INFORMATION, INC
I will love the light for it shows me the way,
yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.
~ Og Mandino (1923 – 1996)
FOOD, INC
If you haven’t seen the Oscar-nominated documentary Food, Inc, it will be aired on PBS Wednesday (tonight) at 9pm. The film tackles broad issues such as sustainability, economics, environment, transparency and public health of the industry that makes, markets and maintains our food supply. There are also additional air times, so check your listings. See a trailer here at. David Brancaccio’s interview with Robert Kenner, director of Food, Inc can be seen on PBS here. I recommend seeing the film with your entire family. Information is power and seeing the supply chain of our food – which we eat every day – is everyone’s business.
DILL
An achingly simple fish sauce (way too delicate to be called tartar) is Greek yogurt with a little red wine vinegar and chopped, fresh dill and green onion tops. Delish on the fish. The flavor will hang around in your mouth long after the dinner is over, recalling the complementary interaction between the sauce and the fish. I’m checking out the best way to do the fish in salt, so give me a couple more days and I’ll update the salt-crust cooking.
Other places to use this refreshing sauce: on top of chili or curry to cool it down, also quite nice on Lentils (soup or side). It makes a smooth dip for Pringles, my junk food of choice. I usually just use plain yogurt as dip, but this creamier version will insure that I keep plenty of dill around.
TEXTURE
Remember how I’ve been saying that texture in food is important? Well, I got a surprise the other day, after making a batch of granola, the same one I’ve been making all my life. Except I was a little short on the unsalted peanuts, so I threw in a few sliced almonds. I should say that I’ve never made this substitution before because I was afraid that I’d like the almonds more than the peanuts, and almonds are more expensive than peanuts, which have always been affordable. I make a lot of granola. Besides, I do like the flavor of the peanuts.
Well, I cannot tell you how much I love the almond addition, but not for the reason I expected. The texture of the delicate oval wafers made my mouth swoon (can mouths swoon?). I loved the feeling of my teeth biting down on them, so different from chewing the slightly tough oats, the tiny sesame seeds and the soft raisins. I didn’t really taste much of the almond flavor – the molasses overpowered their delicacy – but their textural difference took my granola appreciation to a new height.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
Just when you thought you’d seen it all, here comes Hello, Kitty! wine. No joke. Well, it is a joke, but it is also real.
POPCORN UPDATE
I just made popcorn in the microwave! I wrote about making Popcorn on the stove a while ago, with popping corn and a little oil. I am planning a demonstration next month where there is only a microwave, and decided to try it. I found some multi-colored popping corn from the bulk department: the white, yellow and black kernels make a colorful – and spicy – snack. The spicy grows on your tongue; not spicy at all when you start, then it creeps up from behind and surrounds your taste buds, making you forget all about wanting to grab the salt.
Since there is no pan to heat the oil – and I wanted to make Spicy Popcorn – I let the popping corn sit in the hot oil (hot spicy, not hot temperature) before putting it into a paper bag (no preservatives or artificial flavorings) and heating in the microwave until the popping stops. I used a teaspoon of hot oil for a tablespoon of popping corn for a single, small serving. Now, go make up a bowl of popcorn before the movie starts!
