Episode 17 :: Thai Me Up

AleSmith Horny Devil is an awesome beer - it really is. It’s a Belgian Strong Ale in the greatest sense. Unfortunately, it makes me very angry. It brings out the devil in me.

In any case I’m enjoying it on the show. And I’m sharing my experience at a recent Thai restaurant that I visited with some friends of mine. Chicken satay, spring rolls, shrimp in a green curry sauce, pad thai, beef panaeng, and pad pak ruam (stir-fried eggplant). I only wish they’d served Horny Devil with our meal. Asian beer is simply not my thing.

I also share my thoughts on Season 4 of Top Chef - why it’s great, and why it’s not (including a 50 second piece of audio to back up my claims).

In addition, there’s a recent article in WIRED magazine covering why NY style pizza is almost impossible to duplicate anywhere else, an angry rant against the mean-spirited geniuses at the Jelly Belly Candy Company, a well thought-out farm co-op in England, and a full-fledged verbal ass-kicking of Paula Dean (she so had this coming).

All of this and MORE on Episode 17 of My Life as a Foodie. Listen to it now.

Episode 16 :: La Gloria Cubana

I don’t pimp restaurants too often, but I have to give some love to one of my favorite breakfast places because we visited there recently and I wanted to share this place with you. It’s an old restaurant called Felix’s Continental Cafe and they specialize in Cuban food. It’s a hot spot for breakfast and there’s a ton of outside seating. Listen to the show now.

Cuban cuisine is a mix of many different types of Cuisine - mainly Spanish, African and Caribbean. Cuban recipes share spices and techniques with Spanish and African cooking, and they’ll use some Caribbean influence for spice and flavor.

Other topics include:

• A huge rant on Anheuser Busch and their “Busch League” advertising tactics
• Many thanks to all of you for your support of my “Grill It!” video
• Review of King Corn on DVD, including audio samples
• Several news items covering food shortages throughout the world. Food fight, anyone?
• Stone Brewing’s Imperial Russian Stout - maybe my all time favorite stout, period.
• PETA is nuts . . . I mean, really nuts.
• Kentucky Grilled Chicken

Download Episode 16 here.

Music in this episode: “Chilly” by TNT Recordings. Buy it in the iTunes Store.

Watch King Korn For FREE on PBS

Hey everyone. Just got an important email from our friend HogDawg and he wanted to make sure I shared it with all of you.

Even though the DVD release is a couple of weeks away, King Corn airs this week on the Emmy-winning PBS series Independent Lens. Broadcasts begin tonight!

Check local listings, lean more about the world of corn, get lost in the corn maze, and go behind the scenes on the new PBS website for King Corn.

These guys are doing the right thing. This movie was never about making money, it was about making a difference. Spread the word and tell everyone who you think might be interested in learning the truth about the food we eat, and the evil of “the inside aisles.”

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/kingcorn/

Quack-a-dillas with grilled corn and black bean relish

So Bobby Flay is coming out with a new cookbook, and a new show called “Grill It!” as well. He’s invited anyone who grills to upload a short video showing your signature dish. If he likes it, he’ll fly you out to New York and you’ll cook the dish together on an episode of “Grill It!”

I figured “Why not?” so I prepared my duck quesadillas with a grilled corn and black bean relish. Excuse the rough chopping and one-handed cooking. I had to be host, director, and cameraman on this day.

You can see my video, along with all of the other contestants on the Food Network web site.

Episode 15 :: 燒賣 (Shaomai)

Chinese food - it’s the mother to all cuisines. And traditional Chinese food is so far beyond what we’ve grown accustomed to thinking Chinese food is. Today, we’re enjoying Shaomai - steamed pork dumplings. Very simple, easy to make, a delicious beer snack, and very Chinese. To go with that, some Crooked Tree IPA from Dark Horse Brewing in Marshall, Michigan - sent to us courtesy of Groucho at The Beer Report.

