices saw the farmers’ market as a means to revitalize Madison’s downtown, still suffering from the Vietnam protest years. Both groups were eager to lend a hand in making the market happen. Permits and issues were quickly secured and the market was on. An unqualified hit, the Madison market began to grow immediately, and it’s been growing ever since. Today it remains an organization whose services are strictly defined and highly regulated. Products must be Wisconsin-produced; crafts and any good not grown or produced by the seller are not allowed. With restrictions like this, one might think this market could get boring, stilted. But just the opposite is true. The DCFM is the ultimate in farmers’ market, and once you’ve been there, you’ll be ‘round and ‘round again. Recipe for Salad-in-a-Sandwich Visit the Madison Farmers’ Market Website. |
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Berries from Heaven Excerpted from Fresh Market Wisconsin  Berry season brings out the smiles throughout the heartland. For a few beloved weeks we can get our fill of juicy, ripe raspberries, blueberries, strawberries---fresh-picked and eaten out-of-hand or included in one of our favorite recipes. Try to use berries soon after you bring them home. They taste best at room temperature, but if you must keep them longer than a day, refrigerate them. Never wash berries or remove their green caps until just before using, and when you do wash them, be gentle---use a cool sprinkle of water. Allow berries to air-dry or pat them with a cotton towl.
Freezing berries is a very easy way to transplant the taste of summer to chilly winter months. Remove stems and, if necessary, gently rinse and dry berries. Pack into freezer bags and seal tightly. (Alternatively, you may freeze berries in a single layer on baking sheets, then package and return to the freezer.) Thawed, they will be soft and much juicier, but all the sensational summer flavor will be intact. Recipe for Blackberry Grunt |
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Recipes from Fresh Market Wisconsin |
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Wisconsin Food Festivals Good Food, Good Folks and Good Fun at Community Celebrations By Terese Allen |
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About Wisconsin Food Festivals
Discover how the ice cream sundae was invented and how far a watermelon seed can be spit. Enter a grape-stomping contest, hunt for morel mushrooms, and learn the art of eating a cream puff. Wisconsin Food Festivals contains recipes, stories and an annual schedule of nearly 300 events. At Wisconsin’s food festivals, the fare is plentiful and varied, providing tastes as familiar as bratwurst soup and as exotic as Armenian lamb stew. Hundreds of events celebrate local crops (corn, cranberries, apples), products (maple syrup, beer), heritage dishes (Cornish pasties, pierogies) and popular edibles (fish, fried cheesecurds, cream puffs). However, there is more to be gained at such shindigs than weight. Food celebrations also bring meaning to our lives. Eating a bowl of hull corn soup at a powwow or joining in its pageantry of dance and song, Woodland Indians and their guests come together for renewal and recognition. Ethnic festivals celebrate heritage and promote intercultural understanding. In the fall, there’s harvest festivals, which remind farmers and city dwellers of their important relationship to each other, and to the land. Because of the state’s agricultural and ethnic diversity, nearly every community has a food-related event. Each one is distinctive and each offers a taste---and sometimes an entire banquet---of heartland culture, community and tradition. Wisconsin Food Festivals, copyright 1995, laminated full color softcover, 7-by-10 inches, 184 pages, with recipes, photographs, events schedule, history and folklore, cross indexing. |
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What people are saying about Wisconsin Food Festivals:
"A delicious round-up of Wisconsin food traditions." ---Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist "An at-home or on-the-road gem, with engaging stories, a detailed schedule and home-tested recipes." ---Howard and Nancy Mead, former publishers of Wisconsin Trails Magazine |
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Order Wisconsin Food Festivals
To order contact Guest Cottage/Amherst Press Toll-free 800-333-8122 This book is also available in bookstores. |
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The Morel of the Story Excerpted from Wisconsin Food Festivals: It starts with a tingling in the brain. Next come the cravings and the visions. Soon the victim is drawn to damp, hidden places, roaming for hours to satisfy an uncontrollable urge. It attacks in May and returns year after year. What is it? A fiendish spell? An alien invasion? A dangerous foreign disease?  No, it’s morel mushroom fever. And just about everyone who lives in Muscodet, Wisconsin or visits the town in May is stricken. The cure? Take a hunt in the woods followed by a plate of fresh, sauteed morels. If that doesn’t do the trick, you can attend the Morel Mushroom Festival. The highlight of the fest is its morel contest; prizes are offered for the tallest, thickest, heaviest, and oddest-looking fungi.
