Summer Fest/Fall Fest: Whatever the Name, We're Talking Peppers!

The party continues! We'll continue as Summer Fest 2010 until the autumnal solstice, then we rename our cross-posting project Fall Fest 2010 -- with a cool new logo by Matt Armendariz, too.

In the meantime, this week, it's peppers on the menu! Sweet peppers, spicy peppers. Maybe even some dried peppers.

Many years ago, when I lived in New York, I was invited to a dinner party at which I was served fire engine red bell peppers as the first course. They had been roasted, skinned, and seeded, then arranged on small individual plates as a perfect red fillet, topped with olive oil, garlic, and a sprinkling of herbs. I'd never seen or tasted this before and it made a huge impression on my 23-year-old self. Since then I've always tried to have marinated roasted red peppers in the fridge. They're delicious with an anchovy on a slice of toasted baguette, mixed into a tomato sauce, or topping a pizza.

Now, being so close to Mexico, it's inevitable that I'd have a thing for dried peppers. And hot sauce. Combine the two -- and make your own. Here's a recipe for a delicious, very spicy hot sauce using dried chile arbol.

Consuelo’s Hot Sauce
This is a recipe shared with me by a lovely woman named Consuelo, with whom I enjoy making tamales most holiday seasons at the home of my friend Angela Nava's mother Bertha. Part of the tradition includes eating stews and having crisp tortilla chips around. This piquant sauce she served to brighten the stews (and that I dipped the chips into) was a marvel to me. Consuelo generously -- probably more out of amusement at my enthusiasm -- shared it with me. It's far better than traditional Tabasco and ranks up there with my favorite, Tamarula sauce.

1 2oz.-pkg of chiles de arbol
3-5 cloves of garlic
2 tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground black pepper
¾ cup distilled white vinegar
Water

1. Remove stems from chiles and place the chiles in a saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes or until the chiles are very soft.
2. Remove the chiles from saucepan and place in blender or food processor. Let them cool.
3. Add garlic, salt, pepper and about ¼ cup of water and puree.
4. Add vinegar and blend. The result is a vibrant red sauce studded with seeds.

Of course, we're in the height of Hatch chile season. And, while I'm not in New Mexico, San Diegans have enthusiastically embraced the smoky flavors of the long green peppers that make their way here to shops like Whole Foods and Bristol Farms -- and some of the farmers markets. Now, there is no one "Hatch" pepper. Rather, it's a collection of peppers, like Slim Jims, that are grown in the Hatch area. They have a small harvest window, as in now, but the great thing about Hatch chiles is that the best way to use them is after they've been roasted. Now most of us don't have this kind of roaster, which belongs to Richie's Chiles (shown at the Little Italy Mercato).

As you can see, he's got a big batch roasting. You can buy the chiles from him, either roasted or raw to roast yourself. Simply put them on the grill or under the broiler until they blister. Let them cool, then bag them for the freezer (you can wait until you thaw them to pull off the skin and seed them.) They freeze well so you can keep them for cooler weather dishes, like my friend Laura Merrill-Levy's Hatch Chile Stew. This is a favorite of mine, made with pork, potatoes, and masa, that I've written about before.

Of course, you can chop and add Hatch chiles to all sorts of other dishes that call for chiles. And use them whole and stuff them with cheese and other ingredients to make Chiles Rellenos. And, Richie also sells dynamite pepper jams and Hatch chile powder.

Well, let's see what everyone else is up to with peppers:

Alison at Food2: Making Hot Pepper-Infused Tequila
Michelle at Cooking Channel: A Peck of Perfect Pepper Recipes
Kirsten at the FN Dish: Chiles Rellenos and More Stuffed Peppers
Liz at Healthy Eats: 10 Ways To Eat Sweet Peppers
Margaret at A Way to Garden: Oven-roasted peppers, and freezing how-to
Caroline at The Wright Recipes: Homemade Harissa & Sweet and Spicy Peperonata
The Gilded Fork: Dossier and recipes on peppers spicy and sweet
Nicole at Pinch My Salt: Pickled Serrano Peppers
Paige at The Sister Project: Grilled Tomato Salsa with Jalapenos
Alana at Eating from the Ground Up: Homemade Hot Sauce and Why Gloves are a Good Idea
Cate of SweetNicks: Summer Panzanella

Now It's Your Turn!
This collaborative effort won't be much fun without you! The more info we all give, the more we'll all enjoy summer's harvest. Have a recipe or tip that fits any of our weekly themes? You can contribute in various ways, big or small.

• Contribute a whole post, or a comment—whatever you wish. It’s meant to be fun, viral, fluid. No pressure, just delicious. 
• Simply leave your tip or recipe or favorite links in the comments below a Summer Fest post on my blog any upcoming Wednesday, and then go visit my collaborators and do the same.

The cross-blog event idea works best when you leave your recipe or favorite links (whether to your own blog or someone else’s) at all the host blogs. That way, they are likely to be seen by the widest audience. Everyone benefits, and then we're all cooking with some great ideas. Or go big: Publish entire posts of your own if you wish, and grab the big red tomato Summer Fest 2010 badge above (illustrated by Matt of Mattbites). We'll also be tweeting using #summerfood as our hashtag until Sept. 21, then we'll switch to #fallfood. Here's the schedule:

Sept. 1: Sweet and Spicy Peppers
Sept. 8: Garlic
Sept. 15: White (or colorful “white”…but not sweet) Potatoes
Sept. 22: Spinach
Sept. 29: Apples
Oct. 6: Fall Salads
Oct. 13: Pumpkin and Winter Squash
Oct. 20: Pears
Oct. 27: “Mad Stash” (as in what you’re freezing/canning/drying, etc.)
Nov. 3: Root veggies
Nov. 10: Brassicas: incl. Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, Cabbage or other
Nov. 17: Sweet Potatoes
Nov. 24: Bounty to Be Grateful For

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Slumber Party with Camp Confab at Suzie's Farm

Play in the dirt, take a hike, horseback ride on the beach, learn how to compost, hear scary ghost stories at a campfire. And eat! All these things are for you to enjoy at the upcoming Cook's Confab at Suzie's Farm in Imperial Beach.

