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MAY 2011
Santa Fe | Albuquerque | Taos A Taste of Life in New Mexico
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May 5 The Low Anthem presented by Heath Concerts 7:30pm $15 May 6 The Bill Hearne Trio 7:00pm $10 May 13 Songwriters Circle featuring Sean Healen, Jono Manson and Tim Wiford 7:30pm $10
M E M O R I A L DAY W E E K E N D
M AY 2 8 - 3 0 , 2 0 1 1 N O O N T O 6 P M D A I LY
Balloon Fiesta Park
$15/adult
S P O N S O R E D B Y:
live
May 15 Teri Lynn Browning & Andy Primm 7:00pm $15 May 21 Busy McCarroll and the Ambassadors of Pleasure 7:00pm $12 May 27 Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum 7:00pm $25 advance/$29 at the door 7 Caliente Road, Eldorado, Santa Fe 505-466-3116
INCLUDES SOUVENIR GLASS
Under 21 free w/parent or legal guardian. Entrants must have photo I.D.
entertainment
A L L T H R E E D AY S !
MILITARY MONDAY, MAY 30 $3 Discount for Military with I.D.
PRESENTED BY THE NEW MEXICO WINE GROWERS ASSOCIATION
T i c k e t s Av a i l a b l e O n l i n e ! w w w. A B Q w i n e F e s t i v a l . c o m
May 28 George Cole Quintet 7pm $17.50 advance/$20 at the door
Paninni Alpino Mediterranean & Italian
Pan Seared Rainbow Trout
Paninni Alpino Three course Pan Seared Prix menu RainbowMonday -fixe $19 This May... Friday 5-8Applewood Mother’s Day Brunch Trout Daily lunch specials Bacon
Grilled New Mexican Lamb Loin
New Menu inspired by availability of freshest local farm ingredients.
Linguine
Eggplant Spaghettini
Wine dinners every 3rd Thursday of every month.
Cuisine by Chef Owner Steven Lemon
Patio open
15 mins. from Santa Fe | 84/285 North, 86 Cities of Gold Rd. Between the Nambe Shop & Pueblo of Pojoaque Poeh Museum www.oeatinghouse.com
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Reservations 505.455.2000 Mon 5pm-9pm Tues Thru saT 11am-9pm Closed sunday follow us on
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Celebrate the mom in your life with brunch at the Anasazi Restaurant. Delight in a special menu offering just for her. Sunday, May 8 - 11:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Cocktails served after 12:00 noon.
ROSEWOOD INN OF THE ANASAZI ® SANTA FE
The Patio Opens Again
Experience life on the Plaza when The Patio opens its doors for the season. Al fresco dining, weather permitting. Special patio menu with full bar & wine selections. innoftheanasazi.com
Executive Chef Oliver Ridgeway • Live Music Every Friday Night 113 Washington Ave. - Santa Fe, NM 505.988.3030 Forbes Four-Star Award
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Gemini Farms Left to right back: Tristan Schipa, Teague Channing and Brett Ellison. Front: Katelyn Silson and Mike Nolan.
inside:
Buzz | by Patty and Christie pg. 06
What’s in, what’s out, what’s hot, what’s not. That’s the buzzzzzzz. At the Table | by Chef Johnny Vee pg. 32
There was a lot of excitement surrounding the choice of a new chef at Luminaria. So…who finally got the nod? And how does he measure up?
Erin Wade | by Ana June pg. 14
Erin Wade’s public persona is that of the businesswoman at the helm of her popular restaurant, Vinaigrette. We thought you’d like to meet the other Erin—a real farm girl. On Our Cover: Gemini Farms | by Gail Snyder pg. 24
Teague and Kosma Channing are two brothers living their convictions and following their bliss.
This month, wine writer James Selby visits two small independent grocery stores that have made a big commitment to their wine sections. Kaune’s and Rancho Viejo, stand up and take a bow!
North Valley Organics | by Barry Fields pg. 10 Minor Morgan is a farmer, educator and social worker. Best known for his work as the Executive Director of the 50-acre Rio Grande Community Farm in Albuquerque, he spoke to us about his life’s path from his own twoacre organic farm.
Talon de Gato | by Tania Casselle pg. 29
Still Hungry? | by Emily Ruch pg. 36
Adam Mackie and Steve Jenison are two familiar faces at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market—one’s a retired anesthesiologist; the other’s a former physician. We chronicle their rather unlikely journey, which ends at a farm in Apodaca, on the banks of the Embudo River.
Farmers have the cover—and the last word—in this issue. Our recipes this month come from four home cooks who have been featured in our magazine in the past few years to see what’s being served in their farmhouse kitchens.
Wines at the Market | by James Selby
pg. 18
May 2011 ~ P u b l i s h e r s Patty & Peter Karlovitz E d i t o r Patty Karlovitz P u b l i s h e r ’s A s s i s t a n t Elizabeth Clem A r t D i r e c t o r Jasmine Quinsier C o v e r p h o t o : Kate Russell A d v e r t i s i n g : Michelle Moreland 505.699.7369. Lynn Kaufman 505.417.8876. A d D e s i g n : mario@inksantafe.com P r e - p r e s s : Scott Edwards D i s t r i b u t i o n : Southwest Circulation L o c a l F l a v o r 2 2 3 N o r t h G u a d a l u p e # 4 4 2 , S a n t a F e , N M 8 7 5 0 1 Te l : 5 0 5 . 9 8 8 . 7 5 6 0 F a x : 9 8 8 . 9 6 6 3 E - m a i l : l o c a l f l a v o r @ e a r t h l i n k . n e t We b s i t e : w w w . l o c a l f l a v o r m a g a z i n e . c o m localflavor welcomes new writers. Send writing samples to localflavor@earthlink.net localflavor is published 11 times a year: Feb, March, April, May, June, July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec/Jan. S u b s c r i p t i o n s $ 2 4 p e r y e a r . Mail check to above address. © Edible Adventure Co.‘96. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used without the permission of Edible Adventure Co. localflavor accepts advertisements from advertisers believed to be reputable, but can’t guarantee it. All editorial information is gathered from sources understood to be reliable, but printed without responsibility for erroneous, incorrect, or omitted information. 4
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Photo: Kate Russell
ON OUR COVER:
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ALBUQUERQUE by Christie Chisholm
Fashion shows are fun. Afternoons of high tea can also be a pretty good time (maybe not, if you’re a lumberjack ...). The Friends of the Albuquerque Little Theatre are bringing you both in one ladylike explosion at the Tanoan Country Club on Sunday, May 1, from 1:30 to 5 p.m. A silent auction, raffles and a trunk show will also be on the day’s menu, with the fashion show proper, featuring designs by Laura Sheppherd of Santa Fe, starting at 2:30 p.m. Tickets to “Fashion to a Tea” are $50, and proceeds will help fund the restoration of the historic Albuquerque Little Theatre. 1081 Academy NE, 505.822.0422, www. albuquerquelittletheatre.org. Speaking of theater, there are a lot of great shows coming up this month, and since I can’t choose just one to highlight, I’m going to touch on a few of them. First up is For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, the inaugural production for the exciting new Rainbow Studio Theater Company. The new group is helmed by artistic heavyweights Cathryn McGill and Regina Dawley, who have impressive track records and hefty plans for the company, and I can’t wait to see what they do with this first show. It only runs through Sunday, May 1, so catch the 2 p.m. show if you can at VSA North Fourth Art Center. 4904 Fourth Street NW, 505.344.4542, www.vsartsnm.org. Tickets are $20; $15 for students and seniors. Next, don’t even consider missing Virtual Reality at The Filling Station. This is the first in a series of rarely produced one-act plays Mother Road Theatre Company will be putting on, and here are a few reasons why you should go: 1) Nearly everything I’ve seen from Mother Road has been fantastic. 2) The show, about two men hired to do some strange business, is written by Alan Arkin. 3) The two actors in this production, Chad Christensen-Brummet and William Sterchi, are two of New Mexico’s finest. Basically, the odds are stacked on it being great. It runs through May 19, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m. Tickets are only $10. 1024 Fourth Street SW, 243-0596, www.motherroad.org. Lastly, Grease is coming to Popejoy Hall. Do I really need to say more? There are five shows Friday through Sunday, May 13 through 15, and tickets run $35 to $55. 505.925.5858, www. popejoypresents.com/grease.
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To find out about other shows on stage this month, visit the Albuquerque Theatre Guild at www.abqtheatre.org.
| Grease at the Popejoy I love festivals. Especially art festivals. And this one, Kenny Chavez’ “Cinco de Mayo Folk Art and Music Festival,” is one of the cooler ones to be found in Albuquerque. On Saturday, May 7, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., celebrate the holiday with work by more than 35 local artists, live music from half a dozen bands, food (including Sanchez Taco Truck and Flamingo Steve’s Italian Ice), a costume contest (for Best Fiesta Dog) and a raffle. If you don’t know who Kenny Chavez is, he’s the recycle folk artist who owned Nob Hill’s In Crowd for nearly 20 years before it closed in 2003. Now occupying his old space is much-loved Masks Y Mas, which he helps manage and where you can still find his work. La Parada will host the event for the third year in a row. You know what else? It’s free. 8917 Fourth Street NW, 505.897.8203, www.shoplaparada.com.
