Food Stamps now accepted at some local farmers' markets

This is a very good thing.

I just heard on WYPR that the Pimlico, Highlandtown and Waverly Farmers' Markets will start accepting food stamps. I don't know if this will be with every vendor, but it is one important step towards making sure that good produce is accessible to all Baltimoreans, not just those who can afford it.

Because it's Flag Day

Seriously, I figured Duff, Geoff and Mary Alice would've beaten Ina to the punch. But the Lady of Long Island, Her Highness of the Hamptons got there first. There can be only one. And oh yes, it is Ina.



Oh yes, it is Ina.

Bacon Cook-Off: Bacon & Pancetta Wot

Well, the Great Grapes Bacon Cook-Off is history, and it was a lot of fun! Kit Pollard, Kathy Patterson and I all flexed our bacon muscles for a crowd of dozens of hungry wine lovers, as well as three celebrity judges: WJZ's Bernadette Woods and Jessica Kartalija, and Hugh Sisson of Heavy Seas Beer and WYPR's Cellar Notes. I also got to serve my cook-off entry to my fellow competitors, Dara Bunjon, emcee Greg Nivens and a whole bunch of spectators.

My entry came in second place, which is fine. I went to enjoy myself (which I did)! And the judges said that there was really just a point or two of difference separating all three dishes: Kit's three BLT's and a bacon-infused Bloody Mary (ahem, Kit, I never got to try the Bloody Mary); Kathy's bacon banh mi, and my own Ethiopian-inspired bacon and pancetta wot with tomato and bacon salad. What inspired me to do something Ethiopian-style? Well, with substantial Muslim, Jewish and Ethiopian Orthodox Christian populations, Ethiopia does not feature a whole lot of bacon - or really any pork - in its cuisine. Nevertheless, I was curious to see how well bacon meshed with Ethiopian food. I was pleased with the result, as everyone seemed to be!

You can find the other recipes on Kit & Kathy's websites. Mine is below. Again, thanks to Dara and Greg, and to the audience, judges and of course, Kit & Kathy.

Bacon and Pancetta Wot with Tomato-Bacon Salad

Ingredients: Bacon and Pancetta Wot - Note: Niter Kibbeh (Ethiopian spiced butter), Berbere (traditional Ethiopian spice mix which heavily features hot pepper) and Injera Bread (a large, spongy and sour-tangy pancake made from teff flour that you use instead of utensils to pick up your food) can all be found in Ethiopian markets, the closest of which are in the DC area. I made my own Niter Kibbeh but bought my Berbere and Injera Bread from Woder Ethiopian Carry-Out and Market in Silver Spring. There are markets throughout the DC area, many of which are in Silver Spring, Alexandria, Falls Church and various parts of DC. That said, many sources suggest making your own Berbere (which I did not do) and Niter Kibbeh (which I did. Recipe follows the Wot and Salad recipes). It is far more difficult to make your own Injera Bread, so it is best to find a market to buy it from. There are recipes online, but the bread won't exactly be the same.

1/8 cup Niter Kibbeh (Ethiopian spiced butter) or ghee
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 slices ginger, cut into pieces and skin removed
3 tablespoons Berbere Spice Mix
3 tomatoes (preferably Romas), diced
6 slices bacon (I used uncured and thick-cut, but feel free to experiment with others, such as applewood smoked bacon or even maple flavored), cut into 1" pieces
4-5 slices pancetta, cut into 1" pieces
1/4 lb ground pork
salt and pepper to taste
Injera Bread

Put Niter Kibbeh in heated pan over medium heat and add the onion, garlic and ginger. Stir fry for about 2 minutes, and then add the Berbere and tomatoes. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the bacon, pancetta and ground pork (I chopped the bacon and pancetta after I put in the tomatoes, but you won't be working with a time limit so pre-prep to your heart's content) and continue to cook for about 15 minutes. Serve with Tomato-Bacon Salad on Injera Bread. Serves 4 to 6.

Ingredients: Tomato-Bacon Salad - Note: I made less of this for the competition than I liked, so here's a version that will serve 4 to 6 people.

1 tablespoon Berbere
1 tablespoon Niter Kibbeh or ghee
2 -3 slices bacon
4 tomatoes (preferably Romas), diced
1/4 medium yellow onion, or 2 green onions (green and white parts included), chopped
3-4 slices ginger, chopped and skins removed
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
3-4 chilies (preferably Thai, Serrano or jalapeño), chopped and (unless you're like me and you like the heat) seeded and de-veined
1-2 tablespoons olive oil

Fry bacon sprinkled with Berbere in Niter Kibbeh until crispy enough to crumble, and set aside to drain. Mix all other ingredients together and let sit for a few minutes. Crumble the bacon into the salad. Serve on Injera Bread.

Again, it is probably easier to make your own Niter Kibbeh and Berbere. When I did a test run of the recipe, I made a Berbere spice mix of my own based off of one I found online. I did not use that one during the cook-off, but I think I liked the one I made better. As for the Niter Kibbeh, I made my own based on ingredients from various recipes I found online. Using Julie Sahni's tried and true microwave ghee recipe, I made my own microwave Niter Kibbeh

Ingredients: Microwave Niter Kibbeh - Note: you will also need cheesecloth or a fine strainer for this recipe.

1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter
4 slices ginger
1/2 tablespoon cloves
1 teaspoon of each of the following:
turmeric, ground
basil, dried
cardamom seeds
cinnamon, ground
methi seeds (aka fenugreek, easily found in any Indian or Pakistani market)

Melt butter in large uncovered microwave safe dish for 1 minute, and add the other ingredients. Cover the dish and microwave for 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the wattage of your microwave. Watch it carefully to make sure it doesn't overflow, or you will be cleaning melted butter out of the bottom of your microwave. Strain into a dish, making sure all solids are removed. May be stored at room temperature.

