By Kathryn Reed

South Lake Tahoe planners this month approved the change in operation permit as well as issued the building permit for the old Ace Hardware store near the Y to be turned into a brewery.

“The proposal includes a mill and grain storage room, two ADA accessible restrooms, office space, a cold box, multiple brewing storage tanks, bar and table seating, as well as an outdoor patio/seating area,” Hilary Roverude, deputy director of Development Services, told Lake Tahoe News.

Chris and Nicole Smith, who graduated from South Tahoe High School in 2006, moved back to the area about a year ago with designs to open a brewery. They expect the doors to South Lake Brewing Company to open in February, maybe March.

The old Ace store is being gutted and transformed into a brewery. Photo/Provided

A few things that will set them apart from the other breweries in the area include having the most square-feet (6,000) and largest capacity (10-barrel brewhouse).

Each barrel is the equivalent of 31 gallons of beer. A barrel is two kegs. Two batches of beer are needed to fill their fermenters, which is 40 kegs worth of beer.

“My favorite beers to brew are hoppy ales that are not too bitter,” Chris Smith told Lake Tahoe News. “We like to do easy drinking English ales and lagers in the German style.”

They plan to open with six taps, but have the ability to grow to 16. They are leaving room in the building if more tanks need to be added. The name so far are Angora IPA, Marlette Blonde, Barrett Brown and Emigrant Saison.

Food will be secondary to the beer. Packaged snacks will be for sale. However, the brewery will allow outside food to be brought in. The building has room to add a kitchen down the road if that seems appropriate.

Chris Smith is responsible for the beers, Nicole Smith handles the finances and the front of the house.

Right now the interior is being transformed into the brewery. The building on Lake Tahoe Boulevard has sat empty since Ace left in January 2011.

“We wanted to be on the west side of town. We didn’t want to go any farther than Ski Run,” said Smith, who grew up in Meyers. The goal is to add a bit of community feel to the Y area; to give people another reason be on that side of town.

Once the brewery has been operating for a bit the plan is to bottle the beer to sell and to have different ones available at other restaurants. Growlers will be the first way for people to take home South Lake Brewing Company beers. Membership is already possible in the Bär Society – the growler club — via the brewery’s website. (Bär is German for bear.)

The couple also plans to work closely with the community in terms of giving back via hosting fundraisers or bringing beer to an event.

By Blair Anthony Robertson, Sacramento Bee

The surge in popularity of fermented foods in recent years – eating them, creating them at home, exploring different cultures and cuisines – is based largely on the idea that this stuff can be really good for you.

In today’s filtered, purified, sanitized, antibacterial world, you might think avoiding bacteria of any kind is a good thing. Turns out, plenty of bacteria, invisible to the naked eye, are plastered all over our food and working on our behalf.

Yes, that food you forgot was in the back of your fridge is fermenting, but not in a good way. Healthy fermentation requires a lot of care and control, but it’s very doable.

Read the whole story

By Kathryn Reed

When people ask for copies of the recipe you know it’s a keeper.

Before Thanksgiving my friend Ellie shared her family cranberry recipe with me. But it wasn’t until the weekend before last that I made it for some friends. Oh, my, it’s super delicious.

It’s good as a side. I also ate it with crackers. It goes great with Cabernet – which makes sense since red wine is one of the main ingredients.

Ellie suggests putting it on vanilla ice cream or pineapple sherbet. Next time I’m definitely saving some for ice cream.

I also might cut back on the sugar a wee bit.

Below is her recipe. I substituted 1 teaspoon of orange juice for the orange extract because I didn’t have the extract. I used Zinfandel because that’s what I felt like drinking.

According to Ellie, the mixture freezes well.

Spiced Cranberry Sauce with Red Wine

¾ C Zinfandel or Cabernet

1 C sugar

1 C (packed) brown sugar

½ tsp ground allspice

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon orange extract

12 ounce bag fresh cranberries

Combine all ingredients except cranberries in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add cranberries and cook over medium heat until berries burst.

Cool, transfer sauce to a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate until cold.

By Thomas Mulier, Bloomberg

Nestle SA says it found a way to reduce the amount of sugar in chocolate by as much as 40 percent, a discovery that may give the KitKat maker an edge as food producers face increasing pressure from governments, health advocates and shoppers to make products healthier.

The world’s largest food company has developed a process to alter the structure of sugar that makes it taste sweeter in smaller amounts, according to Chief Technology Officer Stefan Catsicas, who declined to specify what that involves. 

