Friday, May 15, 2009

Local food

This week for ESF we had to document cooking a meal using local foods. I wanted to do something simple because I get out of work at 5pm. After a little research I found this page http://www.localfoodswheel.com/local_foods.html it lists all the local foods and what is seasonal.  I some how decided on salmon, penne with arugula, chives and pine nuts. It tasted nothing like I thought I would, not in a good way.  Maybe it was the busy week but some how I forgot to double check where my ingredients are from, I naturally assumed Trader Joe’s is local, but I realized it wasn’t when Chris pointed it out. Growing up in the city of Arcadia, which is right next to Monrovia, I have always considered food from Trader Joe’s to be local.  So essential I cooked a seasonal dish that’s California grown.        

         1 pound skinless salmon fillet

         8 ounces penne

         1/4 cup pine nuts

         2 tablespoons olive oil

         1 tablespoon lemon juice

         kosher salt

         3 cups arugula

         1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

 

         1
Baked the salmon on 375 for about 25 mins



2.
While cooking the pasta, in a large skillet, toast the pine nuts over low heat until golden, 3 minutes; transfer to a bowl. 

3.
Heat the oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add the penne, salmon, lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and cook until heated through, 2 minutes. Stir in the arugula and chives.


















 

Everyone’s dishes looked amazing. It was great getting to know all of you. Have a great summer. 

Tuesday, May 12, 2009


May 6th marked ESF’s last field trip. Time went by so fast. We enjoyed our last meal together at Zazie’s, a nice little French bistro in Cole valley. It was my first time in Cole valley. The walk there was interesting, having been in the city for three years yet there are still place unexplored. After a nice pre game and discussion with Jessica, Jessie and Silver we were late for dinner. After hearing so much about Zazie’s during the school year I finally get to see what all the hype is about. Our group of 17 sat at a long table right underneath the light well. It is a small space but it has excellent lighting. I am surprised how little the space the chiefs have to work with. Looking at the menu, I wanted the fish soup provencale. It contained snapper, mussels, salmon, swiss & rouille, what’s not to like? Ok so maybe I don’t know what rouille is but I ate all of it. So according to wikipeida rouille is a sauce that consists of olive oil, breadcrumbs, garlic, saffron and chili peppers. It is often garnished with fish or soup and it was spread on my croutons. Most often rouille is used in cuisine in the Provence which is south east tip of France. I enjoyed the soup a lot; it was some kind of squash base. The seafood was very fresh you can taste the quality and went nicely with the swiss and croutons.

Then we headed to the golden arches, I was torn between fries and ice cream but I ultimately decided on a caramel sundae. Ok so we all know MacDonald’s ice cream doesn’t have the texture of ice cream, is it because it’s made out of powder or is it even made out of dairy? So out of curiosity and lack of desire to start on my final paper I looked up the ingredients that went into making a sundae.:



Sundae, Caramel SUNDAE MIX:  Milk, Concentrated Skim Milk, Sugar, Cream, Glucose (from wheat, contains preservative sulphur dioxide), Emulsifiers (433, 471 -contains soy oil), Vegetable Gums (407, 407a, 412, 466), Colou (160b), Flavour.                                                                                                                                              

HOT CARAMEL TOPPING: Glucose Syrup (contains Sulphite), Sugar, Water, Skim Milk Powder, Butter,

Whole Milk Powder, Flavour, Acidity Regulators (339,270), Salt, Stabiliser (440).

Contains milk and soy; traces of gluten and sulphites. 

Can barely reconcize half the ingredients but it seem like there no corn, well at least no obvious form which is surprising. 

The morning before the field trip I had class in the Koret. There was a banquet being set up in the meeting room as I walked through I was tempted to get a cup of coffee but it didn’t feel right so I got a cup of water. As I was drinking this cup of water I noticed a green stripe at the base of the cup and to my delight it read MADE FROM CORN. Which means the cup that holds my sundae was probably made from corn. Who thought food could be so versatile, you can eat it, your food can eat it and it can hold your food too at the same time, amazing. After reading Michael Pollens book Omnivores Dilemma,  I have whole different out look on food and think more about where did it come from as appose to what I am going to do with it.