Buy local. It tastes better.

July and August are two of the best months to buy local produce. We purchase Colorado fruits and veggies whenever possible, as long as the product lives up to our mile-high standards. Our produce hails from Colorado farms such as Munson Farm in Boulder, Ela Family Farms in Hotchkiss, Berry Patch Farms in Brighton and Elaine Granata on the northwest corner of 17th and Clarkson.

Colorado farms sure know their produce. Bob Munson started growing veggies to teach his kids a lesson on earning money. Now Coloradans salivate just thinking of the sweet golden kernels that are harvested by Munson Farm.

Then there’s Steve Ela’s giant, juicy peaches that grace our presence every August. Just wait, Peach Week is coming!

As of last week we now carry produce from Berry Patch Farms in Denver’s northeast suburb of Brighton. They have a farmer’s market inside a barn but also allow shoppers to handpick their crop directly from the nearby fields. We currently offer their rainbow chard, heirloom mixed squash, green beans, Mideastern cucumbers and mini purple onions. All are bright, fresh and colorful.

Our favorite Uptown gardener, Elaine Granata, steps across 17th avenue a few times a week with her bucket of goodies that you can’t find anywhere else: romano beans, fairytale eggplant and mini white pickling cucumbers, to name a few. And if you’ve never heard of yellow filet beans (yet, another Elaine speciality) never fear! We would love to tell you how to eat them. Her crops are fresh picked and as organic as vegetatively possible.

So next time you’re in Marczyk Produce Land, look for the local sticker and taste the harvest of Colorado.

Butchering 101

We brought our cameras along and watched Jimmy the Butcher cut up the hind quarter of a cow. It was quite the learning experience! I wish we could share all of the images with you right here, but they all won’t fit in the blog. For the full story, complete with pictures and descriptions, please visit our facebook page. Here are just a few images to get you started. (Warning: pictures may be graphic.)

This is the hind quarter, which is one of the back legs, from butt to calf, of the cow.

Mmm...that's a good lookin' short loin porterhouse. The Butcher's not bad either.

Here he is cutting the bottom round and the top round off.

Come visit us at the corner of 17th and Clarkson and pick up a steak!

Get the dish on the secret life of Pete Marczyk in this fine interview by Bill Husted of the Denver Post.

http://www.denverpost.com/entertainmentlastold/ci_14978179

Kenny Be tee!

Here is our new t-shirt art from kenny be. This is the B&W version. Crazy.

When we’re not here we’re there

When we’re not here, we’re there.

Check out the guest appearance of Papa Marczyk and Little Bug Marczyk in this killer Telluride ski video! Papa’s in the yellow helmet.

Pie throw down

A few weeks ago, Haji our baker was challenged by Liz Thomas, the baker for Watercourse Foods. Challenged to a pie bake off that is.

The place: Sweet Action Ice Cream on Broadway. The pie: Cherry lattice crust. Liz’s was vegan, Haji’s was decidedly not. The judges: 1 from Sweet Action, 1 from Watercourse, 1 from Marczyk’s, and the pie master himself, John Lehndorff.

And the winner was: Haji’s cherry pie a la Marczyk! Both were delicious, but with a full lard crust and just a kiss of almond extract, there was no way Haji was going to lose this one. Great pictures here.

What sets us apart from the rest?

SPECIAL: We have just eight Scandinavian skin-on pork loins. Come pick one up because this is the last of them until Christmas. A  juicy cut of sustainably raised Niman Ranch pork, with a layer of fat, and then the skin covering all, locking in the juices…we’re the only ones who have this cut in Denver!

ON SPECIAL: lamb loin chops, $11.99/lb. Niman Ranch lamb, raised by families throughout the West. Broiled with a light layer of  mint jelly, salt, garlic and rosemary. Or for lord’s sake just put them in the freezer at this price!

Winter won’t let go, so how about some Niman Ranch beef shanks for stew, or beef cheeks? Braised beef cheek tacos here.

Subject: wow

Read it and weep: Gourmet Magazine will be no more.
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/conde-nast-to-close-gourmet-magazine/?hp

Time Magazine Gets Real about food

“Niman Ranch raises its livestock traditionally, humanely and sustainably to deliver the finest tasting meat in the world.”
This week’s Time Magazine cover story, Getting Real about the High Price of Cheap Food, is an eye opener about the industry we know and love. We have been plugging Niman Ranch for 7 years, and have been happy to explain over and over what makes them different and why it matters. (To be honest, we have felt like the slightly crazy guy standing on the box on the corner, yelling and waving his arms as people hurry by.) We watched the company grow and go through painful but necessary changes to be what it is today. So it was with great pleasure to see the only meat company mentioned as a viable alternative to commodity pork and beef is, drum roll please, Niman Ranch! (In Time freaking Magazine no less!) Congratulations to them!

Easy Recipes and Big Ass Cookware

Westword Newspaper has added a recipe section to their Cafe Society Blog, and we’re the recipe writers! Join Pete Marczyk and Barbara Macfarlane every week for an easy-to-follow recipe slideshow/video. Bacon candy, corn chowder, fried chicken, and what to do with all that zucchini.