World On A Plate

Vote with Your Fork

On my list of things to do this weekend was to catch up on the news of Slow Food's Terra Madre event.  Well, Julia at Mariquita Farms has done such a great job.  As a thank-you I'll put in a plug for their husband Farmer Andy Griffin's free bi-weekly newsletter.  They started the newsletter in 1999 because "we saw a demand for information about where and how food is produced, especially sustainably-grown food."   I'll just add the link for Alice Waters Speech.

Along the same theme on Thursday night a few friends(J&J and H) and I went to a benefit opening of the documentary, The Future of Food (there's a trailer available). It was a great San Francisco eco-food event to benefit Slow Food.  There was a mix of organic farmers, local chefs, food journalists, activists and foodies.  I was loving the names that were popping up in conversations around me, "I'm working with Traci (Des Jardin)...well, when Thomas (Keller) did "the book" I was asked to prepare the pate de choux dessert...there's Alice (Waters), oh look there's Nigel (Eatwell) and Michael Pollan...on and on it went. The film finally started albeit late.  The film is the work of Deborah Koons Garcia (yes, Jerry's wife) and is all about GMO (genetically modified organism) foods.  It's educational, compelling and inspiring.  Know what you eat and vote with your fork.  And yes, see the film--in San Francisco it's at the Roxie. For more background on GMOs read this perspective over at Organic Gardening.   What a great evening that could only happen here in The City by the bay.

SHF #2- Cider House Rules

The challenge for me with today’s Sugar High Friday was not to bake an apple pie.  I worried that I would distinguish myself from the crowd.  So I took another route with apples and sugar with Apple Cider Pound Cake. A great fall interpretation of a kitchen classic.  Thanks for hosting Domestic Goddess!

Real cider, the dark fragrant kind—not the pale you-can-see-through-to-the-bottom-of-the-glass kind is fall personified.  I found it curious recently when I read a research statistic from, The NPD Group Inc, that stated that only 1.5 of Americans drink apple cider.  Some of my most vivid food memories growing up in New England are centered around crisp afternoons driving to apple orchards and of pressing fresh cider at Drumlin Farms. 

For the most part, apple “juice” is clear, amber-colored, filtered and pasteurized –it is found on the supermarket shelf. It does not need to be refrigerated before opening.  Apple cider is the cloudy, caramel-colored, and unfiltered pressed juice of apples. Also, all apple juice sold today as cider isn't necessarily "fresh" cider.  Most juice sold in supermarkets is pasteurized, or heat-treated to destroy bacteria. Untreated juice is required to have a label saying so.

Countries producing cider fall into the temperate regions of the world. By the beginning of the ninth century, cider drinking was well established in Europe. Normandy, Brittany, Wiesbaden, the Basque region of Spain, Ireland and Britain introduced the craft of producing cider to America, Canada, Australia to name a few.

Baseball, Aji & Budin

The beating, nay the massacre that took place last night at Fenway, once again beaten by the Yankees, in an incredibly undignified and embarrassing fashion is sad, depressing, frustrating and anger inducing. Frankly, it's pretty much over for us. No team has ever come back in post-season from a 3-0 position. The pitching staff was ravished last night. Sure I believe in miracles and hope. I must. I am a Red Sox fan after all. I am a mixed bag of emotions. As a Bostonian would say, I'm wicked pissed off. Angry because the better team should have been the Sox. Angry because the members of Red Sox Nation have been mislead again. Our team has once again disappointed. The better, and richer team is most likely going to the World Series, again. I can't believe this has happened again.

Last night a table of friends celebrated C's birthday with dinner at the newly re-opened Limon restaurant. Executive chef and owner Martin Castillo, opened Limon with his family about two years ago to great success. It was small with about 40 seats. What he calls Peruvian-Nuevo Latino caught on big and he's opened a larger more contemporary place just around the corner seating a guestimate of 100. The kitchen is open, and loud. The place is filled with hip and stylish San Franciscans. It's a great to do.

We sat upstairs as we were a large party of 20. Please remember your 7th grade science principle of heat rising and dress accordingly. Also the searing of dried peppers and the less than palate-inducing odor that is emitted wafts upward in the heat. All of this aside it was a great celebration.

Peruvian dishes nearly always are some combination of rice, potatoes, chicken, pork, lamb, and fish. Most of these meals include one of the different kinds of "aji", or Peruvian hot pepper, which mainly are yellow aji pepper, red aji pepper, red rocoto pepper. There are many hybrid characteristics in Peruvian due to the countries immigrant history. An Italian influence can be seen with the use of pasta and Asian-style rice is almost ubiquitous.

We started with papa a la huancaina, potatoes served on a bed of lettuce with an aji amarillo cheese sauce and olives; calamares fritos, deep-fried calamari with chipotle aioli and sesame seeds; ceviche Limon, ceviche Limón, a mix of seafood marinated in lime juice, served with yam, Peruvian corn and mussels and finally, chicharon de pollo which consisted of bits of chicken marinated in garlic and deep fried, served with salsa criolla and lemon vinaigrette.

As a main course I had lomo saltado, a traditional Peruvian dish of top sirloin slices sautéed with onions, tomatoes and sweet potato fries, served with a side of rice which JC, my dining neighbor generously doused with Peruvian adresso cream sauce. She was enjoying picante de mariscos and was raving about the adresso cream sauce. "You must find a recipe and make this for us!" she gushed. What are friends for if not to share!

Dessert was an assorted mix--chocolate bandido, warm chocolate cake served with dulce de leche ice cream; arroz con leche, rice pudding, served with raisins and cinnamon and budin de durazno
peach bread pudding, served with caramel sauce. This last selection was not overly sweet and a great complement to the heat and textures of the meal.

In between delighting in the dishes we discussed last week's debate, the future of the two-party system, Boston sports, the Olsen Twins. We decided the depth of each party is summed up in the musicians supporting each party. On the left REM, Bruce Springsteen, to name a few. On the right, Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears, who was quoted on CNN saying "I think we should just trust our president in every decision he makes and should just support that, you know, and be faithful in what happens," Spears told CNN in September.

A fun celebration of food, friends and talk. I think it was best that I was out with friends and checking the score via web phone rather than suffering at home alone. It's time to let it go and move on. After all, we have the New England Patriots who have rewarded us greatly of the past few years as Super Bowl champs and have a consecutive win record that is impressive.

RIP Red Sox. It's wicked ov-a. Sigh.

photo: www.bostondirtdogs.com

Green Goddess

Regional food specialties pique my interest as they are window into local lore. San Francisco has given birth to several, one of those being the creamy, herby dressing known as Green Goddess. In the 1920's the chef at the historic Palace Hotel was inspired to create this signature dressing in honor of William Archer's hit play The Green Goddess.

The lead of the play, an English actor and a legend of the silver screen, George Arliss, later starred and was nominated for an Academy award for his role as the Rajah in the film version of the play. He didn't win for this role. He did win and was the first British actor ever to win an Academy Award for his role in the sound version of the play, Disraeli. He certainly commanded a presence didn't he. No wonder the dressing was dedicated to him.

There are lots of versions of this dressing out there but the classic recipe typically includes, in one form or another: anchovies, mayonnaise, vinegar, green onion, garlic, parsley, tarragon and chives. Sometimes the anchovies are in the form of anchovy paste, and often the tarragon flavor comes is delivered in the form of tarragon vinegar.

It's great with steamed artichokes, over fish or hard-boiled eggs. I've chosen Fanny Singer's version. You may be more familiar with her as Alice Waters' daughter.

Image: autogramy.slansko.cz