Writin' Dirty

Heard about this book somewhere (maybe an excerpt or blurb in a magazine), picked it up at the library.  Girl-writer interviews strapping young farmer for a piece on organic farming.  Writer and farmer fall in love.  She leaves Manhattan and everything she knows to become a farmer.  They struggle to learn about each other and what it takes from your body, mind and spirit to run a farm.  They now raise their daughter on a successful CSA farm, providing food - from dairy products to meat to flour to honey- for 150 people in their community.

I've seen this movie before, I thought to myself...

However, the author steers away from overly romanticizing this tale (though she does wax poetic about her huuuuusband, which is sweet) despite its rom-com-ready plotline.  A great read, I recommend it. Definitely builds appreciation for farmers, especially small, family-owned operations.  And for not begrudging organic and local foods their heftier price tag.

An interview with Kristin Kimball.

And of course a story like this was on NPR!

Upon finishing this book last night I turned to Cook's Illustrated and was inspired to make their *definitive* ragu alla Bolognese, undeterred by the 6 ounces of chicken livers it called for -- Kimball and her husband are big fans of organ meat and she talks about succulent slices of liver, blood sausage...

I am no fan of organ meats.  Reminds me too much of work.

But this morning, I thought, I'm branching out.  Up early, I rounded on my patient on the transfusion medicine service (a treat, 1) he was doing fantastic and 2) I don't see patients very often) then headed to the grocery store at 8:30 to get the ingredients that would simmer away all morning for our decadent lunch. (I say 'I Love You, Luke' with meat sauce).  Trimmed the chicken livers and pureed them.  Yes, liver puree- a pink-red mucous mass.  Shudder.  But onward.

The verdict on the ragu was so-so.  I didn't enjoy it because all I could see when I ate it was the mental snapshot of the sanguineous puree, and this:

Liver under the microscope.

No organ meats for me, I think.  However, I am very excited about starting our CSA membership in two weeks (at the farmer's market today Tony told me I can expect 2 shares of beef, Swiss chard, broccoli, radishes, cabbage and carrots.)

And to continue with the theme of locavore eating and good books, last week I purchased John Besh's My Family Table: A Passionate Plea for Home Cooking; I first heard about him and the book in Country Living magazine and made the delicious Angel biscuits.  Then it turned up on the San Antonio Tidbits Facebook feed that he would be signing books here in SA, so now I am the proud owner of a signed copy.  It is a lovely cookbook, written with candor and charm (he loves his wife and four boys so much!), with great photography, and very amenable to CSA cooking (cooking with what you're given, what's in season, substitute this, swap that...) I look forward to using it to tackle that Swiss chard.  Whatever that is.  :)

Best wishes for a happy and healthy start to the holidays!