To Beet or not to Beet?

Egg, Water, Flour

2009-01-21T08:08:00.001-08:00

I've finally completed my most recent Schmo to Pro task: learning to make killer fresh pasta from big-name NYC pasta pros Michael White, Fabio Trabocchi and Missy Robbins. A good time was had by me, if not all.

Check it!

Thursday Meat Art

2009-01-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

A little Thursday meat art a la Jean Yves Lemoigne.

(thanks to Young William)

Talking Turkey

2009-01-13T13:48:00.000-08:00

My friend and Thanksgiving guest David caught my turkey carving madness via digital video. I was so engrossed I didn't even notice he was wielding a camera (if Mandel dies, David would be an excellent replacement host on Howie Do-it). I prepped for this year's turkey by watching ten how-to videos online (the best of which can be found here). And while I wasn't able to achieve the same speed and grace as the pros, I will say the end effect was the prettiest durn bird I ever done carved. Watch me wax poetic about the nuance of turkey preparation here.

Not too big for his britches, per se

2009-01-05T14:15:00.000-08:00

DJ Egg, a fan of food and letters, tipped me off to this blog post by a 16 year old kid who dined alone at New York's vaunted Per Se restaurant. While the $300 price tag is a bit too rich for my blood, apparently this punk was able to swing it on some scratch he saved from a summer job. For the rest of you neo-Depressionites without the means to swing a meal there, I highly recommend dipping into Phoebe Damrosch's SERVICE INCLUDED--a memoir about her time as a server at Per Se. While books by top chefs abound, Damrosch's effort is a rare and enlightening look at what the front of the house looks like at a fine dining destination.

Obama Foodorama

2009-01-02T08:50:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year all! Thought I'd share a few thoughts on Obama Foodorama, LA blogger Eddie Gehman Kohan's site that captures food-related news about our president-elect.

This morning I finally got around to reading Michael Pollan's piece in the NY Times magazine. It's worth the read, but if you're short on time, Jeremy previously posted the Cliffs Notes. Thanks Cease! The article led me on a search for related content. Enter Obama Foodorama. I'll admit that global warming aside, I hadn't thought much about Obama's position on food in comparison to his stance on other issues (like global friendliness). But yeah...this is so fascinating and necessary when you think about how food affects pretty much everything we do.

Obama Foodorama blends news with fluff (e.g. Michelle Obama is a fan of Paula Deen. Yes!) and the the occasional examination of policy. I'm hoping that as Obama transitions into office, the blog will continue the fun while increasing a focus on the desire for massive (gasp!) political change. Surely I'm not the only one wanting to see a victory garden planted on the carefully tended White House grounds.

Great hunks of meat

2008-12-17T12:16:00.000-08:00

The Feedbag Makes Gyros at BZGrill from The Feedbag on Vimeo.

I've always wondered what a shawarma looks like before it's a shawarma. Now I know.

Nice Balls

2008-12-09T13:00:00.000-08:00

Success! Taking a sick day, playing the metal channel, and using a recipe graciously provided by the Cease (thanks for the pity), I was finally able to perform dairy alchemy, although the results were far from perfect. My mozz was lacking in stretchiness, possibly resulting from not bringing the whey up to temperature (which kept the curds somewhat brittle), but for now, I'll take it. The flavor is most certainly mozzarella, and I am most certainly a believer in the third time being the charm. Good luck in your own personal cheese misadventures.

Abbreviated Pollan

2008-10-20T13:40:00.001-07:00

For those of us (me included) who haven't read Michael Pollan's 8,000 word New York Times Magazine piece about re-thinking our food culture, Michael Ruhlman has heroically cut it down to it's essentials here. Some of my favorite proposals include:

Provide cities grants with which to build structures for year-round farmers markets.
Require federal institutions that prepare food (school lunches, prisons, military bases, etc.) to buy a minimum percentage of that food locally.
Food stamp debit cards should double in value when swiped at a framers’ market.

Eating China Food

2008-10-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

The lovely and talented friend of To Be or Not To Beet, Emily Murphy, has decamped for a year to teach American culture to University students in Hong Kong. As a devoted eater, she's posting her witty musings and lovely photos of her food adventures on her travel blog. I'm jealous of her access to every Hong Kong movie-goers favorite treat, noodles in a bag, which sounds a hell of a lot better than stale popcorn with coconut oil "butter" topping, no?

School of Cheese

2008-10-08T13:42:00.000-07:00

Fidel Gastro, AKA the Big Queso, isn't the only one out there who wants in on the world of lactose-tinged delights. If you've got $500 burning a hole in your pocket (even after the great market plunge of 2008), check out Murray's Cheese Boot Camp. 3 days, lots of cheese and a chance to show off at your next caseophile cocktail party.

Mozzarella, take two

2008-10-07T10:18:00.000-07:00

The learning curve is steep. My hands are burned (seriously). I blew it once again. This time, I got the curds to set, but when I got to the heating and kneading process, my hands just couldn't take the heat, so I followed the advice of Ludacris (among others) and got out of the kitchen, leaving another blob that would not behave as promised. Lame.

Cheese Us, Christ!

2008-09-22T10:10:00.001-07:00

After reading Kingsolver, I went ahead and ordered Ricki Carroll's 30-minute mozzarella and ricotta kit, and it turns out that things are much more difficult than ol' Barb lets on when it comes to cheesemaking. Either that, or I'm just a shitty cheesemaker (insert "but I'm good at cutting the cheese" joke here). Here are a few spots where I think I went wrong, just in case your cheesemaking curiosity has led you down the same path:

1. Patience (something I lack after 6 beers at 9pm on a Friday) is requisite. The whey will separate eventually. I don't think I gave it enough time.

2. After you slice the curd and go into the reheat process, be careful with the stirring. I did more harm than good by doing so.

3. Unless you're one of those people that can walk on hot coals, get a pair of gloves for the pulling process. The curd-cum-cheese is literally too hot to handle.

My end result wound up looking more like cottage cheese. The curds just wouldn't come together, so I trashed the whole batch. But I am not disheartened. A future post will document my imminent success. Until then, I'll have to be content as a schmo.

Juiced.

2008-09-08T12:51:00.001-07:00

Special magic video from Gourmet.com teaching us that cutting a lemon lengthwise yields way more juice. Fascinating stuff.

Sorry

2008-08-05T10:52:00.001-07:00

Sorry I've neglected the blog. I'm on vacation for the next two weeks, but check in after August 18th for more exciting news from the Beet.

Pizza Party

2008-07-01T08:11:00.001-07:00

At this risk of boring you with more of my pizza-making exploits, I need to give a shout out to my friend Erin over at NY Cookery. She's going around Brooklyn cooking people's favorite homemade dish with them, and then documenting via text and visuals. The result is a nice cross-section of the BK kitchen scene. She recently stopped by my pad so I could impart a little of the pizza-making wisdom I've accrued these past few months.

(Photo courtesy of Erin Patinkin)

Cooking Backwards

2008-06-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

I'm predisposed to finding a recipe I want to cook, and then shopping for the ingredients. But sometimes you need to work backwards: I have carrots, ginger, tofu and peanut butter--what can I make with that? And now that my CSA has started for the season, I get a feeling I'll need some inspiration for new ways to use all the fruits and vegetables I'll be saddled with. This new site, Cookthink, is a nice resource. It's sort of like a Pandora for food--you enter what you feel like eating, it spits out some recipes that might do the trick.

Porcine Operations

2008-06-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

I apologize to all five of my regular readers for my sporadic posting lately. I have a few good things coming up that will warrant posts. In the meantime, please enjoy my amigo Fidel Gastro's tales of pork butchering.

Totonno's on Film

2008-06-04T08:20:00.000-07:00

My quest to make the perfect home pizza is progressing slowly. This weekend I made four pretty successful pies for a dinner party. I still haven't quite figured out how thin crust joints like Grimaldi's and Lombardi's are able to stretch the same amount of dough that I use so thinly without tearing it. I think it just comes with a ton of practice. This video on Grub Street is actually pretty helpful--it shows how Totonno's (my favorite NY pizza spot) makes a pie. It's short and musical, so watch.

Take that, Hippies!

2008-05-29T07:44:00.001-07:00

As a cheesehead through and through, I've got no love for the California cheesemakers who are trying to dethrone Wisco as the king of the cheese states. So I'm glad to see that Saveur is showing some love to the men and women keeping the Dairy State tradition strong. I haven't tried any of the cheeses featured in the piece, but let me know if you have and what you thought.

Schmo-ish to Pro-ish

2008-05-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

I fancy myself someone who knows his way around a backyard grill. If you've tasted my grilled sausages, or my headless pig cooked in a box (NSFV--not safe for vegetarians), you might concur. But I don't know jack-squat about real BBQ--that is the variety that takes 8 hours in a smoker, not 20 minutes on a grill. So Metromix sent me off to talk to some real BBQ pros--click here to find out what I learned and impress your aunt, sister, and baby mama this memorial day with your 'cue knowledge.

Sunday Evening Seasonal Rhubarb Make Your Boyfriend Happy Pudding Cake

2008-05-12T13:10:00.000-07:00

Making use of seasonal ingredients, I picked up some rhubarb at the Union Square Green Market this weekend. Gourmet's website had a whole bunch of recipes for incorporating the 'barb, and it's been years since I've had it. My lady, TS, is an excellent baker, so I implored her to whip up the Rhubarb Strawberry Pudding Cake.

The results were phenomenal--a shortcake-ish cake batter mixed into a sweet/tangy rhubarb and strawberry mixture. Rustic and delicious.

Eating on borrowed time

2008-05-07T07:28:00.000-07:00

"When people really get sick, they have all the time in the world. All of a sudden they go to all these doctor’s appointments and they have to stand in line at a pharmacy to buy their medications. And they have to go for testing and they have to go for follow-up, and they have to spend all the hours being anxious about their disease, losing productive time doing that. And it’s like, just invest a little bit [by cooking for yourself] ahead of time."

Read the rest of the Gourmet.com interview with my author Daphne Miller.

Links from friends

2008-05-05T08:19:00.000-07:00

As previously discussed, I'm a yogurt fanatic. D.J. Egg tipped me to an ingenious invitation known as the yogurt spoon.

Look here to learn what you can do to help end harmful salmon farms in Canada. (Thanks to PH for the link).

The 10,000 Year Old Diet

2008-04-29T06:45:00.000-07:00

Browse Inside this book

Get this for your site

As some of you know, I do a little book editing here and there, and a book that I worked on and am really excited about just went on sale today. THE JUNGLE EFFECT by Daphne Miller, MD, argues that traditional, native diets are actually the healthiest way to eat. It makes sense that our bodies evolved along with specific foods, so in the end, natural foods and traditional preparations hold the secret to meeting our bodies' needs. So to learn more about Daphne's travels to the world's healthiest spots, including Iceland, Okinawa, Crete, rural Mexico and Africa, pick up a copy of this really important and fascinating book. Here's what Michael Pollan had to say about it, in case you need any more convincing:

“History shows that the human body is well adapted to an extraordinary range of different traditional diets. Alas, one of the very few diets to which we are NOT well adapted is the Western Diet most of us are eating today. In this bracingly hopeful and eminently practical book, Daphne Miller shows us how we can bring the wisdom of traditional diets to our own plates, in the interest of both our health and our pleasure. THE JUNGLE EFFECT is a fascinating, useful and important book.”

Pizza Schmo to Pizza Pro

2008-04-10T19:29:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I underwent a self-imposed pizza boot camp, with the goal of learning all the tricks to making quality pies at home. Check out my exploits on Metromix right here.

