Su-Mei Yu's Savor San Diego Hits KPBS This Thursday

San Diego food lovers know Su-Mei Yu, the longtime owner of Saffron in Mission Hills. She's been a culinary fixture in the community for well over 25 years, as both restaurateur and cookbook author with titles including Asian Grilling, Cracking the Coconut, and The Elements of Life. So with that deep a connection to food and to San Diego it only makes sense that she has now turned her talents and enthusiasm to television to show off many of the local producers who represent what she considers the best of San Diego's foodstuff.

Su-Mei Yu with farmer Noel Stehly at Stehly Farms in Valley Center

Her new show, Savor San Diego, debuts this Thursday at 9:30 p.m. on KPBS (airing again on Saturdays at 3:30 p.m.). The six episodes taped so far reflect the diversity of Su-Mei's interests: hand-crafted tofu, grass-fed beef, avocado oil, citrus, seafood, farmers markets and community gardens. These far-ranging subjects, however, have something besides being local to San Diego in common--they exist to get people back into the kitchen. And that, says, Su-Mei, is why she's tackling this project.

"I did it because I want people to cook again," she emphasizes. "We have so much bounty. I want people to see what's available because it's all so good."

Su-Mei learning how tofu is made, with owner Shawn Daniels in purple apron.

Su-Mei is a big and lively personality and it comes through in the first episode, which I viewed on Saturday at a launch party she hosted. It's aptly named "The Yin-Yang of Protein"since it features a tofu maker and rancher. Each episode of Savor San Diego is divided into three segments, a focus on two different venues and then a short cooking segment that ties the two together. In this first episode Su-Mei first visits San Diego Soy Dairy in El Cajon, which for more than 30 years has made organic, small-batch tofu. Su-Mei cheerfully dons an apron and billowy blue hair cap, then eagerly follows owner Shawn Daniels around the plant as she--and we--learn how tofu is made.

The city girl from Bangkok on horseback with rancher Joel Mendenhall.

We next see Su-Mei up in Palomar Mountain on the Mendenhall Ranch and through her meet low-key  sixth-generation rancher Joel Mendenhall, who for several years has partnered with Matt Rimel in producing HomeGrown Meats. Su-Mei's bravado in getting up on a horse to tour the property comes through in her laughing plea to Mendenhall that, "I'm just a city girl from Bangkok!" She's then hoisted onto the horse and trots off behind the young cowboy. We learn from Mendenhall about the benefits of grass-fed beef and how the cattle are raised.

Then comes the tie-in with an open-air cooking demo on the ranch. Su-Mei, with Mendenhall beside her, prepares "Mama Yu's Beef & Tofu Stir Fry." It's a simple recipe, packed with protein obviously, but also lots of vegetables--and certainly accessible to the home cook.

Each episode of Savor San Diego, says Su-Mei, took two days to film. What made it easier was that, other than the fishermen, she knew everyone featured. "I've been cooking with their ingredients for years."

Su-Mei in the Olivewood Gardens teaching kitchen.

One episode, however, veers away from the vendors and reflects her social work background.  "Cultivating Communities" features the New Roots Garden in City Heights and Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center in National City. "I'm involved in community, in refugees. Once a social worker, always a social worker," she says. These two places touch her heart, not only because they grow  fresh, healthy food, but because their mission is to educate neighborhoods and help build community. Clearly this is a way for her to show how powerful that can be.

You can see the show promo here:


Savor San Diego - KPBS Promo from FortyOneTwenty on Vimeo.

You can also learn more about Savor San Diego and get the recipes on www.savorsdtv.com. Additionally, Saffron is offering a premiere special on Thursday, May 2: One whole chicken, jasmine rice, Cambodian salad and five dipping sauces for $14. And, they suggest pre-ordering.




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Resolved: Enjoy Great Food

I'll be making my monthly appearance on KPBS radio's These Days tomorrow morning at 10, this time with my friend chef Deborah Schneider. We'll be talking about healthy eating and cooking, something she knows a lot about, especially with the publication of her latest book, Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta.


