Farmer's Market Saturday 6-30

This week's Farmer's Market entry is the happy confluence of several food experiences from the past week. At the market today, I got 1 dozen oysters from the new fishmonger for only $9! Well, I couldn't wait to tear into them with my shucking knife when I got home, and decided to use up several of the other things that were just lying around from the week. I had some extra champagne onions from last night's client dinner (I served them in an amuse bouche of cucumber cups with caviar - I'll post the menu here next). So they would make the perfect sweet yet slightly piquant addition to the fresh briny-ness of the oysters. I made a quick mignonette with more of the champagne onions and some seasoned rice vinegar, served them on a bed of lettuce leaves from this week's CSA delievery, and enjoyed them with a glass of Prosecco remaining from my tastings at the Vino in Villa celebration this week. What a way to use such delightful "leftovers", and it only cost me $9!!!

food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, oysters, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

ReMARKable Palate Videocast #8

ReMARKable Palate Video #8: Milla Handley of Handley Cellars

We speak with Milla Handley, winemaker and propietor of Handley Cellars in California's Anderson Valley. We spoke with her at Pinot Days in April, and learned about their wines, tasting 3 of them.


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Use these codes for special discounts at checkout:

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Music: "Go Fish" by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network. music.podshow.com

The ReMARKable Palate Podcast is a production of The Culinary Podcast Network. www.culinarypodcastnetwork.com



www.culinarypodcastnetwork.com
food, food podcast, wine, Pinot Days, Milla Handley, Handley Cellars, Chef Mark, video podcast, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

Zucchini Passata

One of the recipes I've shared with my CSA group in the weekly newsletter. I'll be including them here on the blog so you know what to do with the abundance of summer veggies you're sure to be getting too!

From Diana Shaw’s The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook
(4 servings)

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 leek, white part only, washed and thinly sliced
2 large zucchini, peeled
2 Tablespoons water
2 cups nonfat buttermilk
1 Tablespoon corn starch
1 large egg yolk
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the leek. Reduce the heat to medium and sauté, stirring often, until the leek is soft and limp, about 7 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the zucchini, then quarter the slices. Add them to the leeks, along with the water. Continue to cook over medium heat until the zucchini slices are tender al the way through, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat. Purée the zucchini with an immersion blender or in a food processor. If you use a food processor, return the soup to the pan.

Stir 1 2/3 cups of the buttermilk into the purée. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/3 cup buttermilk, cornstarch, and egg yolk. Whisk the mixture into the saucepan and heat gently over medium-low, stirring often, until the soup is thickened and warm, about 10 minutes. Don’t let the soup boil, or it will curdle. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, CSA, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

Going for the Green!

Well, it's another Thursday, and we're starting to get a real abundance of vegetables from the Hawthorne Valley Farm CSA. This week, we had more rainbow chard, Japanese turnips, lettuce, and sugar snap peas.

I sat in the park speaking with some of the lovely members of my CSA, letting our dogs play together. What a bunch of great folks who love food and know to treat themselves well with good biodynamically farmed produce! Throughout the season, we'll have more from the great people involved, and what they're making with their shares. If you're reading the blog having seen my recipes in the weekly CSA newsletter, welcome! (and feel free to leave comments)

This week, we started to see the real signs of the summer: Squash! We got both zucchini, and a bi-colored summer squash, perfect for my classic calabacitas recipe. We also got purple scallions. I think I'll use these to make a batch of champagne braised red onions for an amuse bouche for a client dinner I'm doing tomorrow night: Cucumber cups with caviar and champagne onions. Just dice them finely and get 'em drunk on bubbly!

And of course, in my fruit share, i got a quart of strawberries! I'm going to miss these as the season progresses, and there's nothing like sitting on the grass eating strawberries straight out of the carton and sharing them with my neighbors (and occasionally Stiva).

food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, CSA, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

Rainbow Chard Batons

This is my interpretation of an amazingly simple yet ingenious dish I had at El Portal de Echaurren in Rioja last fall. When I got a batch of rainbow chard from the CSA this past week, I thought I would try to recreate it.

It's pretty simple, just tempura batter and fry the ribs, which you would normally throw out! In this case, I served them with a simple arugula pesto, also made with produce from the CSA.

food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, CSA, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

ReMARKable Palate Podcast #97

ReMARKable Palate #97: Paul McCullough from The Next Food Network Star

We speak with Paul McCullough, a private chef and caterer in Los Angeles, who is also a finalist on The Next Food Network Star. He tells us about his culinary background and how he learned his culinary philosophy from both his father and mother, and being an out gay chef on a TV program.

www.paulskitchen.com

Sponsor: www.godaddy.comUse these codes for special discounts at checkout:

palate1 for 10% off any order
palate2 for $5 off any order of $30 or more
palate3 to get a .COM domain name for just $6.95 a year

Music: "Go Fish" by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network. music.podshow.com

The ReMARKable Palate Podcast is a production of The Culinary Podcast Network. www.culinarypodcastnetwork.com



www.culinarypodcastnetwork.com
food, food podcast, Paul McCullough, Food Network, The Next Food Network Star, ReMARKable Palate, Chef Mark, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

More CSA meals

I feel so healthy! I've been eating so many green leafy veggies this week. I made some of the rainbow chard with garlic scapes, and yet another quinoa concoction.



food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, CSA, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

Farmer's Market/CSA Saturday

This week's CSA delivery brought organic red leaf and green leaf lettuce, kale, arugula, rainbow chard, sugar snap peas, garlic scapes and strawberries. This week, I got 2 quarts of strawberries, not just 1!

