We’re having 3 days in a row of sunny and warm early summer weather and I’m trying to soak up every minute of it before another storm system brings us more than a few inches of rain on Wednesday. Gideon and I spent the weekend tackling weeds and tall grass at our house and our team is spending the day mowing down the rest of the cover crop and making sure all the chile seedlings in the greenhouse get as much sun and warmth as possible. I’m not ready to feel my spirits plummet once the skies get cloudy.
While I’m definitely affected by the lack of sun, I can boost my spirits by cooking really good food. I’m leaning on our two spice blends to help with that during this next rainy stretch. Keep on reading to learn more about Boonville Boil & Cali Birria Blend - made with our chiles by our friends at Curio Spice Co in Cambridge, MA!
A quick inventory note: We have 65 bags of Anazape beans and 100 bags of Tan Tepary beans and that's it from the 2024 harvest. Plan accordingly! And our 2024 harvest of olive oil will be available hopefully next week. It's a small harvest and will go quick.
Boonville Boil Blend - Herby & Peppy
Boonville Boil is our ode to a summer crawfish boil - an annual tradition Gideon had with our friends in Boston. The blend starts with Smoky Piment d’Ville as a base flavor and then is accented with garlic, mustard, bay leaf, lemon, onion, thyme and dill pollen. There’s even a bit of Comapeño chile for some added heat and citrusy flavor. Note that there is no salt in the blend so you can season away without being concerned with over-salting. Boonville Boil was featured in The Strategist which said, “if you like Old Bay, this is an upgrade.”
My favorite way to use it? Take a simple piece of fish, coat both sides in Boonville Boil and a little salt, and pop it in the oven to cook for 10 minutes.
The funniest part of the name of this blend is that we have not used it for a crawfish boil. Yet! But! We’ve used it on basically every other kind of seafood! And while this blend was made with seafood in mind, don’t let that limit the way you think of this herby chile blend. I’ve enjoyed it on roasted vegetables, chicken thighs, in soup, and keep finding ways to use it.
The Curio Spice team also developed 3 different recipes for the blend including Boonville Boil Artichoke Dip, Shrimp & Cheese Grits, and Boonville Boil Fish Cakes (like crab cakes but more affordable!).
Cali Birria Blend - Earthy & Bright
Cali Birria was inspired by traditional beef birria from Jalisco, Mexico. Birria is traditionally made by marinating beef in a chile and herb paste and then braising it in a chile broth. The braised beef can be served as tacos, eaten as a stew, or used to make Quesabirria (think quesadillas filled with the birria beef!).
You might find these recipes to be more helpful than my way of braising the beef. You can replace the spices in the recipes with Cali Birria. Note that you might want to add a bit of guajillo powder or some whole dried guajillo chiles as well to make it more chile forward.
Authentic Birria from Isabel Eats
Birria de Res from Serious Eats
Slow Cooker Beef Birria from Muy Bueno
And while this blend was inspired by Birria, there’s a lot of other things you can do with it. I’ve enjoyed it in ground beef for a pan of nachos, mixed into beans for refried beans, and I used it to season chicken thighs before braising them. I also made a really rich lentil soup with a few tablespoons of it added when I sautéed the vegetables.
Read more at Civil Eats about the impact of canceling the LFPA and if local food can survive Trump’s USDA.
The spice blend’s earthy flavors come from coriander, cumin, green onion, garlic, epazote, annatto, and cinnamon while its brightness comes from our Comapeño chile. The flavors of this Cali Birria spice blend are perfect for seasoning beef before braising in stock. Here’s some guidance on how I’d make an abbreviated version. I'd add about 2 tablespoons of Cali Birria to a big piece of beef with a bit of salt and olive oil. Sear the meat on all sides and then put it either in a pressure cooker or in a dutch oven at 350 with some beef stock and braise until you can pull the meat apart. Enjoy it with tortillas.
You might find these recipes to be more helpful than my way of braising the beef. You can replace the spices in the recipes with Cali Birria. Note that you might want to add a bit of guajillo powder or some whole dried guajillo chiles as well to make it more chile forward.
Authentic Birria from Isabel Eats
Birria de Res from Serious Eats
Slow Cooker Beef Birria from Muy Bueno
And while this blend was inspired by Birria, there’s a lot of other things you can do with it. I’ve enjoyed it in ground beef for a pan of nachos, mixed into beans for refried beans, and I used it to season chicken thighs before braising them. I also made a really rich lentil soup with a few tablespoons of it added when I sautéed the vegetables.
A Note on Agriculture Policy: Since my last note, the current swath of funding for the Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program that provided funds for schools and food banks to purchase food from local farmers has been reinstated, at least for the duration of this year’s contract. We were excited to send 180 bags of our whole dried chiles to the Fort Bragg Food Bank through LFPA's Farms Together program last week and the Mendo Lake Food Hub is picking up another 180 bags for the food bank this week, too. We're glad the program is around, if only for a bit longer.
Unfortunately, the USDA has been fairly explicit that the program will be canceled after the funds for this contract year run out. This is not only a really big disappointment to farmers, but also to schools who were able to bring fresh local produce into their breakfast and lunch programs as well as food banks who were able to have really great produce available to their clients. Canceling programs like this is incredibly short-sighted when positive impacts include expanded markets for farmers as well as fresher, more local produce options for kids and people who use the emergency food system. It improves the bottom line for farms and can be a huge source of nutritional benefits for kids and people in need. And with the current administration eyeing the option of restrictions of processed foods to the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program, removing sources of funding for fresh, healthy produce for the schools will only make it harder to serve kids healthy food in schools.
And on March 19th, the administration froze about $500 million in funds for food banks for their food purchases (these purchases were not restricted to local food, but applied to all their food purchasing). As groceries are already incredibly expensive, the impact of food banks having less funds to purchase food for their operations will be devastating to people who need help getting food on the table.
Read more at Civil Eats about the impact of canceling the LFPA and if local food can survive Trump’s USDA.
Read more at Politico about the freeze of funds to food banks.
