Where's the Beef, Updated!

On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was kind enough to run an op-ed I penned on the safety of beef sold in the United States entitled “Where’s the Beef?

Figured I’d share some of the sources I used in developing it. First, though, is a correction to the next to last paragraph in the op-ed.

"I'm not holding my breath, though. In the past few months alone, federal regulators have proposed a rule that would effectively bar small family farms from providing their pastured or grass-fed beef to the school lunch program, as well as a second rule seemingly intent on pushing out of business the state-licensed, small-scale meat processors who service small, family farms."

Actually, the first proposed rule should have read “introduced legislation,” because it refers to a provision in appropriations legislation that covers the USDA introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), which I believe is, at the moment, going nowhere. The provision is this:

Beginning with the 2010 school year (that starts in July 2009), the bill includes language that requires USDA to purchase for the School Lunch Program meat products that are derived from livestock premises registered with National Animal Identification System.

Because AMS is a major purchaser of meat products through the School Lunch Program, this proposal would generate significant market-based incentives to strengthen the department’s voluntary animal ID system and support livestock producers and other premises that signup for USDA’s system.

I wrote about this potential travesty in July.

As for the second proposed rule, Elanor at the Ethicurean recently reported the lurid details.

Other sources that came in handy in developing the article:

Whole Foods recall - the Marler Blog.

Factory farms - in addition to books like Omnivore’s Dilemma and Fast Food Nation, PBS’s Frontline did an excellent series called “Industrial Meat.”

More on factory farms (including the burden they place on tax payers) - a recent report from the Union of Concerned Scientists, CAFOs Uncovered.

As for the related news...

First, a new study out of Johns Hopkins that demonstrates how the media has effectively ignored the global warming impact of our global food system, including all of that methane from the cows on those factory farms.

Ironically, for space purposes, I cut this line from an early draft of my op-ed:

Funny, though, that even the most ardent proponents of taking actions to limit the emission of greenhouse gases choose to ignore this inconvenient truth.

And finally, and not surprising in the least, is that a new law that was supposed to let consumers know the country of origin of the beef they are buying has a massive loophole in it that benefits the, you guessed it, big-a#% meat packers.

Shocking, I know.

Vino & Vittles at Enrico

My wife and I had the pleasure last Friday to join some friends for the first-ever wine dinner at Enrico Biscotti Company using Enrico’s recently launched Carlo’s Garage Winery line of vino.

The wines, Enrico’s very personable and very verbal – in a very good way – founder Larry Lagattuta explained, are made in the basement of Enrico’s, which used to be, you guessed it, part of Carlo’s Garage, where Carlo fixed cars and, you guessed it again, made wine.

If I heard correctly, the grapes for the Vidal Blanc, the lone white, come from Erie of all places, while the grapes for the three reds come from California. But don’t quote me on that.

Overall, it was a really nice event, the kind of night out you can’t get in many cities. Sitting back in the Enrico café, an assortment of small and large tables with simple white coverings, some slices of bread and small white bowls of olive oil and olives resting on them, the smell of the cracking brick oven: A very cozy, comfortable kind of place to eat a little food, drink a little wine, snicker and giggle and chomp your way through a relaxed evening.

The food was simple and, on the whole, well executed. The wines were very enjoyable, really exceeding my expectations, and, I think it can be safely said, those of our little group. And our hosts just kept pouring it!

My wife and I both felt that the star wine of the evening was the Vidal Blanc, which was very refreshing and had a welcome fruitiness without being sweet in the least. [Note: it’s against my personal beliefs, religion, etc. to describe a wine in any more detail.]

The menu:

First course – Fire-roasted jumbo shrimp in a citrus-hot pepper marinade accompanied by some napa cabbage slaw, paired with the Vidal Blanc.

Second course – Pork tenderloin with a blackberry compote (at least that’s what I’m calling it), paired with the Strip Blend Red Table Wine.

Third course – St. Andre triple cream cheese (from Penn Mac) with a honey laced fig on top of lavash (that is, a large cracker), paired with the Petit Sirah.

Fourth course – Lamb ragout over fresh parpadelle, paired with the Cabernet Sauvignon.

Desert – Flourless chocolate cake and pistachio ice cream, paired with whatever wine you requested.

The best courses were the lamb ragout and the triple cream cheese/honey/fig. Both paired very well with their respective wines… well, after 4 or 5 glasses, plus an earlier drink at Kaya, at least I think they did.

In any case, I highly recommend contacting Enrico to get on the list for future wine dinners, as well as their usual “First Friday” dinners, which, as you may have guessed, are held the first Friday of every month.

Celebrating Local Food

The line up of events the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture has pulled together for its Local Food Week is pretty impressive.

There are tasting dinners at Eleven and Soba of Big Burrito Group fame, a dining event centered around honey at Enrico in the Strip, "Green Drinks" at Bossa Nova downtown, and a bunch of events at various farms. Heck, there are even some attractive dinner events at Pines Tavern and Passport Cafe out here in the northern 'burbs.

Just hoping to make it to one of them.

What to Think in a Situation Like This?

I have professed my undying love for Lucy's banh mi. But I'm not sure how to react to this?

Mr. Cole said county health inspectors can post a yellow "Consumer Alert" decal for repeated, uncorrected critical food safety violations. Restaurants have 10 days to solve the problems or they could be shut down, he said.

Last year, three such alerts were issued among some 7,500 food facilities in the county, which includes establishments such as caterers, mobile vendors and grocery store deli counters. So far this year, there have been four alerts: at The New Oriental Wok in Lawrenceville; Plum Convenience Store in Plum; My Ngoc, Strip District; and Moby Fish and Chicken, Downtown. All four alerts have been lifted.

The restaurant highlighted in bold text above is the restaurant outside of which Lucy makes and sells her delectable banh mi. Now, in a sense, I could be reassured, because Lucy does most of her work outside of the restaurant: the chicken is on the grill, the jalapenos and red onions and cilantro and carrots are in small plastic containers, the baguettes come out of a small plastic bag just behind her, etc.

How much of the prep work goes on in the inside kitchen that had the little problem with the "uncorrected critical safety violations" I don't know. For now, I'm going to give Lucy the benefit of the doubt, because those sandwiches are one of the great joys in my life (whether that's a sad statement, I'll leave others to judge). But, if for some reason that ever changes, at least I've got Reyna's and Chicken Latino to always fall back on.

Scrapin’ Up the Bits… Slow Food Nation Style

But first, though, it wasn’t your traditional Labor Day sorta meal, but it was quite delicious, and made ample use of the bounty from our CSA and our own little garden.

It included roasted red pepper soup, roasted cauliflower in an anchovy vinaigrette, and grilled branzino fillets topped with an almond picada.

Slow Food Nation was held this past weekend in San Francisco. I’ve been critical of Slow Food – well, in comments on other food blogs, at least – but I’ve read some good things about this event in the last day or so, including this post from Iowa chef Kurt Michael Friese, which has made me soften my position somewhat.

