The family and I visited the county fair last night. We spread our dining dollars around - grilled cheese from the Shake Shake, pork chop sandwich from the Pork Producers, etc. The roasted corn was sweet and smoky but pricey, indeed. At $3.00 for an ear it was the same price as the pork chop sandwich. No rides or midway this year. A lot of those companies cut back their schedules due to the high price of fuel. I didn't mind but the boys were disappointed.
My new book (co-authored with Christine Barbour), Home Grown Indiana: A Food Lover's Guide to Good Eating in the Hoosier State is now available from the publisher and can be ordered from them here. Within the next few days it will also be available from Amazon and in Indiana bookstores. I'm told it will hit the shelves of Barnes & Noble first.
Scott will be a guest on Too Many Cook! tomorrow (Wednesday, July 23) at 9:30 am on WICR 99.7. The following is the promo they sent out about tomorrow's broadcast. You can also listen live online. Details below.
Patti and Gary will take a culinary trip around the Hoosier state with a guy who's stepped up to the forefront of the Indiana food scene with his Hungry Hoosier brand. The dual-careered Scott, by day, works in community and economic development for Purdue University, and by evening and weekend writes a syndicated weekly newspaper column that runs in several central Indiana newspapers. In 2006 and 2007, his newspaper column received first and second-place best-column awards from the Hoosier State Press Association. He also writes a monthly Hungry Hoosier column for the Indianapolis Monthly magazine, and his “food travels” for WFYI-Indiana's Across Indiana have earned him a 2007 Great Lakes Chapter Emmy nomination.
Check out Scott's website at www.hungryhoosier.com. His most current entry details a recipe for a martini made with fresh Indiana blueberries!
We asked Scott to be on the show today because the book he co-authored with Christine Barbour, "Home Grown Indiana: A Food Lover's Guide to Good Eating in the Hoosier State" from I.U. Press, hit the warehouse today and will be available in bookstores in a couple of days. Scott says it's available now on Amazon. The book covers more than 400 producers, restaurants, markets, and festivals in Indiana.
My lovely wife Lisa had a birthday this week and it was a big one. I won't tell you how old she is but its one of those birthdays that ends in a "zero." We've been married for 20 years, we're not from Alabama, and AARP is not yet knocking on her door. You figure it out. Anyhoo, we had a great little summer party for a few friends last weekend - desserts, sangria, etc. The hit of the night was our "candy bar" featuring all sorts of confections that were among Lisa's favorites as a kid. Our boys were hopped on on goof balls for about three days.
Contrary to what most readers of this blog might think, I do not spend the majority of my time writing about food. I actually spend about 80% of my work life and make 80% of my income in economic development. After 15 years in this field, my mother still has no idea what I do. Well, earlier this year I was asked to speak at a conference in Illinois. I do this sort of thing a lot but this time I was asked to also write a paper to expand on my remarks. If you are so inclined, you can find the paper here. It calls for a new model of economic development - ED 2.0. and draws some parallels to Web 2.0.
Originally published in thick and hearty newspapers on July 17, 2008
Since he was just 18 when he enlisted, Blaine (far right in photo) was only 22 when he finished his four years in the military. His return to civilian life took him right back to where he had been before he joined up - his mom and dad’s house. Things picked up right where they had left off with mom doing his laundry and fixing his favorite meals. All three of them - Blaine, his mom, his dad - knew this was a short-term arrangement. A few additional months of boyhood that had been cut a bit short when he enlisted.
I got to know Blaine when I was in grad school in Tennessee. My after-class job was at a print shop and Blaine was a co-worker, saving up money for his own place. About two o’clock each afternoon, Blaine would pick up the phone to make a call. When he replaced the receiver, he would give us all a report about what his mom was making for supper that evening. This kid loved to eat and he adored his mother’s cooking.
I was a Midwestern transplant but Blaine was a native and he had the accent to prove it. His drawl never got out of second gear so whatever he said took about a third longer than it would coming from a faster-talking Yankee. “Gentleman” he would say, “Tonight it’s fried chicken.”
Blaine also had very traditional ideas about the roles of men and women. He found it perplexing that I cooked and even more so that my wife occasionally wore a baseball cap. He thought we were an odd couple indeed. I used to needle him a bit about how he was going to eat once he moved out of his folk’s place. He figured he’d find himself another women to take care of him.
Blain was always excited about dinner - chicken, fish, whatever; but about once every two weeks he would go over the top with enthusiasm. “Boys, momma’s fixin’ breakfast for supper.” Sometimes it was hotcakes, other times it was simply bacon and eggs. It didn’t really matter. Breakfast for supper was to Blaine what lasagna is to Garfield the Cat.
