food, and other musings

Eat Local: Last Day & an Announcement

Today marks the end of Eat Local month and I thought I would share with you what I've learned.

I've learned that...
~ eating locally is awfully easy in San Francisco, as long as you make a few key exceptions (coffee, tea, pasta, spices).
~ eating locally costs a lot -- I think my toll is near $400 for groceries for 2 for the month -- but maybe that's just because I suck at budgeting.
~ it is impossible to keep the exciting posts coming about fresh, local ingredients, even if you are eating them every day.
~ cooking seasonally requires flexibility, spontaneity and constant adaptations. That can be fun if you're feeling crazy, and not so fun if you have a dinner party to plan or a busy job and kiddies to cook for.
~ farmers are generally very nice, friendly and happy to talk about their stuff and how to prepare it.
~ chicken feet are the most disgusting thing on the planet.
~ there are two sides to the eating local issue, with rational arguments both for and against. This shouldn't be a knee jerk reaction.

I failed at some of my aspirations -- to get out of my comfort zone by shopping at Rainbow Grocery or Bi-Rite, to finish the Omnivore's Dilemma, to eat 100% locally every day -- but succeeded at changing the way I shop, cook and eat overall. I'm back on the CSA wagon for good (I share its weekly cornucopia with friends to keep from wasting produce), I am a regular at the farmer's market, I intend to explore other farmer's markets, namely on Fillmore and Alemany, over the next few months, and I learned that Elston Family Farms at the Ferry Plaza grow the best damn tomatoes (and they'll only be there another month!).

Now for the announcement: As of the June issue of Northside San Francisco, I'll be writing a monthly column called Fresh from the Farm. Its focus is on farmers and food producers practicing sustainable agriculture, humane husbandry and/or artisanal food production. Upcoming columns will focus on the Elston's tomatoes and the grass-fed beef from Marin Sun Farms. If you don't live in the Northside, I'll be publishing the columns in full on my blog, too. Suggestions of worthy farming operations are always welcome, just email me or post a comment.

Contest!

Guess this herb and win a cookbook.

When I was at the farmer's market last weekend, one of my friends found this incredibly fragrant herb. I'd never used it before, nor even eaten it, so naturally I grabbed some up.

It's been sitting on my counter for more than a week, kept nearly as fresh as the day I bought it thanks to a glass of fresh water and a plastic bag over its leaves. And now I'm all set to make it into an herb butter.

If you can guess what it is, you'll win your very own copy of David Burke's New American Classics cookbook.

Just be the first person to correctly name this herb in the comments section (if you were with me at the market or have other kinds of insider knowledge, e.g. a visit to my kitchen whereupon I exclaimed about said herb, consider yourself disqualified).

Hints...
~ it is officially (and quite surprisingly) a member of the mint family
~ there are over 40 known varieties
~ when it flowers (and mine is about to!) its blossoms are white or lavender

Check below for a close-up, and a photo of the cookbook prize. Bonne chance!

My latest infatuation

These almonds are roasted and then covered in not one, not two, but three different variations of chocolate: 41% milk chocolate, a house blend of 65% bittersweet chocolate and then a dusting of cocoa powder. If you think you can eat just one, think again. Head down to the temporary Charles Chocolates shop this weekend (its last) in Laurel Heights and nab some, along with orange twigs (orange-infused chocolate ganache), peanut butterflies (peanut praline surrounded by milk or dark chocolate) and fleur de sel chocolate caramels. Mee-OW, baby!

Bar Crudo

We had a genuinely good dinner tonight. In fact, I would even venture to call it great. Every bite we ate was good, right on, well done, and a few bites were even genius. It wasn't the kind of food that jumps out and grabs you by the gullet, but sometimes that's the best of all.

After an afternoon of work for the both of us, we were on our way home and stopped at the light near Sutter and Mason when we decided going out would be vastly better than going in. A quick mental scan of the 'hood revealed a proximity to Bar Crudo, which food blogger friends had raved about at the Saturday farmer's market, so Mr. Food Musings rang them up while I deftly executed a right-hand turn.

I guess on Mondays no one likes the bar because when we walked in we had our choice of seats (upstairs was packed in like sardines). We plopped down and proceeded to order about 25% of the menu: fresh Beausoleil and Kumamoto oysters; half a crab with drawn butter and homemade cocktail sauce, thick and sweet like tomato confit; lobster salad with fresh mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes and fava beans; yellowfin tuna with pink peppercorns, lemon zest and olive oil; plump, fried soft shell crab with avocado mousse and a fava bean succotash with fresh mint; and a quartet of crudo including tuna with sesame and ginger, black bass with radishes, arctic char with fresh dill and wasabi, and scallop with fennel and oranges. All fresh, all pristine, all exquisite. Some things -- the thick homemade cocktail sauce, the mint in the succotash, the pairing of sweet lobster and creamy mozzarella -- were breathtaking.

In a fluke of bad luck, I had to reject dessert -- local XOX truffles -- because of a chocolate eating orgy this morning for an article I'm working on. Ah, well; the fresh seafood lingered longer in my memory, and so much the better.

Recipe: Black pepper pasta with roasted cauliflower and baby broccoli

Tonight's homemade pasta dish rivals my favorite ever. I managed to combine a bunch of things that would normally not see the inside of the same bowl (at least in my kitchen) in a dish that is more than the sum of its parts. It was so damn good -- surprisingly good, given how healthy it is -- that I really wanted to eat the leftovers while I "did the dishes." But self-control is the new name of the game, so I settled for a small bowl of fat-free (local!) dark chocolate sorbet.

Black pepper pasta with roasted cauliflower and baby broccoli

1 small head cauliflower, cut into very small florets
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups broccoli di ciccio, chopped
1/2 pound black pepper fettucine (or other pasta)
2 cloves garlic
pinch crushed red pepper
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (or other similar), grated

Preheat the oven to 425º. Place the cauliflower on a baking sheet and drizzle with about 1 TBSP of olive oil (or less, to taste). Squeeze the lemon over top, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, toss, and pop into the oven for 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, steam the broccoli di ciccio until bright green and firm bordering on tender, about 5 minutes.

In a non-stick pan, heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat. Toss in the garlic and when it is fragrant, add the steamed broccoli, a pinch of crushed red pepper and salt to taste. Stir until the broccoli is hot and the leaves are wilted.

Right before the cauilflower is ready to come out of the oven, cook the pasta.

In a big bowl, combine the cauliflower, pasta and broccoli and shower with cheese. Toss to coat and serve hot. Serves 2.

You know you love bacon when...

...you need to blow your nose and reach for whatever's closest, which turns out to be a napkin on your desk, and upon blowing realize it's the paper towel you used to drain your bacon for lunchtime BLTs.

That's not when you know you love bacon. The moment you know you love bacon comes when you do not toss the bacon-y paper towel away in disgust, but rather find yourself charmed by the heavenly scent of crispy pork.

Chicken Little

The nasty chicken feet were worth it after all. A few nights ago, I roasted my now-footless chicken with some organic oregano under the skin and a lemon shoved up its bottom (poor chicken, the indignities it went through to feed us!). It was perfect -- flavorful, moist, and plenty of meat. In addition to still having its taloned feet and long nasty neck intact, the chicken differed from a regular grocery store bird in the color of the flesh. When it was raw, it was spotted in places rather than that smooth, allover, muscle-y pink. The paranoia in me starting squawking, "It's gone bad! Don't cook it!" so I asked Mr. Food Musings for his expert opinion. He asked me what it smelled like.

I leaned over to sniff it.

"It smells like raw chicken," I called out from the kitchen. To me, that's not a great smell, but it also doesn't mean anything's wrong. He walked into the kitchen and leaned over to sniff it himself.

"It's fine," he said. I eyeballed him. Hard. "It's FINE!" he said, rolling his eyes. He's used to my freakishness and he was, in fact, correct. It was lovely, and as long as David at Marin Sun Farms keeps his promise not to keep the feet on next time, I'm all up for ordering me another $18 bird.

Yesterday's farmer's market sightings: Amy, Fatemeh, Sam (whom I planned to meet up with, so I'm not sure if that counts as a sighting or not), Stephanie, Heidi, Pim and David, and Daniel Patterson. Then my friend R. and her friend S. showed up and a bunch of us sat down with some bubbly and some snacks. Great day at the market! (Oh, what did I buy? Cherries, tomatoes, broccoli rabe, more cheese and pasta and my favorite granola bars in a new flavor -- figs & cherries.)

Farmer's market tips of the day: The best strawberries will turn red all the way up to the tippy-tops, something a greenhouse can't do (thanks to David for this one). And you can freeze bacon! Just make sure you freeze individual slices or they'll all end up frozen together (thanks to Amy & Sam).

Roasted Chicken with Favas, tomatoes and garlic croutons
100% local (except for the mustard and red wine vinegar in the vinaigrette)

I am going to guess you all know how to roast a chicken, but the way I did mine was to loosen the skin and tuck some chopped fresh oregano underneath, stick a half a lemon up its bottom, and slather the skin in olive oil, salt and pepper. My failproof cooking method is 400º for 15 minutes per pound, plus 10 minutes at the end. Save the wrapping paper with the weight on the label and get out your calculators -- precision will help you avoid overcooked breast meat.

1 TBSP olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, roughly smashed but not chopped
2 cups day-old bread cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1/2 head of red leaf (or other) lettuce
1/2 breast of leftover roasted chicken, shredded (remove the skin too)
2 ripe summer tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup prepared fava beans (I didn't weight them raw but I probably shelled about 20-30 pods)
1/4 red onion, sliced (optional)
1/4 cup feta cheese (optional)
homemade or store bought vinaigrette of choice
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 325º. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a non-stick pan until hot, then add the garlic and fry just until it releases a fragrance. Add the bread cubes and toss to coat. Cook a few minutes until they absorb the oil. Toss the cubes onto a baking sheet and discard the garlic. Bake until crisp, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the salad by tearing the lettuce and throwing it in a big bowl with the chicken, tomatoes, fava beans and optional onions and feta. When the croutons are ready, throw them in, add the dressing and salt and pepper to taste, and toss.

Gourmand or Glutton for Punishment? The Life and Times of a Food Critic

What it's really like to be a professional food critic.
By Catherine Nash

Published 5/17/06 in Gelf Magazine
Click here for the article.

How much is eating local worth to you?

How far are you willing to go to eat a local, sustainably raised, organic, free-range chicken? Are you willing, for instance, to chop off its nasty little feet?

When R. and I bought my $18 chicken at the farmer's market last weekend, I was Joe Cool about the feet being on.

"Relax," I told R. "I'm not squeamish. They're just feet!"

But R. wasn't convinced. "I'll carry your asparagus and I'll carry your strawberries, but I am not carrying that thing for you," she said and turned up her nose.

Turns out R. was right. Chicken feet are mighty disgusting, and cutting them off made me a bit sick to my stomach. I'm not much of a butcher and cutting through bone is something no one but Dahmer should have to do. Blech!

I'll give you the verdict on how the chicken tastes tomorrow...

Head's up, Foodies

Yo, David Burke is in the house! I heard today that David Burke, chef at davidburke & donatella in the Big Apple, is coming to town and he's gonna be hobnobbing with the little folks (that's you and me, kids) at none other than Michael Mina.

Chef Burke is in town promoting a new cookbook (which you'll get if you sign up for the lunch). Though I've never eaten his food (blame the fact that I've only taken one paltry trip to NYC in 8 years) trusty Gayot gives them 16/20 which is a smoking rating. The cookbook offers three riffs on every recipe: Classic, Contemporary and Second Day Dishes (leftovers!).

RSVP directly to M-M-M-Mina, if you please. Details (in case you have trouble reading the invite) are:
Thursday May 25th
12 - 2 p.m.
$95 per person
RSVP to 415-397-9222

p.s. I blame Ali G for that headline.