Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Just an FYI... I know this article is old, but with it being refreshed on National Sandwich Day 2009, I should point out that Zagi's has closed and is no more. Seattle mourns their loss.

Yes, actually I do. The recipe isn't even anything all that complicated. In fact, just telling you the name is probably almost enough for you to replicate it. I will never publicize a recipe for my Dad's fried [redacted].

Dad's 100% Italian and he cooks a lot by feel. Luckily I have inherited his knack. So there's no distinct recipe to actually share, but more the technique that is private.

I have a very hard time picking a favorite Farmers Market vendor. We spend our non-work lives cooking local and do 99% of our shopping at the farmers markets. If only we could find olive oil there...

I'd probably have to say my current favorite vendor in Seattle is Sea Breeze Farm. They do pastured pork, chicken, lamb, and beef as well as raw milk, cream, buttermilk, and cheeses. I love them because they are so responsive to customers and do amazing things like pancetta and guanciale and fresh mozzarella.

Our most recent success (which might even be one of the best successes ever) was cedar planking some asparagus with blue cheese and bacon. Such a simple dish, but the presentation was phenomenal (we'll post a Photograzing picture soon) and the flavor was perfect. We cooked the asparagus on our Big Green Egg.

Drying nettles is also a great option. You can make a nettle "tea" that is tasty and good for you. Just dry the nettles (this also kills the sting), dump a bunch into a Sun Tea jar, and fill with hot water. The tea gets more potent the longer you let it sit, so let it steep a good 24 hours. Strain and keep in the fridge for a cool summer drink.

I usually like sweetened teas and I can drink the tea with no sugar added.

They also go great in place of spinach, like in a frittata or quiche.

They do have just a tad bit of texture, but when I made soup with them, I actually found the body they gave to the soup very pleasant. It's hard to describe, gritty without being sandy. It's much like a tapioca type feel, but thinner.

If you cook them, you only have to boil them for about 2-3 minutes to get rid of the sting. Just keep a good set of kitchen gloves or tongs on hand to get them out of the bag.

Hi Leslie,

I really like MBTs for lots of standing/walking. They are expensive, but they are the only shoes I can wear if I'm standing for long periods of time.

Their New Moon cheese is also fantastic. Makes awesome pizza. It's very mozzarella-like with just the right amount of salt. They did a taste-test a few weeks ago of some infused New Moon as well and I can't wait to see what flavors they start selling soon.

My favorite food/travel story is when a large group of us traveled to Italy. We had no clue where to eat, and only had very broken Italian. My husband wandered down an alley in Sorrento and came up with the most fabulous restaurant! We ate there twice during our stay and loved it both times. But it was just this random wandering that led us to a most fantastic place we never would have found in a guidebook.

I am becoming more and more convinced that liking (or not liking) beets is a genetic thing. Much like cilantro. To the people who have the "beet liking" gene, they taste fine. To those of us who don't, they will always taste like dirt.

I eat beets now. I have numerous recipes for beets on my blog. But that doesn't mean I really LIKE them. I eat them because I'm a locavore and some months, they are the majority of what's available and seasoned well enough, I tolerate them (and I know they are good for me). But if the President of the United States doesn't want to eat beets, then he shouldn't eat beets. I think if you get to be President, you've earned the right not to eat something you just don't like. Well, unless it is at some sort of head of state dinner where he'd offend a visiting dignitary by not trying their country's signature dish or something.

Really, I'm just so happy that Michelle Obama is willing to take on the cause of local, healthy, and organic eating that even if all she plants is carrots, I'm still thrilled.

I am a huge fan of CSAs, and I would certainly join a fish CSA. My meat vendor has a meat CSA (cow share), and as soon as I can buy a chest freezer, we'll be participating in that.

My new favorite thing to add to risotto these days is a small bit of bacon rind. About an inch of rind, added to the risotto right after deglazing and before you start adding the broth explodes the flavor. The entire dish has a rich bacony undertone.

You can find bacon rind at most butchers. If you shop at the farmers markets, ask your meat vendor. Pork rind would also work, but it isn't as smoky (well, obviously because it hasn't been smoked).

Still, it's my newest favorite risotto cooking method.

Replying to my own comment to add the link to my own homemade marshmallows.

We do the same sort of thing with risotto. I call it 'Clean Out The Fridge" Vegetable risotto. Typically it's what I make in the summer when I have little bits of leftover veggies from our CSA box.