While the entries are good for gasp or a chuckle, the best treat is eating morels. They have a rich, earthy flavor and a tender but meaty texture---about the best-tasting mushroom you’ll ever find. Morels are easy to prepare: slice in half and soak briefly in cool water to dislodge any dirt, then let dry on paper or cotten towels. Get some bacon fat or butter very hot in a cast iron skillet and cook the mushrooms over high heat until barely tender. All you need at this point is a little salt and pepper. You’ll be in morel heaven. Recipe for Chicken Breast Saute with Morel Salsa |
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Germanfest: A Taste of Heritage Excerpted from Wisconsin Food Festivals: The minute my husband JB and I pulled off Highway 45 and exited into West Bend, we knew we were in a German town, headed for a German festival. The first two bumper stickers we saw read "A grouchy German is a sour kraut," and "You can always tell a German, but you can’t tell him much." The car sporting the latter sticker held passengers wearing suspenders and feathered felt caps. We followed this vehicle past a Bavarian-looking building with round, pointed towers and a music store advertising German harmonicas. Our costumed escorts led us straight to Germanfest.  Oom-pah-pah, oom-pah-pah went the polka band, felt as a cheerful thudding in the chest before it was actually heard as music. And what was this? Without any direction from my brain, my feet had begun to dance a one-two-three as we headed toward the stage and food tents.
There were enough German specialties to cause consternation--grilled pretzels, goulash, pickled eggs, pickled herring, schnitzel sandwiches, bratwurst with kraut, smoked pork chops. Which was the best? How would one decide? But as I watched the couple across from us downing two plates of spanferkel, I made up my mind in an instant. I ordered a single plate for us to split. There were several slabs of fork-tender roast pork and with his first bite of it, JB groaned happily. Since he groans while eating most any roast pork, I didn’t take particular notice at first. Besides, I was busy moaning over the potato dumpling. Thank god I’d had the foresight to order an extra dumpling, because after my first bite, I wasn’t going to share that luscious lump with anyone. Afterwards, determined to avoid dessert, we strolled past the pastry counters, just to check out the menu, and soon regretted that second dumpling. Strudels, cheesecakes, tortes, pies and cakes taunted us. We’re not THAT full, are we? we wondered. Too much cholesterol and fat, I reasoned, and held fast. We ambled past the back sides of the food booths and made a final discovery: the source of our marvelous meal. Standing over a smoking grill was an aproned man tending a deeply browned roasting pig. As we approached, the gentleman held out a plate, offering us the cracklings--dark, brittle, achingly succulent pieces of skin. They were extravagantly delicious, maybe the best treat we’d had yet at Wisconsin festivals. Cholesterol? Fat? Never heard of the stuff. Recipe for German Potato Salad |
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Recipes from Wisconsin Food Festivals |
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Home Cooked Culture: Wisconsin Through Recipes Edited by Terese Allen |
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About Home Cooked Culture
From Cranberry Pie to Point Bock Beer Cake, from Roast Mallard to Friday Fish Fry, from Latvian peppercakes to Wild Rice with Italian Sausage, this cookbook is bursting with the flavor of Wisconsin’s varied cultures and communities. These nearly 100 recipes were demonstrated during the 1998 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., and the Wisconsin Folklife Festival in Madison, Wisconsin. Reflecting the enormously varied ethnic groups in the state -- from Ojibwe to German to Hmong -- the recipes are accompanied by notes about their origins and special place in family and ethnic traditions. Home Cooked Culture: Wisconsin Through Recipes, softcover, four-color cover, 10-by-7.5 inches, 116 pages, b & w photos, distributed by University of Wisconsin Press, 1998. |
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What people are saying about Home Cooked Culture:
"Foodways are among the most pervasive and lasting forms of folklife. Wisconsinites who no longer speak the language, sing the songs or fashion the crafts of their immigrant forebearers tenaciously hold onto their ancestors’ food traditions." ---Wisconsin Arts Board Folklorist Richard March, from the book’s introduction. |
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Order Home Cooked Culture
Call Chicago Distribution at 1-800-621-2736, or check your local bookstore. |
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Bountiful Wisconsin: 110 Favorite Recipes
By Terese Allen |
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About Bountiful Wisconsin: 110 Favorite Recipes
This softcover cookbook features contemporary recipes from home cooks. |
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To Order Bountiful Wisconsin: 110 Favorite Recipes
Please email: info@wistrails.com or call 800-236-8088 |
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The Ovens of Brittany Cookbook
By Terese Allen |
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About The Ovens of Brittany Cookbook