So for lunch on this beautiful Saturday, I had a simple impromptu salad of arugula, lettuce and strawberries with a lemon vincotto vinaigrette and a sprinkling of garlic scapes and crushed pistachios. YUM!

I'm going to braise the kale along with the rainbow chard for a side dish for later in the week, and shell the sugar snap peas and make a fresh minted pea puree for a side for lamb chops, and save the rest for some canapes.

food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, farmer's market, recipe, CSA, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

She's cut from Top Chef, but Sandee Birdsong is talking to us!

ReMARKable Palate #95: Top Chef Contestant Sandee Birdsong

In case you missed it last week, here's my interview with Top Chef Miami contestant Sandee Birdsong, who, unfortunately, packed her knives and went on last night's episode of Bravo's Top Chef.

food, food podcast, cooking, Sandee Birdsong, Top Chef, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

Taste of Times Square Video

food, food podcast, video, Taste of Times Square, food festival, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

ReMARKable Palate Videocast #7

ReMARKable Palate Video #7: Taste of Times Square

A montage of the many foods on offer at the Taste of Times Square event, June 11, 2007. We meet some of the great people behind the foods that were served, and hear a little about some of the restauants that make Times Square such a fun place to have dinner.


Sponsor: www.godaddy.com
Use these codes for special discounts at checkout:

palate1 for 10% off any order
palate2 for $5 off any order of $30 or more
palate3 to get a .COM domain name for just $6.95 a year

Music: "Go Fish" by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network. music.podshow.com

The ReMARKable Palate Podcast is a production of The Culinary Podcast Network. www.culinarypodcastnetwork.com



www.culinarypodcastnetwork.com
food, food podcast, dining, Taste of Times Square, Chef Mark, video podcast, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

Baker's Edge is back!

After what seems like an eternity, Baker's Edge brownie pans are at last back on the market in their new incarnation, which includes a non-stick coating both inside and out for easy cleaning. We've had so many requests the past few months, and unfortunately had to turn people away because there was not a pan to be had in America -- so if you are still in the market for one of these babies, get thee to the Gilded Fork Boutique!

food, baking, Edge Brownie Pan, Baker's Edge, brownies, bakeware

ReMARKable Palate Podcast #96

ReMARKable Palate #96: Taste of Times Square

We taste our way through many of the foods on offer at the annual Taste of Times Square, which is open to the public. Held outdoors on Restaurant Row at 46th St., it brings together restaurants and eateries of all types, from BBQ to Spanish food, to beer and fine dining.

Links:
Tonic Bar and Grill
Samplings Crowne Plaza
Becco
Virgil's BBQ
Hawaiian Tropic Zone
House of Brews
St. Andrew's
Le Rivage
Meson Sevilla
Shula's Steak House

Sponsor: www.GoDaddy.com Use these codes for special discounts at checkout:

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Music: "Go Fish" by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network. music.podshow.com

The ReMARKable Palate Podcast is a production of The Culinary Podcast Network. www.culinarypodcastnetwork.com



www.culinarypodcastnetwork.com
food, food podcast, wine, Taste of Times Square, Chef, ReMARKable Palate, Chef Mark, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

Bodega Goat Cheese Video

food, food podcast, cooking, cheese, Bodega Goat Cheese,Chef Mark, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

ReMARKable Palate Videocast #6

ReMARKable Palate Video #6: Bodega Goat Cheese

We speak with cheesemaker Patti Karlin of Bodega Goat Cheese at the San Rafael Farmer's market in Marin County, CA. She tells us about her approach to fresh cheesemaking, and the fact that she's the only cheesemaker in America making Charolet, a fresh goat cheese rolled in edible ash.


Sponsor: www.godaddy.com
Use these codes for special discounts at checkout:

palate1 for 10% off any order
palate2 for $5 off any order of $30 or more
palate3 to get a .COM domain name for just $6.95 a year

Music: "Go Fish" by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network. music.podshow.com

The ReMARKable Palate Podcast is a production of The Culinary Podcast Network. www.culinarypodcastnetwork.com



www.culinarypodcastnetwork.com
food, food podcast, cheese, Bodega Goat Cheese, Farmer's Market, Patti Karlin, Chef Mark, video podcast, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

CSA meal of the week

Now that the CSA season has begun, and I'm getting a batch of fruits and vegetables every Thursday whether I want them or not (I assure you I always want them), it's time to challenge myself to create whole meals using mostly the veggies of the week. As you saw yesterday, I wolfed down the strawberries, so I couldn't use those for dinner, but I still had a bunch of arugula (even after the arugula salad with strawberries and balsamic), so I used our O-Hitashi recipe from last month, and instead of spinach, I used arugula, which made for a REALLY great variation.