“We often hear the words farm to table, but most people don’t really know what that means and how our food gets from the field to their kitchens and favorite restaurants,” said Andrew Spurgin, co-founder of Cooks Confab. “We want to bring San Diegans closer to their incredible local produce and to the lush setting from which it comes while giving them a fun experience that reminds the of childhood.”

 Lucila de Alejandra

Activities throughout the weekend will include tours of Suzie’s Farm with Head Weed Puller Lucila de Alejandra, Composting 101, Tijuana Estuary Tour, Riding Horses on the Beach and, of course a Camp Fire Program complete with talent show and ghost stories! Rolling in for lunch will be the talented team from MIHO Gastrotruck, who will incorporate Suzie’s Farm products into their already delicious local and sustainable hot-off-the-truck cuisine. Local Cheesemonger Gina Freize of Venissimo will also be teaching West Coast Cheeses 101, and providing some incredible artisan gems for dinner. To wash it all down, guests will choose from a selection of local craft beers provided by celebrated Master Brewer Tomme Arthur of Lost Abbey. Tomme will also be teaching a class on craft beer for all beer lovers!

Then participants will join the chefs as they forage on the farm to select ingredients for a family-style  dinner. Mixologist Ian Ward of Snake Oil Cocktail Co. will create pre-dinner beverages. Produce will be accompanied by a barbacoa of locally raised goat and stick fire roasted locally caught fish. After dinner there will be a tasting of award-winning Casa Nobel Tequilas and a few words from the owner. Then it's off to the handmade Marshmallow S'Mores bar!

Campers will wake in the morning for a fascinating demonstration by Falconer Andrea Asbaugh as she clears the field and will enjoy a Cowbell Breakfast prepared by Cooks Confab Chefs.

Participating Confablieri include: Amy DiBiase – Cosmopolitan, Andrew Spurgin/Donald Coffman – Waters Fine Catering, Antonio Friscia – Stingaree, Christian Graves – Jsix, Ian Ward – Snake Oil Cocktail Co., Katie Grebow – Café Chloe, Melissa Mayer – Suzie’s Farm, Olivier Bioteau – Farm House Café, Paul McCabe – KITCHEN 1540.

Joining the Confablieri as guest chefs for this special occasion will be acclaimed Chefs Marc Ehler and Patrick Ponsaty of Mistral at Loews Coronado Bay.

Only 50 people can join in this sleepover at the farm Sept. 11 and 12. Tickets will be $225 and will sold on a first come, first served basis at www.cooksconfab.com. Tickets will go on sale at 9:00 A.M. September 1st and 100% percent of proceeds will be donated to Slow Food Urban San Diego.


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Summer Fest 2010: Week 5 -- Tomatoes

Finally! It's tomato week for Summer Fest 2010! And in San Diego it's only appropriate that we've kept this for last because until now this has been a weirdly overcast and chilly summer. Last week, the weather finally broke and we're in full-fledged schvitzy heat wave. Which means, of course, that tomatoes are finally ripening. Our gardens and the farmers markets are now filled with the gorgeous fruit (which actually is legally a vegetable, thanks to a Supreme Court ruling back in 1893 -- don't ask; it has to do with taxes of all things).

So, now we've got a bumper crop of tomatoes just like the rest of the country. The question is what to do with this bounty. In my kitchen, the biggest and ugliest of the heirlooms get sliced up,  then sprinkled with Tajin and olive oil, and eaten. They're the most delicious and deserve to be devoured in their most natural state.

Back in July, I was invited to join in a tomato picking and canning party at a friend's house. Michelle  has a stunning garden and went crazy planting tomatoes. Despite the funky weather, we got quite a haul (see the photo above), including this crazy green heirloom that looked like three conjoined tomatoes.

Michelle doted on that heirloom for much of the afternoon until we finally consigned it to a platter, in slices with salt, pepper, basil, and extra virgin olive oil.

In the meantime, I made a Tomato Tarte Tatin for our group from a Melissa Clark recipe I'd been wanting to try for a long time. You can find it here in her New York Times column. The vinegar, the kalamata olives, the caramelized red onions combined with fresh cherry tomatoes just off the vine? It's swoonable.

Just be very careful with the skillet you've had in that 425-degree oven. Instead of covering the blazing hot handle with a towel when it was pulled out of the oven and onto the stove, I instinctively reached for the naked handle to move the skillet and got quite a bad burn on my hand. It's fine now, but I'm just saying...

When it gets too hot to cook, my go-to summer recipe -- particularly for dinner parties -- is my mom's gazpacho. I've been making this for years. It's really a chopped garden in a bowl and easy to make. So easy and so quick, in fact, that I've now made it several times with the kids and some adults at Olivewood Gardens in our breakneck 25-minute classes. This, along with my corn tortillas with pressed flowers, has become something of an institution already. This is why:

And all it is is a whole variety of veggies, combined with broth, V8 juice, and a few other ingredients -- really whatever you have. For Olivewood Gardens, it means tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, peppers, garlic, green onions, radishes, and herbs -- all from their garden.

Evie's Chunky Gazpacho
Serves 8 – 10

5 - 8 large tomatoes, quartered
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
½ English cucumber, roughly chopped
1 or 2 red peppers, roughly chopped
6 – 8 scallions, roughly chopped
6 - 8 radishes, roughly chopped
½ medium onion, peeled and quartered
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
½ bunch parsley with major stems removed and/or 1 bunch cilantro
2 tbls lime juice
2-6 tbls red wine vinegar
A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
A few dashes of your favorite hot sauce
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
1 regular-sized can beef broth
1 can low-salt V-8 juice
1 cup corn kernels (fresh, frozen or canned – if fresh is unavailable, I like the frozen roasted corn kernels from Trader Joe’s)
1 pound pre-cooked bay shrimp, lump crab or cooked chunks of chicken or pork
Sour cream or Mexican crema

Pull out the food processor and a very large bowl. Process each of the vegetables until the pieces are small -- but before they're pureed -- and add to the bowl, then add the rest of the ingredients, except for the proteins and dairy, which I keep on the table separately for guests to add as they wish. Refrigerate until cold and then adjust seasonings to taste. Top when serving with sour cream or Mexican crema. Serve with fresh tortillas or even hearty sourdough bread.

