saucée

This is a very interesting thread. I am always surprised to hear how often people eat out. I'm not exactly sure what kind of a trend there is regarding this but I really don't think there will be very many kitchenless homes in the near future. Using Manhattan as an example doesn't work because it is so unique. New York has little in common with almost the entirety of the US in terms of the number of options for eating at restaurants, for instance. If the choice is to see what you can make out of what you have or drive say 5-10 miles for food that is badly prepared and makes you feel like you've got a rock in your stomach, what is the cost benefit analysis for that? As for cost benefit analysis and it's application to this issue, I don't think it's really a very valuable way of thinking about this problem. Fortunately, many things in the lives of humans are not quantifiable in dollars. When I learned about CBA in an economics class, my professor gave a few examples. I remember one distinctly in which he discussed the value in terms of dollars of reading a "story-book." The fact that he referred to literature as a "story-book" revealed that his perspective on such things was perhaps a bit limited, but the notion of attaching a dollar value to an hour of "story-book reading" was and is absurd to me. What is the value in terms of dollars of a piece of art (literature, music, food) that completely changes your perspective on life? There are things that are not quantifiable in dollars, such as the way a certain piece of music makes me feel or the excitement I get from making a meal that I think people will really enjoy and sharing it with them. Cooking is not like woodworking or sewing. People need to eat everyday and eating is perhaps one of the most dramatic interfaces humans have with the world and one another. When I have people over to my house and share food that I made completely from scratch, there is something else going on besides merely satiating ourselves for a reasonable price. I think making food is important to people and they will continue to do it because there's more than money that factors into this fundamental social act.

I don't live in a city with decent bread so I had to learn to bake. I started off kneading my sourdough breads in the food processor which works particularly well with high hydration doughs in my experience. I processed them for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes to good effect. I've since moved on to a stand mixer because it's more versatile and easy to clean, but I mention this because I don't think you can associate processor kneading with bad bread automatically. It's a different process, a faster and rougher one, but not intrinsically worse. As for the microwaving, I don't see a problem with it for pain de mie, because the flavor there is not about unlocking the nutty flavor of grain but about the added flavors of egg, sugar, milk, and butter. If you don't like breads like this, then this method is perhaps not for you but I don't think that heating the bread to speed up the process is any more artificial than cooling it down in a refrigerator (a.k.a. retarding). These are just different methods for different occasions/purposes. Josh ETA: My name.

I love the l'Etoile chops too and Willow Creek has amazing products; I'm lucky to be able to buy from them and other Madison purveyors. What Madison lacks in restaurants, it makes up in raw product. So I braised the jowls and they were quite good: I braised them with some wine, chicken stock, mirepoix, cinnamon clove juniper bay, and added some chestnuts. It was over the top: gelatinous, unctuous (I know this word has been called out as pretentious in another thread, but this is all I can think of), and rich. I've never worked with this cut before and I know it's been relegated to the variety meats category but it's well worth it. Treat yourself to some pork jowl. josh

Thanks, I hadn't seen this before. Coincidentally, I live in Madison and get my pork from Willow Creek. That's a cool blog; I can't believe I hadn't found it before. It looks like the consensus, for the most part, is braising so I think I'm going to braise them with wine and chestnuts, maybe with some gnocchi as an accompaniment, for a good, rich cold weather bowl of deliciousness. josh

I made duck breast for the first time ever: Fig/port wine sauce with the duck, over top sweet potato confit: My partner and I went to a restaurant and she ordered their "sweet potato confit." When it arrived, it was just a sweet potato puree and she was disappointed so I decided to try and make it for real. I stewed diced sweet potatoes in lard, then mixed with pork jowl bacon and onions carmalized in the rendered pork fat (and a little butter). I finished it in a 400 F oven and it was incredibly good. It was very rich, but the flavors were very bright. You can't eat too much though (what's on that plate was a bit much). Next time, I'll eat a little less of it (it put me to sleep) and I'll serve it without a blanket of duck which made for some less than stellar plating. The duck was also a bit overcooked. Oh well--next time. It was delicious anyway. josh

