About

Hi Everyone,
My name is Jeremy and I’ve been an avid cook and foodie for many years. I grew up in sprawling metropolis of Concord, NH and then went to college in the midwest. I live in NYC now which means I’ve lived in almost all the uncomfortably cold areas of the US. Occasionally, I spend a few months in LA which is certainly much warmer but also requires at least a slight car obsession and around 3 nonfat soy lattes per day.

A few years ago, I started reading more about sustainability and food production. Few people believe our current food system is sustainable. It simply requires too much energy to survive in its current state.  Yes, the stats that address the sustainability of our food system are bad news.

But as a home cook, I felt there might be a better way to shop and eat.

I started by asking my vegetarian Aunt who once offered me organic cookies when I was 9 and tried to convince me that they were sweetened with wheat germ. I stuck to Oreos. I spoke to some of my food activist friends from college who had explained to me years earlier that honey was bad because the bees felt enslaved. That wasn’t an issue for me either because I doubted there was any honey at all in the fast food milkshakes I loved so much.

As I searched for ways to make my cooking and eating ‘greener,’ I found plenty of resources for vegetarians and vegans, but not so much information for those of us who occasionally dream of bacon cheeseburgers or pulled pork sandwiches.

I also knew that going completely local was not a possibility for me. As much as I liked our local apples, I was not going to give up all citrus for example, just because I live in New York. Nor was I going to stop cooking Asian dishes because I wasn’t able to find local ginger year-round. But I might be able to hold off on baby carrots for a few months while the larger winter carrots are in season. And I might be able to pass on tomatoes in my salad when the temperature is below zero.

This blog aims to help home cooks eat more sustainably in a way that works for their budgets, families, and palates. I think it’s best to take it one meal at a time. How to make a turkey club for lunch without using any factory produced ingredients. How about Christmas dinner? How about a main course for relatives you might not like so much that keeps it local but does not require hours of lingering at the table answering questions about when you and your wife will have kids. Hmm. That last one seems to be my own baggage but I’m certain there’s a fast, delicious dish to be had in there somewhere.

It can be overwhelming to try to change your shopping and eating habits. But its also fun and very very tasty.

Eat well.

Jeremy

11 thoughts on “About”

  2. Hi Jeremy – your dad shared this site with me and I am thoroughly enjoying it…!!! Your recipes are great and the humor you interject in your writing makes for a wonderful experience!! Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work! How long before we see you on the Food Network?? Hell’s Kitchen??!!!

    Reply

    • Thanks so much Linda! I’d love to have you write in and let me know what you’ve been cooking! I’m about to send a big email out to all my cook friends so we can get some dialogue going on the site and we can all swap recipe ideas.

      We’ll see you tomorrow right?

      Hope you’re well.
      Jeremy

      Reply

  3. Hello Jeremy,
    So we are sitting here on this fine summer evening getting ready to cook a great local seafood dinner and contemplating how to best end the life of this 1.6lb lobster. I wanted to par-broil this guy and then grill it, but am a bit hesitant as to how to par boil. How long should I boil him? Also I have read in a couple cookbooks that I should split the guy length wise while still alive. I think this may be a bit painful for the little guy so I was hoping you could offer a better alternative.

    Also, on the menu tonight is a tomato basil mussel soup and lobster or scallop risotto. Anna and I made risotto for the first time 2 weeks ago and it came out amazing!! We will write back with how this chapter plays out along with the directions on how to make the soup! Thanks for your help! Keep on Cookin’!

    Reply

  4. Jeremy,

    Was at the farmer’s market today and the girl in front of me in line bought a basket of okra. I’ve had some West African sauces with okra in it, but I was curious how you could cook okra itself as part of a meal. What would it go well with? One of the clerks at the market said something about grilling it. As I write this, I realize I’m not even sure if I know how to spell okra. Or is it ocre? Something makes me think that’s one of the most popular hues in Bob Ross’ painter’s palette.

