Edward Vielmetti is inviting you to A2B3 lunch on Thursday at Eastern Accents in Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104

acorn pie

Acorn pie, acorn pie,
Everybody wants a piece of
Acorn pie.
       from the Acorn Pies weblog

I don't have a recipe just yet.

south u. restaurant changes - four bits of Asian restaurant news

I got a chance to walk down South University this morning and noticed four restaurants underway with work but not open yet.

Momo Tea's owner and a contractor were in the store working on things, and didn't yet have a date for when they were going to open.

Miki is taking the space in U Towers where NYPD used to be, or where Orange Julius used to be, depending on your reference point for geography.  I didn't see any work going on in the place.

Ayaka had a sign in the window saying "Now Hiring" and there was enough paper over the window to make it impossible to see in.

And Chef Jan's China Gate on the corner of South U and Church has a sign in the window "Now serving Pho" (but they used the proper spelling Phở.)

These four, plus all of the other asian restaurants in that neighborhood, makes it quite a concentration.

Here's a list of all of the permits in the City of Ann Arbor's Trakit system on South University, so you can figure out where everyone stands with occupancy permits (haven't decoded it all yet).

Food safety in a power outage (American Red Cross, USDA, CDC et al)

If the power goes out for an extended period of time, some of your food can go bad.  Here's pointers to documents you can grab ahead of time and print out so that you can know how to sort through things.

From the American Red Cross: Food safety in a power outage

Sudden power outages can be frustrating and troublesome, especially when they are prolonged. Perishable foods should not be held above 40 degrees for more than 2 hours. If a power outage is 2 hours or less, you need not be concerned, but how do you save your food when the refrigerator is out for longer times? Being prepared can help. By planning ahead, you can save your perishables.

USDA, Keeping Food Safe During an Emergency

Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature. The refrigerator will keep food safely cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened. A full freezer will hold the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if the door remains closed. Obtain dry or block ice to keep your refrigerator as cold as possible if the power is going to be out for a prolonged period of time. Fifty pounds of dry ice should hold an 18-cubic foot full freezer for 2 days. Plan ahead and know where dry ice and block ice can be purchased.

CDC, What you need to know when the power goes out unexpectedly

Use a food thermometer to check the temperature of your food right before you cook or eat it. Throw away any food that has a temperature of more than 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

When the 2003 blackout hit, one of the things that I didn't know was that the Busch's store nearest me had an emergency generator and was online the whole time.  Not every grocery store has uninterruptable power.

The Arborwiki dry ice page has a listing of some companies in the Ann Arbor area that sell dry ice.

Dutch baby apple pancake; and a March 2009 maple report from the UP

Here is the Penzey's Apple Pancake recipe...a morph from the Dutch Baby.

 

1/4 cup butter                                                  

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp salt

2 medium baking apples, peeled and thinly sliced  (I used Braeburn apples)

3 Tbs sugar

1/2 tsp ceylon cinnamon

 

Preheat oven to 400.  divide butter between two 9" pie plates and put them in the oven to melt the butter.  Rotate to be sure that butter covers bottom and  sides of pans.  Use a 4 cup measuring cup as a mixing bowl (makes it easy to divide the batter).  Beat eggs, flour, milk and salt on medium speed for 1 minute.  Divide the apple slices between the pans and pour 1/2 of the egg mixture over each pan.  Mix the cinnamin and sugar and sprinkle over the batter.  Bake until puffed and folden brown  20-25 minutes.  Serve right away, while still puffy, with warm syrup. 

 

Serves 4-6   Prep time 10 minutes, baking time  20-25 minutes.

and the report from up north from March 18, 2009:

 

Over the weekend we put 28 taps in our maple sugar trees.   We collected 8 gallons the first day but the next two nights were not below freezing.  We have only 17 gallons so far.  It was cold last night so the sap should run today.  Snowshoes are very necessary as the snow is "punky".  Even with snowshoes we sometimes break through the crust and one leg goes down 1 foot...makes for slow going.  Hopefully we have a good wide track packed now. 