The same said post includes what sounds like a wonderful tomato pesto recipe, and some details about the roots of pesto about which I was not aware. As good as it sounds, Elanor’s recipe for pasta topped with pan-roasted tomatoes, pesto, and fresh ricotta sounds even better!

Something else that emerged from Slow Food Nation: the Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture. It is, in essence, a Ten Commandments of how our food and agricultural system should function -- except that it has 12 principles or commandments, etc.

And it’s a draft, with comments being accepted for the next 90 days.

And I think I’m finally going to have break down and try some of these artisan, sustainable spirits. Or as the Washington Post’s Jason Wilson calls them, “slow spirits.”

Finally, to end with something about what can be the slowest of foods, fungi. The take-home message is this: warnings about making sure you go mushroom hunting with people who know what they’re doing are important for a reason…

Statement of Grave Concern

Below is the text of a recent letter to the dean of the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences. It was also posted to a Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture message board. The “statement of grave concern” is both intriguing and disturbing, and for those who aren’t immediate members of the local agriculture community but who, like me, just like to eat what those guys produce, is a real eye opener.

I’ve bolded some sentences to add emphasis, and I have some further commentary after the letter, but be sure to read the whole thing. Also, let me apologize in advance for being such a techno-idiot that I cannot figure out how to do that “read the rest of the entry” thing. I’ve tried a few times, but failed. In either case, happy reading.

Statement of Grave Concern

August 19, 2008

To: Robert D. Steele, Dean, Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences

From: Timothy LaSalle, CEO, Rodale Institute
Leslie Zuck, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Certified Organic (PCO)
Kim Seeley, President, Board of Directors, Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA)

Pennsylvania Ag Progress Days is one of the state's premiere annual events to showcase the best of Pennsylvania agriculture. The 2008 edition of this event comes after a year when food costs, food safety, food v. fuel use and even food sufficiency have been major news items.

It is therefore deeply disappointing and frankly shocking that members of the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences have announced a departmental slate of workshops that attack a number of approaches to farming that are benefiting hundreds of family farmers across the Commonwealth. Many of these feature human, environmental or animal advantages documented by research -- some by research at Penn State.

A July 28 press release titled "See agricultural myths busted during Ag Progress Days," promises "we will investigate and analyze some widely believed agricultural misconceptions and scientifically show why they are false." Some of the myths promised to be "debunked" include:

• "High Milk Production Burns Out cows"
• "Organic Therapies are Better than Conventional Antibiotic Treatments"
• "Grass-fed and Organic Beef is better for Consumers" and
• "rBST-Free Milk is Better for Consumers"

The "myth-buster" topics listed in the release are simplistic and sweeping statements about organic animal-health therapies, grass-fed and organic beef, rBST-free milk and agriculture's impact on the environment. This format reduces complex issues of animal, human and environmental well-being to a true-or-false treatment of selected facts. There is no indication that the workshops will be careful examinations of how Pennsylvania agriculture can become more ecologically sound or produce food that is more healthful through many different agricultural approaches.

Because of benefits to their health, well-being and profitability, hundreds of Pennsylvania farmers have chosen to farm organically. With the even greater numbers who have adopted grass-based dairy or beef production, these farm families have experienced greater profit potential and seen empirical evidence of changed conditions in their fields and herds.

It is profoundly troubling, then, that the Penn State planners of these workshops would so recklessly disparage the value of products being marketed by Pennsylvania farmers. In the case of certified organic farmers, these individuals have complied with precise process rules listed in federal regulation sanctioned by the USDA. It is further troubling to have the animal science department at Penn State take a propaganda-like approach for a narrow special interest group.

Innovative farmers and farm organizations in Pennsylvania expect our Land-Grant university to be a leader in improving the sustainability of agriculture in a period when fossil-fuel based inputs are more expensive and scarce and it's increasingly imperative to remove farm chemicals from our waterways. At the same time consumers are demanding more local food produced with less energy-intensive methods and toxic chemicals in more transparent processes.

Timothy J. LaSalle, Ph.D., is CEO of the Rodale Institute. … For 12 years he was a full professor at Cal Poly, where he taught dairy science classes and served as the president and CEO of California's Agriculture Education Foundation. While at Cal Poly, LaSalle started and operated a conventional dairy near Templeton, California. He issued this statement on the release:

"As a dairy scientist, I find Penn State's treatment of organic dairy management unobjective, unscientific, unprofessional and deleterious to many livestock farmers in Pennsylvania who are making extra efforts to farm well. Replicated research shows that there are nutritional benefits in organic milk that are beneficial to human health. This approach also dismisses the legitimate concerns of tens of thousands of Pennsylvania consumers who are benefiting from the documented health benefits from organic foods, especially animal products."

Leslie Zuck is a co-founder and Executive Director of Pennsylvania Certified Organic and a graduate of Penn State University (1980). She owns and operates Common Ground Organic Farm in Centre County and served on the advisory board for Penn State's Organic Transition Project, which can be viewed on the bus tour at Ag Progress Days. She issued this statement on the release:

"Scientific, peer-reviewed studies published by reputable universities and research organizations show the health and environmental benefits of organic, pasture-based and rBGH-free food and farming systems. It is irresponsible for Penn State researchers to use the Ag Progress Days venue to "scientifically show why they are false" (quote from Brad Hilty, Penn State senior extension associate). It is exceedingly unprofessional for an institution of Penn State's caliber to stoop to sensationalizing an important and controversial topic rather than approaching it directly with fair, accurate and well-balanced discourse. This event perpetuates the myth that there is only one way to farm - big, industrialized, highly capitalized, resource intensive - Penn State's way.

"It is a mystery to me why Penn State is unwilling to support organic farming, which is the only sector of agriculture that continues to grow in our state. While farms are going out of business due to lack of profits or lack of interest by future generations, organic production provides an opportunity for families to stay on the farm, produce healthy food, protect the environment and receive a stable income. While we appreciate Penn State College of Agricultural Science's offering several courses in organic production for the first time this year, we are certainly mystified by this unwarranted attempt to steer consumers and farmers away from organic food and production methods.

"We suggest Penn State issue an apology to the thousands of organic and sustainable farmers of Pennsylvania who are working hard to produce high-quality, nutritious and healthy food for our Commonwealth."

Kim Seeley is president of the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA), co-owner of Milky Way Dairy Farm and co-founder of Northern Tier Sustainable Meats Co-op. Both farm enterprises supply Penn State's sister school, The Pennsylvania College of Technology food service, with all of their fluid milk and a majority of their ground beef requirements. He issued this statement on the release:

"Unfortunately this is what I have come to expect, since graduating from Penn State 30 years ago. I realized then how research money was having a growing influence in the Land Grant university system. Regrettably for Pennsylvania dairy and beef farmers, the Department of Animal and Dairy Science has been infiltrated the most with an unparalleled lack of respect for the basics of animal husbandry and denial of the intricate differences in nutritional content of animal byproducts from those produced on pasture or by organic methods.