Rice and Beans

2008-04-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

The only chain restaurant that I eat at more than once a year is Chipotle. I hate to admit it, but the quality is consistent, and you can custom make your burrito, creating a relatively healthy option if you so desire. But thanks to an article in this month's Fast Company mag, I'm actually feeling retroactively less guilty about my fast food weakness. It turns out that Chipotle has a pretty good record when it comes to sustainable ingredients and humanely-raised livestock. I also like the CEO's relatively honest and refreshing outlook: if you charge a bit more for a good reason, people will pay it. Of course, there are plenty of arguments for why it's not ideal to "scale up" organic ideals in all cases, but I do think that practically speaking, it can only help to have big companies with deep pockets and a lot of influence fighting the good fight. In a perfect world fast food probably wouldn't exist, but it's a fact of life, so a more sustainable, ethical model can only help move things in the right direction.

Moby Dick Allusions and Coffee

2008-04-01T20:01:00.000-07:00

This week's NY Mag features a clever and timely panel discussion on how to fix Starbucks. Danny Meyer, consummate restaurateur (and celeb look-alike of my homeboy DJ Egg's dad), has the most compelling ideas. This guy is just a genius when it comes to hospitality and restaurant management, and his dead-on analysis is exactly what Starbucks needs. Read all about it.

Gardening of the Future

2008-03-26T12:56:00.000-07:00

There seems to be a perfect storm coming in terms of food prices. Rapidly rising oil prices, depleted oceans, food scares galore (contaminated buffalo mozzarella and cantaloupe just this week), and global warming will all likely make food significantly more expensive very soon. Without some major foresight and a change in attitudes, it's likely that good food will become a rare treat, even for those of us in wealthy nations. Hopefully plans to make better use of local produce like this one will catch on, and people will start making better food choices--to eat only sustainable fish species and less meat in general. (Thanks to D. Sacks for this link)

Triple Threat--Update

2008-03-24T12:31:00.000-07:00

Having written about, but never tried, the aforementioned La Quercia cured swine, I happened to stumble across an opportunity last week. A new spot, the Jake Walk, opened in my hood, and they happen to be one of the few places in the country that were able to secure one of the whole hogs from La Quercia. The deal is that a restaurant/purveyor buys a whole pig, and after the pig's slaughtered, the folks at LQ send various parts as they become available (fresh meats right away, cured meats as they become available). Right now the menu features La Quercia prosciutto, and it's damn good. The swine are fed on acorns, just like their questionably illicit Spanish cousins, the jamón ibérico de bellota. I have to say the La Quercia version ranked up there with the best prosciutto I've had, and I definitely want to get my hands on a chunk for home consumption sometime soon.

Triple Threat

2008-03-13T10:31:00.000-07:00

The Midwest. Sustainable agriculture. Cured meats.

La Quercia.

For Cryin' Out Loud

2008-03-05T13:08:00.000-08:00

The humble onion. As delicious to the taste buds as it is deadly to the tear ducts. A vegetable that has caused almost as many tears as Brett Favre's retirement announcement.

But for those of you who have soldiered through many a tearful onion dicing, the ultimate onion-chopping goggles are now available. It's really unclear what sets these apart from your standard ski or swimming goggles, which I can imagine would serve the same purpose, but I'm in the information dissemination business, not the question answerin' business.

And for those of you looking for more pedestrian ways to ease the pain, check out these tips from the Kitchn.

Amen, Mr. Ruhlman

2008-02-28T13:45:00.000-08:00

Eat fat and salt.

Make no Misteak about it

2008-02-21T19:10:00.000-08:00

Beefsteak. A word that strikes fear, envy, and hunger into the hearts of men.

This Saturday I traveled with a group of adventure-minded carnivores into the wilds of Bergenfield, New Jersey. A quick Zipcar trip over the GW Bridge brought us to the world of sweatpants, white sneakers, and volatile EKGs.

Tipped to the longstanding North Jersey Beefsteak tradition by the newspaper of record, we vaguely new what to expect. All you can eat beef tenderloin, dipped in butter; all you can drink soda and beer; french fries; stacks of grease-soaked bread slices; good times.

The event starts with a perfunctory iceberg lettuce salad (skipped by me in favor of reserving valuable beef-tank space), and some pretty solid pickles and black olives. Ten minutes later the first batch of thick-cut fries hit the table, followed closely by our inaugural visit from the beef tray--an oversized baking sheet stuffed with thinly-sliced grilled tenderloin atop baguette slices. Thanks to our Beefsteak veteran tablemates, we knew better than to eat the bread--instead you pool your group's slices in the middle of the table as an archaeological remnant of your bovine-ingesting efforts.

The beef does not stop coming until the diners give their final dismissal (or the room's collective sodium level reach code red). At this point, the evening's entertainment began. A local comedy-hypnotist took the stage, along with my buddy Mark, a willing volunteer, to put on a wholesome family show. One would think that after providing the attendees with about 4,000 calories of beef and fries each, the food availability would cease for the hour-long show. But then one wouldn't be thinking like a true Jersey Beefsteak host. About twenty minutes into the show, plates of cheese puffs, Doritos, and pretzels arrived on paper plates, and, alas, we polished them all off.

I really can't recommend the Beefsteak enough. The admission was only $35 (could you even get all-you-can drink Bud for three hours in Manhattan for $35?), the crowd was a lot of fun, the beef was real tasty, and the money went to support the local volunteer firefighters. A patriotic and gluttonous success all around.

[Special thanks to Fidel Gastro for the photos]

Eat Your Spinach, kids

2008-02-21T08:53:00.000-08:00

It's Popeye the Sailor First Baseman. This just in from Deejay Egg on the West Coast. Prince Fielder, prodigious home run swatter of the Milwaukee Brewers, has recently gone vegetarian. Tipping the scales at 260 pounds, PF must be putting away quite a few Boca Burgers to keep up his trademark paunch. Read more here.

CSA 101

2008-02-20T14:05:00.000-08:00

I just sent in my first check for my local CSA a couple of weeks ago, and I'm already counting the days until the summer produce is ready. I'm lucky that there's a CSA pick-up location a couple of blocks from my house, and they happened to still be taking new members. But if you're looking for a local CSA and there isn't one, or they're all full, check out this Q&A on theKitchn.com that gives the basic steps for starting your own.

The Underground

2008-02-18T14:17:00.000-08:00

Caseophiles, step right this way...Murray's Cheese now offers cave tours! I went on one Saturday.

There are four caves below ground, each with different aging processes and types of cheeses. It was pretty cool (Literally. I'm glad I had my scarf with me!). We learned all about mold and bacteria and the affinor's job as both artist and scientist. The aging process is fairly complex, though at times it is similar to what old people go through...think liver spots and sensitive skin masking a wise, complex interior.

Quite interesting, I'd recommend it. The cost is $10 for a 30-minute tour, and this includes a couple of samples.

On the way out, I purchased a bag of real Wisconsin cheese curds and had two of my fellow cave touring friends over for cheese and Belgian beer. This turned out to be the perfect way to spend the third Saturday of the month (which is when the tours take place).

Details at Murray's Cheese

Let the bacteria do the work

2008-02-11T07:23:00.000-08:00

My yogotherm arrived on Friday, so I took it out for a test drive this weekend. The lady and I eat a lot of yogurt, and I generally don't care for all of the additives that most store brands contain. So I bought me some bacteria and some good Ronnybrook milk and got down to business.

The whole process is pretty simple--heat the milk, let it cool down a bit, then mix in bacteria and some dried milk powder and let it sit in the yogotherm for about 12 hours. My first try was a success, although a little runnier than I prefer, which is why I bought some Bulgarian bacteria too.

Overall, a successful mission, and the first of many bacterial triumphs to come.

Go, Go Kitchen Gadgets

2008-02-08T12:41:00.000-08:00

I know a place where you can buy 18 different sizes of heart-shaped cookie cutters. Ga ga ga goo! But really, if you need a gift for the chef or baker in your life, and you find yourself in Midtown East (near the UN or the Japan Society), stop by Bridge Kitchenware. I discovered this family-owned, gadget-filled store not too long ago, and it’s worth checking out.

I’m definitely not alone in this thinking, as the place has been around for more than 50 years. The (sometimes dusty) shelves house an eclectic mix of earthenware, appliances, serving equipment, utensils...all sorts of good stuff.

Some of the basics you could probably find cheaper elsewhere, but if you’re looking to buy a unique (or slightly odd) tool for the kitchen, this might be the place. I picked up a nifty linzer tart cookie cutter set, as well as a tool to help cut onions (on first glance, I mistook it for a hair pick).

You’ll also find items like artichoke cookers, gelee molds, ravioli cutters, and percolator pots. They have a decent selection of pastry equipment too. It’s a fun place to browse, and every time I’ve been in there, the staff has been eager to answer questions (e.g. "What the flip is that for?").

If you search really hard, you might find a gem like the one I saw last week…a two-foot long pizza cutter that was in a jar marked Thanksgiving Special. You figure that one out!

Bridge Kitchenware
711 3rd Ave (at 45th St.)

How Now, Down Cow?

2008-02-07T08:15:00.000-08:00

There are some days when I am not proud to be at the top of the food chain. The Humane Society has released video footage of the treatment of sickly cows known as "downers." Rather than euthanizing these cows, ranchers resort to extreme measures to get them to stand in order to pass USDA inspection, which means they wind up in the food supply, which means these cows will exact their revenge on unsuspecting diners. I'm hopeful that this investigation will put these ranchers out to pasture. How could you be such a jerk to cows? They're responsible for 50% of the food groups. Seriously.

Once Bittman, twice shy...

2008-02-06T08:38:00.000-08:00

Mark Bittman has a new blog over on the Times website. Bittman's recipes are great--they're vegetarian-heavy, simple, and use fresh ingredients. I recently made his Pernil recipe for a football party, and it went over like a sack of weed at a Willy Nelson show. I think he'll take this blog to good places.

Eat Yer Greens

2008-01-27T15:42:00.000-08:00

Brussel sprouts. Broccoli. Green beans. Most kids don’t like them much. But what if we hide these healthy foods in chocolate chip cookies? Jeepers, the tots will never know…

Such is the claim behind two best-selling cookbooks (one by Missy Chase Lapine, the other by Jessica Seinfeld) that sneak vegetables into everyday dishes. Raymond Sokolov of the Wall Street Journal reviewed them in Saturday’s paper.

The books contain recipes like mac-n-cheese (the box variety) with white been puree and oatmeal raisin cookies with spinach puree. The premise here is that kids will get the nutrients and vitamins from these veggies without ever fussing. But Sokolov raises a fine question—down the road, how will kids learn to like or even recognize veggies if they are masquerading in other (often processed or sweet) foods?

The best line of his article: “These women treat vegetables the way Victorian mothers treated sex, with silence.” He urges instead for culinary transparency. Real food, introduced gradually.

I agree. It’s fine if kids don’t like spinach. Tastes change and mature. Think of the foods you loved as a five-year-old. Tomato slices on pumpernickel and a mid-afternoon espresso? Probably not, unless you were a highly sophisticated little darling.

Here’s the thing: a brownie with spinach is still a brownie. It’s not something you’d be serving to your children at every meal (I hope). So when kids do have sweets, I don’t think the addition of mashed cauliflower is necessary. Throw a few Flintstones vitamins into the cake batter instead (joking).

I love veggies. I just ate a sweet potato. And now I am going to have a cinnamon cupcake. Maybe I could’ve found a way to combine the two while baking, but I didn’t bother. There’s a better way!

Me and my Paddle

2008-01-22T17:41:00.000-08:00

A while back I alerted my loyal readers to a new no-knead bread recipe that I ran across. Since then, I've gotten a hold of the book that the recipe came from, and I've been trying out some of the other variations on the basic recipe. I made the light whole wheat dough, and gave pita bread a try. My first two pitas were a little overcooked, but the second two came out well. My advice for anyone else trying the pita recipe is to keep a close eye on them during baking, and pull them as soon as they start browning even a little.