Wine festival time has arrived. Celebrate it with tastings from more than 27 New Mexico wineries, the smell of spring grass, loads of food, arts and crafts, and a bunch they’re never mushy or overly juicy. They’re of awesome live bands. The Albuquerque perfect. And dipped in a little ranch, which Wine Festival takes over Balloon Fiesta comes on the side next to long slices of Park for Memorial Day Weekend, carrots and celery, it’s the best late-night Saturday, May 28, through Monday, snack around. Now that the weather is May 30, from noon to 6 p.m. each day. gorgeous and O’Niell’s Nob Hill patio— Felonious Groove and the DaddyOs take which is stocked with flowers and even the stage Saturday, with Red Wine and a small waterfall (I hear the one on Juan Nosotros stepping in Sunday and Victor Tabo is nice, too)—is open, sometimes Andrade and Ben Martinez finishing nothing feels better than a sitting outside off the weekend on Monday. Tickets are on a warm evening with a pint of IPA and $15 and include a souvenir wine glass. an order of fried pickles. I’m just sayin’. People under 21 are free, but have to be 4310 Central SE, 505.255.6782; 3301 with a parent or legal guardian, of course. Juan Tabo NE, 505.293.1122; www. And on Monday, military members get oniells.com. $3 off the price of admission. If you want to start your day of drinking with some You know what always makes you feel blood flow, Divine Proportion Fitness good? Helping children. And you know is hosting the “Will Run for Wine 5k” what makes helping children even nicer? midmorning on Saturday. And one more When you get to have a fun time doing neat thing: Parking is free. For more it. On Friday, May 13, the National information about the festival, visit www. Dance Institute of New Mexico is abqwinefestival.com, and for more details hosting its annual fundraising event, the on the 5k, go to www.dpifitness.com. “Put a Little Love In Your Heart Gala and Performance.” Starting at 6:30 Here’s a heads-up about a great p.m. at the National Hispanic Cultural event happening in early June. The Center, more than 500 kids from APS Albuquerque Aquarium and the Seattle will give a performance. Following the Fish Company of New Mexico are show, there will be food, dancing and live hosting the Sustainable Seafood Festival entertainment. Go home feeling good on Thursday, June 9, from 6 to 9 p.m. about yourself. Tickets are $100 for adults Seafood lovers are becoming more aware of and $25 for kids 12 and under. 1701 the environmental hazards of overfishing, Fourth Street SW, 505.246.2261, www. which is why events like this, which teach ndi-nm.org. people how to sate their culinary cravings without depleting the world’s oceans, are so crucial. Sample some tasty tidbits, listen to live music, watch a film, wander around the Aquarium and garden, and, most importantly, learn how to make sustainable choices. Tickets are $20. 2601 Central NW, 505.848.7180, www.cabq. gov/biopark.
| National Dance Institute of NM | Grease at the Popejoy I realize this is a strange recommendation, at least according to some people ... the nonpickle-loving people. And I realize that it’s not even all that new, although I’ve never written about it here. But O’Niell’s Irish Pub has an absolutely fantastic appetizer of fried pickles, and besides the random State Fair offering, I don’t know of any other place in New Mexico to find such a thing. O’Niell’s uses crisp, quartered dill pickles, and it must flash-fry them, because even though the insides are steaming hot, magazine.com
equipment, cooking supplies, tools and even some Western music. It’s been around for 28 years, but it just relocated to The Village Shops at Los Ranchos. Stop by and welcome it to the neighborhood. 6855 Fourth Street NW, Suite E2, Los Ranchos, 800.526.0482, www.wagonmound.com.
Wagon Mound Ranch Supply is a store my grandparents would love, and I mean that in a very good way. The two of them come from cowboy culture—building things off the land, raising a horse or two and always donning a well-loved pair of cowboy boots. Even in his 80s, my grandfather can shimmy his way up a telephone pole with nothing more than his belt and a little bit of might. Wagon Mound Ranch Supply embraces that culture as well, stocking its shelves with, as it says, things that complement the Western lifestyle—horse gear, camping
SANTA FE
by Patty Karlovitz patty@localflavormagazine.com There’s a new hombre in town. He was on the cover of Food & Wine magazine for “Best New Chef ” a few years back, and he’s also a perennial AAA Four Diamond winner. That’s big time. And now he’s here to make his mark in Santa Fe. I’m talking about one of my all-time favorite local chefs, Joseph Wrede of Joseph’s Table in Taos. He’s been on the cover of localflavor twice, and he’s one of the most creative chefs I’ve ever known. Thank you, thank you, David Bigby, for your nerves of steel in opening a new restaurant in this still-
| Chef Joseph Wrede Another new face in town creating quite a stir, especially among folks who know authentic East Indian cuisine, is Chef Paddy Rawal. He just opened his new place, Raaga, at 544 Agua Fria, where Mauka used to be. Everyone is as charmed by the handsome, outgoing chef as they are by the pristine flavors of his food. Our own Chef Johnny Vee ate there opening night and has been singing its praises ever since. Study up on the spelling of all those Indian spices, John, because we’re sending you back for more. 505.820.6440. A warm welcome to Executive Chef Eric Hall, who just took over the culinary reins at La Posada. Eric has spent most of his career in the West, most notably at The Arrabelle in Vail, Colorado, and the Grand Teton Lodge in Wyoming. If you’re interested in sampling his cuisine, I’ll be there personally on May 12 to introduce Eric, who is preparing a beautiful three-course luncheon for the SWAIA-Localflavor Artist Series. The six distinguished SWAIA Fellowship Award Winners who will be joining us for delicious food, wine and conversation on that afternoon are Dennis Esquivel, Veronica Poblano, D.Y. Begay, Felix Vigil, Marcus Amerman and Cavan Gonzales. The luncheon is open to the public, but seating is limited and reservations a must. You can call SWAIA (the folks who put on Indian Market each year) at 505.983.5220 for reservations. The cost of the luncheon is $60, with $30 of that going to SWAIA’s educational fund.
| Chef Eric Hall
Our tried-and-true chefs aren’t letting any grass grow under their feet, either. Wait until you see what Chef Matt Yohalem, of Il Piatto Italian Farmhouse Kitchen & Enoteca, is up to these days. He’s teamed up with Sarah Flori, owner of the Aztec Café, the homey, under-the-radar coffee shop that’s on—you guessed it—Aztec Street. Under-the-radar no more: Matt and Sarah have big plans for the place from top to bottom, inside and out. Matt will steer the menu to affordable local fare with an emphasis on sustainable from-the-market goods and lots of vegetarian choices. And, yes, Sarah will continue turning out her amazing pastries. The new look, designed by Ortega Concepts, (the same folks who did the stunning makeover at Il Piatto), is already in its first phase. They plan on serving breakfast, lunch and brunch at first, but Matt has his eye on that patio and wants to set up an outdoor grill to turn out some casual summer suppers come June. Matt on the grill? Count me in—love this guy’s energy and creativity! This is definitely the place to watch.
Photo: Jennifer Spelman
Photo: Kate Russell
recovering economic climate, for bringing back the beloved Palace Restaurant and most of all, for bringing such a great chef and great guy to Santa Fe. Welcome, Joe!
| Chef Matt Yohalem Saturday and Sunday mornings will never be the same at my house. I like to think that I whip up a great breakfast and it’s one of our favorite meals to enjoy at home. But if Chef James Caruso is cooking at his place--you can count me in! That’s right, Caruso is now serving weekend brunch at La Boca—and the opening date is Mother’s Day. The tempting offerings will include huevos flamencos (a cazuela of Spanish chorizo, potatoes, jamón Serrano, roasted red peppers and free-range eggs), churros con chocolate (cinnamon fritters with a chocolate dipping sauce), and tetillas (Spanish-style egg and sherrybattered toasts drizzled with dulce de leche and house-made candied orange syrup). Other treasures from Spain include Cava Mimosas, Blood Orange Sangría and La Boca’s twist on the Bloody Mary, Fino Eléctrico Sherry garnished with Spanish caperberries. It leaves me breathless. Serving 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Reservations 505.982.3433 or online at www.labocasf. com.
The Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association is putting a lot of time and energy into the brightest spot in the housing market, home remodeling. The Annual Home Remodelers Expo will feature some of our area’s finest builders and remodelers along with many of the suppliers and vendors that pros and do-it-yourselfer’s alike depend on. Whether it’s energy efficiency, a long dreamed of upgrade or increasing curb appeal, you’ll find great new ideas and smart solutions at the showcase. May 14 and 15 at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. And it’s free! Matt Ostrander, the new Executive Chef at Luminaria in the Inn at Loretto, is hosting a wine dinner on May 5 featuring celebrity chef Sara Moulton, who will prepare the first of a six-course dinner. (Sara, who regularly appears on PBS and the Food Network, is here in Santa Fe promoting her third cookbook, Sara Moulton’s Everyday Family Dinners.) The six-course wine tasting dinner will also feature five of our own local celebrities: Joseph Wrede of the “new” Palace Restaurant, Mark Connell of Max’s, Matt Ostrander and Andrea Clover of Luminaria and Chef John Vollertsen of Las Cosas and localflavor fame. Each chef will prepare a course that will be paired with wines from sommelier Natasha Aasgaarden. $95/per person. 505.984.7915. And in the madcap merry-go-round that defines Santa Fe’s culinary scene, there’s been a big change at the Rio Chama. Chef Russell Thornton, who originally designed the menu and dining concept at the legendary watering hole, returns this month to again take the helm in the kitchen. Thornton has been a key player for the Santa Fe Dining group, playing a notable role in the opening of Blue Corn, Rooftop Pizzeria, Sleeping Dog Tavern and Albuquerque’s Chama River Brewing Company. All eyes will be on him as he takes over this high profile kitchen, but my guess is that the easy-going Thornton will take it all in stride and do a fantastic job. Sweet reunion--after operating for the past three years as separate business enterprises, Stan Singley, Fred Cisneros and Max Myers recently announced that they have joined forces again. The reunion brings their restaurants, all longtime local favorites under one umbrella: The Pantry Restaurant on Cerrillos Road (serving up great comfort food since 1948), Los Amigos on Rodeo Road (a favorite with Southsiders) and The Flying Tortilla at Santa Fe Place (also
A Taste of Life in New Mexico
home of the Flying Flapjacks). Ms. Rocio Dominguez will be the managing partner. The reunited partners bring a hometown legacy to an area crowded with chains-and that’s a very big deal! Canyon Road, the crown jewel of Santa Fe’s art scene, will celebrate its first “Fourth Friday Art Walk” on May 27. There are more than 30 gallery openings scheduled for the evening, with live music along the way. It’s a summer street party— one magnificent mile long—and this is your personal invitation to attend! For certain fashionistas in this town (and I’m one of them), consignment is a religion. That’s why there’s such a buzz of excitement surrounding the opening of a new shop, Ooh la la! Consignment, at 518 Old Santa Fe Trail across from Kaune’s. Owner and manager Mercedee Shelton developed a sharp fashion sense at the International Fine Arts College in Miami, where she studied design and merchandising. The shop is accepting designer items for spring and summer, and there are no appointments necessary—or limits on how much you can bring in. (Ooh la la!) 505.820.6433. www.oohlalaconsignment.com. This spring, Chef David Jacoby of Back Street Bistro celebrated his 17th year of nurturing the good souls of Santa Fe with his wondrous soups. The blustery afternoon I stopped in he had just put stracciatella on the board—a classic Italian soup created with a light and delicate chicken broth, fresh mozzarella and the first greens of spring swirling on top. Magnifico! One of the best stracciatellas I have ever tasted. As I was enjoying my lunch, a customer stopped by my table when David mentioned that I was with localflavor. She wanted me to know that through her long battle with chemotherapy this past year she had eaten at Back Street nearly every day. She said that she could always trust the purity and quality of his ingredients and felt better just knowing that she was getting the very best in nutrition. As she was leaving, she and David exchanged a gentle goodbye, and you could see that they had both been nurtured by this special bond of friendship. Thank you for seventeen soup years, David. You truly do cook with your heart.
