I know what you're thinking. Grumpy's really going out on a limb here because he doesn't know squat about home cooking.

Normally, you'd be right. Not in this case. I can roast a mean chicken, thanks to spacemai bringing Zuni's recipe to my attention.

I was satisfied to think that this was the greatest roast chicken recipe in the world until ...<< MORE >>

[NOTE: If you're new to my FOOD, INC. $11 Dinner for Four Challenge, I recommend you read my prior post, Ground Rules and Day One Meal, as background before reading this entry.]


On the menu for day two's dinner is a spinach frittata followed by honeydew melon for dessert. Children and adults drink milk. Sorry, grownups, still don't have enough ducats to buy coffee for you. For this meal, I "shopped" at the 16th and Potrero and the Church Street Station Safeway's on July 1, 2009. Yes, two different stores. The Potrero Safeway didn't have everything I needed so I had to schlep on over to Church and Market. I'm beginning to think that Heather (see yesterday's comments) is right — time may be a bigger issue than money with this challenge.

Thanks to @podchef for suggesting the frittata (again, see yesterday's comments). I'd been thinking of doing something with eggs as they're cheap protein but wasn't sure what dish to make with them. A frittata is a great egg-based main. The only problem with the idea is that I had no idea how to make a frittata. So, I had to do something almost as embarrassing ...<< MORE >>

I just had to open my big, fat mouth. Or, more accurately, wiggle my big, fat fingers. Immediately, three tweeters chimed in. "What a great challenge!" "Thanks! We look forward to it!" "Great idea! I will read that." It was the point of no return. If I didn't come through, shame would follow me forever.

Perhaps the most poignant vignette in FOOD, INC. shows a Latino family of four eating fast food, ostensibly because they cannot afford both the father's diabetes medication ($500 per month, according to the film's director, Robert Kenner) and decent food. The family is show shopping in a supermarket, rejecting purchases of fresh fruit because it's too expensive.

During a #foodinc Twitter chat, I asked Kenner how much the family spent on the fast food meal shown in the movie. (Aside: My recollection of the film was that they ate at Burger King. Other viewers/reviewers have stated McDonald's.) His answer: $11. That's when I stepped in it. I said, "I'll take it as my challenge is to come up with a healthier dinner for 4 with an $11 budget. Will blog when done."

Here's why I said what I said: ...<< MORE >>

"No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy."

Grumpy Glutton's corollary to this axiom states, "No roadtrip plan ever survives contact with the weather."

I had it all mapped out. I was gonna hit two, maybe three if I pushed it, of TexasMonthly's top five Texas BBQ joints. Early dinner at City Market in Luling. Drive up the road and spend the night in Lockhart. BBQ for breakfast at Smitty's Market. TexasMonthly says they open at 7:00 A.M. so who am I to argue. And, if I got greedy, hang around town for an early lunch at Kreuz Market before hitting the road again. I mean, what could possibly be better than 'que for three meals in a row???

Unfortunately, thunderstorms intervened.

Now, lest you think I'm some wimpy lamelock who lets a little rain spoil his parade, it wasn't the precip that worried me. It was the flooding. Houston was partially submerged and the road to Luling and Lockhart went through Houston. Time for plan B, a re-routing northward.

Fortunately, TexasMonthly provided an excellent resource for choosing a new route, map showing their top 50 barbeque joints plus ...<< MORE >>

Food safety advocates have had a field day with a new study funded by IBM claiming, "Less than 20% of consumers trust food they buy is safe and healthy." The Consumerist is all over it. Fooducate is all over it. As is Progressive Grocer. And Treehugger. And The Reluctant Eater. And Oldways. And Grist.

Some sites that cite the study note that IBM has a profit motive at stake. Some conveniently omit that little detail. None question if IBM's profit motive biased the study's results. And, none questioned if the timing of the study's release is an attempt by IBM to influence the Congressional debate on H.R. 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009.