I have two fresh pork jowls in my freezer. I've been looking for information on them but haven't been able to find any. I love smoked jowls for their good mix of meatiness and fat but I'm not sure what to do with fresh ones and no one seems to use them (or at least no one wants to talk about it). What I do for fresh jowls? I am going to braise them for sure but they are covered with an amazing amount of fat. Should I cut off as much fat as possible and braise them the night before in order to fully degrease the sauce? Does anybody have any thoughts for braising pork jowl? Are there any other preparations that I don't know about? josh

I like to mix dough in the mixer then leave about 1 or 2 minutes at the end to finish it off. It really depends on what you're looking for though and the stand mixer provides a quicker way to make bread when you don't have that much time but still want to make your own bread. I think it offers more control and versatility over the bread machine. Mixing by hand is of course a part of the process that I really enjoy, but I don't have enough time to do it very often but still want to make my own bread. I've also found, though I may be mistaken in my observations, that big holes have more to do with the amount of hydration and how the loaves are handled in the bulk fermentation and proofing stages. This is not to say that I don't think proper kneading has anything to do with it, but I do think its quite possible to use a mixer and get good results. josh

Kitchen Aid Professional 600 6 qt mixers are on sale from Amazon for $210. I just got one after mixing dough in my food processor and the versatility of it is very liberating. As others have mentioned, you can do a lot with it and the 600 version is very capacious and powerful. josh

I've had some success in this area by starting the bread at 550 F, steaming with a pan and every 30 seconds with a spray bottle for 2 minutes (three sprays). Then, I take out the pan and stop spraying, reducing the heat to 450. As far as I've read you don't want to steam too long. Peter Reinhart in the Bread Baker's Apprentice says that steaming is only effective for the first 2 minutes. Harold McGee says that oven-spring is typically over after 6-8 minutes. He also says that the purpose of steam is that it enables the surface of the loaf to heat up four times faster while also keeping it more elastic and able to expand (this is "oven spring"), p.540 of _On Food and Cooking_ 2nd ed. So try to get your oven as hot as possible, 550 or 500, then steam for less time. Then bake until the loaf is at least 205 internally. josh

I second both of those methods. For the pan roasted, I suggest you crush some garlic and brown it in the oil you will use to cook the sprouts. When it has browned (over medium heat) throw it away as it will have imparted its flavor to the oil and become bitter. Then, have some cleaned and cut sprouts and place them cut side down on the pan. Cook until done to your liking with a lid on (I usually go 15 or so minutes). You could add some buttered bread crumbs for an extra buttery crunch or some crushed red pepper for a bit of heat. josh ETA: With some S&P, natch.

I think it works really well. I have a foodsaver and I'm a bit over the top when it comes to vacuum sealing (and straining sauces). I'm really satified with the things I've tried to seal which are all small things I want to be able to reclose like cheese, cubes of stock, frozen bacon, leftover chicken offal for stock, etc. I like it a lot and have recommended it to a lot of people. For under $10 (I got mine at Target), its a really good product.

On Friday, I started out with a warm goat cheese, beet, hazelnut salad. Then, I used some turkey leftovers to make a blanquette of turkey over fresh egg pasta. The blanquette wasn't heavy at all and the turkey was still delicious. The salad: The blanquette: I hope its not too late to post a turkey related dinner (though I'm sure everyone's had enough of turkey by now). josh ETA: I didn't even notice percyn's dish which is just like mine. I guess there's still room for turkey.

I don't think there are any hard and fast rules for this; I add 1 cup of starter to 13.5 oz flour, about 1 cup of water, 2 t salt for my dough. You might want to try a number of different methods to see which one you like best. Try a book like Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice for instance--he gives pretty reliable formulas for naturally leavened breads that you can follow from starter to bread but he uses a "firm starter" as opposed to Jackal's sponge or my straight to the dough method. There are a lot of ways to do it.

They're pretty easy to peel if you boil them for ten seconds. The skins slip right off. Your bechamel version does sound good. I might have to try it.

I've just started using lard after finding a local supplier. Though it can of course work wonders with baked goods and fried chicken, try it with pork chops--it makes some of the best pork ever. I use a cast iron pan (I'm sure stainless would work fine though) and pan roast it first over medium high heat for several minutes then a couple of minutes in the oven to finish it off. The exterior is a beautiful mahogany color and the flavor is incomparably roasty and rich.