To make the flowered corn tortillas, simply prepare the masa according to the directions on the package (water, masa, and salt). Roll the dough into golf-ball sized balls. On your tortilla press, lay an edible flower (we've used nasturtiums, pansies, society garlic, and the flowers of herbs that bolted) right side down. Then put the dough ball on top of the flower and press.

Place the uncooked tortilla flower side up on a hot skillet. When the edges curl, flip it over and cook just a minute or so more. That's it. The kids love this. It looks cool and they were shocked that they could actually eat flowers!

So, let's see what the rest of the Summer Fest 2010 folks are cooking this week:

Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef: Heirloom Tomato Tart with Parmesan Crust

Nicole at Pinch My Salt: What to do with slow-roasted tomatoes

Alison at Food2: Heirloom tomatoes

The FN Dish: Tyler's Ultimate Tomato Salads

Margaret at A Way to Garden: More than one way to ripen a tomato

Gilded Fork: Celebrating summer lusciousness with a tomato dossier and recipes

Diane and Todd at White on Rice Couple: Sun-dried tomatoes (actually made in the sun!)

Paige at The Sister Project: 3 substantial, healthy, vegetarian tomatoey main dishes

Liz at the Cooking Channel: Easy Tomato Tart

Kelly at Just a Taste: Tomato Jam

Alexis at Food Network UK: The seven deadly tomato sins

Michelle at Healthy Eats: Top 10 Things to Do With Tomatoes

Marilyn at Simmer Till Done: Cherry Tomatoes and Maytag Blue Beignets

Alana of Eating From the Ground Up: Roasted Green Salsa

Tigress of Tigress in a Pickle: Over 50 Ways to Preserve Tomatoes in Jars

Judy of Divina Cucuina: Tomatoes the Italian Way

Caroline at the Wright Recipes: Savory Tomato Crumble

Now It's Your Turn!
This collaborative effort won't be much fun without you! The more info we all give, the more we'll all enjoy summer's harvest. Have a recipe or tip that fits any of our weekly themes? Starting with our posts of Wednesday, July 28, for five Wednesdays through 8/25 and possibly longer, you can contribute in various ways, big or small.

• Contribute a whole post, or a comment—whatever you wish. It’s meant to be fun, viral, fluid. No pressure, just delicious. The possibilities:
• Simply leave your tip or recipe or favorite links in the comments below a Summer Fest post on my blog any upcoming Wednesday, and then go visit my collaborators and do the same.

The cross-blog event idea works best when you leave your recipe or favorite links (whether to your own blog or someone else’s) at all the host blogs. That way, they are likely to be seen by the widest audience. Everyone benefits, and then we're all cooking with some great ideas. Or go big: Publish entire posts of your own if you wish, and grab the big red tomato Summer Fest 2010 badge above (illustrated by Matt of Mattbites). We'll also be tweeting using #summerfood as our hashtag. Here's the schedule:

• 7/28: cukesnzukes
• 8/4: corn
• 8/11: herbs, greens, and beans
• 8/18: stone fruit
• 8/25 tomatoes
• more to come if we all want it — stay tuned!

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Melanie Rehak (Eating for Beginners) and I on These Days

I think it's got to be every food writer's fantasy to get a chance to work in a restaurant kitchen. For one year, New York writer Melanie Rehak did just that at applewood, a little neighborhood restaurant near her apartment in Brooklyn. Melanie chronicled that year, which coincided with her toddler son Jules's picky eater phase. But she went beyond just entertaining readers with her restaurant experiences and frustration trying to feed her son -- which might have been good enough. She traveled around the region to a cheesemaker, farms, and out to sea to catch monkfish. She had a Lucy Ricardo moment sorting beans, and picked and packed baby spinach leaves, lettuce, kale, and Swiss chard. She made Hooligan cheese, milked goats, and was a disaster at sea (if you know what I mean) -- all to better understand and convey to readers how we get our food and help us make thoughtful buying decisions.
                              
                                   The result of these journeys down the street and across state lines is the marvelous book Eating for Beginners. I devoured it in just a few days, relishing her stories -- and her recipes.

Luckily, Melanie is in town to promote the book. She and I will be on These Days together with host Maureen Cavanaugh on Wednesday morning from 10 to 11. I hope you'll tune in at 89.5 FM or on the show's website, www.kpbs.org/thesedays. Call with questions. We'll be comparing what it means to buy and eat local in the Northeast and Southern California. And, I'm hoping she'll share some restaurant kitchen secrets.

By the way, that evening Melanie will be doing a signing and reading at Warwick's Bookstore in La Jolla as part of a Slow Food Urban San Diego event. The event starts at 7:30.






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New Japanese Pastries at Sun Flour Bagel

I am a big fan of Sun Flour Bagel and was so delighted that San Diego Magazine just included them in their "Best of San Diego" issue. I've written about them before but I stopped by there this week while I was in the neighborhood and learned that now both Numata daughters have been back to Japan for pastry school. With their return, says their father Hiro Numata, are a few new Japanese pastries they've created. He gave me samples to try and I thought I'd share them.

First is the Cream Cheese Red Bean with Black Sesame Seeds. Numata says that while Americans tend to prefer white sesame seeds, Japanese love the black seeds for the extra flavor they offer. The pastry itself is a treat to bite into -- soft poofy dough yields to subtle red bean flavors and the creaminess of, well, cream cheese.

Then, there's the Cream Cheese Cranberry and White Chocolate pastry. This one was nice with little bits of tart cranberry embedded in the dough and soft cream cheese combined with the white chocolate. The flavors are subtle. Don't expect American-style sweetness. It just makes for a nice mouthful with the pastry dough.

The Milk Tea Cream has the same soft doughiness of the previous two but the filling is speckled with English black tea. I liked it but was hoping for a more pronounced tea flavor.

The Japanese pastries are available only on Wednesdays and Saturdays -- but their terrific bagels are there every day. Go for the bagels, then treat yourself to one of these unique Japanese pastries.

Sun Flour Bagel is located at 6955 El Camino Real, Suite 105 in Carlsbad.


