Pepper’s prides itself on being a responsible corporate citizen. We like to help out and giveback to the community that does so much to support us. One of the ways which we try to do this is by “going green” or reducing our carbon footprint as much as possible. A carbon footprint is defined as the amount of greenhouse gas given off by a person or company. By doing a few simple things, we can reduce our footprint drastically and make the world a greener place. There are lots of ways to reduce our carbon footprint—either by using less energy or by switching over to a cleaner renewable source.

We’d like to encourage our Pepper’s supports to think about how they can reduce their impact on the earth by sharing the “green” changes we’ve made at Pepper’s:

Renewable energy: Our Electric supplier, Glacial Energy, has a program in which we pay a premium to buy a percentage of our power from Green e-certified producers. In the past year, Pepper’s Fine Catering has purchased over 86,618 kilowatt hours of renewable energy credits through Glacial Green.

Low energy: We gave our 100 year old historic building in Northborough a facelift by switching all of the lighting to low energy lighting with the help of National Grid. Kitchen equipment can use a lot of energy. When making new equipment purchases, our number one priority is making sure the cost of energy is low. Advances in technology and energy regulation companies such as Energy Star are making a huge difference in products that are available to our industry.

Fuel efficiency: Pepper’s newest van is a highly efficient Freightliner made with the newest Mercedes Benz diesel technology. It gets double the mileage of tradition gas engines. Embracing greener technology is our mantra.

Energy conservation: In much the same spirit of someone shutting off a light bulb when they leave a room, we shut down our equipment when not in use. All of our large walk in refrigerators (seven all together) have computer monitoring devices in cooperation with a program provided by National Grid, to improve efficiency and lower the power demand for chilling of our foods. Refrigeration is further reduced in our off-season, by consolidating foods and shutting down individual walk-ins that are not necessary.

White roof: Pepper’s has a brand new white roof. In 2012 it was time for us to replace our roof. There were plenty of other cheaper alternatives, but true to our philosophy of being a good corporate citizen,  we replaced our 8,000 square foot roof with a white roof. White roofs reduce the amount of power required to air condition the building, as a black roof absorbs heat and radiates it into the building. A white roof reflects heat, sending it back into space. Learn more about the benefits of a white roof here. 

Reduce reuse recycle: In addition to reducing energy consumption, Pepper’s also reduces its footprint by recycling as much as possible. 1/3 of Pepper’s trash consists of cardboard, which is separated and recycled. All beverage containers and cans are recycled as well. 

None of our scraps go to waste either. We have our own organic gardens onsite to grow herbs, vegetables and edible flowers. We use all of our vegetable food scraps in producing organic compost that we use as a natural fertilizer in our gardens. This greatly reduces carbon emissions in the delivery of these products from regional and global suppliers.

These steps may cost a bit more initially, but in the long run they will drastically reduce energy costs. More importantly, they are an investment in the environment of future generations.

So here we are at the beginning of November, which means I will soon be spending a few days on the shore of the Cape, gathering my favorite mollusks to enjoy with family and friends. Nothing beats gathering and eating local foods. Oysters, along with sweet corn and littleneck clams, are a few of the top ten items on my list of favorite local fare.

I’m often asked if it’s true that you should only eat oysters in months that end in the letter R. This is simply not true, a rule of thumb dating back to before refrigeration was commonplace.  However there is one caveat in my eyes. Warm summer oysters can be of inferior quality, as they may be watery, with a much milder flavor. With global shipping now more accessible, oysters can be enjoyed year round from sources such as Europe and Canada, but generally we’re able to find great oysters from somewhere on the east coast all year long.

How do you enjoy oysters?

For me, the possibilities are endless.

Roasted? Sure! Roast them over a hot fire, topped with seaweed for a roasted and steamed combo that always works well.

Raw? Absolutely! Add some lemon, cocktail sauce or a mignonette sauce, and I’m in.

Fried? One of my favorites! If I don’t use them in a Po’ Boy Sandwich, then topped with a Thai Chili Sauce works for me. When I’m doing a slaw for my Po’boy, I vary from the creamy version with celery seed to a Fennel Slaw with rice vinegar and olive oil vinaigrette, adding just a smidge of Dijon to help bind the dressing.

Cape Cod has a plethora of oyster farms, and farmers are being awarded oyster grants every year, so keep an eye out for local oysters from your favorite seafood sources. I have seen Roche Brothers market in Westborough carry Duxbury oysters as well as Onset Bay oysters which were both very succulent.

If you’re interested in learning more about oysters, Mark Kurlansky’s The Big Oyster is a lively, historic read that captures the heady days of early New York City and the impact of its oyster trade and the global economy.

Enjoy some oysters while you read about oysters with this recipe:

Raw Oysters with Apple Cider Mignonette Sauce

2               each      Shallots                                peeled and fine minced (set into a glass or ceramic bowl)

½             each      Granny Smith Apple       peeled, cored & finely diced

½`           cup         apple cider                         

½             cup         apple cider vinegar

2              teas.      Black Pepper, fresh ground

Blend all ingredients and let them come together for about 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Serve over your raw oysters.

However I prepare my oysters, I always have to throw a few down with simply nothing added. It’s wonderful how little nuances of brine or cucumber show up in the taste, depending on the location of the oyster farm and how the currents are running.

 

In our never-ending desire to seek out the best in quality and local products, Pepper’s is going “all in” with an outstanding regional chicken producer, Murray’s Chicken. In a tasting panel of 15 Pepper’s palates, an overwhelming thumbs up went to Murray’s for taste and moistness.

Murray’s Chicken is fed an all-natural, all-vegetable diet of 100% soybeans and corn. Many people do not realize the amount of antibiotics, growth hormones and drugs that are in most chicken feeds. In our humble opinion, this is simply not right. Humane conditions are also important to us. The chickens at Murray’s are never caged—they have plenty of room to stretch their wings, and enjoy access to sunlight and fresh air. We strongly believe that this makes for a much healthier, tastier chicken.

Murray’s Chicken is the first chicken certified as ‘lean’ by the American Heart Association, and the only chicken to be labeled ‘lean’ by the USDA. A Murray’s chicken is a hormone and antibiotic-free heritage chicken. Their quality of life eliminates the need for antibiotics, as unsanitary and inhumane conditions are generally the reasons why birds develop and carry the types of diseases that call for antibiotics in their feed.

Murray’s Chicken is a true leader in sustainability—in fact, you can actually trace a Murray’s chicken back to the hen house where it was raised using Google Earth.

Pepper’s is proud to feature Murray’s chicken on every Pepper’s menu with a dish containing chicken. We know that when you taste it for yourself, you’ll certainly agree. 

 Tomatoes are well known in the culinary world for their wide range of uses; they are both sweet and acidic, they can be eaten cooked or uncooked, whole or broken down in sauces. The ways to use tomatoes are limited only to the imagination of the individual preparing the dish.

Tomatoes are great for your health as well. They contain large amounts of lycopene, a powerful naturally occurring anti-oxidant that helps our bodies fight off certain types of cancer formations, as well as other types of health complications and diseases. Our bodies do not naturally produce lycopene, so it is important to have some in your diet. Other fruits and vegetables contain lycopene, but not in the concentration that is found in the tomato.

Heirloom tomatoes (also called heritage tomatoes) are quickly becoming one of the more popular varieties out there. Heirloom tomatoes are in effect the “purebred” of the tomato world, meaning they are not hybrids of other tomato plants. You will find them in all different colors and sizes, some with stripes of different colors running throughout. This odd coloration is because heirloom tomatoes lack a genetic mutation that gives them that uniform red color. This mutation that makes tomatoes all red also happens to mute the natural sweet flavors of the fruit, therefore heirlooms are sweeter and more flavorful than their uniformed cousins.

Recently, Pepper’s Chefs Danny Morgan and John Lawrence held a cooking demonstration for the Mass Horticultural Society as part of their “Garden to Table” program series. This event featured fresh, local heirloom tomatoes and it demonstrated the wide variety of uses for this wonder fruit. Creative and unique dishes such as tomato mousse with a basil reduction and balsamic vinaigrette were featured. This just goes to show you that in the right hands and with a little bit of imagination, tomatoes can be made into virtually anything. Keep an eye on our blog for more info on upcoming demonstrations.

Photo credit: Mrsdkrebs

On August 15^th, Chefs Danny Morgan and John Lawrence will pack up their pots and pans and hit the road to give a cooking demonstration at Elm Bank, home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society (Mass Hort), as part of their “Garden to Table” program series.

The Garden to Table program was developed to offer the public an opportunity to join together in the beautiful setting of the Mass Hort gardens at Elm Bank to learn about growing, cooking, and preserving healthy food. About 40 percent of the produce grown in the garden at Mass Hort will go directly to the Wellesley Food Pantry, the Natick Food Pantry, and A Place to Turn, food pantries that service families and individuals living in MetroWest.

This educational tasting event will feature a discussion lead by Chef Danny and Chef John about tomato varieties and ways in which you can incorporate fresh, local heirloom tomatoes into cuisine in exciting and unique ways. 

The menu will feature fresh, local produce with a focus on heirloom tomatoes and mouth-watering corn, including: tomato mousse with basil reduction and balsamic vinaigrette, a tomato sampler plate, chilled Cape Cod lobster salad with tomato-tarragon vinaigrette, and sweet corn ice cream with gingersnap tulles.

• To Register: Call 617-933-4943 or order online here
• Cost: $65 for Mass. Hort. members, $75 for non-members
• Where: Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street (Rt.16), Wellesley, MA 02482
• When: Wednesday August 15, 2012 - 6:00pm to 8:00pm

 

Flowers are more than just a pretty sight—they’re tasty, too. Pepper’s Fine Catering is featured in an article about edible flowers in the summer 2012 issue of Worcester Living Magazine. The article explores different types of edible flowers and ideas for incorporating them into a dish, complete with photos and recipes.

John and Susan are no strangers to edible blossoms. John recently used flowers in a cooking demonstration at the 2012 Boston Flower & Garden Show, and many of the edible flowers used came fresh from one of John and Susan’s ten garden beds—grown right on the Pepper’s property.

To find out more about edible flowers, read the online version of the article here. 

photo credit: Tom Rettig, Worcester Living

Fresh caught Fish for dinner?

Grow my own vegetables? 

Not so much ?  Not a problem.

Thankfully here in Massachusetts, we have a number of terrific options for shopping locally available foodstuffs produced, grown or caught that couldn’t be fresher. For Peppers Chefs, it doesn't get any better than bringing in the bounty that is available from local farms during our brief growing season. As an added bonus, procuring these enticing offerings have a very low carbon footprint, are more nutritious & tasteful than products trucked in a week from harvest out West and participating, supports our growing local farmers who grow sustainable food.

 

Farmers markets are available on a daily basis seemingly within 10-15 minutes drive of nearly everyone and the offerings vary from vegetables, locally produced jams, farmstead cheeses, salsas, artisan breads, honey, beeswax, soaps, chutneys and so much more, depending on the popularity of the location.

 

Finding a local farmers market is easily available from a simple Google search or visiting the www.massfarmersmarkets.org website. 

One other idea that is catching interest on in the world of special events is choosing a local farm for the location of a Green Wedding or a Garden Wedding.

Our sources for local chevre cheese has expressed that her pasture would be available to host a catered affair. If you love the idea of viewing playful goats

during the cocktail hour, this may be perfect and unique.

 

A great way to get the freshest produce to your family table and support local farmers is to buy shares in a Community Supported Agriculture ( CSA ) program that allows a participant buys shares in a farm and receives a certain amount of fresh, locally grown food every week. There are over 60 farms in Massachusetts that are offering such an enticing program, helping sustain local farmers with a guaranteed income to sustain their expenses and bridging the gap from producer to your table.

A most exciting &  innovative CSA program that has been started by the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association is the Cape Ann Fresh Catch. Now this is cool.

Were talking about the fresh & locally sustainable seafood available from our north shore. Starting on Sept. 6, and running for 10 weeks, you can purchase shares and receive fresh caught local fish, delivered to a local drop. It’s the catch of the day.

Currently nearly 18 stops are in the plans and an area could put together 80 members, a weekly new site may be established (40 members for a bi-weekly delivery.

10 Minutes from Peppers Catering’ kitchen is Heirloom Harvest Community Farm where we’ll be seen picking up our fish for personal use. While from week to week we’ll not be sure what the catch will bring, for those with a knife skill challenge, they offer a filet of fish option. Whole fish has the advantage of giving you the frame (skeleton) in which to make a delicious broth to be used in your favorite fish sauce or stew.

See the www.capeannfreshcatch.org for addition information and a location for pick up near you.

A few months ago Chef John Lawrence took on the challenge of beekeeping.

Peppers is thrilled to announce that their two hives have survived their "newbee" beginning to official beekeeping! Now that the cooler weather is here the hives are partially wrapped to protect them from harsh winter winds from the north.

Success!

Despite barely knowing what they were doing, the Peppers hives produced over 28 pounds of the most wonderful and dark honey any of them had ever put to their lips. The honey had a very low moisture count of under 11% which is excellent. No doubt Chef Paul Wilson and Linda LaBarge will come up with a creative catering use for this liquid gold!

Another great surprise was a visit from The Massachusetts Bee Inspector, Ken Warchol, who gave Chef John a “thumbs up” for the health of the hive and their production. Ken was a wealth of information and helpful tips, very informed and passionate when the talk is about bees.

Did you know…

• Bees fly at about 20 miles per hour
• Bees have been around for 30 million years
  
• Bees have 5 eyes
  
• The average bee makes 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in a lifetime
  
• Bees can be used to detect land mines with tiny radio devices attached (who thinks of these things?)
  
• A queen bee lays up to 1500 eggs a day
  
• 30% of all plant pollination is done by bees

All of Chef John's bee training comes from the local Worcester County Beekeepers Association

If you ever saw the Bee Movie you would know that without bees, all would be lost.  Alright, I'm being a little dramatic, but I'm not too far off.  Bees are accountable for 80% of all insect pollination, and without them, we would see a significant decrease in the yield of fruits and vegetables.  But what most people don't know is that bees have been on the decline for a few years now.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture shows a 29% drop in beehives in 2009, following a 36% decline in 2008 and 32% in 2007.  A little scary I'd say. 

Enter Pepper's Catering owner, John Lawrence - a man who loves a challenge, especially when it's related to food.  After overhearing a couple of his fellow ski patrol buddies talking about the success of their bee hives, John was fired up and ready to go.  He did a little research and met with some people at the Worcester County Beekeepers Association, which just happens to be the oldest county beekeeping association in the U.S.  During the spring he enrolled in their "bee school" to learn the ins and outs of bees and beekeeping.  Today, Pepper's Catering is the proud owner of about 10,000 bees.

Situated along the river bank and near the Pepper's garden, where we hope they spend a lot of their time, the bees are busy setting up house and tending to the queen.  Living on a temporary diet of sugar and water, John expects the hives to thrive to about 50,000 - 60,000 bees strong over the summer.  If all goes well, we should see some honey in September.  

John is a strong believer in the local sustainable food movement, so becoming beekeepers was a no- brainer for him.   Bees travel up to 5 miles looking for food, so local Worcester County farmers will enjoy the benefits of our bees too.  There are so many uses for honey and it can last a very long time if stored properly.  In addition to using the delicious honey that our bees produce, John also plans on making lip balm with the beeswax.  I wasn't kidding when I said he loves a challenge!

For more information on bees and beekeeping, visit the Worcester County Beekeepers Association at http://www.honeybeeclub.org/

Since 1995, Pepper's Catering has been growing our own herbs and edible flowers.  It may not be a farm per se, but it does set us apart from most caterers in the Central MA area.  Not everyone has the time to grow and nurture a garden, never mind finding the space to do it.  But fresh flavors are, and always have been, important to us so we make it happen - it doesn't get any fresher and local than your own backyard. 

Pepper's Catering chefs are all active participants in the garden's success and enjoy working with the variety within.  The garden is made up of mostly herbs with some edible flowers and a few vegetables thrown into the mix.  Three varieties of basil, four varieties of peppers (of course), cilantro, parsley, curry, sage, oregano, thyme to name a few.  Mint - apple mint, chocolate mint, pineapple mint, spearmint - can't get enough mint around here.  A Pepper's favorite is lovage, a very aromatic herb with a scent and flavor similar to celery.  It's great for adding flavor and zing to dishes and the hollow stalks make for great straws in a Bloody Mary!  Edible flowers like pansies, lavender, vanilla marigolds and Egyptian onion are all used to enhance aroma, tease the palette and please the eye.  Nasturtium, a brightly colored blossom with a sweet, peppery taste works very well as a garnish but is also a great addition to salads, as a flavor additive to butter or stuffed with an herbed Boursin cheese and served as an appetizer.  Yum! Yum! Yum!

Pepper's Catering has long been committed to the purchase and consumption of local foods and buying from area farmer's whenever possible.  We take pride in growing our own garden as it reinforces our farm to table values. We hope that you enjoy the bounty as much as we do. 

Need help finding local farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown local food in your area?  Visit LocalHarvest http://www.localharvest.org/ for information about organic and local food resources.      

Nasturtium Mayonnaise
8 oz serving

1 c. mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. finely minced garlic
2 tsp. coarsely chopped capers
1/3 tsp. grated lemon peel
2 tsp. chopped Nasturtium leaves

Combine all ingredients and keep chilled until ready to use.  Great on grilled fish or as a zesty sandwich spread.