Pollan Q&A

2008-01-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

Michael Pollan has a new book out called IN DEFENSE OF FOOD. I'm still waiting for my copy, but from what I've heard, it's really quality stuff (which doesn't surprise me since his last book, THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA was bomb). Coincidentally, a friend of mine has been working diligently on the launch of Gourmet.com, and she just posted a really interesting Q&A with Pollan.

Are You Pernil?

2008-01-04T12:42:00.000-08:00

Yo. I spent New Year's in Puerto Rico--a country that gives major props to my favorite eatin' animal, the pig. I'll admit, I ate a nice chunk of this guy:

And no, I don't regret it.

Coincidentally, upon my return, Mark Bittman had posted an online video about cooking Pernil, a Puerto Rican pork shoulder specialty. Can't wait to try it out, but I'm gonna have to find someone other than my vegetarian, Jewish lady friend to help me polish it off. Any takers?

I'm Back

2008-01-03T11:25:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to everyone. While I was away, I read Judith Jones' memoir, The Tenth Muse.

Jones is a legendary Knopf editor who 'discovered' some of the most popular and influential cookbook writers of the 20th century--from Julia Child to Marcella Hazen to Madhur Jaffrey. Before Julia and Judith teamed up, the country was headed towards a future of TV dinners and jello salads. If it weren't for the food revolution that they started, any semblance of good home cooking that still exists in America would have likely completely disappeared.

And for a book editor who's very interested in good food, this book was a fascinating look at how hands-on and collaborative Jones' projects were. Before the much more corporate publishing environment of today, she was able to fly basically around the world to work with her authors, test recipes, and eat some of the best food available. Not a bad gig.

Check out the NPR Weekend Edition interview with Jones here.

The True Love Roast

2007-12-18T06:47:00.000-08:00

Holy Turkey, Goose, Barbary duck, Guinea fowl, Mallard, Poussin, Quail, Partridge, Pigeon squab, Pheasant, Chicken, Aylesbury duck, Batman!

As many of you know, my crew and I are well-known in the meat-eating circles for our dedication to the finer things in life (Turduckens, Deep-fried turkeys, La Caja China pig roasts). But never have we attempted a task as herculean as the True Love Roast, a British creation featuring one bird (stuffed inside the next bird) for each of the 12 days of Christmas. 12 birds, 50,000 calories, 8 hours in the industrial oven?!?!?

I'm happy to report that I've now found the perfect entree for my Bar Mitzvah dinner.

Windy City Shout-out

2007-12-17T12:28:00.001-08:00

I know I have some loyal readers in Chicago. Thought you guys would appreciate this list from Apartment Therapy of good places to get local food in Chicago during the winter.

Sea Lice vs. Sea Life

2007-12-14T07:58:00.000-08:00

Check it

Another reason (besides the methylmercury situation) that farmed fish can cause big problems. Apparently the parasites the farmed fish promote end up killing off a lot of wild fish that live in the same waters. Not good.

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

2007-12-14T07:53:00.000-08:00

I know it's that time of year when all of your loyal To Beet readers ask yourselves, "What should I get Jeremy for Christmas." Please see above. (Don't ask me what it is, I have no idea other than that IT'S AWESOME!!!)

Perfect Meal 2007

2007-12-06T13:39:00.001-08:00

Check out Metromix where the food writers (including yours truly) created their "perfect meal" of 2007.

Tip it Good

2007-12-05T13:11:00.000-08:00

Ten Easy Ways to Improve Your Cooking over on David Lebovitz's blog. Check it.

No Knead for Speed

2007-12-04T10:41:00.000-08:00

The NY Times recently excerpted a really easy no knead bread recipe from ARTISAN BREAD IN FIVE MINUTES A DAY. And while the recipe sounds too good to be true, I tried it on Sunday and it really worked. Give it a shot--you'll be impressed.

Do you like it raw?

2007-11-30T08:24:00.000-08:00

The whole raw-milk debate seems to be picking up steam lately. On one side are the folks who believe that pasteurization actually kills many of the important components of milk and negatively affects the flavor, on the other side are the folks (and the government regulators) who believe that pasteurization is the only way to guarantee 'safe' milk.

Apparently California has the most permissive raw milk regulations, allowing for retail sale. But according to this piece, that's soon to change.

I don't know much about raw milk one way or the other, but in general, I think as long as producers are required to provide a warning when it comes to products such as raw milk, raw milk cheese, cured meats, etc., consumers should be able to buy these products. While they might not be perfectly safe by the government's point of view, we should have the right to eat natural products at our own discretion, as long as risk information is made available. God knows the government looks the other way in terms of additives and other unsavory aspects of the dominant food culture, the least they can do is offer a little leniency when it comes to foods humans have safely been consuming for thousands of years.

Feeling spaetzle

2007-11-19T11:40:00.000-08:00

Contrary to popular belief, I'm a man who likes my sausages. And as a Wisconsin boy born and bred, German cuisine holds a special place in my heart. Of course, insofar as I want to keep that heart ticking for the next fifty or sixty years, I limit my intake of bratwurst and schnitzel to special occasions. But I'm sad to say that German (and Austrian) cuisine hasn't gotten much of a toe-hold out in NY. That's why I'm happy to have noticed a recent trend towards more German-accented food here. The New York Post featured a piece on the recent proliferation of Wiener Schnitzel in the city, and to add to the burgeoning Teutonic-mania, the Times ran a piece this Sunday about the burgeoning food scene in Germany--sure to have an effect on New York cuisine before too long.

Book 'em, Danno!

2007-11-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

Cookbook's are certainly a fetish item for me. Since I work at a publishing house, I'm constantly bringing home new cookbooks to the tune of one or so a week. But when I'm honest with myself, I only occasionally attempt new recipes from the dozens of books on my shelves. Lately I've been much more diligent about exploring new recipes in the books I have, and I've had some nice successes.

