ArtBites; MoneyMaker Water Pump; Drink Vinegar; Chicken Knees

Guest Interview

The Market Report ()

Laura Avery talks with Mark Peel, who loves to cook Brussels sprouts this time of year. The chef-owner of Campanile restaurant sautés them quickly in olive oil until they start to color, then adds 1/4 inch of balsamic vinegar and allows them to boil quickly until the sprouts caramelize. Finally, he covers them and puts them into a hot oven for about 15 minutes, until the vinegar turns into a glaze, then seasons with salt.

Peel also loves the fresh olives that are available for a short time at Adam's Olive Ranch which you can find at farmers markets. He chops them up and sautés them with fresh parsley and garlic and olive oil. (This sauce is also great on broccoli, asparagus or potatoes.)

Music break: The Donkey by the Whitefield Bros

Guest Interview

ArtBites ()

Maite Gomez-Rejón combines cooking lessons with art history as part of her program, ArtBites: Cooking Art History. Both a culinary and art historian, Gomez-Rejón has worked in the education departments of several museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, LACMA and the Getty Villa.

Louise Moillon: Still Life with Cherries, Strawberries and Gooseberries, 1630
The Norton Simon Foundation
© 2009 The Norton Simon Foundation

Carved Vessel, Mexico, Maya, Chochola, Maya A.D. 600-900
© 2009 Los Angeles County Museum of Art Permanent Collection

Wall Fragment with a Scene of Meal Preparation, Unknown
Roman, Italy, A.D. 50 - 75
© 2009 J. Paul Getty Trust

Music break: Doodlin' by Horace Silver

Guest Interview

Drinking Vinegars ()

Bartender-writer Toby Cecchini talks about drinking vinegars and making "shrub" out of fresh fruit. Shrub is the American version of drinking vinegar and it's still popular in the South. The inventor of the Cosmopolitan cocktail, Cecchini is author of Cosmopolitan: A Bartender's Life. He recently wrote about drinking vinegars in this New York Times article.

If you're interested in making shrub, here's a recipe. If you'd rather purchase it, you'll find it at ChefShop.com and www.TaitFarmFoods.com.

 
Shrub
Makes about 1 1/2 to 2 quarts, depending on fruit used.
These measurements can be played with quite liberally, as some fruits contain more natural sugars. 

2 qts fruit, use any fruit, pears, figs, raspberries, cherries
1 liter apple-cider vinegar (preferably Bragg) or other vinegar
1/2 to 1 cup raw sugar
Soda water
Ice

1. Rinse the fruit and discard any rot. Place in a large non-reactive or ceramic pot and mash for several minutes with your hands or a wooden spoon to break up. Pour in enough vinegar to cover and top with a lid. Let macerate at room temperature for a week, stirring once a day. (Do not be alarmed by the smell or the sludge on top.) 

2. After a week, stir in 1/2 cup of the sugar and gently boil for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly, then strain. (The smell created from boiling is a bit offensive, so open the doors and windows.) 

3. Make a test shrub: cool 3 to 4 tablespoons of the fruit mixture. Fill a 20-ounce glass with ice. Add water or soda water to almost the rim, then add the chilled fruit mixture. Taste to determine sweetness. If it is too tart, add sugar to the fruit mixture, little by little, while still hot. Cool fully and funnel into bottles. Will keep indefinitely in refrigerator.

Music break: Easy Way Out by James Hardway

Guest Interview

Worm Composting ()

Worm advocate Cathy Nesbitt raises red wiggler worms for "vermicomposting," composting kitchen waste into fertilizer. Nesbitt, whose company is Cathy’s Crawly Composters, in Ontario, Canada, is also the subject of the new documentary, Squirm.

Music break: El Gatillo (Trigger Revisited) by Calexico

Guest Interview

Hot Wings and Chicken Knees ()

Deep End Dining blogger Eddie Lin goes crazy for hot wings and chicken knees. He samples the extremely hot Atomic chicken wings at Alondra Hot Wings in Paramount. He eats chewy fried chicken knees as dim sum at King Hua in Alhambra. These morsels of cartilage are coated in a garlic batter, seasoned with spices and garnished with fried seaweed.

Alondra Hot Wings
7906 Alondra Blvd
Paramount, CA 90723
562-531-4200

King Hua
2000 W Main St
Alhambra, CA 91801
626-282-8833

Music break: Electronic Can-Can by Perrey & Kingsley

Guest Interview

MoneyMaker Water Pump ()

Social entrepreneur Martin Fisher developed the MoneyMaker pump as a mean to solve rural poverty by accessing fresh water. The manual pump is used for irrigated farming and is intended as a for-profit business model. He is the CEO of KickStart International.

 Interview with Martin Fisher

Music break: Fidgety Feet by the New Orleans Heritage Hall Jazz Band

Guest Interview

Dia de los Reyes Magos ()

Vicente del Rio, chef-owner of Frida restaurant in Beverly Hills, celebrates El día de los reyes magos by baking rosca de reyes cake. The crown-shaped bread is decorated with candied fruit. Baked inside is a tiny figurine, symbolizing Baby Jesus. El día de los reyes magos, celebrated on January 6, is also known as Three Kings Day or Epiphany. 

Frida Restaurant
236 S Beverly Dr
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
310-278-7666

Music break: Go Chango by Les Baxter

Guest Interview

Serving Breast Milk ()

Dana Harris shares her thoughts on Swiss Storchen restaurant's plan to use human breast milk as an ingredient. Dana writes Variety’s food blog, The Knife.

Hotel zum Storchen
Am Weinplatz 2
CH-8001 Zürich 22 Switzerland
+41 44 227 27 27