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News From North Pond
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February 2009
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CURRENT/UPCOMING (NP) EVENTS
Welcome Back to the monthly newsletter and our eleventh(!) year of service here on the pond. In what many consider the doldrums of winter, we're looking forward another new season, new menu, new governor(!) and new administration to brighten our path. A few events and goings-on about which to inform you:
· The Green City Market has moved year-round and will next be open the Saturdays of February 7th and 21st inside the green confines of the Nature Museum. February's market theme will be "Meat and Potatoes", so consider stopping by to pick up some spareribs or spuds, T-Bones or tubers to cook up a storm when the weather outside is frightful. For more info, click here.
· Valentine's Day this year falls on the 14th of the month. Okay, so maybe it's the same as every  other year but that's no reason to leave your honeypie-sweetie out in the cold. Consider the warmth of our dining rooms to shoot that arrow through his/her heart. We're offering a special six-course menu in Cupid's honor, and though our availability is already quite limited, we will be offering the same delicious menu as a tasting option both the Friday before and the Sunday after. Surely your love's not so date-specific, is it?
· This year I've also taken over the helm - yeesh - of the Chefs Collaborative National Board of Overseers, so I'm proud to inform you of an exciting campaign we're rolling out: the Yes We Can campaign. That's right, we're letting know any who'll listen/sign on that we're serious about our food and our country's food future. Read the letter hundreds of concerned chefs and food professionals have already signed and sign on yourself before it heads off to Washington in the next 60 days.
· And back here at the restaurant, I remind you our winter hours have begun to take effect. We're open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday evenings and for brunch each and every Sunday. Please check our website for updated menus and/or to make a reservation to join us. Despite the sometimes-brutal cold and snow outside this season, it's really the most magical time to enjoy the comforts and delights of our own warming house on the pond. North Pond
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Tips from the Green Market
Maple Syrup
Between the lousy economy and limited sunlight this month, we should perhaps be talking about bread and water rather than something equally appropriate but more exciting: maple syrup (not that we might not consider the delicious topic of bread in the future). Depending upon the region in which you live, tree-tapping begins as early as this month, in the "sugar bush" - or areas in which red, silver, black or (the esteemed) sugar maples thrive. Box Elder and Birch trees can also be tapped, but they tend to have less sugar in the sap than their mapled relatives.
Seventeen states produce the viscous elixir, yet their production schedule varies with the climate. The trees store the sugar, converted as starch, in their roots over the summer. Yet when the daytime temperatures begin to rise above freezing, the root structures loosen and convert the starch into sugar, sending the sweet sap to the buds by way of the trunk. It is then that the sugar tappers must take advantage of the voyage. Taking the sap does no more long-term damage to the tree than donating blood does to a human. All that's necessary after collection is a reduction by evaporation or boiling; and depending upon the time of year and sugar content of the sap, it requires 40-80 gallons(!) of sap to produce one gallon of syrup for your table. Wow.
We're currently using some remarkably delicious, dark amber, smoky nectar supplied by our good friend George from Wisconsin,  who personally reduces the sap over a campfire, to the point of crystallization. We're serving it incorporated into a meat reduction alongside a soft-boiled egg with browned sweetbreads and roasted dates.
For more info
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Recipe of the Month
Leek, Celeriac & Munster Frittata, Chioggia Beet Vinaigrette
Serves four
 1 large Chioggia (or other) beet, peeled
and quartered
2 c orange
juice salt and white pepper 8 whole farm
eggs, beaten
¼ c whole milk
1 small bulb
celery root, diced 1/8" cubes
1 medium leek
(1.25" dia.), whites only, diced ¼"
4 oz. Muenster
cheese, diced ¼" cubes
1 T whole butter
1 Tvegetable
oil
1 T olive oil
1 t champagne
vinegar 1 Bibb lettuce
head, washed and torn
1 t pine nuts,
toasted
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Preheat four 3"
cast iron skillets.
2. In small pot, bring beets to boil in orange
juice with salt and pepper; reduce to simmer and cook until beets soften.
3. Remove from heat and puree in blender until
smooth, using some of the cooking liquid.
4. Combine beaten eggs with milk. Reserve.
5. Heat butter in saucepan. Add celery root and
leeks, season and cook until they soften.
