August 2010
8.2.10 Gone Fishin'
I'LL BE BACK AFTER LABOR DAY!! I'm taking a little time off from the blog. Time to relax and recharge. I hope you won't feel I've abandoned you. I love sharing my adventures in and out of the kitchen with you. Even though you're not a very vocal bunch, I know that on some days there are actually a couple hundred of you out there, and I'm counting on all of you to come back in September—and bring some friends with you! Going forward, I'm going to try to diversify a little bit; my original intention had been to blog about more than just cooking and food. I'm still planning to conquer sourdough bread, perfect a tomato aspic and write a big-picture treatise on creating the ultimate well-stocked pantry, but I hope to begin a new series of interviews with inspiring people and also share the saga of building our dream home. For now, for these dog days, I'll be lounging in the hammock, working on my novel and soaking up the summertime. Before I go, I'll leave you with a few suggestions...
8.1.10 Grillin'
The fruits of one's own garden just seem to taste sweeter. Our first patty pan squash, Japanese eggplants and scallions went on the grill, along with red carrots and sweet onions from the farm. With a radicchio salad in a creamy dressing, that was all we needed for dinner the other night. I made a dipping sauce for the vegetables with an earthy red miso and it truly was perfection. A grill can really change the way you eat, especially if you live in LA or some other temperate climate. As irresistible as that charred flavor can be, I want you to be aware that too much blackened food is not good for you. Burning food produces a group of substances (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) that are associated with cancer, cardiovascular toxicity and immune system suppression, among other adverse effects. So avoid extreme charring of your food, and don't eat from the grill every day. Moderation really is the key. (Except when it comes to exercise, of course.) But don't despair! You can use you grill to cook in a number of ways that don't involve charring but still infuse your food with that delicious smoky flavor. Low and slow, as in our pulled pork for instance, or indirect cooking, which really is the best way to do chicken or other foods that tend to burn quickly.
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