Easter Pie

Ashley Rodriguez, chef, award-winning food author and teacher writes:

“I wanted to bring you something special, Easter Pie. This classic Italian dish is typical around this time of year as we head into Easter season. This savory pastry resembles a quiche with a base of eggs and three cheeses. Every Italian grandmother has her own version but this one is filled with fresh spinach, which to me screams Springtime. You can also add prosciutto or bacon to the recipe.”

Easter Pie

Pie Dough

• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (1 1/2 ounces)
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup lard, cold, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup ice water

For the full mouth-watering recipe, accompanied by beautiful photographs, visit Artazza.com.

We recommend that you check out Ashley’s award-winning food blog Not Without Salt for additional wonderful recipes and stunning food photography.

Northeast Regional Barista Championship 2010

On Monday, March 22, CNN iReport featured a terrific short video on the 2010 Northeast Regional Barista Championship held in Boston on March 18-21. Almost 40 baristi participated, with the best six baristi qualifying for the final round, and the top three from the finals invited to the US Barista Championship to be held in Anaheim, California on April 15-18. The winner represents the US at the World Barista Championship in London on June 23-25.

In the first 24 hours, the CNN iReport video was viewed by more than 25,000 people. Student producer Abbey Niezgoda was able to capture the salient points of a barista competition that is easily understood by a general audience – it is a great journalistic piece! The video will provide long overdue and well-deserved coverage and exposure for speciality coffee and the role of baristi to elevate the quality of coffee and educate the consumer.

The video interviews two of the six finalists, Danielle Glasky of Stumptown Coffee and Jordan Barber of Café Grumpy, as well as George Howell of George Howell Coffee Co. and several coffee lovers who attended the Northeast Regional Barista Championship. We are thrilled that Jordan competed with our Terra Keramik espresso and cappuccino cups, shown towards the end of the video [apologies for the shameless plug]. In addition to Jordan, Todd Mackey of New Harvest Coffee (also a finalist) and Jared Mancini of SIP Cafe also used Terra Keramik cups.

Thanks to Andrew Hetzel of Cafemakers coffee consultants for blogging and tweeting about the CNN iReport video.

Opening of Blue Bottle Coffee, Brooklyn, New York

Blue Bottle Coffee, based in Oakland, California, is the latest “out-of-town” roaster to open a roastery and coffee bar in New York, in the fashionable Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. We visited Blue Bottle on March 10, the day of its opening, and were accompanied by Jake Liefer, a professional barista visiting New York for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Barista Championship (where he placed in the finals).

Blue Bottle consists of a coffee bar and onsite roastery in what appears to be a former warehouse a former glass-blowing artisan studio and later glass artisan showroom in a Williamsburg neighborhood (North Fifth Street and Berry Street) that is teeming with young professionals, new housing units, restaurants and cafes. The energy on the street is palpable.

The coffee bar is located in the front with an open, attractive appearance, ample space, tall ceilings, plenty of natural light, and wood-paneled walls and wood retail shelving to balance the cement floors and black painted ceilings. Drinks can be enjoyed at an L-shaped bar and a “center” bar on wheels (see photos). There is space for a band and exhibits (or additional tables and chairs), and an overhead glass door facing the street that could be rolled up on warmer days for sidewalk dining access (may require additional permits).

The Probat roaster is located in the back and visible from the café (separated by a rope railing), which reinforces the fresh roasted onsite concept with customers that visit the coffee bar and encourages them to buy a bag or two for home consumption.

Blue Bottle offers a variety of brewing methods. Traditional espresso and espresso based drinks pulled on the LaMarzocco Linea and LaMarzocco FB/80 machines (soon to be joined by a San Marco Leva manual lever machine), coffee available as traditional machine drip, prepared at the pour-over bar or cold-brewed using 5 Japanese slow-drip brewers. These beauties made from brass and glass are located opposite the coffee bar and will attract attention. We found the three barista working the mid-day shift very friendly and knowledgeable about each of the brewing methods offered. In addition, Blue Bottle sells its own whole-bean coffee as well as a nice selection of quality coffee gear and accessories.

We ordered the Sidamo single-origin espresso and the Kyoto cold-brewed coffee, and both were excellent. Definitely worth a visit!

Blue Bottle Coffee in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York

La Marzocco Linea espresso machine used to pull single origin espresso

Barista pulling my Sidamo espresso on the Linea machine

Crema on the Sidamo espresso

Menu offers espresso, pour over, cold brew with single origin and blends available

La Marzocco FB/80 used to pull espresso blends

Ample and open interior space

Lunch time crowd at the coffee bar

Japanese style cold brewed coffee, flanked by retail shelves

Coffee drips for 16 hours to make cold brew coffee

Roastery in the rear of the premises

Probat roaster in action

Bagging area for roasted coffee

Maintenance area with 2-group manual lever machine

Plenty of retail shelves with Blue Bottle coffee and accessories

Fresh roasted Blue Bottle coffee in 8 oz bags

Biodiversity at Finca Santa Marta, Honduras

Biodiversity and Coffee

Specialty coffee is marketed with numerous “eco-friendly” labels, many of which are not understood by the coffee consumer and therefore create confusion as well as the potential for abuse by unscrupulous marketers. These labels include organic, shade tree grown, rainforest alliance, bird friendly, and so on.

The benefits of cultivating coffee in a biodiverse environment are obvious: reducing the loss of natural forest habitat, maintaining indigenous species of flora and fauna, promoting genetic diversity, reducing soil erosion and maintaining adequate water table levels, reducing plant disease and the need for harmful chemicals fertilizers and pesticides, protecting migratory habitats for Northern Hemisphere songbirds, just to list a few!

Finca Santa Marta, Honduras

For the coffee lover, biodiversity also translates to better quality coffee. Award-winning Finca Santa Marta of Honduras, which we’ve featured on our Artazza online marketplace and on this blog, grows some of the best coffee in Central America. Ana Lucia Lardizabal de Hawit, a professional barista and member of the Hawit Chirinos family that owns Finca Santa Marta, has sent us several updates of the 2009-2010 coffee crop, including some gorgeous photos. We thought it would be a unique opportunity to applaud their efforts to promote biodiversity at Finca Santa Marta with select photos from Ana Lucia and her husband Raul. Keep up the great work!

The Finca Santa Marta property, approximately 121 acres (49 hectares), is planted with coffee cultivars at elevations ranging from 4,100 feet (1,250 meters) to 4,850 feet (1,480 meters). The lot “El Manguito” (“The Small Mango Tree”) lies at the highest elevations on the property and represents a unique microclimate with diverse shade trees, tropical rainforest conditions, and is irrigated by natural spring waters. This area of 57 acres (23 hectares) is dedicated to the special Pacamara Bandeira coffees.

Coffee grown at high altitude

Coffee cherries from the 2009-2010 crop

Pacamara coffee cultivar

Herons resting in shade trees

Banana trees growing amid coffee trees

Mandarin trees

Wild lemon trees and bougainvillea

Shade trees provide host environment for orchids

The Beauty of New England Winters 2010

On a recent February morning, while a wet snow storm blanketed Connecticut with more than a foot of the white stuff, our family ventured into a local park to discover and admire what Mother Nature was creating. It was an unbelievable experience!

Inches and inches of wet snow clinging everywhere

Private winter garden sheltered by stone house and wall

Snow accenting the pattern of the bark

Trees growing tall

Snow floating on frozen pond like foam caps

Stream interrupting everything white

Reeds bending under the weight

Seeking shelter under tree canopy from the winter storm