PCA Texas peanut factory - the former Jimmy Dean Meat sausage factory - in Plainview, TX closed

If you have a kid who eats peanut butter, you've been listening to news of the peanut recalls.  And when your eight year old furrows his brow when you go shopping together and is concerned about salmonella in his peanuts, you're concerned too.

The latest bit of this story is the closing of the PCA plant in Plainview, TX.  I was able to grab some old news stories about the opening of the plant, and to compare those with the stories that are running now.  Here's something like a narrative.

In the 1969, Jimmy Dean opened a sausage factory in Plainview, TX.  It closed in 1974, sat idle for 30 years, and then was reopened as a peanut processing plant in 2004.   The best local source for news coverage is the Plainview Daily Herald, and these clippings are from their online site.

From the Plainview Daily Herald, 4/15/2004:

Jim Booher, who has been involved in food processing for 20 years, is working on opening his third plant and is highly complimentary of the cooperation he´s received here as manager of the Peanut Corporation of America plant.

Renovation work is under way on the old Jimmy Dean Meat Co. plant on
the west service road of North I-27, adjacent to United Parcel Service.
The community landed PCA in December, offering an incentive package
which included $390,000 over 10 years with the Plainview-Hale County
Industrial Foundation, the City of Plainview and Hale County each
putting up $13,000 a year. In-kind work by each entity will be done as
well. The package does not include tax abatement.

High Plains Millwright of Plainview is handling the demolition work,
tearing down some walls, taking out concrete tiers and doing other
work before renovation begins. A metal building will be erected on an
existing concrete slab and will be connected to the main building.
“We hope to be open sometime in August or September, depending on
when we get our equipment installed,” said Booher, who is moving here
from Grand Prairie.

KCBD, Ch. 11, has a similar story from 4/21/04:

Plainview Peanut Plant to Open this Summer
Peanut production in West Texas is growing and
that's why local farmers are excited about the
new plant. The plant is undergoing a facelift to
make way for 80,000 square feet of peanut
processing machinery. "We're looking at
probably within the next three months of
putting equipment in and painting and getting
ready for operation," says plant manager, Jim
Booher.

The cached copy of the PCA site (since removed) has this to say about the Texas plant:

We're Ready NOW, not later!
Beginning with the first load of
peanuts ever processed at Peanut
Corporation's new Texas plant, our
most  important  task has been
quality.  We don't  request  your
patience while we figure out how to
do this.
Instead, we request that you hold us
to the high standards you've always
expected from a Peanut Corporation
of America plant. We're ready. 
Pride in Our Newest Plant. Pride in Texas!
There couldn't be a more perfect location than Plainview,
Texas for the newest addition to Peanut Corporation's list of
plants! Just off North Interstate 27 in Plainview, we connect
the Western and Central  United States with the Texas
Peanut Industry. Texas really is the best state, y'all!
 
Blanchers
Product Listing
Coming soon to this spot: a comprehensive
listing of products and services brought to
you by Peanut Corporation of America in
Plainview, Texas.
Until the list is posted, please feel free to
contact Jim Booher, our Texas plant's
operations manager for a complete discussion
of how we can serve you.

How did Plainview get the plant?  More from the Daily Herald, Feb 25 2007:

One day, Peanut Corporation of America President Stewart Parnell from Lynchburg, Va., flew in for fuel and a visit and happened to mention that he was looking to locate a peanut processing plant in this area, and Miller directed him to Hale County State Bank President Brian Pohlmeier, who was on the board of the Plainview-Hale County Industrial Board.

“As it turned out,” said Miller, “Brian had been Parnell’s loan officer for several of the planes he had bought and it wound up with the peanut plant locating in the old Jimmy Dean plant.”

