LIVE AT GREEN BUILDING SUPPLY |

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6

INDIAN TASTES

WITH SABITA SAWHNEY | 7:00 PM

JAKE GRATZON OF OLD CAPITOL FOOD COMPANY, JENNIFER KNOX OF SALTLICKERS, and Mary Adam, astounding local cook were guests on Tuesday's LIVE Great Taste at Green Building Supply!

Listen to the show on KRUU at 7:00 PM Wednesday or 7:00 AM on Friday.

Rosie Witherspoon from the At Home Store joined me Tuesday night at Green Building Supply for our montly GREAT TASTE LIVE show.  We talked and cooked together, and Tom Allen surprised us by dropping by, joining in on the fun, and singing a song about the Boston Tea Party.

We built the show around a few critical utensils that will help you cook more effectively and easily.   We featured silicone spatulas from GIR, Gefu's spiralizer, cheese grater, and mandoline, plus a cool jar lid that makes pickling in small batches a breeze.

Steve Katz is a renaissance man, cook, writer, recipe developer, attorney, musician, and a deep thinker concerning the role of men in the kitchen.  Rosie Witherspoon, owner of the At Home Store, met Steve at the International Housewares Show this past March, wrote an article about him for the Iowa Source, and joined me this week in a discussion with Steve about gender and location specific (men in the kitchen) behavioral characteristics.  Men (and women) get ready.  You will be nodding in agreement with each observation Steve makes.  

Click READ MORE for more information on this week's show.

Deborah Madison is one of my food heroes, and this week's show starts with an interview I did with her about Spring/Summer foods last year.  Good timing.  For all her fans, she's working on a new book, and we'll get the details when she is a guest on Great Taste next month.

In GT's second half, Kathy DuBois is in town for a couple of weeks, and she will reprise her long time co-host role this week, and at our live Green Building Supply show next Tuesday.  We have been cooking almost nonstop together since she got off the plane, and, as always, it's a load of fun not only to hang out in the kitchen, but eat and enjoy the results.

We'll talk some food philosophy, and I have some of my latest travel eats to share, including an inspiring dinner at Moxie Kitchen in Jacksonville, Florida.

Next Tuesday is our monthoy live show at Green Building Supply.  Put it on your calendar.  The fun and eats start at 7:00 pm.  Kathy will cook up a dish yet-to-be-determined, and Chiraj El will make his famous vegan pizza plus a hasselback apple dessert.  Will Love is coming, too, so there is probably another dish in store if you show up to enjoy the show.  We'll have a tasting of Jack's Root Beer from our amazing local company Shaktea Kombucha, and door prizes, too!

As soon as the weather starts to warm up, I bet many of you think about breaking out the grill.  I certainly do.  

Robb Walsh has been writing about barbeque for decades.  His latest book is an updated version of Legends of Texas Barbecue Cook Book:  Recipes and Recollections from the Pitmasters.  The photos make every story he tells come alive, and, even more than the recipes, I became engrossed in the history and cultural facets of the book.  In the interview, he discusses some of the different ethnic groups who continue to play a role in the evolving landscape of Texas barbeque.  I bet there are a lot of Texas barbeque lovers who will be surprised when they hear what Robb has to say.

I think you could make a case that Biodynamic farming has been around in one form or another since man began cultivating plants.  It was formalized in the 1920's as a part of the anthroposophical philosophy founded by the Austrian philosopher, writer, and esotericist Rudolf Steiner.   

The biodynamic approach continues to grow in popularity, and, for example, this week the 1,033 acre King Estate Winery in Eugene, Oregon, announced it will soon become the largest biodynamic vineyard in the United States.

Robert Karp is the Co-Director of the Biodynamic Association, and a long-time food activist.  He was one of the cofounders of the Ames Farmers Market, and a former executive director of Practical Farmers of Iowa.  Our discussion assisted me in gaining a better understanding of the holistic nature of biodynamics, and I know you will find his insights stimulating.

CLICK READ MORE

Don't miss two of my favorite cooks this week on Great Taste: Amanda Hass and Anna Thomas.

Amanda Hass is the Culinary Director at Williams Sonoma, and she filled me in on what it's like working in the test kitchen.  She is also the author of the recently published book, The Anti-Inflamation Cookbook, co-authored with Dr. Bradley Jacobs.  Amanda, who has suffered from serious intestinal irritation issues, used her own wellness journey as a basis for developing the recipes in this book, which is filled with helpful tips designed to make eating a joyful and healthy experience again.

Anna Thomas started a cookbook revolution in 1973 when her now classic, The Vegetarian Epicure, was published.  Her newest book, Vegan Vegetarian Omnivore:  Dinner for Everyone at the Table, is a paradigm-shifting volume filled with over 200 recipes.  The book is about hospitality. "Start with the foods that everyone eats," she writes, "design a meal that works, then expand it, make it flexible..."  Personally, I think she may have hit on a real solution for world peace.

Don't forget GREAT TASTE is LIVE at Green Building Supply next week, Tuesday, May 3 with asparagus whisperer, Michael Havelka.  See you there at 7:00 pm for the show and free tasting of my favorite spring vegetable.

Few restaurants have had as lasting an impact on the San Francisco (and beyond) food scene as Square One.  Opened in 1984 by Joyce Goldstein, who served as the iconic spot’s chef/owner over the next 12 years, Square One showcased Joyce’s passion for not only the Mediterranean food of her beloved Italy, but also encompassed dishes from Spain, France, Turkey, Greece, and Morocco.  The menu changed daily, and the focus on the plate was whatever was fresh and seasonal. 

Throughout the years Joyce has continued to teach and inspire as a consultant to the restaurant and food industries, and as the author of numerous books and magazine articles.  Her latest book, The New Mediterranean Jewish Table:  Old World Recipes for the Modern Home, is an extensive collection of 420 recipes designed to expand the understanding of Jewish food beyond its generally narrow confines of matzoh ball soup and brisket.

Each easy-to-follow recipe is presented in its context as part of the Jewish culinary spirit that thrived in the Mediterranean, the Sephardic, Maghreb, or the Mizrahi cultures, as opposed to the familiar, but limited dishes of the Ashkenazi or Eastern European Jews.

Joyce continues to be one of my culinary heroes.  I look forward to Passover, and the difference some of the recipes in this book will make to our table and understanding of the journey to freedom.