An Eater's Manifesto

I just read "In Defense of Food; an Eater's Manifesto" and it was a life-changer. I highly recommend reading this book to understand the impact your eating habits can have on the environment, your community, and on your health. This is a very fascinating read. I have adopted a modified version of Michael Pollan's rules to be our family's food manifesto. We have now been living by them for a week, and it feels good to be putting our food dollars in line with our values. The resulting meals have been memorable as you will see in upcoming posts. I am going to share our slightly modified version of the manifesto with you so that you can understand how we are deciding what to eat (and thereby what we blog about!). This list, while informative, is not an adequate substitute for reading the book itself. It is well worth your time.

1. Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food
2. Don't eat anything incapable of rotting
3. Avoid food products including ingredients that are unknown or unpronounceable
4. Stay away from high-fructose corn syrup
5. For the most part, avoid food products that make health claims on the package
6. Mostly shop the peripheries of the supermarket
7. Avoid the supermarket wherever possible...try farmers markets! It is best to get food from people you meet personally! As Michael Pollan says, "Shake the hand that feeds you!"
8. Eat mostly plants - to this end we have been including vegetables all over our meals from the arugula pesto on the lamb brats to the mix of veggies included in our panzenella.
   
9. Avoid industrial meats. Only get meat that you KNOW (a pretty farm on the package doesn't count) was raised humanely and ideally on pasture.
   
10. Shoot for gastronomic diversity. Pollan makes the good point that "the greater the diversity of the species you eat, the more likely you are to cover all of your nutritional bases."
11. Regard non-traditional foods with skepticism
    
12. It is worth paying more for better food. Fun fact I got from the book: Americans spend a smaller percentage of their income on food than any other industrialized society
13. Eat meals, at the table, in the company of others. When snacking, also try to make it a table moment. When you are eating, you should focus on eating...it should not be done as a time filler.
    
14. Listen to your gut - eat only when you are hungry and stop when you are full
    
15. Eat slowly. For more info on this, check out the slow food movement.
16. The manifesto is more about celebrating the great foods that you can eat than thinking about the restrictions.
    

HAPPY EATING!

A Disaster No More!

Remember the disaster that sent us packing for Z Cucina? Jack and I decided that it would be a real shame to throw out the organic, free-range chicken that I had purchased that day from the Clintonville Farmers market. I had been trying to make it into tandoori chicken (the sauce failed pretty miserably), but to save the chicken we put it in a strainer and gave it a rinse.
The next night, it was just Jack and I for dinner and we were very happy we had saved the chicken. This disaster became the centerpiece of our very delicious dinner! This meal was made entirely from farmers market finds, and that was really exciting.


The Menu:
Peas
- cooked with a bit of bacon from the market...a great way to add flavor!
- There is something very nice about shelling your own peas. The effort of this labor seems to make them extra delicious.
Corn
- Ohio is known for its corn, and this was the first of the season. I was very excited when I saw it at the Schatz Family Farmstand.
Chicken Salad
- onions, garlic, tomatoes, and green beans all from the market!
- A delicious cilantro curry vinaigrette, made with herbs still warm from the sun in our garden
- The rescued chicken



VERY FRESH, VERY LOCAL, VERY TASTY!!!!!!

Fish Arepas

My friend Talya had just returned from Pakistan with a couple of pounds of fresh mangoes (don't tell the authorities!) , and needed to find a way to use them up before they went bad, so we decided to use them as the inspiration for our dinner. They were so soft and juicy that all you needed to do to eat them was cut a hold at one end and suck the flesh into your mouth!

We bought some haddock and rubbed it with cumin, salt, pepper, and paprika and threw it on the grill. In the mean time, we used some white corn flour to make some arepas to hold our fish, as well as a mango salsa which we were making as a topping
We chopped up some onions and peppers to add, and made a large mound on top of the arepas

For dessert we used the remaining mangoes to make a mango upside-down cake

Z Cucina by the pictures!

Z Cucina, in the Short North of Columbus, Ohio, strikes a perfect balance between fancy and no-fuss. It has all of the elements that I would consider key to a fine dining establishment: good food, a nice wine list, excellent service, and a clean and simple dining room. The menu also rotates seasonally to keep things fresh and interesting and to allow for the use of local ingredients. What Z Cucina doesn't have is equally important - - it lacks the pretension that can make some restaurants feel inaccessible. From the food to the decor, the people at Z Cucina have figured out how to provide the customer with exactly the right amount of the elegant without becoming overbearing.
We hadn't exactly planned on going out last Friday, but there had been a culinary disaster that was best solved by aborting the mission and heading out on the town. I have mostly ditched the cookbook and begun to improvise in the kitchen - - mostly with delicious results, but sometimes these grand experiments fail. I don't even remember what I was making, but it got to the point where adding things to try to fix the dish was not going to work. It is important to be able to recognize the point of no return for a dish! It was time to go to Z Cucina.
It has now been over a week since this meal and with a new menu up on the restaurant's website I don't remember exactly what went into each dish. What I do remember was that it was a very pleasant experience both in atmosphere and on the palate. I am going to give a picture tour and let the food speak for itself. If you want to know more you are just going to have to try it!