No, this isn't going to be about dieting. Nor is it going to be about denying yourself great tasting foods. If anything, it's going to be about embracing them and figuring out how to keep them foremost in your life, even when greasy fast food beckons. Every year at this time, we hear the same old, same old about eating right and exercising, but it's so easy to get sidetracked with all the demands on our busy lives. We often don't stop to actually taste let alone savor what goes in our mouths and end up eating stuff we don't even much enjoy. We're just refueling. But those of us who love good food know that refueling is a mere byproduct of the joy of eating and cooking. It's about celebrating the remarkable foods grown and raised in our region and the ability to turn them into breathtakingly tasty meals.

And, it's often less expensive to do than you'd think. By eating seasonally, for instance, you get the benefits of bounty. Right now we've got lovely root vegetables, greens, citrus and squash at the farmers markets in San Diego. By eating inexpensive grains and legumes, you get a wealth of fiber, a lot of flavor and only the smallest dent in your wallet. Plus, they're so versatile you can create a wide variety of meals using the same basic ingredient. Barley is perfect in a hearty soup but also makes a delicious risotto. Add garbanzo beans to a salad for lunch or puree them with olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and salt to make a bright tasting dip.

Yes, when it comes to something like grass-fed beef, you're going to pay more per pound but try using it as a flavor enhancer in a stir fry or just serve a smaller portion with your meal, balanced with more vegetables and grains. You'll be eating a protein that is better for you than conventionally raised beef and enjoying portions also more in keeping with better health.

Where to start? Let's look at places to shop:

Farmers markets top the list, of course. You can find a schedule for all of San Diego's farmers markets on the San Diego Farm Bureau's web site.

For good, inexpensive produce, check out the Farmers Market/Farmers Outlet shops in San Diego. The two I know are in Tierrasanta on Santo Road and in Grantville just off of Friars Road near Mission Gorge. They also carry organic packaged products from companies like Bob's Red Mill and Newman's Own. And, they stock a wonderful variety of ethnic foods, including Middle Eastern and Hispanic products.

I enjoy shopping at both Whole Foods and Bristol Farms, but it can get pricey. So I often go to Henry's to find wonderful produce, both conventionally grown and organic, a wide variety of specialty "health" foods -- flax seeds and agave syrup, for instance -- and bins of grains, nuts and flours. You'll do just as well at OB People's Market, Jimbos and, of course, Trader Joe's.

For fish and seafood I like to make sure what I'm buying is absolutely fresh and locally caught if possible. So, I go to either Catalina Offshore Products near Morena Blvd. or Pt. Loma Seafoods on Emerson off of Rosecrans. I buy free-range, organic, air-chilled chicken at Whole Foods or Bristol Farms. I get grass-fed beef at Whole Foods, Boney's Bayside Market in Coronado or the La Jolla Butcher Shop. I'm also a sucker for Iowa Meat Farms' Baja chicks. I don't know what they put in their marinade but it makes for tender, savory roasted chicken. And their Berkshire pork is astoundingly juicy, tender and flavorful -- nothing at all like conventionally raised pork.

How about getting out of your comfort zone and exploring ethnic markets? Just when you start getting tired of brocolli, how about going to 99 Ranch Market on Clairemont-Mesa Blvd. and trying Chinese brocolli. It's delicious steamed, then stir-fried with garlic and ginger and topped with oyster sauce. Or fresh water chestnuts (you'll never go back to canned again). Or Asian pears or persimmons. Or three different types of baby bok choy. Not sure what you're looking at or how to cook what you see? If a store employee isn't available, be bold and ask the customer next to you. You'd be surprised at how kind people are and flattered to be asked.

Among my favorite Asian markets are 99 Ranch, the newly renovated Mitsuwa on Mercury, Nijiya (with organic produce from its own farm) on Convoy near Aero Dr., Zion and First Korean Market.

There are plenty of wonderful items at our many Middle Eastern markets. At Balboa International Market on Balboa near Genesee I recently found beautiful Persian cucumbers, enormous pomegranates, roasted pistachios and a lot of interesting spices. Also worth visiting are Parsian on Convoy and North Park Produce in North Park and in Poway. They have my favorite short grain white rice. It's not labeled but you'll find it in a bin. It makes very tender, sweet rice, and is especially good when you add just a little freshly chopped dill.

I love our local Hispanic markets. Northgate Gonzalez, just off the 805 at 43rd St., has a remarkable produce section, where I've found fresh green garbanzos, magnificent peppers and lovely nopales.