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Summer Fest 2010: Week 4 -- Stone Fruit

Ah, stone fruit. It's truly the sweetness of summer, especially when you take a bite out of a ripe peach or nectarine and the juices dribble down your chin like when you were a child. It's the perfect peach pie or apricot crumble. A scented nectarine skinned and gently bathed in a syrup of lemon verbena. A tart plum upside down cake. There are endless ways to prepare stone fruit. Poach them. Grill them, cut into pieces and turn into a dessert kabob with pound cake (a la my cooking instructor friend Lorri Allen). Cook them into preserves.

With all these options, how do you pick one or two dishes? I had some ideas, but then I went to the Little Italy Mercato last Saturday and got to talking with my friend Mary Palmer of Taste Cheese. She mentioned a dish created by her friend Don Heiser of Firehouse Gourmet: Grilled peach parfait.

Basically, you grill peaches, chop them up and mix in agave syrup and nuts -- maybe some dried fruit, too. Then layer the mixture in a parfait dish with slices of burrata cheese, all topped with a sprig of mint.

That sounded delicious and different. So, off I went back home with peaches and burrata to play with this idea. And, while I love the burrata, I could also see replacing it with homemade vanilla ice cream, mascarpone, or vanilla- or honey-flavored Greek yogurt.

Grilled Peach Parfait
Serves 4

Ingredients
4 peaches (preferably freestone so the flesh will separate easily from the pit)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons agave syrup or honey
1 teaspoon Cointreau
1 teaspoon Sherry vinegar
1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
1 pint blueberries or combination of berries
6 ounces Burrata, cut in thick slices
Mint or edible flowers for garnish

1. Wash and dry the peaches, then slice in half along the ridge and remove the pits.
2. Heat grill to medium, brush the peaches with butter on the cut side and place cut-side down on the grill. Close the grill cover and let cook for 4 to 5 minutes. When the peaches show grill marks, brush the skin side with butter and turn the peaches over to cook. Close the cover and cook for another 4 minutes.
3. Carefully cut the hot peaches into bite-sized pieces and place in a medium-size bowl. Add the pecans, agave syrup, vinegar, and rosemary. Mix well.
4. Layer the peach mixture, berries, and cheese. Top with garnish and serve.

And, once I started thinking about it, I remembered the Coconut Peach Gazpacho I made in July at a market-to-table cooking class I took at Cups in La Jolla. (Read more about this class in my Local Bounty column in the October issue of San Diego Magazine.) This is a wonderful sweet and savory chilled soup that I will certainly make again at home.

Coconut Peach Gazpacho
From Jesus Gonzalez
Serves 6

Ingredients

8 ripe peaches, diced (or seasonal fruit)
1 onion, diced
½ cup light coconut milk
¼ cup fresh squeezed lime juice
½ teaspoon ground California chili
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into small dice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 teaspoon agave syrup, or more to taste
1 peeled and diced apple

1. Set aside ½ cup of diced peaches. Add the rest of the ingredients up to the salt to a large bowl and  puree thoroughly in a blender.
2. Cut the reserved peaches into ¼-inch dice and add to the bowl along with the diced cucumber, mint, apples, and agave syrup.
3. Taste the gazpacho at this point. You may want to add a little more lime juice or agave. Remember that chilling will dull the flavor slightly.

So, let's see what my Summer Fest 2010 colleagues are cooking up:

Sara at Cooking Channel: Savory Stone Fruit recipes

Todd and Diane of White on Rice Couple: Riesling Poached Pluots

Margaret at A Way to Garden: What is stone fruit, anyhow? Plus: Clafoutis batter revisited

Caroline at The Wright Recipes: Ginger and Vanilla Poached Peaches

The FN Dish: Paula's Perfect Peach Cobbler

Alison at Food2: Peachy Party Foods

Kelly at Just a Taste: Peaches & Cream Cupcakes

Liz on Healthy Eats: Puttin’ Up Peach Pickles, Compote and More

Food Network UK: How to Poach a Peach

Judy of Divina Cucina: Chocolate Amaretti Baked Apricots

The Gilded Fork: Dossier & Recipes Featuring Peaches, Apricots, Nectarines, Plums, Cherries, Almonds, and Coconuts

Cate at Sweetnicks: Blueberry Peach Smoothies

Tara at Tea & Cookies: Making Peach Jam

Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef: Gluten-Free Peach-Blueberry Buckle

Paige at The Sister Project: A Summer Fruit Whatchamacallit (not a pie, not a crisp, but delicious)

Tigress in a Jam: Nectarine Preserve with Summer Savory and White Pepper

Marilyn at Simmer Till Done: Cherry Apricot Pie with Ginger-Almond Crunch

Alana at Eating from the Ground Up: Stone Fruit Slump 

Now It's Your Turn!
This collaborative effort won't be much fun without you! The more info we all give, the more we'll all enjoy summer's harvest. Have a recipe or tip that fits any of our weekly themes? Starting with our posts of Wednesday, July 28, for five Wednesdays through 8/25 and possibly longer, you can contribute in various ways, big or small.

• Contribute a whole post, or a comment—whatever you wish. It’s meant to be fun, viral, fluid. No pressure, just delicious. The possibilities:
• Simply leave your tip or recipe or favorite links in the comments below a Summer Fest post on my blog any upcoming Wednesday, and then go visit my collaborators and do the same.

The cross-blog event idea works best when you leave your recipe or favorite links (whether to your own blog or someone else’s) at all the host blogs. That way, they are likely to be seen by the widest audience. Everyone benefits, and then we're all cooking with some great ideas. Or go big: Publish entire posts of your own if you wish, and grab the big red tomato Summer Fest 2010 badge above (illustrated by Matt of Mattbites). We'll also be tweeting using #summerfood as our hashtag. Here's the schedule:

• 7/28: cukesnzukes
• 8/4: corn
• 8/11: herbs, greens, and beans
• 8/18: stone fruit
• 8/25 tomatoes
• more to come if we all want it — stay tuned!

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Food 4 Kids Backpack Program Fundraiser Update: Give a Little, Maybe Get a Lot!

With only two weeks or so left in our first summer fundraiser for the San Diego Food Bank's Food 4 Kids Backpack Program, we're almost halfway to our monetary goal on our firstgiving.com donor page and halfway through our hugely popular Dollar-a-Dish restaurant event. Remember, the more we raise, the more schools and children can be enrolled in this very critical program that feeds kids over the weekend and during school holidays when they don't have access to school meals. We're talking $6 a week per child. It's not a lot but it adds up and it's up to you and me and our neighbors and friends to keep these kids from going hungry.

We want to nudge you a little more to donate and buy backpacks and kid-friendly nonperishable food for the big collection day at the Little Italy Mercato on August 21 -- so we've rounded up some incentive in the form of a drawing with contributions from our wonderful local food community. Contribute to the firstgiving.com page and you'll automatically be entered to win. Just be sure to enter your name and email address so we can reach you. We'll also enter you in the drawing if you bring food and backpacks -- or money -- to the Little Italy Mercato on the 21st before the drawing.

Every donor is eligible for one entry in the drawing, which will be held at 1:00 PM on August 21, 2010 at our booth at the Little Italy Mercato. Prizes will be awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis, so be there to get first dibs! The remaining prizes will be posted on Alice Q Foodie later that day to be claimed in the comments.

$100.00 Barbeques Galore Gift Certificate - Courtesy of Leanne Abe and Barbeques Galore

$100 Gift Certificate to Waters To Go - courtesy of Andrew Spurgin and Waters Catering

$100 gift certificate to Urban Solace - courtesy of Matt and Young Mi Gordon and Scott Watkins of Urban Solace

$50 gift certificate to Blind Lady Ale House - courtesy of Rachel Going and Blind Lady Alehouse

An afternoon in the kitchen with Ron Oliver of the Marine Room, and an autographed copy of his cookbook Flying Pans - Two Chefs, One World - courtesy of Ron Oliver and the Marine Room.

A "Mercy of the Chef" dinner for two at La Papagayo - courtesy of Chef James Montenjano and Le Papagayo

A class package ($100.) value from Quintesssential Cooking - courtesy of Quinn Farrar Wilson

Three $50 gift certificates, plus a sushi kit, from Catalina Offshore Products - courtesy of Diane Stopford and Catalina Offshore Products/Tommy Gomes.

One studio photo session for a single child under 1 yr + parents or a 50% discount towards an on-location family session ($250. value) plus 2-8x10 prints from Jennifer Dery Photography - courtesy of Jennifer Dery

A one-hour photo session and photos on disk from Adriana Zuniga Photography - Courtesy of Adriana Zuniga

One nine-inch custom decorated cake or one dozen decorated cupcakes, donated by Jenny of Foray Into Food and Jenny Wenny Cakes (samples of her amazing work can be viewed here)

One custom nine-inch cake, donated by Rachel Going, pastry chef at Bankers Hill Restaurant and Bar and Blind Lady Ale House.

An autographed copy of "Food Porn Daily" by Amanda Simpson - when it is released this fall - courtesy of the author

One copy each of:

Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey and

Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey Treats for Kids by San Diego resident Jill O'Connor - courtesy of the author and Susan Russo

Three sushi kits from Catalina Offshore Products

Three one-year subscriptions to Edible San Diego - courtesy of the Publishers!

Please help us feed hungry kids. Donate however you can and, if you have a blog, please post this list to encourage your readers to help!

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Summer Fest 2010: Week 3 -- Herbs, Greens, and Beans

Wow, week three already! And, it's a big undertaking: Herbs, Greens, and Beans! Now while I am practically worshipful of herbs and the range of flavors they offer to enhance a dish, it's almost too big a topic for me to tackle--especially, when I also have greens and beans to address.

I have huge rosemary bushes in my garden that offer me abundant opportunities to make dried herb rubs, spear vegetables for grilling, or infuse drinks. I've recently discovered the joys of lemon verbena in baking and also as a marinade ingredient for chicken and fish. Chives are plentiful in my garden, as are oregano, thyme, and mint. At the Hillcrest farmers market a vendor sold me a mojito mint seedling and, oh, I love its sweetness when muddled in a cocktail or chopped into a summer salad of watermelon, French feta, kalamata olives, and arugula. I'll fry sage leaves to use as an edible garnish with lamb or steak or to top a thick stew or soup. And, Italian parsley shows up everywhere in my kitchen, especially in chimichurri.

And, then there's basil. Now, that's the star of summer herbs. Its sharp flavors traditionally complement summer's heirloom tomatoes and, frankly, that's my favorite pairing. I look forward to my stacked salads of tomato, red onion, capers, burrata, and fresh basil, topped with Temecula Olive Oil Company's Basil Olive Oil and white wine vinegar. I include basil in an easy relish for steak or my favorite eggplant souffle with tomato, onion, garlic, pepper, and thick balsamic vinegar. And, there's basil pesto. I can't get enough of it so I always make big batches to store in the freezer for winter.

Greens
Living in San Diego means I have fresh greens year round. Roasted Swiss chard and kale are favorites. I grow sorrel and make soup and pesto with it. I also grow arugula for fresh salads or a saute. Even when the plant finally bolts, I'll use the flowers in salads or as garnishes.

I was at Specialty Produce last week and picked up some unusual greens (Wild Surrey Arugula and White Peacock Kale) and beans (Romano, cranberry and black-eyed peas) to play with, along with a bottle of lovely Agrumato tangerine flavored olive oil, which comes from the Abruzzo region of Italy. The tangerines are crushed with the olives to produce the distinctive tangerine aroma and flavor.

I did a quick saute with the Wild Surrey Arugula, adding a little minced garlic to the pan and then finishing it off with a drizzling of the tangerine oil. The arugula's bitterness paired with the aromatic  oil was a great success, especially accompanying a couple of pieces of chicken baked in SoNo Trading Company's champagne garlic mustard (blended with my own roasted garlic and olive oil) and a side of farro.

I came up with something completely different for the kale: empanadas. Awhile ago at one of the local Hispanic markets I had discovered packages of empanada dough rounds in a freezer case and bought one--then promptly put it in the freezer and forgot about it. It caught my eye in time for this week's challenge, though.

Now usually these turnovers are filled with meat, but I came up with a vegetarian combination of sauteed kale and onions, toasted pine nuts, roasted garlic, raisins marinated in Cointreau, and French feta.

