Nourish Network

What annoys me about the coverage of the current egg recall is that it almost always says, “traced to an Iowa farm.” But, proud as I am of my home state, it’s not misguided regionalism that makes me take offense at this statement. It’s the use of the word “farm.” Wright County Egg and the rest of serial offender [...]

Perhaps no dish conjures up more images of Spain than paella. Steeped in history and distinctive spices, to prepare this dish is to summon the soul of Spain and the spirit of her people. For the uninitiated, paella (pronounced “pie-AY-ya”) is kind of a rice casserole, traditionally prepared in a special kind of pan (from which [...]

Starchy, medium-grain rice is the key here. Choose Valencia, Bomba or Calasparra if you can, though arborio is a good, easy-to-find substitute. The chorizo should be the dry-cured, smoked Spanish variety, not the spicier fresh Mexican type. Use a good sherry (never cook with a wine you wouldn’t drink), and look for pimentón in specialty shops [...]

devotay wrote a new blog post: The Secrets to True ‘Cue

By Kurt Michael Friese
No type of cooking inspires as much passion, competition, obsession, and plain old American hometown pride as barbecue. There are local, regional, and national ‘cue contests that bring together hundreds of pathologically devoted cooks and thousands of BBQ-scarfing chowhounds to debate about which wood to use and to lie about their recipes.
<img [...]

  3 months, 1 week ago · View

devotay wrote a new blog post: Barbecued Beef Brisket

By Kurt Michael Friese
Soaking the hardwood is crucial for successful barbecue. As you may have learned while camping, wet wood produces lots of smoke–bad for camp-outs but just what you want for barbecue. For brisket and other relatively lean cuts, basting is necessary to keep the meat moist; any kind of high-quality beer will work [...]

  3 months, 1 week ago · View

devotay wrote a new blog post: USDA Steering Organics to the Center of the Plate

By Kurt Michael Friese
Among the many unique aspects of living in Iowa is our first-in-the-nation caucus system. Three years ago this week, on an outing with other campaign volunteers to plant trees for Earth Day, I had the honor of meeting a skinny, unknown, African-American, freshman senator from Illinois who had the audacity to believe [...]

  4 months, 2 weeks ago · View

devotay wrote a new blog post: Slow Movement

By Kurt Michael Friese
I may have been the first in my family to “go pro” becoming a chef, but my life has always revolved around food. Growing up, the conversation over Saturday lunch was inevitably about what was for dinner – who was making what, where it would be procured, whether to sauté or steam [...]

  5 months, 3 weeks ago · View