the arugula files

I was drowning and she pulled me out of the ocean.

Did you know that Julia Child didn't start cooking until she was 32 years old?  She later entered Le Cordon Bleu at age 37.  Ahem, that's about how old I am, minus one year (don't say it out loud).  This is what I love about Julia - she not only opened the door to the professional kitchen for many women, she personified possibility.  I'm 36 years old and I can still do anything. Why do I think that?  Julia Child.

There are many books inspired by Julia Child, but if you haven't read Julie and Julia yet, you have exactly 96 days before the movie version comes out.  I loved this book.  I'm assuming that if you read food blogs, you've heard of Julie and Julia, but just in case you only plugged into the world recently, it was written by Julie Powell who, bored by her dead end job, decides to cook and blog every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking--all 524 recipes.  Her crazy blog, the Julie and Julia Project, gives her life the shot in the arm she needed: she finds purpose and writes a terrific book about her experiences cooking and blogging (which is now a movie).  A book about blogging recipes?  It sounds boring, but it was a wonderful story of someone who finds themself.

Towards the end of the book, Julie Powell sits down to write Julia Child, who had just died, a thank you.  She writes, "I have no claim over the woman at all, unless it's the claim one who has nearly drowned has over the person who pulled her out of the ocean."  That line made me sob when I was reading the book.  It's in the movie preview, and I sobbed after that too.  I'm not sure why Julia Child makes me cry.  I can only think that it's the same reason why I tear up when I watch commercials for the Olympics: they are both so damn inspirational.

Here's the movie trailer {hat tip to Amateur Gourmet}
Thanks to Flickr user Rakka for the fun photo.

Get Ready for Foodie Fight!

This week I'm a blogtestant on www.foodiefights.com.  What does that mean?  Foodie Fights is Iron Chef meets the internet meets the food blogerati.  Basically, people sign up, and six bloggers are selected to battle it out.  The blogtestants get two surprise ingredients that they must use in the preparation of one course.  The blog entries are submitted to www.foodiefight.com and the internets votes.  The entries are also rated by guest judges. 

I love this idea.  It wasn't mine though.  Nick and Dan from Macheesmo and The Food In My Beard (TFIMB) are its creators. 

Guess what the two ingredients are....

Rhubarb and coriander seeds--an amazing combination!

I'm not sure what I'll make.  The possibilities are endless.  

Check out my blogtestants; it's an excellent line up.

Crazy Monkey House

Brake for Bread

Aga Kitchen

Downsized!

Elaine - The Gourmet Girl

Vegan Until Six pm? A Look at Food Matters by Mark Bittman

I just finished Mark Bittman's new book, Food Matters.  It's quite good; though if you have read any of Michael Pollan's work or Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, not much of this book will surprise you.  We are eating ourselves into extinction, and our love for steak, short ribs, and baby lamb, is exacting intolerable effects on the environment. Our food policy sucks, and Americans are fat as a result. For the uninitiated, the first half of Food Matters includes horrifying statistics and thoughtful policy critiques.  Old news to most people who care about such things.  But, by providing recipes, tips, and quiet motivation along with a dollop of persuasion, Bittman does what Pollan failed to do in his book: operationalize the "more plants" mantra.  He also achieves a level of practicality that Kingsolver misses: we can't all move our family to a farm, grow asparagus, raise chickens, sell rainbow colored eggs, and spend a year writing about it (though I wish I could, especially the part where I get a fat advance for the book).  That's not to say that I didn't love AVM, I did.  But it was more theoretical than applicable.  

So does Food Matters have added value? 

Good Food Reads for Snow Days

My tiny kitchen

Tomorrow is a snow day.  Right?  I think we should all stay home and read.  Here are a few food articles and blog posts that sparked my interest.  

Food Writer at Olsson's in Dupont Circle

Jen Lin-Liu, the author of Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China, will be speaking at 7pm on September 23, at Olsson's Books in Dupont Circle.  I'm currently addicted to "food stories" and this looks like a great read. 

From Olsson's website "As a freelance journalist and food writer living in Beijing, Jen Lin-Liu already had a ringside seat for China's exploding food scene. When she decided to enroll in a local cooking school—held in an unheated classroom with nary a measuring cup in sight—she jumped into the ring herself. In Serve the People, Lin-Liu gives a memorable and mouthwatering cook's tour of today's China as she progresses from cooking student to noodle-stall and dumpling-house apprentice to intern at a chic Shanghai restaurant. A food critic for Time Out Beijing and the coauthor of Frommer's Beijing, she also has written for Newsweek, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Saveur, and Food & Wine. She is the founder of Black Sesame Cooking School in Beijing."

5 Food Blogs You Should Read! Seriously.

We all spend hours at smitten kitchen or reading through countless (and flawless) recipes from Elise.  I'm alway interested in what Pioneer Woman has on the stove and what her kids are up to.  And the photos at 101 Cookbooks and Food Blogga make me drool.  There are literally thousands of food blogs out there.  It's hard to read them all. I TRY.  Here are five food blogs you might not know about, but you should.  Seriously.

1. Pete Bakes - Check out Pete's recipe for challah bread.  People who are not professional bakers make challah bread? Wow. I'm going to try it this week.
2. Baker's Banter by King Arthur - Inspiration from the king of flour.
3. Eight Acres at Wheatland Vegetable Farm Blog - I love farmers who blog.  This one is new.
4. The Traveler's Lunch Box - Search for "saganaki."
5. The Bitten Word - These guys are making all the recipes you noted in your foodie mags, but still haven't got around to cooking.

