Hennepin County Local Food System Profile

The production, distribution, consumption, and disposal of food are critical parts of our economy, community well-being, and family health.

This profile provides an overview of existing data across a broad scope of food systems activities in Hennepin County. It also documents how key indicators are changing over time and serves as a baseline for community leaders and educators to identify opportunities for growth in our food system. Data for this profile was compiled from existing secondary data sources including the U.S. Census of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

[where: Sustainable Food, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minnesota]

Better Beer Society University now Enrolling Students for Spring 2013

Starting today, you can become a better-educated beer drinker.

Last fall, I wrote a bit about Minnesota’s Better Beer Society, founded by cicerone and all-around beer enthusiast Rob Shellman.

The Better Beer Society works with breweries, retailers, distributors, and consumers. Small breweries that don’t have resources for a market representative can use the Better Beer Society to represent their products in markets outside of their home state. In addition to consulting, the Better Beer Society offers brown bag tasting events and a Better Beer Society University—a “course” for members of our ever-growing beer-consuming public.

According to the Better Beer Society, Better Beer Society University is an educational weekly “beer school” for both beginning or advanced beer enthusiasts. Students will learn various aspects of the beer industry from hop farming to beer distribution. Naturally, a beer university is better with beer, so students can expect to have a chance to sample some exclusive and rare beers like Cantillon Fou'Foune and aged Surly Darkness. And to top it off, there will be field trips, including exclusive visits to local breweries.

Open enrollment for the spring semester starts today, February 6. Weekly classes will begin on March 6, and the semester will run for 12 weeks. Their “campus” will be located at Republic (West Bank location), just as their fall semester was. Tuition is $75, which breaks down to about $6 per class. Tickets for the semester can be purchased online.

Want to catch a glimpse of what you can expect as a Better Beer Society University student? Here’s some video footage of the final class/seminar of the 2012 fall semester, featuring guests Todd Haug of Surly Brewing Company, Pete Rafakes of Town Hall Brewery, and Chip Walton of Chop & Brew.
 

Cross-posted from: Better Beer Society University now Enrolling Students for Spring 2013 - Twin Cities Taste - February 2013 - Minnesota

[where: Sustainable Food, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minnesota]

Black Garlic: The Little Black Dress in My Kitchen

MARIE FLANAGAN

We recently hosted a raclette dinner party at our house, and while the toasty bread, melted raclette cheese, roasted potatoes, and tangy cornichons delighted, my secret ingredient, a lightly toasted bulb of black garlic spread on toast, utterly captivated me.

What is black garlic? Black garlic is simply garlic that has slowly aged without any additives—the cloves turn a very dark brown during the aging process. Some celebrate black garlic as a health food, due, in part, to the presence of allicin and diallyl sulphides in garlic. Others simply cherish the caramelized, umami flavor of black garlic. Black garlic is softer and sweeter than raw garlic, and it lacks some of the strong odor and pungency it has in its raw state.

So why did a bulb of roasted black garlic sidle its way in to our raclette dinner? I found a new local source for it. Blue Fortune Farm is a certified organic farm in southern Wisconsin, where farmers Mike and Karen are producing about 1000 lbs. annually of black garlic in a high-humidity warming oven.

“I was out in DC, and I had some black garlic at a Thai restaurant. I tried it, and it was great, but they said they were importing it,” said Mike from Blue Fortune Farm. “I had been growing garlic here, and made a commitment to start making black garlic.”

Last year Blue Fortune Farm planted five acres of garlic. Their goal is to grow 20 acres of garlic, but first they have a few other goals to meet, like purchasing a tractor, explained Mike from Blue Fortune Farm. 

I read that in Taoist mythology, black garlic was rumored to grant immortality. I’m no expert on immortality, but I do know that if you whip up a batch of pasta aglio e olio using black garlic, you’ll have a meal that your guests will never forget.
 

Pasta Aglio e Olio

4-6 servings
Preparation: 15 minutes

1 pound of pasta
½ cup olive oil
6-10 cloves of black garlic, crushed
Red pepper flakes
Salt

Bring a pot of salted water to a hard boil. Add your pasta (I like spaghetti for this dish).

In a separate pan, heat ½ cup of olive oil over medium heat. Add several cloves of chopped black garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook for 2 minutes, just enough to warm the black garlic in the oil. Set aside.

