Farmers' Markets in Louisville, Kentucky

Since Brendan is taking a break from food blogging, I decided to step-in with an update. We are now entering summer-time in Louisville. It has been lovely so far, not too humid or hot (except for a couple of weeks in late May).

We discovered that Louisville has a few farmers markets during the growing season. Great guide to local farmers market locations can be found here. The first couple visits to the Highlands market were disappointing in terms of produce, as there was only one vendor there selling green vegetables. The situation is improving now as more and more fruits and vegetables are ripening. What a different experience it is to be in a state with four seasons, where one has to wait for the fresh veggies rather then expect them all year round like we did in San Francisco. I have to say, it makes waiting for the spring that much more exciting!

The market had several meat and dairy vendors. We loved to see that, especially that the meat farmers were willing to take special orders for hanger steaks (oh, how we miss the Golden Gate Meats...).

Yesterday, I took advantage of the farmers market chicken and leaks and made a vegetable/leak infused soup. It came out fantastic. First, I made chicken stock. Once that was complete, I melted some butter at the bottom of a stock pan and added chopped up leaks, onion, carrots, baby buck-choy (pretty much whatever vegetable I could find in the fridge). I let the veggies get nice and buttery and soft. Added salt, pepper and some paprika to make things spicy. Then I added some of the chicken stock and let the whole thing cook for a while. After about an hour, I put the veggies and some stock in a food processor only to pulse for a bit (so it wouldn't become baby food). Then I poured back into the pan with remaining stock. I let the whole thing simmer for a bit longer, added additional spice to taste and voila! We had a wonderful spring/summer soup with chicken and toast for dinner. I just ate some tonight and have to say it was even better the second day!

now with more salt!

i could list a dozen excuses for why this site for all things food has floundered and then come to a grinding halt over the past few months, but who cares really?! it's time to move forward and start writing about food again!

i'm been thinking about getting back on the horse for a few months, and then yesterday my friend alex linked to this site from his site (check it out at www.thehungryfrenchman.com - i can attest to the fact that he is french and hungry!), and i was embarrassed about how long it had been since i had posted. so here we are. . . .

for those of you who don't know, i am no longer in san francisco. . . but it's ok. we moved to louisville, kentucky, and so far, so good! so now that i am situated and settled, and spring is upon us, and the farmers markets are ready to open, its time to start cooking, sampling, dining, and writing again. i've discovered some great southern cooking items and recipes that i'll start to share as well as anything interesting happening in kitchens around town, or the kitchen in my house (ye, when you move to kentucky you get to buy a house!).

i think my first dispatch from the bluegrass state will be about country ham. . .stay tuned.

Mango's - South Beach, Miami, FL - Guest Writer

Since the Man on the Street is happily married and when he travels for work, he rarely heads out to any restaurants and simply gets room service. However, when I was in Miami a month or so ago, my colleagues happened to head out to great restaurant in South Beach. I suggested that Matt write up a review of Mango's in South Beach. Here it is:

Sandwiched between a Caribbean breeze and the Vice-like neon glow a few friends and I strolled without plans down the famous Ocean Avenue of South Beach, Miami. A single truth, or what was once believed, shared among the trio of software salesman was that we were starved from eight hours of meetings and banquet food that was as attractive as pastel sport-coats and white pants worn anywhere outside of Miami. We needed a meal and cocktail that would be Miami-like, in order to return home to the January cold of the Bay Area and actually feel like we returned home from some place tropical.

Dropped off at the mouth of Ocean Avenue, we began to work ourselves through the heart of South Beach. While my two amigos may have felt more like Crockett and Tubbs, I felt more like the thug from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City preparing to forcefully hop into a powder blue caddy, incite a riot, and elude the police for hours. Consumed by the ocean air, neon glow, and Donatella Versace wannabe’s we strolled in search of cuisine perfect for the night. Walking among sidewalk diners and freshly legal temptresses spouting discounted meals and free bottles of wine for our business, our options seemed all to abundant and never-ending, however we would soon find they were not.

Ironically, the restaurant that captured our business and attention did not have a single discount to offer, but instead offered us everything our imaginations told us about Miami. Quickly, we were lured into Mango’s by salsa music blasted at deafening levels as women danced on the bar wearing bikini tops and pants that seemed spray-painted on. I do not recall much about the food other than I ate without complaint. The Mojito’s tasted imported directly from Cuba and re-enforced my belief that I too, could dance salsa. Our waitress was a Cuban doll with a smile that said “Sure, I’ll have another,” and provided service that exceeded every expectation when she dropped off our lime-marinated steaks and jumped onto the bar for a routine that took our minds off of the dinner we ordered and the negotiations training we previously went through with the alpha-female. The teamwork by the staff was admirable as everyone worked flawlessly keeping our attention. Another employee busting out of her top with spray-painted pants approached the table with test-tubes of booze, offering a unique, Miami way of taking a shot. Teased and straddled I had the best shot of my life and could not recall, for the life of me, what it was. For any guy within a five-hundred mile radius of South Beach, Mango’s is a must stop. Thirty-six pictures, four Mojito’s, and a satisfied appetite ( among other things) later, I walked out of Mango’s a giggly teenager, having seen everything I ever dreamed Miami of being.

So there you have it. It sounds awesome. I wish I would have gone out too, but the Man on the Street stayed home with my warm milk watching Matlock.

authentic italian episode #2: lamb and fennel stew

so i thought i would be doing one of these authentic italian posts a week, but reality has set in, so, after a delay of too many weeks, here is the only the second post. . . i would love to say there are more to some soon, but i don't want to lie anymore. . . well maybe a little more. . . so many more posts to come!!!

i was looking to make something quick and easy for some friends who were coming to watch football, as well as something seasonal, and this recipe just jumped out at me. it couldn't have been easier: brown the lamb, add some chopped onion, some DOP tomatoes, let it cook for about 10 minutes, add some chopped fennel, cover, and let cook for about 90 minutes - add some water if necessary along the way. simple recipe, basic ingredients, and it turned out great. i cooked some nice curly pasta as well and served it in big bowls.

the key of course is getting the best ingredients, and the guys at golden gate meats didn't disappoint. i went in on friday to and asked for some lamb stew meat and came back saturday to a big package of beautiful lamb. i did make a big rookie mistake thought - i wasn’t thinking and put all the lamb in the pan to brown at one time - it let out tons of moisture, lowered the overall heat, and suddenly i had gray meat. i stopped - pulled all the lamb out, got a second pan, and browned them in that pan in batches, then adding it back into the main pan where all the juices had already accumulated. slow and steady wins the race. it does go to show that it's tough to ruin a simple recipe, and that sometimes it easy to forget the basics.

some more photos below (i'm still trying to improve my food photography, so bear with me - you can see the whole set here):


overcrowding the pan


halfway there


dinner is served

coco500... again

i think i've written about coco500 on more than one occasion, and it has officially become my favorite place to eat in san francisco - loretta keller (no relation to thomas) is my new hero. we ate there again last night (our first official dinner without the little one) and had another great meal. the food is simple, fresh, and excellent. it also helps that it is 1/2 a block from our house, which makes ducking out pretty easy.

food of note was the truffle oil and mushroom flat bread, the house mustard that comes with the duck pate plate, the white anchovies in the salad, the roasted marrow bone appetizer, the peanut butter cups, and a floral and fiery grappa. the place was a mad house, since the fancy food show was wrapping up yesterday (i had a pass, but didn't attend - fodder for another post) and there were a bunch of foodies in town. i was sad to see the duck pot pie off the menu, but hope it returns.

we've decided this will be our place to grab a drink and quick dinner at the bar when the mood strikes, and I couldn't be happier.

pomegranate hell

for anyone who has ever tried to extract the seeds from a pomegranate, i ran across a link to this technique on e-gullet. be warned that the page loads up incredible slow, but if you have ever tried to get the seeds from a pomegranate, it is worth the wait.

Jura Capresso A8

The man on the street is not one to kiss and tell. I like to live a decent life, but not too extravagant. I like to keep my personal life, personal and simply share where I eat. However, when it comes to a product that is this good, I had to share.

I've been drinking lattes since my mom took me off the tap. I love them. Until 3 years ago, my wife didn't drink coffee at all. Something snapped when our son was born, but that is a latter story.

For our wedding, we got a Krups espresso maker. It was great and one of the few wedding presents that we used regularly. We had it for several years, but when my wife and I started to drink lattes two or three times a day, the wear and tear ended up taking it's toll. The Krups machine only lasted about a year after that.

When the machine blew up, literally, we upgraded to a Delonghi machine. We didn't need a coffee maker / espresso maker, so we went solely with the espresso maker. The machine again lasted about 2 years, but the pump died. It still made great steam, but no espresso, so it got trashed. Now we were left with a decision, do we buy a cheap machine again and hope that it lasts for a couple of years or do we upgrade to a real espresso machine? We took the plunge and bought a real one.

The Jura Capresso A8 is the Mercedes C Class of the Jura line. It is nice, but it is the cheapest version of this line. It was also way out of our budget, but we didn't buy a Christmas present for ourselves, so we felt we could justify it. Credit, baby, its the American way. Plus, if we do more than 2 coffees a day, which we do easily, it justifies not going to Starbucks in less than a year.

Once we decided to get a real, almost commercial machine, we had two primary requirements for a new espresso maker. The first is that it was fully automatic. Press a button and out comes the exact amount of coffee that we want. Press another button and it steams milk exactly the way that we like. The second requirement, was that it had an awesome warranty. We wanted at least 10 years and would prefer lifetime.

I have to say, the A8 is amazing. It is everything that we wanted and more. The automatic functionality is exactly what we wanted. Press a button and 2 minutes later we have a perfect latte. It also cleans itself, grinds beans, filters water and probably does all sorts of other things that we haven't figured out yet. The coffee is grand. A perfect shot of espresso. Plus, it is an almost commercial grade machine, so we expect it to last a long time. Finally, we bought it from Williams-Sonoma, who offer a life time warranty on all of their espresso machines.

The Jura Capresso A8 machine is an amazing espresso maker. While the cost is a bit steep, it is in line with other fully automatic cappuccino makers. The man on the street highly recommends it.