Spot-On: Cheap Eats

I made fondue a few weeks back. The gruyere and emmentaler cheeses cost $9.00 and $6.00 respectively for a half pound of each. I used a California Sauvignon Blanc at $13.00 a bottle. The bread (a good artisan French loaf from a local bakery) was $4.00. Kirschwasser (cherry brandy) was $8.00 but I only used a bit - call it $2.00. Assorted pickles, olives, and sliced sausages on the side - $5.00. So altogether I spent $39.00 on dinner for a dinner for two. There was a bit of fondue and bread leftover, so let's assume it was more like $35.00 for two. Not so cheap, but cheaper than the $70.00 the Melting Pot charges - and probably better tasting.

Read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | essay | kevin d weeks | spot-on |

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Spot-On: Sustainability Redefined

Sustainability: of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged. - Meriam-Webster Online.

The definition above isn't wrong, but, it seems to me, it is incomplete, at least when it comes to food (and probably everything else) since it's too focused on micro-effects as opposed to macro-effects.

Read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | spot-on | sustainability

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Spot-On: No Prevention, No Cure

The Hallmark beef recall has become big news in the two weeks since the Humane Society video was released, which is great, but as I've read and listened to the coverage I've been angry about one thing: The news agencies keep calling it a "USDA recall," which is flat wrong and is misleading the public.

You can read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | essay | kevin d weeks | spot-on | food safety

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Spot-On: Class Foodfare

When I lived in Eugene, Oregon Saturday mornings were my shopping day. It wasn't unusual for me to begin at 9:00 with a trip to the farmers' market in downtown Eugene, where, during the summer months, I could find those luscious leeks, ravishing radishes, baby beets, and even wild mushrooms on occasion — all picked early Friday evening or Saturday morning.

Read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | essay | kevin d weeks | spot-on | food commentary

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Spot-On: Science and Fries

I've been reading Hervé This' book, Molecular Gastronomy. If you're not familiar with the term "molecular gastronomy," it refers to the application of science to cooking and is typified by the creations of Ferran Adrià at elBulli and Grant Achatz at Alinea. These chefs apply cutting edge, often high-tech techniques (many of which they invent themselves) to food.

You can read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | essay | kevin d weeks | spot-on | food science

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Spot-On: Food TV -Culinary Wasteland

I happened to catch an episode of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" the other night. He was in Singapore for the show's season opener on the Travel Channel and, for a change, didn't eat anything particularly outrageous - other than the bull penis. I enjoy Bourdain's writing but I'm not tremendously fond of this show. It's essentially a travelogue and Bourdain's nearly inflectionless delivery is tiring. But despite all that, it's the best food show on television because Bourdain clearly loves food. The same can't be said of the culinary wasteland that his shows once called home, the Food Network.

You can read the complete article at Spot-on.

Technorati: Food | essay | kevin d weeks | spot-on | food tv

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Spot-on: Eating Around the Edges

When I walk into any of the five grocery stores I regularly shop at I turn to the right and enter the produce section. It's in the same spot in every store. (In fact, most people on entering most stores of any sort begin by turning right.) It may be an accident that the produce section is the first department on the right in all those stores, I've certainly been in lots of store where it wasn't, but it's not an accident that produce is against a wall. That's its position in almost every grocery store in the country.

You can read the complete article at Spot-on.

Technorati: Food | essay | kevin d weeks | spot-on | ingredients | food health

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Spot-On: Status Quo

My two friends, "Mellani" and "Mike" raise grass-fed sheep on 50 acres of organic pasture set in a wooded farm in Missouri. They had a record-breaking 38 lambs born this year, which, on the face of it, sounds great. But not so great actually. The problem is, they really don't have a market for their lambs (nor the cattle or hogs they used to raise before the market price dropped below the production price). It's eight hours round trip to the nearest large city where they might be able to sell their "crop" but that isn't practical.

The local market is too small to adequately support even their current production - the result is they're cutting back on the number of ewes and, so, lambs next year...

You can read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | essay | spot-on | food column | food commentary | farm bill

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Spot-On: FAIR or Foul

Like many of our social programs, what's now known as the Farm Bill got its start in Roosevelt's New Deal legislation during the Great Depression. During this period crop prices frequently dropped below production costs and sometimes even fell to zero — literally. Farmers, even successful farmers (in the sense of producing a good crop) were losing their farms. So the government stepped in and offered farmers a choice, the government would establish a target price for certain commodity crops, crops that could be stored for long periods (such as rice, wheat, and corn). If market prices dropped below the target price farmers could take out a government loan to cover the cost of storage for their crops until prices recovered, or, if prices stayed low too long, they could keep the money and let the government keep the crops.