| Chef David Jacoby
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Wagon Mound Ranch Supply now lives in The Village Shops at Los Ranchos
6855 4th Street NW, all the way in the back! Offering you a great collection of “Western Lifestyle” items • Lodge Cast-iron Cookware • Enamelware • WesternWare Cookbooks •Arbuckles’ Coffee • Triple Creek • & Much More!
Monday - Saturday 9:30 - 5:30 505-341-2489 www.wagonmound.com
The ArT of r elAxATion AT l A PosAdA’s sPA
THE RED COUCH Jill Pankey 30 x 40 inches Oil The Gallery Collection at La Posada
RockResorts Spa® Rejuvenate your Mind, Body & Soul Signature Salon & Body Treatments Pool & Fitness Center Local spa memberships available
LA
Patio now oPen try the new Spring & Summer menu by all-new chef, michael meisel, featuring classic Southwestern flavors used in innovative and exciting ways.
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Reservations 505-954-9630 • lasposadadesantafe.com 866-331-ROCK (7625) • 330 E. Palace Avenue, Santa Fe Aspen, CO BeAver Creek, CO vAil, CO sAntA Fe, nM JACksOn HOle, WY rOdneY BAY, st. luCiA COMing in 2010 BreCkenridge, CO MiAMi, Fl lAs terrenAs, dOMiniCAn repuBliC
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505.819.2056 • buffalothunderresort.com
186451 BTR - Local Flavor May 2011 Ad_mech.indd 1
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Reunited
and it feels so good! The Partnership is restructured
&
We invite you to come in and try us again! Open daily from 6:30 am until 2:30 pm 4250 Cerrillos Rd. @ Santa Fe Place Mall Your Favorite Pantry Recipes & Service Visit us online at www.pantrysantafe.com
•The Pantry •Baja Tacos •Los Amigos & •The Flying Tortilla
North Valley
stor y by BARRY FIELDS photos by GAELEN CASEY
M
inor Morgan has lived with his family in Albuquerque’s north valley since 1993. In 1998 he began farming the land, naming his enterprise North Valley Organics, which he calls “an agricultural oasis in the middle of a sea of homes.” For the past two years, he has also served
as Executive Director of the nonprofit Rio Grande Community Farm. The 50-acre oasis in Los Poblanos Open Space, owned by the city of Albuquerque, is sustainably farmed by its 75 members. Morgan works full time as a farmer and still works part time as a social worker. This is his story. Morgan Minor has found his place in life. He sits on an old folding metal chair in the dirtfloor barn that acts as Rio Grande Community Farm’s office and storage shed, reflecting on the farm. “It’s not simply farming. It’s a socially transforming organization. It gives me inspiration that we’re creating a model of city planning for positive community growth.” The Albuquerque farm’s 57-year-old Executive Director, Morgan has a weathered face that looks at once kind, thoughtful and wise. He traces his story from a Dallas-born son of an attorney to organic farmer and agricultural activist, painting his history as a personal and spiritual journey. From his father, who often worked for trade when clients couldn’t afford to pay, he learned a strong work ethic and the importance of serving the disenfranchised. His mother’s sense of faith instilled in him a spiritual view of life and belief in the value of human existence. At the beginning of his first career, Morgan made furniture in New York City. When his work expanded into restoration, he left to study in Italy. After mastering the crafts of gold leaf and plaster restoration, he returned to Manhattan, where he restored furniture and public buildings. His business blossomed for 15 years, during which time he served illustrious clients such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “I call this my artist phase,” he muses. “I had a long
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beard. I’d rip up my IRS notices. I liked the manual dexterity of the work, the research, going to the public library.” Two events propelled him into the next phase of his life. He met his future wife, Sylvia, a clinical social worker whose professional life revolved around helping others. At the same time he began having health problems from the toxic chemicals used in his work. When the opportunity came, he took a position as a rehabilitation counselor, teaching furniture restoration to forensic psychiatric inpatients. He continued doing the physical labor he enjoyed but now in the role of teacher (and minus the problem chemicals). “It enriched my life and opened my experience to the potential of individual human beings.” King of Hearts, which portrays psychiatric patients as more sane than those waging war, became a pivotal movie in his life. “What struck me was seeing these wonderful people who at the same time were deeply disturbed. There was a humanity I was able to touch.” His five years as a vocational instructor (from the ages of approximately 30 to 35) changed Morgan and, with his wife’s ongoing influence, convinced him to pursue a new career. He became a social worker, obtaining a Master of Social Work degree. It was also the period when he first became interested in Quakerism. “I came to understand what’s enshrined in the Quaker faith: We walk on this earth relating to that which is of God in everybody.” Morgan sees this period of his life as transitional. “At that point it wasn’t about community. It was about the value of the person, not larger societal issues. I was still an introspective person who didn’t see the bigger context.” Although his vocational instruction program had won awards, it was shut down when a new rehabilitation director was upset that patients with histories of violence were using sharp instruments that could double as weapons. He left his job for a two-year stint in a supported vocational program for psychiatric patients. The fact that the program he had founded had been so easily obliterated led him
to become “aware of community and the roles agencies can play in community. You have to fight for progressive programs.” Morgan and his wife decided to leave New York City in the early 1990’s to provide a better environment for their two-yearold daughter. The couple had often visited New Mexico, since his father owned a home in Santa Fe. “We fell in love with New Mexico, the idea of space.” They moved to Albuquerque, where they both pursued their social work careers. He landed a job with the state’s Children, Youth and Families Department, while she started working for the Albuquerque public schools, jobs both of them still have (although he has cut back to half-time). As far removed as that path might seem from farming, Morgan, who tends to see interconnections, says it’s not. “In the context of a lifetime, it was preparation for what I’m doing now.” The couple wanted space, so they moved to the North Valley and bought a house next to an empty two-acre lot. The way he tells it, he basically woke up one day and decided he wanted to farm the land. “It was God’s will, destiny,” he says. His sense of reverence is palpable as he talks about the hand of providence in some way guiding him to that spot, to that decision. Ten years ago Morgan became a Quaker, attending the Religious Society of Friends in Albuquerque. Spiritually, he’d been moving in the direction of Quaker beliefs for a long time. He also discovered On Agriculture, by Rudolf Steiner, the transcendental philosopher who originated biodynamic farming. He adopted Steiner’s views: All life is united in one Godhead; life energy comes through the food we eat; and the cycles of life and death begin with the sun. “That’s how the spiritual piece connects for me. Divine presence manifests itself through plants, and farming is a divine enterprise.” The Morgans developed North Valley Organics, transforming the two acres they bought into a certified organic
APRIL 2011
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Serving You Since 1993
Indoor Garden Supplies Grow Lights Hydroponics • Organics | Morgan Minor and his wife Sylvia Alvarez farm, following their mutual calling even while they both kept their day jobs. Their farm turned into a stepping stone to something larger--the Rio Grande Community Farm. Morgan says that managing a 50-acre community organic farm “was part of a divine plan to get me where I am now. Every skill I’ve ever used, from being a state bureaucrat to craftsman, I use now.” Friends he met at the Quaker meetings, who had helped spearhead the community farm, introduced him to the Rio Grande Community Farm. “I came down here, and basically I fell in love. It was sort of like a bolt of lightning hit me.” It’s no wonder, because Rio Grande is more than just a farm. Aside from the well-known Maize Maze, which attracts the most visitors, it offers everyone who becomes a member a place to grow their crops in a community environment. One of their programs, Share the Harvest provides organic vegetables to nonprofit organizations that serve meals to low-income families. And a new Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) initiative will provide fruits and vegetables directly to vulnerable families. Whether you call him an agricultural social worker or a socially conscious farmer, Minor Morgan takes on the roles of farmer, teacher and social worker simultaneously. “My whole life has been in preparation for this job. It’s my mission on earth. We’re doing public farming on public land in the public interest in a sustainable manner, both in terms of the farming and organization.” One might envy Morgan his sense of certainty and the way he’s created a meaningful life that combines his social conscience, spiritual awareness, love of farming and impulse to educate. Yet he sees nothing special about himself. “All of us are here for a divine purpose, to do something that contributes to society, to do something positive for everybody.” The fulfillment that comes from discovering where one belongs, he believes, is open to us all. To learn more about the Rio Grande Community Farm go to their website at www.riograndefarm.org. For information on Morgan Minor’s farm go to www.northvalleyorganics.com.