    Thanks,
    J the P

    Reply

    • Hey J and P,
      Thanks for your comment. Okra does indeed have to be cooked for a while. There are conflicting opinions about exactly how long but I would plan on cooking it for at least 20 minutes to make sure it’s tender. What else do you have around?

      Here’s one idea:

      Heat some olive oil and a couple cloves of minced garlic in a large pan. Trim the tops of the okra and add to pan.
      Saute on medium-high for 5 minutes
      Add a good 2 cups of white wine or veggie or chicken stock, lower heat to low, and cover.
      Simmer for 20 minutes
      Taste the liquid and salt and pepper to taste.
      Lastly, add a small pat of butter and whisk into sauce along with a squirt of lemon or vinegar
      Fresh okra is much more ‘vegetal’ than the supermarket variety and it should be a very hearty side dish.

      There are lots of great things to do with okra that involve things like ham hocks, farmer’s market bacon, and sometimes Indian spices. In the meantime, let me know how your okra turns out!
      Thanks.
      Jeremy

      Reply

  5. Hey Jeremy,
    This is your other Aunt……the one who hates to cook. If I lived in NY maybe some of your creative cooking skills would rub off but at my age it’s a little late I guess. You’ve done an amazing job creating your website. I’ll be checking in periodically to see what’s on the menu and maybe make a stab at one of your dishes although it will never taste as delicious as the meals you serve up. Love you, Auntie Llyn

    Reply

    • Hi Llyn,
      Funny that you say you hate to cook given that you make some of the best apple pie I’ve ever tasted! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the best apples for pie and you could even throw in the name of an orchard you like. We just started getting honeycrisps here and they’re very good.
      I hope you’re well and thanks for writing in.
      JeremyEG
      homecooklocavore.com

      Reply

  6. Hi Jeremy,
    We “spoke” on chowhound and I have now checked out your blog. It is very much up my alley, so to speak. You seem to focus on the exact same ideals as I try to do every day and in my business. I promised to tell you a little about it so here goes: As I mentioned on CH, I am a trained chef and worked as a chef in London and Copenhagen for a number of years. One day, the restaurant I worked at went out of business and some weeks later I was speaking to the owner of that restaurants wife over a bottle of red wine. Most business ideas and initiativs seem to trace their “birth” to a bottle or two of good wine. Anyway, We started talking about how easy it is to get great ingredients when you have a restaurant and how difficult it is when you don’t. You see, in Copenhagen there is no farmers markets and all green grocers sell ninety procent imported items. So as a consumer, you have to go all the way to the farm itself and try to persuade the farmer to sell to you. Most of them only sell to businesses. We knew all these farmers already so we decided that if we went to the farms early in the morning and picked up freshly harvested fruit and veg and then take it to the city, we could open a shop and sell it there. So we did and its going great. Back in the restaurant where we met, we already dealt primarily with local produce and seasonality, so why not make that our mantra in the shop. So, we only sell locally produced products, we are fully committed to seasonality and freshness. We only sell vegetables that have been harvested within the previous 48 hours. On top, we work together with several foragers who bring their bounty to our shop, so regular consumers can try wild herbs, berries and mushrooms. We also work closely with the leading restaurants of Copenhagen and we are currently putting together “guideline to local consuming” in coorporation with several food writers, chefs and restaurateurs.
    What we do is hardly novel or revolutionary but it has been missing from Copenhagen for some decades. We got lucky and opened our shop at the same time as Noma was voted best restaurant in the world, so we are also reaping the benefits of the global attention that danish restaurants and Copenhagen is recieving currently. We are currently featured in the global magazine “Monocle” who have chosen us as one of their 5 favorite food stores in the world. At the same time, we are also featured in belgian, japanese and french magazines this month. You can check out our website http://www.dinbaghave.dk but it is in Danish so I am not so sure that you will gather much from it. Monocle: http://www.monocle.com/sections/edits/Magazine-Articles/Din-Baghave—Copenhagen/ It is me on the picture. Thank you alot for the assistance on CH. I look forward to discovering NYC and hopefully learn a little from you guys over there.

    Reply

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