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Proud To Be A Restaurateur

From The National Restaurant Association

Nothing Like A Little Good Taste

 

There are five basic steps in tasting wine: color, swirl, smell, taste, and savor. This is also known as the five S's: See, Swirl, Sniff, Sip, Savor. During this process, a taster must look for clarity, varietal character, integration, expressiveness, complexity, and connectedness.

A wine's color is better judged by putting it against a white background. The wine glass is put at an angle in order to see the colors. Colors can give the taster clues to the grape variety, and whether the wine was aged in wood.

 

With a little help from our friends at Wikipedia, here is a simple table of common descriptions most commonly associated with certain wine varieties. Click on the link above for a full description of how to taste wines.

 

Red grape variety Common sensory descriptors Cabernet Franc tobacco, green bell pepper, raspberry, freshly-mown grass Cabernet Sauvignon blackcurrants, eucalyptus, chocolate, tobacco Gamay pomegranate, strawberry, red fruits Grenache smoky, pepper, raspberry Malbec violet, fruit, beer Merlot black cherry, plums, tomato Mourvèdre thyme, clove, cinnamon, black pepper, violet, blackberry Nebbiolo leather, tar, stewed prunes, chocolate, liquorice, roses Norton red fruit, elderberries Petite Sirah (Durif) earthy, black pepper, dark fruits Petit Verdot violets (later), pencil shavings Pinot Noir raspberry, cherry, violets, "farmyard" (with age), truffles Pinotage bramble fruits Sangiovese herbs, black cherry, leathery, earthy Syrah (Shiraz) tobacco, black/white pepper, blackberry, smoke Tempranillo vanilla, strawberry, tobacco Teroldego spices, chocolate, red fruits Zinfandel black cherry, pepper, mixed spices, mint

White grape variety Common sensory descriptors Albariño lemon, minerals Breidecker apple, pear Chardonnay butter, melon, apple, pineapple, vanilla (if oaked, eg vinified or aged in new oak aging barrels) Chenin Blanc wet wool, beeswax, honey, apple, almond Gewürztraminer rose petals, lychee, spice Grüner Veltliner green apple, citrus Marsanne almond, honeysuckle, marzipan Melon de Bourgogne lime, salt, green apple Muscat honey, grapes, lime Palomino honeydew, citrus, raw nuts Pinot Gris (Pinot Grigio) white peach, pear, apricot Prosecco apple, honey, musk, citrus Riesling citrus fruits, peach, honey, petrol Sauvignon Blanc gooseberry, lime, asparagus, cut grass, bell pepper (capsicum), grapefruit, passionfruit, cat pee (guava) Sémillon honey, orange, lime Trebbiano (Ugni Blanc) lime, herbs Verdicchio apple, minerals, citrus Vermentino pear, cream, green fruits Viognier peach, pear, nutmeg, apricot

Pasta Artisnal Dried and Fresh

 

Here's a video on how some of the best pasta in Italy is made.

 

Fine Living Network

 

FRESH PASTA DOUGH

Makes 1 lb dough.

2 1/2 cups flour, plus additional for kneading
1 teaspoon salt
4 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup water

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until mixture just begins to form a ball. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface, incorporating only as much additional flour as necessary to keep dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, 6 to 8 minutes. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature 1 hour. Pasta dough, though best used immediately, can be made (but not rolled out) 1 day ahead and chilled, wrapped in plastic wrap.

 

Atlas Roller Style Machine

 

 

 

Lello Extruder Style Machine

 

Technorati Tags: pasta,pasta machines,artisnal pasta

Our Food, Our Climate...One Giant Headache

The food/climate crisis we are in has several arms to it. Kind of like an ancient Indian goddess. Each arm pointing us in a different direction. Each arm is wrapped with so many layers of complexity that it makes understanding her message nearly impossible.We have problems with our food. We have problems with our food because of climate change. We have problems with our climate because of how we produce and ship food.  It's pretty daunting once you think about it. But no matter how daunting these normally simple acts of understanding and action can be, profound change still has to come. Change so profound that it needs to alter the way a highly industrialized society see itself. But it won't be accomplished with grand gestures. The moves must be small and personal.

What exactly am I talking about? I'm not so sure I know. But, over the next several months I'm going to ask some questions and do what I can to bring some issues about food, how we produce it, how we get to our tables and how we can make sense of it all into focus. I hope to find answers to get my own house in order. And maybe, along the way, bring some friends into the light with me. This is not a fight or even a revolution. This is simply a campaign of awareness. Only when we are all fully aware can we hope to affect change.

Here are some of the issues I'll feature and hopefully somewhere a discussion may open up that just may give us all a chance at finding a solution.

• Why can't we trust the safety of our food anymore. (I had to 86 tomatoes in all the kitchens I influence...come on really?)
• Reducing our immense carbon footprint of food transportation
• Reduce the importance of industrial farming to our dining tables.
• Stop or reduce federal subsidies to factory farming
• Reducing our appetite for processed foods
• Eat less meat (it's not good for us and its costs more than it needs to) unless it's grass-fed or free range.
• Only expect fresh tomatoes in the summer, stop demanding that your produce department have the same ingredients in June as there is in January.
• Start using non-food crops for fuel ( or just give up on ethanol completely)
• Get to know one farmer at one farmer's market
• Really support restaurants that use local ingredients.
• Grocery stores should buy more locally produced products
• Large foodservice vendors must sell more locally produced products
• Buying food from 3,000 miles away is ok if its not food that can and should be coming from a local producer and it's not out of season.
• Do supermarkets in Chile expect American produce in winter? Do we sell rice to China?
• Why is the wheat crop disappearing? Why are bagels so expensive?
• Why do we marginalize the voices of change? Didn't Ed Begley Jr. and Al Gore really have it right all along?

If you think I need to add to this list, please let me know. Or if you think I just need to shut up, don't keep that to yourself either. 

 

del.icio.us Tags: food,sustainablity,locavore,local harvest,climate change,global warming

Yes Sir Senator !!

Barney Kessel would have liked him, I think. Barney was known for the effusive "Yes Sir Senator" greeting he would hand out to any and all who stepped into his landmark Chicago restaurant. It could be heard over and over again as friends and newcomers alike were greeted with his booming voce and warm handshake. The restaurant was a favorite of my politician grandfather. Unfortunately, we never dined there together. Popsy, as he was known to the family, was a cog in the early Daley machine that was to shape Democratic politics of several decades. And Barney's Market Club was one of their favorite watering holes.  He passed away when I was a wee tyke, but I did get there several times with mom and dad. And yes even this chubby little kid was welcomed with a handshake and the compulsory Barney's greeting. Barney's Market Club is also gone now. It had nearly a 70 year run, though it was never the same after Barney's passing in the early sixties. I only mention it now because more than ever the trademark salutation has a new meaning and a recipient well worthy of it at that. There is also a sad irony about it as well. In Barney's day he may have never had the chance to meet this gentleman or greet him as a customer because of the color of his skin. Barak Hussein Obama, Senator from Illinois at that, has made a big step into history. So it's hats off and we salute your courage and vision with a hale and hearty...YES SIR SENATOR!!

Porter & Frye...Too Haute To Be Hot

When the menu touts a mission statement right at the top, you should listen and take note to what it says. Right? So when I read "Modern + Midwest. Flavors of The Heartland, Artfully Presented." and then scanned down to read the "House" Salad's ingredients contained grilled artichoke and feta...I knew I was in for a bumpy ride. Porter & Frye, fictional characters created to name the restaurant, must really be a synonym for dazed & confused. Housed in the historic Ivy Tower, now part of a complex including the Hotel Ivy. The ziggurat style building sheathed in pebbles near the convention center sat empty or only slightly used for almost two decades. Originally built to be part of a complex of buildings for the Second Church of Christ Scientists in the 1930's that was never completed, it became destined for permanence in the late 1980's when it was granted historic status.  The hotel is a Starwood Property, known around the world to operate upscale and luxury hotels. (Their second spot in town will be the soon to open W Hotel in the also historic Foshay Tower.) So any restaurant sharing the property with a company of such elevated pedigree better be ready to play the game in earnest, or go home.