I'm a little confused by this whole topic and I'm not sure where anyone stands. But Nika isn't an island. The whole localvore thing is a movement that is catching on. There are nutcases on all sides but growers like Nika are showing us there is an alternative to WalMart superstores and the attitude that "food miles is a crock". That's no small achievement. Believe it or not, there are lots of people who are really busy and still manage to eat real food and not shop at supermarkets or WalMarts. ← I'm also confused about what the topic is here--perhaps the topic's sensationalist title is too polarizing o rthe discussion is framed too broadly and loosely, I don't know. I think the notion that Nika isn't an island and that people can eat "real food" was already understood to be true. I myself eat "real food" (almost completely local) so I know it can be done. The question I was posing was maybe unanswerable--what is the conncection between mine or Nika's individual actions and possible political/community effect (though I didn't mean to single Nika out in my last post)? I don't think this is a question that can be answered and a number of things brought up in this topic have showed us that "food miles" might not be as simple as we thought (maybe showing us that our assumptions about what helps might not be quite right). Its also undeniably true that a great amount of damage is being done by industrialized food. I think I have learned a bit from this topic though. I initially accepted the doctrine that long shipping is always bad, local always good. I also didn't think of economies dependant on exporting and the benefit of processed foods shipped far (such as nutritious edible sheets or peanut bars sent to starving nations for relief, etc.). I guess my thinking on the subject has been complicated and I think that's a good thing.

*shrugs* eh, not much of a debate. ← I gotta agree with this. Considering what the thread title is, though, maybe you should start a new one: Food Miles Is undefined A Crock! Nika, I admire your passion and what you are doing. ← FabulousFoodBabe: thank you SO much for your kind support! ← Nika, I certainly wouldn't want to diminish your achievement--I think what you're doing is important of course (though these things tend to get lost in the heat of discussion). The food you produce is an example for everyone, but I still have questions about its larger community value (not to say it isn't valuable, of course it is)--the same as I have questions about anarchy in political theory. What is the connection between an individual's hard effort and benefit to others outside of their immediate family or even their community? I don't think these are things we can answer and like Anna, I, and I'm sure many others, do a number of things without knowing what the effect on the larger system (whatever that may) might be. Sometimes I guess its hard to see the connection between ethical action and a (hoped for) political action. I think most people that have posted here are pretty much on the same page and are clued in but my question is: what about everyone else?

Tonight's dinner: arroz con pollo with squash

Tonight's dinner: Grilled pork chop with juniper butter over quick-pickled cabbage salad with grilled pattypans topped with pecorino and lemon-pine nut pasta

Very cool; thanks for the info.