6. Lightly oil skillets with vegetable oil. Divide softened vegetables
evenly amongst them and ladle four ounces of egg mixture in each.
Sprinkle diced cheese in each pan and place them
in oven for 8 minutes.
7. Combine one tablespoon of beet puree with olive
oil and champagne vinegar. Season.Toss bibb lettuce with vinaigrette and toasted
pine nuts.
8. When frittatas puff and lightly brown, remove to
serving plates, placing atop pools of warm Chioggia beet puree.
Gently place salad aside/atop frittatas, leaving
eggs and beet puree partially exposed.
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Charity of the Month
Gary Comer Youth Center
773-358-4070
 Each year, we accumulate donations through our wine program for four deserving organizations. Their inclusion on our list is based on their work to help preserve diverse food choices, contribute to the local community, support local farmers, and help commit to a more sustainable future. This month we highlight another worthy contender.
In the Grand Crossing neighborhood on the city's south side lies a little-known program doing big work. Back in 2006, the Gary Comer Youth Center added an 8,600 square foot rooftop garden to help kids from the nearby Paul Revere Elementary School learn about the possibilities of little green growing things and big blue skies. They explore the seed to table cycle in all seasons, learning about science - and about life. In a neighborhood traditionally known more for its toughness, the kids are learning instead about tender and healthy greens.
GCYC
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Tips from the Fish and Meat Market
Oysters
As many consider what to eat this winter - especially on Valentine's Day! - why not consider that magical mollusk, the oyster. Though hardly native to our parts, the oyster is a delicious, versatile, healthy and responsible seafood choice almost any time of year.
Some interesting basic facts about this bivalve:
· Farmed/Cultivated oysters account for 95% of the world's oyster consumption
· Five species are commercially cultivated in the U.S.: Eastern, Pacific, Kumamoto, European Flat and Olympia
· Unlike many aquaculture operations, oyster farms actually benefit surrounding waters and habitats since the animals are filter-feeders.
· While oysters can be enjoyed and safely consumed 12 months of the year - despite the old adage about only in months with "r" - I like the East Coast ones best in the coldest months, when they're dormant, fattened up, plump and sweet from the gorging they've done prior to shut-down.
· Oysters have genders but it's virtually impossible to tell one from the other (especially from the outside shell) and they may change gender more than once during a maturation period of one - four years.
· Oysters can grow (up) on sea beds, suspended in water, or on rafts or floats.
 · The legendary Cassanova was claimed to have started each meal with 12 dozen oysters. What???
Finally, let me leave you with the words of French poet Leon-Paul Fargue, who likened eating them to "kissing the sea on the lips". How wonderful.
For a great book devoted to the subject, check out Rowan Jacobsen's A Geography of Oysters
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Drink of the Month
Dreamsicle
This month, treat your dreamboat to our dreamsicle.
1.5 oz Reyka (or favorite) vodka
1.5 oz orange juice, pulp-free
1.5 T spiced simple syrup (recipe follows)
1/3 c whipping cream, whipped to "light peaks"
orange zest
Mix vodka, orange juice and simple syrup in shaker with ice and strain into a martini glass. Garnish generously with whipped cream and orange zest.
Spiced Syrup:
1 c water
1 c sugar
2 cloves, whole
2 star anise pieces, or the equivalent broken
1 cinnamon stick
½ vanilla bean, or ½ tsp extract
Combine water and sugar over medium heat to dissolve. Add spices, cover pot and steep for 30-45 minutes. Strain, chill and reserve.
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Farm of the Month
Heritage Prairie Market (630.443.8253)
Just over a year ago, Heritage Prairie Farm outside of Geneva, Illinois began four-season  farming, a system mastered by Maine farmers Eliot Coleman and Barbara Damrosch. Most impressively and importantly to us, the method allows gardeners Katie and Mike to produce some of the most exceptional-tasting spinach and baby greens in the midst of these coldest days, by growing in hoophouses which use solar energy to heat the soil. You, too, can taste the difference by visiting their farm or buying their product at the Green City Market.
Heritage Prairie Farm
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Another Pithy Article / Think Piece
(or two)
In the spirit of the season -- are you a lover? Or a hater? Of cilantro, that is. Are you a "supertaster"? Take a listen here to get to the root of this intensely debated herb.
Here are some easy and approachable ways to make a difference:
50 Ways to Eat Green
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