Rob Laing — CEO, Farm.One

Freshen Up: FiDi Fast Food Finds with Hydroponic Farm Herbs

ohoadmin — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 13:45:00 +0000

Freshen Up: FiDi Fast Food Finds with Hydroponic Farm Herbs ohoadmin Fri, 01/27/2017 - 08:45 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/Farm.One_DigInn-e1485191007566.jpg.webp?itok=3oRodsu9 January 27, 2017

By Rob Laing — CEO, Farm.One

We work all day in a hydroponic garden, so we’re surrounded by beautiful, fresh, rare produce. We’re also lazy and hungry — half the time we end up eating at Hudson Eats in Brookfield Place, ICE's home. But then we modify our dishes with bold adaptations using ingredients from the garden — ingredients that normally end up in fine-dining restaurants.

We thought we’d share a few of our creations, to show how to freshen up your average fast food finds. Here’s our take on five of our everyday favorite lunchtime meals, all sourced from Hudson Eats.

Dos Toros Burrito

Farm.One’s Nic is a hungry regular at Dos Toros, known for coming back triumphantly with an almost illegally large burrito, leaving servers feeling skeptical they’ll keep their jobs because they’ve been too generous. His advice is “Always ask for more. Always ask for extra cheese. Each server you go past is an opportunity to ask for a larger quantity, an extra spoonful. I normally say ‘Give me as much as you can give me’. They know me in line now. That doesn’t mean they necessarily like me. But they know me.”

While Dos Toros burritos are filling, we think they sometimes need an extra zing of freshness. So we add fresh chopped oregano, the bite of our beautiful fresh mini onions and a purple oxalis leaf, just because it’s beautiful and sour and rare and the opposite of food court cuisine.

Ingredients Dos Toros Burrito Fresh oregano Mini onions Purple oxalis

Northern Tiger Tofu Cauliflower Curry This is a go-to vegan dish — especially when it’s cold outside and you’re just plain starving. I suspect that a different cook makes the curry sauce each day. I’m trying to figure out which cooks makes the thicker and spicier variety. When the sauce is watery and the cauliflower pieces are too large, this dish is a waste of time. But when it’s thick and spicy with carefully chopped cauliflower and a generous sprinkle of scallions on top, it’s delicious.

My secret baller dream is to be able to have this dish served specially with the brown rice and across the food court from Blue Ribbon Sushi (so we can take advantage of their sake to-go). Until then we can elevate it with some fresh herbs, plus some spice and kick from hot sauce and toothache plant shavings.

Ingredients Northern Tiger Tofu Cauliflower Curry With Rice Cilantro Luke Wu’s Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce Local Micro Ishikura Long Winter Bunching Onion Marigold petals Toothache button, shaved

Skinny Pizza We hate going to Skinny Pizza because they don’t have the buzzer thingy to tell you when your order is ready, so you have to hang out standing like a weirdo among all the tourists waiting for their custom pizzas (no locals ever eat at Skinny Pizza — it’s way too slow).

Once in a while, this is a pretty good pizza option. The crust is usually crunchy without being crappy and dry. I have no idea if the “skinny” pizza is somehow “healthier,” but I do know it tastes better with some help from our herb friends.

If you pick a custom pie you can discard most of the unnecessary toppings and just go for something simple. Their fresh arugula is supposed to go on after it comes out of the oven, but it will inevitably be either forgotten or put on before it goes in the oven, which destroys it. Usually, we open up the box, check that it’s been forgotten and then politely ask them to put the arugula on.

Back at the garden, we garnish with a big handful of purple basil and tear it up as we eat each slice. Violas are over-the-top for this dish but they grow like crazy so we always have a few floating around in the farm. We throw a couple on and it feels so luxe.

Ingredients Skinny Pizza Make-Your-Own Tomato Roasted Garlic Caramelized Onion Arugula Pizza Amethyst Basil Violas

Dig Inn, Elevated

Dig Inn is the warhorse of Hudson Eats, with a line stretching around the corner every single lunchtime. Maybe people like it because each bowl they serve seems to have around 13 tablespoons of olive oil.

David is a night owl and normally ends up ordering lunch at around 3pm, letting it cool while he answers emails and eventually eating it at 4pm or even 5pm in a meeting. But then again, 3pm is the only time at Dig Inn when you can chat with the server and ask for extras, like “just a taste” of their chiles or side of sauce or whatever you fancy. We like to plate their most popular combo — charred chicken on a bed of greens with sweet potato — with flowers, red-veined sorrel and microgreens to elevate this simple bowl to silly fancy-ness.

Ingredients Dig Inn Charred Chicken on Bed of Greens With Sweet Potato Ruby Streaks Mustard Red Veined Sorrel Nasturtium Flower

Juice Press Blue Ribbon Saketini

Every day we have a standup meeting at 10am. If a team member is late, the punishment is to buy a Juice Press juice for someone else on the team — a costly mistake as Juice Press prices are bankruptcy-inducing. If you want to spice up a boring Friday lunch while feeling somewhat virtuous, make a quick cocktail out of the “One Cup” sake drinks from Blue Ribbon Sushi and a splash of green Juice Press juice.

Serve in that martini glass you clandestinely brought down to the food court in your pocket. If you like, dust the rim with salt from a sachet stolen from Mighty Quinn’s Barbecue and garnish with a bright, sour wood sorrel flower and wood sorrel leaves. Sip while other food court attendees look on 20%-judgmentally, 80%-jealously. Replenish until your juice and sake are spent. Then go buy a draft beer from Mighty Quinn’s as penance for the stolen salt.

Ingredients Juice Press OMG! Juice Kiku-Masamune One Cup Sake Wood sorrel leaves Wood sorrel flower

Want to study culinary arts at a state-of-the-art facility with an indoor hydroponic garden? Click here for information on ICE’s career programs.

Sustainability Lunch Hydroponic Garden

The Electric Toothache Buzz Button Test

ohoadmin — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 22:00:31 +0000

The Electric Toothache Buzz Button Test ohoadmin Thu, 11/10/2016 - 17:00 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/toothache_plant%20%281%29.jpg.webp?itok=0DATLAh7 November 10, 2016

By Rob Laing — CEO, Farm.One

“I can’t feel my mouth.” “I’m drooling.” “Yelp.” “What? What is this?” “It’s salty.” “Sichuan peppercorn?” “My tongue is all numb down one side.”

“Will I ever be normal again?”

“I like it.” “I don’t like it.” The toothache button fascinates me. It seems to sit on the edge of danger. The rest of the culinary plant world is so “safe” and well-defined. The traditional French herb garden has such an air of familiarity that it verges on boring. The toothache plant, however, is different.

The red-and-yellow buttons of the toothache plant (which are actually collections of dozens of miniscule flowers) poke out of lush, dark-green foliage. They are part of a cluster, arranged on a stem composed of multiple branches, and rather strange-looking — the sort of thing you might see in Alice in Wonderland. If you came across it for the first time in its native Amazon, where it is known as “jambu,” you would almost certainly avoid it — its bold colors suggest a little bit (or a lot) of danger.

But inside ICE’s hydroponic garden, where we are growing the toothache plants in a highly controlled setting, you can step out of your comfort zone and try it. The buttons, stems and leaves can be eaten, and deliver a surprising, slowly revealed but long-lasting effect. Some describe it as a numbing sensation. Others find a grassy note, followed by a rush of saliva. Others simply can’t find words to explain the feeling, so resort to mumbling and drooling.

And this is why I love it

It’s like a drug experience without the illegality or potential danger. Before they taste the plant, I typically ask people, “Are you adventurous?” and it’s a moment of pure honesty. Those who genuinely are will dive in. Those who aren’t adventurous will say “no” in order to protect themselves, and delay the inevitable (tasting). There are few liars. After the first bite of the toothache plant, there’s a good 10-second period where nothing happens. The taster will ask: Is it working?

They question whether it’s legit. Then the effects start to appear, effects that reveal themselves differently from person to person. Some people experience a lot and reveal nothing. Others show every sensation through facial expressions, as the mind attempts to process what is happening. Some tasters worry: Will this last forever? Will I be forever altered? Some are content to just enjoy the ride. Others try to control it. There are no other herbs that do this — that take you on a journey. This is why I love this plant so much. In a small way, it reveals who we are.

Origins and Botany

The plant’s latin name is Acmella/Spilanthes Oleracea, but it’s also sometimes known as the electric daisy, paracress, buzz buttons, Sichuan buttons and most often as toothache plant. Though the toothache plant is part of the Sunflower family (Asteraceae), its effects are clearly very different. The toothache plant is a perennial that can be harvested yearly. It thrives in warmer climates and, like us, struggles during the frosty winter months. Temperature sensitivity is not a problem here at ICE, where our hydroponic garden is kept at a balmy, rainforest-like 75°F.

Culinary Uses

Jambu is certainly an oddity and even experienced chefs can struggle to find a use for an ingredient that has such a powerful, unusual effect on the palette. We’ve seen it more commonly used in desserts and drinks, matched perhaps with a touch of chili for heat or with something sweet.

You can shred a handful of small, fresh leaves to add an interesting note to a salad. When cooked, the leaves become mild and are served as a Brazilian version of regular greens. The flowers and leaves are also commonly made into oil for use as a flavor extract.

Medicinal & Other Uses

If you’re not keen on its taste, you might be reassured that the toothache plant has numerous other uses. Although new to the U.S., the toothache plant has been utilized medicinally by Asian, African and South American countries throughout history, for its antimicrobial, insecticidal, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antimalarial, analgesic, anesthetic and vasorelaxant properties.