The ownership of Porter & Frye did their best to fill their roster with some of the best restaurant players in town. Before they even hired a Chef, they assembled a culinary advisory team of the who's who in Twin Cities kitchens. This über team set the tone and style of the menu. Steven Brown who now controls the ranges, took their advice and ran with it. He even added a few talented advisors of his own to help him open with a bang.  With all of this cooking genius around you' ld think that someone would have spoken up and said, "Guys...I think we've kind of lost our way with the flavors of the heartland thing and we might be getting a little too arty for our own good." But it didn't happen. Now please don't get me wrong, what with my curmudgeonly attitude and all, the food is good. It's just that I got a little confused sitting there with the menu before me. The dining space is pretty enough but here I was looking at yet another menu that looked like it was written to show the guest how exaltedly creative the kitchen can be while ignoring the extremely important sense of place and breadth of service a modern restaurant should have that's sitting on a piece of prime property in a major urban center. In other words the menu is too haute to be hot!

So let's get into the half dozen dishes I tried. First course were the Sea Scallops, expertly seared with a topping of nearly powdered bacon. On the plate were tiny dollops of passion fruit puree and smear of sauce that was supposed to be butterscotch. It looked and tasted very similar to the smoked raisin puree on the Berkshire Terrine. So with that first bit of confusion beginning to work its way past my martini I dug into the terrine, a tasty pork pate covered in a white coating of potato butter cream...very clever but other than simulating the traditional coating of fat or aspic normally found around the outside of a pate, it did little else. Also this is the second time in recent dining that I've been given toasted or grilled bread coated with butter to eat with pate or terrine. What's that all about. Isn't there enough fat in the pate already? Do I really need make a butter and pate sandwich?

The next plates to arrive were the Arctic Char and Gnocchi. We were in a light eating mood so we forwent the chance to gorge on the Lamb Porterhouse or the enticing Dry Aged Prime Bone-In Ribeye, my hands down favorites when I'm ready to clog a few more arteries. The Char, a Canadian farmed fish of the salmon/trout family, was also perfectly cooked (Steve and his crew have their seafood cooking skills in place) with a crispy skin and velvety meat. From there the dish lost some credibility. It was served on a bed of sauteed kale and pureed chickpeas, both cooked well with true heartland flavors but while I ate it I kept thinking this would have been a dish better suited to a cold blustery day rather than the sun dappled warm evening I had just stepped out of. The Gnocchi were real pillows of air and had as an addictive texture as I've ever seen in this dish. The sauce was as remarkable for it lightness too. A fresh tomato marinara with lots of butter, not traditional in nay way but tasty, a few well roasted tomatoes to heighten the flavor when you needed it and a smattering of melted Boucheron goat cheese. Overall the bonafide winner that night.

Finally dessert was fancy and sweet as it should be...kind of. The chocolate tart was in a cookie crust that was supposed to be flavored with nutmeg. It might have been there, but the chocolate overpowered any subtlety there. The pastry was joined with a scoop of chocolate ice cream that had this odd smoky character to it. I found it fun, but my partner in gluttony found it objectionable. She of the more delicate palate I guess. We both enjoyed the Coconut Panna Cotta. A softly gelled coconut flavored cream paired with passion fruit, lime and grapefruit.

As always I wish the team at Porter & Frye all the best. They are a bunch of the most talented restaurateurs in the metro area. But in my opinion they got it worn with the menu and somewhat with the decor as well. The bar and dining room are very nicely appointed, but the layout, especially of the bar, lacks social possibilities a bar should have. And I've already beat the menu up enough. Maybe they'll get another chance to get it right...sometimes that can happen.

Technorati Tags: Porter & Frye,restaurant,review

"Locavoring" Our Restaurant Menus...Is It Possible ?