When the pasta is done cooking, drain it and toss it with the olive oil and garlic mixture. If you want to garnish it, add a bit of chopped Italian parsley and pecorino cheese.

Cross-posted from: Black Garlic: The Little Black Dress in My Kitchen - Twin Cities Taste - January 2013 - Minnesota

[where: Sustainable Food, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minnesota]

Hazelnuts for Minnesota’s Masses

CLEAN ENERGY RESOURCE TEAMS

When most of us think of hazelnuts (or filberts), we think of those round nuts in holiday nut mixes. Historically, hazelnuts have hailed from Europe or Oregon, and have made their way into beloved products like hazelnut liqueur (think Frangelico), or sweet spreads like Nutella. So you might be surprised to find smaller, bulk batches of locally grown hazelnuts popping up at local markets around the Twin Cities. As it turns out, there are two wild species of hazelnuts that are hardy in the cold north woods, and clever Midwestern farmers have figured out how to grow and market them.

Hazelnut Valley Farm is owned and operated by Norm and Mary Erickson in Lake City, Minn. They grow, harvest, and process hazelnuts with a little help from a nifty solar-heated greenhouse. Now, you can purchase their Minnesota-grown Hazelnut Valley Farm hazelnuts at Seward Co-op. 

Hazelnuts have a buttery, slightly sweet flavor and are said to be a good source of protein, unsaturated fat, thiamine, and vitamin B6. They can be stored for three months in your cupboard, or up to a year in your freezer. I’m eager to try my hand at a homemade version of Nutella. But if you’re interested in enjoying the nut in a simpler fashion, here’s a foolproof method for roasting them.

Roasted Hazelnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Coat the hazelnuts with a thin, even coating of olive oil.
Spread the nuts in a single layer on a baking pan.
Let them roast for about 8 minutes, stirring frequently.
Remove them from the oven.
Rub with a towel to remove the skin.
Lightly sprinkle them with sea salt, and allow them to cool.

Cross-posted from: Hazelnuts for Minnesota’s Masses - Twin Cities Taste - January 2013 - Minnesota

[where: Minnesota, Food, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, 55418]

Lindquist Family Christmas Sausage

At a holiday potluck this week, I snagged a slice of sausage that has a unique history in the Twin Cities─Lindquist Family Christmas Sausage. It’s a seasonal sausage link made in St. Paul, and its secret recipe is a Twin Cities legend.

The story goes that the sausage recipe was handed through generations of family members of Harry Lindquist, who was a butcher in north Minneapolis from the 1920s to the 1960s. I had an opportunity to speak with Dave Hansen, Harry Lindquist’s grandson (Hansen is a prolific photographer with the University of Minnesota’s Experiment Station and also operates the Hansen Family Tree Farm). According to Hansen, Harry Lindquist made and sold the Swedish-style sausage at his butcher shop during the holiday season. The Christmas sausage links he created became a yuletide tradition for his family, so much so that he continued making sausage for his family even after he retired.

Years went by, and Harry’s sons and grandsons were brought into the sausage-making fold, learning the recipe and techniques from Harry himself. By the mid-1990s, however, the family’s sausage makers could no longer keep up with the expanding family’s demand for the holiday sausage. So they consulted with a nearby sausage maker at Tim & Tom’s Speedy Market─Tim and Tom agreed not only to take on the task of making the family’s treasured sausage recipe, they also agreed to keep the secret recipe safe.

The sausage is so popular among family members that Hansen’s cousin in Reno, Nev. receives an express shipment every year. Hansen lovingly told the tale of his daughter, Britta, who requested Christmas Sausage for her only Christmas gift when she was serving in the Peace Corps in Bolivia. The family obliged, carefully packing and transporting some Christmas Sausage to Bolivia, where they cheerfully dined on it for three days.

These days, family members and the public can purchase the yuletide sausage links at just one market in the Twin Cities: Tim & Tom’s Speedy Market in St. Paul, where they’re making a mere 2,000 pounds of the Lindquist Family Christmas Sausage this year. It’s available for a limited time, and die-hard fans know that it sells fast, since it's so cherished by many in and outside the family.

Lindquist Family Christmas Sausage is a lean Swedish-style sausage made with pork and a bit of beef. It’s sparsely flavored with salt and allspice and wrapped in hog casing. Dave Hansen served it to me as his mother served it to him─baked at 350 degrees for an hour in the oven, and sliced on a plate without condiments. Hansen says it can be served on a bun, but he never─NEVER!─ate it that way at home.
 

Photo: Christmas dinner at David Hansen’s house, 1986. The family gathers around a pan of The Lindquist Family Christmas Sausage. From Left to right: Alice (Lindquist) Lundblad, Charlotte (Lindquist) Hansen, Janet (Lundblad) VanFossan, Trygg Hansen, Henry Hansen, Britta Hansen. Photo by David Hansen.
 

Tim & Tom’s Speedy Market
2310 Como Avenue, St. Paul
timandtomsspeedymarket.com

Cross post from: Lindquist Family Christmas Sausage - Twin Cities Taste - December 2012 - Minnesota

[where: Sustainable Food, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minnesota]

Mother Earth Gardens to Add Second, Nordeast Location

MARIE FLANAGAN

Residents in Northeast Minneapolis might notice some action this winter on the corner of Lowry and Stinson. Mother Earth Gardens, a popular South Minneapolis garden center specializing in organic gardening, sustainably-grown plants, and earth-friendly products, is working on the variance procedures to add a second store in the Windom Park neighborhood.

Paige Pelini and Karen O'Connor own and operate Mother Earth Gardens. They purchased the South Minneapolis business in 2007 and hope to open their Northeast location in April 2013, “even if it’s just a soft opening,” according to O’Connor. The Northeast location will have two buildings (a two-story building with retail and residential space and a single-story building with multiple retail spaces), currently occupying 2358 Stinson Parkway and 2314-2318 Lowry Avenue.

“I actually used to live in Northeast," said O’Connor. “We have a lot of existing customers who live in Northeast. It’s a similar demographic to our customer base in South─it’s an active community that supports the arts, gardening, and local businesses.”

So what can Northeast green thumbs expect from Mother Earth Gardens? O’Connor says their philosophy of sourcing and selling plants and products that have been grown, produced, and delivered in a sustainable manner will carry through to the new store. During the planting season, they’ll have as many as 50 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, extensive options of unusual edible and medicinal herbs, native plants, and rain garden plants. Their selection of annual and perennials will be sourced from local growers like Rush Creek Growers, Green Earth Growers, and Glacial Ridge Growers.

The indoor retail space at the Northeast location will be larger than the indoor space at their South location─on top of traditional garden center supplies and gifts, O’Connor says they hope to fill that extra indoor space with more supplies for urban farmers, from beekeeping supplies to backyard chicken supplies. And just in case you thought garden centers were only good for visiting in warm months, Mother Earth Gardens also hopes to offer free winter seminars, possibly partnering with theEastside Food Co-op.

Pictured above: Honey Grape organic heirloom cherry tomato (plant purchased at Mother Earth Gardens).

 Mother Earth Gardens, South Minneapolis location.
 Photos courtesy of Mother Earth Gardens, by Karen O'Connor

Cross posted from Mother Earth Gardens to Add Second, Nordeast Location - Twin Cities Taste - November 2012 - Minnesota

[where: Sustainable Food, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minnesota]

Upcoming Event Salutes Lake Superior's Sustainable Fisheries

An upcoming event, "A SALUTE TO LAKE SUPERIOR'S SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES," hosted by the University of Minnesota Sea Grant Program, spotlights the state's seasonal abundance of lake herring from Lake Superior and celebrates the people involved in managing, harvesting, studying, and preparing this sustainably harvested fish.

The second annual event will take place on Tues., Nov. 13 from 5-7:30 p.m. at the McNamara Alumni Center in Minneapolis. A cook-off and tasting event, the “Salute” celebrates the people involved in the success of Lake Superior’s fisheries. Some local Duluth chefs are making the journey to the Twin Cities to compete. Local chefs include Avery Cassar from At Sara’s Table Chester Creek Café and Scott Graden from the New Scenic Café. Admission for this event is $20. For Northland guests, Minnesota Sea Grant is providing a bus for transport at $10 per seat.

For more information about the “Salute,” visit the Minnesota Sea Grant events page here.