Beefalo; Underground Fermenters; Gluten-Free Holiday Baking

Guest Interview

Market Report ()

Farmer Bill Coleman has a wide array of dark leafy greens at his Santa Monica Farmers Market stand.  He has all kinds of varieties of kale and mustard greens as well as bok choy, herbs and lettuces.

Chef Tony DiSalvo of Whist at the Viceroy (1819 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica) is making a hearty soup with Italian sausage, diced butternut squash, chicken stock and Tuscan kale.  The recipe is here.

Guest Interview

Food Bills ()

Tom Philpott is the senior food and agriculture writer at Grist.  The Food Safety Modernization Act is set for a Senate vote soon.  Tom Philpott's post explains why this bill has bounced around both houses.  The bill allows the FDA to initiate food recalls and allows them broader oversight over the food supply.  

The Healthy, Hunger Free-Kids Act was signed by President Obama earlier this week.   The bill was funded, in part by cuts in the food stamp budget, a point that has angered many people.  Under the bill, the USDA can set nutritional standards for all food sold in public schools.  More info on the bill here.  Watch Obama sign the bill here.

Guest Interview

Low Country Food ()

Enjolik Oree-Bailey is a chef living in Dallas, specializing in her native Low-Country cuisine of South Carolina.  The food is rooted in Africian, Caribbean and creole cultures.  Enjolik's recipe for Shrimp and Grits is here.

Guest Interview

Where the Beefalo Roam ()

Mark Merrill is a raises beefalo in Washington State.  The animal is 3/8 bison and 5/8 beef.  Beefalo cooks in less time than beef (30% less).  The meet doesn't have the marbling of beef, but it is still tender with lots of flavor.  A recipe for chili con carne with beefalo is here.

Guest Interview

Huge Tree Bakery ()

Jonathan Gold is the Pulitzer Prize-winning food writer for the LA Weekly.  This week is reviews Huge Tree Bakery in Monterey Park.  He likes the hot tofu beverage, the twisted crullers, the turnip cakes, the fried leek pastry and the smoked chicken.

Huge Tree
423 N. Atlantic Blvd.
Monterey Park

All of Jonathan Gold's restaurant suggestions are on the Good Food Restaurant Map.

Guest Interview

Gluten Free Holiday Baking ()

Shauna James Ahern, also known as Gluten Free Girl, says that holiday baking can, indeed, be gluten-free.  Her book is Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef, written with her husband, Daniel Ahern.  She uses flours like teff for baking.  Gluten-free holiday baking recipes from Shauna are here.

Guest Interview

Valerie Gordon's Fruitcake ()

Valerie Gordon of Valerie Confections is selling a blanc and noir fruitcake as part of her "Valerie at the Market" line.  She has a booth at the Saturday Santa Monica Farmers Market and at the Hollywood Farmers Market.  

Guest Interview

Underground Food Movements ()

Burkhard Bilger of The New Yorker spent time with "fermentation fetishist" Sandor Katz for his piece in a recent edition of the magazine.  Watch a video of Sandor Katz fermenting vegetables here.