Here's a short film (along with some photos) from the fabulous heirloom tomato tasting at Wild Boar Farms on Sunday. It was a great event, and the tomatoes were as delicious as advertised. After gorging on these just-picked beauties, the thought of eating conventional tomatoes seems ridiculous.
You just can’t fight Mother Nature. There are only a few months a year when you should eat fresh tomatoes. Sorry, that's just the way it is. But, the good news - this is one of them!
So, after watching this, figure out when the next local farmer's market is, and get some real tomatoes. As far as ways to eat them - keep it simple - it doesn't get much better than olive oil, salt, maybe some fresh basil and cheese, on crunchy grilled bread. Enjoy!
Thanks to fellow foodies Annie and Nate, of the House of Annie blog, Michele and I are going to a special heirloom tomato tasting at the Wild Boar Farms, in the Suisun Valley of Northern California. I will be investigating whether the amazing things I've read and heard about their tomatoes are true.
Wild Boar Farms has the reputation for growing the finest tomatoes anywhere, which they credit to their ideal location, and describe as, "a perfect combination of the Central Valley heat mixed with some cooling at night from the bay breeze. The soil is outrageous, class 1 topsoil runs 90 feet or more in places, ten feet is considered excellent." It sounds like tomato heaven on earth.
This farm's tomatoes are prized by many of the Bay Area's top chefs, including the Queen of California Cuisine, Alice Waters. For those of you who haven't heard of Alice, she and her restaurant Chez Panisse, are credited with revolutionizing the ways chefs procure food and plan menus. It was all based around using locally produced, seasonal foods, purchased from farmers she knew by their first names.
This California cuisine movement wasn't started to change the world, it was created so she could feed her customers the freshest, best tasting food she could find. What was considered revolutionary back then - a chef dealing with small organic farmers directly - is now commonplace, and American cuisine is much better for it. Here is a short clip of Alice speaking with Charlie Rose. Enjoy!
Tomato basket photo (c) Flikr user heydrienne Tomato sandwich photo (c) Flikr user Crystl
It's been stone fruit nirvana around here lately - peaches, apricots, nectarines, pluots, and plums stacked high in gravity-defying piles. Whether eaten outside, or over a sink, the sweet juices running down your chin a sign you've chosen well. A part of me thinks it wrong not to eat every one of these fruits raw because before you can say "Happy Labor Day," they'll be gone for another year.
But, cooking is all about exceptions and compromises. Just as in winter, when we convince ourselves that there's nothing wrong with using canned peaches - in summer there are times when we have to talk ourselves into sacrificing a few fresh plums for the sake of the roast. This video recipe for pork tenderloin, featuring roasted plums, is so good that any feelings of guilt will disappear like the butter we use to finish this delicious sauce.
When shopping for this recipe be sure to choose plums (or any other stone fruit) that are fairly firm, so they keep their shape after roasting. You know that selfish jerk that has to feel-up every piece of fruit before deciding on one? This time, be that jerk. I've also included some links below to other video recipes that use pork tenderloin - one of the best, and easiest, protein choices there is. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 2 servings: 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 pork tenderloin (not loin) 1 red onion 2 shallots fresh thyme springs salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 cup water 2 firm plums 1 tsp cold butter
I'm right in the middle of a couple big projects, one of which has to do with a potential sponsor for the site. This summer's a critical time for the blog, as far as monetizing to the point of sustainability. My mission has always been to provide free culinary instruction and inspiration, and I continue to explore ways to keep that dream alive.
I will also have news soon regarding a special limited edition DVD of my favorite video clips (and a few other fun things), to sell on the blog. Hopefully this will help generate enough funds to keep the blog cooking for the rest of the year. And, by "limited edition," I mean I will only press as many as ordered.
I'll leave you with a photo of a super delicious fresh summer veggie pizza I made a few days ago. It had cherry tomatoes, fresh corn, poblano peppers, basil, fresh mozzarella, reggiano, and sourdough crust. Do you self a favor and shave some fresh corn on a pizza. Incredible. Click the photo to get intimate with it. Enjoy!