Reveals recipes, stories and professional hints from two decades of dining excellence in southern Wisconsin. The Ovens of Brittany restaurants’ story is told, beginning with the "flour" children of the early 1970s and the invention of the morning bun. Inexperienced cooks will trust the home-tested recipes and more seasoned gourmands will appreciate the the opportunity to try their hand at dishes such as Queen of Sheba Torte, Spinach Gateau, and Wild Rice and Orange Salad. Laminated full color softcover, 7-by-10 inches, 126 pages, Amherst Press, 1991. |
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What people are saying about the The Ovens of Brittany Cookbook:
"Culinary magic...waxing philosophical comes easy when talking about the Ovens of Brittany." ---Terry Sowka, Chicago Sun Times "The Ovens of Brittany Cookbook is like discovering how to cook again!" ---Bill Kuhns, NewMonth Magazine |
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Order Ovens of Brittany Cookbook
The Ovens of Brittany Cookbook is available from bookstores or by ordering directly from the publisher (Guest Cottage/Amherst Press) at 800-333-8122. |
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Picnic in the Park: Tales, Trails and Outdoor Meals in the Parks of Dane County Edited by Terese Allen |
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About Picnic in the Park
Combines delicious recipes with Dane County, Wisconsin, history, information on the area’s natural resources, maps and beautiful illustrations---including historical photographs. All proceeds from the book benefit the Atwood Community Center’s human service programs. Full color softcover, 7 1/2-by-8 1/2 inches, 159 pages, Atwood Community Center, 1994. |
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What people are saying about Picnic in the Park:
"Mixes folklore, esoteric recipes and the best places to dine alfresco." ---Madison Magazine "The appeal of the recipes goes beyond county lines and extends to anyone who appreciates recipes that are long on fresh ingredients and flavor. More than 100 recipes fill this attractively designed cookbook." ---The Milwaukee Journal |
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Order Picnic in the Park
Email atwood@chorus.com or call 608-241-1574. |
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Articles From Wisconsin Trails magazine and other publications. By Terese Allen |
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"Cafe Cooking: Wisconsin-style soul food is hearty and made from scratch." (Excerpt; first published by Wisconsin Trails magazine, Jan/Feb 1998) By Terese Allen Christians have faith in the New Testament and cooks trust Joy of Cooking, but as a hungry traveler I rely on a bible called Cafe Wisconsin. Written by Joanne Raetz Stuttgen in 1993 and now sadly out of print, the book is a guide to traditional eateries that offer down-home cooking and a slice of small town life. I keep this beloved work tucked inside the glove compartment of my van; when I’m on the road, I pull it out for inspiration and guidance, three times a day. Even without a guidebook, however, I’d seek out Wisconsin cafes...and wouldn’t have to look far. Located just moments off the freeway’s beaten path, main street cafes serve what I think of as northern soul food: roast meats, real mashed potatoes, chunky homemade soups, and luscious pies made with hand-rolled crusts. This is American farm-style cooking, known today as comfort food and relished as much for what it is---plain, plentiful, familiar---as for what it isn’t---trendy, mass-produced, overly health-conscious. "People like us because they don’t have the time to come home from work, cook a beef roast and make potatoes [from scratch]," says Joan Farrell, co-owner with her husband Owen of O.J.’s Mid-Town Restaurant in Gillett. Like hundreds of cafes around the state, O.J.’s has a base of loyal, local customers who frequent the joint day in and day out. "They know what they’re going to get here," says head cook Owen, and he’s not just talking about his daily specials or Joan’s must-have pies. Owen left a corporate job some 20 years ago because the company "had stopped caring about the customer." At O.J.’s, he says, "We have a relationship with our clientele. They can come in and talk to us, the door’s open. Sometimes there’s more people in the back than in the front!" At Wendy’s Place in Minong, where knickknacks adorn wood-paneled walls and white curtains hang on the front windows, regulars sit at a large square table near the kitchen. "We call it the Coffee Table," says owner Wendy Holman and describes the groups that gather to get their daily fix of what we all need---each other. "No one ever comes to just eat," says Wendy. "They come to talk, to catch up on the news. A lot of the same crowd that comes for breakfast comes back for lunch." If cafes are like community centers for small town residents, travelers, too, love the friendliness as well as the homecooked flavors. Here, tourists also learn about local lore. Many cafes display historical photographs, decorate with antiques, or serve ethnic specialties, revealing the traditions and events that shaped the community and make it unique. Familiar and singular, cafes invite us in, bring us together and nurture our sense of history and heritage. And the food ain’t bad, either. Recipe for O.J.’s Barbequed Chicken Recipe for Norwegian Meatballs |