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Experience Chef Gharrity’s Modern, Sustainable Cuisine Infused with Fresh, Local and Seasonal Ingredients LIkE US On FaCEbOOk FOr UpdatES, SpECIaLS, and FInd OUt what ChEF GharrIty IS USInG FrESh FrOM thE FarMErS MarkEt.
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story by ANA JUNE
e d a W Erin
photos by GABRIELLA MARKS
E
rin Wade’s Nambé farm is home to a curious cast of characters.
There’s the large flock of what Wade calls “ridiculously hormonal” chickens ranging freely over the property. They keep the pests down, roost in the trees and sometimes break into the house. Four very large pigs root around in a sturdy pen above the driveway. They spend their days taking mud baths and arguing with a bold pair of ravens over savory tidbits of slop. Charlie, Wade’s “egg-suckin’ hound,” pokes around in the shadows looking for wayward chicken eggs.
Finally, there’s Hopkins, a little orange cat that showed up on the farm one day and decided to
stay. Hopkins is named after poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. She follows Wade around the farm, wagging her long striped tail and basking in the sunshine. She’s a cat that thinks she’s a dog. It’s a bright morning in late March, and the air is warm. Wade stands in a beam of sunlight wearing yellow rubber boots and a red tee shirt. She has a trucker’s hat with “Pojoaque” written on it in airbrush cursive that she’s pulled down low to shade her face. Her smile is bright, nonetheless, as she regards her cat. “My dad calls her Anthony,” she says with a laugh, “and I yell, ‘Not that Hopkins!’” But there’s more to this farm than creatures great and small. In a coyote-fenced garden are rows of greens—lettuce and cabbage and kale—still sheltering beneath cloud-white cloth, since the nights are cold. Wade uses these greens in her signature salads at Vinaigrette, the restaurant she opened in November 2008. Above the garden is a long greenhouse where the more tender plants— tomatoes and micro greens—are getting an early start. In all, Wade has roughly two acres under
cultivation, with imminent plans for expansion. “The story is that I had too much produce, and so I decided to open a restaurant, but that’s a really bad reason to open a restaurant,” she muses. “I mean, you’ll kick yourself until you’re blue if that’s your reason!” In truth, she always wanted to design and run a restaurant. “I love the dynamism, the energy,” she says. “My mom is a great cook and designer, so I think it was actually sort of in me too.” Fresh out of high school, however, Wade thought her future would look very different. When she began her studies at Harvard University, she did what a lot of first-time college students do: chose an academic path of least resistance. “I was going to be a surgeon,” she says. “I got into a good school, and I was good at math and science, so it made sense.” After completing all of her pre-med requirements, however, she had an epiphany. She didn’t want to be a doctor. “I finally let myself wonder what I wanted my days to be, what I wanted my life to be,” she recalls, “and I realized that I wanted to be more
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Erin Wade
creative.” At the beginning of her junior year, she switched her major from pre-med to English. “I was doing fine with pre-med, but that wasn’t enough.” She laughs then adds, “I loved biology lab, but I hated organic chemistry. I always thought I was going to blow something up!” After graduating with an English degree, she decided to try something else. Fashion. She took a job at Harper’s Bazaar, in New York City, but quickly learned that though she loved fashion, she didn’t want to be on that side of things. “It’s a crazy world. Really catty,” she relates. “I quickly realized that I wanted to be on the design side instead.” Her next stop: Milan, where she studied fashion design for a year. But though she loved the school and enjoyed her experience in Milan, Wade hit yet another roadblock on her journey to self-realization. “I had to feel that what I was doing meant something,” she says, “so I ended up deciding that fashion wasn’t the thing, and I had to tease out what was the thing.” 16
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She found the very beginning of that thing in Milan. “I was inspired by the whole cultural attitude toward eating well, which is the opposite of the American attitude that we should feel bad about things that taste good,” she relates. “The Italians have a lack of guilt about things, and that was refreshing.” This refreshing spark of inspiration propelled her back to the States. Her family had just purchased the Nambé property, and Wade decided to settle in and revitalize the place with the idea that they could turn it into a vacation rental or a bed and breakfast. “The property was in need of a vision and rehabilitation and creativity,” she says, “and it had the potential to embody the things I loved most about fashion design: bringing imagination to life, planning and sketching and creating and then watching my imagination materialize. It suddenly felt right.” Things morphed from there as Wade worked to tease out her passion and organically discover that thing that she was meant to do. It didn’t take long. Beneath the sweeping New Mexico sky and expansive arms of old cottonwoods that shade the magazine.com
property, Wade became reacquainted with the “tree hugger” side of herself. “I had ten acres and a pent-up urge to get my hands in the dirt,” she says. “I was still bringing that over-achiever, Type A energy of the rat race along with me, but I realized I needed to stop and think and figure things out.” After so many years in a city, she was tired of the crowds and the concrete. Living under the starstruck skies of Nambé helped clarify the path that Wade wanted to walk through her life—the path that Wade had to walk through her life. “It was always in my mind that we should grow something on this land, be it lavender, grapes or peaches. Then that, too, became a fluid process of trying out different things, and one that ultimately melded with the restaurant coming into the picture,” she says. The “restaurant moment,” as Wade calls it, came when she was alone in Nambé with only her dogs. She started making and experimenting with salads because they represented healthy, nourishing and loving food. “This was really important to me at the time, just taking care of myself in that way,” she reflects, “so these were not your average salads. They were
awesome.” Wade loved coming up with new flavor combinations and ideas. “For me the genius of a salad is its capacity for endless innovation.” Endless innovation is also a sentiment which— if you follow Wade’s own timeline backwards from Nambé through Milan, New York and Boston… back through fashion design, English classes and pre-med seems a fitting way to describe the trajectory of someone so young, so driven and so inspired. Endless innovation is exactly the thing that helped Wade integrate all the elements of her life and experience to create the meaning she was looking for. Now 30, Wade has been running her farm and restaurant together for more than two years. During the peak season, she grows at least 70% of the produce for the restaurant. What she can’t grow at any given time she buys from the Farmers’ Market, her Nambé neighbors or through Just The Best, another local company. “I would love to do 100% with the farm,” she says, “but there’s always something we’re not able to provide.” Soon, Wade plans to add more double-dug raised beds so that she can grow even more, and she’s actively working
on ways to extend the growing season. “Whatever we can do to lengthen the season, we’re doing that,” she says. Growing (and buying) organically is critically important to Wade. Though the farm is not officially labeled organic, she follows all the appropriate guidelines. As she puts it, “we’re organic without the label.” “I couldn’t care less about that,” she says, “I have so much paperwork in my life with the restaurant, that I’d rather shoot myself in the toe before I would go do that. I know what we do, and our customers know what we do. We don’t use any chemicals whatsoever.” And every day Wade drives to Santa Fe with the lettuce, arugula and micro greens for her signature salads with catchy names and a huge local following. “We don’t have a lot of cold storage, so I’m cutting the greens every morning and driving them to the restaurant in my Mini Cooper,” she says, laughing. “I need a truck! I’m like the one person who needs a truck!” There’s little else Wade needs, though. She has her chickens and her pigs. Her dog and poetic little
cat. She has her restaurant. And she has her farm. Doves call out from the tops of cottonwoods, and raven shadows slice across the winter-blonde earth as the birds glide over to settle in the pigpen. Through all of this Wade walks, coffee mug in hand and Hopkins at her heels, inspecting the acequia, the chickens, the garden. And though she still has goals, still has ripe new ideas for her future, by all accounts she is living the dream. Living the thing. “I love it,” she says, as she contemplates the synthesis of her farm and restaurant. “It’s like the tangible combination of what were intangible elements. To want that symphony of things and to create that…it’s hard, a lot harder than I realized!” Hopkins streaks through a sunbeam, golden in the light, as Wade takes a sip of her coffee and smiles. “But,” she says finally, “I’m glad I didn’t know what I was getting into!” Erin Wade’s restaurant, Vinaigrette, is located at 709 Don Cubero Alley in Santa Fe. 505.820.9205. It’s open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. www.vinaigretteonline.com.
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at the market story by JAMES SELBY photos by GABRIELLA MARKS
eginning in January of this year, localflavor has been featuring a different independent Northern New Mexico wine shop in each issue. In part, this series was conceived as a way to showcase the personalities and unique qualities of these locally owned businesses—as well as highlight their strengths. But then it got more interesting. We discovered within this vigorously competitive field a collective championing of the same kind of sustainable, organic, farm-to-table standards for responsibly produced wine that are applied to our foodstuffs. This month, we pick up the series by shining a light on a small family-owned grocery store with wine selections that are anything but small in scope or stature.
Rancho Viejo Village Market
O
ne year ago Jane and Jay Winter opened Rancho Viejo Village Market, a pristine emporium nestled within a commercial center on curvy Rancho Viejo Boulevard, linking Highway 14 and Richards Road beyond Santa Fe Community College. For the Southside of Santa Fe it fills a niche. Smartly displayed on blonde-wood shelves in the corner of the market is an impressive, global sampling of well-made wines, including wares from important producers, popular brands and must-have spirits and beer. You’ll find beans from neighboring Aroma Coffee, fresh Plaza Bakery breads, gourmet food items, artisan olive oils, hand-made greeting cards, daily papers and general staples, all congenially purveyed. The Winters have created a country store in urban clothing.
| Jane Winter
Jay Winter, a tall, dapper man of middle years, stands by the counter reflecting on the process of opening. “It’s been enlightening. I have newfound empathy for anyone in a startup business, including us,” he says wryly. For the Winters, whose family has owned Blue Chip Insurance Agency in Santa Fe since 1966, the business at the foot of a picnic-perfect, tree-lined park was only meant to be an investment. But when a local grocer decided not to build across the street, Jane and Jay stepped in to provide a market. “There isn’t another store for miles,” says Jay, “and we’ve seen solid support from the
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residents. That’s key.” What’s been tricky is being in a location not on the way to anywhere—unless it is. “Every day,” he tells me, “someone says, ‘I had no idea you were out here.’” Conspiratorially, to avoid embarrassing his wife standing nearby with a customer, Jay adds, “The real reason people come in here is Jane. They walk up to me and say, ‘Where’s Jane? I need a bottle of wine.’ She remembers what wine they bought and what they were eating.” Since meeting the seemly Mrs. Winter more than a year ago when nothing stood in the store but her,I’ve learned she’s composed, humble and assiduous in her approach to business. The market is a reflection of her: tasteful, pleasantly appointed and elegant in a practical way. Adjusting a strand of well-cut hair behind her ear, Jane says evenly, “Some days are better than others, but we’ve seen our sales slowly increase. My goal is to move away from some of the convenience items and expand our wines and spirits. It’s so much more fun to sell Pinot Noir than potato chips.” What makes this small market stand out is their long suit of offerings. If you want to ogle dozens of Cotes du Rhône, this isn’t your destination. But, if you’re comfortable with a smaller selection of say, a Sancerre, a Pinot Gris from Willamette Valley, a Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, or a Junmai Daiginjo sake without feeling like you need to be a sommelier to figure it out, this could be your place. Walk in on any given Friday from 5 to 6:30 p.m., and you’ll find the Winters pulling corks or putting out a flight of tequila. A recent tasting featured wines supplied by Crawford Malone, a local businessman who brokers wine from some of Napa Valley’s top producers, including Burgess Cellars, a second-generation winery in St. Helen founded by Tom Burgess, in 1972. Along with son, Steve, Burgess makes estate wines from grapes grown solely on the family property. The 2007 Merlot (a steal at $22) from the Triere Vineyard, near Yountville, is seamless: redolent of black cherry, plush as melted chocolate, with a firm tannic backbone. Despite the slander of Merlot by the movie Sideways, there are magnificent examples out there, and this is one. Jane and Jay dispensed tastes in small plastic cups, hailing many guests by name. The evening at Rancho Viejo Village Market had the ballyhoo and warmth of a community gathering. Rancho Viejo Village Market is at 55 Cañada del Rancho, Santa Fe, 505.474.2828. www.ranchoviejovillagemarket.com. They’re open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Home of the $99 boots
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Northern New Mexico’s Favorite Choice Competitive Prices Largest Selection Friendly Staff We also carry over 20 varieties of keg beer FINE WINE & LIQUOR
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Tel: 505~438~2877
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EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OILS The Spanish Table offers over 30 first cold press olive oils from Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia, France, Greece, & Argentina. Available to taste before you buy! We also carry Paella Pans, Burners, Rice, Saffron Tagines, Couscous, Spices, and Cookbooks Jamon Serrano, Chorizos, Cheese Sherry Vinegar, Olives
The Spanish Table
109 N Guadalupe, Santa Fe, New Mexico Mon - Sat 10 am to 6 pm; Sun 11 am to 5 pm (505) 986-0243 www.spanishtable.com www.spanishtablewines.com
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You, too, can volunteer to join our fabulous twiceweekly lunch team. Just call Susan at 505-982-6611. Compliments of localflavor magazine
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The
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Unobstructed Views of the Sandias
A Sample of Our Menu Items Pureed Lentil and Pancetta Soup Coppa di Testa croquette
Two Hour Egg with Polenta Two Ways
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Sous vide striploin, celery root and golden raisin kugel, thumbelina carrots, foie gras hollandaise
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2401 12th St. NW (I-40 & 12th) 505-724-3510 | IndianPueblo.com
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A
wild thought occurs to me in the midst of interviewing Gemini Farms owners Teague and Kosma Channing. Sitting with them around their kitchen table, I’m scribbling madly in a mostly hopeless attempt to track the conversation when suddenly I think, “What if Thoreau could’ve been neighbors with these guys? He would’ve loved hanging out over here!” Erudite, well-spoken edge-walkers, Teague and Kos share with the famous idealist an engaging straightforwardness and the refreshing disinclination to suffer fools gladly. And, like Henry David, the two brothers are unabashedly, fiercely passionate about Nature and Self-Reliance.
| Left to right back: Tristan Schipa, Teague Channing and Brett Ellison. Front: Katelyn Silson and Mike Nolan.
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As they talk, Kos and Teague, along with Jack, their extra pair of hands, finish breakfast. Everything on their plates, from bread to potatoes to sausage, was grown, raised or baked right here. Typically, trips to the grocery are rare. Besides the vegetables they grow, they also raise goats and pigs and dairy animals; they bake their own bread in an horno; they make their own cheese and sauerkraut and sausage. “I believe deeply in the gifts of Mother Nature,” says Teague. “Everything’s right here for us, and all we have to do is display our dedication, love and appreciation. We’re log jammed in this period of history. We’ve forgotten who we are. For thousands of years, people communally grew food together. We need to keep that alive.” “The Chinese harvest with their footsteps, not with chemicals,” adds Kos. “Small farms use human input—it’s a multilayered experience, learning how to work with each other and the seed. What we want to do is help people learn to do this, then go off and start their own farm. A six month A-to-Z farm school and you don’t have to pay for it!” Which is an extremely generous gift considering that over the past nine years, Teague and Kos have had to teach themselves from scratch pretty much everything they’ve learned about farming. But not about loving nature. Nature, for both brothers, is their ally, their refuge, and their ticket to freedom. Growing up, says Teague, “we knew the great outdoors as our playground.” “Yeah,” Kos agrees, “as kids we needed lots of space to go run and explore!” Their earliest childhood years were spent in the creeks, fields, meadows and forests of rural Massachusetts; then, in the ‘80s, the family moved to Santa Fe. “New Mexico is more rootsian, more ruffian, than other places,” Teague goes on. Especially back then, when the Eastside, where they lived, was still relatively undeveloped,
farms
story by GAIL SNYDER p h o t o s b y K AT E R U S S E L L
and the dead-end dirt roads gave way to meandering orchards and tangled wilderness. In addition, they spent many childhood summers with their mother’s side of the family in a rural Polish village. Fondly, they describe losing themselves in the countryside, fishing with their cousins, while all around them people dug potatoes and hauled produce in horse-drawn wagons. So maybe it wasn’t so much farming, per se, as an identification and connection with nature, a yearning to stay outside as much as possible, that’s always been in their blood. Asked how they chose this place, just off the High Road to Taos, Teague says, “We picked each other”—“we” meaning this land and the brothers. Kos adds, “It was love at first sight.” They’d come in search of a place they could make their living on the land. It was the latter part of 2002. Inspired by younger farmers they’d met at the Farmers’ Market in Santa Fe, they’d helped them out with harvesting, which, as Kos points out, is a “bountiful, beautiful time to be on a farm. Really, though,” he continues, “it comes down to the eating. We experienced the taste, the quality, and we said, ‘We can do this!’” Teague was fresh out of college; Kos had recently graduated from high school. The land, outside the tiny village of Las Trampas, belongs to Jeff Kline, father of a high school friend. “The Rio Trampas runs through it!” says Kos exultantly. “That’s a special thing—and this is all national forest land around us.” Teague adds, “We’re extremely grateful that he has this beautiful piece of paradise that we get to lease.” It wasn’t a farm when they first moved here, just a house and the land. But Kline, founder of the Self-Reliance Foundation, is of their ilk; his interest is in documenting elder locals’ knowledge of traditional methods of subsistence culture as it was still practiced in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Gemini Farms was small scale that first year. “We started with a basic one-acre garden,” Teague goes on. “You could count on your fingers and toes what we planted: corn, beans, squash, potatoes.” “The corn and the squash kind of sang to us,” Kos interrupts. So they continued to expand those crops and a few others, selling at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market. “But we had to fight for a space there,” says Teague. “It’s pretty competitive. Which is understandable—a lot of those guys are older farmers, retired, and they love getting to do this. But where’s the future of farming if you don’t make space for young guys like us?” Along the way, they got to know their neighboring farmers, whose families had worked the land there for generations. “We’re gringos, but we connected with them by speaking Spanish,” Teague continues, Kos nodding. “There are certain words related to farming that don’t directly translate into English.” This gave them a better appreciation of local farming customs. “One of our neighbors gave us seeds for pumpkin squash of the Hubbard family. It’s Ojo
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Sarco seed that he improved on, never been commercialized. He’s since died but we’re still planting that squash to this day—people love it! We’ve got some pumpkin squash pies in the oven right now!” In recent years, they’ve begun to produce more food and so have branched out to doing restaurant and grocery store sales as well. In fact, “we’re talking about producing greater volumes of fewer crops, just for the sanity of our own lives,” as Teague puts it. Because they built a huge root cellar into the side of a north-facing hill some years back, they can grow larger amounts of cabbage, pumpkin squash, potatoes, garlic, carrots and beets, stash it there after the fall harvest and continue to sell through the winter months, thereby farming only during the summer. Another friend from high school, Brett (“he’s our third brother”) started out working here, learning the ropes, then went on with his girlfriend to start a small sister farm plot in Chimayó, the two of them borrowing equipment from Kos and Teague as they need it. “They’re in their second year now—Brett’s been a solid contributor all along!” Kos says. It’s an idyllic life they’ve carved out here for themselves. Along with the root cellar, they’ve built several new straw bale living structures, pole barns, hoop houses, a sweat lodge and an outdoor kitchen, meanwhile clearing fields for crops and building up the already-beautifully-fertile mountain soil. Part of their original vision included working with mule teams; now more than half the work is done with mules. Teague has a collection of various sizes of authentic Amish walking plows, bought either new or at auctions. In the process of making all this happen, “we’ve become Jack-of-All-Trades,” says Teague. “There are so many forgotten crafts of the past—thatching roofs, making wicker….” “All the things that’re related to being a farmer and living on the land,” Kos interrupts. “Kos has become quite a mechanic,” Teague interrupts back. Kos goes on, “We fix all our equipment, do our own plumbing and electricity. If we hired jobs out, we’d have to get second jobs ourselves to pay for it!” Besides friends and interns, the brothers host an annual visit of the third-grade class from the Santa Fe Waldorf School to Gemini Farms. The kids stay for several days, camping out, milking goats, weeding, moving rock, and helping to make the big meals Kos and Teague provide them. “They also get to play. We take them down to the river and on hay rides, play a lot of games,” says Teague. “We’d like to do more outreach with youth,” Kos says, “especially 14- and 15-year- olds.” “Small farmers can have an impact in creating food security here in the Southwest,” Teague goes on. “Why be such addicts? Kids are encouraged to be hooked on TV and video games in our culture. When the mainstream removes youth from outdoor experiences, there’s only a slim chance any of them will want to get into farming.” They begin rhapsodizing about all the incredible opportunities that being outdoors provides (“This Earth is so grand!”): bike rides, bird song, walking outside on a summer’s evening in pitch darkness. And working with the plants themselves. “There’s this plant energy—” “Yeah, it infuses you—” “It’s all around you, in the soil, the plants, the sun and air and water—“ “It’s on your skin, your skin breathes it into your being—“ “You want to keep it with you a while, when you wash it off, you feel stripped.” Suddenly: “Hey, the pies!” “We forgot! They’re probably burned by now!” Teague pulls out four gorgeously golden pies. “One’s sweet, the other three’re savory. Want to try some?” Delicious—steamed potatoes, garlic, red chile, onions, sage and thyme, baked into silky pumpkin custard, perfect crust, piping hot. For a few minutes, the kitchen is quiet except for the scraping of our forks.
