ArizonaJim's Profile
Glass-bottled milk?
As a dairy farmer that supplies milk to Shamrock (and others), I'm sorry for your experience with Shamrock milk recently - it does seem odd that if it was a batch-wide problem that the entire lot would have not been recalled. It is nice that they called you directly and seem to have fixed the problem.
Much of the problem with milk expiring prior to the expiration date here in Arizona is not the fault of the dairy or bottler, but of the various folks that handle the milk from the time it leaves the bottling plant until it arrives at the grocer store. The expiration date assumes that the milk will not spend any time at temperatures above 40 degrees F. Every time a crate of milk gets left on a loading dock or outside of the refridgerated section, it will degrade, leading to spoilage prior to the stamped date. In Arizona in the summer, this can be a problem, as the temps at loading docks in particular can be ridiculously warm and can spoil milk quite quickly. I'd definitely take my complaints to the grocery store first, but also check the temp of your own fridge and make sure that it's below 40 degrees to insure proper shelf-life.
As for your last statement, as a dairy producer I'd like to assure you that all of the bottlers in Arizona are quite fair to the dairymen here and there isn't any reason, from a dairy perspective at least, to favor one brand of milk over another. Except for some specialty milk products, all of the fluid milk sold in grocery stores in Arizona comes from local Arizona producers and we're paid the same regardless of which company is bottling it. Thanks for drinking milk!
authentic cheese curds in phoenix area
Just so you know, the cheese curds are made right next door to the Milk and More Store at a small cheese-making operation jointly owned by the United Dairymen of Arizona and Wiskerchen Cheese of Wisconsin. Thursdays are the only day that cheese curds are made, they start at about 8 in the morning and aren't packaged until about noon (if everything goes right and there aren't any delays, which can always happen). It might be best to call ahead if you can't wait until they're finished. There are also some Cheddar and Jack cheese from the UDA for sale at the store at all times. If you're lucky, there might be some aged Cheddar available (it's only made in limited quantities), the only aged cheddar being made in Arizona at this time.
Superstition Farm's "Farm to Fork" Dinner Series
Some of us live right on dairies and don't find them off-putting in the least ;)
Anyway, I've attended both of Superstition Farms dinners and have yet to have anyone mention to me that it smells particularly bad.
They did move the dinners closer to the store and out of the feed alley after the first dinner to make delivering food to the tables faster.
Help! Any info on where I can purchase grass-fed cows' milk and cheeses in the Phoenix valley?
It might be best to clarify what you mean by 'grass-fed' dairy products. There is are very, very, very few places in the world where dairy cattle can survive year-round on a grass-only diet. Unlike beef cattle (which even for 'grass-fed' cattle, most are fed some stored fodder during the winter, droughts, etc), it is very difficult to for dairy cattle to maintain milk production without supplemented feed except in the peak grass-growing periods of certain regions (the only major areas of the dairy-producing world that can get by without supplementing dairy cows are New Zealand and Ireland, and thats still only for a few flush months of the year). Even in the more temperate parts of the US, I only know of one dairy producer that manages to never not graze his cows (or so he says), and thats Organic Pastures in California.
What that means is that almost all dairies, around the world, feed their cows a combination of forages and grains, in varying amounts and in varying forms. Forages, which comprise the majority of dairy cattle diets, typically are grass, hay, and silages, and are supplemented with some grain and byproducts of other agricultural production (i.e. cotton seed, spent brewer's grains, etc). No farmer feeds dairy cattle a predominate grain diet - it just doesn't work for the cow.
So, in the end, I believe you won't find a single all 'grass-fed' dairy product in Arizona - I'd wager that the cows labeled as such from New Zealand were fed some grains and silages during a portion of the year. That doesn't make them bad by any stretch, just not 100% grass-fed as you sometimes see with beef cattle. You may have better luck with sheep and goat cheese, but much of the same energy issues exist for those animals also.
Superstition Farm's "Farm to Fork" Dinner Series
I'll second Rubee's review. The food was very good and the company was excellent. Casey andf his crew worked out a lot of kinks between their first Locavore dinner last year and this one, and I highly reccomend attending the next one in March.
I would like to commend the Stechnij's and Chef Lou for pulling this off. Prior to the start of the evening, they had 45 RSVPs, and due to the large number of walk-ins, they managed to serve about 72 dinners. All in all, its pretty impressive that they only ran short by two dinners. So. I'd just like to remind everyone that things go smoother when you make reservations.
authentic cheese curds in phoenix area
I'm happy to announce that the United Dairymen of Arizona, your local farmer owned milk cooperative, is once again making cheese curds! They're available from the Milk N' More store, located at the UDA milk plant, 2008 S. Hardy Drive in Tempe (at the corner of Broadway and Hardy).
Right now, they're priced at a special introductory price of $2.99/lb!
I got my first bag yesterday, they're good and they 'squeak'.
authentic cheese curds in phoenix area
Just to update about the availability of fresh cheese curds from the United Dairymen of Arizona. UDA is not currently producing cheese curds, but within a few months the new cheese operation should be completed and they will be selling fresh cheese curds from the 'Milk N' More' store on Broadway and Hardy in Tempe. I'll try to update when the excat opening date is known.