What is "Locavoring"? Is it even a real word? Well it is now. 2007 was the year of the "Locavore". The Oxford English Dictionary picked it as their word of the year. The “Locavore” movement encourages consumers to buy from farmers’ markets or even to grow or pick their own food, arguing that fresh, local products are more nutritious and taste better. Locavores also shun supermarket offerings as an environmentally friendly measure, since shipping food over long distances often requires more fuel for transportation. Two years earlier the phrase 100-Mile Diet was coined by James MacKinnon and Alisa Smith of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to describe their one-year local eating experiment. Their diet experiment consisted of eating food produced or grown within 100 miles of their home apartment. This included not only local produce, but also ensuring that any meat or dairy products came from animals that ate local feed and were packaged locally. We're now about halfway through 2008 now and I'll bet there's only and handful of you who have either heard of or are in anyway living as Locavores or 100 Mile Dieters because committing to this virtuous act is at this point just too damned hard!

We've created a culture of food in this country that ignores seasons, borders and with it common sense. "We" are every Chef or restaurant operator in the country. Though many have tried to re-establish the traditions of locally inspired menus, as a group we are still part of the problems promoting climate change and poor nutrition in the most abundant food culture on the planet. Like many other voices in the commercial food industry, I spent the last twenty years or so demanding easier access to non-local and out of season products. This movement began in earnest in the explosion of restaurants and dining that started in California in the early 80's and spread across the country like a wildfire that hasn't slowed or stopped since. Because of the influences of Jeremiah Tower, Alice Waters and others, we were all on the hunt for imported cheeses, oils, artisan pasta and canned tomatoes. We needed to have the same exotic fruits and vegetables we saw on their menus. But California had the upper hand of good climate, so much of the unique produce, (arugula and radicchio etc.), and artisan dairy products (goat cheeses and high fat cream) that were easily obtained there had to be sent hundreds or thousands of miles so the rest of us could stay in step. The importers of products, mainly from Italy and France, were well established on both coasts, but the rest of us had to get our local distributors up to speed get these products to us with as little hassle and as inexpensively as possible. It got even more complicated when my creative brethren and I, demanded out of season produce all year long as well. We thought nothing of putting fresh raspberry desserts on our menus in February and creating recipes for our permanent menus with fresh vegetables like corn, new potatoes and green beans, regardless of any seasonality. We also wanted abundant amounts of other products that never existed before. Products like already pre-butchered and sorted chicken breasts, fresh boned filets of salmon, tuna and sea bass, all manner of beef cuts of prime or prime quality, plus a massive catalogue of prepared or partially prepared foods that we would use help keep our labor costs in control. Our vendors, their suppliers, brokers and manufacturers were happy to comply with all of these "requests" and would even up the ante in a few cases with a few new foods (processed of course) or their own creation. Together, the restaurant and food manufacturing industries, created a market demand where there was none before and we are all paying for it now in spades.

Another interesting phenomenon was taking place while all of this was going on in the restaurant and cafe dining rooms around the country. The retail grocery market took notice and responded with a flurry of new food products. The restaurant industry had become a leader in food consumerism. Supermarkets and retail food manufacturers responded to a consumer demand for these new foods. So, without missing a beat, they stoked the fire of this food explosion by stocking their aisles with out of season produce and never before seen imported foods. Then, to complete this "perfect storm" of consumerism, the American dining table at home started to fade into the shadows and became a place to drop the mail rather than be the nightly gathering place for the family. Food manufacturers responded to this change, or perhaps fueled it, with hundreds of convenience foods that virtually turned the kitchen from a place to cook meals using real food into a reheating zone of microwaves and toaster ovens. 

The culture of abundance we enjoy in this country has never before seen on this planet and every day this prosperity costs us more and more in fuel and greenhouse gasses. To wean this culture off of pre-made polenta, fresh limes all year and a seemingly permanent supply or fresh Yellowfin Tuna will be nearly impossible. Yet it has to be done if we have any chance at all reducing the carbon footprint created by this massive billion dollar industry. At last estimate, nearly 1/3 of the greenhouse gasses released to our atmosphere were a result of one more aspects of food production in the Untied States alone. A profound and complicated change of this magnitude, to a market that is very well ingrained in our daily way of life, will unfortunately take time that we don't have, and a population wide effort that's never been attempted. Now the questions are, how do we make the effort and if we do, will it be enough? Will the change to one cafe menu really alter our ability to sustain life as we'd like it? Frankly, I don't know that answer and I'm not sure if anybody really does. But, I'd rather do something now rather wait until its too late. The upside is so much better. Not only will we making an effort to save our environment, but I'm betting we'll come up with some tastier, more interesting menus to boot. As I see it we (the movers and shakers of the restaurant industry) have to find a way to make all of the following points happen, if not at the same time, then pretty damn close together.

