26 Oct 2012
by scolgin
in Observations, Recipes
Tags: cooking, food, hunger, Italian, José Andrés, NRDC, penne
Contemplating a quarter loaf of severely stale ciabatta bread in my kitchen this morning, I was reminded of a staggering statistic I read recently. “The NRDC report said Americans discard 40 percent of the food supply every year.”
All that stale bread & an overripe tomato can be
As a person with a gut-level aversion to throwing anything edible away, this figure was unimaginable — especially given the hunger not only around the world, but in our own country. Another statistic: “In 2010, 17.2 million households, 14.5 percent of households (approximately one in seven), were food insecure, the highest number ever recorded in the United States.” Children were “food insecure” (i.e. hungry) in 10% of households. All of which brings up a fairly obvious question:
How is it that 15% of America is hungry, when we are throwing away 40% of our food? More
23 Oct 2012
by scolgin
in Food, Humor, Observations, Recipes
Tags: drinks, japan, Japanese cuisine, Mansion of Dreams, Miyazaki, recipe, sake, spirits, sushi
When I was a lad, saké was something warm and exotic we drank at the local sushi bar that served underage kids. Not ones for moderation, we used to do something called a “saké bomb,” where we would drop the small ceramic cup of hot saké into our glass of beer, and then down the whole thing.
Saké Still Life (with Sushi Knife)
I remember once, several bombs in, I chucked a California roll at my friend Pat, sitting a few seats away. It hit him on the forehead and fell into his saké-and-beer. He lifted the glass, drank the bomb and ate the roll at the bottom in one epic gulp, and we all applauded. More
12 Oct 2012
by scolgin
in Cooking Tips, Observations
Tags: confit, demi glace, demi glaze, french cooking, goose, oie, paté, preserving, rillettes
The other day at my local supermarket, I caused quite the stir when I purchased a frozen goose.
Canada goose, John J. Audubon, 1838
“Is that a goose??” said the gal at the check-out counter, causing all the other shoppers waiting in nearby lanes to crane their necks as the frozen beast made its way forward on the conveyer belt. In California, you’re hard-pressed to find anything goose-related amidst the quinoa, skinless chicken breasts and tempeh. “Hey Esmerelda, look — a goose!”
More
28 Sep 2012
by scolgin
in Humor, Observations, Starlets, Yoga Students & Quinoa (stories)
Tags: bacon, clarified butter, food, ghee, humor, license plates, tofu, turkey bacon, yoga
A friend of mine at a design firm where I do contract work a couple days a week makes herself some turkey bacon every morning. You can smell it when you walk into the break room.
I began referring to it as “fakecon” (as in fake bacon), which she objected to. “It’s not fake, it’s turkey.”
Mmmmm.
As far as my knowledge goes, turkeys do not have a bacon cut. (If they did, Thanksgiving might’ve been a more memorable meal.) More
17 Sep 2012
by scolgin
in Food, Humor, Observations, Video
Tags: car chase, chiles rellenos, food, humor, Le Creuset, los angeles, Mexican food, O.J. Simpson, police
I was in kitchen, making dinner, when my 8-year-old son yelled from the family room. “Dad, car chase!”
Here in Los Angeles, we have our share of high-speed car chases — if you’re old enough to remember the O.J. Simpson murders, you’ll recall we even have slow-speed car chases. We’ve got a lot of cars, a lot of freeways, and a fair percentage of people doing things they shouldn’t be. I typically don’t pay much attention — it seems prurient, like staring at a car wreck or a topless woman on a European beach. But once in awhile, I get sucked in. Which is what happened the other night, as I cooked chiles rellenos. More
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