They also have a wonderful array of ceviches -- shrimp, octopus, fish, spicy, mild. Whatever your tastebuds find pleasure in, they have it, already prepared and delicious. They, along with El Tigre and Foodland, have large meat and seafood sections and their own tortillerias.

All of these places help you do another thing well to make cooking at home easier -- creating a well-stocked pantry (and by pantry I also mean refrigerator and freezer). Here's just some of what you'll find in mine in no particular order:

Olive oils, avocado oil, grapeseed oil, sesame oil

Variety of vinegars

Capers packed in salt

Dried fruit

Sea salt, whole peppercorns

Olives

Tube of tomato paste

Bags of lentils, rice, wheat berries, pearl barley, quinoa, etc.

Pasta, including whole wheat pasta

Walnuts, pine nuts

Cans of good crushed tomatoes – low sodium

Dijon mustard

Variety of spices

Oatmeal and high-fiber cereal

Panko

Fish sauce

Yeast

Jars of homemade herb rubs

Flax seeds, chia seeds and hemp seeds

Unbleached flour, wheat flour, rye flour

Sugar but also agave syrup

Real maple syrup

A piece of parmesan cheese

Homemade stock in freezer and containers of store-bought in pantry

Cans of beans – Great Northern, black, garbanzo, Cannellini

Dark chocolate

Plus, I always have heads of garlic, shallots, onions and lemons in my kitchen. And, I grow a variety of herbs in my garden just outside my kitchen. Rosemary, chives, thyme, oregano and Italian flat leaf parsley are always available and in the summer I grow different varieties of basil as well as cilantro. In short, I always have the makings of a meal.

Good ingredients easily on hand make it much more likely that you'll make good meals for yourself and your family. You might even try your hand at something very fundamental: baking bread. I've become a fan of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois.

Yes, these recipes are good and the working time involved is minimal -- just a few minutes to mix the dough and another few to shape the loaf. And, yes, there's some rising time after you first make up a batch of dough, before you put it in the oven and while it bakes, but you can do other things in that time. I have been making their basic boule for months now, always keeping a container of dough in my refrigerator to make a loaf on the fly.


Today I made two loaves of their whole wheat bread. The flavor is rich and nutty with a hint of sweetness from honey.


Of course, we all enjoy dining out. With chefs so eager to incorporate and even feature farm-fresh produce, sustainably fished seafood, and the meat of pastured animals on their menus, it's not difficult to order healthy delicious food at most of the fine dining restaurants in town. But we also have a growing number of restaurants that specialize in healthy meals. And they're good, not like the "natural foods" places I used to try back in the 70s and 80s which had strangely plastic-tasting dishes that I found so off-putting. The farm-to-table movement has led to fresh, authentic approaches to cooking with the result that the food is good for you and also really delicious. I had a marvelous grilled ahi salad last week at Tender Greens in Liberty Station, along with a thick, comforting bowl of tomato soup.



Salad Style in downtown's East Village is becoming a popular place that friends of mine have enjoyed. We also have Spread in North Park -- admittedly not a favorite of mine but a favorite of many others. And there are a number of "fast food" places where you can get healthy dishes. La Salsa, Fins and Baja Fresh come to mind -- and that's just Mexican food.

Still looking for good vegetarian or vegan restaurants? You'll find many more options here.

Deb and I will discuss all these ideas and more. But the bottom line? Eating and cooking healthy food is not a sacrifice, it's a pleasure.

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Caron on KPBS' These Days on Monday Morning

On Monday, August 25th, I'll be a guest on These Days on KPBS radio at 10 a.m. I'll be on the show with Casey Anderson of the San Diego County Farm Bureau to talk about San Diego County's farmers markets.

Tune in at 89.5 fm at 10 a.m. Pacific or go to the KPBS website to listen or podcast the show.

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My Piece on Eclipse Chocolat Runs in Today's U-T

Last January I wrote an entry on Will Gustwiller's wondrous place in University Heights, Eclipse Chocolat. It led to an appearance by both of us on KPBS's "These Days" and a request from the San Diego Union-Tribune's food editor to write it up as a cafe experience.

Which, of course, I did.

The story appears today on page 31 in the weekly Night & Day section.

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