Underground Food Collective

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Top view of cones

Originally uploaded by jonny.hunter

So in an effort to blog more about our events i wanted to give a little bit of info about our last event. I was a brutal weekend, kris was out with a bad back and mary was doing a wedding cake as well as baking for the northside market on sunday. But that being said, we created one of the best dishes that Underground has done. Mary made the cones by hand. they came out wonderfully crisp with a light fluffy texture and a rich butter taste. The filling was a marscapone that I made using the cream from Blue Marble Dairy and we sweetened it with a little hone, to finish it off we used fresh fruit from Blue Sky Berry Farm as well as Pears from Old Orchards and Grapes from the tireless Henry Morren, all local and all at the peak of the season. Over the top good.

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steak with roasted vegetable relish, pickled zucchini

Originally uploaded by tvol

Summertime at its best. I think it is a bit of luck but our busiest time of the year happens to be August. Luckily for us it is a time of plenty and we are able to select the produce of the year. If we can't cook good food with these selections then we should pack up our knives and go home. It is almost too easy and we try to point out to our customers that most of the work is done before it even comes our way.

Well two of our busiest weeks are just behind us, part of which was serving 700 people at two different locations at the same time. We also were excited to do the rehearsal dinner for the some of Jane and George Siemon, founding members of Organic Valley. We served some really tasty dishes, such as keefta with lamb from our very own Virginia Goedke of Sylvan Meadows. It was exciting to grind all the lamb from whole cuts and season it. Also we have been featuring tomato salads, not only at home but also at our events. I cant imagine doing an event during this time of year that dosnt have a tomato salad on it. I have been very impressed with Rink DaVee and Jenny Bonde and their ability to keep lettuce available through the tough drought and recent torrents of rain. Speaking of rain, I sincerely hope that the farmers of the Kikapoo Valley are able to salvage their crops from the drastic flooding they have received. Stop and talk to a farmer from that region and ask how far their car ended up from where the parked it after the storm. Anyways, we hope to start writing recaps or post mortum's after each of our events talking about success as well as failure or at least things in which we feel we fell short... or at least weren't perfect in. Also talking about were we sourced things and what looks good right now. check out http://www.flickr.com/photos/sixteenmilesofstring/ to see pictures from our most recent events and home cooking. thanks to Tim, for helping us out with the last event... heres to him joining up as a partner again.

Mary White at the North side Farmers Market

Originally uploaded by jonny.hunter

Mary White is the bakery and pastry chef at Underground Catering. We would be nowhere without her considerable talents as a baker which consistently is the item that people comment on most at our events. She has decided to start up a little bakery business by selling at the local farmers markets here in Madison. Right now she is selling at the Sunday Northside Farmers market. She is making breads and desserts that are very delicious. So if you are interested check out the market which runs every Sunday in the summer from 8:30am to 1:00pm. Also our Friend Lee Davenport who is sharing a kitchen space with us is selling her preserves at the market as well. I hear they are going to be doing some cross promotional items together.

[img_assist|nid=122|title=MadInteractive Food Panel at High Noon Saloon, tvol, BY-NC-SA| desc=|link=none|align=center|width=500|height=350]

Last Thursday, May 31st, Underground Food Collective member Jonathan Hunter participated in a panel on food blogging for the MadInteractive series. There were numerous food bloggers present showcasing Madison's online food writing community. The panel was moderated by the Eating in Madison A to Z duo Nichole and JM. The panel was interesting, with questions concerning Madison restaurants and the food blogging culture.

"Foodie" debates aside, the panel really showed a great opportunity for further involvement in not only restaurant-reviewing, but in expanding blogging to incorporate a more in-depth analysis of local food issues.

So I met Pete DiAntoni at the midwestern polo championships in Chicago this May. He took some photos that turned out spectacular it also helped that we won the tournament. Anyway he is a really wonderful guy and takes beautiful photos as well. Check out his website here and look at the photos he took of the Polo Championships here

...does not exist.

I went to the Farmer's Market this past Saturday looking to see what spring produce is in, this being the second to last week in April. I'm doing some cooking with Neil this weekend for Erin' graduation party, and we wanted to cook some seasonal spring things.

Fresh produce available = 0.

ok, there was some lame, overpriced spinach in plastic bags.

I miss Madison and the farmer's market, even if the counterclockwise slog is a bit overwhelming at times.

[img_assist|nid=117|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=500|height=411]Check out Michael Pollan's recent article in the New York Times. He discusses many of the issues he touches on in Omnivore's Dilemma within the context of America's "Byzantine" Farm Bill. Corn, supermarket design, and school lunches...