Sure, the name toothache might not be the most appealing, but it actually derives from its ability to relieve mouth pain, i.e. toothaches and stomatitis, by inciting a unique, tingly, numbing sensation. This feeling is primarily caused by an alkaloid, “spilanthol,” which increases salivation, thereby producing an analgesic effect. Perhaps tooth-ease plant might have been a more appropriate and attractive name. Additionally, in India, toothache plant leaves have been a regular addition to chewing tobacco.

For a new approach to experiencing the toothache plant, ICE Chef Instructor Jenny McCoy came up with a unique recipe using the leaves. Chef Jenny notes, “One of my favorite cocktails is the absinthe-based Green Beast, which would be perfect to pair with the toothache plant. Absinthe is mind-numbing and jambu is tooth-numbing, so with a splash of bright lime juice and cooling cucumber, this drink is amazingly balanced.” Try if you dare. We guarantee it will create a stir.

The Greener Beast Cocktail

Servings: makes one cocktail

Ingredients:

1 ounce absinthe
1 ounce fresh lime juice
1 ounce simple syrup
2-4 ounces seltzer
1 sprig of toothache plant
A couple of cucumber slices

Preparation

Combine the first four ingredients, stir, and pour into a Collins glass filled with ice.
Garnish with cucumber slices and toothache plant.

See the reaction of Chloe Coscarelli — the popular vegan chef and chef-owner of By Chloe — as she tastes jambu for the first time.

Where can you try Toothache? At Farm.One here at ICE we keep a few plants around for the fun factor and we grow to order for sale in NYC. If you have the chance to visit us, ask for a taste. You might just discover something about yourself. Want to cultivate your green thumb at ICE? Click here for more information on ICE’s career programs

Hydroponic Garden Food Culture

Add new comment

Tiny, Delicate, Flavorful: Microgreens

ohoadmin — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 13:00:31 +0000

Tiny, Delicate, Flavorful: Microgreens ohoadmin Fri, 09/23/2016 - 09:00 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/microgreens-at-ICE.jpg.webp?itok=UEvzFGys September 23, 2016

By Rob Laing — CEO, Farm.One

Have you been to a fine dining restaurant in, oh, say, the last twenty years? If so, you may have wondered about the mysterious ant-sized leaves carefully placed on top of your dish—probably using tweezers and perhaps some under-the-breath cursing.

Where did they come from? What are they? Are they grown using smaller seeds? Are they grown in tiny pots? Are they harvested by children? If I’m paying $38 for a main course, why is everything on the plate so small? Unless you haven’t read the title of this blog post, you won’t be surprised to learn that these leaves are called microgreens. Whoever christened them had a wild and fanciful imagination. But seriously, microgreens are very cool—the nuttiness of arugula packed into a tiny, pretty leaf; the bold pink color of an amaranth petal; a note of basil with just the right intensity to balance a bite of tomato. No chewiness, all flavor. You can see why they’re so popular among chefs.

Microgreens from ICE's hydroponic garden

The Birth of Microgreens

No one’s completely sure when and where microgreens first started turning up on plates. It was most likely in San Francisco in the 1980s. The area had the perfect terroir for the growth of microgreens—the soil, California climate, and not to mention, the constant flow of fresh, green, Silicon Valley dollars to support fine dining. But there’s no strict USDA definition of a microgreen, versus a cress, a sprout or a baby leaf—green varietals which many would argue predated microgreens.

Technically, “cress” refers to the stage when a seed has just sprouted its first cotyledons—those teensy first sprouts, normally two, but occasionally one or more. Plants with two cotyledons are called “dicots.” Inside the cotyledons is a “food reserve” for the plant, to be used until it can extract enough energy and nutrition from the sun and the soil (i.e., begin photosynthesizing).

After that stage the cotyledons either start photosynthesizing or drop away. In some types of plant, the cotyledons last only a few days; within others they can exist for a year or more. These minute cotyledons on a fine stem are what people normally think of when talking about microgreens.

Getting Your Hands On Microgreens Now that you know about cotelydons, the question becomes: where can we find them? You can often find microgreens at your local farmers’ market. For example, at the Union Square Greenmarket in Manhattan, usually there are at least two high-quality vendors selling a few varieties of live and cut microgreens. Not to mention, at Farm.One, we grow over fifty varieties to order.

Larger restaurant suppliers often carry them as well, though these sources can be hard to access for a home chef. Many chefs try growing their own micros. Unfortunately, the labor, climate and knowledge required to grow them successfully often leads to chefs giving up.

Some restaurants order live microgreens, still rooted in their growing medium, which extends their usable life and keeps them fresher. The downside is that the micros need to be cut by hand and take up a fair amount of space.