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© photography: Kitty Leaken from “Cooking with Johnny Vee”
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Talon de
Gato s t o r y b y TA N I A C A S S E L L E p h o t o s b y K AT E R U S S E L L
“I spent 20 years working in a room without windows,” says retired anesthesiologist Adam Mackie. He’s certainly making up for it now. Working the Talon de Gato farm with former public health physician Steve Jenison, he gets as much open air as he can handle.
Talking to the duo in Apodaca, a tiny community on the Embudo River near Dixon, it becomes clear that their path from being physicians to farmers was a gradual one.
PROTECTING NEW MEXICO’S NATURAL TREASURES
The Trust for Public Land is working to create a 570-acre refuge minutes from downtown Albuquerque. Plans for the Price’s Dairy land include an outdoor classroom and access to the Rio Grande Trail. The Trust for Public Land— conserving land for people in New Mexico since 1982.
To learn more about TPL’s work around the state, visit tpl.org/NewMexico.
| Adam Mackie and Steve Jenison Photo: Don Usner
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Steve and Adam moved from Seattle to New Mexico 20 years ago and in 1998 were living in Santa Fe when a friend bought a property in Apodaca and suggested they check out the adjacent land and farmhouse for sale. They visited one weekend, said, “Yeah, interesting,” and drove back home to Santa Fe. They took another look the next weekend, and the next, and after four consecutive weekends took the plunge to buy it. They weren’t ready to move their home north from the City Different yet, and they had no experience in farming, but Adam started growing food on a 1,000-square-foot patch of the land, just for their own consumption. “I’ve been growing food to eat since I was a child and in Seattle had a pea patch in a community garden,” says Adam. “We didn’t buy the land with the intention of farming, but it became the obvious thing to do. One of the motivations was that we don’t eat meat, so you want really good vegetables, because you can’t hide bad veggies under a slab of
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steak. I’d go to the supermarket and come out with an empty basket because nothing looked good.” The next step came in 2003, when they began selling at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market. Adam was on the market’s board, but he recalls that this move was a huge leap for the nascent Talon de Gato farm. “There’s a big difference between growing for yourself and growing for market, but I was retired and I don’t play golf.” Steve, who has fond childhood memories of helping his grandmother on an Iowa farm, also thought setting up a booth was a great idea. He still worked as a public health physician for the New Mexico Department of Health, but he dove in to help sell at the Farmers’ Market. “I love going to market; it’s one of my favorite things. Talking to people for hours about food, it’s like a party.” Both were still commuting between Santa Fe and Apodaca until they moved full-time into the renovated farmhouse in December 2007. “There’s commuting, and there’s commuting with a truck full of perishable vegetables,” observes Adams with some feeling. “And Steve was working in Albuquerque, so in the morning I’d go one hour one way and Steve one hour another.” Since Steve retired last year, he’s gotten more involved with the growing as well as the selling. “I’m cheap labor,” he says, acknowledging that his first harvest had its tedious moments. “Small tapas peppers take all
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day. You start at six in the morning and spend twelve hours picking peppers.” Despite a few rueful jokes, there’s no sense of regret about exchanging the more cloistered life of a doctor with the grittier life of a farmer. When I ask what the couple’s medical colleagues make of it, Adam quips: “I still have to work hard, but they’re jealous that I’m in a cash business and I don’t have to deal with insurance companies.” In fact, the duo sees this work as an extension of their previous careers. Steve is convinced that to improve public health, it’s vital to inform people about the quality of food, the quality of the environment and how the two are interrelated. “You’re directly improving people’s quality of life,” says Adam. Not just by growing nutritious food, but in the social aspect of the farmers’ market, where people chat with strangers and share tips on how to cook the produce. Adam notes that if you work in a cubicle, visit the drivethrough and shop in a supermarket, you can go days without having a proper conversation. “It’s bad for the spirit,” he says. “People interacting at the market together, cooking
together—it’s all good for health.” He also thinks his scientific and biological training transfers well from the medical field to the farm field. “You test, observe, reconsider, analyze and, hopefully, improve as a result of those observations.” The biggest lesson was discovering by trial and error what he could grow. “The first year the climate was benign, and I got away with some things that I wouldn’t now.” They now cultivate three of their five acres, and crops include arugula, spinach, broccoli rabe, butternut squash, wild asparagus, leeks, onions, garlic, shallots and peppers. “The rhubarb that I planted just for myself has become very popular,” says Adam. It was once a more common local crop, but the tradition has been lost, and the farmers are used to customers exclaiming that they haven’t seen rhubarb since their grandmother in Taos grew it. “The best thing is having a successful market, having other people appreciate what you’ve grown,” says Adam. They also give away spare eggs from their 12 hens, or Steve trades with the Blue Heron microbrewery in Rinconada. The exchange rate is a dozen eggs for half a growler of beer. Steve himself is a keen brewer and built his own hop yard with poles from locust trees to bear the vines. “They’re good for poles, because they don’t rot.” Listening to talk of non-rotting poles,
rows of cabbages wiped out by flea beetle and pepper crops ripped out by the roots in the wind, it’s hard to picture Steve and Adam in their former incarnations as doctors. They seem at home discussing their commitment to preserve Talon de Gato so it can continue to feed people, as so much of New Mexico’s irrigated land gets sold for development. “And you never get it back,” says Adam. Still, there were moments of decision about how far to invest in this “borderline economic” farming, with the expense of a tractor, new greenhouse and a drip irrigation system. “That tractor was a major purchase,” Adam notes, “but Steve pushed me over the brink and then I had to justify having it, and here we are.” The apparently indefatigable Adam also launched the Dixon Seed Exchange. A few dozen people attended the first exchange in 2003. Last year more than 500 people came from New Mexico and beyond. “Seed exchanges are gaining a lot more attention because of the rapacious behavior of industrial seed companies,” he says. His load is eased now, with the help of Steve—and two summer interns working the farm. “When I was doing it all on my own, I’d be silly tired by the end of the day.” They hadn’t planned to have interns, until a farmers’ market customer decided that her granddaughter in the UK would be better off at Talon de Gato than the farm where
she and a friend had planned their internships. Adam and Steve agreed to give it a try, expecting two interns. Instead, a group of three turned up from England. The experiment obviously worked out, as they joined the WWOOF and ATTRA networks and will be using more interns. “I’m quite happy to spend the rest of my life here,” says Steve. Though neither of these guys waxes too lyrical, he praises the early morning and evening light on the Truchas Peaks, while Adam says he enjoys Monday evenings when they irrigate from the Acequia de Apodaca, “watching the light on the water.” As this happens to be a Monday, Adam keeps checking on the clock. It’s nearing 2 pm, the point at which Talon de Gato’s ten-hour watering rights begin, and he’s not going to lose a minute of opportunity. We leave the cool kitchen of the century-old farmhouse and head through the Talon de Gato greenhouse, built on to the back of the house. It’s filled with thousands of seedlings, drenched with light from panes of glass two stories high. I’m tempted to ask Adam if these are windows enough for him, but he’s gone already. Outside he opens the acequia, and precious water bursts forth, flooding two channels down to the waiting crops. Chickens cluck contentedly in the warm afternoon sun, and a vibrant green globe willow offers a promising hint of spring. “Born again with new hope,” says Adam, gazing over his fields.
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table
at the H
ow does an artist know when he is ready to have his first public showing? What gut instinct does an actor sense that makes him brave enough to take on Broadway? Or a boxer that he’s tough enough for the Vegas ring, or a cook that his palate is sharp enough to assume role of Chef—ready to put his talent on a plate and menu? I started with just that question when I sat down with Matt Ostrander, the newly crowned Executive Chef of Luminaria, at Inn and Spa at Loretto. Here’s a guy who worked his
way up the cooking ladder, comfortably playing the role of line cook and sous chef in a multitude of local restaurants. I wanted to know, “Are you ready to be at the top? Ostrander possesses a boyish quality that belies his 38 years. Though I had met him on several occasions during his tenure in some of my favorite establishments, I didn’t know much about him. He seemed like one of those reliable cooks who popped up here and there, cooked slightly under the media radar, traded jobs without scandal or upset and seemed happy, I supposed, in a secondary role backing up the culinary star. Over a tasting menu in the handsome Luminaria dining room, I planned to learn a lot about what it takes to get to the top—to the “Number One Wok Position,” as a friend of mine puts it. To mix up the proceedings I decided to invite along a couple of cronies not so much to help with the interview but to give me a couple of other perspectives on the food at hand. Dana Ortega, Marketing Director for the hotel, asked to sit in, really as a friendly gesture. She admitted that since Ostrander was new at the media game he might need some coaching (he didn’t). Santa Fean editor Devon Jackson dropped by briefly but missed dinner due to another engagement, and Santa Fe Reporter
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columnist, web editor and food writer Zane Fischer joined in to add an edge to the evening. Fischer tells it like it is, and I have to admit I admire and respect his writing flair, his way with words and his chutzpah. Dining with him challenges me to sharpen my critical palate and stay on my culinary toes. Not wanting to intimidate Matt I tell him we are there to support him and egg him on; he relaxes and, I think, even enjoys showing off for our table—good practice for his new position. So in response to my opening question, Matt replies, “I have spent my entire career preparing for this opportunity. I think I am finally responsible enough, my palate is ready and I have learned the necessary management skills to take on this position.” “Good answer,” I think to myself. Ortega may have done some behind the scenes coaching, which is smart. Ostrander begins, “As a teenager I had attended a military school in Roswell. I was a bit of a hellion when I was young, but there I learned about discipline. We had to press our uniforms every day, and we actually took a two-year etiquette class that included how to do white-glove food service. It actually helped me early on in this industry. My first job was a busboy at the La Fonda Hotel.”
| UK Organic Salmon with Purple Thai Rice and Micro-Green Nasturium Salad.
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with Matt Ostrander story by CHEF JOHNNY VEE photos by GAELEN CASEY
After La Fonda, Ostrander did stints in the kitchen at The Compound, (pre-Kiffin) and Geronimo, where a pre-Distefano chef named Gina Ziluca offered him a position in the pantry. “I guess I was cute enough by then to get the chance,” the now 38-year old chef admits. “When Matt Yohalem opened Bistro 315, I worked with both him and Louis Moskow, who was Matt’s sous chef. I interviewed with Matt, who had me audition. He said to me, ‘Your prep skills suck,’ and then added, ‘but see you tonight.’ Matt taught me about persistence and learning the importance of technique and food flavors, finding your cooking style and that if a dish doesn’t come out the way you want it to, don’t serve it. Along with that, Louis made sure I understood the basics of cooking, the fundamentals and to pay attention to what you are cooking, with details and focus. They are my most important mentors.” Along the way, Ostrander also spent time at the stoves at La Casa Sena, Santacafé, Rooney’s, Sunrise Springs, and Quail Run. No wonder he looked familiar. His experience at Luminaria began three years ago as a pantry cook, and when former chef Brian Cooper came in, he took Ostrander under his wing. “I had zero corporate experience at that time, so Brian helped me adjust to that way of thinking and working. I really miss him.” When Cooper was sent to another Destination Hotel property in Arizona, Ostrander stayed on, not necessarily expecting to take his place. The hotel group put out a search for the corporate chef position, with some very high-profile applicants, but finally decided that the guy already in the kitchen was ready to be promoted. He assumed the top role March 1.
| Cold Smoked Diver Scallops in a Sweet Potato Nest.
Matt pops back in the kitchen to kick off our dinner. I learn that Fischer and Ostrander know each other quite well socially, and that we are both anticipating our dinner. Our meal starts off with a beautiful and exotic coconut “mozzarella,” a delicate curd that looks like the cheese but is coconut milk–based. Topped with tiny baby asparagus spears and a few dots of balsamic syrup, it is both delicious and provocative—a good combo for a star chef to capture in one dish. Ostrander returns. “I’m trying out these dishes tonight to put on our summer menu; they’re a work in progress. This job as Head Chef is a welcome opportunity for me to try techniques and styles different from the classics I’ve been used to cooking.” I had heard that Matt had studied Ayurvedic medicine, and I was eager to know more about it. “It is really based on a system of healing through the way you lead your life,” he explains. “It’s the sister system to yoga. As a preventative medicine the concept is simple: If we eat the right foods in the right seasons, we prevent illness. I studied it for three years and have a degree to be a practitioner.” I ask if it is a way of cooking that he can introduce into the Luminaria menu. “Well, it takes time to introduce a person to the ways,” he chuckles. “I would have to spend three months with each dinner guest to do it right. But the virtues I plan to include are the ideas of eating seasonally, offering fresh, of course, and trying to bring in foods that come from within a 400-mile radius of Santa Fe. When I get offered squash blossoms in December from a purveyor I can only say to myself, ‘WTF?’ I’ll be using lots of whole grains, bamboo and Himalayan rices. I’m researching ingredients that have the least carbon footprint. It makes sense given my beliefs.” A new light is shed on this former hellion who now meditates, does yoga and practices tantric Buddhism. What an interesting dimension to add to a chef ’s expertise. The food that follows affirms my faith that Ostrander is on the right path with his cooking too: cold smoked scallops in a sweet potato nest with subtle saffron overtones; serrano ham–wrapped halibut with cippolini onion relish; and a free-form lasagna with spinach and smoked paprika, pasta, goat cheese and ricotta, and garden vegetables. I feel the spirits of mentors Yohalem and Moskow standing over
| Strawberry Fresno Soup with Champagne Sorbet.
| Executive Chef Matt Ostrander
| Prickly Pear Sorbet with a Riesling Sabayon Sauce.
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Ostrander’s shoulder. As each dish is served, the eager chef appears tableside to get our feedback. His youthful enthusiasm is palpable; the Loretto Marketing Director is delighted. After our feast, Ostrander relaxes again and tells me more about his convictions. “Americans have forgotten how to eat. I think it’s important that food have color, contrast and texture. I call it conscious cuisine. I am aware that certain folks are gluten- and lactose-intolerant, and I can accommodate that. I like the way Thomas Keller takes a concept and reworks it. For example, I’m doing a spin on Caprese salad where it becomes an ice cream sundae with tomato sorbet and basil ice cream, mozzarella zabaglione with balsamic syrup sitting for the chocolate sauce, and fried capers as the nuts. I’m interested in the molecular gastronomy movement too,” (as evidenced in the coconut mozzarella). I offer the floor to Fischer for a minute to see what he wants to ask Ostrander. He asks, “What do you have in your stomach right now?” “Saffron rice and drunken beans—frijoles borrachos,” replies Ostrander. Then I chime back in, “Favorite ingredient?” “Thyme.” “Foods you hate?” Eggplant and fava beans.” “Favorite red wine?” “Big and peppery Zinfandels.” “Favorite white wine?” “I have an extensive palate for beer so would prefer that.” (Then Zane chimes in his own answer to that question: “Lush and creepy white Bordeaux.”) “Coke or Pepsi?” “Neither, I don’t do sodas.” “Margarita or martini?” “Margarita.” “Leno or Letterman?” “Letterman.” “You couldn’t cook without—?” “Salt and pepper.” “You would never cook—?” “In the nude.” As for his take on the daunting task of running the whole show, “I think I have the best team in Santa Fe. Two of my cooks have been working here for almost 35 years. The whole staff has great pride and integrity in their work. I have a new sous chef arriving tomorrow who has worked in some important restaurants, including Dallas’s Nobu. My Pastry Chef, Andrea Clover, is amazing.” It is the answer writers hope to hear, but I actually believe he means it. As we leave the hotel, I search the face of the talented Mr. Fischer to see what he is thinking, but the guy’s a poker-faced pro; he gives away nothing. We will have to watch for a future review to get his take on Ostrander’s cookery. Like the actor out there on the stage giving his all for the first time, or the boxer dishing out his best one-two punch, Ostrander’s got my support. I’m rooting for him. I think there might just be applause, applause and a knockout in his near future. And remember, Matt: Ommmmmmm.- JV Luminaria is at the Inn and Spa at Loretto is located at 211 Old Santa Fe Trail in Santa Fe. 505.984.7915. www.innatloretto.com.
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TWENTY CLASSIC AND SIGNATURE SALADS BUILT UPON FRESH, ORGANIC GREENS AND PRODUCE FROM VINAIGRETTE’S TEN-ACRE FARM IN NAMBE
Savory soups, grilled sandwiches, a dozen wines by the glass, and housemade desserts supplement the salad bistro menu.