"Recently the Northern Tier Sustainable Meats Co-op funded research at Penn State (not via dairy/animal science) looking at fat-soluble vitamin levels in ground beef samples from cows fed on pasture and stored feeds. The results of this research tell the story clearly, production methods create very different end results. Each of the past 5 years, I have guest lectured at Penn State for a course entitled "Morality and Ethics in Agriculture," and when I show butter and cheese samples from grass-based cows, compared to our winter samples, the students are wide eyed and openly admit they are only studying an industrial approach to dairy/animal science."

Now, admittedly, this is a one-sided argument. But I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt to these letter writers.

Having written about medical research for more than a decade, I know that universities get money from industry and industry front groups for all sorts of things, including funding research, supporting educational programs, etc. And it’s clear that some times this funding can create bias, some times unintentional, toward products produced or positions taken by those industries.

But reading this letter, one gets a clear impression that these folks believe the Penn State Ag program is lock, stock, and barrel in industry’s back pocket. And there is some evidence to support that.

When, for example, I was doing research for the op-ed on the milk labeling controversy I had published in December in the Post-Gazette, I came across the blog of Terry Etherton (although this blog doesn’t allow comments, which, IMO, means it really isn’t a blog).

Dr. Etherton is head of the Department of Dairy and Animal Science at Penn State University. The following is some of the text from the “about this blog” section of his blog:

There are many anti-ag, anti-biotech, and anti-science activist groups who use campaigns of misinformation and junk science to scare consumers. This is done to hinder adoption and use of the products of biotechnology for agriculture. These attacks are slanderous and falsely imprecate the scientific method and many reputable scientists in the United States and throughout the World who are striving to move society ahead. One objective of this blog site is to champion science and scientists who are pursuing the greater good, to help society move forward.

To begin with, it is hard to fathom that any respected scientist could produce such… well, let’s be honest about it, drivel. I have spoken with some of the country’s most well-respected researchers on topics like infectious disease, cardiology, and cancer, and I’m fairly certain none of them – or at least 99 percent of them -- would ever post/publish such a generalized ad hominem attack.

I must wonder if, in Dr. Etherton’s mind, this paragraph describes people like the writers of the above “Statement of Grave Concern.” They may be, in many respects, anti-biotech, but I think one would be hard-pressed to say they are anti-ag or even anti-science.

According to Dr. Etherton, those who don’t think pumping cows full of hormones to squeeze a little more milk out of ‘em -- damn the cow’s health or any potential threat to the public health (threats that people like Dr. Etherton argue do not exist, based on little data in actual humans) -- doesn’t want “to move society ahead.”

Personally, I would consider things like promoting organic methods for producing crops and milk and meat (which protects the environment and improves soil quality, among other things), and reducing the use of chemicals and pesticides that can infiltrate and destroy water ways and harm people and animals the ideal example of “moving society ahead.” But I’m just silly that way.

Reading through some recent posts from Dr. Etherton’s blog also demonstrates, well, should we call it a disdain for any sort of agricultural practice that doesn’t involve inputs that line the pockets of biotech companies like Monsanto. For example, one recent post highlight a study published in the “prestigious” Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

The study, he explains, “found that there were ‘no meaningful differences’ in the composition of milk with the three different label claims,” those claims being “conventional,” “hormone/rBST-free,” or “organic.”

I’m in no position to judge the quality of this research. I freely admit that. Although I could point out that the objections to milk from rBST cows aren’t strictly relegated to human health concerns (not that this study in any way alleviates those concerns – you need to take an exhaustive look at actual humans to do that!).

But given the theme of the “Statement of Grave Concern” that prompted this post, I’ll just end with something very simple, from the “authors” box of the paper: the affiliation of the lead author and the majority of the others listed as co-authors…

J. Vicini is a senior research fellow, J. Ballam is lead for biostatistics and data services, R. Staub is lead for molecular and cellular biochemistry, D. Goldstein is director of medical toxicology, R. Cady is technical product manager, and M. McGrath is senior lactation physiologist, all at Monsanto Company LC, St Louis, MO.

Tuna and Salmon and Cobia, Oh My

While picking up about 40 pounds of meat at Farmer’s @ Firehouse last Saturday, made the usual stop at the best place for fresh seafood in Pittsburgh, Penn Avenue Fish Company.

We wanted to make some fish tacos, a desire of which I informed the staid fellow who is often there on Saturday mornings – a co-owner, I believe. So he suggested doing what Penn Ave. does for its fish tacos: a mixed grill of fresh fish. He gave me some chunks of tuna, salmon, and cobia for a reasonable price.

Next stop was just a block or two down Penn Ave., Reyna’s Mexican Grocery, for some fresh tortillas made in the store. Also picked up some store-made roasted tomatillo salsa and red corn chips. The end result was quite fantastic and a perfect summer meal.

For the fish, I made a quick marinade of diced cilantro, lime juice, about a tablespoon of chile powder, canola oil, salt and pepper.

Then used a mandolin to thinly slice some cabbage.

Next was a quick sauce comprised of about a half-cup of sour cream, half a lime, about a tablespoon of ancho chile powder, and a little squeeze of honey.

Finally, threw the fish on the grill over fairly high heat (and also heated the tortillas on the grill as well). In about 6-7 minutes, the fish was cooked. Removed it to a cutting board, gave it a rough chop, topped it with the slaw, the sauce, and some chopped yellow tomatoes from the garden.

Poop-Tainted Spinach? Just Nuke It

Now, I don’t know as much about irradiating food as I’d like. Which is to say that I know next to nothing. But nevertheless, the increasingly strident skeptic in me is just howling over this…

After two years of nearly constant food-borne illness outbreaks and recalls of everything from tainted peanut butter to tons of hamburger meat, the Food and Drug Administration's decision last week to allow the irradiation of lettuce and spinach to kill dangerous bacteria didn't surprise anyone in the food industry. …

Zapping spinach and iceberg lettuce with a tiny shot of radiation is an effective way to prevent deadly outbreaks of E. coli, according to the FDA, which says it's safe. But not everyone agrees.

The disagreements are fairly obvious. First, nuking food just doesn’t seem safe, and some quick Googling indicates that there really isn’t a good body of research on whether it is safe.

Second, as the article points out, it’s a way to put a technological band-aid on what is really a food production and processing problem. So huge fields of leafy greens are way too close to factory farms overloaded with cows that produce mountains of pooh (and lots of flatulence, but that’s a global warming story) that gets washed into nearby streams or down hills into Popeye’s favorite canned food.

Generally, I’m not opposed to technology that can improve our lives. But in this case, this criticism makes a lot of sense…

"Food irradiation is a pseudo-fix," said Bill Freese, a science policy analyst with the Center for Food Safety in Washington. "It's a way to try to come in and clean up problems that are created in the middle of the food production chain. I think it's clearly a disincentive to clean up the problems at the source." (emphasis mine)

It’s easy, of course, to fault one person or political party in the continuing degradation of our food production system. But that’s really taking the easy way out.

But Cummins of the Organic Consumers Association said the Bush administration isn't doing anything other administrations haven't tried.

"This is definitely bipartisan," Cummins said. "Every administration since FDR has been pro-agribusiness, and there hasn't been much difference in their policies."

Thankfully, food that has been irradiated has to be marked as such, and something tells me a big sticker that screams "IRRADIATED" isn't going to attract a lot consumers.