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"Hmong Flavor: An ancient cuisine is spicing up the state’s culinary culture." (Excerpt; first published by Wisconsin Trails magazine, Sep/Oct, 1997) By Terese Allen Farming is central to Hmong culture, which dates back thousands of years in China. Living self-reliantly in remote mountain villages, the Hmong learned to make the most of the foods they grew. They developed a frugal cuisine based largely on rice, a great variety of vegetables, and simple, vibrantly flavored preparations. As immigrants to Laos in the 19th century they continued to farm and cook using traditional methods, but incorporated many Southeast Asian ingredients and food customs into their lives. Most of the roughly 150,000 Hmong people who live in the United States today reside in Wisconsin, Minnesota and California. They arrived after the Vietnam War and came mainly from Laos via refugee camps in Thailand, fleeing a government bent on revenge for Hmong support of American troops. Not surprisingly, the Hmong agrarian legacy has made its mark at farmers’ markets in Eau Claire, La Crosse, Madison and other towns where Hmong growers supply luscious-looking, affordable, and--to many shoppers--exotic produce. Like immigrant groups before them, they season the mix that has long been Wisconsin’s culinary heritage. To learn more about Hmong foods, stop by one of their market stands or visit an Asian grocery store. Some cooks will recognize ingredients like Chinese cabbage and cilantro (fresh coriander) but few are familiar with bitter melon, which looks like a pale green wrinkled cucumber; used like zucchini, it has a bitter flavor much appreciated by Asian cultures. Stalks of slender green lemongrass are sliced and added to soups or boiled chicken for a fragrant, lemony touch. (Remove them before serving). Hmong cooks use greens abundantly, including Chinese broccoli, mustard greens and the young prunings from most any vegetable plant. Seeds shipped from the homeland yield unusual varieties of squash, cucumbers, beans and eggplant. Green onions and fresh herbs flavor many dishes. At mealtime, families place bowls of spicy dipping sauce strategically around the table. The sauce is often made with Thai chili peppers--a mere inch or two in length and almost overpowering to the Western tongue. Rice is fundamental to the Hmong diet. "No matter what else you eat, if you don’t have rice, five minutes later, you’re craving it," says BeeYang, a Hmong-English translator. "You’re not full without it." His family eats long-grain white rice at breakfast, lunch and dinner, whereas sticky or "sweet" rice is an occasional treat. This short-grained, glutinous rice has a mellow taste, can be white or purple, and is sometimes sweetened with sugar to serve as a dessert. Recipe for Hmong Spicy Carrot Salad Recipe for Chicken with Cucumber and Bitter Melon |
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"Asparagus: The Spear-It of Spring" (Excerpt; first published by Wisconsin Trails magazine, May/June 1997) By Terese Allen Asparagus, like many crops imported from the West Coast, appear in Midwestern grocery stores months before the local season. The tall, stalwart spears stand in close formation as if they were royal soldiers ready to battle the winter blahs. These green-tipped troopers look inviting, but we buyers balk, knowing that home-grown tastes better and is generally better for us. Alas, compared to vegetables like apples and tomatoes, which have long and abundant local harvests, Wisconsin-grown asparagus is rare, making the spears of mid-winter particularly hard to resist. But during spring, there’s no reason to resist. Although few in number, area growers stand ready to supply as much of this spring favorite as possible. The most recent figures available from the Department of Commerce’s Census of Agriculture (1992) show commercial production of asparagus in Wisconsin at a mere 381 acres; luckily, most of the harvest is sold locally---at farmers’ markets and roadside stands and to grocery stores and restaurateurs. Home-garden asparagus and the wild stalks gleaned from rural patches add to the precious supply. Freshness is important in asparagus because the vegetable quickly loses moisture, nutrition and flavor once it has been harvested. For home storage, it’s best to treat the stalks like flowers: clip off the ends, stand them in water, then refrigerate. Never leave asparagus in water at room temperature or the tips will open and it will toughen. Asparagus deserves the royal treatment. Long, lean, and delicately flavored, it has an inherent elegance that dignifies any dish. A simple bread pudding takes on souffle status and even plebeian pickles get sophisticated when asparagus is used. In stir-fries, pastas and salads, asparagus mingles with the masses but never loses its regal bearing. To peel or not to peel is the question of many cooks. Peeling makes the stalks more tender and maximizes the amount of usable stem, but it isn’t necessary. As to which tastes better, thick or thin stalks, it’s a matter of personal preference. For even cooking, however, uniformity is the answer. Everybody agrees that the most important thing when it comes to this queen of vegetables is properly cooking it. Mushy, overcooked asparagus is as disgraced as fallen royalty. Recipe for Grilled Asparagus with Mustard Vinaigrette Recipe for Asparagus Dillys |
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Order Wisconsin Trails magazine:
Please contact info@wistrails.com |
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Recipes from Terese Allen’s Articles: |
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All images, copy, pictures, recipes and content of this page (except book covers) are ©1991-1999 Terese Allen. |