Winter Fresh

Midwestern locavores don't have to give up on eating local even though it's winter thanks to winter farmer's markets and outlets like Local D’Lish

The St. Paul Winter Farmer's Market Saturdays runs every Saturday morning through April 23.

Image credit: Emily J. Davis

Recommended by the Editor

Grow Your Own

Winter's Bounty

By: Mecca Bos |   February 2012   |  From the print edition

You’ve fallen for the hype, jumped on the bandwagon and swallowed the Kool-Aid: The best food really is food grown closest to home, in season, produced by local farmers. But even farmers go into low season when the ground freezes. So if you haven’t pickled, preserved or put up, what’s a Midwestern locavore to do? Here are a few ideas for making it to that first refreshing sight of spring asparagus.

Local food boutiques

There’s no getting around it—local produce is all but impossible to come by after the deep freeze sets in. Your friendly local food boutiques have taken the work out of locavore shopping, allowing you to stroll their small but mighty aisles for the best the Midwest has to offer, even in the depths of winter.

Our Favorite: Local D’Lish, 208 N. 1st St., Mpls.; 612.886.3047; localdlish.com Local D’Lish’s Indoor Winter Market runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 2/18, 3/17 and 4/21

Owner and self-proclaimed “goofy farm girl” Ann Yin says her customers’ primary concern is what produce to eat in the wintertime. To ease their worry, Yin recently added a series of cooking courses. She explains, “With all the aquaponic, hydroponic and indoor-grown produce available to us now, you really can eat local year-round, and our cooking classes are designed around this idea.” Yin wants shoppers to remember that eating local isn’t a chore. “We don’t have fancy equipment or fancy techniques [in classes]—this is about getting the best food available seasonally and letting it sing.”

Check Local D’Lish for microgreens, lettuces, herbs and even tomatoes year-round. Yin culls any local produce she can find and places it prominently in the store (on my last visit I found butternut squash, purple Peruvian potatoes, yams and peanuts—all local, all delicious).

A few other simple inspirations from Local D’Lish:

• Button mushrooms from St. Joseph, Minn.-based grower and distributor Forest Mushrooms. (The store also special-orders oysters, morels and fiddlehead ferns.)
• You already know Larry Schultz for his eggs and whole chickens, but how about chicken wings? Buffalo wings like this, with Caves of Faribault’s St. Pete’s Select blue cheese on the side, definitely don’t qualify as junk food.
• Thousand Hills is the biggest name in grass-fed beef around these parts, but would you believe they make cocktail weenies? Yep. Throw ’em in a Crock-Pot with some local jelly for that classic party treat. Or pick up a pack of pre-pattied ground beef for a muss- and fuss-free burger.
• While Europe has long been thought the king of cheese and charcuterie, the Midwest has seen a surge of quality cheesemakers and charcuterie masters. I actually prefer Iowan company La Quercia’s prosciutto to Italian varieties. Sweet, winey and satisfyingly porky, it is simply made for a New French Bakery baguette and a slab of Prairie Breeze Mennonite Cheddar.
• Long known as the savior of Midwestern drunkards, Heggies Pizza can be found, along with their attendant toaster ovens, at any dive bar or strip club from here to the Iowa border. Yet Heggies is truly a superior frozen pie, handmade in Minnesota with Wisconsin cheese.
• Developed in part by local mixologists, Joia all-natural sodas will make you wonder how you ever made due with silly old colas and lemon-lime drinks. Combinations like lime-hibiscus-clove make these sodas heady on their own, but with a splash or two of booze they’re heaven.

Golden Fig, 790 Grand Ave., St. Paul; 651.602.0144; goldenfig.com

• Try Lake Superior Gold Herring Caviar with a simple dollop of crème fraiche on crostini for a little taste of winter luxury.  
• Known to cause lines on delivery day, Jerabek’s chicken potpies are made with all-local ingredients, down to the butter in the crust.
• The Pentermans, a first-generation Dutch family who emigrated to Wisconsin, are responsible for lush cow’s-milk Marieke Goudas. Don’t miss the Stinging Nettle and Fenugreek varieties—some of the most unique cheeses I’ve ever tasted.
• Proprietor Laurie McCann Crowell says she uses “pounds and pounds” of ginger, mint, lemons and limes to concentrate the flavor of Golden Fig’s signature cocktail mixes. Her new favorite is the Ginger Mint Winter Swizzle, which she says is good with vodka, rum or just a few ice cubes.
• Bent River Camembert-Style cheese, made with New Prague’s Cedar Summit Farm milk, goes nearly liquid when aged. Better to scoop it up with a Rustica loaf.

Heartland Restaurant and Farm Direct Market, 289 E. 5th St., St. Paul; 651.699.3536; heartlandrestaurant.com

• Bullfrog Farm’s Wisconsin-raised rainbow trout are a beautiful sight when you’re in need of something truly fresh and local, but need a break from heavy meats and cheeses. Pan-roast them in lemon butter and catch an edible glimpse of spring.
• Heartland chef and charcuterie pro Lenny Russo’s own Mangalitsa lardo and guanciale are culled from the heritage-breed Mangalitsa pig, known for its high lard content. Both lardo (from the back) and guanciale (from the jowl) make for the most divine crostini. Also try the tasso (from the shoulder), popular as a flavor-starter in New Orleans-style cooking. Paul Prudhomme would accept no substitutes.
• For inspiration pick up The Northern Heartland Kitchen by local author Beth Dooley, containing more than 200 local- and seasonal-inspired recipes.

Winter Farmer's Markets

Our Favorite: St. Paul, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays through 4/23. 290 5th St. E., St. Paul; 651.227.6856; stpaulfarmersmarket.com
The mild winter is a boon for the St. Paul Farmers Market. Even on a frigid day, it’s fun to make a morning out of ducking into nearby Golden’s Deli for indoor vendors (here you’ll find jam, chocolate, coffee and baked goods), a breakfast sandwich and a warming cuppa. Then it’s back into the cold to jaw with farmers about their freshest wares and the best ways to prepare them. (Crock-Pot carnitas, anyone?)

What we love:  

Love Tree’s artisan goat’s-milk cheese is a wholesome, hand-rolled ball of everything good. Coated in wild sumac berries with fresh-ground peppercorns, this cheese is a mouthful of yin and yang. Love Tree cheeses are cave aged, and take on the terroir of their native Trade Lake area of northern Wisconsin. Bonus: Love Tree Farm is hosting Pizza by the Pond “gastronomic adventures” at their wildlife refuge (20 miles north of Taylors Falls) every Sunday from 2 to 8 p.m. For more information, call 715.488.2966.

Café Palmira “drink direct” coffee comes from the Palacios family farm in Guatemala, with beans shipped only to Minneapolis and roasted at Bull Run Roasting Company. Chat with Carlos Palacios about their shade-grown, hand picked “better than certified fair trade” coffees, which are rich, deep and delicious, with red berry notes. Café Palmira also offers home delivery in St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Bar Five Summer Sausage is a 50-year old recipe and—if you believe the lore—it’s a stolen one. One bite, though, and you’ll reckon you can’t blame a guy for turning to a life of crime for this all-beef sausage.

Didn’t get the memo on pickling, preserving and canning? Me neither. Never fear, because the indoor winter market has your back. Find an assortment of pickles, jams and jellies (don't miss the cayenne-pickled green beans).

The Minneapolis Winter Farmers Market runs 9:30 a.m. to noon every other Saturday (through April) with far fewer vendors than St. Paul—but it’s worth a stop. 312 Lyndale Ave. N., Mpls.; 612.333.1718; mplsfarmersmarket.com

Winter CSAs

Not many local farms offer a separate winter CSA program, but the Land Stewardship Project (a local non-profit that works to support family farms and sustainable agriculture) recommends asking about winter programs when shopping around for a summer CSA. A few that offer winter CSA shares: Community Homestead, Piney Hill Farm, Spring Hill Community Farm and Driftless Organics. More information about these and other farms can be found in LSP’s annual CSA directory (the 2012 edition comes out Feb. 15; LSP provides the directory online and free hard copies are available upon request). landstewardshipproject.org/csa.html