You can read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | essay | spot-on | farm bill | food column | food commentary

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Spot-On: Should You Care?

The food press is all over it, but no one else is paying much attention to the so-called farm bill coming up for renewal this September. True, the bill isn’t relevant to everyone. Those who don’t eat or drink to stay alive needn’t pay much attention. But if you do count those activities as central to your continued well-being then a few moments of consideration might be worthwhile.

Read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | essay | spot-on | food column | food commentary | farm+bill

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You Say Tomato

Last week I mentioned that my first BLT of the year is what I regard as the true arrival of summer. At this time of year I eat at least one, and sometimes two or three tomatoes a day. I make a variation of the Italian insalata caprese using feta instead of mozzarella. This Greek take on the Italian specialty is my most-common lunch during the summer.

You can read the entire article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | essay | spot-on | food column | food commentary | summer | tomatoes

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Spot-On: Summer at Last

One of the problems with farmers' markets is the hours. For instance, when I lived in Sacramento there were half a dozen markets each week, but unfortunately all but one took place during the workweek. Those hours make them difficult for people with jobs to shop at, and even if you can leave work to visit a market, you don't want to leave a bag of fresh produce sitting in a hot car all afternoon, and some things you want to refrigerate immediately.

You can read the compete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | essay | spot-on | food column | food commentary | csa

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Spot-On: Fire Builder

Unlike most folks, I learned to grill meat over wood. I grew up on a small farm in Eastern Tennessee within sight of the Smoky Mountains. Only about half of the 40 acres we owned were cleared, the rest was forest. This meant we had a ready supply of wood for grilling — including that southern king-of-smoke, hickory.

You can read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | essay | spot-on | food column | food commentary

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Spot-On: Think About It

Three weeks ago in "Teach Your Children Well" I wrote: "It seems that more and more folks either don’t cook at all or cook as a matter of self-image and for the sake of conveying a lifestyle. But we should cook, mostly, to have something good to eat and because cooking itself is nourishing to our souls." Last week I added another thought to this in my commentary on the current glut of chefs. ...

You can read the entire article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | essay | spot-on | food column | food commentary

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Spot-On: White Jacket, Blue Collar

Jacques Pepin, the master chef who helped popularize French cooking in the U.S., was apprenticed to a chef at age 14. Apprenticed. Cooking has always been a blue-collar job - at its best, a craft. It's a craft that was well-regarded in France, where people have long taken their food seriously, but nevertheless it held a position in the social framework not different in kind from such jobs as seamstress or automobile mechanic.

You can read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | essay | food column | food commentary | chefs | spot-on

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Spot-On: Teach Your Children Well

I got an odd phone call a few weeks back. In fact, it began with the woman who’d called introducing herself and then saying, “I have an odd request.”

April 26 was “Take Your Child to Work Day” and the call was about the woman’s daughter Emma. It seems her son was going to work with her husband on the 26th, but Emma wanted to be a personal chef when she grew up — Lord knows how she got that particular idea. Wanting to be a famous chef a la Emeril is one thing, but wanting to be a personal chef is all about the food and cooking.

Read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | essay | spot-on | food column | food commentary

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Caution: Swallowing Hazard

It may be a statistical accident that in the past 12 months we've had three large and unrelated cases of e-Coli contamination. Pure happenstance that a Georgia peanut butter plant was shipping peanut butter contaminated with salmonella... A mere fluke that gluten contaminated with melamine has shown up ... in food fed to pigs and chickens. But I don't think so.

Read the compete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | essay | food column | food commentary| spot-on | food safety

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Spot-On: Creation

Creation

As a cook and one-time musician, I'm much more likely to interpret someone else's work than create my own. But sometimes, I do manage work at a more imaginative level. I don’t claim, even as a cook, to operate at the level of a James Taylor, much less a Chopin. The culinary ideas of Daniel Boulud — and the skills and knowledge and imagination he brings to his ideas — are as far beyond my poor talents as Einstein's equations. Yet, why should Boulud have all the fun?

You can read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | essay | food commentary | food column | spot-on

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Spot-On: Vegetal Grace

Vegetal Grace

I eagerly anticipate the spring startup of the farmers' markets each year. They begin around the end of April and stretch through to October. There are four in my area, one on Wednesday, one on Thursday, and two on Saturday. I go to the May and June markets more out of hope and longing than expectation. This early in the season the markets are dominated by people selling vegetable "sets" — potted tomato, pepper, and herb plants. Not having a place to nurture these tangible symbols of hope and flavor, my visits are short and disappointing.

You can read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | essay | food column | recipe creation | food commentary | spot-on

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Ed, You Ignorant Slut

Ed, You Ignorant Slut



Ed Bruske, author of The Slow Cook, took issue with my Kitchen Window article on spring chowders. Ed and I have been reading each other's blogs for a couple of months now. He's a talented and thoughtful writer — and nearly as opinionated as I am. Ed's new on the flog scene, so do check him out. But as regards his issues...

The gist of his objections appears to be this: "It seems that if you simply twist the definition of a chowder a little — easy to do on a computer keyboard — anything that swims in a bowl can be called a chowder." (And note, Ed mostly blamed the editor and not the author for his objections, but in fact I signed off on the article before it was published, and, speaking as a one-time editor, this editor knows her business.)

The Food Lover's Companion defines chowder as: "A thick chunky seafood soup, of which clam chowder is the most well known," but continues, "The term is also used to describe any thick, rich soup containing chunks of food (for instance, corn chowder)."

According to The Food Encyclopedia chowder is, "a thick soup, frequently but not always made with seafood." And turning to the Joy of Cooking one finds: "Chowder — thick fish, meat or vegetable soups, to which salt pork, milk, diced vegetables, and even bread and crackers may be added."

I, too, have found myself pondering on the use or misuse of names associated with foods. Back in 2004 I wrote "By Any Name" addressing just this question. In the case of using the word chowder I checked my references first, and was vindicated. And if we look at the most likely origin of the word it's a reference to the cooking vessel (a cauldron or chaudière), not the contents. Does Ed argue that unless an 18th century-style cauldron is used it isn't chowder? Optionally, if you select jowter as the preferred etymology, then is the dish composed of fish purchased from a mounted peddler?

Words change. Just as the cauldron once used to make chowder in has now become a soup pot or Dutch oven (and there's another interesting bit of etymology) the ingredients have also changed. A Google search on "clam chowder" returns 953,000 results while "corn chowder" returns 412,000. But a search on "chowder" alone returns 3,850,000 — clearly there are a lot of things out there being call "chowder" that don't involve clams. In fact, in a comment to me Ed asserted that "To me, a chowder is still a pot of potatoes, haddock and fish broth." He did aver that there might be such a beast as "corn chowder," but didn’t even mention clams. (Note: "haddock chowder" garners only 14,100 hits.)

No man means all he says, and yet very few say all they mean, for words are slippery and thought is viscous. ~ Henry Brooks Adams

Words change. Awful begins as "to fill with awe" and ends with "horrible," bad becomes "good," and perhaps even the word for a mounted fish peddler becomes the name of a soup. And, for what it's worth, Google began as a proper name some 7 or 8 years ago and is now a verb — go figure.

However, Ed does make one valid point, albeit by implication, and that is that a given food is the version that to our minds is the archetype. To me macaroni and cheese is elbow pasta made with a cheddar mornay and baked in the oven as a casserole, to my nephews it's elbow pasta with a runny, bright orange sauce from a blue box cooked on the stovetop. And during the Only Annual Mac-n-Cheese Off we saw a lot of other takes on this supposedly simple dish.

And whatever it's called, doesn't that bowl of potato chowder look delicious? Whatever it's name, wouldn't it taste as good?

Technorati: Food | essay | chowder | soup | food commentary

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Spot-On: Rituals

Rituals

On the surface, Easter is a connection with God — the supernatural — but if you look a bit deeper it's about connections with the past, with history. It's a means of asserting our continuity with the past generations that celebrated Easter and, deeper yet, perhaps by accident, with all of the religions that have celebrated the spring solstice. And so, still deeper, with the cycles of planets and stars — the physical universe.

Read the whole article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | food column | food commentary | spot-on | ritual

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Efficiencies of Scale

Efficiencies of Scale

"Nationwide panic from a 50-acre field."

This was a recent headline on a blog named The Ethicurean that I regularly read and, although hyperbolic (I'm not sure "panic," is the most accurate term), the headline nevertheless makes its point. What isn't hyperbole is that a single 50-acre field resulted in deaths and illnesses in 26 states.

Read the whole article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | spot-on | food column | food commentary | contamination | food health

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Sidewalk Meals

Sidewalk Meals

It was a glorious morning in the summer of 1971 and I was in the midst of an astoundingly beautiful valley in Switzerland bordered on all sides by the Alps. I should have appreciated it more, but I was an impatient 17-year-old, it was hot, and my last ride had dropped me off on a two-lane road in the middle of nowhere two hours before.

Read the whole article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | food column | food commentary | spot-on | essay

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A Mindful Task

I approach the kitchen with dread and a sense of hopelessness having nearly exhausted my ability to find exciting and interesting dishes. I've turned to making sausages and baking bread, to corning beef and simmering stock. And in these ancient tasks I've found small, often unexpected, delights.

Read the whole article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | food column | food commentary | spot-on | essay

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Paisano

Paisano

Did I mention the Paisano?

In addition to my weekly Spot-On columns I'm also now writing a semi-monthly food column for a social net-working Web community named Gather. Gather, uhmm, "gathered" me in because in it's early days it was focused on quality writing and I'm egotistical enough to think my writing has "quality."

Over the past 15 months I have been regularly reposting older material from SG on the site. No money in it, but it was essentially labor-free publicity for SG, and, then, there were some damned good writers who'd also been sucked in. You may know Farmgirl Susan and kitchenMage as food writers and there are other equally compelling writers on a wide collection of topics (the thing that kept me involved).

This February Gather created a cadre of correspondents on nine key topics, including food, and asked for "auditions" for positions in each category. A total of 60 places were filled from around 2000 applications. Susan, KM, and I were selected to fill three of the nine Food Correspondent slots. And we even make a little direct cash from the gig. Not bad.

One of the things that encouraged me to apply was that, because all of my SG posts were suitable for Gather then my Gather posts would be suitable for SG. Cool! Effectively I get paid for a couple of my SG posts when I republish them here.

And then the demon took over.

In my first Gather column I decided to devote it to peasant foods, gave the column the title "Paisano," and wrote a new lede for a recipe I'd already published here. Fine. No big deal until I got to the second column. Apparently I'd accidentally opened a supernatural conduit between myself and some spirit from Tuscany or Bohemia; maybe North Africa. Spain is a possibility…

I discovered his ambiguous background when writing my second column, but it seemed innocent enough. Then I wrote the third piece, and he began to assert himself. What had I done?

With my last column he was clearly in control. This accidental d'jinn of what writers call a "conceit" had completely relegated me to a role as supernumerary. I feel like Stephen King doing one of his cameos in the movies based on his books.

I've decided to avoid bringing the Paisano here by republishing those columns as I had originally planned. I like this blog and hope to keep it unsullied by culinary or cultural demons. But if a bit of fiction amuses your bouche then the Paisano is an intriguing old reprobate. I'll keep you informed of his future adventures, and if you’d like to see how the accidental invocation of this Old World archetype evolved:

Food for Working
The Kitchen Bowl
Mud-bugs
Lentil Soup

And pray for me.

Technorati: Food | essay | cooking

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Absurdum ad Infinitum

Absurdum ad Infinitum

Alas, the state of California, which should know better than to emulate New York City, is considering several state-wide laws to prohibit trans-fats. Not all trans-fats, Dolly Madison cakes are still going to be legal, but that little bakery down the street, call it Susan's Pie Place, that uses Crisco (in addition to real butter) to make the flakiest pie crust you've ever eaten will have to change to the non-trans-fat version.

Read the whole article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | essay | food commentary | food law | food column | spot-on

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Culinary Fundamentalism

Just as there are religious fundamentalists and evangelists, there are food fundamentalists and evangelists. Hell, I may be one — witness my homemade corned beef as an effort to find and, in some way, worship at the shrine of Real Food. After all, the true evangelists call to mind James 2:18, "I will show thee my faith by my works," and so I make corned beef from scratch. The fact that these works of my hands are good at worst and insanely great at best is beside the point. I have shown my faith by making the effort.

Read the whole article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | spot-on | food column | fundamentalism | essay | made from scratch | food commentary

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American Bred

American Bred

Some time ago Michael Ruhlman opined that America didn't have a cuisine (I looked, but couldn't find the specific post). I objected to his assertion, but he defended it well. Nevertheless, it's been bothering me since and I finally articulated a response. It's not a broad disputation of his argument because I didn't have space for that, but it's a specific example that I think anyone, with some knowledge of food in this country, can extrapolate from. It's also my latest column on Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | commentary | essay | New Orleans | american cuisine

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The Food Police

The Food Police

My latest column is up at Spot-on.com. It's a bit of a rant prompted by a physician's group that wants to ban cheese advertising on children's shows claiming cheese is as much a junk food as, say potato chips or candy bars.

Technorati: Food | column | spot-on | food police | banned food | paternalism | essay

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Belly Battles

Belly Battles

Today Spot-on.com, a Web syndication service published my weekly first column. And I'm pumped.