Nestle will start selling confectionery products made that way in 2018 and will gradually reduce their sugar content, he said in an interview.

Read the whole story

By Elin McCoy, Bloomberg

The Kingston, Ontario, town crier, in fur-trimmed tricorn hat and bright red coat, rang a brass bell and shouted “Hear ye, hear ye” as the lead-in to my most surprising tasting this year: “The Judgement of Kingston.”

The blind competition last month pitted such top California Chardonnays as Chateau Montelena against those from Prince Edward County, a little-known, newly exciting wine region on the north shore of Lake Ontario.

I was the lone American on the judging panel, but like the Canadian judges, I ranked Ontario chardonnays as No. 1 and No. 2, ahead of the oakier Napa examples. They were brilliant: light and crisp, with spiky acidity, succulent layers of lemon-lime and stony flavors, and a flinty elegance missing from the California wines.

Read the whole story

By Debbie Arrington, Sacramento Bee

Mushrooms can grow on you. For mushroom farmers and nutritionists, that’s a good thing.

According to experts, demand for the tasty fungi keeps, well, mushrooming as consumers discover more varieties to try in different ways.

Demand peaks during November, prompted in part by mushroom stuffing and other holiday favorites. But year-round, mushrooms can find their way into almost any savory food.

The average American eats about 2 pounds of mushrooms a year. To meet that demand, more mushrooms are imported from Canada and Mexico.

Read the whole story

By Natalie Jacewicz, NPR
 
Kale is getting a makeover, and the very essence of kaliness may hang in the balance.

To develop a new variety of kale tailored to American palates, horticulture professor Philip Griffiths of Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Science and graduate student Hannah Swegarden are soliciting consumers’ kale reflections — the good, the bad, and the ugly. The scientists face a philosophic question for the ages.

Asks Swegarden: “How far can you push a consumer’s concept of what kale is, before it’s not kale anymore?”

Read the whole story

By Kathryn Reed

I never get tired of either roasting vegetable or barbecuing them. I will admit, though, I am definitely a fair weather barbecuer.

This time of year there are wonderful root vegetables to cook with. They seem heartier than summer veggies.

It doesn’t matter how you cook the veggies, this dip will add a little different pizazz. One thing to think about is presentation especially when considering if this will be an appetizer, side or entrée.

As an entrée, I cut up all the veggies into bite size pieces. I would do the same for a side. But as an appetizer you might want carrots, parsnips and the like so they would be finger food.

Creamy Tofu Dressing

8 ounces silken tofu

¼ C toasted sesame seeds

¼ C canola oil

1 T lemon juice

5 garlic cloves

½ tsp sesame oil

Salt

Mix all of the ingredients in a blender. Serve as a dipping sauce for roasted vegetables.

By Associated Press

The Nevada Agriculture Department has been awarded a federal grant worth nearly $2 million to help promote food safety on farms and ranches throughout the state.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Health Human Services is making the money available over five years to help farmers comply with produce safety guidelines.

Federal law requires all operations that grow produce commonly consumed raw to implement and monitor a food safety control plan.

State program manager Ashley Jeppson said Tuesday they will use the funds to offer training, workshops and technical assistance to aid farmers in preventing outbreaks of food-related illnesses.

By Kathryn Reed

Protein is something everyone needs. As a vegetarian, there are times when I need to seek it out. This is because there are so many dishes I make that have little to no protein.

Tofu often gets a bad rap because it can be mushy and bland. It’s like a lot of food – blame the cook, not the ingredient.

The following recipe could be an appetizer or a main course.

The chili oil is going to give it a kick. Depending on how spicy you like things, I would start out light, then add more until you get the right bang. If it gets too oily, lemon juice and/or balsamic vinegar will balance it.

Crispy Tofu Steaks

3 T ginger, minced

1 bunch scallions, minced

1 T white wine vinegar

2 T chili oil

1 T lemon juice

1 T balsamic vinegar

1/3 C canola oil

Salt

1 large egg

1 C Panko

14 ounces firm tofu

Mix ginger, scallions, white wine vinegar, chili oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and salt.

In a bowl beat the egg.

Heat canola oil in nonstick pan over moderate heat.

 Cut tofu into 1-inch thick slices. Dip in egg wash, then generously coat both sides with Panko. Turn once.

Serve with vinaigrette.