The white peacock kale is smaller than other varieties, very pale, and very frilly. You do need to cut out the tough spine in the center but even so, the leaves don't go down without a fight. Instead of quickly wilting when sauteed, like spinach or chard, they hold their own. Only after I added liquid in the form of Cointreau did they finally collapse. At that point, with all the other filling ingredients in a mixing bowl waiting to be transformed into a sweet and savory stuffing for the dough, it was clear sailing.

The dough was easy to work with and strong enough that I could add a couple of tablespoons in the center without it tearing. And, as you'll see, there was no leakage and I got a flaky crust.

 

Kale and Feta Empanadas
Makes 1 dozen

Ingredients:
1 head of garlic
½ cup raisins
Cointreau
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 bunch (about 7 oz.) kale
½ small onion, chopped
3 oz. French feta, cubed
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 package of a dozen empanada dough rounds (could substitute with puff pastry cut into 4-inch rounds)

1. Place raisins in a small bowl and pour Cointreau over the raisins just to top. Let them soak for at least an hour. Drain, place raisins in medium-size mixing bowl, and reserve the Cointreau.
2. Slice the top off of the garlic head, place on a sheet of foil, drizzle with olive oil, wrap the foil around the garlic, and bake at 300 degrees for an hour or until the garlic cloves are very soft. Squeeze out the garlic from each clove and mash it into a paste, then add it to the mixing bowl.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
4. Toast the pine nuts in a skillet until just brown. Remove from heat and add to the mixing bowl.
5. Saute the onions in olive oil until they begin to brown. Remove and add to the mixing bowl.
6. Thoroughly wash and dry the kale and chop into bite-size pieces. Saute the kale in olive oil until it wilts. Add a little of the reserved Cointreau to help wilt the kale and add flavor. Add the wilted kale to the mixing bowl.
7. Add the feta cheese to the bowl, along with salt and pepper to taste. Mix all the ingredients  thoroughly.
8. Grease a large baking sheet. Pull out the first empanada dough round and place on a flat surface. Spoon about two tablespoons of the filling onto the dough. Draw one side of the dough over the filling to meet the other edge. Press down on the dough along the edges, then use the tines of a small fork to crimp and seal the edges. Place on the baking sheet and repeat until you’ve used up all the dough rounds.
9. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Beans
One of these days I'm going to try growing beans, but in the meantime I love exploring the farmers markets for interesting varieties. Check out these wonderfully bizarre dragon tongue beans alongside traditional yellow wax beans:

These purple-and-cream beans do lose their color when cooked but they have such a lovely flavor, it's not that disappointing. Steam them briefly. Mix up a blend of lemon juice (about 1 tbl.) and olive oil (1/4 c.) with sea salt and pepper and fresh thyme leaves (lemon thyme is even better). Then toss with  the beans and let marinate for about an hour.

I'm also a fan of large flat Romano beans.

 
Roasting vegetables has become a habit to me. The caramelization that happens in the roasting process brings out a marvelous sweetness in vegetables, from tomatoes to winter squash. But it hadn't occurred to me to roast beans until I saw it suggested in a Boston Globe, which I then adapted for ingredients I had. Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. Wash and trim a pound of beans. Then toss them with olive oil, about a tablespoon of homemade Rosemary-Oregano dry herb rub and a couple of teaspoons of hot pepper flakes (I use Marash pepper because of the marvelous smoky flavor). Peel and crush a few big garlic cloves and add them to the mix.

 

Spread the beans and garlic in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 10 to 15 minutes, then pull them out of the oven, flip the beans over, and roast for another 5 to 10 minutes. Let them cool enough so you won't burn your mouth, then dig in. (The garlic cloves are hugely tasty, too! In fact, I'll add more in the future.)

Freshly shelled beans can be such a huge flavor improvement over dried beans that when summer comes and you can get your hands on pounds upon pounds of them, consider having a shelling party. Cranberry beans, known as borlotti beans in Italy, are in season now. They have a cream colored background with splashes of red. (The equally go-go pods are inedible so save them for the compost heap.)

Unfortunately, with cooking the dramatic patterns fade away to the point where they resemble pinkish beige pinto beans, but the nutty flavor remains. Boil them for 15 to 20 minutes, drain and toss with a good vinaigrette and grated Parmesan or Romano cheese and serve as a side dish. Or add them to pasta with fresh heirloom tomatoes, chopped basil, garlic, and crispy pieces of bacon or pancetta.

Also in season now are black-eyed peas. These small light green beans with their dramatic eye in the curve originally are from Asia but have long been associated as a Southern treat in Hoppin' John. Unlike cranberry beans, which are wide, plump and easy to shell, black-eyed peas can be a challenge. The pods are long and fairly skinny. Don't even bother with the less mature ones unless you have nothing better to do. They just don't want to be shelled.

Go for the more mature ones and you'll still find it labor intensive but the peas will be larger and the pods more forgiving.

I've got some of each from Specialty Produce and some lovely slab bacon that I'll render. After cooking the beans in boiling water just for a few minutes, I'll toss them in olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, the bacon pieces, and whatever herbs look inviting in my garden--and maybe even a little hot sauce. Those and the empanadas will be a fine summer dinner.

Now, here's what's cooking with my fellow Summer Fest participants:

• White on Rice Couple Todd and Diane use fresh mint to make homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream.
• Nicole at Pinch My Salt features Green Beans with Balsamic Browned Butter.
• Margaret at A Way to Garden stores a year of herbs—and makes one-pot Farinata a polenta dish with greens. 
• Food Network UK is on the edge with herbs and greens.
• Caroline at the Wright Recipes is cooking up Wax and Butter Bean Herbed Salad.
• Jennifer and Mark at Gilded Fork have a virtual garden of herbs, including recipes for basil, cilantro, fennel, lavender, lemongrass, rosemary, sage and tarragon. The recipes include: Lavender Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze and Rosemary & Honey-Roasted Pears 
• Alison at Food 2 has Leftover Herb Solution (Pesto!)  
• Toby at HealthEats is all over the Top 6 Herbs 
• Michelle at Cooking Channel is showing us The Best Bean Salads and a French Take on Greens, Beans and Herbs
• The FN Dish offer recipes for The "Other" Summer Greens 
• Tigress in a Jam has a preserving–book giveaway, and ways to put up greens, beans, herbs.
• Alana at Eating From the Ground Up has shirred eggs with fresh herbs: the affinity between eggs and herbs
• Kelly at Just a Taste shows us how to make Fresh Herb Ricotta
• Judy of Divina Cucina has her fabulous (I know it's fabulous because I have "stolen" it!) herb blend 
• Alana of Eating from the Ground Up is offering Shirred Eggs with Fresh Herbs
• Cate of SweetNicks has Fresh Green Bean Salad with Crumbled Feta Vinaigrette
• Tara of Tea and Cookies whips up her Clean-Out-the-Fridge Frittata
• Tigress of Tigress in a Jam is doing a Give Away: Put 'Em Up 
• Shauna at Gluten Free Girl and the Chef explains all about Fava Beans 
• Paige at the Sister Project has "Aloha Pesto"