Some Yellow, Some Green, a Little Red...

... and a little Orange as well, which is the only color not from our garden. Love this time of year...

More Taste Testing: Organic Processed Foods

Most of our shopping time in our Local Large Grocery Chain is spent in the produce and organic sections (although we almost never buy the organic produce, mostly because it usually looks terrible).

Over the last year or so, we’ve found organic processed foods that we don’t mind paying more for, mostly because they actually taste better than their nonorganic counterparts.

Among our favorites:

Arrow Head Mills Vermont Maple Granola – This stuff is hearty, not too sweet, the maple flavor is not overwhelming, and it’s got a great crunch. I’ve tried various granolas, both organic and conventional, and this is by far my favorite.

As mentioned previously, I have granola and fruit almost every morning in my yogurt. And maple, at least to me, is not intuitively something that would go with yogurt and fruit. But this maple granola absolutely works. I never get tired of it.

Clif Kid Organic Z Bar – This is a very new favorite. We’ve only discovered them in the last month or so, and although my 3-year-old daughter isn’t impressed, the men in the family – namely me and my six-year-old eating machine son – have been eating them up.

As the name implies, these energy bars are geared toward kids, but I’ve been eating them like crazy. Low in fat and sugar, high in protein, these bars remind me of a no-bake cookie. They are not overly sweet, and despite their small stature, they are a filling snack. And, best of all, you can get a 24 pack (peanut butter, chocolate chip, and chocolate brownie!) at Costco for a really reasonable price.

Nature’s Path Hot Instant Oatmeals – We typically get these in a variety pack. Not on the same par as the previous two items, but still pretty good. Substantial, nice texture, enjoyable flavor. Again, IMO, not on par with the other two, but worth buying.

Full Circle Fruit & Cereal Bars – Now, granted, these are not USDA organic. The ingredient list is littered with organic this and that, but there are some conventional ingredients as well. And while I don’t eat them, I have tasted them, and they’re pretty good. I feel much better purchasing these to put in my kids lunches every so often than I do similar cereal bars made with nothing but corn- and soy-based fillers and chemicals I can’t pronounce.

Yogurt Taste Test

Yogurt.

I eat it probably 350 days a year, if not more.

A while back, with prompting from my wife, I transitioned from flavored to plain yogurt. More recently, again prompted by my wife, I moved from plain yogurt to Greek yogurt – namely a brand called Fage (pronounced, as it explains on the container, “Fa-yeh!”).

And then, last week, while shopping in Large Local Grocery Chain – only a different location of said Large Local Grocery Chain where we typically shop – in the section for frozen organic food and mostly organic dairy products, another type of yogurt grabbed my attention.

It was in a tall bottle, sort of like an old fashioned milk bottle. It was from grass-fed cows. It was produced in Indiana. It looked more like milk than yogurt. It was pretty freakin’ expensive. But I was intrigued. I had to try it.

Thus, I now present a taste review of three different types of yogurt and offer my opinion on which is the Yogurt of Utmost Mouthwateringness, commonly referred to as

the YUM.

Brown Cow/Stonyfield Farms plain yogurt:

Both are good, rBST-free yogurts. Neither could be described as outstanding. On their own, they could be boring. But they readily accept additions like fruit and granola, which is pretty much how I eat my yogurt everyday. Both are also excellent for cooking, e.g., to add to certain types of soups or for making a salad dressing.

Fage (2%) Greek Yogurt:

Also rBST-free. However, it is shipped from Greece, so not necessarily an environmentally friendly choice in that regard.

Texturally speaking, it’s thick, far more like sour cream than your typical yogurt. It’s also slightly sour, like sour cream. But, man, this stuff is satisfying. It has complexity, because it has more than just a yogurty flavor. Also, it engulfs anything you mix into it, taking on its favor while also enhancing it. And it’s got substance. Half cup of this stuff with some fruit and something crunchy and you know without a doubt that you just had a meal. In short: addictive.

Traders Point Whole Milk Yogurt:

Grass-fed, organic, rBST-free. In terms of consistency, closer to heavy cream than standard yogurt. On day one, I wasn’t that impressed. Tasted more like milk than yogurt, and, truth be told, I have never been a fan of milk on its own. Even some impressively plump blueberries and delectable peaches didn’t seem to add much to the flavor. The fruit and yogurt just didn’t seem to get along. On day two, I liked it more. The consistency was less bothersome; felt like I was eating a yogurt soup. Day three added fruit and granola and, again, liked it a little more. However, definitely not filling and, while enjoyable, there’s nothing about it that makes me want to spend nearly $6 a bottle on it.

JUDGEMENT [imagine drum roll here]:

To quote King Julian (from the children’s movie Madagascar, of course):

After much deep and profound brain-type things inside my head, I hereby declare that Fage

is indeed the YUM.

Long live Fage (until my next yogurt discovery, that is!).

Bites, Lots of 'Em

So, been a while since you’ve had a post. What’s up?

Oh, I don’t know. Been busy. Doing stuff around the house. Trying to finish reading an actual book. Keeping up with the political goings on. Oh, and eating, probably too much.

Politics… uh… Eating, you say?! Sounds like a ‘meaty’ topic, if you get my drift (snigger, snigger). Anything interesting?

Yeah, a meaty topic. Never heard that one before… But since you seem so interested, the last few weeks my tummy has been pretty happy. Let’s see. Where to begin….

How about Dish Osteria. An increasingly well-known and acclaimed Pittsburgh restaurant, it only took 3 years, but I finally made it to Dish. Fantastic, simple food. The formaggi e salumi, the panzanella (arugula, toasted ciabatta chunks!), the linguini with shrimp, crab, and perfectly seared scallops in a saffron cream sauce. All of it, Meraviglioso!

Reyna’s Taco Shack – Only there on Saturdays, this petite stand outside of Reyna’s Mexican Grocery in the Strip District has tacos and nothing else. Chicken or steak. Flour or corn tortilla. Two for $5. Very good stuff.

The tortillas, hand-made, are the real deal, not those semi-tastless things you get in the grocery store in a package of 10. My only knock was the shredded cheese, which was just the “Mexican” or “taco” cheese often found in the grocery store. Some crumbled queso fresco would put these tacos into another category of delicious. Not banh mi territory, mind you, but still excellent street food.

So you’ve just been splashing cash around town?

No, no, no, you silly narrator-type creation. Mostly been cooking in. For example, my wife made this a refreshing gazpacho. Large red and little yellow tomatoes from the farm, cucumbers and jalapeno from our garden. Fresh, baby, fresh.

Served with a few large... did I say large? ... seared scallops courtesy of Penn Ave. Fish Company and you’ve got the ideal meal for a breezy summer evening.

And because it was so good the first time around, the grilled zucchini strips atop some scrambled eggs and crumbled goat cheese returned to the menu.

Then, just last night, inspired by our meal at Dish, we pulled together our own formaggi e salumi plate, with some remarkable Tomme cheese from the grass-fed cows at Clover Mead Farm in upstate New York, not far from Berlington, Vermont (courtesy of friends), Beemster cheese with nettles, sweet soprasatta, olives, a little bread, and a side of grilled Kentucky Wonder Beans sprinkled with prosciutto and parmesan. Now that’s the way to end a week.

I suspect my exercise regimen, which is highly respectable, is not keeping pace with this recent eating regimen. Something has to give. Never a good thing.

Scrapin’ Up the Bits… Heavy Reading Style

A whole host of stuff worthy of noting.

To begin with, and on a completely self-serving note, my food obsession intersects just slightly with my day job. The writing’s a bit heavier than you might get in USA Today or the Post-Gazette. But it’s still neat stuff.

Want to get an up-close look at some local farms? PASA is sponsoring a local farm tour this Saturday!

And it’s been a while for this, but there is a new entry in the Fast Food Abomination of the Week. And it’s a returning champ this time, Quiznos, for its $5 “large deli favorite subs,” the commercials for which proudly proclaim that these subs come with one pound of meat.

Speaking of way too much food – or, perhaps more accurately, calories – Americans continue to get bigger.

From 2005 to 2007, the proportion of adults who were obese (based on self-reported height and weight) increased by 7% to a nationwide average of 25.6%, Deborah Galuska, Ph.D., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and colleagues reported in the July 18 issue of MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

In three states -- Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee -- almost a third of adults were obese.

But it appears that Burger King has gotten part of the message. After close to a year of test marketing, Burger King is taking its apple fries – red delicious apples cut to look like French fries – nationwide.

The nationwide launch coincides with its new BK Positive Steps Nutrition Program and nutritionally balanced kids meal.

The apples are available a la carte for $1.49, said Burger King spokeswoman Heather Krasnow.

The kids’ meal offers a serving of macaroni and cheese, fresh apple fries with a low-fat caramel dipping sauce and a low-fat milk. The meal has a total of 350 calories and less than 25% of calories from fat. It carries a suggested retail price of $3.49.

I’m still not taking my kids there.

And those tainted tomatoes? Psych. But look out for the Ja-Lop-A-Nose!

Federal officials investigating a three-month-old salmonella outbreak have isolated the bacteria in a jalapeño pepper from a small distribution facility in McAllen, Tex., and yesterday warned consumers nationwide to avoid eating raw jalapeños or products that contain them until more is known.

It’s a good thing the jalapenos in our garden, and like four other pepper varieties, are finally starting to appear.

And this takes home gardening to a whole other, kind of snobby, level

That is where Trevor Paque comes in. For a fee, Mr. Paque, who lives in San Francisco, will build an organic garden in your backyard, weed it weekly and even harvest the bounty, gently placing a box of vegetables on the back porch when he leaves. …

As a result of interest in local food and rising grocery bills, backyard gardens have been enjoying a renaissance across the country, but what might be called the remote-control backyard garden — no planting, no weeding, no dirt under the fingernails — is a twist. “They want to have a garden, they don’t want to garden,” said the cookbook author Deborah Madison, who lives in Santa Fe, N.M.

I guess if you don’t gain any satisfaction from growing a little of your own food and have the cash to spend on a personal gardener, why not, eh?

All the Industrial Meat School Kids Can Eat

This is a story about meat. It is not good.

It is a story about the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). Under this voluntary program, participating farms and other “livestock premises” register any cows, chickens, etc. that they raise – even if not intended for consumption -- with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and place a satellite-tracked “tag” on them.

This system is designed to respond to a disease outbreak in such animals, a la the “mad cow disease” problems in the UK a while back. Apparently, some members of Congress think it would help in the case of a massive E. coli-related meat recall like those the United States has experienced in the last few years.

In practice, it would do nothing of the sort.

This program is precisely the opposite of what is needed to improve our food safety. Not only does it provide incentives for [confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs)], but it fails to address the main source of food-borne illnesses – poor practices at the packing plants and food processing facilities. In the Hallmark/Westland beef recall, the problem was that the packing plant broke the law governing “downer” cattle and the USDA inspectors didn’t properly inspect the plant. In the Humane Society’s video, every time there was a clear shot of a cow’s left ear, you could see a tag! Changing the type of tag to an NAIS electronic tag would do nothing to address the problem.

The immediate issue? A provision in the House Appropriations Committee 2009 agriculture appropriations bill that requires the USDA to purchase meat products for the National School Lunch Program from livestock premises registered with NAIS beginning next July.

The National School Lunch Program, for those who don’t know, “provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children [in public schools] each school day.”

So, let’s revisit. What’s been the genesis of the U.S. meat recalls? Questionable meat as a result of questionable practices at massive packing/processing companies like Hallmark (meat that is then distributed by other large companies like Westland).

Where do they get their meat: the big CAFOs. So what? Under the said provision in this appropriations bill...

Confinement operations and massive corporate operations get essentially a free ride through provisions for “group identification,” which would not be available to most family farms. The industry organizations who helped create the program carefully provided that group or lot identification would only be allowed where animals are managed as a group from birth to death and never commingled with animals outside of their production system, a practice that is essentially limited to CAFOs and vertically integrated corporate operations. Family farmers stuck with tagging every animal (in most cases, with electronic identification) and reporting their movements would quickly be crushed by the expense, paperwork burdens, and potential fines for any failure to comply with this complex program.

[Quick aside to define something. From the comments to this op-ed, a family farmer provides a good definition of “vertically integrated corporate operations.”

The consolidation in the food animal industry, as well as the continued growth of completely integrated operations (where the processor owns the farm, the animals, and the processing plant), has led to a situation where independent producers, whether contracting or selling on the open market, are beholden to big corporations.]

I don’t know how many smaller-scale farms provide meat products to schools. I suspect it’s not many. But this requirement seems to have the sole purpose of driving any meat from small farms out of the school lunch game -- or, more likely, never letting them get started in the first place.

And, again, it would do nothing to address the problem raised by Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee Chair Rep. Rosa DeLauro in describing this bill:

This proposal would increase participation in the animal ID program. Also, in a case such as the historic Hallmark/Westland beef recall earlier this year, we would know about the history of the animals involved which could help address public health concerns.

Based on my own reading, most small farms do not rely on the same large meat processing plants that the big CAFOs do, mostly because, even if they wanted to (which at this point, given what’s been exposed in books like Fast Food Nation and in other reports about the inhumane way workers are treated and the foul conditions in many of these allegedly federally inspected plants, you wouldn’t think would be the case), they don’t provide enough volume for the plants to accept their business.

And, even more frustrating is that many small farms have a hard time finding processing plants they can work with, and the small processing plants – according to a recent report from the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (to which I can’t track down a link at the moment!) – have their own serious regulatory and workforce issues that are threatening their ability to continue operating.

What’s the bottom line?

Contact your member of Congress and let them know that 1) this proposal sucks, and 2) make it go away. Just say it nicely. Something along the lines of…

In the wake of the recent Hallmark beef recall, I appreciate any effort to ensure meat safety, particularly any meat intended for consumption by our school children. However, this NAIS provision in the House 2009 Agriculture Appropriations bill will do little to nothing to address situations like this, while effectively ending the participation of small- to mid-size family farms that engage in sustainable practices and provide what many consider far superior meat products to those that come from large confinement operations and meat processing plants.

It occurs to me that if Rep. DeLauro is really concerned about meat safety and our school children, she would take steps to provide some help to smaller farms and processors, directing the USDA to specifically purchase a certain percentage of organic fruits and vegetables, and pastured/grass-fed meat from said farms, and offer grants to help processors with their challenges.

I guess that’s too much to expect, though.

In the meantime, hopefully this lawsuit will stop this legislative atrocity in its tracks.

Eggs, Summer Veg, Goat Cheese

Had our first zucchini from the garden.

Had one of those tremendous mild white onions from the farm.

Had some brown eggs, also tremendous, from a different local farm.

Had a red pepper, courtesy of large grocery store chain.

Had some goat cheese, courtesy of same said large grocery store chain.

Had some fantastic, crusty bread – removed from freezer few hours prior – courtesy of the DeLallo store in Jeannette, Pa.

Had a delicious dinner.

Scrambled Eggs with Goat Cheese and Grilled Vegetables

• 5 eggs (cage-free & local, if you can get ‘em)
• 2 – 3 oz. of goat cheese, crumbled
• Half of a zucchini, cut thinly into half-moons
  
• Half a large red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
• ½ cup of thinly sliced onion
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• A few slices of crusty bread

Light a grill.

Beat eggs in a bowl with some salt and pepper. Toss the vegetables in a different bowl with a tablespoon or two of olive oil, salt, and pepper. When grill is sufficiently not (but not too hot), add vegetables. A grill plate or even some foil is advisable.

When vegetables are beginning to get tender, put a tablespoon of butter in a medium pan, over medium heat. Add eggs.

When vegetables are close to tender, add bread to grill. Cook on either side for 30 seconds to a minute. Remove vegetables from grill when they are tender, but careful not to overcook them. Onions should be nicely caramelized, hopefully with a few crispy ones.

Cook eggs until slightly more than set. Add a big scoop of eggs on top of a piece of toast, sprinkle on some goat cheese, and top each with a healthy portion of the vegetables. If you feel like it, drizzle a few drops of balsamic vinegar over top.

Enjoy.

Scrapin' Up the Bits... Humble Pie Style

I understand that my blog moniker is a bit… well, highly presumptuous. I am by no measure what Tony Bourdain or any other chef would consider a cook. I use it more in a dual sense: that I aspire to become highly skilled in the kitchen, and, in the more mundane sense, that, because I work out of my house, I don’t have to spend time commuting and, thus, do most of the cooking in our household.

And I cook a lot. But it’s not always good.

I’ve had several misfires lately. Wahoo steaks partly mangled on a ridiculously hot Weber grill while on vacation. The scallops that never got seared because I didn’t let the cast-iron pan get hot enough, accompanied by a grainy cauliflower puree. And, last night, a “spatchcock” chicken that was a tad undercooked -- well, the breasts -- because I pulled it from the grill too early. (In my defense, it was a big-a#$ chicken! Probably not the best choice for our first spatchcock. And, it should be noted, my wife did a wonderful job preparing the flattened out chicken.)

The only saving grace was the fantastic, remarkably tender grass-fed T-bones -- from Deanna and David McMaken’s Rose Ridge Organic Beef in Waynesburg, Ohio – I made on Saturday night. My ego needed that.

Meanwhile, a few other notable items….

What was that I said the other day, while discussing the new PGH program, about how there will be more food recalls? Another one might be coming pretty quickly…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is broadening its testing of food beyond tomatoes, including looking at imported products, to find the source of a salmonella outbreak in the United States, a spokesman said on Monday. …

Although tomatoes are still the "lead suspect," cilantro, jalapeno peppers and Serrano peppers have been added as possible culprits, according to FDA spokesman Mike Herndon.

And another reminder that corn as a fuel source is highly susceptible to weather perturbations.

Analysts said it's still too early to tell how much the Midwest crops have been damaged, but they will be keeping a close watch on data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture as the government agency continues to assess the crop land.

A large loss of acreage could slash U.S. corn production and push next season's year-end stocks to the lowest level since just after World War II, some analysts said. If bad weather continues in July and August, corn prices could rise to $10 a bushel, said Shawn Hackett, president of agriculture futures brokerage Hackett Financial Advisors.

Speaking of corn, Food & Wine, meanwhile, finds some organic or otherwise sustainably produced spirits, including…

Prairie Organic Vodka A clean, creamy vodka produced from organic corn grown by a Minnesota farmers’ co-op. The leftover cobs are converted to biofuel that powers distillation ($26).

And, finally, Mental Masala at the Ethicurean has the goods on Wal-Mart’s going all locavore. Part of the reason: reduce liability issues in the event of a recall, as I suggested the other day in the aforementioned PGH program post.

The big question, however, is whether this is the real deal, working with small farmers to procure fresh fruits and veg, or whether the company will resort to its usual, um, hardball tactics that many would argue do more harm than good.

Connecting Small Farms and Big Buyers

A little late coming to this, but better late, eh?

In any case, the so-called locavore movement seems to be picking up steam in these here parts, with an organization called the Progress Fund launching a new program called the Produce Grown Here, or PGH, project.

The project will help local farmers deliver the produce by connecting them with buyers and reduce costs by joining with other farmers to streamline operations.

First, let’s begin with The Progress Fund. What is it?

Few conventional lenders and business gurus tailor their offerings to small, rural businesses. The Progress Fund supports businesses that build the rural economy, typically while honoring the environment, reusing historic structures, reinvigorating traditional business districts, and creating living wage jobs.

From the description on its Web site, it sounds like the Progress Fund may have got its start thanks to one of Rep. John Murtha’s famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) earmarks. Nevertheless, in this case, it appears to be a worthy organization.

Next, some more details about the program.

The PGH project will focus first on Giant Eagle and Eat'n Park Hospitality Group, helping them to expand their existing local buying operations by connecting more local farmers with the two companies.

Because the local farming economy is fragmented -- there are 17,000 family farms in Western Pennsylvania alone -- many farms are too small to fill the needs of large companies like Eat'n Park, whose restaurants can go through 35,000 pounds of tomatoes a week.

The Progress Fund’s president and CEO, David Kahley, was kind enough to reply to an email to offer some further details on the PGH project:

“We’re presently focused on four products (tomatoes, corn, apples, and potatoes) to stay focused rather than scatter our initial efforts. I think our chances of success are best protected by staying focused. However, once we develop a good distribution system, our intention is to use that as a model for even more local foods, including high quality local meats produced by using sustainable practices.”

It is a bit disconcerting that the project’s launch involves to heavy hitters like Giant Eagle and Eat‘n Park, the latter of which already has ongoing efforts to get some of its produce locally.

But these are both fairly big operations that shouldn't necessarily need any free help if they want to source more produce locally. I can understand that both companies have choices and may be able to source many of the same products from very far away at an equal or even cheaper price, so if they can be encouraged to get more produce locally, that's fantastic.

However, in the current environment in which large recalls of vegetables and meat are a common occurrence, it’s a shrewd business maneuver – in that it could potentially reduce their liability in the case of future recalls (and let’s face it, there will be more recalls) – for them to take necessary steps to source more products locally.

In other words, this is something that it would appear these two operations – unlike smaller restaurants (even small, local chains) – have the resources to do on their own and should want to do.

In response, again, Mr. Kahley:

“For the foreseeable future, we are going to work with Eat’n Park and Giant Eagle because of their commitment and the partnership that has been developed over the past two years that got us to this point. But I’ll hasten to add that I hope that this effort will spread further into the community beyond our own efforts; by my way of thinking, the more involved will strengthen the overall results for [southwestern Pennsylvania].”

I hope to follow up with the project manager, David Eson, to get some more details about the participating farms and whether there are certain criteria that participating farms must meet (although it’s fairly obvious that, for the moment, they must grow apples, potatoes, corn, or tomatoes).

It would be nice if there were certain sustainability criteria that participating farms must meet (e.g., limited use of chemicals and pesticides and other sustainable practices) in order to participate, but that may be impractical and self-defeating. One would hope that most small-scale farms already operate in such a manner.

Obama's Ethanol Problem

I’ll admit that, at least with respect to the upcoming presidential election, I’m an Obama guy. But his position on subsidizing corn to produce ethanol is something that hopefully he’ll come around on once he’s in office.

Mr. Obama is running as a reformer who is seeking to reduce the influence of special interests. But like any other politician, he has powerful constituencies that help shape his views. And when it comes to domestic ethanol, almost all of which is made from corn, he also has advisers and prominent supporters with close ties to the industry at a time when energy policy is a point of sharp contrast between the parties and their presidential candidates.

In the heart of the Corn Belt that August day, Mr. Obama argued that embracing ethanol “ultimately helps our national security, because right now we’re sending billions of dollars to some of the most hostile nations on earth.”

Umm, Sen. Obama, how does planting even more subsidized corn to convert into ethanol, which is jacking up the cost of corn here and worldwide and which most experts seem to agree is significantly contributing to the international food crisis, help our national security?

The food crisis is pounding underdeveloped countries, leading to riots and unrest. Unrest breeds anger and hatred, particularly toward large superpowers whose policies are, to be kind, exacerbating the problem.

Anger and hatred does things to otherwise rational people. And just as reports have indicated that our little misadventure in Iraq and some of its related sequelae like Guantanamo Bay have proven to be exceptional recruitment tools for terrorists, it’s not a far leap to believe our food policies might be used in such a manner, as well.

Taking a step back to something more pragmatic – and completely ignoring the environmental impact of planting even more corn (the petroleum-based fertilizers, the gas-fueled equipment, the fertilizer run-off into already stressed waterways, the lost land to more monoculture, etc.) -- as the Environmental Working Group is now reporting, the entire concept of food for fuel has some serious flaws, including a tiny little speck of one called “bad weather.”

Most experts agree that the corn ethanol mandate plays a key role in higher corn and soybean prices and inflated U.S. and global food prices. The Washington ethanol mandate to convert food to fuel, a key provision of the 2005 and 2007 federal energy bills, put the full weight of U.S. policy behind the corn ethanol boom. Add to the equation the extreme weather already inflicted on the Corn Belt, and the likelihood of summer heat and a fall freeze, and an even sharper food and fuel price spiral seems inevitable.

If this scenario plays out, inflation is likely to worsen throughout the foundering U.S. economy. And many experts predict that the pace of food price inflation is likely to quicken in 2009, in line with the ethanol mandate’s climbing food-to-fuel targets.

I know it's getting you votes in Iowa, Sen. Obama, but how about taking that subsidy money and socking it into research focused on other, more sustainable alternative fuels, eh?

Just a thought from a concerned citizen, free of charge.

Scrapin’ Up the Bits… Alton Brown Style

I’ve always been an Alton Brown fan. He always set himself apart from the other “personalities” on the Evil Network with his wit and style, and if I happen to be watching TV and Good Eats is on, I’ll watch it.

Now, courtesy of the folks at Grist, I’m glad to see that Mr. Brown is planning to use his television platform to talk about something that is glaringly absent from most Evil Network programming:

During his lecture, Alton announced that his TV show would begin focusing on sustainability issues: how crops are grown and animals are raised. The shift in focus would be a form of penance, he said. ...

"I've spent the last nine years influencing what people do with food, but I haven't taught them about the real essence of feeding themselves, and I feel that it's high time to step up to bat," he says. "I've been busy being clever, but now I want to use what credibility I may have to help people think about sustainability."

My DVR will be set, Alton.

We don’t drink much tequila. But when we do, we choose Herradura Silver, which is then poured over ice with lime juice and some Cuantro for an excellent margarita. For the uninitiated on the finer points of tequila – such as myself – here is a short and sweet primer.

And if you like to cook with alcohol, here is an excellent way to use just a tablespoon or two of some high-end tequila.

Michael Ruhlman asks for some feedback on dinners that are “weekly staples” in his readers’ households. Reading through the comments, I can’t help but be a bit taken aback by some of the fairly, shall we say, complex weekday meals?

Thin loin pork chops on the bone, bound with a breading of Wondra flour, eggs (beaten and strained to get rid of the chalaza), and Ian's panko, cooked in olive oil; cucumber salad with a sweetened vinegar dressing (Hungarian style); lima beans braised in heavy cream.

Also, I must now grill a whole chicken. That basting sauce sounds too good.

And, finally, two researchers at Carnegie Mellon took a closer look at the environmental impact of eating local versus other factors in the food production chain. Their conclusion:

Thus, we suggest that dietary shift can be a more effective means of lowering an average household’s food-related climate footprint than “buying local.” Shifting less than one day per week’s worth of calories from red meat and dairy products to chicken, fish, eggs, or a vegetable-based diet achieves more GHG reduction than buying all locally sourced food.

Mental Masala at Ethicurean has a great post on the study and some factors it failed to consider, including pasture-raised animals for meat.

Redfish, Good Fish

As was the case last year, I spent a week of vacation eating way too much food, including ribs, lasagna, chicken thighs, fajitas, and Doritos… oooohhhh, Doritos. Every night I cursed myself for eating too much.

And as was the case last year, on the way out of the Outer Banks, we stopped at a fish market and picked up some locally caught, ultra-fresh fish to enjoy as part of a light dinner the night of our return. This time, instead of tuna, I picked out some beautiful, meaty redfish.

Also known as red drum, channel bass, and spottail, as well as other names, the filets I picked up, in their raw form, looked to me like mahi mahi. Our grill was out of propane, so I drizzled a little good extra virgin olive oil over the filets, added a healthy sprinkle of some pepper and smoked salt, and put it under the broiler for about 8 minutes.

When it came out of the broiler, I topped it with some sautéed mushrooms, very similar to the topping for mushroom bruschetta, replacing the heat with some finely diced shallots. Served it alongside a salad of local field greens with a tarragon vinaigrette, and it was an ideal – and much needed – way to end an enjoyable vacation.

Finally, if you're ever in the Outer Banks and looking for a family-friendly restaurant that serves excellent food, my highest recommendation goes to the Kill Devil Grill in Kill Devil Hills.

Green Garlic and Clams like Each Other

Picked up some green garlic from our CSA last week. A week before, the San Francisco-based chef Daniel Patterson had penned an article in the New York Times in which he recommended several ways to use this immature form of the bulbous garlic (which, like ramps, closely resembles a scallion, only bigger).

Chef Patterson's linguini with clam sauce sounded like an ideal dish to enjoy with a glass of white wine while sitting outside on a spring weekend evening. It was.

Admittedly, clams ain’t cheap, so while this is a “simple” pasta dish, it’s not something you’d have frequently. I have to think, though, that this could be adapted to include shrimp or mushrooms, among other things.

I’ve tried to lay out the recipe in a way that helps with timing, because I hate having to wait too long to finish a dish because something else isn’t quite done yet..

Linguine with Green Garlic Clam Sauce (adapted from Daniel Patterson)

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons minced green garlic, white and light green parts
• Crushed red pepper
• 3-4 pounds of well-cleaned clams
• ¼ cup white wine
• 1 cup of water
• 1 lemon, juiced and zested
• 1 pound linguine
• Handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Get a large pot of well-salted water boiling.

Put a few very good swirls of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. After a minute, add the garlic, crushed red pepper, and a big pinch of salt and cook for a minute or two.

Put the pasta in the water.

Add the clams, white wine, and water, and cook over medium-high heat, covered. After about 3-4 minutes, the clams will start opening, in fairly rapid succession. As they open, transfer them to a plate with a slotted spoon.

Remove the clams from their shells and mince (the clams, not the shells! :D).

Remember to check the pasta, because you don’t want it to be fully cooked in the water. You want it to be a little less than al dente, because you’re going to be adding it back to the pan with the clam “sauce” and it’s going to soak up some of it.

Strain the sauce -- which will seem much more like a broth -- from the pan through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl that’s large enough to hold the liquid.

Give the saucepan a good wipe, and add back the clam meat and sauce/broth to the saucepan over medium heat. Add the pasta, parsley, lemon juice (hold a little juice back, though, and add the rest after you’ve combined everything if it seems to need it) and zest, and combine well.

Let it cook together for just a minute, taste and adjust for salt, pepper, acid (aka, the lemon juice), and serve immediately with a small bit of freshly grated parmesan.

On Why You Should Make Your Own Guac

Avocados are not a local ingredient. They are native to Mexico and Central and South America, and 95% of the avocados produced in the U.S. come from the Golden State (thanks, Wikipedia).
 

Avocados are also expensive, and, to boot, if you’re trying to serve them on a specific day, it’s a fine art of learning how to purchase them ahead of time and ensure they’ll be ripe when you need them to be.

All of that said, if this doesn’t make you think thrice -- or more -- about buying already-made guacamole at the store, I’m not sure what can:

Kraft's Guacamole Dip in the dairy case looks tempting -- until you learn that its vibrant green color doesn't come from avocados (there are almost none in it) but from synthetic food dyes Yellow 5, Yellow 6 and Blue 1.

Perhaps that’s why the prefab guacs I have sampled – which admittedly hasn’t happened in a long time – seem to be so bland and, well, unavocadoy. 

So, please, I beseech thee, make your own. Look for the little bags with 4 or 5 avocados in them, which, from what I can tell, pound for pound, appear to be the cheaper route than buying individual avocados. Be sure to taste after you’ve combined all of the ingredients, adjusting for salt or lime juice. 

You can also roast your jalapenos, as I’ve taken to doing most times. Or you can substitute roasted poblanos, if you’d prefer a little less heat and a slightly different flavor. You can omit the peppers altogether and add a half cup of finely chopped pineapple, if you’d like something a little bit sweeter.

But, please, make your own. When people eat it and say, “This is fantastic. Where did you get it?” You can proudly say, “I made it,” and then proceed to scarf it down.

Scrapin' Up the Bits... GO PENS! Style

I’ll be honest, I really don’t consider Domino’s to be pizza. Rather, I see it as cardboard layered with tomato- and cheese-like products and ridiculous amounts of processed meat products overflowing in saturated fat.

Nevertheless, this is swee…eee..eeeT:

"We basically just had to keep the fluids going, get some food in you," Sykora said. "We had some pizza coming. We had some power bars and stuff like that."

Asked if the pizza was Little Caesar's, the company founded by Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch, Sykora flashed a smile.

"Domino's," he said.

The first pick-up of the year from our illustrious CSA included carrots, spinach, field greens, local honey, local syrup and a few other things.

The selection is limited this early in the season. Nevertheless, the carrots worked very well in an excellent carrot-ginger soup. The spinach accompanied some (mediocre) Italian sausage, onions, garlic, among other things, that ended up atop some gemelli. The field greens were fantastic eaten along side some homemade pizzas (including a fabulous experimental pie with red sauce, arugula pesto, and goat cheese), topped only with a standard balsamic vinaigrette.

And speaking of pizza, here’s a shot of our house specialty pizza: just sauce, chopped kalamata olives or, if you can find them, Moroccan olives, and, just as it comes out of the oven, a healthy sprinkling of freshly grated Pecorino.

A good addition to this pie are some thinly sliced roasted red peppers.

My mushroom hunting adventure had to be scrapped. Instead, got to see my soon-to-be 6-year-old score his lone soccer goal of the 8-game season. It was game 8.

I ordered and have received Michael Ruhlman’s Elements of Cooking. When I first read about this book last year, it seemed, well, kind of pretentious. But after reading some posts on his blog based on some of the “elements” included in the book, I decided maybe I was the one being dumb.

Inspired by Mr. Ruhlman, I hope to make my first homemade mayo this weekend.

And to wrap things up… For our 11^th wedding anniversary, we finally made it to Bona Terra in Sharpsburg. Tremendous meal. Can’t say enough good things about the food and service.

We ate:

• Chicken mouse tart with bacon-tomato relish (compliments of the chef)
• Foie gras with finely diced mango and guava (the foie gras looked like a grilled pork chop, the mango and guava like corn and carrots!)
• Brioche rolls with a roasted tomato butter (at least I think it was “roasted” tomato)
• A field greens salad with candied pecans, dried blueberries, a Spanish cabrales blue cheese, and a raspberry vinaigrette
• Potato, parmesan, and leek soup with ramp oil and hot chili oil
• Beef tenderloin topped with ramp butter
• Roasted duck with a pomegranate sauce
• Cheese plate with English toffee cheese and a wild berry compote

My only disappointment, and this is admittedly nitpicky, was the failure to specifically note on the menu the source of much of what was on our plate. After all, Bona Terra was named one of the top 100 farm-to-table restaurants by Gourmet, so I think Chef and owner Dennis Dick, now the three-time Chef of the Year according to Pittsburgh Magazine, owes it to his customers to be as explicit as possible about the local sources of the food being served.

We’re hoping to make Legume in Regent Square, another farm-to-table restaurant with a burgeoning reputation for fantastic food, for our next dinner out.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot: GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!