More summer reading!

Okay. Hands down the best food photography ever! The great people over at DK Publishing sent me Grill It! Wowzers! Every recipe is fabulous.

I have promised this book to the youngest one, and she is going to love it! I am trying to decide which recipe I loved best. It's between the Oysters on the Half Shell, with pancetta and bbq sauce no less! Or the Super Hot Jerk Pork Shoulder. I think the shoulder may win here because I usually do jerk with chicken. Can you say succulent pork shoulder with those wonderful overtones of jerk seasoning! Not to be missed!

The authors, Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby have not missed a country or food stuff to represent. They have gone far over the top in search of every known item you can grill. Not only that, though. Their recipes are fantastic. Even desserts are better. An example is the Upside Down Banana Cake. Sweet, but not too sweet, different and impressive. Your guests will think you are a genius for thinking this up.

Go get a copy for yourself, you won't regret it. The pictures alone, are worth the cost of the book. Gizzi Erskine (food stylist) has outdone herself!

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Summer Reading

Thanks to the nice people at Penguin Books, Chronicle Books, and DK Publishing, I have had the pleasure of doing some summer reading. Who reads cookbooks? I do for one. And as I peruse a few other blogs, so do other people, so I'll share the fun I've been having of late.

First up? Food 2.0 by Charlie Ayers. Who is Charlie Ayers you ask? Charlie Ayers is the chef hired by Google in 1999 when the company was very small. Charlie is the guy who built the food empire that is Google cafeterias.

I wasn't sure I would like this book all that much. You see, when I was younger, I worked for a large food company at their headquarters. On the bottom floor of the building was the company cafeteria. It was expensive, bleh food, hardly enjoyed during the 30 minutes given you to consume a lunch.

Would Charlie Ayers' cafeteria be different. Well, for one, I know it was. I have heard stories of the Google teams efforts to feed their people and even invite the families of their employees to enjoy meals together. I heard it was a great cornucopia of world wide food selections. But was it good? Did it call out to the people?

After reading the cookbook and back story provided by Charlie, I want to work at Google, just for the food! Ayers not only shares his recipes, but his food philosophy and reasoning. And a lot of it makes sense. It is simple, easy to make food, that not only tastes good, but is formulated to be nourishing. He believes in eating local, and tells you why and how to make the decision for yourself.

I recommend this book for new cooks, wanting to learn the reasons to cook and not use take-out. He helps you build a basic pantry of foodstuffs that you'll actually use and re-use. I also recommend this book for all cooks, because we all get stuck in ruts and need something fresh to keep us excited to be in the kitchen.

My favorite recipe so far? The not to be missed Nina's Kimchi. I'm also looking forward to making myself some vanilla infused vinegar!

Second up. Meat, A love story. Not for the faint of heart. However, a great story of meat. As a food source, a passion, a career, and a tragedy. Susan Bourette takes you on a journey in pursuit of meat, from processing plant to fine dining witha few stops in between. It is a great summer read, I recommend to everyone.

She begins in a meat processing plant, and shares the trial of being a pork packing house employee. My first response was to throw the book across the room and run away, to my favorite butcher shop to be comforted by the little packages of meat. Never again to think of the story of how it actually got into that package. Isn't that anyone's first response when confronted by the harsh reality that is a processing plant? We really don't want to know where our meat comes from. The sacrifices that are made on our behalf.

However, I was drawn in. I could not put it down. I, like Ms. Bourette, am a carnivore. The journey from packinghouse to butcher shop, off to a wonderful "happy" farm, on to a fine dining restaurant. Rapt is how I would describe my two day journey through the pages.

Again, each of us has decisions to make on how we will eat. This book will help you through your process. Local farming, grass fed beef? Mass produced or happ farmed? Which choice will you make? Take the time to read the book. Susan may help you out a bit. It did confirm some things for me.

Two other books to come shortly!

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Vegetable platter

Vegetable platter, originally uploaded by foodchronicles.