The Sept 1, 2008 Daily Herald has a brief story about the rehab of the plant:

The IDC has issued millions of dollars in revenue bonds to help businesses in the area, including three bonds in Hale County and four in Castro County — mainly for dairies, IDC legal representative Malcolm Tisdel said.

The city and county work hand-in-hand with the IDC and Plainview/Hale County Industrial Foundation to bring in new industry.

Jesus Garrocho, operations manager at Peanut Corporation of America, said the IDC was instrumental in bringing the company to Plainview.

“The (Peanut Corp.) facility had been empty for 30 years,” Brian Pohlmeier, president of the IDC, said. “Now it has a business that employees 30-some people.”

Together, the Industrial Foundation and IDC have contributed substantial economic impact to the area. The IDC helps not only Hale County but surrounding counties as well.

There's more from the 10/29/2003 Daily Herald:

The inducement package being offered Peanut Corp. calls for the city, county and Plainview-Hale County Industrial Foundation to contribute $100,000 each in $10,000 increments over a 10-year span. It also calls for paving the parking lot of the plant and installing a special water line for firefighting purposes.

The county approved the proposal Monday and the industrial foundation board was expected to do so today.

In return for the incentives, the plant ­ which will process shelled and cleaned peanuts into candy and food products ­ is expected to hire an initial batch of 35 employees, process 256,000 pounds of nuts daily and ultimately invest $1 million in the project.

“If they pull out, we don´t pay the ($10,000) installments,” industrial foundation Executive Director Grady Elder said in outlining the proposal at Monday´s Commissioners Court meeting.

The plant closed in 1974. The building is owned by Ronald Thompson of Lubbock.

I don't know what a sausage factory that has been idle for 30 years looks like, and how much it takes to rehab it to the point where it's ready to clean peanuts for use in candy.

Caribou Coffee Company Inc. is recalling Caribou Fruit and Nut Blend Trail Mix because the product could be contaminated with salmonella.

As seen on the Raleigh News and Observer recalls page:

Caribou Coffee Company Inc. is recalling Caribou Fruit and Nut Blend Trail Mix because the product could be contaminated with salmonella. This organism can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, especially in young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems. No illnesses have been reported, according to the Minneapolis company. The recall involves the Caribou Fruit & Nut Blend Trail Mix, 3 ounce size, SKU No. 007845, with the sell by dates of March 3 and June 30 this year. The recalled Caribou Fruit and Nut Blend Trail Mix was distributed nationwide through Jan. 30, 2009. For more information, consumers can 888-227-4268.

When you call the 888-227-4268 number late on Friday night, you get a message that it's only answered on weekdays.  The CaribouCoffee.com web page does not have any information on the front page at this time.  I've looked for a press release on their corporate site, and no information is available.  The PR contact I have is

/CONTACT: Lauren Mihajlov of 
Caribou Coffee
, +1-763-592-2200,
lmihajlov@cariboucoffee.com/
 /Web site: http://www.cariboucoffee.com /
 (CBOU)


UPDATE Saturday (9am): from the PR contact:

Ed,

Thank you for your interest. The recall is entirely voluntary and
precautionary. We have pulled all of the product from stores and
notified the purchasers we have record of. We have no indication of
anyone becoming ill from this product.

Thank you for being such a passionate customer of Caribou Coffee!

I purchase Trader Joe's brand "Cheddar Wisconsin Mild" from the Ann Arbor store weekly on Sunday a.m. Inevitably the cheese has started to grow mold in the package by the time I use it mid-week, well before the sell-by date.

I purchase Trader Joe's brand "Cheddar Wisconsin Mild" from the Ann Arbor store weekly on Sunday a.m.  Inevitably the cheese has started to grow mold in the package by the time I use it mid-week, well before the sell-by date.  The latest incident was this week's moldy cheese with a sell-by date of Feb 11.

The UPC is 221563 502583 .

If I didn't know better, I'd suspect that a cheese slicing machine was not cleaned frequently enough, introducing mold into the product where it is cut.

