Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Not sure if macaroni salad is for lovers...

What is it about pre-packaged macaroni salad that burns my tongue a little bit and leaves me wanting more? It’s like the elbows (always elbows!) are jabbing me under the chin.

Then I started thinking about Hawaiian-Style mac sal. Keep it simple, Hawaii! Necessarily requiring dried then overcooked elbow macaroni and large quantities of Mayonnaise, plate-lunch-style mac salad sounds like a dream. Or torture. I can't decide for the life of me which!

Anyway, here's what I look for, for what it's worth:

Elbow (yes, Elbow!) Macaroni well cooked, drained and cold
Mayo
Mustard
Dill Pickle Relish
Black Pepper
(probably won't need but I'd add it anyway) Salt to taste
A hot dog with a bun, for garnish.

From the guy who brought us (information about ) tomato slavery...

I pay attention to Barry Estabrook, the James Beard award-winning Journalist who wrote the March 2009 Gourmet article "Politics of the plate: the price of tomatoes."


Mostly, I pay attention because I like to look at off-season, cardboard tomatoes and call them "slave tomatoes" or "tomato slavery." They're gross anyway, so Estabrook lends further justification to avoid them by claiming, "If you have eaten a tomato this winter, chances are very good that it was picked by a person who lives in virtual slavery." Read the article if you want to find out more, but basically the demand for off-season produce has led some industrial farmers to convince immigrant workers that they will be kicked out of the country if they do not basically work for free. Or something like that.

Anyway, the news today is that a group representing 60 organic farms, small farms and seed companies is suing Monsanto to preempt being sued over patent infringement. Why? Monsanto owns the DNA in Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Should GMO plants cross-pollinate with plants on land where the farmers do not purchase seed from Monsanto, the farmer might be sued for unlicensed copyright infringement. This suit is pressing now because patents for sugar beet GMOs and alfalfa GMOs, two plants with an enormous potential for unintended cross-pollination:

Both crops can easily cross contaminate with non-GMO plants. Alfalfa’s pollen is carried by the wind and can travel distances of up to five miles. Most sugar beet seed—GMO and conventional—is grown in a small area in Oregon in plots adjacent to where conventional and organic table beet and chard seed is also produced.

Anyway, it's a good article, it comes from tomato slavery guy, and I'll be interested to see what happens.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Put an egg on it...

The New American Grilled Cheese, because I'm pretty sure the egg was laid in America and I made it up today. So new.

In the absence of anything fresh or local, I made a sandwich.
Sourdough, sliced chicken breast, provolone, medium cheddar, avocado, butter for days, chicken egg, salt and pepper.

I Can´t Believe It´s Not Butter

This first caught my attention because there is certainly something unmistakably dirty about the term "butter lovers."

I have to admit however that I love the play on words:

KC: He's French
French guy: Oui.
KC: Mmm... We like.

Are you a butter lover? Me too. I just don't need a French guy around to justify it.


Sunday, March 27, 2011

blogger calls food & wine out for calling a spade a clover

An open letter to Food & Wine

To editor:

Since you do not publish letters to the editor, I thought I would use this forum to make a simple albeit impassioned clarification. A grilled cheese sandwich requires two elements being, in order of import, cheese & bread. Other things certainly come in to play such as what bread, what cheese, and other important additions. Namely butter.

You got these elements right. Almost. Thank you, Food & Wine, for including lots and lots of butter in your April 2011 recipe for "The New American Grilled Cheese." You also called for extra-sharp cheddar (a great melter), monterey jack (a great counterpoint) and sourdough bread. The directions are spot on. These are the three things that make a great sandwich, a classic. These ingredients aren't a secret, but the perfect combination makes for just that: perfection.

So how is it New American, F&W? I'm not going to even start to try to begin to define New American, but this is a rustic recipe. Period.

And then there's the real point of confusion: andouille sausage? I don't mean to say it's a garnish or a fat component in the pan, F&W published a recipe for the New American Grilled Cheese with sausage. They meant to say "The New American Sausage Sandwich with Cheese." Get it right.

Importantly, it is not to say that I would not eat this sandwich. The saturated fat content must be through the roof therefore I want it all the time. Just don't mess with my grilled cheese. I need it.

I think our waiter is drunk...

He seems a little too enthusiastic. Besides, I'm feeling more drunk every time he talks.

No holds barred food criticism and lust. Eat it or shut up.