I did something today that has always bothered me when done by large food corporations; I named a recipe based solely on geography and alliteration. This video recipe for a Tex-Mex style pizza was called "El Paso Pizza" because Paso and Pizza both start with P's, and El Paso is in Texas. I've never been to El Paso, nor do I have any knowledge about their pizza - if they even eat pizza.
Not many people realize that there are absolutely no laws or guidelines on the authenticity of food packaging names, claims, and histories. Those cute little stories that you always see on the back of labels about how Aunt Tillie invented her "Bakersfield Brownies" during the Depression, using chocolate smuggled into to the country by trained hawks. It's all made up. The name, the location, the part about the hawks - all invented in some marketing meeting.
I realize that none of you really care why this is called El Paso pizza, but I wanted to call your attention to the whole "amazing but true story behind the name" scam at the supermarket. Just another reason not to buy prepared foods! Anyway, this video recipe is quite tasty and a great idea when you can't decide whether to have pizza or tacos.
In the video I mention to try and use grass-fed beef, which is now available, ground in one-pound packages, at most major supermarkets. Here is a link that explains the many health benefits of this, over the conventional corn-fed beef. I'm also linking to the Pizza Dough video, in case you want to make your own. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 1 pound grass-fed ground beef 1 tbsp cumin 1 tsp chipotle pepper - more if you likes it spicy 1 tbsp ancho chile powder 3/4 tsp salt 1 cup sliced Poblano pepper, or Anaheim, or other green peppers 1/2 cup sliced green onions 1 1/2 cup tomato sauce 4 oz pepper Jack cheese one crust or pizza dough for a large pizza El Paso sign photo (c) Adriano Agulló
One of the few drawbacks of being a professional blogger is the lack of time available for surfing other foodie sites online. That gnawing sense you're missing out on exactly what inspired you to blog in the first place. Gone are the days of cruising carefree across the vast plane of culinary content. If only there existed an online resource that pulled together, and organized, all this edible information into a delicious digest. And then, I found Foodbuzz.
Remember the feeling you had the first time you saw a food court at the mall? Corndogs next to pizza, next to burgers, next to ice cream - ah, the simple brilliance of its design. You no longer had to walk from one end of the mall to the other before deciding which form of high-fructose corn syrup you were going to feast upon. That's the same feeling I had when I came across Foodbuzz.
Foodbuzz allows you to search for, and browse, a huge collection of culinary content including; recipes, videos, news, photos, restaurant reviews, blog posts, new restaurants, and forums. You've probably noticed the Foodbuzz badge on this blog's sidebar, which pronounces me as a "featured publisher." Through this program, they're helping promote top-tier food blogs, as well as sharing in the revenue generated.
Since they're based in San Francisco, I was fortunate enough to attend a dinner last night they hosted for a group of Bay Area featured publishers. The meal was at Perbacco, an Italian restaurant downtown, where we enjoyed good food (see here), great wine, and even better conversation. It was a chance for the Foodbuzz staff to meet bloggers they'd only previously seen on-screen, and for the bloggers to meet each other. It was a rare, and very much welcomed, change from the normally impersonal online interactions.
The Foodbuzz staff could not have been nicer, and displayed a genuine love of food (I was dubious at first glance, since they were all so thin and healthy looking), and passion for what they're trying to do. You can't fake the funk when it comes to foodie websites, which is why I'm so encouraged by this company's future, and this blogs participation in it. Thanks to Doug (aka DFresh), Ryan (aka ryanthegirl), and the rest of the fabulous Foodbuzz team!
Photos from top to bottom: - Housemade breadsticks - Ravioli stuffed with ricotta, spinach, and soft egg yolk - Roasted red and gold beets, arugula, Castelmagno cheese, white balsamic vinaigrette - Chicken, mushrooms, and gnocchi - Seafood risotto - Chocolate cake (not sure of the details, as I forgot to take the menu!) - Raspberry peach crostata with gelato
Here's a short film (along with some photos) from the fabulous heirloom tomato tasting at Wild Boar Farms on Sunday. It was a great event, and the tomatoes were as delicious as advertised. After gorging on these just-picked beauties, the thought of eating conventional tomatoes seems ridiculous.
You just can’t fight Mother Nature. There are only a few months a year when you should eat fresh tomatoes. Sorry, that's just the way it is. But, the good news - this is one of them!