Just a friendly reminder...

There's a little Bacon-Off this Saturday at Oregon Ridge's Great Grapes event, around 1. I will be competing with Kit Pollard (Mango & Ginger) and Kathy Patterson (Minx Eats) to see who can make the tastiest, prettiest & most original bacon dish in just half an hour. No more hints, except that it'll be food.

That's a great way to keep from stuffing myself with all the crap at the HonFest concession stands, plus Greek & Italian pastries at the respective festivals at St. Nicholas' in Greektown and St. Leo's in Little Italy: by stuffing myself with bacon instead.

When Geeky Met Cakey

The following meme is making the rounds of the internets right now. It's not making the rounds in this math-y form but I wanted to find some way to make it even geekier:

Wil Wheaton (actor, famous for Star Trek: The Next Generation and various recent guest performances on various TV shows; also professed geek)

+

w00tstock (the music & geekfest recently held in Chicago, masterminded by Wheaton, Mythbuster Adam Savage & musicians/comedians/geeks Paul and Storm)

+

cake made to look like a TARDIS (the spaceship stuck in the form of a British police box, used by the Doctor on Doctor Who, and that is bigger on the inside than the outside)

=

WOW!!!!!

Wheaton's pics are circulating around the web but I love this one taken by the makers of the TARDIS cake, Celebration Generation. It gets all sides and yes, credits the original source of the photo. The light on top blinks, by the way (linked from Celebration Generation's blog; all apologies to them):

The story of Wil Wheaton's TARDIS cake from Celebration Generation - think Charm City Cakes meets the Midwest - here. Also note Wheaton's reactions to the cake. I myself would've just melted.

Taro Update

I stuck a taro root that I got from H Mart into some potting soil & put it on my porch about a month and a half ago. Just in the last week, it's started shooting up.

This was completely non-existent a week ago:

Salad fresh from the garden

With today's trip to both the farmers' market (where I got these delicious strawberries) and my garden plot at Clifton Park (where I got all that gorgeous lettuce and that baby red onion), I decided to save myself $20 to $30 for a meal out tonight, and instead had a relatively free meal in. Okay, so I had to pay to rent the garden plot, and for the lettuce and onions to plant, and for the strawberries. But when all is said and done my one meal tonight probably cost me a few dollars compared to the cost of eating out.

• enough lettuce leaves to fill a medium sized salad bowl (about 20 to 30 large lettuce leaves)
• handful of in season strawberries (oh God, PLEASE not those flavorless "strawberries" from the supermarket), quartered if big, halved if small, & thrown in whole if tiny
  
• one large or two-three small spring onions (mine was one large red spring onion), sliced - use both the tops and bottoms
  
• handful of basil and oregano leaves
• balsamic vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste

Mix it up in a bowl and eat.

That was easy enough, wasn't it?

Because she was one of my favorite Golden Girls

Another Golden Girl ventures into the great beyond. Now Blanche can join George in her dreams for good. To wit, my favorite Rue McClanahan clip of all time, involving delirium and a pair of raw eggs.

Great Grapes Bacon Cookin' Contest!

I've never been part of a cook off before. Well, this is my chance to change all that! On Saturday, June 12, 2010, I will be one of three local foodie bloggers taking the bacon cook off challenge. This is part of the Great Grapes Wine, Arts & Food Festival. Yes, I know it coincides with HonFest, but seriously, were you going to spend all day there?

The half-hour cook off is at 1 PM, where I will be competing with Kit Pollard (Mango & Ginger) and Kathy Patterson (Minx Eats) to see who can make the purtiest, most creative and above all tastiest bacon dish. I am not sure what they will be fixing, but it will have some form of bacon in it.

Also be sure to see the Sunday blogger panel at 3 PM, moderated by Dara Bunjon (Dining Dish) and also featuring Liz Stambaugh (What's To Eat Baltimore), Wendy Tien (Upstart Kitchen), Wendi Mosteiko (Bon Appetit Hon) and Jessica Lemmo (Adventures in Baltimore Restaurants)

Tickets are $20 for one day ($15 for a designated driver - that is, no wine, ticket) and $30 for two, and some come with goodies.

Because it's (the end of) Soft Shell Week

I have been busy lately, planning a bacon recipe for next week's bacon cookoff with Kit (Mango & ginger) and Kathy (Minx Eats) at Great Grapes (will be posting about that soon), as well as prepping a class to teach this week and, well, recovering from my vacation. But I forgot to mention that this week is SOFT SHELL CRAB WEEK here in Baltimore, hons! This article from the Huffington Post's Max Watman talks about his favorite way to grill softs.

Wait - GRILL!? Yes, he grilled them. He had a dozen softs, and separated them into three groups. From the article (his bullets):

• I left the biggest and best crabs almost plain, with only a generous sprinkling of kosher salt.
• Another four were soaked in a mix of 1/2 teaspoon of crushed ginger, 1/4 teaspoon Sriracha, 1/4 teaspoon fish sauce, and 2 tablespoons of seasoned sushi vinegar.
• The last four were soaked in a more classic mix of the juice of half a lemon, a few dashes of worcestershire sauce, and 2 teaspoons of Old Bay.

His favorite was the simple crab with salt.

I dunno, dude. I still stick by the method my grandmother (God rest her soul) chose to fry up softs, and it isn't that messy: just clean the crab, dredge it in flour or fish fry (I always like to add some Old Bay) and fry it in butter. Put it between two slices of bread (preferably white) that has a little mayo or salad dressing on it.