The store is always, always, always happy to refund my money, but I'm getting really weary of wondering whether I will feed my kids moldy mac and cheese.

thanks

Edward Vielmetti
Ann Arbor, MI
+1 734 330 2465

http://vielmetti.typepad.com/vacuum/food_and_drink/

UPDATE:  Cheese returned, product complaint form filed; everyone was nice about it.

UPDATE 2: Beware TJ's blue cheese, a recall:

A Manufacturer From England, "Cropwell Bishop Creamery Limited," is Conducting a Nationwide Recall on the Cheese Products Blue Stilton and Shropshire Blue Cheese Because of Possible Health Risk

Contact:
(201) 508-6426 (for all Ilchester or Global Cheese Market products)
(513) 751-4490 (for all Trader Joe’s or Cropwell Bishop Creamery products)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- January 26, 2009 -- Cropwell Bishop Creamery Limited of England is recalling in the United States limited amounts of Blue Stilton and Shropshire Blue Cheese, as described below, as a precautionary measure because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.  Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and still births among pregnant women.

The recalled product was distributed nationwide in retail stores.

This recall is limited to the following Blue Stilton and Shropshire Blue Cheese Products:

• Ilchester Shropshire Blue, 12 oz, lot 3052822700- exp date: 2/10/09
• Ilchester Shropshire Blue, 7 to 9 oz, lot 3052828700- exp date: 4/19/09
• Ilchester Shropshire Blue, 1/8 lb, lot 3052835200- exp date: 4/27/09
• Ilchester Shropshire Blue, 1/16 lb, lot 3375821700- exp date: julian code 8217
• Ilchester BabyBlue Stilton, 2/5 lb,lot 3375834000, 3375829500-exp date:julian code 8340,8295
• Ilchester Blue Stilton, 1/8 lb, lot 3375828400- exp date: julian code 8284
• Ilchester Blue Stilton, 2/9 lb, lot 3375828400, 3375821700, 3375833300, 3375829400, 3375827800, 3375824500, 3357816400- exp date: julian code 8284, 8217, 8333 , 8294, 8278, 8245, 8164
• Ilchester Blue Stilton, 1/9 lb, lot 3375833600, 3375829400, 3375824500, 3758162000, 3375825200- exp date: julian code 8336, 8294, 8245, 8162, 8252
• Ilchester Blue Stilton, 1/16 lb, lot 3375825400- exp date: julian code 8254
• Ilchester Blue Stilton, 18/1 lb, lot 3052829500, 3052830800 exp date: 4/19/09, 5/2/09
• Ilchester Blue Silton, 6/3.5 oz crock, lot 2216832300, exp date: 3/26/09
• Global Cheese Market Stilton, 7 to 9 oz,  lot 714568, 714720, exp date: 3/22/09, 3/29/09
• Global Cheese Market Stilton, 1/5 lb, lot 713939, 715973, 716368 exp date: 3/9/09, 5/3/09, 5/17/09
• Trader Joe’s Blue Stilton purchased on or before 12/31/08. Film-wrapped. 
• Trader Joe’s Shropshire Blue Cheese purchased on or before 1/4/09. Film-wrapped. 
• Cropwell Bishop Creamery Blue Stilton purchased on or before 12/31/08
• Cropwell Bishop Creamery Shropshire Blue Cheese purchased on or before 12/31/08.

The potential for contamination was noted after recent testing of the cheese.  The cause of the potential problem has already been corrected.  No other products other than those identified above are affected by this recall. 

There have been no complaints received and no illnesses reported in the United States.  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is aware of this recall. 

Consumers who have purchased the products identified above are urged to destroy all recalled products on hand, and then obtain a full refund payment by contacting the following customer representatives:

• (201) 508-6426 (for all Ilchester or Global Cheese Market products identified above) 9:00 am – 5:00 pm EST
• (513) 751-4490 (for all Trader Joe’s or Cropwell Bishop Creamery products identified above) 9:00 am – 5:00 pm EST

Recall the days when it was safe to eat peanut butter every day.

I used to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch every single day in sixth grade.

Here's the current 1/19/09 recall information via the Emergency Email Network.

FDA Issue definitive statement on Peanut Butter Salmonella - Do not eat guidelines

January 18, 2009: Based on this information, and on the current state of the investigation, the FDA recommends that consumers avoid eating products that have been recalled and discard them.  Because identification of products subject to recall is continuing, the FDA urges consumers to postpone eating commercially-prepared or manufactured peanut butter-containing products and institutionally-served peanut butter until further information becomes available about which products may be affected. Efforts to specifically identify those products are ongoing. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is conducting a very active and dynamic investigation into the source of the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak.  At this time, the FDA has traced a source of Salmonella Typhimurium contamination to a plant owned by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), which manufactures both peanut butter that is institutionally served in such settings as long-term care facilities and cafeterias, and peanut paste?a concentrated product consisting of ground, roasted peanuts?that is distributed to food manufacturers to be used as an ingredient in many commercially produced products including cakes, cookies, crackers, candies, cereal and ice cream. The FDA has notified PCA that product samples originating from its Blakely, Ga., processing plant have been tested and found positive for Salmonella by laboratories in the states of Minnesota and Georgia.  The state of Minnesota has reported to FDA that its samples of King Nut peanut butter are a genetic match to the strain of Salmonella that has caused illnesses in that state and around the country.  King Nut is a distributor of PCA product. On January 16, PCA expanded its voluntary recall to include all peanut butter produced on or after August 8, 2008, and all peanut paste produced on or after September 26, 2008, in its Blakely, Ga., plant because of potential Salmonella contamination.  The product being recalled is sold by PCA in bulk packaging in containers ranging in size from five to 1700 pounds.  The peanut paste is sold in sizes ranging from 35-pound containers to product sold by the tanker container.  These products are not sold directly to consumers.  PCA has stopped all production at its Blakely, Ga. plant as the FDA continues its investigation into the source of the Salmonella contamination. At this time, there is no indication that any national name brand jars of peanut butter sold in retail stores are linked to the PCA recall.  As the investigation continues over the weekend, and into next week, the FDA will be able to update the advice based on new sampling and distribution information.  The FDA is working closely with members of the food industry to narrow this advice and to publish a detailed list of implicated products as soon as possible.  The FDA is encouraging manufacturers to help inform consumers about whether their products could have contained commercially prepared peanut butter or peanut paste from PCA.  Also, if manufacturers know their products do not contain ingredients from PCA, they may wish to inform consumers of that fact.  Retailers should stop selling products which have been recalled. For information on products containing peanut butter from companies not reporting recalls, consumers may wish to consult the company?s website or call the toll-free number listed on most packaging.  Information consumers may receive from the companies has not been verified by the FDA. The FDA will closely monitor these events by continuing to work with the firms on the details of their actions, conduct follow-up audits and inspections, monitor the progress of the firms? actions, and notify our foreign regulatory counterparts of products that may have been distributed internationally.

Vegetarian "Green Goddess" dressing

Joy of Cooking, my go-to cookbook for some basic version of pretty much anything, has a recipe with anchovies for Green Goddess dressing.  While I like anchovies, I really don't cook with them at home.  So I'm looking for alternatives for that same style dressing that use something else in its place.

Some suggestions:

for anchovies, substitute tarragon;

for anchovies, substitute miso or fermented black beans;

bacobits;

A Green Goddess recipe from The Veggie Table with 1c fresh parsley

Epicurious (Bon Appetit) Green Goddess recipe has 1c watercress

Wikipedia notes an Annie's Naturals variant of this recipe using tahini.  Cookthink mentions the Annie's recipe, but their own Green Goddess recipe is with anchovies. 

