Morsel - Neighborhood Coop

FREE
Spring Edition 2016
Healthy & Tasty . Neighborhood Co-op Grocery . We Know Good Food
www.Neighborhood.Coop
Free Knife Sharpening
Your Health, Your Money,
and the Earth
Crazy Local: Making Wild Illinois Yeast
Plus...
Local Producer:
Little Egypt
Brewing Co.
Eggs are in
Season!
Morsel is a magazine by Neighborhood Co-op Grocery
1815 West Main Street . Murdale Shopping Center . Carbondale . 618.529.3533
Inside
In Season
page 3
Free Knife Sharpening
Letter From the GM
What's Happening at the Co-op
Of Hawks and Home
Crazy Local: Baking with Wild Illinois Yeast
Local Feature: Little Egypt Brewing Co.
Co-op Basics
Questions, Concerns & Comments
Customer & Staff Favorites
page 4
page 5
page 6
page 7
page 8-13
page14-16
page 17
page 18
page 19
published by
Neighborhood Co-op Grocery
1815 West Main Street . Carbondale . IL
www.neighborhood.coop
Open Daily 7 am - 10 pm
DIRECTOR & DESIGN Lisa Smith
DESIGNER Holly Mathis
COPY EDITOR Siri R. K. LeBaron
ADVERTISING Siri R. K. LeBaron
[email protected]
editorial policy
about our store
Neighborhood Co-op Grocery is owned
by thousands of friends and neighbors
throughout the Southern Illinois
region. Everyone can shop in our store,
but owners receive special perks like
10% off case orders, special owner-only
sales, discounts on classes and events,
and an invitation to our annual meeting
& party. Ownership is only $10 a month
for 10 months and is fully refundable.
See a cashier for details or go to our
website.
mission statement
Neighborhood Co-op Grocery aims
to serve the needs of its owners and
patrons by providing wholesome foods,
economically, in the cooperative tradition
and in ways that best promote the health
of the individual, the community and the
earth.
info @ neighborhood . coop
www . neighborhood . coop
board of directors
Kristy Bender
Jordan Smith Edmonds
Simeon Grater, M.D.
Heather Lapham
ations!
Ryan Pankau
Congratul
Richard Thomas
Jak Tichenor
Gary Williams
Secretary- Kristin Pass
all owners are invited
to our board meetings. With few
exceptions, board meetings are the
fourth Tuesday of every month and
begin at 6 pm. The location is subject
to change, so please call the store for
more information.
Interested in serving on the board?
Contact them at...
boarddevelopment @
neighborhood . coop
Morsel is the quarterly food and living
magazine of Neighborhood Co-op
Grocery. It is intended as a vehicle
for communication among Co-op
owners and patrons. Letters, articles,
artwork and ideas are welcome.
Neighborhood Co-op Grocery reserves
the right to edit content for brevity
and clarity. The views expressed in
Morsel are the author’s. They do not
necessarily represent those of the
store’s directors, staff, or ownership.
Articles about health and nutrition are
presented for informational purposes
only. Neighborhood Co-op Grocery
recommends consulting a healthcare
professional for medical problems and
advice.
PRINTING This magazine was printed
by Modern Postcard on FSC certified
paper that was manufactured using
renewable energy (wind, hydro and
biogas). 100% made in the USA.
Scan to read more about
Modern Postcard and their
environmental policy.
Eggs
Available Year Round (though hens are affected by seasonality)
bake
.
boil
.
fry
Try eggs + mushrooms + red wine (Bordelaise sauce)
.
poach
eggs + potatoes + sausage
eggs + chanterelle mushrooms + butter + garlic + thyme
eggs + cream + chicken broth + chives (as in soup)
eggs (poached) + crispy polenta + tomatoes + Hollandaise
eggs + asparagus + black pepper
eggs + spinach + Gruyère cheese
.
scramble.
Did You Know?
The Phoenicians believed that the
primeval egg split open to create the
heaven and the earth.
The Egyptians thought that their god Ptah
created the egg from the sun and moon.
In the earliest recorded legends the
chicken is never mentioned, so it appears
that the egg came first.
Spring 2016 | 3
Free Knife
Sharpening
ED
DATE CHANG
Saturday, May 21
10AM - 2PM
Same day service, get your knives
professionally sharpened
while you shop.
Professional Knife Sharpening done by Deon Carson
of Carson's Custom Cutlery in Murphysboro
4 | SPRING 2016
Letter from the GM:
Holding Steady
In The Face of Strong Headwinds
T
he Co-op experienced its first
sales decline in our 30-year history in 2015 with sales of $4.73
million, down 2.8% from $4.86 million
in 2014. Given that the Co-op has a
13% compound annual growth for the
years 1991 - 2015, this sales erosion
represents quite a departure from what
we have heretofore considered the norm.
Unfortunately, there are abundant signs
of a “new normal” with co-ops nationwide
experiencing flat or decreasing sales due
to changing industry trends. Beginning
in 2014, conventional supermarkets began
outstripping natural food retailers in the
sale of natural and organic foods. Locally
we have seen both Kroger and Aldi’s
increasingly promote their natural and
organic products.
In addition to the increased competition for sales of organic and natural foods
there are fears about the local economy.
Uncertainty over funding for higher education in the State of Illinois has many
people concerned about the fate of SIU,
the economic superpower of the region.
As I write this, the SIU president has just
asked staff to identify another $25 million
in cuts to the Carbondale campus saying
SIU is now in “full-on fiscal triage mode.”
Due in part to lack of funding, SIU
has also experienced massive enrollment
declines over the past few years, reaching lows not seen in 50 years. These are
strong headwinds for any local business to
face, particularly one that relies on highly
educated customers for the bulk of its
business. In some ways it is amazing that
the Co-op’s sales were not more negatively impacted than they were last year.
Despite the pressure on sales, the Co-op
had a good year financially in 2015,
achieving our second best net income to
date. Net income was roughly $64,000, or
1.35% of sales. This was accomplished by
Neighborhood Co-­‐op Sales and Net Income 2004 -­‐ 2015 $5,000,000 $100,000 $4,500,000 $50,000 $4,000,000 $0 $3,500,000 $3,000,000 -­‐$50,000 $2,500,000 -­‐$100,000 $2,000,000 $1,500,000 -­‐$150,000 $1,000,000 -­‐$200,000 $500,000 $0 -­‐$250,000 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Sales 2010 2011 Net Income 2012 2013 2014 2015 largely meeting our gross margin goal for
the year and doing a good job of controlling expenses. This higher-than-budgeted net income means that we are closer to
using up net operating loss carryfowards
from 2006-2008. When that occurs,
the Co-op will be in a better position to
issue patronage dividends again. Patronage dividends are a topic better left for
another article, but suffice it to say that
they represent a major benefit of being an
owner in a co-op.
The Co-op’s cash position improved
dramatically in 2015, giving us the ability to better withstand the fallout from
any bad news coming from the university. Key ratios of balance sheet strength
also improved including the current ratio,
which is a measure of liquidity, and the
debt to equity ratio, which measures the
relationship between what the Co-op
owes and the owners’ collective equity in
the business. Loans from Co-op owners
continue to be the single largest component of the Co-op’s debt structure. I
thank those owners who have renewed
their loans as they have come due; this
“patient capital” has been an important
source of financial stability for the Co-op.
In summary, your Co-op is financially
healthy. I am anticipating another good
year in 2016 assuming that the worst
potential scenarios do not occur with
regard to the university. Thank you for
your continued support of the Co-op.
Francis Murphy received
his MBA from SIUC in
1994. With over 20
years experience leading
co-ops, Francis has been
the general manager of
Neighborhood Co-op for
more than 17 years.
SPRING 2016 | 5
What's Happening
Upcoming Co-op Events
APRIL
22
Earth Day All Species Puppet Parade
Friday - 4:30 pm Gathering at Life Community Center . Parade starts at 5:00 pm
Life Community Center is located on Sunset Drive, Carbondale. Parade ends at Turley Park. Celebrate
Earth Day with an amazing parade of handcrafted puppets representing creatures from all over the
world. For information: (618) 521-3804.
30 - May 1
Owner Appreciation Weekend!
10% OFF purchases for owners in good standing. No rain-checks, sorry.
MAY
21
Free Professional Knife Sharpening
10 am – 2 pm . Under the Co-op Awning
Get your knives sharpened compliments of Neighborhood Co-op. Just bring your knives to the Co-op,
and they will be professionally sharpened while you shop.
JUNE
26
Dawg Daze of Summer: Super Shelter Spectacular
12 pm – 7pm . Alto Vineyards Winery (8515 Highway 127 . Alto Pass, IL 62905 . 618.893.4898)
Admission: $15 – Adults . FREE – Children under 12
Join the Co-op, Alto Vineyards Winery, and Shawnee Shuttle in raising money for Southern Illinois
animal rescue organizations. Live music, games, food, and vendors make if fun for the whole family.
Well-behaved pets are welcome. Current rabies tags are required. Proceeds directly benefit 8
participating Southern Illinois animal rescue organizations.
Monthly Sales Events
Double Sales Days
Bimonthly Sales Overlap - Woo!
Wellness Wednesdays
10% Off Wellness Products
Saluki Sundays
April 11 & 12 . May 16 & 17 . June 13 & 14 . July 18 & 19 . August 1 & 2
April 6 . May 4 . June 1 . July 6 . August 3 . September 7 . October 5
April 3 . May 1 . June 5 . July 3 . August 7 . September 4 . October 2
10% Off for SIUC & JALC Students
6 | SPRING 2016
Of Hawks and Home:
Your Health, Your Money and the Earth
by Siri R. K. LeBaron
I
remember being amazed by the
hawks. They were twice the size of
the red tails in California, robust and
stately, as if royalty moving about in posh,
feathered robes, tending to the business
of a thriving kingdom. It’s remarkable
how one species’ prosperity refracts and
reflects another’s, how an abundance of
clean water, good land, and blue skies
creates, remarkably, more abundance.
When you come here after living in a
desert valley, as I did, the sheer lifeforce of
Southern Illinois is startling. Years later,
I’m still amazed by the hawks, but I now
see their flight connected, as if by delicate
threads, to the cheerful song of the frogs,
the mysteries of turtle hibernation, the
possum prints around my compost pile,
the farmer’s fields, the telephone poles,
the man-made lakes . . . and me.
If you believe Hollywood, nobody
moves to the Midwest to find themselves.
It’s always New York or L.A., or maybe a
trek into the wilderness. I, for one, have
spent a great deal of time in the wilderness.
I’ve been to New York, and I’ve lived in
L.A., and I would recommend them all
to anyone. For me, however, Southern
Illinois is where I have finally understood
oikos (pronounced oy-kohs), a Greek
word referring to the family unit and their
homeplace. In English, oikos is translated
as eco, and it is the foundation of our
words for both ecology and economy.
It is easy to forget, when looking at
“
If you believe
Hollywood, nobody
moves to the Midwest
to find themselves.
”
the circles of hawks or the rectangles
of spreadsheets, that these things are
connected, that the health and prosperity
of one species refracts and reflects the
health and prosperity of another. But they
are connected.
This is the basis of the Green Triangle,
a concept proposed by Ernest Callenbach,
who felt that “living a sane and ecologically
responsible life doesn’t mean self-sacrifice
and austerity; on the contrary, it should
mean a richer, more interesting, fuller,
longer, and healthier life.” The three
points of the Green Triangle are your
health, your money, and the earth. Doing
something good for one means that you
also strengthen the other two, and this
happens in the most everyday ways. Every
time you walk instead of drive, turn off
lights not being used, go kayaking instead
of surfing the web, sit down with friends
over a home cooked meal – all these
contribute to the wellbeing of your pocket
book, your health, and the earth.
The sweetness of this, the real nectar,
is the sense of self that arises from these
interconnections, it is an understanding
that you are not just a single person, a sole
member of a particular species, but rather
a participant in the oikos of many people,
many species.
This means seeing economy as a
relationship between a farmer and her
field, her field and a rabbit, a rabbit and
a hawk. Seeing ecology and stewardship
in a Farmer’s Market, new bike paths, or
outdoor education. It means feeling that
where you live is, irrefutably, a part of who
you are. To me, that is what it means to
find yourself, to experience a world that
“calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and
exciting – over and over announcing your
place in the family of things” (Oliver).
SPRING 2016 | 7
Crazy Local: Baking With
Wild Illinois Yeast
photos and article by Isaac Smith
I learned to love cooking before I
learned to love baking. Cooking was easier
to understand. There is a language, a
deeply personal one, to putting a meal
together for my family. Measurements
are really suggestions; there is a fluidity
to cooking that made sense to me. Baking, on the other hand, seemed like it
was all science and precision and, frankly,
really intimidating, even unappealing.
This started to change three years ago.
I began baking using the common
method of leavening my loaves with
active dry yeast and building the dough
with unbleached, white, all-purpose
flour. The bread was good enough, but I
never achieved the texture I wanted, that
blistered, crackling crust surrounding
the open, irregular, pearlescent crumb.
Instead the crust was matte, the flavor
a bit flat and bland and the texture a
bit on the tight side. Again, the bread I
was making was not bad, but it was not
the bread of my dreams. For the bread I
wanted, you need a lot of steam in your
oven, something most home ovens can’t
accomplish. Mine certainly couldn’t. I
had resigned myself the fact that my
loaves would be serviceable, but never
8 | SPRING 2016
SPRING 2016 | 9
Wild yeast is everywhere! It is in the air on our hands on the plants we grow and eat.
You can capture wild yeast by making a bait of water and flour. The types of flour you
use, the ratio of water to flour, and the temperature it is stored at all affect the flavor
of the final product. The more liquid the starter is, for instance, the more sour the
final product. You know it is working when the mixture bubbles, like above.
The leaven (levain) is made from a small amount of the wild yeast mixture by taking
just a table spoon or so (200 g) and adding to that 200 grams respectively of both
flour and water. You allow this to mature and develop for about twelve to eighteen
hours, until it is bubbling and active. You know it is active enough when you can
gently place a tablespoon size blob or so in a bowl of water and it floats.
match the beauty of artisanal bread. This
changed when I was introduced to Chad
Robertson’s Tartine Bread series of books.
Through his detailed, but digestible,
writing, Chad helped me understand
how bread works. His method is the
foundation of the process I use today.
fed regularly fosters enough yeast to
leaven bread. It is that easy! Really. Once
established (that is, after feeding once a
day for a week or two), this starter can
be fed every other day when kept out or
WILD YEAST STARTER
When I said baking was intimidating, I wasn’t even talking about naturally leavened breads. These existed on
another, even more out of reach, plane.
They were something that required a
level of understanding I couldn’t begin to
tackle (Perhaps a degree in biochemistry? I wasn’t sure.). Tartine Bread helped
me realize just how wrong I was. After
all, you can't get much more local than
wild yeast. The yeast in the air in each
region is uniquely its own thing, which is
what makes San Francisco sourdough so
awesome. Really, flour and water when
mixed in equal portions and left loosely
covered on the counter will begin to ferment in about four days and this, when
Proofing times are
more about how
the dough looks or
feels and less about
what the clock says.
10 | SPRING 2016
even once a week if kept in the fridge.
It should smell a bit creamy and sweet,
not terribly sour. How you feed it will
help develop the flavor profile you are
looking for. I prefer a mildly sour loaf
so, when I feed my starter, I discard
between 70-80% of it and then feed
it with a 50/50 mixture of white and
whole-wheat flour and an equal portion
of water. Should you want a stronger,
more acidic flavor (think more of that
assertive San Francisco sourdough flavor), discard less. You can also achieve a
more complex flavor by feeding it with
other flours, such as rye or buckwheat.
(The Co-op has a number of options
in the bulk department with which you
can experiment.) Amounts here don’t
matter so much, but remember flour
is food for yeast so if you plan to not
feed it everyday, go ahead and add a bit
more flour to make sure your culture
doesn’t starve. (You can also put it in the
refrigerator to slow things down more.)
When feeding the starter you want the
consistency to resemble a slightly thick
pancake batter. You know the starter is
healthy when it’s bubbling nicely. This
can take several hours or even an entire
night depending on temperature (yeast
likes warmer temperatures.) It is here I
should say this really should be mixed
One of the most exciting innovations is how to get good steam when baking these European-style loaves. There
are numerous methods for doing this, but none achieve a crust like the Tartine method that uses a cast iron Dutch
oven. The end result is a crust that almost looks like it was baked in a wood fired oven with a deep, rich color on
the outside and owing to the heat and staggered baking (with the lid at full heat, with the lid at lower heat, and
then lid off) the crumb, interior of the bread, has beautiful aeration.
with your bare hand. It’s a sticky matter, but worth it for several reasons, the
primary reason being that the wild yeast
on your hands will fortify your culture
(clean hands are good, sterile hands like
for surgery aren’t necessary here). The
second reason is that you'll begin to
understand how the starter should feel.
You’ll know you have the right consistency not because a recipe says so but
because your hand does. This is what
starts to transform you into a baker.
If you are like I was, you are probably
asking, “But how do I get that bubbling
mass to turn into bread?” This also isn’t
complicated, but I should stop to say
that, when baking with natural leaven,
your mind-set about baking has to
become loose. This process makes baking a lot like cooking. Instructions in
recipes are, to some degree, guidelines.
For instance, sometimes to get meat
nicely browned it takes longer than 3
minutes per side, and that is ok. Bread
is the same. Proofing times are more
When all these steps come together at their best you'll
have a crumb that's well aerated with nice holes. The crust
will be enhanced by gorgeous "ears" - a flap of dough
created by scoring that lifts as it bakes creating more crust.
The flavor will be creamy an improve the next day!.
Basic Country Loaf
This recipe is rooted in the Tartine method. You will need a scale to make this recipe. As
you become more skilled at handling the dough you can increase the percentage of
water, which will change the crumb and flavor quite a lot. Working with percentages will
allow you to scale the recipe up or down. The general schedule for making and baking are
below. For details, please read the article.
750 grams (75%) room temperature water
200 grams (20%) leaven
1,000 grams (100%) composed of one flour or a mixture, such as 965 grams
of white flour (96.5%) and 35 grams whole wheat flour (3.5%)
20 grams (2%) salt
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Make your wild yeast starter
Prepare your leaven from the starter the night before you want to bake
Next day, mix your bread dough
Rest the dough for proper hydration - 20-30 minutes
Stretch and fold every 30 minutes for a period of 4 hours
Cut it, shape it and let rest for about 30-40 minutes
Shape the dough, then turn seam-side up in a bowl lined with a floured towel
Allow to rise for 3 hours or overnight in the refrigerator (preferred method)
Preheat oven and Dutch Oven to 500˚F for at least 45 minutes before baking
Turn loves out into Dutch oven that's been dusted with more rice flour
Score bread loaves and place lid on the Dutch oven
Bake for 20 minutes; reduce heat to 450˚F and bake another 10 minutes;
remove lid and bake an additional 20+ minutes until the desired carmelization
Allow to rest on cooling rack for 30-40 minutes before slicing
SPRING 2016 | 11
about how the dough looks or feels
and less about what the clock says.
LEAVEN
The night before you want to bake,
take your mature starter and discard
all but one tablespoon and feed it with
200 grams (roughly 1 cup) of flour
and the same amount of water and
mix. This ratio will provide a nice,
mild loaf, but if you want something
stronger in flavor, by all means increase
the amount of starter you use. By the
next morning this should be nicely
aerated with lots of bubbles on the
surface. To be sure it’s ready to bake
with, drop a small spoonful in a bowl
of water. If it floats you are ready, if
not you should give it more time.
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12 | SPRING 2016
MIX THE BREAD
From here you are ready to mix the
bread dough. It is at this point where I
had my biggest revelation. Baking is all
about ratios! Like cooking where you
balance acidity with sweetness or spice
level with starch, you don’t always need a
recipe to make great bread so long as you
know what percentages you want to use.
For bread that is based on 1000g of flour,
i.e. 100% (I like 965g of white flour to
35g whole wheat which gives a good
depth of flavor and the crust good caramelization but doesn’t weigh the bread’s
flavor down), a good starting point for
water is to use 75% hydration or 750g,
20% (200g) leaven and 20% (200g) salt.
You first will mix the water and leaven
together and then add your flour and
mix until there are no more dry clumps.
I urge you to do this by hand so
you can start to understand how the
dough should feel. This is a key part of
really understanding bread. The dough
should be sticky and a bit “shaggy” as
bakers say. Not completely wet, but
also without any visible pockets of
flour. Remember to scrape as much of
the mixture off of your hands as possible, so your percentages are true.
REST THE DOUGH
At this point you will want to give
the flour time to become fully hydrated
by allowing the mixture to rest. This
develops gluten while shortening the
time it takes to develop your dough.
A typical rest period is anywhere from
20 minutes to an hour. You know it
has rested enough because the dough
will look relaxed and spread out a bit.
I recommend moving the dough
to a glass container at this point.
(Remember that this dough will rise
by about 20-30%, so choose your
container accordingly.) With a glass
container you can look at how the
fermentation is going, judging your
progress by how many bubbles are
on the sides of your dough. This is
when you will add your salt and mix
it in, again by hand, and begin to
develop the dough, which should feel
a bit more plump and hydrated.
STRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
Now is when we begin to develop
structure in the bread. This is when you
begin to stretch and fold your bread.
Stretching and folding is the process
of reaching underneath one side of the
dough, pulling it up and folding it over
itself. This should be done working
clockwise around the bowl, essentially
making four turns of the bowl. Do this
once every thirty minutes for about four
hours or until there are many bubbles
on the sides of your dough’s container
and it is billowy. This process builds
up the structure of the bread and is
how you trap the gas that creates those
wonderful holes and complex flavor.
SHAPING
Once the dough has finished this
first stage of fermentation, it’s best to
turn it out onto a lightly floured work
surface, cut it in half, loosely shape each
half into rounds, and let it rest again
for about 20-40 minutes covered. After
this, fold the loaves like an envelop, bottom third over the middle, left third
over the middle, right, and then top.
Flip the dough over and tuck the sides
under to create tension. Then rotate your
dough ball to create more tension (it is
easiest to do this with lightly floured
hands and a bench knife). Once your
dough is in a nice, tight ball, flour the
top with rice flour and put in a bowl
lined with a linen towel that has been
coated liberally with rice flour - rubbing
the rice flour into the towel to ensure
the dough does not stick. You can now
let it rise for another 3 hours or put it
in the fridge to rise slowly overnight. I
prefer the later option as the slow rise
helps develop flavor and the dough
seems to score better when cold. Also,
this cold fermentation is how you get
blisters on the crust of your bread.
SCORING & BAKING
When it’s time to bake, preheat your
oven to 500˚ F with a cast-iron dutch
oven inside for about 45 minutes. You
will use the Dutch oven as an oven in
your oven, so-to-speak. The lid will
help trap the steam of your baking loaf,
give it tremendous oven spring and
help you develop that great, crackling
crust. This method makes all the difference and is much more effective
than spraying the inside of your oven
with water, dropping in ice cubes or
any of the other steam injection workarounds that I have tried to mimic
commercial or wood fired ovens.