Planting & Growing Your Own Microgreens

What if you're determined to grow your own microgreens? Technically, almost any herb or green can be grown as a microgreen. In practice, many varieties are too spindly or weird-looking in their awkward childhood phase—ugly ducklings that won’t help a plate’s appeal.

Many also simply don’t have much of a taste until they mature, putting them into dangerous non-functional garnish territory. And sometimes the seeds are just too expensive to grow en masse. You can plant microgreens in anything neutral that allows them access to moisture, nutrients, air and some light.

Since micros do develop roots, you want something porous and thick enough for them to build a little foundation for themselves. At ICE, we mostly use rockwool, which is sort of like an inert cotton candy made of stone, or sometimes coconut husk.

Microgreen seeds are planted very densely, but far enough apart to avoid mold and so that the seeds get enough light without crowding. They should also be close enough together for an efficient use of space. Growers will often use a certain weight of seeds per square inch, rather than the traditional concept of spacing individual seeds.

For example, we plant our micro basil at 0.177 grams per square inch. (Hopefully this mixture of imperial and metric units made you wince.) Within a standard 10” x 20” grower’s tray, you might be using hundreds or even thousands of seeds for some varieties.

Talk about efficiency. A selection of different micros can be grown together, which provides an attractive array of tastes and colors. For example, micro amaranth, arugula and kohlrabi commonly appear together. But not every mix will work, as different varieties have varying growth rates.

For this reason, mustard (fast) and beets (slow) would be a difficult mix to grow successfully. The mustard would quickly crowd out the beets and you’d be like, “I should have read that ICE blog post more carefully before I wasted 12 precious grams of seeds.” Told you.

At ICE’s hydroponic garden, we grow our micros in trays in a “flood and drain” hydroponic system. A nutrient solution floods them either eight times a day, or twice a day depending on the growing medium. We use LED lights and waft a gentle breeze across the plants to discourage too much moisture buildup causing mold. And for those sexy wind-in-the leaves photoshoots.

Harvesting those Greens Depending on variety, many micros are ready to harvest between 7 and 14 days old. You should be looking for a healthy mini plant that is 2-3 inches tall and has developed the leaf structure that you want. This could be cotyledons or it could include a number of mature leaves. It really depends on the plant and the aesthetic you’re seeking on the plate.

If not selling the live plant, many growers simply harvest by hand with scissors, but this can be incredibly time-consuming, making the whole process completely uneconomical. The more adventurous use a chef’s knife and cut horizontally, like filleting a fish as shown here. It’s possible to get things done faster with mechanized shears, demonstrated here. A lot faster.

But if you have a phobia of losing a few fingers, probably best to stick with the scissors, go slowly and not use SnapChat at the same time. If you’re just using micros for your own cooking, you can cut as you need and the other, uncut micros will happily live for several days or longer.

More nutritious? Maybe… Glucosinolates are one of the micronutrients in kale that makes the plant so healthful that pretentious people wear t-shirts about it. Interestingly, the food reserves of those little cotyledons in microgreens turn out often to contain far more glucosinolates than an equivalent weight of a mature plant. It’s for this kind of reason that a small number of recent studies suggest that microgreens are more nutritious than mature leaves.

For example, red cabbage microgreens have six times more vitamin C than mature red cabbage of the same weight and nearly seventy times more Vitamin K. The most nutrient-dense micros seem to be red cabbage, cilantro, garnet amaranth and green daikon radish. Growing broccoli sprouts at home may be the easiest way to access this kind of nutrient boost.

However, microgreens have not been extensively studied and to date there have been no large-scale epidemiological trials. Maybe because there are very few non-billionaires eating measurable amounts of micros on a daily basis. So it’s probably safe to say they are very good for you and leave it at that. But also best not to assume that sprinkling a few microgreens on a heaping plate of fried chicken will balance everything out.

Everything in moderation Like chili oil or a touch of wasabi, micros are perfect in small doses and in the right places. Used to complement the flavor and composition of a delicate dish, they can be delightful, subtle, even exquisite. But sprinkled with abandon throughout a menu, they lose appeal.

If we all use microgreens with abandon, they might soon be as uncool as the once-ubiquitous sprig of curly parsley. If you find yourself casually dropping a random handful of micro amaranth onto a plate of overcooked steak and lumpy mashed potatoes, with the hope of somehow elevating it to a higher plane, STOP. Make the food great and only then occasionally use a micro to add an accent.

For the home cook, microgreens can be a fun and simple way to add a bit of color to your dishes and can help take your dinner party to a more sophisticated level. Look out for them next time you’re at the farmers’ market, and give them a try—or better yet, try growing your own.

You're invited: Click here for more information on ICE's career programs, then come visit the hydroponic garden yourself.

Hydroponic Garden Sustainability Restaurants