Spaghetti (squash) Night!

I have always been a vegetable lover, but the same was not true for one of my brothers. One of the ways that my mom cleverly snuck them in was with spaghetti squash and meatballs. With all of the flavors going on, it never dawned on us that we were greedily gobbling up veggies.
With some ground lamb from the farmers market, I made a more grown up version of this childhood favorite.

The sauce:
1) Saute 1 diced onion in some butter in a medium saucepan
2) Add 1 bay leaf and some fresh rosemary
3) Crumble 1 lb ground lamb into the pan and stir until it is well broken up and browned (other meat would do just fine here and the dish would also work just fine vegetarian)
4) Core 1.5 lbs tomatoes (In this case 3 hefty heirlooms; one red, one green and one purple) and then squish the tomatoes into pieces over the saucepan - a genuine tactile pleasure! For the non-squishers among us, dicing with a knife also works.
5) Bring sauce to a boil then reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes.
6) My sauce ended up being a bit too runny. To fix this I added in small crumbs of bread that I had bought at the market that day. It ended up being a delicious addition that really added to the heartiness of the whole dish.


Easy Spaghetti Squash
1) Cut in half
2) Scoop out seeds
3) Put 1 inch of water in the bottom of a 9x9 glass baking dish and put one half of the squash in it, cut side up
4) Cover tightly with plastic wrap
5) Microwave on high for 8 minutes give or take
6) Once it cools enough to handle, use a fork to scrape the inside of the squash. Out will fall a torrent of spaghetti-esque strands.

Brats with a twist

It is easier to get creative with some ingredients than with others. Boneless skinless chicken breasts are simple. Right away I think of chicken tenders, tandoori chicken, a stir fry, chicken tacos....the possibilities are endless. Brats are a bigger challenge. There is this default of popping them on the grill and then into a bun. At the Pearl Market this week, Jack and I had our horizons expanded by the Dorper Lamb farm. The were offering samples of brat pieces sauteed with green peppers and onions in olive oil. It was delicious. Part of what made it so good was that it is easily the best lamb I have ever tried, but the method also added a lot.
For my rendition, I put a tablespoon of butter and some olive oil into a saute pan and heated them up well. I then added some diced onion to the pan and cooked them until they were starting to caramelize. Next the brats went in until they were fully cooked. Finally, I made a coarsely chopped arugula and rosemary "pesto" and added that to the pan, letting it cook long enough for the arugula to lose its bite. With this meal the brat was fun again - - and especially delicious!

simply delicious

These locally-grown strawberries would have been an excellent dessert on their own, but I got carried away. Sometimes I am like that fabulous children's book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie when I cook.

I swear I had intended to just plop the strawberries down in the middle of the table and let them speak for themselves. It is easy to follow one urge to the next though. Here is how it happened for Mr. Mouse.


And here is how it happened for me!

If you give a foodie some fresh strawberries, they will probably start dreaming of things that they could do with them. They will ask you for a cookbook and start flipping through recipes, just to realized that there is no whipping cream in the house. Once they find a recipe, they will want the whipping cream so they will go out to the store to get some. In the store, they might walk down the baking aisle and come up with a new recipe. Scharffen Berger chocolate was the perfect catalyst for a change in direction. Once home, things started to come together.
When a foodie starts to whip cream, they will wonder if there is anything they can do to glam it up. Having heard about the magic of balsamic with strawberries they may add a splash to the whipped cream. Now that the whipped cream is a bit tart, they will probably need some sugar too. Thank goodness that there was sugar in the house. With all of the components ready, they realize that the dish needs a presentation so they pull out some wine glasses. Layers are put in; lightly sugared strawberries (in quarters) , melted chocolate, and balsamic whipped cream. When I realized it looked so pretty, I decided that I needed a garnish. Out into the garden I went to find some chocolate mint (yum!). In the garden I realized that the thyme needed to be trimmed back and I was about to follow that train of thought when my stomach growled. Time for dessert!

Market Fresh

The Market Inspired Meal!

