September 2010

Perrenial Plate Video: Cooking a Harvest Dinner at Two Pony Gardens

In addition to shooting the Perennial Plate videos, I'm the chef for a series of Harvest Dinners that are hosted by my friends at Two Pony Gardens. The video below shows the work from garden to prep table to each course at the dinner. Here's a peek at the menu:

First course - Cucumber and sorrel water with raw and fermented vegetables

Second course - Wood-fired carrots and chantarelles with beets and spinach

Third course - Heirloom tomato with summer vegetables and duck jus

Dessert - Wild rice pudding with crab apple sorbet and blueberries

If you like what you see, we're doing it again on October 2. E-mail twoponygardens@gmail.com for details.

 

Read more »

ana Sofia joanes Wants to Send This Clown Packing

Almost one-third of America’s children are obese. One-third. This shocking statistic is cited in President Obama’s proclamation naming September as National Childhood Obesity Month.

So, one out of every three children in the U.S. are at risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, asthma and other obesity-associated illnesses. Bottom line: they will live shorter and sicklier lives than those of their parents.

Who is to blame? Director of FRESH the Movie, ana Sofia joanes, along with a team of FRESH activists are pointing their fingers at one man. And his name is…

Ronald McDonald.

In an e-mail message to FRESH fans, here’s what they said about the McDonald’s mascot who’s been hawking hamburgers to children since 1963:

Read more »

Squirrel Away Tomatoes for the Winter by Roasting Them Slow and Low

I just realized that the last two articles I have written for Simple Good and Tasty have been about tomatoes. No one would blame you for thinking I was a tad preoccupied, maybe even obsessed with that sweet, juicy, toothsome, perfect, smart, funny, talented, handsome (ahem, excuse me) fruit. I certainly wouldn’t. In fact, I’m going to complete the trifecta of tomato obsession today with this post. Once you have had your fill of Spicy Moroccan-Inspired Gazpacho and Tomato Panzanella, you will need to turn your attention to the upcoming months and think about what you’re going to do about getting your tomato fix once the snow flies.

Read more »

Falafels Are Foxy, Fun and Fabulous!

Minnesota isn’t exactly known as a falafel lover’s paradise, but if Erica Strait keeps doing her thing, the Land of 10,000 Lakes could quickly become the Land of Falafel. Strait is the 30-year-old chef-turned-entrepreneur behind Foxy Falafel, one of the Twin Cities’ newest street-food sensations.  In her first year on the scene, she’s managed to garner a devoted following of falafel fanatics at the farmers markets and special events she frequents. And I’m spending a couple days with Strait, serving up falafel sandwiches to get a glimpse at what goes into putting her falafel stand on the map. 

Read more »

Earnest Eats Offer Minimally Processed Snacks for Those On the Go

When I received a package from the folks at Earnest Eats, I was mostly ambivalent. I'd read a bit about the company on their website, and they seemed philosophically aligned with Simple, Good, and Tasty, but much of our work is about getting people in the kitchen rather than feeding them on the go. If you're taking a car trip, for example, we're much more likely to write about how to make your own granola than what to buy when you stop at McDonald's.

Read more »

5 New Ways to Use Local Honey to Sweeten Your life

September is National Honey Month, and if there is one product that deserves a month-long celebration, it is honey. Humankind around the world has enjoyed its sweetness for thousands of years, and over time it remains unchanged. Today, one can experience the same sweet flavor that an ancient Pharaoh of Egypt enjoyed centuries ago. How many foods today can provide us with that level of imagination? There is a reason why honey has stood the test of time. In fact there are many reasons; it truly an amazing product that is so much more than just the tasty treat we have come to love.

Read more »

September’s Simple Good and Tasty Book Club Pick: Closing the Food Gap

Poverty. Food insecurity. A racist, classist, sexist food system. Issues of food justice. Urban supermarket abandonment and food deserts. And the overlapping and connecting of obesity, hunger and poverty. Tricky, complex and difficult issues. Wondering how to jump into the conversation? Or where to even begin? I was too, until I picked up September’s Simple, Good and Tasty book club pick. Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty, by author Mark Winne is turns out to be an enlightening place to start.

Told from Winne’s personal experiences as a boy growing up in rural (read: farm-filled) New Jersey and as a new adult resident in Hartford, Connecticut, the book allows readers to connect to these food issues in a truly personal way. And challenges you to learn more and act accordingly.

Read more »

Taste a Little More Summer with an End-of-Summer Panzanella Salad

I don’t even want to say it out loud, for fear it will come true, but does any one else feel like summer is... gulp... over? These dreary days, these gusty winds, these cool temperatures speak of change, of autumn, of... double gulp... winter. Mother Nature has decided that this year, she’s going with the rip-off-the-band-aid approach to seasonal change and she’s not messing around.

Read more »

Your CSA Box: Delectable Dips

I opened my latest CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box to find tomatoes, garlic, cilantro, onions, jalapeno...

You can see where this is going, right? Sometimes what to make with the ingredients inside that weekly (or bi-weekly) box is pretty obvious, and this box was shouting SALSA! I bought some Whole Grain Milling Company corn chips in preparation. Then I went to work.

Easy Tomato Salsa
(adapted from Cook's Illustrated)

(makes about one cup)

1/2 small jalapeño. Remove ribs to reduce heat. Wear gloves to cut by hand.

1/4 small onion, peeled, root removed

1 small garlic clove, minced

Read more »

Is There Such as Thing as Seasonal Meat?

As a proud member of the Ploughshare Farms CSA, I've gotten the hang of eating seasonally to some degree -- beet time still feels like a challenge, for example, and I always run out of preserved summer vegetables long before the last snow shoveling round. But lately, as I've been boosting the number of  backyard barbecues, I've been wondering about a different type of seasonal eating. I began wondering: does meat have a season, too? Here's what I discovered in talking to farmers and a co-op manager: the answer is yes, but also no.

Read more »