The Great American Menu

I thought this was interesting. What's your home state and its signature food? Find out here:

http://deadspin.com/the-great-american-menu-foods-of-the-states-ranked-an-1349137024/@Jessica

Padrones in Paradise

Padrones don't ask for much. They need very little. These small peppers don't need to be seeded or peeled, stuffed or marinated.

They just need a little bacon, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Saute them over high heat and watch them jump in the skillet, then serve immediately. Even your boring-palated friends will be happy- padrones are typically mild and the ones with a kick are mellowed by the bacon and salt.

This is my go-to dish when I need a little food inspiration from heaven to bring me back to earth.

End of Summer Treats

Behold a sassy jalapeño margarita, padrone peppers with pancetta, and an heirloom tomato salad with figs, arugula and feta. Thanks, Healdsburg Bar and Grill!

What are your favorite foods to eat during Indian summer?

The Ark of Taste

A few months ago, Inside Sonoma published this article on rare local foods. Sonoma County has four of the 200 regional foods recognized on the Slow Food Movement's "Ark of Taste" list of foods under threat.

Photo by Ariane, Inside Sonoma

Our specialties include: dry Monterey jack cheese, gravenstein apples, crane melon and mission olives. Have you had any, or all of them? The good news is the Slow Food Movement has heightened awareness and these items are making a resurgence.

What are the endangered foods where you live? Check out the Ark of Taste site to find out.

Delicious Summer Pasta

It's true, I eat a lot of pasta. But can you really ever eat too much pasta? The other day, I found myself with a great mix of flavors and textures to make a typical bowl of pasta feel gussied up. This could easily be turned into a vegetarian dish as well.

Here's what I used:

-1 avocado

-2 leftover chicken thighs (I prefer dark to light meat for more flavor, but anything works)

-1 ear of sweet corn, shaved

-half an onion, diced

-2 stems of celery, chopped

-2 cloves of garlic, minced

-2-3 oz. of herbed chevre

-2-3 oz. cream

-1 lb. linguini

First, boil your pasta and get that out of the way. I love linguini because it's got some body to hold a heavy sauce, but works for more delicate sauces as well. Al dente, please!

Next, with a little oil or butter in the pan, toss in your onion till it starts to sweat. Add the garlic and cook till caramelized. (Sidenote: If your garlic starts cooking faster than the onion, I like to slow it down by adding a little water to let the onion "catch up." Many recipes start with garlic before onion, but that never seems to work for me- and I like the stronger flavor by adding the garlic later. But feel free to deviate if you're a garlic-first kind of person.)

Add the chicken and celery, just long enough to heat it up. (If you have raw chicken, cook that first!) Then toss in the corn. I like the corn and celery to have some crunch so the dish has a range of textures.

Add the cream and let it boil. I usually eyeball it to cover the veggies, but add more if you like a saucy pasta.

Toss in the linguini and using a tongs, mop up all that saucy goodness. Transfer to a bowl and add crumbled chevre, diced avocado and fresh pepper. Then invite me over for dinner.

A Box of Young Coconuts

Last weekend I made my first trip to the Asian grocery store in town. It's time I get away from my Euro-American cooking comfort zone and explore some new terrain. I asked my friend Chuck if she needed me to pick up anything.

"Maybe just a box of young coconuts."

A box? I looked all over the store, moving in slow motion along the aisles as I scanned every product. Thank goodness almost everything had a picture on the package. So many totally unfamiliar ingredients! I had a time just finding the basics to getting my feet wet, like soy sauce, nori, miso and soba noodles.

I finally went to the counter and asked the clerk. "How many boxes?" she asked. "We'll bring to your car."

"Just one." I had no idea what Chuck would even do with these.

Drink them! If you're on board with the coconut water craze, this is the source. They do wonders for getting you hydrated and are a cheaper way to go than the fancy water bottles in stores. Chuck's boyfriend showed me how to hack them open.

Just give them a couple hits with a hatchet, grab a straw and drink!

As to what to do with the rest of the meat inside, I have no idea. Any suggestions? Young coconuts have their own fan page, so that's my first stop in navigating their mystery.

Procession of Game

"In 1886, we gorged. In 2012, we nibble." 


So I read yesterday in an article by Robert Krulwich at NPR on the state of overfished waters in the past century.


See White House menus from 1886 titled, "Procession of Game."

---

SOUP

Venison (Hunter style) Game Broth

FISH

Broiled Trout, Shrimp Sauce, Baked Black Bass, Claret Sauce

BOILED

Leg of Mountain Sheep, Ham of Bear, Venison Tongue, Buffalo Tongue

ROAST

Loin of Buffalo, Mountain Sheep, Wild Goose, Quail, Redhead Duck, Jack Rabbit, Blacktail Deer, Coon, Canvasback Duck, English Hare, Bluewing Teal, Partridge, Widgeon, Brant, Saddle of Venison, Pheasants, Mallard Duck, Prairie Chicken, Wild Turkey, Spotted Grouse, Black Bear, Oppossum, Leg of Elk, Wood Duck, Sandhill Crane, Ruffed Grouse Cinnamon Bear

BROILED

Bluewing Teal, Jacksnipe, Blackbirds, Reed Birds, Partridges, Pheasants, Quails, Butterballs, Ducks, English Snipe, Rice Birds, Red-wing Starling, Marsh Birds, Plover, Gray Squirrel, Buffalo Steak, Rabbits, Venison Steak

ENTREES

Antelope Steak, Mushroom sauce; Rabbit Braise, Cream Sauce: Fillet of Grouse with Truffles; Venison Cutlet, Jelly Sauce; Ragout of Bear, Hunter Style; Oyster Pie

SALADS

Shrimp, Prairie Chicken, Celery

ORNAMENTAL DISHES

Pyramid of Game en Bellevue, Boned Duck au Naturel, Pyramid of Wild-Goose Liver in Jelly, The Coon Out at Night, Boned Quail in Plumage, Red-Wing Starling on Tree, Partridge in Nest, Prairie Chicken en Socle

vs. a menu from a State dinner last month:

FIRST COURSE

Crisped Halibut with Potato Crust, served on a bed of baby kale fresh from the White House garden, shaved Brussels sprouts and micro cabbage sprouts.

SALAD COURSE

Spring Garden Lettuces with radishes, cucumbers and avocodo (greens also From the White House Garden)

MAIN COURSE

Bison Wellington

DESSERT

Steamed Lemon Pudding over Newtown Pippin Apples (the apples "are believed to have been developed in Queens, New York")

Hmm. What do you think?


See the article here.

It's Our Right to Know!

Busy weekend getting those garden beds started? Well, before you plant all those tomatoes, check out the Label GMO's site. They even print the reminder on seed packets.

Pretty scary to think of how many innocent little seeds are genetically modified! We can change it, or at least make people even more aware of their food choices.

Happy planting!

And here's the link to Rare Seeds for all your heirloom needs.

Lessons Learned from Live Chats

I needed the better part of the weekend to recover from a live chat on Friday discussing the future of food writing. (Okay, so there were some parties, too.) But seriously, for the precious pearls of wisdom gained from seasoned writers dishing out free advice, there was an awful lot to sift through.

My initial response is I needed to do some research on chat guidelines to make sure I wasn't missing the mark. I found this great article at smallbiztrends.com for a little reassurance that my "virtual whiplash" as one tweeted was not unfounded.

The author Lisa Barone wrote, "If you’re not familiar with them, a Twitter chat is a guided conversation where users interested in a particular topic hop onto the service to chat. The chat is given a hashtag, which makes it easy for anyone looking in to identify the chat and participate. It’s similar to a chat room in that it’s a topic-driven conversation happening in real time; it just happens to be housed on Twitter."


I couldn't have found a better way to say that. She also suggests researching the chat topics beforehand, participating, asking questions, and taking advantage of the chat as a networking tool. All great advice! 


Not sure if this chat was different, or just very busy from a lot of users. I found the re-tweeting got too heavy and created a lot of distance between answers to questions. In an active chat with an experienced panel, I would prefer to keep the little chit chat down so it is easier to follow. 


Favorite things said:


Monica Bhide: parting words: write because you love it. Do it consistently and do it persistently.. The rewards are priceless. :-)

Dianne Jacob: Writers are sensitive. Rejection can be difficult. The most important thing is to keep at it & believe in yourself.


Adam Roberts (Amateur Gourmet): My take on #futurefoodwriting: you can work your way up through established channels or create your own channel. I suggest the latter.


The Foodie Bugle: If food writers don't focus on showcasing artisanal food producers they'll have very little to write about in the future.


Dan Lepard: You are better than today's writing, or tomorrows. Aim to be clearer, gritter every time.

Live Chat on the Future of Food Writing

If you're catching this early, tune into the live chat on Twitter for an international discussion of the future of food writing. The handle is #futurefoodwriting with Amanda Hesser of Food52 and countless food bloggers, writers and journalists.

Here's a great link with guidelines for asking questions and a list of panelists.

See you there at 11 am Pacific Time, or check in with the Rambling Epicure for a recap.

Props to Santos Anne

During my trip to New York last month, I had a spontaneous lunch with a friend in Williamsburg. We walked into Santos Anne, a new place on Union that popped up in the time I've been away. One of my favorite things about New York is that it's always changing and you can count on new things with each visit.

I was inspired by the Dia de los Muertos decor and their edgy lithograph logo. And in addition to fantastic sandwiches, cool music and friendly servers, my friend and I lingered for over two hours chatting without any hassle or hovering waitstaff. This may have been the best service I had in all my years in New York!

Little touches like chalkboard walls in the restrooms and fresh fries served in metal pails made everything about this place utterly charming. Can't wait to go back my next trip!

Save that Ham Bone!

Last weekend, a chef friend asked me if I would use a leftover leg bone from a roasted pig. Um, yes! This may look like garbage or dog food to some, but I assure you it's pure gold. With a world of southern recipes I have yet to make swimming around in my head and a bone with lots of meat left on it, I'd have been crazy to say no.

The first thing I did was make ham stock. It's not nearly as versatile as chicken or veggie because it is so much fattier, but is a great base for lots of southern recipes. Collard greens, here I come!

I had to gingerly rotate the bone because even the largest stock pot in the house wasn't big enough for it.

Gently boiling for a couple hours will eventually pull all the meat off the bone. Pork stock takes a lot of skimming with the high fat content. (And on a sidenote, I apologize that the meat does not look more appetizing with my bottom line camera skills. Lots of props to photographers who can make meat look good in pictures!)

When I couldn't handle the stinky ham smell anymore, I pulled the pot and strained. Then I picked through the meat, pulling off all the fat, which are good for flavor, but not good to chew on.

This stock is perfect for cooking down collard greens, mixed with some of the ham hock. I had so much extra, I also made bean soup with nettles and garlic. The perfect southern gravy I want to make will have to wait till next time.

food52 Love

I am not sure what has taken me so long to join the food52 community. (For you, Pop, it's like Facebook for foodies.)

I've been following Amanda Hesser ever since she inspired me to write a book about staging. She was a fellow trainee in Burgundy only ten years earlier than I, then moved on to write a bestselling book and write for the New York Times (no big deal).

Then a couple days ago, she wrote this article that changed everything for me. It's called "Advice for Future Food Writers," but could apply to any writer, or really any person in any industry, because each business is challenging in its own way. Hesser gives a very honest but encouraging look at writing in a world where all I hear is wild praise, or doom and gloom criticism.

Maybe I lied, and the article didn't change anything for me, if I'm being honest. I wake up every day and want to write, not because I imagine I can ever count on it paying the bills, but because I have to do it. It sure does help to have support from someone who's been in the trenches and can look up and say, "it's a long road, just keep on going." I know this, but always need to hear it. It's a good reminder that we are meant to keep having experiences for material, and mainly to keep writing.

Which would mean keeping fun distractions like social forums down to moderate use.

Scavenger Cooking

Read my first and second post in this foraging frenzy to catch up! It's time we took our bounty back to the kitchen to get some food in our bellies. On the menu- miner's lettuce salad, sauteed fiddlehead ferns, local oyster po' boy bruschetta, and potato nettle soup drizzled with cream.

I jumped right into the prep while I sipped some wine and shmoozed with my classmates. We carefully washed the nettles and lettuce, peeled potatoes and chopped onions and garlic for three large stock pots bubbling away on a portable stove.

Picture perfect salad garnish of nasturtiums and wild radish seed pods.

Don't forget your gloves when handling nettles! They keep stinging long after you pick 'em.

A kind soul from Marin Organic shucked oysters for our po' boys.

My personal handiwork. I never mind the stinky jobs. Just don't look too closely at my lazy knife skills!

The finished thistle, peeled at the root, boiled and chopped. Like a lovely, deeper, more mysterious celery.

The sauteed fiddleheads, as promised.

Divinity.

Our healthy helping of miner's lettuce, which I forgot to mention in the forage! Impressive how a handful from everyone can quickly add up. Also, the spritely weed on the bottom right is chickweed and usually grows alongside it.

Our finished salad. Notice the wine served in mason jars.

With one of our tour guides, Langdon Cook and some of the crew. Go to his post about the day here and look for yours truly modeling onions and garlic. And then check out our other teacher, Kevin's blog! And then buy both their books.

The dramatic baptism of the nettle to the soup pots. This gets added at the end when the potatoes are all cooked through.

The soup gets combined and then blended. Heating or blending takes the sting out of the nettle, so it can also be added to a raw green juice shake at breakfast. Great if you need ways to get extra protein and super vitamins.

The oysters were quicker to cook, just a little breading and fried in oil.

Technically we didn't personally forage these babies, but with aioli and crostini, they were my faaaavorite. I strategically stayed close to the stove.

Before the fiddleheads got sauteed, we cleaned off all those pesky little hairs for a prettier presentation.

But I still kept my eye on the oysters.

Our gorgeous labor of love, drizzled with cream and garnished with a fern.

And our foraged salad with vinaigrette, walnuts and crumbled blue cheese.

A meal and a food adventure I will never forget. Thanks, Kevin and Langdon!