• Replace old and local phobic menus with menus that are driven seasonally and as locally as possible. 
• Demand produce from local farmers. (Hopefully this will create a new market of local growers that until now has been struggling to take hold.) 
• Demand grass fed and free range meat products. (Corn and other grain feeding is fuel and greenhouse gas costly) 
• Lobby legislature to create laws and funding to support and mandate these changes in the market. (It's going to take both laws and money to make some of this happen) 
• Lobby legislature to stop promoting the use food for fuel (Replacing corn with cellulose products as the primary source for ethanol, will avert a massive worldwide food shortage looming in the not too distant future)

Call this a mandate, a manifesto or the ravings of a lunatic...I really don't care. I just hope that someone out there will hear it and follow along.  There are already hundreds of Chefs and operators in this country who have lead the way for years on this front. But it's not enough. That number needs to be thousands. In a 2007 NRA (that's restaurant not rifle) hot trend survey of Chefs, local produce, organic produce, grass fed beef and sustainable seafood were all in the top ten. So there's something in the wind. We just need to find a way to speed it up...

This just in; Nation's Restaurant News recently reported on a survey that showed a very low perception of the restaurant industry as being "green". It also mentioned how important this concept is to consumers when they make their dining out decisions.

Follow the link to read the full article NPD: Consumers percieve industry to be behind on green efforts.

del.icio.us Tags: locavore,restaurant menu,carbon footprint,food shortage

Langdon's Request

Here are the recipes I promised Langdon I would put up on my blog today (Saturday May 24, 2008).

Enjoy them and see you next week.

By the way...here's a link to "The Smoke n' Fire Enquirer" The best barbecue spot on the net.

 

Brick-Grilled Chicken

Serves 4

Notes: Instead of bricks, you can use cast-iron pans (20 to 25 lb. total) to flatten birds. Weights work best if equally sized and evenly distributed.

2 med. chickens (about 3 lb. each)

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup chopped parsley

3 Tbsp. olive oil

3 Tbsp. garlic, minced

½ tsp. coarse-ground pepper

½ tsp. hot chili flakes

1 tsp. Kosher Salt

Lemon wedges

2-4 large Bricks

Aluminum Foil

Pull off and discard any lumps of fat from the birds. With poultry shears or kitchen scissors, cut along one side of backbone on each bird, cutting back completely in two; cut along other side of backbones as well and discard backbones. Pat dry. Pull birds open and set skin side up on a flat surface; with your hand, press birds to flatten.

In a 9- by 13-inch baking dish, mix lemon juice, parsley, olive oil, garlic, pepper, chili flakes, and salt. Rub mixture all over birds. Place in dish, overlapping and stacking as needed. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day.

Wrap the bricks in foil and start the grill. Set the bricks next to the coals to warm while the coals turn to gray. If using a gas grill, warm the bricks over medium high heat, turn once or twice while heating. Warm the bricks for about 30 minutes for either method.

Set birds, skin side down and side by side, on a 12- by 17-inch section of an oiled barbecue grill over a solid bed of medium coals or medium heat on a gas grill (you can hold your hand at grill level only 4 to 5 seconds). Set the hot bricks over the chicken

Cover grill and cook until skin is well browned (lift to check), about 20 minutes. Remove bricks with an oven mitt and, turn birds over. Cover grill and cook without weighted pan until meat at thigh bones is no longer pink (cut to test), 5 to 10 minutes

Transfer birds, skin up, to a platter. With a knife or poultry shears, cut chickens into quarters and hens into halves if desired. Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over birds. Add salt to taste.