A word about the photo: I didn't make it.  This delicious quiche was made by Quail Creek Farm.  I came across it at the Penn-Quarter Farmers Market.  I had already eaten lunch. Sigh.

The Secret Life of Lobsters

lobster claw, originally uploaded by Simon Goldenberg.

I recently finished The Secret Life of Lobsters by Trevor Corson. This book has lots of fun facts about my favorite crustacean. For example, male lobsters are big bullies who march around the ocean floor terrorizing their counterparts. If they were human, we might describe them as the type that are always “up in your face.” In fact, dominant male lobsters are so aggressive that when it comes time to mate the female lobster pees in his face to help sedate his violent tendencies. Then they have sex, the female discards her shell, and serves it to the male as a post-coital snack. Gross! In addition to describing the bawdy details of lobster sex, this book provides an interesting account of Maine’s struggle to manage the lobster industry (lobster men versus scientist), including the challenges in measuring and forecasting the ocean’s supply of lobsters. It sounds odd to describe this book as a page-turner, but I could not put it down.

Learning About Oysters

Oyster - ready to slurp, originally uploaded by Flickr User Basenisa. 

I’m neck deep in preparation for my upcoming vacation. Preparation? For a vacation? Yes, preparation.

The last week in August, I’m headed to Prince Edward Island. Just a week of sitting on the beach, biking, and eating. Eating OYSTERS, LOBSTER, CLAMS, MUSSELS, AND SCALLOPS. OH MY.

The problem with my plan is that I know next to nothing about oysters. Sure, I’ve eaten many, but oysters are much like wine—their taste reflects where they grow. And to pick good oysters, you have to be familiar with where they come from. Now obviously, my plan is to try every single type of oyster on the island, but it would be nice to know something about the different types before I start eating them like popcorn.

As part of my preparation, I’m reading The Geography of Oysters, a wonderful guide by Rowan Jacobson. His writing is beautiful and the book covers everything from different types of oysters, notes on sustainability, and how to shuck, prepare, and eat them. I highly recommend it.

A special thanks to Basenisa, for sharing the most luscious photo of an oyster I could find in the internets.

Are You Eating Power Foods? Seriously.

Is the New York Times right or wrong?  Today's health section features an article called “Well: The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating.”   Best foods I'm not eating? Really? I doubt it.  You see similar articles in women’s health and fitness magazines. The titles form questions that leap off the cover, zooming in on my neurotic tendencies, and appealing to my need for a convenient universal remedy.  Are you eating the top five power foods that prevent cancer? As I flip to page 22, I am thinking please, let onion dip be number five. Putting aside the wish list--if you have read one of these articles, then, really, you have read them all.

Magazine writers have penned these cure-all food articles 100 different ways. I imagine that editors get extra points for adding a new twist and writing captivating titles.  I already know the foods that show up regularly on these lists: almonds, blueberries, garlic, salmon, and whole grains, among a few other regulars.  Right, I got it.  Tell me something new.  Gorgonzola cures bad posture. Now there is a title that commands attention.

I almost didn’t click on the NYT article, and probably wouldn’t have, except that it is currently on “the most emailed list,” and, yes, the title got me.  11 best foods I’m not eating? It was a throw down.  And it worked.  I clicked on the article expecting to find that I was, in fact, already eating all 11 items.  Turns out I’m not eating any of them.

1. Beets – Not a fan.
2. Cabbage – Maybe once in the past five years.  Mixed with a lot of butter, of course.
3. Swiss chard –  Embarrassingly, I’ve never tried swiss chard.  It sure looks pretty.
4. Cinnamon – Okay, I’ve had cinnamon.
5. Pomegranate juice – Do pomtinis count?
6. Dried plums – Never. Aren’t these prunes? Some how, the re-branding works in making them appealing.
7. Pumpkin seeds – Not since my ninth Halloween.
8. Sardines – No. Never. Ever.
9. Turmeric – This seems easy enough.
10. Frozen blueberries – Frozen?
11. Canned pumpkin – Too sweet.

Right on New York Times!  This list surprised me. And I’m easily influenced.  I will add numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10 to my shopping list and head to the bar for a pomtini to lower my blood pressure.

American Chop Suey

When Marcus looked at me with his big blue eyes and earnestly asked, “Please, can we get it?" I could not say no. Any person who asks for hamburger in a tone reserved for expensive Christmas presents is clearly missing something in his life. Ground hamburger, aka, red meat is a special treat for Marcus. I cook ground turkey about once a week, but I can not remember the last time we bought real meat (as Marcus would describe it). So we bought the hamburger.

I had no idea what to do with it. I didn’t want to make burgers or tacos—what I usually cook with ground turkey. Something different was in order. I was thinking about the dishes my Mom used to whip up and then it came to me: American Chop Suey. I boiled elbow macaroni, added tomato sauce to some cooked hamburger, sprinkled hot pepper flakes on top, and served it. All the while I was thinking how lazy and uninspired. Then Marcus was all “this is the best thing you have ever cooked! I mean it.” A meal on par with Hamburger Helper is my best meal. Awesome. He asked me what it was called and I told him, surprised that he never had it.  Why is it called chop suey? I had no idea, so we did what any other nerd couple would do, we googled the etymology of American Chop Suey. Turns out, it is a New England thing. Pass the lobstah, baby (I'm from the Boston area). Speaking of searching for answers...Jennifer 8. Lee tracks down the origin of one of my favorite cookies in her new book the Fortune Cookie Chronicles. A full length book about this topic stretches the material like Laffy Taffy (it would make a great New Yorker article), but it is a quick read that is admittedly better than watching TV.