After all of the work I did with the Wesleyan Farmer's Market this year and all of the great foodie books I have read (Food Matters by Mark Bittman, Real Food by Nina Planck, and In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, among others) I decided that it was time to bring my consumption in line with my beliefs. I have gotten my family to agree to a summer full of whole, traditional foods at the dinner table! We are no longer supporting the industrial food industry whenever we have a viable alternative. As an added bonus, we are all having a lot of fun on this journey and it has allowed for a lot of family bonding time between trips to the market, dinner prep and of course, eating.

Focaccia from Omega Artisan Baking

This mission is what brought my mother and I to the Farmer's Market at North Market on Saturday morning. It was really great to connect with the individuals that grow our food and it was a nice opportunity to mingle with other Columbus residents. Sunday dinner was inspired by our trip to the market. We bought a chicken that had been spatchcocked (a method of flattening it for grill-friendly cooking) and sealed in a vacuum bag with fresh lemons and rosemary. We also bought fresh shelled peas and a freshly baked loaf of garlic focaccia bread!
While the spatchcock method allows the chicken to grill evenly, it doesn't make it easy to grill chicken. This is a job that requires full attention and/or indirect heat. When the chicken sits atop active flames, it is bound to catch on fire. As I learned the semi-hard way, this is not a dish you can prepare while watching TV. Luckily I saw the grill smoking before the meal was ruined!

Freshly picked peas! You can't beat the flavor!

Rosendales Modern Bistro

Rosendale's Modern Bistro

We went to eat at the new, informal rendition of Rosendale's on Father's Day. The Modern Bistro differs in that it is priced more modestly and that the food is more familiar. All in all, I think it was a good business decision, but the restaurant lost a little of what had previously made it so special. While the bistro food was great, I think that next time we will try the more glamorous upstairs. Honestly, with a chef as good as Richard Rosendale, I would rather go on a culinary adventure than play it safe. That said, kudos to the chef for making his food more accessible!

Ahi Tuna Tartare Tacos with Sesame Oil & Pickled Ginger

This appetizer was the favorite of both myself and my father. He thought that they were "uniquely delicious". These tacos were different than anything I have ever eaten! The presentation was sparse and modern allowing the food to speak for itself. Each ingredient was perfectly highlighted and they paired together wonderfully.

Ham and Melon Skewers with Reduced Sherry Vinegar Syrup

These were given to us as a treat from the chef in between our appetizers and entrees. The flavor of the watermelon was very intense; I suspect it had been prepared sous vide. Chef Rosendale advocated this method of concentrating flavors in a cooking class I had taken with him. The prosciutto was very good, but the watermelon is truly the star.





White Truffle Popcorn

The popcorn was Rob's favorite appetizer. Jack commented that "it was the best popcorn I have ever had, but that it is still just popcorn". I agree with Jack, the dish was good, but the truffle flavor could have come through more strongly. I thought the idea of finger food was difficult in a restaurant because my fingers got all greasy.






Baked Potato Poppers with Pesto Aioli and Crispy Prosciutto

This appetizer was Jack's favorite, but was thoroughly enjoyed by all of us. The basil pesto aioli was refreshing and delicious. It was a nice spin on a classic potato appetizer that is traditionally very heavy. The potatoes were small enough that served alone they would make a great amuse bouche. It was a very coherent mouthful.




Black Grouper with a Corn Tortilla Crust and Avocado Lime Sauce

On the new bistro menu at Rosendales, when you pick an entree the protein comes by itself in a ceramic dish. Sides are chosen a la carte and are big enough to share. Jack ordered this fish dish and thought that it was "exquisite" He reported that the avocado under the grouper complemented the other flavors of the dish perfectly. Rob ordered a ribeye steak and I ordered the half chicken in herb butter. Dad chose the 48-hour Osso Bucco.

Cowboy Fries w/ Rosemary Sea Salt

We decided that we needed to try the fries as one of our side dishes. You can't truly judge a place without trying the fries. These fries were crispy and delicious. The other sides that we ordered for the table were the onion rings, steamed asparagus, and french beans.







If you were wondering why the photos are all of a sudden so good, it is because I have hired my brother as our art director. Thanks Jack!

Family Affair

One of the nicest things about growing up (and having my siblings grow up) is that we are able to have collaboratively prepared meals. It makes the whole cooking and eating experience so much more rewarding to have the family function as a culinary team. Hovering over the cutting board is a good place to learn from each other, both about food and about each others lives. This is one of the rare group activities that we all enjoy together.

For dinner we had a rack of lamb, roasted green beans and quartered new potatoes. We kept the seasonings pretty simple to highlight the delicious ingredients. I made an olive oil rub for the lamb with dried rosemary, fresh ground pepper, salt, and minced garlic. Rob carefully applied the mixture all over the lamb. The meat was then finished by our father aka they "jedi master" of the grill. It turned out deliciously, but next time he thinks he would put tin foil over the ribs and to stick with his instincts on the touch. Part of being the jedi master is to constantly be fine tuning your technique!

