Applecart Orchards: Vinton, Iowa

Quick: how many different varieties of apples can you name in 10 seconds? I'll try as well.

Golden Delcious

Red Delicious

Gala

Braeburn

Fuji

Pink Lady

And...stop. How many did I get, 6? And I know my apples. Over at Applecart Orchards, Allen Isreal grows over 35 varieties of apples-from standards like red delicious and gala's to more esoteric varieties, such as arkansas black and blushing goldens. That isn't all his 35 acres contains though- he also manages to grow 4 varieties of peaches and 7 varieties of pears (of those, he has 5 different varieties of asian pears). Even the winter is no barrier to biological diversity over at Applecart. In his 2 greenhouses he grows 7 or 8 different varieties of lettuce, esoteric vegetables (kohlrabi, bak choi) and more tomatoes than I could even imagine. Allen didn't brag about the orchard of eden he has created on his small farm in Vinton, just west of cedar rapids, although as I strolled around the orchard, I could feel his pride in the variety by which he was surrounded.

I should back up and mention the mechanism by which I met Allen: at a winter farmers market Iowa City. When I walked by his orchard's stand, I was dazzled by the array of apples. As I talked to him, I realized that he was a man who knew, not just the names of his apples, but the flavors as well. When I asked him about what type of apple to get, he peppered me with questions like "Do you like sweet or tart apples?" and "How do you feel about _______" where the blank would, invariably, be an off the road variety which I barely knew. As I left, I was sure to snag his card, confident that the hour and a half drive to Vinton would be worth it, even if he didn't have any more than the 6 or 7 varieties of apples he had with him that day.

Anyway, when I arrived at the farm last Thursday I was not disappointed. He took me briefly through the store, which also houses an apple sorter and a cider press, in the back. In the storage room he asked me what type of apple I would like, red delicious or blushing golden, and I grabbed the latter. And thus, chomping happily on the fruit (I later found out it had been in storage since october-some apples are still good up to a year later with careful storage) we walked into the greenhouse, which contained the aforementioned sprouts of various lettuces, tomatoes, herb and vegetables.

Above: The apple sorter. It sorts apples.

In the warm, humid air of the greenhouse Allen explained the variety of lettuces he was growing, along with well informed editorials about their flavor. I was amazed he could even remember the names of all the plants, let alone their culinary qualities. He showed me a few new varieties he was trying; mostly exotics like kohlrabi, red bak choi and sweet basil (also called thai basil). Multiple times, he invited me to grab a little seedling and bite the top of it off to taste a particularly unique flavor. it was a grand old time.

Above: Tons of lettuce! Or at least tons of lettuce sprouts. Note the variety.

Above: A tender shoot of red romaine lettuce, just before I popped it into my mouth. Nom nom nom!

As we exited the greenhouse and walked through the rows of gnarled apple trees, he talked about the pruning process; something about which I now very little. Allen is a very careful pruner, removing the older branches so as to allow the tree as much sunlight as possible, which produces better fruit. This careful pruning also pays off: the trees last longer. A tree, he explained, is only as old as its wood. By pruning carefully, so that the branches are quite young (3 or 4 years old, on average) he extended the lifespan of his trees to about 25. He doesn't think much of this. However, I happen to remember that Hinegardner's Orchards expects its trees to last 15 years at the maximum.

Above: Allen Isreal explains the dynamics of pruning and apple production. He is a wonderful teacher; full of interesting facts, he understatedly imparted knowledge to me during the entire tour.

Above: a row of pruned apple trees. They look sad now, but they will be happy come summer, when the Sun's warming rays reach all the leaves.

Above: an un-pruned apple tree.

As we walked slowly towards the end of the orchard, we passed a pet project of his, 3 rows of asparagus. Strolling back, he talked about the health of his trees in relationship to this year's winter. It was particularly bad, he said, and had reached temperatures of around 35 below zero in the orchard. While his apple trees were mostly fine, none of his peaches (which are only good to -25 degrees) would be producing fruit that year- if it gets to cold the tree spends its energy repairing, not producing.

On the other side of the greenhouses he showed me another work in progress: the pears. He has 5 varieties of asian pears, with names like Golden Olympic (that type I remember; he said it tasted lightly of caramel). In addition, he has 2 varieties of normal pears.

I left, slightly disappointed I had not discovered this array of fruitly pleasure earlier. I would have gorged myself on tomatoes, lettuce, pears, apples and peaches, as well as loaded my car full to bursting. As it is, he can expect to see me at his booth, come summer.

San Francisco Trip-Spring Break 2009

During the middle weekend of my two week spring break, my Dad and I took a culinary road trip up to the Bay Area, where we dined at Chez Panisse. However, that was not the best meal we had; not by a lpong shot. Rather, my Dad's friend JB (below) whipped the best meal of the trip up.

Here, you can see him slaving over his cippolini onions. These are special italian onions, which JB tends obsessively for 4 hours while they are simmered in beef stock. As the stock level dips down, more broth is added, always only going halfway up the onion, which is wide and flat. As the onions cook they are saturated, more than I would believe possible, with the thick, rich taste of a beef demi-glace. They were by far my favorite part of the meal; an unbelievable accompaniment.

For appetizers, some hummus and pita bread appeared.

Everyone knew that the real start was going to be the spit roasted prime rib. JB rubbed it lovingly with salt, pepper and mustard before piercing it through with the spit in preparation for the barbeque.

He is very proud of it.

Here JB (right) posed with my dad (left) after we put the prime rib on the grill for its hour and a half long revolving ordeal.

It came out beautifully. The crust crisped up beautifully, creating the elegant roast which all prime rib lovers crave.

We sliced into its delicious pink interior and plated it next to some of JB's heart bustingly so-good-but-so-bad-for-me twice baked potatoes.

For desert, we went to the James Beard ward winning bakery Tartine, where we bought a chocolate hazelnut tart (front left), blackberry tart (middle right) and banana creme pie (back left.

The meal just knocked me out of the park; honestly. It had everything one wants in a meal. Great food, great old friends.

Spring Break 2009: Sushi Gen, Los Angeles

During spring break, my friend Chris and I decided to get some nice sushi. We normally head over to Studio City when a sushi craving hits, to a place called Midori. They offer a really affordable all you can eat that has some delicious sushi and really fun rolls.

I will admit it- I love a good roll. Sushi Gen offers no such things. Here, you will find only the most traditional edo style sushi, as well as other japanese dishes which we did not try. I do not remember the names of everything, but I can describe the taste of all.

Sushi Gen is located in Little Tokyo, in downtown LA.

When we walked in, we knew that they were serious people. The bar was sparklingly clean, and there 9 (I counted!) chefs behind the bar preparing sushi only. The rest of the cookery was handled in back.

I think this was mackerel. It was pretty good- honestly though, it was not the best piece. It wasnt a great start.

Salmon is my favorite type of sushi, and the beautiful pieces they served at Gen more than made up for the sub-par mackerel. You can see the gorgeous marbling in one direction, but if you look REALLY closely, so can see the individual muscle fibers with the fat running in glistening strands along the side. Needless to say, this was great. It had the creamy, unctuous flavor which all salmon lovers crave.

Next, we called for the king of sushi: prime otoro. Otoro is the meat from the belly of the tuna fish, when the fish is at its most slothful and fatty. As you can see, it is thickly marbled and very fatty.

I was glad I tried this, but not overwhelmed. It had good flavor, but I cannot say I loved the texture- it was a little odd.

Their unagi (eel) was incredible though. It was like they had plated damn near the entire eel- the sushi was huge! It was at least 5 inches of delctable unagi, and the sauce, which can sometimes be cloying or overwhelming, was just perfect. Probably my favorite.

Great story: as we were eating the eel sushi, a chef holds up two large, wriggling shrimp. Chris and I immediately yell that we want those! The chef kills the shrimp, peels them and plates the shrimp. Fresh as can be.

And that wasn't all! We then ate the crispy fried head of the departed shrimp. The head, in my opinion, was better than the body- it had a great crunch to it, due to the exoskeleton.

I think this was albacore- nothing special.

I forget what this was- we asked the chef for his favorite, and he gave us this. It was completely forgettable.

Some excellent hawaiian king mackerel. Silky and smooth.

We ended the night by splitting the monkfish liver- by FAR the best. It tasted like rich, delicious pate or foie- just amazing.

Overall, I really liked Gen. My friend and I disagree, but in mu opinion I will stick to Midori, my all you can eat place. I didn't feel like this was that much better. Or maybe I just can't taste the difference.

Spring Break 2009: Sunday night JJ's Run!

At 10:30 Sunday night, my friends Chris and Haley, as well as myself headed to our favorite Hong Kong style cafe in Monterey park: JJ's.

They are pretty much always open; to my knowledge they close for about 3 hours-from 4Am to 7AM.

We got there by 11: just in time to order from their special 11PM-4AM menu.

We had some pork and preserved egg congee: rice porridge. Like everything I have ever had at JJ's, it was delicious. The pork was all at the bottom, but once we stirred that up it was a perfect porridge. Just the thing to put meat on one's bones.

With the porridge came some chow fun. Now, all of JJ's noodle dishes are just wonderful: they come out in something like 2 minutes after ordering, steaming, blisteringly hot from the pan. I do prefer the chow fun with beef, but the order above was good as well. The chow fun (the thick noodles) have the nice elasticity that I crave from a chow fun.

Haley ordered her personal favorite: the fried rice with seafood and smelt roe. A heaping pile of rice, it contains scallops, shrimp, egg and all sorts of other greasy deliciousness.

Haley, like a champ, wasted no time in digging in.

And no trip to JJ's would be complete without some milk tea: tea with condensed milk. Nom nom nom!

Spring Break 2009: Sunday Dinner

My family loves cooking; I thought I would show you what a typical Sunday dinner at our house looks like.

We started off with some Iberian shepherds cheese; a hard sheeps milk cheese, traditionally served with a type of cherry jam.

My Dad and I had been to the farmers market earlier, where we bought some golden beets (above). They would be roasted.

In an intriguing turn, there was a man selling salads with flowers in them at the same farmers market. It turned out to be delicious; some of the freshest, crispest salad greens I have ever had. Plus, flowers!

For the main course, my Mom whipped together a pasta with roasted tomatoes and asparagus. A little bit of olive oil, and we had a perfect spring pasta.

Spring Break 2009: Paella at the beach

Spring Break 2009: My farewell to Des Moines

Spring Rolls with Shrimp

Vietnamese Coffee

Pho Ha Dao: Pho with beef tendon, brisket, meatballs and beef eye round. I ordered the beef raw, and on the side (below)

Dinner: Namaste Indian

REALLY spicy peppers stuffed with lentils. Too hot to eat.

A dosa that must have been 18 inches long. A dosa is a crepe like thing, filled with potatoes and lentils. Along side was served sabmhar, a soup, and a ginger chutney.

Interior shot of the dosa. Note how crispy it is.

Onion kulcha: naan stuffed with onions and banked in a tandoori oven, and then smushes down.

Lamb vindaloo. Very yummy.