Annie herself prints an ingredient list.  Here's the Goddess Dressing:

Ingredients: *Canola Oil, Water, *Tahini, *Apple Cider Vinegar, *Soy Sauce (water, *soybeans, sea salt *wheat), *Lemon Juice, Sea Salt, *Garlic, *Sesame Seeds, *Parsley, *Chives, Xanthan Gum.

*Organic Ingredients

CONTAINS SOY AND WHEAT INGREDIENTS

Made on shared equipment that also processes Egg, Milk and Anchovies.

and the Green Goddess Dressing:

Ingredients: *Soy Oil, Water, *Sour Cream (*milk, *cream, cornstarch, *skim milk powder, cultures), *White Wine Vinegar, Sea Salt, *Sugar, *Whole Egg Powder, *Garlic, *Onion, *Lemon Juice, *Tarragon, Xanthan Gum, *Green Onion, *White Pepper, *Parsley.

*Organic Ingredients

CONTAINS EGG, MILK AND SOY INGREDIENTS

Made on shared equipment that also processes Wheat and Anchovies.

The New York Times Sunday Magazine for 11/09/08 had a recipe for Green Goddess Dressing.

Vegetarian Times May 1990 has a recipe that starts with 8 oz of tofu; no need to link to it.  They describe tofu as a "white, easily digestable curd" and balsamic vinegar as "an exotic aged vinegar".  Ah the early 90s.

Harry's Roadhouse Cookbook recipe for Green Goddess Dressing has both chopped spinach and chopped parsley, but no anchovies.

Some combination of some of those lists of ingredients should be enough to get you to mix up something plausible; season to taste.

embarassingly easy food, mich-mex style

The joke of course is that most of what passes for Mexican food outside of Mexicantown is really something else, and that there's a lot of bland or just plain weird vaguely hispanic cuisine that gets sold as "mexican food" but is better described as "Mich-Mex".  e.g. "there are no good burritos in Michigan".

The kids were hungry tonight, and I had enough ingredients in the fridge to put a hot plate full of food for them in less than 25 minutes.  That was a success.  Here's what I did for them, and the other recipe I did for myself.

For the kids, something that started out being called enchiladas, but really is a lot more like a lasagna style with mexican ingredients.  At least one other person has had the same idea. 

Mich-Mex Lasagna

tortillas (ours are from the Ann Arbor Tortilla Factory)
beans (black beans, unseasoned, because the kids are like that)
cheese (this week it was cheddar, but some mild white or brick cheese would work too)
salsa (Trader Joes Pineapple Salsa)

Get a small casserole dish just a little bigger than the size of a tortilla.  Put a tortilla flat on the bottom, and then layer salsa, beans, cheese, tortilla, salsa, beans, cheese, tortilla, salsa.  Put in a 375 degree oven and bake until the cheese is bubbly and it smells good, about 20 minutes. 

Note: no need to roll things up, just layer them, and whatever ingredients you like will go into this nicely - we had it one week with baked squash, and I'm sure that rice, onions, garlic, peppers etc would all be fine.   

For me, a pan full of whatever happened to be on hand that the kids wouldn't eat.  This was so easy that I am thinking that it could be breakfast food too.  The key to it is my stash of slow roasted tomatoes from this summer that I am eating two at a time instead of bland canned tomatoes or tomato paste.

Rice and beans

Oil
Garlic
Onion
Pepper (Poblano?  or whatever you have a taste for)
Spices: cumin, oregano, maybe a little chili
Tomatoes, slow roasted, frozen, that you have in tubs in the freezer
Black beans, fully cooked, rinsed if need be
Leftover cooked rice

Fry onion, garlic, pepper in oil; add spices, cook until fragrant.  Add frozen tomatoes, cook until they are melted and there's still liquid in the pan.  Add rice and beans to absorb the liquid, cook until hot and it smells good.    Serve with a hot tortilla and salsa.