From Me to You

This is one of those times when the work can speak for itself. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you From Me to You, a photoblog from NYC. The photography speaks for itself, and the writing's not bad either. My only qualm is his occasional use of the typewritten word seemingly pressed upon antique pages, which lends an extremely classic motif, but alas it also doesn't lend itself well to the readers' eyes. Nevertheless, take my word for it and check it out. A delightful blend of photos, food, enthusiasm, design, and more. An inspiration to stop using a phone camera and do the food justice. Other patrons be damned!!

What the World Eats- Peter Menzel

We all know that Americans are known as fat gluttons who only eat microwaved, prepackaged, brightly colored artificial blobs that resemble food only because of brainless marketing and food dyes, but what about the rest of the world? What does a family of ten in the poorest regions of Kenya have to sustain themselves versus a middle class family of three in Western Europe? How much depends of cost and availability of fresh produce straight from the earth? What regions depend on what food staples, and how much directs these cultures towards physical fitness, mental health, and more- which in turn tilts the balance of world superpowers?

While these questions might not be fully answered, they are at least explored in the book Hungry Planet by Peter Menzel. In his photo essay in Time Magazine, we are faced with 16 families from across the world in their homes and a week's worth of groceries plus their cost. It's a quick but staggering look at the variety of cultures, what is available, what we take for granted, and how food is directly related to issues such as immigration, poverty, the shaping of communities, and more.

See the photos here, and check out the book here and here. I have every confidence this will open the eyes of millions to the unfathomable concept that there are hundreds of thousands or more people without dairy available to them, much less a cheeseburger. The global diet is a vast network dependent on so many factors, and yet we as Americans take grocery stores, convenience stores, and fast food for granted. I for one am incredibly thankful that I live in a place where I have more than one grocery store I could walk to, and even if times are tight there is no danger of me starving to death. It's an amazing, staggering concept to explore the weekly diet or struggle to simply survive in harsh regions of the world, and yet it's a daily reality for so many. Be sure to check out the photo essay and book for what is sure to be eye-opening and jaw-dropping.

Phony Pho

Ashton and I had big hopes for this one. I really wanted to make a Thai Lemongrass soup, but to our dismay Albertons had no sort of lemongrass or a variety of other ingredients that were pretty necessary to that sort of venture. We altered our plans a bit, and with only the roughest of sketches managed to whip up one of the most delicious things I have ever had. If I had been served this in a restaurant, I would have been incredibly pleased, so to have created it pleased me doubly!

For this we used:
3 cups chicken stock
a few splashes of fish sauce
Chopped cilantro
a generous heap of brown and white mushrooms
Salt and Pepper to taste
Spring onions
a sprinkle of dried basil
a sprinkle of dried oregano
juice of 1/2 a lime
Crushed Red Pepper
1/2 a green chile pepper
splash of olive oil
and although it is not pictured in here, a boiled chicken breast and rice noodles for a pretty hearty soup with an incredible broth. My only complaint was definitely too much cilantro, but that is easily remedied. This was truly our best yet. Incredibly basic, but incredible tasting.

I was especially pleased with this because we were looking at a few different recipes, and none of them seemed to be exactly what we were looking for, so we just altered several to fit what we wanted. Plus, if we were able to create something this amazing without lemongrass, which is pretty key, imagine what we could accomplish with it! Next time we'll plan a little more in advance and go to the Asian Market to make sure we get everything necessary to re-create and enhance this delicious dish.

Wasabi Soy Chicken

Ashton and I love asian food and cooking. What better way to unite these than to cook asian food?!?!? Being the innovators that we are, we got some powdered wasabi, chicken, and soy sauce with some jasmine rice and prepared a feast. I made a more liquid wasabi to pour over the chicken and then drizzled some soy sauce to marinate overnight. A pinch of garlic salt, and voila! I would have added toasted sesame seeds if there had been any at the grocery store, so alas we did without. I cooked the 5 large chicken breasts on 350 degrees for 55 minutes and served with jasmine rice. I took the soy sauce that had baked with the chicken to pour over the rice, and that added a really nice kick.

If I did it over again, I would have used some ginger as well and smoothed the wasabi more, so that the heat would be evenly distributed in the bites. On some pieces you couldn't taste it at all, and some brought tears to my eyes. Still, it was a great experiment that is worth trying. Right now I'm enjoying the nice leftovers at work; the wasabi has coagulated more regularly and maintained the bite without being offensive to the tastebuds. All in all, a success! I'd rate it a B, with A potential.

sushi photo blog

Here is a photo documentation of our sushi making experience