Although my enthusiasm doesn’t match that of my former co-worker, I too am a fan of breakfast foods for the evening meal. Sometimes we’ll go out to a restaurant that serves breakfast all day long and I’ll opt for something off the breakfast menu even when my companions go for a more dinner-like selection. At home, I’ll often cook eggs, pancakes, waffles or any other number of foods more often associated with am than pm.
As a man in my 40s I am finding myself, with increasing frequency, dispensing both solicited and unsolicited advice to men younger than me. When I find myself talking with a guy with little or no experience in the kitchen, I encourage him to begin building a simple culinary repertoire. Breakfast foods, no matter what time of day they are eaten, is a good place to start.
To begin with, breakfast foods are usually some of the most inexpensive groceries you can buy. A dozen eggs, a pound of bacon, a loaf of bread, oatmeal or grits, potatoes for hash browns, these are all really cheap eats.
There are also a few tips that can help ensure success for even the most novice of short-order cooks. First, use a non-stick pan to cook eggs. Melt a little butter in it and you’re good to go - scrambled, sunny-side up, whatever.
When it comes to the bacon, I like to cook mine in the oven. Put a rack on a baking sheet, lay the bacon on it and bake at 350 degrees until it is as crisp as you want it to be. This is a lot less messy - no grease splatters. It also frees you up to work on something else while the bacon cooks. A basic toaster can take care of the bread. Brew some coffee or pour some OJ, and breakfast is served. Anyone who masters these basics can quickly move on to variations like French toast and omelets.
I’m not sure where Blaine is now. It has been 13 years or more since I’ve seen him. I’m sure he’s out of his mom and dads house by now. If he’s married, I’ll bet he waited until he found a women who could cook as well as his mother. Maybe, just maybe, he learned to cook himself after all. If he did, I bet breakfast for supper is one of his specialties.
Originally published in warm and flaky newspapers on July 10, 2008
Between the farmers markets, the weekly delivery from our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, and the generosity of green-thumbed friends and neighbors, my family is getting our fill of fresh, locally-grown produce. When lettuce was bursting out of the ground, we ate lots and lots of salad. On a night when we had a seemingly miss-matched selection of vegetables on hand, a stir fry made frugal and delicious use of them all.
Along with our vegetables, we’re enjoying the colorful parade of fruits and berries making their way to our kitchen. So far, we’ve had some juicy strawberries from Southern Indiana, lovely cherries grown by an Amish family, and plump blueberries from up north. We’re looking forward to melons, peaches, and a wide variety of apples that will be available through fall. As much as I love fresh fruits in their unadulterated goodness - I’m a fanatic about baking them in a pie.
I often get asked about my favorite foods, pie included. When it comes to my favorite pie, I’m fickle. Like the old Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young song I “love the one I’m with.” So depending on when you ask me, I might offer up a different pie, usually the one I ate most recently ate. The one, when I close my eyes, I can still image on my palate. This week it was a piece (okay two pieces) of blueberry pie…aahhh blueberry pie.
Regardless of what fruit goes into a pie, the foundation is a great crust and there are as many variations on making pie crust as there are varieties of pie. Most pie makers have their own tried-and-true methods. I’ve experimented with lots of recipes and techniques and thought I had it down pat. This summer, however, I added a little trick that has made a huge difference in my pie making - fraisage.
Fraisage is a fancy-pants French term that sounds much more high falutin’ then it is. It’s basically smearing the butter into the flour as you work it, so that you end up with lots of buttery layers in your dough, resulting in a very flakey pie crust. Here is my recipe for pie dough including instructions on how to fraisage.
As much as I wish a piece of pie a day could keep the doctor away, I realize that pie is, as the new nutritionally-minded Cookie Monster calls, a “sometimes food.” As I’m toping my high-fiber cereal with fresh fruit in the morning, I’m day dreaming about a piece of warm pie ala mode
Flaky Pie Crust (for a two-crust pie)
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Cut the butter into small pieces and drop one piece at a time into the flour. Use your hands to coat the butter pieces with flour. Next, use your hands and fingers to squeeze together the flour mixture and pieces of butter until all is well incorporated, the consistency of large gravel. Next add the cold water one tablespoon at a time, mixing with hands. Keep adding water until the mixture holds together when a handful is squeezed. You may not need all the water.
Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and use your hands to shape it into a mound. Start at the farthest end of the mound and use heel of your hand to smear small amount of dough against the work surface, pushing firmly down and away from you, to create separate pile of dough. Continue process until all dough has been worked. Gather dough back into a mound and repeat the smearing process. The dough will not have to be smeared as much as first time. Form dough into four-inch circle, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until cold, 30 minutes to one hour. When ready to make your pie, divide the dough in half and roll out to form your two crusts.
My Fourth-of-July potato salad this year will be made with Duke's Mayonnaise, the "secret of great Southern cooks." You can't find Duke''s just anywhere, but you can find it at Goose The Market. Chris and Molly wanted to carry this stuff and they called the folks at Duke's to make an inquiry. Apparently, the minimum order is a huge quantity - enough to fill the market's entire basement. Ever determined, Molly's dad, who lives down south, brings up a suitcase full each time he comes to visit. Thankfully, there's no law against transporting an emulsion across state lines! I had some tonight on a BLT (with Chris' amazing bacon, BTW). This is good stuff. It taste more like homemade than my standby Hellmann's - maybe egg-ier with a bit more of a vinegar zip.
As for my potato salad, I use both mayo and yellow mustard, both dill pickles (along with some pickle juice) and sweet relish. A little onion, salt, and pepper, and your all set. I also boil my potatoes whole, let them cool, rub off the skins, and then cut them up. I think this leaves more of the starch on the spuds and makes for a more satisfying potato salad. Good stuff!
With two rough-and-tumble boys I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. Oliver (3) broke his arm today. He was at school doing some tumbling and while attempting some sort of maneuver, came down on his arm the wrong way and ended up with a buckle fracture just above the wrist. Apparently this is the most frequent sort of break for kids. He'll only have the cast for three weeks.
Originally published in snapping, crackling, and popping newspapers on July 3, 2008
“Blind! Jimmy feels that his life is over. No more swimming. No more Scout hikes. How can he ever have fun again?" These words are on the back cover of Follow My Leader by James B. Garfield, a book that sat on my boyhood bookshelf along with a collection of Hardy Boy mysteries, and classic adventures like Treasure Island. I’m not entirely sure how it made its way to my collection, perhaps a hand-me-down from an older sibling, or more likely a piece of propaganda placed there by my mother.
It is the story of a boy who is left blind after a firecracker mishap and Leader is the name of the his seeing-eye dog. I think the intent of the book was to help kids have a better understanding of people with disabilities. My mother’s motives were quite different - to keep me away from fireworks.
According to family folklore my very first word was not “momma” or “doggy” but rather “dangerous.” This, no doubt, due to a list of warnings that began when I was a baby. “The stove his hot.” “Be careful, you could fall down the stairs.” As I got a little older the areas of caution expanded to safety instructions about bicycles and skateboards. By the time I left for college the list of dangers was expansive covering everything from fast cars and fast women to expiration dates on dairy products.
My mom’s intentions were good. She wanted to do what she could to make sure her only son stayed alive and healthy with all four limbs securely attached to my body . Mission accomplished. I didn’t heed all of her warnings but a few took root. Fear of fireworks is one of them.
I’m not sure of Jimmy’s story contributed to my phobia or not but the very fact that I remember it some 30-plus years later is probably a good indication that it did. I don’t mind being around the rockets red glare, its just that I don’t want to be the one lighting the fuse. My own children are young enough that when dad breaks out the sparklers and smoke bombs, they think we’re living on the edge. I’m sure as they get older they’ll push me to up the ante a bit.
July, of course, is all about backyard explosions but another of my fears emerges this time of year - outdoor mayonnaise. I attended lots of picnics growing up. My step father was a pastor and we had an annual 4th of July picnic, often with 200 or more people in attendance. My mom would always caution me to steer clear of the potato salad and anything else with mayo in it. For years, when at picnics I would pass on anything that looked like it might have mayo in it.
I learned recently that my mom was wrong about this one. As it turns out, store-bought mayonnaise will not actually make you sick, even when left out in the sun for a couple of hours. University of Georgia Microbiologist Michael Doyle notes that there is sufficient acid (vinegar) in store-bought mayonnaise to keep harmful bacteria at bay. It might eventually spoil, resulting in an off-taste, but it will not make you sick (see the full mayo story here).
Learning this was pretty liberating. Since getting this new information, I’ve been a little more bold in filling my paper plate at picnics, dinners-on-the-grounds, and other outdoor eating occasions. I’m still not going to be launching any Roman candles or going to NASCAR fantasy camp but you may spot me enjoying a generous helping of picnic potato salad along with my baked beans and hotdog. Just don’t tell my mom. She’ll be worried sick.
Recent Comments