9 posts tagged “obama”

There have been a lot of reports on the Obama Administration's efforts to strengthen U.S. food safety standards (NPR, LA Times).  Marion Nestle, as always, has a great post on her blog about the appointment of  Michael Taylor as a special assistant to the FDA Commissioner of Food Safety.

Guest-blogger and cookbook author Amelia Saltsman hosted a few friends to watch history this morning. Of course, the food was excellent!

Ralph and amelia

My inaugural breakfast— 

      How did you mark this historic morning? As is my habit with big moments, I celebrated the inauguration of Barack Obama with close friends and good food. I was joyously mindful as I planned and prepared each piece of my “inaugural breakfast for eight.” I’ll get to the menu in a moment, but just let me say, this may be the first gathering my husband Ralph and I have ever hosted where there was no chitchat and only the barest of niceties—“Claudia, Tom, meet Anne”—before we turned our full attention to the television.

      No surprise, mine was a market-inspired menu—best way I know

Frittata and proteas

to honor this great land is to pay tribute to America’s farmers. Here’s what we ate: red, white, and blue Weiser-potato frittata made with Schaner Farm eggs and enriched with long-cooked Fairview Garden leeks, fontina cheese, and pancetta. I baked my special-occasion, tender whipping cream biscuits (from Margaret Fox’s Café Beaujolais Cookbook) and served them with three kinds of preserves: Harry’s Berries strawberry, my own Masumoto Elberta peach, and in a tip of the hat to the president’s (!) childhood home, pineapple-mango preserves that I had purchased at the Hana, Maui farmers’ market ten days earlier.  I love a breakfast salad, so I tossed Maggie’s farm winter mix with olive oil and a squeeze of Meyer lemon.

      This being winter, 80-degree weather notwithstanding, I turned the granola-and-yogurt concept into a warm winter crisp of Kennedy dried fruits and Windrose Granny Smith apples topped with yogurt and Pudwill blueberries. Coffee and fresh-squeezed Polito Valencia orange juice rounded out our kitchen breakfast buffet.

      I gave thought, too, to flowers—California proteas (there’s that Hawaiian link again), napkins—red

Whipping cream biscuits

and blue, and the talisman I always keep on the kitchen counter —Della Barr’s nearly hundred-year-old pastry cutter that I had used earlier to make the biscuits. Della was an Illinois farm-wife who made the best farmhouse rolls ever. She was my friend Connie’s grandma, and she lived to be 103. 

      Through the ceremony, Ralph and I and our friends whispered brief comments about the swearing-in bibles, Barack’s speech, Elizabeth’s poem, Dianne’s able hosting, Michelle and Jill’s outfits, and Malia and Sasha’s poise and cuteness. I reveled in the deliciousness of being with dear friends on this auspicious day. And then, just like that, it was time for everyone to go to work.  

Red, White, and Blue Frittata 

1 bunch leeks

1 1/2 pounds red, white or yellow, and blue-fleshed potatoes, such as Red Thumb, Russian Banana Fingerling, and Purple Peruvian

2 ounces pancetta, bacon, or ham, cut in small dice

12 eggs

1/4 pound fontina or other melting cheese, such as Winchester Farms mild gouda, grated

1/2 cup crème fraiche

3 tablespoons milk

6 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground white pepper 

Trim leeks, and chop. Heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium low heat in a wide pot. Add leeks and a little salt, stir, and cover pot. Cook gently until leeks are very tender, about 15 minutes. Remove cover and cook a few minutes more to evaporate any liquid that may have formed.  

Steam potatoes over boiling salted water until just tender, about 15 minutes. When cool, peel potatoes and slice lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick slices. 

Cook pancetta in small skillet over medium heat until lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. The leeks, potatoes, and pancetta can be prepared a day ahead and refrigerated. 

Preheat oven to 350. In a large well-seasoned ovenproof skillet set over medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil. When sizzling and starting to color, add potatoes in batches, season with salt, and cook until golden brown on one side. Add the remaining butter and oil as needed.  

Meanwhile, briskly whisk together the eggs, crème fraiche, and milk with 1 to 2 teaspoons salt and grindings of white pepper to taste. Stir in leeks, pancetta, and cheese.  

Return the pan to medium heat, and place half the potatoes (alternating red, white and blue) browned side down in the pan in an attractive design. Gently pour the egg mixture over the layer of potatoes and add remaining potatoes to pan. Cook until bubbles appear at the edges of the pan, 2 to 5 minutes. Place skillet in oven and bake until frittata is set, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Loosen edges with a knife or spatula, place a large serving dish over skillet and turn out the frittata. Sprinkle with additional salt if desired. Serve at room temperature.  

Makes 12 servings. 

© 2009, Amelia Saltsman

Popovers

The exuberance of the Popover: a dish fit for the explosive sense of pride that Tuesday brings.

Thinking about Inauguration Day food festivities all of a sudden I realized that this can’t be a beer and popcorn afternoon grazing session, or late night ice cream buffet.  No, Inauguration Day is a morning celebration.  We need to begin Tuesday morning with a bang; with a dish worthy of taking a day off to immerse ourselves in simple happiness.  The popover popped into my mind (yes, I did actually think that).   When was the last time you had a popover?  I don’t know any friends who make them regularly.  I admit to occasionally running into Neiman Marcus just to have a bite of eggy, chewy, buttery, goodness with a bit of butter beaten with jam.  It’s that bit of jam that puts the popover into high gear.  Now is the time to crack open that jar of special friend-made or artisanal farmers market preserves.  Lay out an assortment of jams, jellies and preserves, maybe some lemon wedges, powdered sugar and if you want to be decadent some fresh ricotta whipped with a bit of sugar till super smooth in the food processor.  Dust some cinnamon on top.  Yum, no….YUM.

Popovers can be scary to make, and sometimes the pop fizzles.  I’ve found that this King Arthur recipe with pictures and detailed explanation works really well.  Popovers are such a hopeful bread.

Popovers

It looks like Tom Vilsack will be Obama's pick for Secretary of Agriculture.  Vilsack recently told Grist:

"My hope is that we transform from the traditional farm policy to a food-and-farm policy that encourages greater diversity in agriculture, including incentives for food production and enhanced conservation practices."

This selection could have major implications in the food world.  What do you think about this choice?  Let us know by adding a comment below.

I'm writing to you as a person consumed with the culture of food who is having an uncharacteristic moment of optimism regarding our ability to help create real change.  I write to you as a member of the Stewardship Council of Roots of Change.  We have been working very hard to connect with people and organizations across the country to push the ideal of a sustainable food system forward.

People constantly ask me what they as individuals can do besides shopping at the Farmers Markets to make a difference in the crazy way we deal with food in this country.  My answer is always the same.  GET POLITICAL.  You must make your voice heard.  With the start of this new administration we have an incredible opportunity to communicate our passion on this issue.  Obama's people are already listening.

There is still an opportunity to see a new Secretary of Agriculture put in place who is committed to sustainability. It will only happen if you sign the petition on the following web site.

http://www.fooddemocracynow.org/

Please sign the petition and let family and friends know. We want to have 50,000 signatures by tomorrow evening. We had 10,000 yesterday and over 27,250 today! It is working. 50,000 signatures in five days will show the Obama team a bold decision is necessary and will be supported by the American people.

Today, Nicholas Kristof's wrote a piece in today's NY Times supporting the petition.

Thank You.  I think you're beautiful and you deserve a hug.

Evan

From Good Food listener and friend Susan Marx,

I thought I would share with you what I have kept myself busy with at night and on weekends for almost 3 months.  Since August 12, I have officially spearheaded the Obama campaign and Democrats Abroad formation here in Kabul.  In this position I helped register over 150 voters for the election (up from 6 in 2006), an increase of 20x, and managed to create the official committee for Democrats Abroad Afghanistan as the 44^th country committee, on November 4^th – a significant happening for us since we just helped elect the 44^th President of the United States.

http://thetyee.ca/Views/2008/11/04/ObamaKabul/

http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insightb/articles/eav110508c.shtml

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/asma-nemati/celebrating-obama-in-kabu_b_141463.html

Susan Marx
Chair, Democrats Abroad Afghanistan
Join:  www.democratsabroad.org
Volunteer, Americans Abroad for Obama