Glorious lamb and a story along those lines
“It’s 9 a.m. on a Sunday, and my bathrobe and hair already reek of garam masala — burnt garam masala, to be exact. Who’d have known that the key to this Indian-Pakistani recipe for lamb biryani would be the French cooking mantra of mise-en-place? Or that the minute it takes for the pile of spices to get … Read more
Top 10 Misconceptions about Ag & Farmers
Photos from the past year, covering Virginia agriculture. I got an ag email today that I just have to share. You see, it’s Virginia Agriculture Week starting March 17, so I’ve been getting all sorts of info goodies from the state’s Department of Agriculture (and it’s fabulous communications director, Elaine Lidholm) in the week … Read more
Going online to buy local produce? Exploring Relay Foods
When I first met with Caesar Layton for a story about Relay Foods, a Charlottesville-based online grocery store and farmers market that recently expanded into DC and Baltimore, I didn’t quite get the convenience factor. I mean, I am one of those people who drives to three or four different stores and markets each week. I … Read more
Winter veggie cravings and Farm to Freezer
Something’s wrong with me. It’s the thick of winter (or at least it was a few days ago, before 70 degrees rolled into Washington this week) and all I want is vegetables. I’m craving them. Perhaps I have a vitamin deficiency, or just a masochistic urge to eat the very thing that is not-so-available this … Read more
Highlights: Virginia Farm-to-Table conference
It took some prodding from an ice cream-making farmer I met for a story, but boy was I glad I decided to attend at least one day of the Virginia Farm-to-Table conference last week. Sure, it was a 3-hour drive to Wyers Cave, Va., but waiting there was a wealth of food story ideas and the people … Read more
Farm to School grants and a Top 10 B&B in Virginia
I wrote about the recipients of a first-ever round of Farm to School grants from the USDA for The Washington Post‘s food blog on Wednesday. More than $280,000 is destined for programs and farms in the Washington area and Baltimore, including DC Central Kitchen’s school-feeding programs (one pictured above). Four of the 68 projects nationwide to share … Read more
Foodshed story and National Food Day
If you live in DC, Virginia or Maryland, go get the first every copy of Foodshed Magazine — formerly Flavor Magazine — and read my story about Brian Walden’s experiment with locally grown grains. He’s thinking big about locally grown, milled and baked breads, brewed beers and black beans. You can also read the story … Read more
Do GMOs have a role in the next food frontier?
There is no shortage of discussion topics emerging from Josh Schonwald’s relatively new book The Taste of Tomorrow: Dispatches from the Future of Food. If arugula can replace romaine, then what, pray tell, is the salad of the future? Could meat made in a lab instead of a cow be a good thing? What is … Read more
Does SALT need an ambassador?
I’ve noticed a lot of food world mutterings of late about the merits and pitfalls of SALT. Is it the enemy of healthy blood pressure and accomplice to the fast food industry? Or is it the perfect replenishment following a hard workout, not to mention a chef’s magic dust that makes food go from bland … Read more
The taken-for-granted summer tomato
As I savored a giant slice of peppered and salted beefsteak tomato the other night — my raw tomato-loathing husband looking at me only slightly disgusted, that’s how good it looked — I found the taste taking me back to summers at my grandmother’s. The entire space of lawn that wrapped around the back of … Read more