 

PANZANELLA (ITALIAN BREAD SALAD)

Serves 12

2 Lbs. 1 to 3 day-old Crusty Artisan Bread, cut into 1/2" cubes

2 Tblsp. Capers, drained and chopped

4-6 cloves Fresh garlic, minced

4-6 Anchovy fillets, diced

1 cup Extra-virgin olive oil

2/3 cup Red wine vinegar**

4 cups Fresh vine-ripened tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced

2 cups Cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

2 cup Red onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

1/2 cup Red peppers, diced

1/2 cup Yellow peppers, diced

1/2 cup Kalamata or Nicoise olives, pitted

1/2 cup Fresh basil, torn into pieces

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated

The bread can be cut and left out overnight to dry or, spread the bread cubes on a large baking sheet in a single layer and dry in a 375° oven approximately 10 minutes.

Mash the capers, garlic and anchovies with a large chef's knife or in a food processor until you have a smooth paste. Place the paste in a large bowl. Whisk the olive oil and red wine vinegar into the anchovy paste until combined.

Add the toasted/dry bread cubes and toss thoroughly. Add tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, red peppers, yellow peppers, olives, basil, coarse salt, and pepper. Toss the ingredients gently to coat; let stand at room temperature for at least a half-hour

Panzanella can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated for several hours. Remove from refrigerator an hour or so before serving and bring to room temperature. Before serving, sprinkle Parmigaino Reggiano cheese over the top.

Balsamic vinegar may be substituted or combined with the red wine vinegar.

del.icio.us Tags: recipes,chicken,bread,salad,grilling,Italian food,barbecue

A Memorial to A Holiday

Memorial Day was a special holiday when I was eleven. The coming day signified the weather was finally going to be warm enough soon to get back to my usual summer activities of staying outside till dark playing kickball in the street or hanging out in the park with my posse.  Memorial Day meant the end of school was not far off. Three weeks was an eternity then, but it was an eternity with a happy end. Memorial Day weekend was the time when the neighborhood would fill with smells of wood smoke, charcoal and burning beef. This was suburbia in the early sixties and there were barbecue grills in just about every back yard, grilled hamburgers were king and Kool Aid was always red.

What with spiraling prices for gas and food, among other things, I've got the feeling many of us will be spending time in our own back yards wondering what to grill. If your like me, you've done all manner of exotica on your grill from extremely good, and expensive, steaks to the rare swimming species already. It's time, for just oh so many reasons, to turn the clock back a bit and gather the family and friends around a blazing grill covered in plump patties of ground meat. Sure it won't be the same, but with these fun burger recipes it'll be very different in a real good way. It may even be some fun to do them all and let the gang choose. Just remember to round it out with some soft buns (not the ones in your too tight shorts), a bowl of Aunt Bessie's Potato Salad, a pot of baked beans and pitcher of red...

 

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Burgers

Makes 8 burgers

4 slices bacon (try the pepper bacon for extra kick)

¼ cup onions, chopped

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 lb. ground pork

½ tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. garlic powder

2 tbsp. steak sauce (your favorite)

Cook bacon until crisp. Drain all but a couple of tablespoons of the drippings and sauté onions in drippings until light brown. Crumble the bacon and add to the skillet. Set aside to cool.

Combine the beef, pork, pepper, garlic powder and steak sauce in a large bowl. Shape into 16 patties. Divide bacon mixture and place over eight of the patties.

Place remaining patties on top and press edges tightly to seal. Refrigerate about 1 hour.

Grill over medium coals until you get an internal temperature of 165°

 

Coke® Burgers

Makes 6 burgers

1 large egg

¼ cup Coca-Cola®

¼ cup crushed Ritz® crackers

2 Tbsp. creamy French salad dressing

¼ tsp. Kosher Salt

1 ½ lbs. ground beef

In a mixing bowl, combine the egg, Coca-Cola, cracker crumbs, dressing and salt.

Add the meat and mix well. Form into six 3/4-inch thick patties.

Basting Sauce

¼ cup Coca-Cola®

4 Tbsp. creamy French dressing

Combine the Coca-Cola and dressing.

Grill the meat over medium coals until desired doneness. Turn once, basting occasionally with sauce. Serve on buns. Remaining sauce may be used as a topping.

 

Beef and Lamb Gorgonzola Burgers
Makes 6 burgers

¾ lb. ground beef

¾ lb. ground lamb

¼ tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. Kosher Salt

6 ounces Gorgonzola or other bleu cheese
Mix the beef and lamb with the salt and pepper. Set aside.

Form beef into 12 3-inch-diameter patties Form the cheese into 6 1-1/2-inch rounds. Place the cheese rounds atop 6 of the patties. Top each with another patty, sealing at edges. Let the patties rest refrigerated 1 hour.

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat) or preheat broiler.

Brush barbecue rack with vegetable oil. Grill burgers until charred outside but still juicy, about 3 minutes per side.

 

del.icio.us Tags: burgers,hamburger,cooking,Memorial Day,grilling,barbecue,bbq

We Have Met The Enemy...And He Is Us.

Have you ever woken up with the realization that your life, up until that moment, was spent doing the wrong thing? That happened to me this morning. My dreams the night before were filed with the information swimming through my head from the dozen or so mini lectures I'd viewed online from this years TED conference. For those of you who were as clueless as I was up until a few days ago, the TED conference is a yearly event that's been going on for nearly the last 25 years. TED is an acronym  for Technology, Entertainment and Design. Each year the conference gathers together the brightest and most influential individuals in these fields to spend four days learning, networking and hopefully coming away with some real solutions for the problems of our lonely planet. Sometimes the speaker or presenter hits the stage with nothing more than inspiration or entertainment. But often times some real hard facts get presented. TED is a forum for both discovery and resolution. And it was my discovery of TED that lead me to the resolution that I had spent the first 57 years of my life pursuing and providing the pleasurable experiences of food. A noble effort in it self, but lacking in the exalted hope that we should leave this earth having made it a better place. Now I'm not degrading or pushing aside my efforts up until this point. Like I said I think they were done with nobility and I am proud of my efforts. But now I truly believe I need to refocus myself and somehow use my influence and expertise in the world of good food to get people to see how and what we eat in new way.

Let's start with the one basic premise that's driving my decision. This life changing news was a common theme or reference from many TED presenters. We have entered into the planet's sixth life extinction event or as the scientific community has aptly branded it..."6X". The previous five extinctions we know of were all caused by either natural events of planetary development or asteroid collision. This time though, we are the cause...man. Or in the immortal words of Pogo, "We have met the enemy...and he is us". Ironically by the way, Walt Kelly Pogo's creator, first used this saying on an Earth Day poster in 1970.

To appropriately bring this doom and gloom back around to food is essentially pretty easy. Because it's not only the obvious coal stacks and vehicle exhaust pipes that are contributing to an acceleration to the changes of the planet's weather patterns. In a an Entertainment Gathering (EG) talk, (a partner group to TED), Mark Bittman of "How to Cook Everything" produced some interesting facts. Some of these were, One fifth of the of the gasses contributing to the greenhouse effect is methane being generated from the rear ends of all the animals we raise for slaughter. That number of animals in the United States alone reaches 10 billion. We process nearly 10 times the amount of meat per capita than any other nation on the planet. Another interesting fact is that food has to travel an average of 1,500 miles to get to our tables. This kind of defeats the purpose of eating organic. Sure we may not be consuming all the insecticides used on factory farms, but the carbon footprint produced is the same either way, organic or not. I could go on and on and on with more depressing facts, but the bottom line is that he insisted and I agree that we need to do something different and we need to do it now. After all the definition of insanity is doing the same thing all the time and each time expecting a different result.

In the following weeks we'll look at the problems and plusses of eating locally. The follies and foibles of the American diet. We'll try to decipher the Farm Bill and how it expensively keeps food off our tables rather than the other way around. And we'll take a close look at the world food crisis and how it's knocking on our door right now. So keep reading this blog and watch the videos. Oh and drop me a line once in a while.

I'm not as young as I was when started the first phase of my career. But I'm a hell of a lot smarter now and I know I can get people thinking, talking and doing.

del.icio.us Tags: food,global warming,food crisis,TED,organic,locavore