Well, it’s officially fall and has been for a few weeks. I think we’ve all been following or at least passively observing the growing Occupy movements which have been steadily sprouting up in other cities after the initial Occupy Wall Street movement began in New York City. I’ve found the process fascinating for a lot of reasons, but one of the aspects that I have really been interested in are the food systems that have sprouted up out of a necessity to feed the people engaged in the actual occupation. The food distribution system at Occupy Wall Street has been of special interest to me as it seems to be highly efficient, organized and still completely decentralized, with none of the hierarchy familiar to a person like me, with a background in the food industry. I’m interested in hearing opinions on how local food, food access and sustainability fit in with the Occupy Movements. Below are a collection of links to articles about the topic that I found interesting. I’m looking forward to hearing opinions.

• Want to Get Fat on Wall Street? Try Protesting
• The Food Movement Must Occupy Wall Street
• Occupy Wall Street: The Food Scandal
• Foodies, Get Thee to Occupy Wall Street
• Occupy Wall Street: Disruption and Leaderless Leadership

In other trading news, it’s fennel season. I wish that I had some, so if you do then feel free to make me an offer. My favorite fennel recipe goes something like this:

4 Medium fennel bulbs, stalks cut off and discarded, a few of the fluffy green dill textured bits saved

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Cut fennel bulbs into thin slices and coat with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and roast in a 375 degree oven until fennel is soft, about 30-45 minutes. Remove from pan and cool for 20-30 minutes. Toss in a bowl with:

juice of two limes (more if you like the tanginess)

1/4 -1/2 cup shaved Parmesan

A small amount of the green tops, minced

More salt and pepper as needed. Makes a delicious fall side dish.

Jake and I attended the first BOSSwappers swap on Saturday and I have been reaping the culinary benefits of trading all weekend. We made fresh mozzarella and Jake smoked it in his smoker with some thyme and applewood. We brought eight balls for trading and one for tasting and in exchange we took away kombucha, vegan cupcakes, strawberry rhubarb jam, sauerkraut, lemon-raspberry bread and a few other food items that were consumed shortly after the swap. It was a great haul and smoking the cheese was a fun experiment, though admittedly I was mostly a spectator in the smoking process.

The DIY theme for the weekend started with Friday’s On Point podcast on homebrewing. If you don’t already brew then it’s an interesting introduction to the process. If you happen to have both homebrew and a ball of our smoked mozzarella, then I highly recommend combining them into a pizza using the below recipe:

Ingredients for Crust:

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

one 12 oz bottle of beer

Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Pour in beer and mix. Knead and roll out the dough and brush with olive oil. Top with the below ingredients and bake for 30 minutes at 450 degrees.

1.5 pounds fresh tomatoes, chopped

1.5 cups shredded smoked mozzarella cheese

0.5 pounds broccoli rabe, blanched

torn basil leaves as garnish

And you should be excited, because borage is awesome and according to the internet it’s also a tonic for stress! It tastes like cucumber, but it’s leafy and herb-y. It makes a great addition to a summer herb salad, with nuts and a balsamic vinaigrette (I’d throw a salty, dry cheese on it too, like ricotta salata, but that’s just me) or you can use it to make “cucumber” sandwiches for tea-time.

18 slices whole wheat bread
2 tbl chopped chives, with 1/2 tbl reserved for garnish
8 ounces marscarpone
8 ounces cream cheese , softened
1.5 cups packed young borage leaves , blanched, dried and coarsely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Combine cream cheese and marscarpone in a bowl and then add chopped borage leaves and chives. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the cheese/borage mixture on half of the bread slices and top. Cut off the crusts (maybe you can trade them!) and then slice into fourths on the diagonal. Serve on a platter, sprinkled with chives, along with a tall glass of iced tea.

Ingredients:

2 lbs rapini
2 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves minced
1/4 tsp red chilli flakes
1/4 c feta crumbled
1/4 c coarse breadcrumbs toasted
salt and pepper to taste
Trim the bottom inch off of the rapini and then roughly chop it. Cook in boiling water until soft, approximately 3 minutes, drain and pat dry. Add oil to skillet over medium low heat. Cook garlic until soft and fragrant, 3 minutes. Add rapini and season with salt, pepper and chilli flakes. Remove from heat and add breadcrumbs and feta. Serve immediately, drizzled with a little olive oil.