Now It's Your Turn!
This collaborative effort won't be much fun without you! The more info we all give, the more we'll all enjoy summer's harvest. Have a recipe or tip that fits any of our weekly themes? Starting with our posts of Wednesday, July 28, for five Wednesdays through 8/25 and possibly longer, you can contribute in various ways, big or small.

• Contribute a whole post, or a comment—whatever you wish. It’s meant to be fun, viral, fluid. No pressure, just delicious. The possibilities:
• Simply leave your tip or recipe or favorite links in the comments below a Summer Fest post on my blog any upcoming Wednesday, and then go visit my collaborators and do the same.

The cross-blog event idea works best when you leave your recipe or favorite links (whether to your own blog or someone else’s) at all the host blogs. That way, they are likely to be seen by the widest audience. Everyone benefits, and then we're all cooking with some great ideas. Or go big: Publish entire posts of your own if you wish, and grab the big red tomato Summer Fest 2010 badge above (illustrated by Matt of Mattbites). We'll also be tweeting using #summerfood as our hashtag. Here's the schedule:

• 7/28: cukesnzukes
• 8/4: corn
• 8/11: herbs, greens, and beans
• 8/18: stone fruit
• 8/25 tomatoes
• more to come if we all want it — stay tuned!

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Dollar-a-Dish on NBC San Diego!

Thank you to NBC San Diego's Catherine Garcia for getting our Food 4 Kids Backpack Program fundraiser on the 5 p.m. newscast yesterday. She did a great job with it, as did Diane Stopford and the folks at Alchemy, who are one of our Dollar-a-Dish participants (And kudos to our PR wizard, Peyton Robertson of Bay Bird, Inc.).

If you missed the segment when it aired (I can tell you my mother didn't. I got the "turn on the TV now" call!), you can watch it on the NBC San Diego website.

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Summer Fest 2010: Week 2 -- Corn

 
Well, here we are at week 2 of the foodathon that is Summer Fest 2010! I was amazed at how many people posted recipes last week and such wonderful ones at that! Who knew you could do so many deliciously original things with cukesnzukes!

This week we tackle corn. Now I'm a big label reader and like many label readers I'm frustrated with the amount of high fructose corn syrup in packaged products. And I prefer the cattle I eat to dine on grass instead of -- corn. In fact, I'm generally ticked off that so much of our agriculture is centered around corn subsidies given to the mega-growers.

And then summer hits and all I want is to munch on corn on the cob. Or scrape it off the cob and eat it raw in salads. I especially love the way gorgeous red corn kernels visually ignite grains or pasta or other vegetables.

I'll slather cobs in softened butter and garlic, wrap them in foil and put them on the grill. Then roll them in Cotija cheese and sprinkle with Tajin or Tamarula sauce. In fact, I had something similar on the 4th of July made by the terrific MIHO gastro truck.

In my world, salsa suddenly needs corn. So does my gazpacho. I crave corn and scallion tamales from the farmers market. But, what I look forward to most of all is a visit to George's at the Cove for executive chef/partner Trey Foshee's sweet and creamy Chino Corn Risotto with Chanterelles and Burrata. It's the kind of dish you don't just want to eat, you want to dive into the bowl and eat your way out.

 
Awhile back I did a story on Trey and the restaurant. Trey gave me the recipe for his risotto, which I sent to my editor but for some reason it wasn't published. So, you get it here.

Chino Corn Risotto with Chanterelles and Burrata

Trey Foshee’s corn risotto celebrates the bounty of summer corn. It makes for a wonderful first course followed by grilled chicken or fish and lots of fresh summer vegetables. Be sure to use fresh corn, if possible on the day it was picked. Burrata, a fresh Italian cheese that combines mozzarella and cream, adds to the decadence of the dish.

Makes 6 appetizer-course servings.

Risotto Base

2 Tbs. butter

¼ cup onion, minced

8 oz. Carnaroli rice

½ cup white wine

1 ¾ cups hot chicken stock

In a large sauce pot heat the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and sweat, do not brown. Add the rice and start a timer for 18 minutes. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon until they start to sizzle, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the wine and stir until the wine is absorbed. Add one quarter of the hot chicken stock, stir until absorbed and you can see the bottom of the pan when you stir. Add another quarter and follow procedure above, then another quarter more. After 18 minutes add the last quarter, and season. At this point you can either continue on to the to serve section or, pour into a hotel pan and chill. Stir after about 15 minutes. You can hold it at this point for up to 24 hours.

Corn Puree

2 cups very fresh corn kernels

1 ½ cups chicken stock or water

Combine in a small pot and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, transfer to a blender and blend until smooth, pass through a fine mesh strainer, chill and reserve.

To Serve

2 Tbs. butter

1 cup corn kernels

2 cups risotto Base

1 cup corn puree

½ cup chicken stock, warm

1 cup chanterelle mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed

1 Tbl. extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbl. butter

6 slices burrata

In a medium sauce pot heat one tablespoon of the butter over medium heat, add the corn kernels and cook until just soft, about 3 minutes. Add the risotto base, corn puree, and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and stir gently with a wooden spoon. Cook over medium low heat, stirring for 3 to 4 minutes to allow the flavors to meld, add the other tablespoon of butter and stir.

Heat a sauté pan over medium high heat and add the oil. Add the chanterelles and sauté until cooked and lightly browned, add the butter and remove to a warm place.

Spoon the risotto in a shallow bowl, place a slice of burrata on top and spoon the chanterelles around.

Let's see what everyone else is up to this week -- and don't forget to add your own corn recipes in the comments section below! Next up: herbs, greens, and beans...

Nicole at Pinch My Salt: Creamed Corn with Bacon and Rosemary
Margaret at A Way to Garden: Vintage corn Americana slideshow, and no-frills creamed corn
The FN Dish: Creamed Corn-Off: Battle of the Southern Cooks
Alison at Food2: Freezing Corn  
Toby at Healthy Eats: Candied Corn, and 4 more easy recipes
Michelle at Cooking Channel: Browsing Corn Porn   
Judy/Tuscan Diva: Fried Polenta Crostini with Porcini Ragu
Jennifer of Gilded Fork: Corn: Sweet Versatility (history, uses & recipes from cocktails to cornbread)
Chef Mark: Gettin' Corny! (Musings from childhood, tips & fresh-corn recipes)
Caroline at The Wright Recipes: Pickled Corn with Summer Onion and Basil
Paige Orloff of The Sister Project: Life-Changing Corn Pancakes
Tara at Tea and Cookies: Farro Corn Salad with Tomatoes and Herbs
Food Network UK blog: Talking Corn
Shauna at Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef: Sweet Corn Risotto
Tigress at Tigress in a Jam: Cream Corn Scones

Now It's Your Turn!
This collaborative effort won't be much fun without you! The more info we all give, the more we'll all enjoy summer's harvest. Have a recipe or tip that fits any of our weekly themes? Starting with our posts of Wednesday, July 28, for five Wednesdays through 8/25 and possibly longer, you can contribute in various ways, big or small.

• Contribute a whole post, or a comment—whatever you wish. It’s meant to be fun, viral, fluid. No pressure, just delicious. The possibilities:

• Simply leave your tip or recipe or favorite links in the comments below a Summer Fest post on my blog any upcoming Wednesday, and then go visit my collaborators and do the same.

The cross-blog event idea works best when you leave your recipe or favorite links (whether to your own blog or someone else’s) at all the host blogs. That way, they are likely to be seen by the widest audience. Everyone benefits, and then we're all cooking with some great ideas.

Or go big: Publish entire posts of your own if you wish, and grab the big red tomato Summer Fest 2010 badge above (illustrated by Matt of Mattbites). We'll also be tweeting using #summerfood as our hashtag.

Here's the schedule:

• 7/28: cukesnzukes
• 8/4: corn
• 8/11: herbs, greens, and beans
• 8/18: stone fruit
• 8/25 tomatoes
• more to come if we all want it — stay tuned!

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Dollar-a-Dish is On! Eat Well & Help the Food 4 Kids Backpack Program!

It's been simmering and percolating for months. And, finally, we launch! Today is August 1 and it's the first day of the month-long  Dollar-a-Dish event, which will help raise money for the San Diego Food Bank's Food 4 Kids Backpack Program.

I've already described the program in detail, but in short it helps feed chronically hungry elementary school kids over the weekend. We're trying to enroll more schools and more kids who already are in school-meal programs so that being away from school doesn't mean having nothing to eat.

The Dollar-a-Dish event's participating restaurants are featuring a best-selling dish that we all hope you'll order because every time you do, Food 4 Kids gets a dollar. So, get impromptu parties together at your favorite restaurant and order the featured dish. A group of my friends are meeting at Lotsa Pasta on Thursday for a Timpano bash -- and bringing backpacks filled with food for the kids also.

Here are the fabulous restaurants, along with their featured dishes, that are participating in Dollar-a-Dish:

Alchemy: Sea Bass Ceviche
Bencotto: Pollo all Pizzaiola
Café Chloe: Steak Frites
Casa de Bandini: Fish tacos
Casa de Pico:: Fish tacos
Casa Guadalajara: Fish tacos
Cosmopolitan Restaurant: Watermelon Salad
Cowboy Star: Meyer Natural "Certified Humane" Filet
Croce’s: 3 desserts -- Fondant Au Chocolat, Vanilla Lavender Honey Creme Brulee, and House-made White Chocolate Macadamia Coconut Ice Cream
Cucina Urbana: Pizza ordered at lunch
Dining Details (Caterer)
Flippin Pizza: (all four locations and their truck) full-size Tomato Basil pizza
Gaglione Brothers: (all 3 locations) Meatball Sandwich "Father Joe"
George’s at the Cove: Date salad with arugula, goat cheese, walnuts, and pomegranite vinaigrette
JRDN: Lamb Lollipop
Jsix: Monthly Sustainable Seafood Dish
Kensington Grill:: Hog Bar
Lotsa Pasta: Timpano
NINE-TEN: Hamachi Sashimi with marinated baby shitake mushrooms and scallion vinaigrette
O’Brothers: Big O Burger
Pizza Fusion: Farmers Market Pizza
Playa Grill: Carnitas Plate
Ritual Tavern: Niman Ranch Skirt Steak served with Roasted Market Vegetables, Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes and Sherry Demi Glace
Roseville: Pan-roasted local halibut, White truffle corn puree, English pea, corn, radish & pea-vine salad
Royal India: Chicken Tikka Masala
Sessions Public: Ribeye Fries
Soleluna Cafe: Pasta of the Day
SoNo Trading Company: Cuban Sandwich
Starlite: Jidori Chicken
Stingaree: Manage a Trois of Fried Point Vincente Calamari, Mexican White Shrimp, Bay Scallops with Sherry Chili Aioli and Lemon
Terra: Sea Bass
The Red Door: Short Ribs
Urban Solace: Duckaroni (Mac n' Chese with Blue Cheese, Duck Confit, Roasted Garlic, Arugula, and Scallion and New York White Cheddar Mac n' Cheese with Caramalized Bacon and Charred Tomatoes
Wine Steals (all 4 locations): Full-size pizza order
Zenbu: (both locations) Hot Rock

We'd also love for you to visit www.firstgiving.com/food4kids and make a donation. Whatever you can do to help will be hugely appreciated. This is a way to literally nourish the kids in our community during tough times.

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