Food Section Wednesday
I'll just hop around the various newspapers and see what's cooking today.Amy Scattergood at the "Latte Times" has an interesting write-up on a scattered smattering of blogs she found interesting. (How perfect is her last name for this particular article!)
..."The appetite for this information seems to be endless," says LA.com editor Lonny Pugh. "And the more the better. If you look at one, you look at them all. There doesn't seem to be a saturation point.""The Edgy Veggie" over at the Miami Herald, talks about the "Year of Living Dangerously"
Too busy cooking to read.
NOT everyone is convinced that the food world's appetites are best served by the exponentially expanding blogosphere. In an informal poll of L.A. chefs, Water Grill's David LeFevre said he thinks that food blogs are a "distraction" for himself and his staff, while Lucques' and A.O.C.'s Suzanne Goin admits to being "totally clueless" about them. On the other hand, Dakota Weiss of the Tower Bar and the Terrace says in an e-mail, "I'm on the Internet often reading them. I use them to see what's going on with other chefs and to keep up with trends."
And for those of us who are as plugged into the Web as we are to our KitchenAids, all those blogging food lovers are difficult to ignore.
acme instant food / food porn l.a. / chubby panda / la foodblogging / yougoingtoeatthat (aka professor salt) / potatomato / the great taco hunt
The Bangor Daily News lets us know that National Pie Day is January 23 and that the Rockland Inns are going to be celebrating it throughout the month of January.It has been, alas, a tough year for produce. Outbreaks of E. coli turned spinach and scallions into the enemy, bringing to mind a quip by Monty Python's Michael Palin: ``All I ask of food is that it does not harm me.''
He was half joking. I'm totally serious. If we can't take safe-to-eat produce for granted, it's time to re-examine the way we grow and process our food.
The Anchorage Press informs us that it is "Colon Cleansing Season." (ah...thanks for that info...)
The Charleston Post & Courier reminds us how nutricious (and tasty) a sweet potato can be and shares with us a recipe for Sweet Potato Salad.
Sweet Potato Salad
Start to finish: 15 minutes
Serves 8
4 precooked, refrigerated, medium sweet potatoes (about 6 to 8 ounces each), recipe follows
4 green onions (for about 2/3 cup sliced)
2 ribs celery (for about 3/4 cup diced)
1/4 cup olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1/2 orange, or 3 tablespoons breakfast-style orange juice
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon seasoning salt, such as Lawry's
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Cook's note: This salad tastes even better a day after it's made.
Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into bite-size pieces. Place the pieces in a large bowl. Thinly slice the green onions, including enough of the tender green tops to make about 2/3 cup. Add them to the bowl. Rinse and dice the celery, and add it to the bowl. Set aside.
Mix the oil, lemon juice, orange juice, soy sauce, garlic powder, chili powder, seasoning salt and pepper in a measuring cup. Whisk well. Pour over the potato mixture and stir gently to coat, but avoid breaking up the potatoes. Serve at once, or refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve. Leftovers keep, refrigerated, for up to 3 days.