Phx - LocavoreAZ tour in Mesa!
My neighbor, and fellow dairyfarmer, Casey Stechnij will be hosting the first travelling AZ Locavore dinner this Saturday night. I didn't see it posted anywhere else, and thought everyone might want to know. I have a feeling most people haven't had dinner in a feed alley surrounded by a few hundred dairy cows before.
Chef James Porter of Tapino will be preparing the dinner using all fresh Arizona ingredients.
Details at the link here:
http://locavoreaz.com/april.html
Phoenix's Best Beer
Easily the best beer selection in the Phoenix area is at Papago Brewing in Scottsdale, located on Scottsdale Rd and McDowell. They do brew a handful (of generally very good to excellent) beers, but the main draw is their excellent collection of micros and imports, both on draft and in bottles. They also allow you to buy any of the bottles to go, which is nice, as they routinely have beers that can only be found at a small handful of liqour stores (Sun Devil and Topps primarily).
BeerAdvocate has ranked it in the top 10 places in the country to have pint for a number of years now.
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Papago Brewing Co
7107 E McDowell Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85257
AZ BYOB Law Change?
Well, in some ways this makes sense, but the limit on beer of 24 oz is silly, seeing that a customer can bring 25.4 oz of wine. Technically that means I can't bring a 750 mL bottle of good beer with me to dinner, even though its less total alcohol than wine.
But again, I've never seen these limits enforced anyways...
Mexican Standoff - Scottsdale
I was at SouthBridge last week and it looks like it may still be awhile. Still roughly finished, and I didn't see any opening date posted.
True Taqueria in Phoenix Area?
I'd suggest LuLu's Tacos in Gilbert (610 N Gilbert Rd). It's mainly Guadalajaran style, and I have no idea whether its similar to taquerias in San Francisco, but it is very good. Although I will note that they've expanded their menu to include a lot of Sonoran/Arizonan dishes, which makes it tough to sort out what they're really good at - the menu at one time was just double wrapped tacos and seafood platters, which I'd reccomend.
PHX - Locavore 3 at Tapino
I won't speak for everyone, but I felt that Payton Curry's charcuterie plate was phenomenal. All from the same pig, all done in house, and all very, very good. Actually, it was all good, but that was the highlight.
Rubee, it was nice meeting you and I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to catch you after the meal. I hadn't talked to some of the other farmers there in a few months and got caught up in the conversation. Most amazing of all, I found out that Julie Murphree's (from the Farm Bureau) father used to work cattle with my great-grandfather (who has been dead over 50 years). Talking to him first-hand about the old man was really neat. I hope to see you again at some other event around town.
PHX - Locavore 3 at Tapino
There's one dairy in Chandler Heights which sells raw milk directly off the farm (its at Higley and Riggs) and through a vendor (Maya's maybe?) at the Phoenix Farmer's Market. There also is a dairy near Arizona City that brought milk down and sold it at the Gentle Strength Co-op (before it went out of business). I'm not sure if they have other customers in the Valley.
And with all such discussions, I'll remind everyone there is an inherant risk in drinking raw milk, especially when you yourself didn't milk the cow.
PHX - Locavore 3 at Tapino
My wife and I will be there on behalf of the Farm Bureau - we're dairy farmers from Mesa and Casa Grande. Be sure to say Hi.
Bean and Cheese Burrito [PHX]
Here's the link for El Charro. The lard content is high. As we overheard at a table next to us once, trying to quiz the waitress on what didn't have lard on it, her reply was "honey, everything here is cooked in lard, that's why it tastes so good".
Edit: Seems like I can't figure out how to link the restaurant above. The address is
El Charro Restaurant and Lounge
105 N Country Club Drive
Mesa, AZ 85201
Bean and Cheese Burrito [PHX]
El Charro on Country Club and 1st in Mesa serves up a classic Az/Sonoran bean burro (not burrito - never heard the word used in Az Mexican restaurants until maybe 15 years ago) along with plenty of other classics. My family has been going there for the better part of 50 years, and while the owners are slowing down a bit, the recipe's seem to stay the same year after year.
Grass Fed Beef-Phx
While I'm not a convert to grass-fed beef (If I raised my own, I'd finish 'em on barley), there are a number of other beef producers here in Az that you might want to try.
Check out the Az Farm Bureau's 'Fill Your Plate'
http://www.fillyourplate.org/
Review: Bar Tepo - Dana Park, Mesa/Gilbert AZ
I think that may certainly play a part in the difficulty of keeping restaurants open in the long run, but it doesn't explain some of the mediocre food being served at many of the East Valley's independent restuarants. The newspapers will go on saying how we won't support better restaurants (a complaint lodged by the owner of a recently closed seafood restuarant in North Mesa) but the fact is, if you serve bad food, I'm not going to return.
Review: Bar Tepo - Dana Park, Mesa/Gilbert AZ
My wife and I tried Bar Tepo in Dana Park this weekend - independent fine dining restaurants are pretty rare out here and had high hopes for this new place.
Tucked into the corner of the new section of Dana Park, the restaurant is visually quite appealing. There's a surprisingly large patio, with numerous tables plus a number of couches for lounging while having drinks at the bar, which opens directly onto the patio. Very cool, although the view is essentially the parking lot. Inside, the minimalist decor with an open kitchen works pretty well - its airy and bright due to the extremely high ceilings and wall of windows (I can't imagine what the AC bill will be this summer!). It may be a bit too simple for some tastes, but I think its easily one of the best looking restaurants in the East Valley.
We started with the artichoke and boursin cheese puffs and prime rib stuffed poblano chile (essentially a chile relleno). The cheese puffs were very good, surprisingly light, although the bacon and cheese dipping sauce was a bit heavy and hardly needed. The relleno was gorgeous looking, plump and lightly fried, accompanied by a mango salsa and a bed of field greens. Packed with steak and a familiar looking cheese sauce, the filling really didn’t live up to its appearance. While the steak was very tender, there just wasn’t any spice, or quite frankly much else with any discernible flavor. Very bland and quite disappointing.
For entrees, we ordered the seared tuna and the southwestern chicken cordon bleau. Normally I’m not one to order chicken breast dishes while dining out, but it sounded intriguing and was recommended by the waitress. The chicken breast, covered with a now very familiar cheese sauce, this time with chiles, was accompanied by bacon mashed potatoes. The potatoes were luke warm, but palatable. The chicken, again looked nice, but was very dull. The cheese sauce had little spice, the chicken had little flavor, and when I cut into the middle of it, hoping for some surprise stuffed inside, all I got was more cheese sauce. A little ham would have gone a long way there. Sadly, my wife’s tuna was much the same. Good presentation, but very bland. The tuna was rare, as requested, but ice cold and just lacking much taste. The upside was that the accompanying lobster tempura ball was very good.
Not in the mood to try our hand at dessert, we made our excuses and headed out, pretty disappointed. The food was pricey, drinks even more so. Our bill, which included the above plus a cocktail, a beer and two glasses of wine was $95 prior to the tip. In retrospect, the salads and sandwiches looked far better than the entrees, although everything we had ‘looked’ very good. I’ll perhaps try back for lunch, but it may be awhile.
So, is the reason the SE Valley has such a poor track record for fine dining due to our lack of interest, or just the fact that most of the restaurants just fail to deliver? I really miss Duel on Power Rd...
4-H pork at PHX Bashas' markets
Basha's is a pretty big buyer at the Maricopa County Fair, so expect to be able to get some for the next few weeks at most Basha's Stores. The State Fair is in October.
I almost posted an announcement on these boards a few days before the auction at the County Fair, but didn't get around to it. Anyone can get a bidder number and buy pigs, goats and lambs. Its an incredibly easy process - the UofA meat lab kids are there to arrange the processing and you can tell them how you'd like the meat cut up (ie, chop thickness, amounts of ground, etc).
Despite all the 'hype' about local food, there weren't any more buyers this year than in the past (just the usual crowd of farmers and kid's parents with a few big buyers like Basha's), and after the top animals sold, animals got very inexpensive.
We purchased five lambs at the Pinal County fair this year (three to barbecue for a party and two processed at the U of A to put away in the freezer). I think the most expensive one was $1.50/lb on the hoof, and the cheapest was about $1.20. Last year's lambs were fantastic, with amazingly tender meat and great flavor. These kids do a good job.
Raw Milk / Home Cheesemaking in AZ?
Although its possible that they still won't work for cheese-making, most of the fluid milk in Arizona isn't ultra-pasteurized. Bashas, Safeway, Albertson's and Fry's brand milks are all just traditionally pasteurized, and Shamrock's regular line of half and full gallons are too. Depending on the type of cheese you're using, these may work.
As for raw milk in Arizona, most of the local dairy farms can't sell it to you - that's because they don't have retail licenses and they have exclusive agreements with their local co-op to market their milk (Rovey's dairy is in this group). Moreover, the dairy farms here don't carry the insurance needed to sell raw milk to the public, and despite the quality of the milk coming from the dairies, there's always a chance that someone will get sick from consuming raw milk and then sue the farm.
There was a couple milking a handful of cows on the old Greer dairy in Chandler Heights (on the corner of Higley and Riggs) and selling raw milk directly from the farm. I'm not sure if they're still in business or not. There's also a raw milk dairy around Colorado City that used to ship raw milk into the Valley - I'm also not sure of its current availability.
I'm not an advocate of drinking raw milk unless you personally milked the cow, but the cheese making process can reduce the risk, particularly if aged.
(AZ) Anyone attending tonight's Schnepf Farms Chef dinner
with Robert McGrath and Aaron May? I didn't see anything posted about this earlier, but I'm quite excited for it. Apparently the response was quite good, as they sold out the event in a pretty short time. I'm interested to see if its primarily local residents attending or if Queen Creek is capable of pulling people in from farther afield.
Incidentally, the November 17th dinner will be cooked by Vincent Guierihault and they're currently accepting reservations.
http://www.schnepffarms.com/what.htm