The irony (which is a nice way of saying hypocrisy) is glaring. If a Big Ag-funded study reveals results friendly to Big Ag, the food safety mob launches ad hominem attacks regarding the research organization and/or funding sources with a vengeance. The Union of Concerned Scientists trashing (see p. 19) of data from an industry group, the Animal Health Institute, showing that only 35% of antimicrobial ...<< MORE >>

Newsflash from SFoodie!!! Dog and gobs are coming:

Ryan Farr told SFoodie that the opening menu when his stall [at the Ferry Building Thursday farmers' market] launches on July 9 will include his "golden dog." ... [D]essert [will include] gobbles (mini cake sandwiches inspired by a traditional Pennsylvania staple) from S.F. street-food purveyor Gobba Gobba Hey.

I've sampled both the dogs and the gobs. Both get a big thumbs up from me. Ditto Mackie.

Farr made an appearance grilling his dogs outside of Elixir this past Sunday. I gotta say, I got a real kick of out a guy who worked as a chef in a Michelin-starred kitchen cooking dogs on a grill made out of a beer keg. Too cool for words!

I also got a kick out his hot dog. Meaty, not too fatty, nice tooth resistance, a little spicy. That's one mighty fine wiener. Mackie concurred. While Farr has a concoction that he calls "Dogzilla" that is topped with kimchi, chicharrones and secret sauce, I opted for my usual preference of catsup, onions and Tabasco (Ryan, next time around, please grate a little Cheddar for me) while Mackie chose the ...<< MORE >>

Perhaps even more often than the 1,500 food mile canard, the claim that 5,000 people in the U.S. die each year from foodborne illnesses has been repeated again and again in the food activist community. The CDC says it. The WHO says it. Wikipedia says it. FOOD, INC. says it. The Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention says it. ...<< MORE >>

Some quick, capsule reviews/updates on places on or just off of Brannan Street near my loft, more or less geographically ordered with 7th Street at the top and 3rd Street at the bottom.

Mars Bar. Good place to drink. Great patio. Not impressed with food. Free Wi-Fi available intermittently in front room. No security code or TOS screen. Have not been able to access Wi-Fi in back room or on patio.

Susie’s Café. Cheap eats all-star. OK iced team. See previous review for more information. One pleasant development while I was in Florida at the beginning of the year is that Susie has returned to the stove after a car crash last year left her out of commission for too long a time. Wi-Fi? Are you freakin' kidding me???

Bechelli's Flower Market Café. An underrated favorite. Good iced tea. See Ten Most Underrated Restaurants, item #4 for mini-review. Note that, due to the economy, dinner service is now limited to Friday and Saturday nights. At dinner, have the lamb or linguine with clams. Free Wi-Fi. No security code or TOS screen.

COCO500. Personal favorite despite being annoyed with their recent ...<< MORE >>

From http://blog.monsantoblog.com/2009/06/08/food-inc-monsanto-did-not-decline-to-participate/

I was anxious to see the film [FOOD, INC.] because it included my company, Monsanto. But, I was also very interested because I took the initial call from one of the film’s L.A.-based producers, Elise Pearlstein, asking my company to be a participant a number of months ago.

When I got the call, I asked a number of questions: “Who would be in it? Who would present the opposing view? Who was funding the film? Would the film present balance and fairness or present one side of the story?”

Over the course of a few weeks, Elise and I talked and e-mailed several times, but I never felt I had those key questions answered. Despite this, we invited Elise and a crew to a trade show to learn more about Monsanto, agriculture and talk with farmers. They opted not to come to the show.

By this time, as my dad would say, I had an inkling something wasn’t right. Given the one-sided view I watched play out on the silver screen that night, I would say my intuition proved right.  But, bottom line, we didn’t decline to participate.

From http://twitter.com/RobertKenner/status/2241116304

we found out about tradeshow Monsanto didn't agree ...<< MORE >>

I know that restaurants experience high failure rates but this one bummed me out because I liked it and it was right around the corner from my loft. [See photos after the jump.] ...<< MORE >>

To be charitable, parking in the City sucks.

I had an errand to run in the FiDi so I thought I'd check out the oxymoronic "upscale barbeque" at the newly opened Wexler's. Tons of street parking available...if you're driving a commercial vehicle. Otherwise, nada, nada, zilch. Why this freakin' City needs to set aside so many metered spaces for commercial vehicles is beyond the comprehension of the rational mind. Trucks never use the freakin' spaces. They double parking. If our Board of Stupidvisors and our wannabe governor Mayor insist on balancing Muni's budget by increasing parking ticket revenue (a mind-blowingly bad idea in and of itself — let's pay for public transit by increasing fines for people who don't use it), they should start by getting the DPT golf-cart drivers to ticket double-parked trucks. They'd make a mint. I've yet to see it happen, not even once in the nine years I've lived in San Francisco.

But, I had a backup plan — a sandwich at the newly opened Oralia's in the Dogpatch. I fought my way through the crowd gathering for an afternoon Giant's game and arrived in the vicinity of 3rd and 20th (out of towners, that's ...<< MORE >>

Dude,

On one hand, I feel for you. Seriously.

Despite what the haters are saying, there’s just no way the Great American Food and Music Fest was a scam. I say this confidently for one simple reason – you stood to gain much more by turning the event into a multi-year, multi-location franchise than from a one-off rip-off. As it is, not only did you fail to establish the basis for a franchise, you seriously and, perhaps, irrevocably damaged your flagship brand, Serious Eats. No sane person would do that and I expect that, once they cool off, the haters will realize it.

Maybe I’m letting you off easy. Although I’m out $15 for parking and got nothing to eat or drink, maybe I’m not as upset as others because my tickets were comp’ed, because, in a perverse way, I enjoy a really good sh%t show (as long as no one gets hurt), because Mackie and I had a good time eating our way along ECR after we left, because my post about the event pulled a ton (for me) of traffic to my blog. I believe you when you say the event was your dream for years ...<< MORE >>

In short, Pig Prom was as good as the Great American (No) Food and Music (Cluster) Fest was bad. It was a GREAT event! I stuffed myself full of pig, sampled some nice wines, ran into some great folks I knew and met some ones I didn't.

One apology — there's a reason that I don't post many photos to this blog, one that will become obvious as you peruse the pix. ...<< MORE >>

First and foremost, if anyone saw Friday's post, thought, “Gee, the Great American Food and Music Fest sounds like a ton of fun,” and actually attended (or attempted to do so), I am so, so sorry. I bow my head in shame. I wear sack cloth. I prostrate myself, begging your forgiveness. And, if we ever meet in person, the first cold and frosty two (because one wouldn’t be enough) are on me.

What a clusterfest! What an unmitigated freakin’ failure! What a titanic screw-up! What an epic disaster – think The Ten Commandments from the Pharaoh’s point of view!!!

Mackie didn’t really want to go but she went because I wanted to and she was a good sport. Every step of the way, she questioned if it was wise to continue and I insisted that we soldier onward. Now, I’m due to hear “I told you so” for a month of Sundays and every one will have been well earned.

The first hint of trouble came when we were shunted over a dirt road so we could pay $15 to park in a lot closer to Milpitas than Shoreline Amphitheater, the venue. As we hiked in, a guy ...<< MORE >>

UPDATED: 6/17/09

This is was a really big weekend for Bay Area food lovers with noteworthy events on Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

After weeks of building expectations, FOOD, INC. opened on Friday, June 12 in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles. You can purchase tickets online. San Francisco shows are slated for the Landmark Embarcadero.

FOOD, INC. is opening in more cities over the coming weeks.

For more about the movie, see my review, interview with director Robert Kenner and analysis of Big Chicken's attack on the film. Again, I encourage you to see FOOD, INC. and to do it with an open mind. That means acknowledging that the filmmaker may have a point AND that the film may be wrong about those it criticizes. This is the start of a debate, not the end.

In addition to the movie, there's a FOOD, INC. participant guide for those wishing to become involved with the issues. The DVD can be pre-ordered ...<< MORE >>