Spot-on brings together a collection of columnists who offer:

"a range of well-written and smartly argued commentary from a variety of viewpoints. In a world saturated with news and information, where readers like you can make their own news judgments and come to their own conclusions, Spot-On won't tell you what to think or why to think it. Instead, we offer clarity, good-sense and great writing about what matters most, when it matters. Our writers are experienced, smart and opinionated; our information is accurate and smartly presented."

I like being described as experienced, smart, and opinionated. It's about time I was properly recognized.

But aside from the ego strokes, I've been wanting to write more about the politics and culture of food and cooking. However, aside from an occasional essay, Seriously Good wasn't the venue for it. That's not why I created this blog and not where I want this blog to go.

Here, I want you to think about "food," lower case "f," what we eat and why and how we enjoy it. Seriously Good is for your sense of taste, texture, smell, sound, sight, and imagination. Seriously Good is about satisfying your animal.

My columns at Spot-on will be about satisfying your intellect. They will be about "Food" with a capital "F." I'll delve into the politics of food and the posturing of foodies and their institutional enablers. I'll point fingers at the smug — including myself — and reward good sense when I run across it.

But it's not going to be easy so I need your help, if you're willing. My column will appear every Monday at http://www.spot-on.com/weeks/. Please log on and catch my fox passes and illitracies and point them out to me. Tell me when I'm being stupid. Tell me what's bothering you — a weekly column is a major idea drain and I'll need the help.

And hey! Thanks to all of you, the regular commenters and the much, much larger body of regular lurkers, for reading Seriously Good. That matters to me.

Technorati: Food | essay | spot-on | belly battles

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Sourdough English Muffins

Hiram Done Good



After reading the paper on Sunday mornings, I do my chores. For years this has meant vacuuming, cleaning the bathrooms, dusting, washing clothes, and watering plants. For the past year every other Sunday has included an additional chore -- feeding my sourdough starter.

Although I've occasionally gone as long as three weeks between feedings, every two weeks has proven ideal for my starter. I have to keep a reminder set in Outlook both because it's a bi-weekly event (meaning beyond my ability to remember) and because if I use the starter before scheduled feeding the schedule changes to every other Sunday from that point, whatever the previous schedule may have been.

Feeding involves mixing a cup of starter with a cup of water and two cups of flour and then returning it to the refrigerator in its glass canister. However, this means the base starter never warms up to vigorous activity.

When I pulled out the starter on Sunday to make the calzone I decided to completely refresh it by bring the entire mixture up to room temperature, feeding it, and giving it a day to work. While I was at it, I figured I'd make the sourdough English muffins I've been meaning to make in addition to the calzone dough.

So I did just that. I warmed up the entire batch of starter, fed it well, and gave it a day to revitalize. I made the calzone dough and the English muffins using a recipe I found at Annes Recipes.

Sourdough English Muffins Recipe

1 pk yeast
1/2 c lukewarm water (90F to 105F)
1/2 c basic sourdough starter, room temperature
1/3 c instant nonfat dry milk
2 1/2 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 c lukewarm water (90F to 105F)
3 to 3 1/2 c all-purpose, flour
Cornmeal

Proof the yeast in 1/2 cup lukewarm water in the bowl of a stand mixer. Thoroughly mix in starter, dry milk, sugar, and salt. Stir in remaining water. Add 3 cups flour and mix at low speed with paddle until smooth.

Swap paddle for dough hook and knead at medium speed for four minutes, adding additional flour as necessary. Dough should be somewhat moist and slack. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead another two to three minutes.

Transfer dough to greased bowl, turning to coat all surfaces, cover with plastic and let stand in warm draft-free area until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Lightly dust work surface with flour, punch down dough, and turn out onto surface. Roll to 1/2 inch thickness and cut into 3" rounds. Line a pair of baking sheet with wax paper and dust with cornmeal. Place rounds on baking sheet, dust tops with corn meal, and cover with plastic wrap. (Note: rounds should be at least 3/4" apart.) Dough scraps can be kneaded back together, rolled out, and additional rounds cut.

Let muffins rise until almost doubled -- about an hour.

Heat a griddle over medium low heat. Lightly brush with butter. Depending on griddle size, transfer four to eight muffins to griddle using a spatula. Cook muffins on each side for about seven minutes until browned. Transfer to a wire rack and cool. Makes about 12 muffins.

The muffins are great. Very chewy with a nice sourdough tang and although they weren't as holey as commercial muffins, they were much more so than any English muffins I've made in the past. Hiram done good.

Hiram? That's the starter's name.

Technorati: Food | bread | sourdough english muffin

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