Shopping with Chef Eric Stenberg- Missoula, MT by Erin

August 14, 2007

In the early morning we drove out of Spokane, Washington, and started coasting along the evergreen-lined I-90 on route to Missoula, Montana for a four-hour drive. The drive was one of the most scenic in America – our bus driver Sharon can attest to that. However, as we got closer to Missoula, all we could see is smoke on both sides of the bus. The fires that have been consuming Montana and Idaho in the past weeks were definitely making an impact on the local scenery. The air was also thick with smoke as we got out of the bus and started to explore downtown. But even through the smoke, you could see the beauty of the town of Missoula. Surrounded by hills and mountains, this valley is a prime location for the sustainable food movement. Many of the restaurants buy food from local farmers, and we tried out a couple of the places for lunch and dinner. We even saw our Eat Well Tour poster in Catalyst – a local coffee shop and diner that buys food from a co-op.

During the day we were able to meet with Eric Stenberg, a chef who works with the Chef's Collaborative and Farm to Restaurant Collaborative. The latter group works to reintroduce Missoula diners to their food by connecting them to the entire food system – from the seed, land, farmer or rancher, to the routes that transport food to the table. We met him at Missoula’s farmers market, where we learned about Sternberg’s thought process in buying his food to cook. He gave us each a sheet of paper with a type of vegetable you may find in a typical farmers market – carrot, squash, beet, potato, and a few others. For each, he listed all the different types of ingredients you can use to preserve the flavor of the vegetable. His philosophy was about keeping the integrity of the vegetable as much as possible through cooking, since local produce already has incredible tastes to offer the palate. In case you’re curious about this, below is a sample list for summer squash.

After talking about cooking for an entire afternoon, we decided to head over to Scotty’s Table for dinner…and had the best meal of the trip. Bruschetta with goat cheese, pesto and diced tomatoes, and creamy risotto with fresh mushrooms, asparagus and lemon were just some of the delectable plates they offered. Not only did Scotty’s have the best tasting food, but we were able to enjoy our food even more knowing they adhere to a sustainable yield philosophy – they incorporate as many free-range, organic & Montana products as possible.

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For all you cooks out there, here’s Chef Stenberg’s sample of ingredients and cooking methods to use with Summer Squash:

Bacon
Lemon
Parmesan Cheese
Basil
Lemon Thyme
Pepper
Butter
Nutmeg
Saffron
Cinnamon
Olive Oil
Cream
Onions
Curry
Paprika

Cooking Methods:
Bake, Deep fry, Saute, Steam

Give it a try!

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