Michael Ruhlman recently asked readers to write in with cookbook ideas they wish existed. It's a pretty interesting and comprehensive thread.

In other news, I just got my hands on a copy of Made in Italy by Giorgio Locatelli. It's a really sweet book--Locatelli is sort of the Mario Batali of London, and the book has narrative, recipes, and lots of intense photos. Check it out if you get a chance.

Bubba Gump

2007-10-31T06:24:00.000-07:00

I'm currently reading WHAT TO EAT by Marion Nestle. She's basically the leading nutritionist in America, and this book is her opus--a guide to what to put in your belly. The Seafood chapter has been one of the most shocking chapters for me. I don't eat fish or seafood--never liked the taste. I always felt like I was missing out, since most of my friends and family enjoy it, and because it seems to have a lot of health benefits with the whole omega-3 thing and all that jazz. But what I didn't fully realize is how contaminated (with methylmercury, etc) and environmentally unsound (farming fish and seafood really pollutes the water) fish can be. Yes, there are some very healthy options, but most of the foods people really like, such as tuna, salmon, and shrimp, are some of the worst offenders. It's definitely made me glad that I get my omega 3s from veggies and flax.

But I am glad to see that some retailers are cleaning up their act. There's a piece in today's NYT about Wegman's insisting on environmental and safety standards for their shrimp. Hopefully they're the first of many...

The Great Meal Ticket Compromise

2007-10-24T06:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been asleep at the wheel. Apparently moving to Brooklyn is a more labor intensive process than I thought, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things on the blog.

My buddy Matt is an editor over at Metromix New York. He recently recruited me to write a piece for their restaurant section, which you can read here. The concept was to find a bunch of restaurants in New York that you can take your parents to that won't alienate them with weird dishes and won't bore you with plain grub. Check it.

I'm a Fool to Do Your Dirty Work...

2007-10-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

Apropos many of the issues discussed on this blog recently, Barbara Kingsolver wrote a piece in this Sunday's Washington Post about the myth that industrial farming somehow frees humans from having to produce their food with their own hands. One particularly interesting observation is that while there may be fewer people who literally work with the soil to produce food, 50-60% of a population still has to be directly involved in food production and consumption in some way (waiters, long-haul truckers, food marketers/advertisers, etc.). Much like the false belief that something like a dishwasher would free up housewives' time in favor of leisure activities (in reality new chores just seemed to spontaneously appear to fill in the time void), the idea that we're somehow free to pursue new avenues thanks to our independence from farm work is a myth. Sure there may not be as many people working in the fields, but instead they're working in restaurants or food processing plants or the Xerox center at General Mill's--not necessarily the most gratifying work. And at the same time, these modern farming methods are of course damaging the soil, introducing genetically modified crops, breeding dependence on antibiotics and pesticides, and narrowing the variety of produce available. It's hard to make a case that somehow this is a more sensible way to feed the world.

To (Honey) Bee or Not to Bee?

2007-09-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe it's because I always wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up (until I realized that my lowly math skills and lack of courage might pose a problem), but I am really into bee keeping gear. I mean, how great is that wild netted helmet, to say nothing of the "smoker" you get to carry around? Maybe I'm just a Tin Man fetishist. Man, I really wish it was socially acceptable to keep a bee hive on a New York fire escape.

You'll remember I linked to an article about the major bee die-off that's been affecting honey production as well as almond pollination a few weeks ago. Today's Times has an interesting piece about heritage bee species and dilettante beekeeping. As I've mentioned previously, one of the main reasons to support local, sustainable agriculture is that it allows for a wider variety of plant and animal breeds to remain in circulation, whereas commodity farming tends to focus on one or two species. The danger in narrowing a whole range of breeds down to one or two varieties is that an illness or environmental change can wipe out the whole lot (not to mention we lose out on the wide variety of flavors that a full spectrum offers) . And that's exactly what happened in the case of the bees. We really need to focus on supporting the farmers who practice diversity, so that we'll have something to fall back on when problems arise.

To Meat or Not to Meat?

2007-09-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

I first discovered the Vendy awards two years ago when my favorite lunch cart, sausage gurus Hallo Berlin, won the coveted prize. The Vendy's are the street food equivalent of the James Beard Awards--a hallowed prize that deserving open-air food vendors can lord over their neighborhood water dog stand.

Alas, Rolf and Wolfgang, the rad German dudes who fry up some quality sausages over at Hallo Berlin (and this praise is coming from a Wisconsin boy, don't forget) are not in the running this year. But there are a lot of deserving vendors on the docket. My boy Matt just wrote a piece about this year's finalists, and I was even Robin to his Batman on his trip to Kwik Meal.

Learn more about this year's Vendy ceremony here.

Dining B.C. (Before Cholesterol)

2007-09-25T13:40:00.000-07:00

Man, how nice must it have been to live back in the days when bisque, beef, duck, and foie gras could all be consumed guilt-free in one meal?

I just ran across this fascinating archive of old menus on the New York Public Library website. This promises hours of fun...

Badger Vader

2007-09-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't religiously read the groundbreaking UW alumni magazine On Wisconsin, you may have missed the recent piece on the Wisco roots of the youtube sensation Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager. Apparently the Star Wars spoof, which charts the exploits of the infamous Darth Vader's younger brother and has over 5 million views on youtube, was filmed in the Willy Street Co-op in Madison. Hell, with all the gnarly hippies hanging around Willy Street, I probably wouldn't even have looked twice at a day shift manager wearing a black cape, chest plate, and giant helmet.

Battered Badgers

2007-09-17T15:04:00.000-07:00

Man, it's easy to romanticize the life of an organic farmer when you're living in the concrete jungle. This short film about the devastation caused by August floods in Wisconsin and Minnesota is really quite sobering. I really can't imagine having a livelihood that is so dependent on variables beyond your control. One of these farmers was out $90,000 dollars because almost all of the late-summer crops were ruined. What a tough life!

2007-09-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

The New York Magazine cover story this week is by a dude in Brooklyn who took a locavore experiment to new heights. He vowed to feed himself for a month exclusively on food grown or raised in his Brooklyn back yard. It sounds like he faced some insurmountable problems that Barbara Kingsolver was able to avoid, thanks to her several acres of fertile Appalachian farmland. I'm not sure I could live basically on chicken, eggs, tomatoes, and a few eggplants for a month.

In the same issue, the always-vocal Adam Platt weighed in with his own concerns about how locavore ethics could hurt the quality of food in the restaurant scene. As as foodie who loves truffles, french cheeses, olive oil, and imported chocolates, but who still cares about sustainable and local agriculture, I've thought about many of the same factors. But I do think that, at least when it comes to luxury foods, it's okay to make exceptions if the quality payoff is worth it. In another recent piece about the scam that is the bottled water industry, Charles Fishman interviewed the controversial ethicist and father of modern vegetarianism Peter Singer on a similar topic. The never-ambigious moralist feels that, "buying the [French] merlot may help sustain a tradition in the French countryside that we value--a community, a way of life, a set of values that would disappear if we stopped buying French wines. I doubt if you travel to Fiji you would find a tradition of cultivation of Fiji water."

So basically, buying cured meats from Palermo has a couple of differences from insisting on buying inexpensive, out of season fruit flown in from South America. First, it respects a tradition of excellence that may die out if everyone outside of the region boycotted it on locavore grounds. Also, since these premium items tend to secure high retail prices, this isn't a case of wealthy Americans using the world as our race-to-the-lowest-price farm. Hence, until global warming changes the New York climate enough to allow for excellent local olive oil production, I won't feel too guilty buying imported Italian cold-pressed XVOO (take that Rachel Ray, I'm starting a new acronym!).

2007-09-14T13:23:00.000-07:00

This is a pretty impressive accomplishment. At the recent Farm Aid benefit concert on Randall's Island, 80% of all the vendor food was either local, organic, or grown on a family farm.

(Rumor has it that Willie brought a little stash of his own home-grown, too.)

Shameless Plug

2007-09-13T12:58:00.001-07:00

Check out what Fidel Gastro has to say about the McDonald's Angus Third Pounder. Spoiler alert: it sucks.

2007-09-12T12:51:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have run across one of my favorite cooking shows on PBS-- Lidia's Italy.

The show is hosted by Lidia Bastianich, who's one of the chefs most responsible for introducing regional Italian cooking to America. When it comes to flare, she's no Bobby Flay or Mario Batali, but she really explains the technique and history behind her dishes, and she doesn't shy away from some unusual traditional dishes.

Read a brand new interview with Lidia (who is a partner in many of Mario Batali's restaurants in New York) conducted by my friend Matt Rodbard here.

Time Saving Tips

2007-09-12T06:41:00.000-07:00

Learn some time saving tips for crushing garlic that Rachel Ray will never reveal in this video. Viewer discretion is advised.

Review: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

2007-09-10T19:09:00.000-07:00

This is the first of what I hope to be many reviews on TO BEET. Not only will I be writing reviews of books, magazines, foodstuffs, and foot massages, I hope that other people will chime in with their own reviews in due time too.

****Full disclosure--I work for HarperCollins publishers, which publishes the book reviewed below*****

ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE by Barbara Kingsolver is a new entry in the hot category of books that already features The Omnivore's Dilemma and What to Eat among others. In a way, I see these books as the equivalent of fantasy sports for the dedicated food lover. They're a chance for us city folk to live vicariously through the people who are really at the forefront of the sustainable agriculture revolution, and at the same time learn more about where our food comes from.

Like The Hundred Mile Diet, Kingsolver's family takes on the challenge of eating locally for an entire year. That means what they can't grow themselves, they have to buy from or trade with local farmers. So, no pineapples, bananas, Cheetos, or Ben and Jerry's for 365 days. To make this challenge doable, the family relocates from the barren American Southwest, and hangs their shingle at their summer farmhouse in the Appalachian mountains--a climate that will allow for a lot greater variety of local produce and a lot fewer meals of nopales and scorpion meat.

Without delving too deeply into the book's plot, the highlight of the book is certainly Kingsolver's ability to put food choices into perspective. While it's obviously a buttload of work to grow hundreds of pounds of tomatoes and then make dozens of pounds of tomato sauce to store for a winter lycopene-infusion as she did, it's inspiring to see such a short trip from garden to plate. While most of us probably don't have the stamina, skills, or desire to take on this big of a challenge, we can still think about smaller ways to minimize the out-of-season and packaged foods that most Americans rely on.

That being said, the heart of this book focuses on reminding us that prior to "cheap" forms of long-distance transportation, humans pretty much ate what could grow in their immediate vicinity. And if that meant going without fresh eggs in late winter, you had to find another way to get a daily protein source. While it may seem like a human right to have raspberries in New York in January, it's actually just a privilege that ends up costing a lot of fossil fuel.

While Kingsolver's writing style is a little cutsier than I would prefer, I have to accept that the core audience for this book is likely middle-aged mothers who are interested in safer ways to feed their family. But even as a handsome, hip urbanite, I found a lot to take away from her practical advice. There are simple, seasonal recipes throughout that can help you make the best use of ingredients as they're available. And there are informative sidebars written by the author's husband that explain some of the politics of the locavore movement and point to important resources for learning more. Over the next few weeks I intend to explore these resources and I'll point them out on the blog as they become relevant.

Overall, this book is a must-read if you're interested in the hows and whys of the locavore movement, and if you want some concrete tips that can help you integrate local, seasonal foods into your own diet year-round.

2007 Eat Local Challenge

2007-09-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

Check out this great blog for more info about this year's September "Eat Local Challenge." Lots of helpful tips for supporting local agriculture.