I also used the fresh scallions (which had such a pungent yet rounded earthy flavor, not the piercing sharpness of standard supermarket scallions), and made an asian inspired scallion quinoa. I just threw a cup of quinoa into the rice cooker with 2 cups of vegetable broth, a few garlic cloves, a few chopped scallions, and a splash each of olive oil, soy sauce, rice vinager, and the secret ingredient, sweet Japanese peach vinegar. I find that the rice cooker is the best way to cook quinoa, as it achieves just the right amount of fluffiness. Perhaps it's my technique, but I just am not always able to achieve that cooking quinoa on the stovetop. What's more, the bottom gets just a little caramelized, and when I take it out, I can gently scrape away the crust at the bottom for some caramelized chewy bits.

YUM.



food, CSA, cooking, recipe, community supported agriculture, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

The Power of the Pen

A disturbing news item from Australia:

A high court ruled that a restaurant reviewer was guilty of "defamatory language" that led to the closing of a restaurant to which he gave bad reviews.

From the BBC:

Food critics in Australia are digesting a controversial High Court decision that an unfavourable review of a Sydney restaurant was defamatory.

The review of Coco Roco restaurant, published in the Sydney Morning Herald in 2003, was found to be an attack on the restaurant as a business.

The reviewer, Matthew Evans, had written that the flavours of one dish "jangled like a car crash".

Critics of the court decision said it could stifle honest reviews.

'Unpalatable'

According to the BBC correspondent in Sydney, Nick Bryant, the city likes to think of itself as one of the great culinary capitals of the world, and its restaurant reviewers wield much the same power as theatre critics in New York.

Now, though, they might have to become less acerbic in their opinions, he says.

After two miserable visits to Coco Roco restaurant, Mr Evans was distinctly unimpressed, complaining that half the dishes were simply unpalatable.

He claimed that while the establishment "was touted as Sydney's most glamorous restaurant," the reality was that "if glamour peaked at about 1985, then perhaps they're right".

The restaurant closed within months of the review, with its owners blaming the comments for its demise.

In a 6-1 decision, the High Court decided that the review was an attack on the restaurant as a business.

"Business capacity and reputation are different from personal reputation," the court judgement said.

Further hearings will now be held, to determine what, if any, damages are applicable.

Critics have cried foul, saying their opinions could now become as banal as the food at the heart of the case was reported to be.

"If a poor review leads to diminished returns at the box office of the theatre, are we now going to say that it is due to the review and not to the quality of the work?" veteran critic Leo Schofield told reporters.



OY VEY! C'mon people!

food, food podcast, cooking, recipe, restaurant review, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

Strawberry Heaven

I'm in Strawberry heaven right now.

Ah.....

I just had another.

There's nothing quite so satisfying and decadent as enjoying REAL strawberries. Today was the first delivery of our local CSA (that's Community Supported Agriculture, and there will be plenty more about it on these pages in the weeks to come). Those of us with a fruit share each got a quart of strawberries grown by the fine folks at Hawthorne Valley Farm, which is a Demeter certified Biodynamic farm in Ghent, NY. I have to confess that about 1/2 of them were gone by the time I got home. I'm struggling to hold on to the rest for later, when I'll make a sweet balsamic reduction and drip it decadently over sliced strawberries and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

We also got arugula, lettuce leaves, japanese turnips, dill and scallions in this week's share. I'll be making our Apple & Turnip Soup with Nutmeg Cheddar Breadsticks, Dilled Crab Salad on Artichoke Bottoms, and a simple arugula salad sprinkled with pink Hawaiian sea salt, Spanish extra virgin olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. When I tasted the arugula, I nearly had an arugulagasm!

food, CSA, cooking, recipe, food, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

ReMARKable Palate Podcast #95

ReMARKable Palate #95: Top Chef Contestant Sandee Birdsong

On today’s show, we hang out with Top Chef 3 contestant Sandee Birdsong, who has worked her way up from being a self-taught home cook to become Executive Chef of Tantra, the sexiest restaurant in Miami's South Beach. She shares the story of her culinary arc, and her dedication to using fresh seafood in her tantalizing food.

Links:
www.miamiandbeaches.com
www.ilovemiamispice.com
www.chefbirdsong.com

Sponsor: www.GoDaddy.com Use these codes for special discounts at checkout:

palate1 for 10% off any order
palate2 for $5 off any order of $30 or more
palate3 to get a .COM domain name for just $6.95 a year

Music: "Go Fish" by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network. music.podshow.com

The ReMARKable Palate Podcast is a production of The Culinary Podcast Network. www.culinarypodcastnetwork.com



www.culinarypodcastnetwork.com
food, food podcast, wine, Sandee Birdsong, Top Chef, ReMARKable Palate, Chef Mark, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork