Pilgrimage, Day One

Some people might consider it a bit extreme to take a five hour road trip to eat some tomatoes, but those people are obviously unaware of the wonder that is Zingerman's. The five-building retail empire, scattered around Ann Arbor, Michigan, regularly hosts a number of events and classes, and boasts a frantic self-guided tour wherein you can get a free t-shirt if you visit all five locations in one twenty-four hour period.

And who doesn't like free t-shirts?

So when we heard they were throwing an end of summer tomato and mozzarella bash on a Saturday evening, we had to go for it. We piled into the car at 8:00 on Saturday morning, our GPS throwing out precise directions and sarcastic barbs as we headed northeast. I took a picture of the GPS unit, but all GPS units kind of look the same, so just imagine taking orders from this guy:

(The car. Not the goofball showing you his thumb.)

We arrived at our first stop - Zingerman's Roadhouse - just in time for lunch.

The lighting's a little weird here, but you can kind of tell the aesthetic of the place. Dilapidated class with bricks on the floors, siding on the walls, big fans on the patio, and a huge barbecue pit out back.

Matt had the corned beef hash. Personally, I couldn't decide between the Roadhouse Reuben with thin sliced smoked ham and hot vinegar slaw, or the warm spinach and mushroom salad with roasted tomatoes in a brown butter vinaigrette with farmhouse cheddar.

So I got both.

It was pretty good.

We had a couple of hours to kill before we could check in to our hotel, so we decided to visit three of the other locations for some dessert. KITT got a little turned around while leaving the parking lot, and threw a bit of a tantrum. Amongst the petulant protesting: "If you aren't going to listen to me, just turn me off."

Tempting, but we also had no idea where we were going, aside from some directions printed off Google Maps, so we let him escort us to our next destination. Eventually.

The bakeshop, coffee brewery, and creamery were all located in a sort of concrete bunker style office park. Which was a bit surprising, but I guess you take space where you can get it. It certainly didn't effect the quality of the food.

Cafe Cubano and Cappuccino from the coffee brewery

Ginger Gelato from the creamery

(Bean roaster and a huge garbage can full of espresso beans at the brewery!!)

Only picked up a bottle of lemon oil from the bakeshop for the time being, but MAN did it smell delicious around there. We hung out in the courtyard between the creamery and the bakeshop for a while (the weather was spectacular), before finally giving in and tracked down our hotel.

We scarcely had an hour to rest before heading out to the big party. But while we were stretched out on the bed I couldn't help noticing that something seemed different from the Red Roof Inns in my memory. They didn't always have huge flat screen TVs and granite countertops, did they? What about those fancy sinks that look like someone's just placed a bowl on top of the vanity? Designer panel styled curtains?

...No?

Well, anyway. We freshened up and headed to the party, which I wrote about a few days ago (click here for details, if you missed it). We finished up the night reading new food porn in bed before falling asleep at the incredibly late hour of 9:30.

Food Porn.

Seriously.

The next day would hopefully bring a yummy breakfast and a visit to the last location on our itinerary - The Delicatessen.

...But would the Deli be open on a Sunday Ann Arbor morning?

Party Time!

Just returned yesterday from our trip to the Zingerman's compound. I'll get into details of the whole weekend in a bit, but for now I thought I'd share the main reason for heading there in the first place:

2nd Annual Tomato and Mozzarella Party

August 27, 2011

Ann Arbor, Michigan

We arrived at the creamery about 5:00 pm, and were handed name tags so that we knew we were Officially Invited. Then we headed over to the main event hall, where our cheese-making hostess Aubrey demonstrated how to make mozzarella!!! Really excited about this, because she provided lots of helpful tips I wouldn't have even thought to ask about. Such as - it's ok to wing it a little bit. You can always correct it if it's not quite right. (Seriously forget to think that when I'm in the process. Hearing it from a nine-year veteran is encouraging.)

It was while watching her stretch and form the cheese that I had a thought: I feel really weird. Wait, I know this feeling - I'm about to pass out! Maybe it's just the warm sun combined with the cool breeze... Or maybe I just need water. We've been traveling all day and I've hardly had any. OH MY GOD - I've hardly had any water all day!! I should get some before... Wait, what's she saying? I can't make out what she's saying. Ooh, out-of-focus tunnel vision... I'm definitely, definitely about to pass out.

At which point Matt hauled my ass over to the shady side of the building, where I sat in the cool grass drinking out of a large water bottle until I didn't look grey and clammy anymore, and then we rejoined the group.

Adventure!

(There was an appetizer served - burrata [a pouch of mozzarella filled with cottage cheese and heavy cream] mixed with roasted red pepper and olive oil served on a leaf of endive - which was delicious, but I didn't get a picture of it because I was busy not fainting.)

We were soon ushered inside to tables featuring centerpieces of fresh basil, accompanied by large vessels of water. This was a good thing.

Then we were fed this:

Fresh cheese on three tomatoes: Cherokee Purple, Aunt Ruby's German Green, and Kellogg's Breakfast. The Kellogg's Breakfast one was really sweet. I liked the Cherokee Purple best. (No, not because of that.)

Pain de Mantagne (a hearty, rustic bread) rubbed with garlic and plum tomato, drizzled with olive oil and served with Italian and French sheep's milk cheeses. I don't think this picture expresses how big this piece of bread was. It was about the size of both of my hands placed next to each other.

Fresh cheese rolled with prosciutto and pesto, paired with an Hungarian Heart tomato.

Eggplant fried in cornmeal with smoked mozzarella melted on top, later to be accompanied by a slice of Brandywine tomato because they cut up too many. The acidity of the tomato is just what the dish needed. :-)

Pain de Mie (hearty white bread) with Brandywine tomato and bacon fat mayonnaise. WTF? Who thinks of something like that? It was really, really good. And really, really rich. And by that point I'd eaten so much that I took one bite and thought, Hm, this is really good and really rich. I think I might throw up.

But I did not!

I was saved by this:

Vanilla gelato topped with Portugese tomato jam. This was a sweet tomato jam, made with cinnamon and sugar. I guess you really can't find it outside of Portugal. Aubrey fell in love with it last time she was there, and couldn't find it anywhere. So she got it added to the menu just so Zingerman's would import it and she could taste it again. She ordered one too many jars for the crowd that night. We now own a jar of Portugese tomato jam.

Before you worry - No, we did not try to finish everything that was put on our plates that night. I think that might be impossible. Though there were those who attempted it.

Along the way, there were informative discussions about the history of the tomato and the importance of species differentiation, cooking demonstrations, friendly banter, and a 20% discount off purchases at the creamery!

It was beyond fantastic to be surrounded by people getting excited over what kind of tomato and cheese they were currently tasting...

Here's a too quick snap of all the different tomato varieties we sampled (taken on the way out of the door; didn't watch my framing):

Emily, the farmer who provided Saturday night's produce, said she harvests between 800 and 1000 pounds of tomatoes every two days this time of year. We did not actually sample any Green Zebras that night, but she had brought some along just in case, and since they were there and all... We had those alongside some cheese fondue last night.

*bounce*

First Ever Plum Tart!

"I think I'm going to try making a plum tart. Frangipane's already done and all that."

"Frangipane... Is that what you're calling Pim these days?"

No, my darling smartass husband, that is not what I'm calling Pim these days, although I did get the recipe from her blog. Frangipane is, you may recall, that delicious blend of almonds, sugar, and butter that I concocted for my fig tart. I figured it would be equally yummy underneath some fresh plums, or at least worth a try, so that's what I did.

I still have no idea how to pronounce that word, by the way. I keep trying out different accents and emphases. You can imagine that up there said like Brad Pitt in "Inglourious Basterds," for example.

Anyway, so I let a portion of the stuff come to room temp from the fridge and sliced up four plums - which I got specifically because

they were labled Dragon Pluots in the store. (Advertising works!) I let them sit on paper towels while I was getting everything else ready, but I was still kind of nervous because I'd never made a cooked fresh fruit tart at all before, let alone one with such juicy components.

I did the same trick with my remaining sheet of puff pastry as with my fig tart, scoring a frame around the edge and docking the center so that it would form a sort of box around the fruit as it cooked. I spread the frangipane in the center and arranged the fruit prettily on top, said a prayer (which mostly went "please work, please work, please work"), and slipped it into the oven at 350 degrees.

I waited 30 minutes.

When I took it out, the edges looked done, but the center, as I had feared, was still very wet and pliable.

Boo!

I wrapped the edges in foil, adjusted the heat to 375, said another quick prayer, and put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

It worked!

The bottom was golden brown and sturdy, while the fruit still held its shape. The flavor is rich and intensely jammy, and the underlying sugar is just enough to temper the slight tartness of the fruit.

...And it's purtiful.

Seems to serve about nine.