News Round-up

2007-09-06T17:33:00.000-07:00

It looks like they found the cause of the ailing bee population. It seems to be a virus. I'm just amazed that the technology that led to the discovery is the same one being used to decode Neandrathal DNA. This begs the question--did Brendan Fraser collaborate on the research?

School started this week, and it looks like cafeterias across the country are making positive steps to offer healthier options.

The Economies of Taste

2007-09-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

To continue the thread started by Mark below, there's an interesting debate regarding higher prices at Farmer's Markets on Michael Ruhlman's excellent blog today. Russ Parsons, the author of HOW TO PICK A PEACH chimes in with some interesting points.

One thing he mentions is that especially in climates with short growing seasons, local farmers are scrambling to make a year's income in only 3-4 short months of harvest. Therefore, unlike the supermarket (read: California) farmers who have most of the year to get a return on their investment, they have to charge a premium price during those precious summer months.

In Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver offers a way to help your local farmers out and therefore encourage them to return to the market the next season. Instead of just buying what you need for the week or for the summer, buy a bunch of extra tomatoes, peaches, berries, garlic, melons, herbs and such, and can or freeze them for use during the winter. That way when you want to make a tomato sauce or smoothy in December, you can reach for your stored produce. I actually bought a bunch of extra pints of berries this weekend and froze the extras--they'll be much better yogurt mix-ins than the bland supermarket option in a couple of months. And now that farmer my local farmer has that $10, instead of Key Foods. And right now those berries, tomatoes, squash and melons are much cheaper at the Farmer's Market than they will be out of season in the grocery store in a few months--so in this case you can actually save money in the long run and end up with a better meal.

Preparation in Spades

2007-09-03T18:35:00.000-07:00

I'm not a gardener (unless you consider a few pots of herbs on a Manhattan windowsill a garden), but I'm familiar with the concept of the garden journal. The idea is that in order to prepare for next summer's growing season, gardeners note the weather, growing conditions, and results each day. That way they'll know whether it might be a good idea to plant their sunflowers a little earlier next year, and they'll know which vegetables should be ready to harvest in mid-July.

My version of a vegetable garden is the local Farmer's Market. And since I'm a novice at this whole seasonal-produce thing, I thought I'd adapt the garden journal to a market journal. I bought a classy little notebook that's small enough to carry with me to the market so I can write down what I bought, whom I bought it from, and even what I later cooked with it. If you're like me, you'll forget which heirloom tomato had the best flavor by this time next year, and having it all conveniently jotted down will avoid monumental mistakes.

The Apica notebook I bought is a Japanese import--only a couple of bucks but sturdy and small enough to put in your pocket. I picked mine up at Spoonbill and Sugartown in Williamsburg, but they're avail on the internet as well. Any notebook will do, of course, but how many other brands carry such an appealing example of Japanese to English translation gone awry? "Most Advanced Quality Gives Best Writing Features," is proudly displayed on the cover of my new Apica.

Midtown Lunch Pales

2007-09-02T08:51:00.000-07:00

I don't fancy the M-F Midtown lunch either, for the reasons Cease noted below. Plus, the crack-speed salad makers always leave me regretting at least one ingredient choice (sunflower seeds instead of almond slivers, for example).

My lunch sack of choice is a reusable bag I found at Pearl River last year. The size is perfect because it can fit two lunches, so I save time packing and don’t need to carry it daily. It’s colorful and flowery. So if that’s not your style, look for plain ones at drug stores.

You could also scour eBay for lunch boxes – instead of Ninja Turtles, I like the construction worker-style tin pail. Add a canvas strap to sling it over your shoulder. One more thing: Get your company to ditch the paper and plastic and invest in silverware and reusable plates.

More on Lunch Lugging

2007-08-31T10:14:00.000-07:00

If you're not picky about pastels, check out the Fit & Fresh line of food storage products, my favorite being the "Lunch on the Go" system. It's a veritable matriyoshka of food storage, with two small containers for side dishes or dessert, a main container for a sandwich, salad, or leftovers, and an ice pack to keep it all cold. You can even use the lid as a plate. The added bonus is that if you're a fat shit like me, the Fit & Fresh compartmentalized system helps to control portions, and small meals mean small containers means it's pretty easy to carry to work.

Clock Punchers

2007-08-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

My friend Jeff over at the rad blog 52 Projects has a "Brought My Lunch" contest going on right now. It's simple enough--bring your work to lunch, take a pic of it, post it to his flickr group, get a chance to win a prize.

Coincidentally, over the last 2 weeks I've been trying harder to bring my lunch to work. This is for the obvious reasons, of course: healthier, cheaper, less waste. One thing I'm looking into is a convenient way of transporting multiple items to work without taking up a ton of space (being a New Yorker, I always have enough crap to carry to work everyday). One solution I'm looking into are these Mr. Bento boxes. They're a bit pricey, but I'm hoping to find a cheaper alternative. If anyone has any suggestions, holla back.

Food Miles

2007-08-30T12:02:00.000-07:00

I buy most of my food locally at Farmer's Markets. I do it for a lot of reasons (most of them heavily influenced by Michael Pollan and the like). I am, however, extremely skeptical of the concept of "food miles." The short story is that I think it is a highly oversimplified idea and that the people who follow it with a sort of religious ferocity simply refuse to recognize the complexity of the issue (include accounting for economies of scale and the efficiency derived therefrom) and the extremely difficult overall empirical calculations that must be considered for any individual piece of food.

Anyway, I am not saying anything that hasn't already been said on blogs in the past year, in large part as part of a discussion to an Economist article reacting to Pollan's Dilemma. But the only reason I am mentioning now is to call attention to a thoughtful editorial in the Times a few weeks back that some of you might have missed.

Local Food Mags

2007-08-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

Interesting piece in yesterday's New York Times about a consortium of local food magazines:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/29/dining/29maga.html?ref=dining

For those of you who live in New York and want to pick up a free issue of Edible Brooklyn, check out this link for locations: http://ediblebrooklyn.net/pages/articles/fall2006/pdfs/whereToFind.pdf