709 Don Cubero Alley Santa Fe, NM 87505 505.820.9205 www.vinaigretteonline.com
The ArT of Dining where local farming and great food come together Santa Fe’s locavore restaurant
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Gary and Natashya Gundersen of Mr. G’s Organic Produce
Photo: Dawn Allyn
Lloyd Kreitzer (The Fig Man of Your Imagination, as he calls himself ) once told us, “There is a saying among farmers that you work the land, and the land works you. I’m very open to being worked by the fig.” From the enthusiasm in his voice, it’s clear that Lloyd remains happily enchanted by his favorite fruit, but what he really wants to talk about is fig leaves. “I’ve become excited about the wonders of fig leaf tea,” he says, “which tastes a lot like chamomile and helps balance blood sugar, reduces cholesterol and stimulates blood circulation.” Lloyd now sells his fig leaves to doctors and curanderas throughout the Southwest. “So,” he asks, “when was the last time you had a cup of fig leaf tea?”
Local Figs Oozing with Local Goat Cheese “Fig wood skewers imbue whatever you’re cooking with a subtle, toasted coconut scent and just a hint of burnt marshmallow flavor. Fresh, rinsed fig leaves give that coconut smell with a fine, unusual, silky smoothness,” Lloyd explains. “All of these ingredients are available at your local New Mexico growers’ markets,” he says, “or, hopefully, in your own back yard. Here in New Mexico we have some great goat cheese crafters. Look for them!” 8 fresh figs 1/2 cup local goat cheese, softened 8 fig leaves, rinsed (you can also use grape leaves) 1/2 cup local honey fig wood skewers (soaked in water for one hour to prevent burning on grill) Preheat grill to medium heat. Make a small incision in the bottom of each fig. Place goat cheese in small plastic bag with corner cut out or pastry bag. Fill figs with goat cheese by squeezing a small amount of cheese into the bottom of each fig until figs plump up. Wrap each fig with a fresh fig leaf, and skewer 2-3 figs on each soaked fig wood skewer. (Skewers should be soaked for one hour prior to using.) Optional: Place fresh mint sprig or rosemary leaves inside each wrapped leaf. Lightly oil the grill. Place fig skewers on hot grill and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, turning once. They are done when the fig caramelizes. Drizzle with honey and serve. Makes three to four kebabs. You can find Lloyd and Land of Enfigment on Tuesdays at the Albuquerque North East Farmers’ Market, Saturdays at the Albuquerque Downtown Market and Sundays at the Corrales Growers’ Market. 505.266.8000. www. landofenfigment.com. 36
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Photo: Kate Russell
Lloyd Kreitzer of Land of Enfigment
“I get a kick out of the 25-year-old guys picking my brain at the market,” said Gary Gundersen. “I always try to discourage them! I tell them it’s a disease. It gets in your blood, then you got the disease!” Many years have passed, and Gary and Natashya still haven’t shaken the bug. In fact, they’ve expanded their operation. “Having used only a rototiller on two acres for the past ten years, we bought a tractor to take the load off our everaging bodies,” says Natashya. “We have also leased another two acres with a good-sized greenhouse where we are hoping to grow more summer fruiting crops, winter storage crops and extend our greens growing season.”
Whole Beet Borscht “This is good, especially served with sour cream,” Natashya says. “I make this recipe when the beets come into season, which for our farm is soon—maybe the middle of May. We will also have them into the summer season when I will have almost all the other ingredients except the honey, flour, oil, salt and pepper. The honey you can get at the Farmers’ Market as well. I say to my family that if they eat this soup they will ward off many ailments because of its high nutritious value—good for building up the immune system.” 1 small onion 1 clove garlic 2 teaspoons oil 2 Tablespoons flour 5 cups stock or water 1 bunch beets and greens (3 large or 6 small) 1 potato 1 carrot 1 stalk celery 1/2 small cabbage 1 bay leaf 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon honey 2 Tablespoons tomato paste or 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped Chop onion and saute with garlic clove in oil. Mash garlic clove when onion is translucent and browning. Stir in flour and cook gently for a minute. Add stock or water and bring to a boil. In the meantime, grate beets, potato, and carrot. Slice celery thin. You can also include the tender leaves and stems from the beets. Add these and simmer 10 minutes while you shred the cabbage. Add these and bay leaves, salt, pepper, honey and tomato to the vegetable mixture. Simmer until all vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaf. Makes ten cups. (This recipe was taken from The New Laurel’s Kitchen cookbook by Laurel Robertson, Carol Flinders and Brian Ruppenthal. Ten Speed Press, 1986.) You can find Gary, Natashya and Mr. G’s Organic Produce at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market. Look for them soon at the Los Alamos Farmers’ Market, too! 505.455.5030.
T
rms, no food. fa No : tly inc cc su it id sa t us Tr d lan he American Farm chain dependent od fo al tri us ind an by ed elm wh er ov When you’re feeling d unsustainable—not to an s de ici st pe s, er liz rti fe d se -ba m on GMOs, petroleu ing and factory farming, it’s pp ro oc on m e lik es tic ac pr e— an um mention inh mmunities across Co . re tu pic all sm e th to ion nt te at important to direct your ily farms, realizing on a m fa , all sm t or pp su to g sin oo ch e the country ar s decisions about the food iou nt cie ns co ing ak m at th d!) de en gut-level (pun int localflavor has s, ar ye e th er Ov e. tiv ra pe im al or m we eat truly has become a May, we revisited a is Th s. er rm fa nt de en ep ind al, loc r showcased many of ou few of our recent favorites to bring Jeff Nitz es delicious, wholesome, seasonal recip straight from the soil to you! of Red Mountain Farm Jeff Nitz must’ve stumbled onto his true calling when he landed on Red Mountain Farm almost ten years ago with no experience under his belt. “I wanted to work with nature, not with chemicals and pesticides. Quite apart from anything else, I wanted to grow food I felt good about cooking and eating myself.” Although Jeff’s underlying motivations haven’t changed much since he established the farm in 2002, the farm itself evolves constantly. “This season,” says Jeff, “we have erected a new greenhouse to hold our vegetable starts, expanded our work crew, added to our chicken flock and increased our CSA membership and pick-up locations.”
Photo: Kate Russell
“I think it’s brilliant that with just a small piece of land, a handful of goats and one beehive, I get to create products that I can make my living from!” Daven Lee, the endearing Appalachian soap maker with a passion for bees and goats, has been hard at work since she spoke those words three years ago. “With the completion of beautiful, green, shelfready attractive packaging,”—locally designed and printed in Santa Fe, she specifies—“my Nanny Goat Milk Soaps and Honeybee Lotion bars are now gracing the shelves of Whole Foods Markets and other wonderful shops.” Milk and Honey also received a USDA Value Added Producer Grant and recently took on their first investors!
Nanny Goat Milk Smoothie “When the weather gets warmer, and I get busier with the Farmers’ Market season, a quick smoothie is just the thing. Of course I use goat milk and goat yogurt from my own goats,” says Daven, “but they can be purchased fresh from the Market. Needless to say, there are endless variations on smoothies—add a banana, use a little coconut milk, try a different in-season fruit, like peaches or strawberries. For this recipe, I’ve chosen ingredients that can be purchased from a few of my favorite Santa Fe Farmers’ Market vendors. These measurements are approximate; you may want it thicker or sweeter. Experiment and have fun!” 1/2 cup plain goat yogurt from South Mountain Dairy 1/2 cup goat milk also from South Mountain Dairy 1/2 cup raspberries from Heidi’s Raspberries 2 Tablespoons honey from Buckin’ Bee Honey (Try experimenting with different flavors of honey; Steve usually has at least a couple of varieties.) Blend and enjoy! Makes one smoothie. You can find Daven and Milk and Honey Soap at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market. 505.412.1857. www.milkandhoneysoap.com.
Photo: Gabriella Marks
Daven Lee of Milk and Honey Soap
Massaged Kale Salad “This is a great way to dress up your kale and prepare it as a raw food,” Jeff says. “It can be used as a side dish or worked into a main course. We like it best with a cup or so of cooked grains, such as quinoa. We also like to add crumbled cheese, chopped nuts and thinly sliced, in-season vegetables. Try a chopped fennel bulb and its leaves. All measurements are an approximation. Always adjust, omit or expand according to your own taste.” 4 Tablespoons tahini 1/4 cup olive oil 1 Tablespoon honey 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon cumin 1/4 teaspoon coriander 1/4 teaspoon red chile or cayenne pepper 2-4 Tablespoons grated ginger 1 Tablespoon chopped garlic 4 Tablespoons lemon juice 1 bunch kale, large Mix together the ingredients for the dressing. Prepare the kale by removing the stems and cutting the leaves into large pieces. Combine the dressing and kale and massage for about 5-10 minutes, tasting for desired tenderness. Serves four to six. Enjoy! Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) memberships are still available for the 2011 growing season, with weekly Tuesday pick-up locations in Abiquiu, Taos and Santa Fe. For more information, contact Carol at 505.990.5607 or visit www.rioarribafarms. com. You can also find Jeff and Red Mountain Farm at the Taos and Santa Fe Farmers’ Markets.
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The ArT of ouTdoor dining
SWAIA Localflavor Artist Luncheon Textiles D.Y. Begay Dine Painting Felix Vigil Jemez Diverse Arts Dennis Esquivel Ottawa Jewelry Veronica Poblano Zuni Beadwork, Glass Marcus Amerman Choctaw Pottery Cavan Gonzales San Ildefonso
Please join us May 12 at Fuego at La Posada for a 3-course Artist Luncheon prepared by Executive Chef Eric Hall
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Dine under the New Mexico Sky
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The Beat Goes On
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May 12 at Fuego at La Posada Reservation deadline is Tuesday, May 10 Mark your calendars now for upcoming Artist Luncheons June 16 • July 14 • October 13 • November 10 Tickets for SWAIA members: $60 per ticket per luncheon $30 of the ticket price is a tax-deductible donation to support SWAIA’s year round education programs • Series discounts available • For SWAIA membership and to purchase tickets go to www.swaia.org or call 505.983.5220
A taste of life in New Mexico
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