Jack's job was to cut the green beans. He treated each green bean as an individual, cutting them one by one into small pieces. These were roasted at 450 degrees topped with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Dad also took on the potatoes. He shook them in a bag with salt, pepper, rosemary, Italian seasoning, Cajun seasoning, and vegetable oil to get them evenly coated. These were then baked at 450 for a good 40 minutes until they were soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. It makes for a very texturally stimulating side dish!

We finished the meal off with some ice cream from Jeni's, a local Ohio chain that was recently written up by Bon Appetit magazine for having some of this country's best ice cream. Now I have some real Ohio pride! What I love about Jeni's is that they support a collection of local farmers for the cream and other ingredients. The flavors are inspired by seasonal ingredients and are unlike flavors found anywhere else. Dad had lemon blueberry yogurt, Rob had Salty Caramel, Jack had Lime Cardamom, and I had Wildberry Lavender. I plan to visit some of the dairies that serve Jeni's and post in more detail on the sustainable and delicious practices that they uphold.

Mulitpurpose Marinade

After being in Honduras for the past 10 days, I was really excited to cook when I got home. My grandfather was coming to dinner and that was enough of an excuse to go slightly beyond the normal dinner at home. I served a seared tuna steak over brown rice with caramelized asparagus pieces. Since it was the first day back home, it was a very busy day so I took a nice shortcut. I made one huge batch of marinade and used it for the tuna and for the asparagus (with the addition of some orange flower honey!). The marinade was what really made the meal. I didn't measure, but I will estimate the best I can.

1 tbs brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup sesame oil
Salt and Pepper




Really not to complicated, but when you add that to the fire on the grill you get some delicious caramelization. Especially on the asparagus! Grilling veggies is a nice way to change things up!

His and Her Pizza on the Grill

We have a long history of preparing pizza outdoors on the grill. This could possibly be related to Sarah J’s father’s obsession with pizza, a meal he would happily consume for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. You have to expand your pizza prep repertoire in order to eat so much pizza! Equally pertinent to this post is my quest to concoct a healthy pizza dough - hearty enough to support the massive amount of meat lovers man-pizza toppings favored by Andy the pizza connoisseur, yet pliable enough to satisfy the stretchy, glutinous demands of Andy the consummate dough crafter. I figure we can do better much than those premade dough offerings in the grocery deli or bakery case.

The June issue of Gourmet magazine includes a recipe for Pizza Rounds. I decided to go out on a limb and use the recipe as the foundation of our pizza on the grill while enjoying a respite in the Adirondack Mountains. But not exactly. I replaced the white flour completely with white whole wheat flour. I added a second round of rising, punching down the dough after the first rise to allow for additional lightening of the whole wheat dough and to avoid critical comments from the pie maker about the inferior qualities of whole wheat flour. Except I goofed and added half the amount of yeast called for in the Gourmet recipe – so perhaps the second rising would have been unnecessary.

All I know is the result was up there with the best pizza on the grill we have ever experienced! The crust was crispy, crackery, tasty. Held up well with lots of toppings! Makes me wonder whether we want to add that second package of yeast after all!!

About the His and Her aspect of this round of our continuous pizza improvement … we each added sliced tomatoes, freshly grated parmesan, sliced local mozzarella, kalamata olives and fresh basil and oregano from our garden atop our perfect crust. The His and Hers part came when I continued to layer my pizza with spinach (from our garden), caramelized onion, sliced mushrooms and local feta cheese. Meat man added pepperoni, salami, sausage, bacon and hot banana peppers.

Pizza Dough

1 c. (or more) warm water (105 – 115 degrees), divided

2 ¼ oz. packages active dry yeast

1 t. sugar

2 ½ c. white whole wheat flour (King Arthur)

½ c. rye flour

2 T. yellow cornmeal

1 ½ t. salt

2 T. EVOO

Place ¼ c. warm water in medium bowl. Sprinkle yeast and sugar over, blend. Let stand until puffed, about 6 minutes.

Mix both flours, cornmeal and salt in processor. Mix ¾ c. warm water and 2 T. EVOO into yeast. With machine running, gradually add yeast mixture to dry ingredients. Mix until dough just comes together, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if needed. Process 1 minute.

Transfer dough to lightly floured surface, knead 1 minute. Brush large bowl with oil, transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic, let dough rise in warm, draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Punch down and repeat for a second rising if desired.

Transfer dough to lightly floured surface; form into 2 balls. Roll/stretch each ball into desired shape.

Makes 2 pies.