Food + Drink Blog

• Kelley Jordan

With a blistering summer behind us, and an equally brutal week still to come, the weather gods must have been feeling kindly this weekend when they bestowed an almost perfect day on the Moto GP and our favorite food event, Dig-IN, held at White River State Park.

Eighty degrees, sunny and dry was the order of the day as five thousand hungry gastronauts strolled the grassy thoroughfares of this, the second iteration in what looks set to become an institution on the culinary calendar.

With thirty restaurants and an equal number of wineries and breweries displaying their wares, there was plenty to eat and drink. Another couple of dozen artisan vendors rounded things out, offering a vast array of gustatory delights, from maple syrup to bread to lamb and everything in between.

With the attendance as vast as it was, there were naturally some long lines. Longest of all was for Aaron Butts of Joseph Decuis, an Indiana destination restaurant that food lovers should visit at least once. Almost as long was the wait for Tallent’s restaurant from Bloomington, but there seemed to be few, if any complaints about any delays. Lines moved smoothly as hungry punters enjoyed the beautiful day.

Surprisingly, the shortest waits of all were for the beer and wine tents, which is no reflection at all on the generally high quality of the various offerings. In all, a great event, and an excellent introduction to Indiana’s culinary delights.

Slideshow

Dig-IN 2011 (Slideshow)

Sunday's Dig-IN event at White River State Park featured 31 restaurants, numerous wineries, artisan farmers, craft brewers and more.

By Kelley Jordan

Click to View 17 slides

Going Local Week, Sept. 5-11

With the plethora of big grocery stores and chain restaurants in Central Indiana, I know as well as anyone how easy it is to overlook the wealth of local produce in Indiana. I promise you, there’s great food grown right here! Sometimes you just need an excuse to make a change for the better. Hey, what better time to make a change than the annual Going Local Week (Sept 5-11).

Started by Indy food blogger Victoria Wessler in 2008, Going Local challenges Hoosiers to include locally grown ingredients in every meal for one week.

Participating won’t just boost our local economy (although that’s a great incentive in itself!). Locally grown, seasonal foods spend less time in the transition between being harvested and being sold, so they tend to be of better quality and flavor. Because transportation and preservation expenses are lower than produce from out of state, local fare tends to be less expensive, too. And Going Local Week can also be a wonderful opportunity just to try new recipes and appreciate Indiana as the wellspring of culinary offerings it really is.

I only recently started buying local foods on a regular basis and while it can seem like a challenging task at first, there are numerous opportunities around the city to buy and eat local foods. Farmer’s Markets are abundant throughout the summer and fall and can be found all over Indianapolis and the surrounding areas.

For those more apt at tasting dishes than cooking them, many restaurants in the area are proud to buy from local purveyors. Eating at those establishments encourages other restaurants to do the same. Some nearby farms even give tours to the public. It’s a great way to teach families about where food comes from.

For a listing of farmer’s markets near you, recipes featuring Indiana produce and information on the Going Local campaign, go to www.goinglocal-info.com. NUVO readers, enjoy the bounty of fall in Indiana and participate in Going Local with me!

• From Seldom Seen Farm site
• Funk and daughter Laila

Ferree explains in the most recent post: "She is making small steps toward becoming more aware although she is not yet responding to requests from the doctors, therapists or family on what she should do. (Those of you who know Kelly well realize that Kelly has never been one to immediately respond to these types of requests.)"

Funk and Ferree were familiar to attendees of the Broad Ripple Farmers Market, where the two offered their wares every Saturday, and the Indy Winter Farmers Market. The couple has two children.

As one might expect, small-scale farmers usually don't have substantial medical benefits. So the farming and music community is putting on a couple shows to help raise money for Funk's medical costs.

The first event comes Friday, Aug. 6, from 5 p.m. at Traders Point Creamery. Chad Mills has organized what he's calling his "Album Release Party Version 2.0," following on a release show earlier this year at Birdy's for his album "Make the Door." He and openers Cara Jean Wahlers and Grover Parido will donate the entirety of the door and any CD sales to the Kelly Funk Memorial Funk.

And the second is a benefit dinner hosted by Slow Food Indy to take place Aug. 22 from 2 p.m. The menu includes lobster, mussels and corn on the cob, and the cost is $75 per person.

• Avocado margarita image courtesy Aldaco's website

Sure, you can spill over the sides of La Piedad’s deck, drinking crappy Corona and eating desiccated fajitas, or you can go to Adobo and maybe get some drink specials on a weirdly spiced Michelada or the same old Mexican import beer. But remember, the Mexicans objected to French colonization, not necessarily their good taste.

Honestly, you’re better off having your own party. And not with the same ol’ margaritas, either. It’s time y’all learned how to make some other Mexican drinks.

So here are a couple of recipes I’ve gleaned from South American cooking stars. First up: Iliana de la Vega, the local foods champion and thus Alice Waters of Mexico City, now a teacher of the Culinary Institute of American in San Antonio. Her Cocktail Donaji is a traditional recipe long enjoyed in her native country.

The less traditional recipe comes from Blanca Aldaco, a dear friend of mine. Born in Jalisco, the birthplace of tequila, she owns some smashingly successful restaurants in Texas. Don’t green at the sound of an avocado margarita; it’s sweet, but not cloyingly so. More like a margarita milkshake.

RECIPES:

*
Cocktail Donají
Iliana de la Vega
Serves 1

1 sal de gusanitos (chile and worms flavored salt; Saraga might have)
1 oz. of mezcal
2 oz. freshly squeezed Orange Juice
½ oz. Grenadine
1 oz. slice orange

Frost the rim of a Margarita or martini glass with the sal de gusanitos. Mix the mezcal with the orange juice. Reserve. Place ice cubes in glass, and pour the mescal-orange mixture to the top of the ice. Carefully add the grenadine to the glass (this should go to the bottom).

Garnish with orange slice.

• By El Rio
• Camarero! Camarero! There's a virgin on my tort.

There's little reason for this timidity, other than a lack of knowledge. Some things, like making a good chicken stock from scratch, are relatively easy, but time consuming. Other things are quick. Like making homemade tortillas.

So I'm going to show you how. Because tacos are the lazy man's sandwich. Make some of these babies ahead of time and put 'em in the fridge, then throw in any sort of grilled meat, veggies and salsa, and people will call you guero in no time.

Quick homemade tortillas

The directions are right on the package, but just to assure you how easy it is make tortillas, I'll give you a brief overview so you actually get to Saraga or Whole Foods on 86th to buy the corn masa flour.

You'll need:

• Indy's Kitchen will be for rent by-the-hour soon.

Unless you’re planning to exchange your consumable goods for Monopoly money, Indy’s Kitchen will allow you instant access to the licensed kitchen the Board of Health requires you to cook in commercially.

So far, William Powell, co-owner, says people have already signed up to use the kitchen-by-the-hour once it opens sometime in May or early June.

The space could have myriad uses: farmers market food preparation, catering space, baking. You can even rent storage rack space so you don’t have to haul your ingredients back and forth.

The kitchen has two full commercial kitchens with a shared cleanup area. One kitchen is more suited to catering setup and one is more for pastry-making. The catering kitchen has a 10-burner range with two ovens underneath, a deep fryer, food processor, mixer and more. Giant worktables are available, too.

But what excites me most is the possibility for tasting events. Powell says there’s a rentable dining room as well, so if someone wanted to have, say, a chef dinner, they could do it there.

Powell is owner of Monon Coffee Company, my favorite coffee shop in all the land. A mini version of the coffee shop will operate from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., Monday through Friday. Cause let’s face it: Who wants to cook that early without coffee?

Info:

Indy’s Kitchen
317.690.9089
2442 Central Ave.
Indianapolis, 46205
http://www.indyskitchen.com/