Okay, so part of this long weekend's agenda was to go to a farm stand. Not just any farm stand, no, a really famous farm stand. Its' virtues have been extolled by famous chefs, local well-knowns, and the occasional wealthy non cook. I asked myself, should I go? Well, hey why not, I know the area, shop close by at another farm stand and thought "what have I got to lose?"

Well, a lot, I have to tell you. Look at that platter. Take a gander at these other shots, of same platter:






What's not to love? Well, there is something. Let me elucidate.

We drove over the mountains and through the woods, well, maybe not mountains, but hills for certain. We drove a winding road through famous estates, with names like "...country club and spa", "equestrian hollows" and kingly estates surrounding us on all sides. A gleaming lake, beautiful tall Eucalyptus trees everywhere. Finally we stumble upon the road to "the" farm stand. The road had a sign that said "Nothing larger than a pickup truck allowed on this road!". Well, since we were in the MINI, no problem. As we turn onto the actual farm stand property, I felt suddenly out of place. The next smallest car to mine was a Jaguar. Lined up in neat rows were a few Mercedes, a couple of Saabs, more than one gigantic Cadillac Escalade, and every other large vehicle known to mankind. At least the well heeled know where to buy vegetables. Filling the air with enormous amounts of carbon dioxide coming to a fro the organic farm stand is not to be concerned with, "we're eating green!"

Quickly I notice the line. I glance around, getting my bearings, cue up and look achingly at the cornucopia of offerings. I noted the sign atop the framed stand - pictorial fashion - of people, fat, thin, male female, kindly cued in a line. Well, I got that prior to noticing then sign. Yes, I am brighter than the average shopper at the fruit stand evidently. Each of us waited our turn to enjoy the fruits of the owner's bounty. I did note while awaiting my turn that the salespeople were all like me. The guy in the back doing the hard labor of unloading more and more boxes of freshly picked fruits and vegetables, was surprisingly not like me. He was one of them. You know them, those south of the border guys. Yep right there in front of all of us, he was sweating!

The woman in front of me was just about to get started shopping. She actually picked up a tomato. Then quickly, as if it was the farm stand nazi, a person spoke to her in short tones. "Your turn will be next, someone will be with you soon". (I thought maybe she had lost her turn to purchase - no veggies for you!) She quickly understood the "don't touch the vegetables until it's your turn!" warning and she waited patiently. Finally, after standing in 104 degree weather, albeit in a small belt of shade, it was my turn! I picked out carefully (well, with that small orange pepper, obviously not so carefully as I thought) the vegetables you see above. Please note, I picked them out, quickly letting go of them and handing them to my polite sales person, she would bag, weigh and tally my purchases. When I had finished, the final blow was delivered. I thought for sure my dear husband would fall over from a coronary when she said $35. I said $35. In my head I was going great, I am now the owner of fruit and vegetable so expensive I can't eat them.

Wowzer. I have never paid so much for so little. Except of course a good platter of Australian Lobster Tails. I didn't feel so bad about paying so much then because I knew something given its' life in the process. I could faintly hear my father-in-law laughing out loud as my husband handed over the money. He had two and a half acres of tomatoes and melons, and vegetables. He would have laughed at these prices. I would not of been embarrassed if he had been with us and had laughed outloud right there at the stand.

My farm stand, that I frequent often, just a few short miles away, close to the same pacific waters, having the same great offerings of organic fare, has never even come close to charging these kinds of prices. I think I left a bit of my dignity there also. I foolish one that I am, succumbed to the fancy froo froo hype of the minions of stature and heir. Won't be doing that again. At least with regard to vegetables.
I actually felt sorry for the humble vegetables, the Lords bounty to us, they had become part of the prostitution of a "mentality" that we experience in our world today.

Being a farmers daughter-in-law I do believe farmers never get paid what they are worth. Don't get me wrong on that at all.

I also have this statement from Anthony Bourdain seared into my consciousness: "I've always felt that the true measure of the greatness of a culture is exemplified by what its' poorest and rural people cook. Food that tastes good because it has to be good. How to make the tough, the bland, and the truly humble into something truly special. This is where throughout history and across the globe, cooks are made.

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