| Local Foods Spotlight |
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This section will spotlight local foods. New stories appear on a regular basis, so check back often.
Dear Dairy, part 1Drinking milk from Smith Creamery is more like drinking dessert. And, from the empty shelves that sometimes greet us in the dairy section of our local foods store, the secret is out about the deliciousness of the milk and dairy products from this family-owned-and-operated dairy in Louisiana.
Try this ice cream recipe from Smith Creamery, developed by Washington Parish residents Pauline Morris-Creel and Jo Nell Burch:
So, why does the milk, especially the chocolate milk, taste so good? For one, it doesn’t travel that far from cow to glass as the creamery is located in Washington Parish between Franklinton and Kentwood. For another, the fresh milk is pasteurized but not homogenized—so the cream still rises to the top (and you have to shake it before drinking it). Nothing is added and nothing is removed. They use a slow pasturization process that doesn't cook the milk, so the taste, quality and health benefits of their milks and butters are noticeably better, just as nature intended them to be.
Delicious Creamy Chocolate Ice Cream 1 / 2 gallon Smith Creamery Chocolate Milk 16-ounce Cool Whip 1 can Condensed Milk Mix all ingredients together and freeze in an ice cream freezer, according to manufacturer’s directions. Note: To make vanilla ice cream, substitute Smith Creamery whole milk for chocolate milk.times-picayune Also, all the milk comes from their own grass fed cows. What's so great about grass-fed cows? Milk from grass-fed cows has more CLA, Omega-3 fatty acids ("good fat"), beta-carotene, and other antioxidant vitamins. CKA (conjugated linoleic acid) is an anti-carcinogen (cancer fighter) in your body. Grass-fed cows produce milk with a naturally sweet taste. Grass-fed cows are also cleaner, healthier, and happier. Smith creamery makes whole, fat-free, and chocolate milk, heavy cream, half-and-half, butter (salted or unsalted), and Creole cream cheese. To get their products, visit the Crescent City farmers market or one of the local retailers listed on their website. (And, for fun, you can take a tour of the dairy.) Next Time: Dear Dairy, part 2 - John Folse's Bittersweet Plantation Dairy Farm Fresh RestaurantWith its on-site farm, the food at La Provence Restaurant in Lacombe has to travel feet, not miles, from farm to table.In January 2007, Kerageorgiou sold the restaurant to John Besh, who had once served as his chef de cuisine. As all great chefs know, fresh, taste-filled food comes from extremely fresh ingredients. To that end, Besh has given this great restaurant an upgrade of sorts by adding an adjacent, on-site farm. We can only imagine how wonderful the food will be now. (Stop imagining, check the sample menu!) Eating Local never tasted so good! Restaurant Info: La Provence 25020 Highway 190, Lacombe, LA 70445, 985-626-7662 Wednesdays-Saturdays 5-9pm, Sunday 11am-9pm, Fridays Lunch 11am-2pm Make Online Reservations We need your input! (or is it FOOD-put?)Got an idea for a local food product or local restaurant we should spotlight? Want to submit 2-3 paragraphs about it yourself? Contact us with your ideas and/or paragraphs. (If necessary, we'll do all the background/ fact checking.) Unfortunately, there is no cash reward for this work. But, your name will be up in (internet) lights! |
