Very Exciting News! Foodista has put out a call for entries for the Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook.
For the next couple months, food bloggers can submit their photography, writings, and original recipes to Foodista.com. The public can view all submissions on the website and vote for their favorites. That feedback and editors at both Andrews McMeel Publishing and Foodista.com will determine 100 entries chosen for inclusion in "The Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook." More info available here: http://www.foodista.com/blogbook.
I'm telling everyone I know that has a food blog! You should too!
There are times when I have to slow down a second and realize everything that is going on. It's years like this one where I sit at the end of a marathon day with a glass of white wine and I think, whew where did it all go. They say your "Saturn return" happens right around 30 and it can be good or bad or both, whatever it is, it means a strong change. Nothing could be more true. As I walked through the Herbfarm today, I said to Mina, one of the apprentices, "this place is beautiful right now...it is July after all and I suppose this is how the farm should look." It is true. I remember walking in the snow in the hard fields helping Bill pull out parsnips and salsify, just waiting for the spring to come. Now, we work in our shirt sleeves and avoid the bees. The South 47 farm right next door to us is busy with visitors, like they told us back in March- "Just you wait until summer- your quiet oasis will be gone."
I counted 22 eggs this morning. The new buck-eye chicks that arrived in mid-June are almost big enough to move into the coop. And the baby quail...well they fly of course and some have escaped, I believe we still have 8 left. I need to remind myself to write down the story of me chasing the quail in the lavender bushes, damn near impossible to catch them.
I've found my dream job working at Foodista, I research and write about food all day and I am surrounded by fantastic people, we may be a small group, but I am quite fond of all of them and I only see my adoration growing. There is so much more I could say about Foodista, but all in good time.
We're still living in Edmonds and still working on moving into the new house, but there is still an endless list of stuff that needs to be done. Mark is working his butt off to organize roofers, crawl space, plumbers and electricians. It's funny, since we can't control what is going on inside the house, Mark and I have spent our energy on the outside of the house. I have 10 heriloom tomatoes growing amazingly well in the same area where Ed had planted the Early girl. I've planted some borage starts, sweet Italian peppers and some pickling cucumbers. They are all responding well. Perhaps it's a foreshadow of how Mark and I will do once we move into the house. Soon soon, I think to myself, the dust will settle.
I posted a barbecue and wine paring post on Foodista and wanted to pass it along- when it comes pairing wine with grilled and smokey foods, I turn to this list myself.
With all the wonderful sweet, smokey, rich barbecue sauces out there, it would be a shame to not pair your slow cooked ribs or juicy blue cheese burger with something as equally delicious.
There is something magical that happens when you pair the right wine with the right food. It happens when the best of both worlds collide and unique flavors are brought out of both your dish and the wine. When deciding which wine pairs best with your barbecue, here are a couple tips!
5 Tips for Pairing Wine with Your Barbecue
*Avoid high alcohol content wines when pairing with spicy sauces. The higher level of alcohol in the wine will increase the spiciness of your dish. *High acid white wines like Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Gris help cut through high-fat meat and pair well with tart and tangy sauces. * Cabernet Franc and Syrah make excellent choices for pairing deep tomato and peppery sauces and pair perfectly with grilled steak. *Experiment with several varietals depending on what you are grilling. There are many great quality rose wines that make the perfect pairing with barbecue salmon, shrimp or chicken. *Save your delicate pinot noirs and your mild or complex wines for another pairing. Barbecue flavors are bold, bright and smokey, asking for bright or bold wines.
If planning a party, remember variety. What may be the perfect paring to you may not work for others. So if you are asked to bring wine to the barbecue, bring a full-bodied red and a crisp white and likely you’ll have a match.
This last Monday night, Foodista collaborated with Michael Hebb of Onepot.org and Foraged and Found Edibles in the Caffe Vita Loft for a "Friends of Foodista" dinner. What came together in the kitchen was beyond extraordinary. If you have followed Michael Hebb lately, you'll notice that the guy is involved in a variety of projects all over Seattle and making the rules up as he goes.
As part of the evening's experiment, I showed up to the Vita loft around 11:30 am and set up my laptop at the edge of the kitchen counter right next to Chef Conor Donahue, from San Francisco who was busy slicing butter clams and began to document recipes directly into Foodista as each recipe was created in front of me.
The dinner wasn't completely thrown together by the seat of their pants- over the weekend, chef and co-founder of Foraged and Found Edibles, Christina Choi and Chef Donahue met with Hebb and decided on a menu inspired by seasonal and foraged ingredients from the area. The menu would be about the ingredients. Every recipe on Monday night's menu was either foraged wild or locally harvested. Even the butter clams for the Butter Clam Fritter Appetizer was foraged by Foodista co-founders Barnaby and Sheri over a long weekend near Hope Island.
Chef Choi showed up at the loft carrying ingredients freshly picked only 24- 48 hours prior and set to work baking off Elderberry Shortbread to go with the local strawberries with elderberry syrup that we would later eat for dessert. As I was attempting to write precise recipes into the Foodista site, I received less than standard responses to measurements, techniques and even ingredients for most of the recipes. Not to anyone's fault, it's just that chefs don't often use measurements while they are cooking, chefs cook by feel, taste, touch and smell. So when I ask for the recipe on how to make their specific court bouillon, they're recipe suggestion was to "use what you have lying around," only half joking of course. For example, while Hebb was preparing the octopus, I asked, "Okay, so what is the next step?"
“Use a sharp knife and cut head from tentacles," he said.
“And then what do you with the head?"
“Say... give it to your cat."
"Michael, can you tell me what is in the spice rub for the elk shoulder and what the amounts were?"
His response was, “Open your pantry, use a variety of spices that appeal to you. We used juniper berries, fennel seeds, chili flakes, cumin and corinander guajillo chili peppers."
Over the course of the day and into the evening I watched the three experienced chefs create stunning dishes out of simple, but high quality ingredients and all inside a fairly basic kitchen set up. The dishes were beautiful, delicious and made with respect to the ingredients. I kept thinking as each gorgeous dish was passed around the table, I’ve seen these ingredients before, I can do this at home. When you buy fresh and local, the ingredients speak for themselves and don’t require too much work on your part. Plus, you are supporting local farmers and foragers who didn’t fly your produce from half way around the world to get it to you. If you need a little inspiration for turning your farmer market seabeans or garlic scapes into a great meal, check out the recipes created by Onepot on Foodista.
MENU
apps
butter clam fritters with wild sorrel aioli
lemon balm leaves with raw porcini salad and chive flowers.
plates
local scallop crudo with sea beans and shiso
Octopus with fingerlings and wild onion blossoms
elk shoulder with porcini, farro, and garlic scapes
wood violet and miners lettuce salad
sweet.
local strawberries with elderflower syrup and cream