After the oven is hot, take the pan out,
remove the lid and then carefully turn
the loaf out into it. Next you want to
score the loaf, but be careful. This is the
point you are most likely to burn yourself. Cutting the loaf in this way, with a
pattern or just a slash, creates a clean cut
weak point for the steam to escape. If
you don't score, your bread will expand
and then burst at it's weakest point in
the dough creating an unsightly blow
out. You can use a lame (pronounced
LAHM, rhymes with mom), a sharp
knife, a razor blade, or even kitchen
shears. The key to a good score is being
decisive, firm, fast and knowing the
dough you are working with - the stickier the dough the more shallow the score.
For instance, a more firm dough can be
scored up to a half inch deep. While a
sticky dough might be a challenge to
score just a quarter of an inch deep.
Then place the lid back on and into
the oven it goes. Let it bake at 500˚F for
20 minutes, reduce to 450˚F for 10 and
then take the lid off. This is my favorite
part of baking. It’s like Christmas to
me to see how big the loaf has become
when that lid comes off. If it’s really
done well, your scores will have crispy
“ears” where the loaf has expanded. This
is good stuff. At this point, your kitchen
will smell incredible. Continue to bake
for another 20-30 minutes, depending
on how caramelized you like your crust.
Remove it from the Dutch oven and let
it cool on a baking rack for about 30-40
minutes before cutting (this allows the
bread to set). It is now ready to eat.
This process may still seem a bit complicated, but most things are when they
are new. As you start to bake, the techniques will become second nature, and
you will know by feel, smell, and sight
how the bread is doing. You won’t need
a recipe to tell you. The numbers in this
recipe really should be a jumping off
point. Dial it in to your tastes; play with
it. Experiment with new flours or try
grinding your own from the whole grain.
The Co-op carries a number of flours
and whole grains in the bulk department
and packaged grocery. Play with adding
more water, less water, longer rest times.
Add seeds or decorative grains to the
outside of the load before baking. You
can also play with your scoring. Some
bakeries are known by this moniker.
If you are interested in alternative
flours like the Co-op sells, I recommend
Tartine Booke No. 3. It is an incredible
resource for baking with things like
kamut, rye, polenta, sprouted barley
and even porridges. Just like cooking
dinner, baking is an extension of who
we are as cooks and bakers. Each one
is a bit different, but no less satisfying. There is nothing like setting the
table with a basket of bread that was
in your hands hours ago and in your
oven minutes before. Feeding your family or friends with something so personal is an incredible thing. I hope you
experience this kind of satisfaction.
Tartine Bread and Tartine Book No. 3 are
available at local book retailers and online.
The Co-op does not have access to these
books through our current distributors.
Bulk & Packaged
Grains & Flours
Some grains must be ground
into a flour using a grain mill or
made into a porridge before use.
Kamut
A hard duram wheat grown in
Montana, and abroad in places
like Italy and the Middle East.
Contains more protein than other
wheats. Has a nutty flavor and
chewy texture.
Rye
Naturally low in gluten, rye has a
distinctive tangy flavor and is an
excellent choice for developing
the flavor of sourdough. In addition to breads, rye can also add
nice flavor complexity to pastries,
cookies and pie crusts.
Barley
High in fiber and low in gluten,
barley can be cooked as a porridge and used in bread doughs.
Barley has a subtle, earthy flavor
and kind of sweetness.
Cracked Corn/Polenta
Adds a sweet flavor and beautiful color to breads. Cook into a
porridge before adding to bread
doughs for best results. Can be a
nice addition to baguettes used
in moderation.
Millet
Presoak before adding to bread,
millet adds texture to breads.
Isaac Smith is a multiplatform journalist living
and working in Southern
Illinois. With a strong belief
in documenting one's own
backyard, he is dedicated to
telling the story of community through photographs,
audio, and video.
SPRING 2016 | 13
Little Egypt Beer
It’s all about the beer!
Little Egypt Brewing Company
Craft Beer - Ava, IL
K
en Rhude had just traveled
across most of Canada and he
was thirsty. The air was clear that
summer day in 1989, and he was seated
outside at a Boston restaurant. The next few
moments would be defining ones for his life.
The server brought his order to the
table, a longneck bottle of Sam Adams
Boston Lager and a glass. Ken took a
drink and thinks, “Holy [cow] that’s bitter!” It was a shock to his palate that was
used to fizzy, yellow lagers poured from
pitchers. It was new and intense, and he
knew his relationship to beer would not
be the same after.
