local, but far from home

We've been in Colorado this entire week, on the Western slope, to be exact.

I've been searching out local food stuffs and found a few interesting items.

• Organic, local grape juice made at a winery nearby
• Local (Southern Montana) wheat flour, ground in town
• Lamb

Surprisingly, the lamb is hard to get.  To buy Colorado lamb, in Colorado (CO has the fifth largest sheep population in the US), you have to go to the last remaining butcher in town (Quality Meats) and special order.  You may ask, what's all the lamb in the grocery story.  I went to the biggest store in town and saw cryovac after cryovac of Icelandic lamb.  * sigh * 

Anyhow, the lamb made a delicious meal, even if all the sides were made with California vegetables.

Oh, and if you're ever on the Western Slope, look out for the Palisade Brewery IPA.  Pretty delicious stuff.  And I here that DeBeque Winery practices sustainable growing practices.  The gewurztraminer is nice, not great, but nice.

Back to sustainable Brooklyn, tomorrow....

Cabbage ROCKS

yes, you heard me. if you buy a great, local cabbage and treat it with love - it's delicious.

today, i shredded a savoy cabbage. i took out garlic confit from the fridge.

in a cast iron pan, i sauteed the confit. then added the cabbage and a 1/2 cup of water. reduce heat and let cook for 1 hour.

it was sweet and slightly bitter. DELICIOUS and just 2 ingredients.

local winter beers ... not so good

Long a fan of Anchor Steam Christmas Ale, I thought, why not try the local winter seasonals. Winter seasonal is a loosely defined style that allows the brewer to add spices and herbs into a bottom-fermented (ale) beer. And the co-op had 5 different winter ales, so why not try them all. I mean, beer is 92+% water, so having it shipped from Utica is better than San Francisco, right? Well, not when they all taste terrible.

I had the following:

1. Great Divide Hibernation Ale - the best of the worst. It was malty and rich, but had a slightly acrid smell. The major problem with this beer, IT'S FROM DENVER!
2. Stoudt's Winter Ale - the best of the locals. it was neither here nor there. just a muddy cocoa-ish ale.
3. Smuttynose Winter Ale - drinkable but not worth it. Though, if you find their wheat wine, then that's worth it!
4. Brooklyn Winter Ale - pretty bad, meager ale. It's supposed to be in a Scottish Ale style. This is the rare time when I will say this about beer; I MAKE A BETTER SCOTTISH ALE.
5. Geary's Winter Ale - the worst of the lot and the only one I poured down the drain.

oye vay. i guess i can go back to the better local beers or try to enjoy the Anchor Steam now and then - a special treat.