Foodie's peep-show?

April 3, 2010

I know that you guys have probably seen the Anthony Bourdain "No Reservations" show on the Travel Channel. He is fun to watch, even though he is lewd at times. In his 2008 season, he hosted a show called "Food Porn." For decades the media has been successful in selling sex. It was interesting how Tony began to make references to how food is a basic primal need and that the food tv channels often sexualize the chefs and their products to have the viewer begging for more. A perfect example is Nigella Lawson. WOW! She definitely has me begging for more. But it's not just the chef or cook that is turning us on. It's the FOOD itself! Let me explain further....


With that kind of intro, I'm sure you're wondering where this is going. I couldn't help but think about how I've been so intrigued by several of my own experiences in food lately and that it makes me yearn for more of the same satisfaction. My cousin Buddy sent me an email recently that definitely kept me "stringing along" with my mouth watering and tummy rumbling in envy.

I do realize that I have mentioned my cousin Buddy and his family a LOT in this blog, but he is a really unique person with an awesome job. He is also a wealth of information when it comes to sustainable gardening and cooking. He has to use such knowledge every single day!

Here is his email:

"I had dinner at SHH last Sun. with a journalist because the owners were in the Yukon, so I told Martha I would tell her what we had.
The journalist writes about organic food and spirits and has a 1,000 acre grain farm in Saskatchewan, growing hemp among other things. It is Certified Organic

Stinging nettle and grilled leek soup with miner's lettuce and pea shoots.
Tuna loin with gooseneck barnacles and scallop in a smoked salmon emulsion.
Sole with pickled blueberries, sunchoke, purple sprouting broc., and a crab potato perogie.
Sablefish with kale, squash, and Raclette cheese potato croquette.
Rhubarb angelica mousse on fennel sponge cake with sour cream ice cream.

I could not imagine it being better. "

Everything in the meal came from the gardens of the Sooke Harbour House, the Pacific Ocean surrounding it, or Vancouver Island. The kitchen gets its flour for pastries only from Canadian grains and mills.

How lucky is he to experience this table of local bounty?

Salad is no longer boring

April 1, 2010

Spring is in full bloom, and the salad greens are GOING CRAZY! My Mom planted an "Italian" and "French" salad mix of seeds in the fall, and they did pretty well, and then they died back in the snow we had in February. But now....they're BACK!

The most delicious mix was the "French," which included royal oak leaf, freckles lettuce, butterhead, flint, spinach, and heirloom Cos type lettuces. These are all "heirloom" varieties and can be found here at High Mowing Organic Seeds, of Vermont.

The oak leaf is most easily recognized in a "bag" salad of baby greens from the store, but it doesn't develop it's full flavor until the leaves are mature.

Even when mature and picked later, these varieties of lettuce are still tender and carry excellent flavor. I had heard that "baby green" varieties that are allowed to mature a little longer become bitter...I think this is a myth.

The radishes are doing well, and they provide a nice bite to my salad. We planted three varieties this year: traditional red, pink and mild white.

Here is a nice salad dressing I've come up with that contains many fresh, local ingredients:

- juice of 1 Hilton Head meyer lemon (frozen in December)

- 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard

- 1 tablespoon of local honey

- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

- blend in enough California extra virgin olive oil to make a 2:1 oil to acid ratio.

I like to whisk this all together in the bottom of my salad bowl. I then add the freshly picked (washed and dried) salad greens, thinly sliced fresh radishes, toss to coat and serve!

This dressing is great in a salad with dried cranberries, pecans and sliced local hard-boiled egg.

I wish that I could attend a workshop in May at the Sooke Harbour House garden, hosted by none other than my cousin, Buddy Cook.

He will be teaching guests about growing your own organic salad in small spaces or even window boxes.

Check it out here!