There’s a lot of audio clips to share on the show - more than usual. We hear from Tim Lang, a scientist who coined the phrase “food miles” in the early 90’s to describe the distance our groceries have to travel to reach us. There’s also a report from the congressional panel hearing over the biggest meat recall in US history. Steve Mendell, the president of the processing plant responsible recently went before a congressional panel and denied claims that the cows shown on the video were actually processed. So they showed him video of those cows being led into the processing house. As soon as they did that, he had to admit that he was lying - hilarious. Listen to him dance. Dance white boy, dance!

Andrew Zimmern (from Travel Channel’s “Bizarre Foods”) sure loves to eat male reproductive organs. You may have noticed I love to point it out every time he does it. Well this time he’s over-done it. He visits a restaurant in China that only serves penises. Listen as Andrew dies and goes to dick heaven.

Finally, Tony Bourdain is cornered backstage at a special dinner function by Adam Roberts of Food Network’s “FN Dish.” The kid actually has the balls to ask Tony his opinion of the Food Network. Well, Tony’s never short on opinions, and neither am I. With the exception of a few shows, Food Network sucks, and we need someone to develop the antidote. Where’s Pirate TV for foodies? More cursing, less bleeping, and show real chefs. FN has become designed for housewives and old women and it’s annoying. If you want to read the stuff that was bleeped out of the interview with Tony, check out Adam’s blog.

Download Episode 15 here.

Download the recipe for Pork Shaomai here.

Music from this episode: “Bahama Mama” by Yam Yam. Buy it in the iTunes Store.

Episode 14 :: The Real Green Acres

Shaun visits with us again to continue our discussion of life on a farm, and gives us his thoughts on organic farming, the affects of immigration, and more.  He even goes in-depth in describing what palpation is and how it’s done.  This episode is definitely NSFL (Not Safe For Lunch).  You’ve been warned.

Before Shaun visits, I wanted to share a few things with you.  The show is gaining a firm listener-base, and one of our shows has reached the 700th download plateau, with another rapidly catching up to it.  In addition, we’re enjoying a solid number of regular listeners.

Rick from Big Foamy Head has shared a beer with us, which I’m happy to  enjoy on the show. It’s “Collaboration not Litigation Ale”  - a blended Strong Belgian Ale from Avery Brewing and Russian River Brewing. The two breweries have brewed a beer that they’ve both named ‘Salvation’, so instead of battling over who got to keep the name, they decided to mix the beers and share it with the world.  It’s an incredibly complex Strong Belgian with deep fruit flavors and a massive body.  Thanks again, Rick!

Chris Cosentino, the executive chef at Incanto, was preparing some of the courses for a recent “Head to Tail” Dinner. They shot some video of Chris preparing the meal, and I’m sharing some of the audio from that with you. Chris has a cookbook ready to be published but needs representation.  Could someone please discover this man and help us make him famous?  He’s a very innovative chef, and he tells it like it is.

 

Listen to Episode 14 now.

Episode 13 :: Bambi With a Side of Fries

I’ve never tasted venison before, so this is a first. And what a better way to have it than with a side order of pomme frites? Join me on my journey while I eat the most innocent of God’s lovely little creatures. I’ll even teach you the proper way to make the best French Fries you’ve ever tasted.

The New York Times recently ran an editorial by Jack Hedin, who’s a farmer in the midwest. He explains how the government actively prohibits small farmers from growing fruits and vegetables so we don’t waste valuable land where subsidized crops might grow. News? Not really, but an interesting read.

To go along with the tenderloin of venison, we have an incredible barley wine. It’s Insanity from Weyerbacher in Easton, PA and it comes courtesy of Sick Puppy at Should I Drink That? I can tell you now - I was floored.

The Germans think of everything. They’ve given us so much - the hot dog, the Autobahn, Kraftwerk, Hefeweizen, and the Porsche. Well, all of that was nothing. They’ve reached the heights of their inventiveness now. It’s a Cheeseburger in a can.