I am actually male. My username is not a participle but a noun, la saucee, meaning, "downpour." It has no relation to cooking or sauces, I just thought it was a cool word. Also, as a teacher, the "Law of Unintended Consequences" is something I have quite a bit of experience with. Take a trip to Boston, to a community garden there, and ask yourself what you see. Do you see rich white yuppies or do you see recent immigrants from all parts of the world? I know first hand that the community gardens in Boston are a fantastic melting pot of people who are growing food for themselves. They have skills such as 1) actually knowing how, when, where, to plant 2) how to harvest their crops 3) how to cook it in the best and most delicious way for them, 4) how to grow it intensively in an inner-urban landscape (if they do not know this right away, they learn it over a couple of seasons). As they work their community ground, they are not dithering over food miles or what Pollan said or what was written about it all in the NYT or what a food blogger opined. They only care that their garden grows, that idiot neighborhood vandals dont torment their plot, and whether their garden will be taken from them so that the city can have one more gas station or highrise luxury condo complex built. Growing food is not classist unless you feel you are not part of that "class". Growing food can be simply a part of what you have always done or it can be new and empowering. Either way, its about what you PUT in your mouth rather than what you spout with it. ← Believe you me, I am not against community gardens nor do I think they are classist. That would be quite silly. I live close to a community garden and would have a plot in it if I had the time, but I don't and won't for quite some time. About 10 months out of the year I work more than I thought humanly possible and don't get paid much. The other 2 months are spent doing more work. It's just not possible. This problem can be understood fruitfully in terms of class, however, especially when it comes to unraveling some of the rhetoric that drives thinking and acting on the subject. It's of course not the only way but it certainly cannot be denied. What you put in your mouth is indeed important but so is what you "spout" with it because that's what in large part frames your thinking on it. I wish it were as easy as just acting, but there are as many minds out there as there are mouths and they need to be engaged as well. Shutting down discussion of a problem by advocating action over discourse doesn't make a problem go away; it makes the problem worse. Ethics is, in my opinion, more about thinking and arguing about acting than actually acting (the Greek root of this word is "character," meaning you change the character first and the change in action follows). Rhetoric is an important aspect of ethics. I do think we very likely fundamentally agree in principle, but I don't agree with reductionist arguments that pare extraordinarily complex problems (that no one on earth can probably completely comprehend) down to what all people should do. I'm a bit hyper-sensitive to this, but rhetoric is a large part of the equation and I think it's very important. I think the "Law of Unintended Consequences" is in evidence here in my posts as well as yours. Also, I should mention that I eat more than 90% local organic food (what's life without lemons, oranges, Burgundies, advocados, though), including meat, milk, etc. It's something I feel privileged and lucky to be able to do and it's all thanks to me living in the second largest organic food producing state in the union and having the time to research farms and make connections with farmers during the summer. I don't know if I'd be able to keep it up in many other places in the country. I applaud you and your farm and part of me wishes I could do it too, but I can't so I get food from someone else. I also recognize that many people live in war torn areas of the world, in ghettos, or simply in places where certain products are not available or desirable. I'm certainly not a rich white yuppy and neither is anyone else I know who's concerned with these issues, so I'm not trying to claim that you're one either. I wouldn't know and wouldn't assume to know.

Mutatis mutandis of course. That's what I always say, and as a matter of fact I'm thinking of silk-screening it on t-shirts with colorful little veggies flying around the perimeter. I'm not sure that the system is getting better for everyone. I'm willing to be persuaded though. ← Can I get one of those shirts? And I'm not so sure either, though I do think that it could happen. I'm also an idealist when it comes to the power of critical thinking and discussion to make things happen.

Indeed, in these days of global capital, things are a bit more complex than simply shutting it all down. That would be quite a bit more destructive than any of Stalin's five year plans, causing the fatal starvation of many apartment-dwellers such as myself and Gastro to name a few. Also, to say that "everyone" should do something as expensive, time-consuming, and privileged as growing one's own food is a fantasy that seems to work along classist guidelines that don't even conceive of or seem to take into consideration people who have less economic power (think extreme rightishness, ). It's not very helpful to trade in absolutes such as this. That said, I think it's true that it would be better if we all do what we can and that what we choose to eat is a political decision and that eating alternatively might be subversive. It's also expensive and difficult, as the entire system as it is seems to be working quite against it (eg subsidy taxes that benefit conventional food that still must be paid, lack of adequate logistics in a lot of places, etc). Conventional food is here to stay and it does have some benefits along with its troubling problems. Perhaps if we could alter both the conventional food system using some of the preferable elements of alternative food and vice versa, the situation would undoubtedly be better. Mutatis mutandis, I think we could indeed create a better system that provides better food and nourishment to everyone (there, I said it ). In my opinion, it's getting better even now, in large part due to people committed to seriously discussing it and all its complexities in public forums such as this one.

I also thought there would be plenty there because of an influx of consumer money, proximity to the beach, and the place's reputation as a golfing destination (I guess my assumption that many people who play golf might also like to dine/eat well=stupid). But unfortunately, the place was full of chain restaurants and the supermarkets were overpriced with very poor products. I even saw imported tiger shrimp in a seafood shop that was less than a block from the beach ( ). Oh well, sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you.

Everything looks so good here. I've been away from town in what has been aptly described on this site as a culinary wasteland (Myrtle Beach, SC) and can confirm that the place is indeed quite lacking in edibles. I even had an extremely difficult time finding fresh local ingredients to cook with (including local shrimp which were frozen wherever I bought them and were even non-existent in some seafood shops)-- . In any case, tonight a little comfort food: Summer squash gratin, turnips with horseradish maple glaze, new york strip with anchovy butter: