One Food Guy on the WFNX Radio Breakfast Show

For those still awake and paying attention, I will be live on the radio tomorrow morning, Tuesday March 2nd, on the WFNX 101.7 FM Breakfast Show in Boston. Tune in to the WFNX radio Breakfast Show between 8am and 9am - better yet, listen to the whole show from 6-10am. For those of you not in Boston, you can listen live online at http://www.wfnx.com

Follow WFNX on Twitter @wfnx and The Breakfast Show @fnxbreakfast

I missed my anniversary!

I can't believe I missed my own anniversary! No, not my wedding anniversary, that's in May, but the third anniversary of my first post, August 4, 2006 here on one food guy. Has it really been three years? After one hundred ninety posts, I have eaten a lot! I also have a different job than I did three years ago, one that I really enjoy although still not food related, and I have traveled a lot. I've been to England, France, Germany, India, Jamaica, Scotland, and Switzerland. I've also traveled domestically to Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Napa, Sonoma, and Miami. I have eaten great food in almost all of those places and have written about many of them.

When I started writing three years ago I had just returned to Boston after a six month consulting contract in New York City. While I did eat VERY well, taking full advantage of my expense account, I had no idea that I would soon eat so well around the world. Then that winter I went to California for a week, visiting friends in and around LA then driving north to Napa and Sonoma Valleys. I ate very well there too. Later in 2007 I began the new job and my worldly travels began.

I ate snails in London, England. I devoured several crepes and some foie gras in Paris, France - I bet a foie gras crepe would be fantastic! In Frankfurt, Germany I bought the most amazing gummy bears, and a beer stein. While in Luzern, Switzerland I ate an ostrich steak, and lots of fondue, although not at the same time. And I ate many buttered pretzels, some with salami, some without. I also discovered that the city has some pretty outstanding sushi. In Edinburgh, Scotland I ate haggis, and liked it, a lot. While in Chennai, India I ate sheeps brain, it wasn't bad although the texture was a little...challenging. I only wish I was able to eat some local jerk chicken while in Jamaica. Alas, I was there on business for just a few days and never got to leave the hotel, what a shame.

So why did I start writing you ask? Fresh from six months of eating well in NYC, I was flipping through the August 2006 issue of Food & Wine Magazine and read about taking perfect food photographs and four Best-Shot Blogs were referenced . I thought, "Wow, what a great idea! I can write and I love to eat, why don't I start my own blog!" So I did. The first few blogs I visited included Chez Pim and 101 Cookbooks but my real inspiration came from some of the west coast writers I would soon come to know. I learned that LA had a burgeoning food blogger scene and Eat Drink & Be Merry, Oishii Eats, Daily Gluttony (now Rants and Craves), and Immaeatchu became regular reads. I started writing more, I came up with Tuesday's Tastings - a once weekly review of products found in Trader Joe's freezer case now currently on hiatus - and I mourned the loss of one of my favorite Trader Joe's products, Spinach and Tofu Egg Rolls.

I also starting making pizzas at home. I have nearly perfected my fig and goat cheese pizza and I owe my sister-in-law a big thanks for sharing her idea for this amazing apple, pear, goat brie and walnut pizza I made a few months ago. I always use sheep or goat milk cheeses and bake my pizzas on a stone at 475-500 degrees fahrenheit. Somes I use red sauce, sometimes pesto, and sometimes no sauce at all, just some good olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano and crushed red pepper. I love making pizza so much that I hope to construct a wood-fired pizza oven in my backyard some day.

Sometimes life can get in the way of writing, but I have always found time to eat, always. I've been to many amazing places on this great earth and have enjoyed many a great meal. As I eat and drink my way through life I will continue to share my plate with you so; I hope you decide to leave a comment every now and then to let me know you're there.

Thank you so much for reading, I'm just one food guy.

Welcome Home from Organica Deluxe

Upon arriving home from my trip last week I found a nice little package in the mail from Organica Deluxe. I was expecting something like this to arrive because I recently signed up to take part in the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Outreach Program as a Foodbuzz Featured Publisher. This program involves a partnership between Foodbuzz and some select producers to provide all us Foodbuzz tasters with the latest and greatest goodies out there to try. So I opted-in to try some Organica Deluxe cookies, I mean, free cookies, why wouldn't I want to try them out, right?

Waiting for me in my mailbox was this padded envelope from Organica Deluxe labeled "FRAGILE" and "PERISHABLE"; the packaging inside had "Freeze or consume in 3 days" written on it. I didn't have any trouble consuming the two delicious, spicy and sweet ginger cookies contained within the packaging. Each cookie is about three and a half inches in diameter (yes I did actually take out a ruler and measure) and coated in organic cane sugar. In fact, these cookies are 100% organic! They were soft, chewy, rich and spicy; they were some of the best ginger cookies I've had in quite a while. If you would like to try them yourself, you can buy a package of 16 cookies from Organica Deluxe for $40 on their web site. If you want something a little extra for a little less money, try out their "Morning Treat", it's a bag of espresso roast coffee and 8 of the famous ginger cookies that I am now a fan of.


Organica Deluxe is not just for coffee and cookies though, they seem to be a higher end version of Red Envelope. In addition to selling great gifts, they are also environmentally responsible. All products that they sell are 100% organic from the ingredients in the cookies, to the cotton used to manufacture clothing that they sell. They practice a concept called single box delivery, which means they don't package a box inside of a box when sending your goods. They source their goods from companies that use wind to power their manufacturing plants, and they donate to the Carbon Fund Foundation as a way to offset their own carbon footprint.

Organica Deluxe is a socially and environmentally responsible company selling great products. Go visit them at http://www.organicadeluxe.com and buy something you can feel good about!

The Cookthink Questionnaire: One Food Guy

One of my regular reads is a site called Cookthink. Cookthink is a an online cooking resource made up of the blog, the Root Source email newsletter, and an assortment of recipe tools that allow you to "search for recipes by a combination of ingredients, dish types, cuisines and moods so that [they] can answer the question: What are you craving?"

One part of their blog that I really like is the Cookthink Questionnaire posted every Monday and Thursday. Cookthink interviews someone from the world of food, be it another blogger, a chef, or a writer. Since I'm not really hooked into the Cookthink crowd, I thought I would interview myself just for fun. I hope the folks at Cookthink don't mind and if they do, I'm sure they'll tell me. So here I am interviewing myself, giving full credit for the questions and concept of the questionnaire to the good folks over at Cookthink!


One Food Guy works during the day for a non-profit organization that produces international high school exchange programs. At night he eats, drinks, and writes about it on http://onefoodguy.blogspot.com

Sweet or salty?

Salty

Which ingredient(s) do you use most?

Crushed red pepper, garlic

What’s the cooking sound you most love?

The crackle of hardwood charcoal catching fire in the chimney starter

What’s your favorite cooking smell?

Garlic just after it hits the pan

What are the qualities you most admire in a dish?

Simplicity in preparation, boldness in flavor, cleanliness in presentation

What is your most treasured possession in the kitchen?

My Braun stainless steel mandolin

What is a dirty word in your kitchen?

Pre-made

What are afraid to do in the kitchen?

Saute fish - it stinks up my house!

What won’t you eat?

I'll try almost anything once

Have you ever lost your appetite for a food you once loved?

I used to love Snickers bars; I can't eat them anymore.

Have you ever had a change of heart involving a food you once disliked?

I used to dislike salt and vinegar potato chips, and Brussels sprouts. They are two of my favorites now

If you could choose one historical or living cook to make you a meal right now, who and what would it be?

I'm a big fan of Mario Batali's cooking, and I like the color orange. I'd like for Mario to make me something and explain the history of the dish like he used to do on Molto Mario.

Who are your favorite cookbook authors/food writers?

Anthony Bourdain, Bill Buford

What is your favorite food-related word?

organic, local

What is your favorite food-related scene from literature or the movies?

Remy smoking a mushroom over the chimney in Ratatoille then getting struck by lightning; then Remy eating the "lightningy" mushroom.

What’s your favorite food-shopping errand or journey?

I love going to farmer's markets and looking at all the fresh, colorful goodies on display. I also love walking through Pike's Place Market in Seattle.

To which country would you move for the food?

France or Italy

What’s your poison?

Vodka

What’s your standard outfit in the kitchen?

Shorts and a T-shirt.

You wish to die with what in your stomach?

Sushi

If heaven exists, what do you hope they have on the menu?

Tacos al pastor and sushi

If you came back as a fruit or a vegetable, which one would it be?

Prickly pear

What are you craving right now?

Sushi, lots and lots of sushi.