Officials in Tokyo are offering a worldwide “authenticity screen” for restaurants that claim to be Japanese. This may lead to something similar to the Michelin star system for any Japanese restaurant in the world.

Top Chef Season 4 begins next week, and the Food Network is an even bigger train wreck than we ever thought.

All of this and more in Episode 13. Download all 30 minutes of jam-packed fun here.

Music in this episode: “Antarktida” by Gluk.

Episode 12 :: True Lies

We’ve got our first official guest in the studio this time - Shaun, an agriculture/biology major studying at Cal Poly Pomona University. Shaun is a wealth of knowledge, and answers all of my questions about what it’s really like for farmers, and the truth about the food we eat.

We discuss the future of farming, and what role the government plays in that. There are a lot of agricultural commodities that are already being outsourced. The reason? Land and water. California is the #1 state for production of fruits and vegetables, but the future looks somewhat bleak.

I ask Shaun what the process is to start a farm. What hoops do you have to jump through? How much support do they get from the US government? How much land is required to turn a profit? What are your expenses? Is it more profitable to raise animals, or grow produce? He provides in-depth information on this and more.

There’s also a discussion of what it costs to raise a cow, and what the profit margin is for farmers. And he also sheds light on the truth about Mad Cow Disease (I’m almost sorry I asked).

It’s a different kind of show this time. No beer, no recipes, no discussion of fancy meals. Just information about food and farming. I want to thank Shaun for taking his time to come in and share his knowledge with us.

Download the show here.

This episode’s theme song is “Minus” by Unforscene. Buy it from the iTunes store.

Episode 11 :: Great Food Great Beer

Over the holidays, I received a gift from a friend that will be very useful to the show. It’s a beer-pairing cookbook from Anheuser Busch titled “Great Food, Great Beer”. You all know how I feel about Anheuser Busch, so I won’t comment on the beer part, but the recipes are fantastic.

So this week we’re preparing their Shrimp Cakes with Corn Relish, and pairing it with a beer far more worthy than Bud Light - Saison D’epeature from Brasserie De Blaugies in Dour, Belgium. It’s a Farmhouse Saison brewed by a husband-and-wife team who are schoolteachers, and in their part time brew beer in their garage and sell it throughout Belgium.

Also in this episode:
• One of Italy’s best known exports, mozzarella, is under threat from an infection spreading through herds of water buffalo.
• Interesting information about Mad Cow Disease, and how it was eradicated in UK and Japan in less than 2 years.
• Fat’s Grill and Bar and their 222 pound cheeseburger
• A recent study found incredibly high mercury levels in tuna being served in Manhattan sushi bars
• Oahu’s last dairy will be closing on February 15th, causing all the island’s residents to rely on imported milk.
• Beginning with the next episode, we’ll be joined by Shaun, a graduate student finishing his studies in Agriculture at a local university

Download Episode 11

Download the recipe for Shrimp Cakes with Corn Relish

Music in this episode by Dzihan & Kamien

Episode 10 :: Duvel & Blinis

This week, we’re pairing Duvel Golden Ale with Thomas Keller’s potato blinis, topped with crème fraîche and caviar. Oh yeah, we’re starting the new year off with a bang.

We discuss (among other things):

• Beer Safari’s first award ever (we’re so proud)
• The future of the Zeroface Project
• Food Network has brought back “A Cook’s Tour” for one final go-around before their rights to the series expire (Bourdain is a turd in the Food Network punchbowl yet again)
• Ad Hoc’s new “Burgers and Half Bottles” restaurant
• Disney’s new Mickey Mouse Burger Patties
• FDA Approval of cloned livestock
• Why supermarkets are the enemy of the Farmer’s Market (and you)
• The Cheesecake Factory (and every restaurant like them) is a good reason why America is fat

Download Episode 10 here, and get Thomas Keller’s Potato Blini recipe here.

If you like the music in this episode, download “Space Dock” by Chris Zippel in the iTunes Store.