14 | SPRING 2016
photos and article by Isaac Smith
“I didn’t realize you could have that
much flavor in a beer,” Ken, owner and
brewmaster at Little Egypt Beer in Ava,
recalls. Two years later, after enjoying
drinking quality beer, Ken learned how
to make it. In 1991 after getting back
from the Gulf War, he was taught how
to homebrew beer in Carbondale where
he was studying at SIU. He did not do
much with this knowledge for a few years
though, until he moved to Los Angeles,
California in 1999. It was there that
he joined up with the Maltose Falcons
Homebrew Society (the oldest homebrewing club in the world), which boasts
many of beer’s most celebrated brewers,
notably Ken Groseman of Sierra Nevada
fame.
After diving deep into the world of
home brewing, Ken realized it may be
time to take things up a level. He needed
more training.
“There was a time where I was brewing
two to three times on the weekend and
then I was going to work as an insurance adjuster and I just got to the point
where I thought it was time for me to go
to brewing school as part of my hobby,”
he remembers. He asked to take 2 weeks
unpaid leave to go to Siebel Institute
Little Egypt Beers: A Brew for Everyone
Spot Market American Pale Ale
Lovely American hops balanced with a foundation of malt flavor.
Hefeweizen
A Bavarian style hefeweizen that's unfiltered. It has clove and banana
aromas and is wheat forward. It's complex, a little spicy, and well
balanced.
Hopyard Expedition Indian Pale Ale
Strong, bold, and balanced with an explosive hoppy backbone and nice
citrus notes Great with spicy food!
Abbot 6 (limited availability)
A little sweet and a little spicy from the hops, this beer noses a bit fruity.
A little strong in a way that will sneak up on you!
Orange Blossom Honey Wheat Ale
Beautiful floral and citrus notes from the honey in a gorgeous American
wheat ale.
Wee Heavy Ale
In the Scottish brewing tradition, this one has a lot of malt, a bit of hops,
and a pinch of peat smoked malt.
Imperial Stout
A dark beer that tastes of coffee, chocolate, and cream with a balanced
finish of hops and roast.
brewing school in Chicago. His boss said
no, and Ken put in his notice. Dicey as
that may have been it did not take Ken
long to find work.
“When I came back, I networked
through the Maltose Falcons and got a
job at BJ’s Chicago Pizza and Brewery,”
he says. Because of corporate restructuring, Ken was eventually laid off from BJ’s
and pursued opening his own establishment there in L.A. This was no easy task.
“I was trying to open a brewery in L.A.
for 8 years,” Ken explains. He says in order
for him to get something off the ground
it would have taken a minimum of $1.5
million, and that was just for proof of
concept. This was not practical. When the
opportunity came for him and his wife to
move back to Southern Illinois, Ken saw
his chance to open his brewery.
“We thought if we moved back here
that it wouldn’t be too difficult to get
a brewery going based on what Chuck
[Stuhrenberg] did at Big Muddy”
Chuck lobbied the Illinois Congress
to allow independent breweries to selfdistribute to local businesses, which saves
small breweries lots when they're considering starting up or selling outside of their
facility. A big deal for the small guys.
Ken Rhude’s Little Egypt Beer opened
its doors in Ava in 2012 and since has
brewed 31 different styles.
“We take a few risks here and there but
most of it is up the middle craft beer,” Ken
says adding that he also enjoys making
traditional European styles as well. Ken
says that often the traditional European
styles he brews are better than those often
found on import shelves simply because
they are fresher. The availability of these
beers freshly brewed is facilitated, Ken
says, by the world becoming a smaller
place. He says years ago it was incredibly difficult for a small brewer to find
specialty yeast strains and malts to brew
them, but this is no longer the case.
Nick cleaning one of the brew tanks before brewing.
“What we have available to us nowadays in comparison to 20 years ago, there
are just a ridiculously number of resources
for small brewers now,” Ken says.
SPRING 2016 | 15
10%
From Top CW: (1) Nick Galindo stirring wort. The sugars in wort will be fermented
by the brewing yeast and will produce alcohol. (2) Adding pellets to a boiling pot of
unfermented beer called wort. Wort is the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer. (3) Cracked grains waiting to be soaked for the
brewing process.
OFF
SATURDAY,
APRIL 30
&
SUNDAY,
MAY 1
OWNER
APPRECIATION
WEEKEND
www.neighborhood.coop
Owners in good standing receive 10% off
their purchases. Sorry, no rain checks.
16 | SPRING 2016
After brewing for four years at the
Bluffs in Ava, Ken says it’s time for a
change. By relocating to Carbondale by
the end of 2016, he hopes to move his
business closer to the lion’s share of his
customers. Little Egypt Beer will be
moving off of Reed Station Road into an
11,500 square foot building and feature
a bar and restaurant as well as a big beer
garden. His brewing facility will grow as
well, which Ken hopes will enable him to
serve not just Southern Illinois, but the
Chicago and St. Louis markets.
Little Egypt is just one of many breweries that opened as a result of the recent
beer boom. Nestled among local favorites
like Scratch, Big Muddy and Crown Valley, Little Egypt helps make the world a
bigger place locally. Ken says he even sees
room for growth in his market.
“It doesn’t seem like if you keep adding
good beer makers into the equation that
there is a problem,” he says. “I think it’s
great for the consumer to be able to have
choices.” But, of course, he adds that,
at the end of the day, he hopes people
choose Little Egypt.
Isaac Smith is a multiplatform journalist living
and working in Southern
Illinois. With a strong belief
in documenting one's own
backyard, he is dedicated to
telling the story of community through photographs,
audio, and video.
A New Way to Save
Introducing Co+op Basics, with everyday low
prices on the things you buy most frequently.
We've cut prices on HUNDREDS of items
across the Co-op to provide better access to
our high-quality organic and natural grocery,
freezer, dairy, deli, and paper products.
Look
for these
Products like these & lots
more!
Questions, Concerns
& Comments
THANK YOU!! Your letter made many of us
misty-eyed. To be appreciated is always
wonderful, and it is even more wonderful to
know that someone has been comforted
and uplifted by the way we do things. We
take pride in doing things differently than
other stores! Unlike corporate-style grocery
stores, Neighborhood Co-op Grocery
truly exists to serve our customers –
because our customers are the shareholders. That’s the beauty of being an owner
at the Co-op; it closes the loop and
keeps more of the money, focus, and
human resources local. Think of that
loop as loving arms that wrap around
our whole co-op community, embracing customers (whether or not they’re
owners), staff, local farmers and vendors, as well as a host of fair-trade,
B-corp, and natural food companies.
Your kind and vulnerable words are
as much a part of that loop as any
one of us wearing a nametag at the
store. It’s not just a slogan – we
really are stronger together.
Much love,
All the Co-op Staff
18 | SPRING 2016
Customer
Staff
favorites
Customers and Staff Share their
Favorite Products at the Co-op!
What products do you love?
Tell us at www.neighborhood.coop or in store!
THAYER’S: Rose Petal Witch Hazel
Brittany, Cashier
1. This product is perfectly exfoliating
without irritating my sensitive skin.
2. It smells wonderful!!
BOOMCHICKAPOP:
Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn
BEET PERFORMER: Beet
Juice w/ Passion Fruit Juice
Sally, Customer
Nina, Wellness
It’s the perfect blend of
salty & sweet, and it’s a
lower calorie snack that
you don’t have to feel too
terrible about eating!
Assistant
This drink tastes great
and makes me feel
amazing! Try it and
perform your best too!
SKIN TRIP:
Coconut Lotion
GOODFLOSS:
Biodegradable Flossers
Pale, Customer
Service Manager
I love clean teeth after
lunch. So easy too.
Tara, Cashier
I keep this at my register and
whenever someone asks, “what
smells so good?” I say, “if it smells
like summer and the beach, it’s
me! Try some!” This lotion is light,
yet moisturizing!
SPRING 2016 | 19
COOPERATING
Over 30 YEARS
Neighborhood Co-op Grocery
1815 West Main Street
Carbondale, IL 62901
Changing with
the the
Seasons
Changing
with
Season by Lisa Smith
Spring Berry Clafoutis
by Lisa Smith
Classic clafoutis is made with cherries, but you can make it with early spring berries, as well
as with apples, pears or even summery elderberries. Serve it cold or at room temperature.
It's a moderately sweet and very delicious treat!
cups whole milk
tablespoon plus ½ cup sugar
large eggs, room temperature
teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
¼ cup all purpose flour
1 pint fresh or frozen berries, washed and lightly dried
Powdered sugar
Butter or spray oil
1¼
3
1
1
FENNEL PIC
Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 10-inch-diameter cast iron skillet or a
glass pie dish; sprinkle the buttered dish with 1 tablespoon sugar.
Arrange fruit evenly over bottom of dish. Face up or face down is a
matter of preference, but changes the end result very little.
Using electric mixer beat eggs, vanilla extract, salt, and remaining
½ cup sugar in medium bowl until well blended. Sift flour into egg
mixture and beat until smooth. Pour mixture over cherries. Bake
until set, but still jiggly in the center; a knife inserted into center
should come out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.
Can be made 6 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.
Lightly dust clafoutis with powdered sugar and serve. Store
covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Tip: Once seasoned, your cast iron pans should last long enough to become a family heirloom if cared for properly. Never soak your cast
iron in water. If something is stubbornly baked on try filling with enough water to cover the offending substance. Bring to a boil on the
stove. While the water is still warm, try gently (and carefully) scraping the remaining spots with a wooden spoon or a plastic scraper.
Never use metal or you could scratch through your "seasoning" and cause the pan to stick.
The Co-op accepts checks, cash and these other forms of payment: