We wanted to quickly let you know that this week and next, we will be taking a brief hiatus from blogging on www.moderndayforager.com
During this time we are re-charging our batteries, planning the rest of the years posts and hoping to make a few changes to the blog site itself.
In the meantime, you can still follow us on Facebook and Twitter and we will see you soon.
MODERN DAY FORAGER
Ice Cream Week Wrap-up
Well, this week has been an interesting one, here at MDF…who would have ever thought that the trials and tribulations would be so overwhelming with a little local blog? Every week we strive to bring the best we have to offer, blended with the best the valley has to offer, wrapped up in a pretty little package we call Modern Day Forager.
A novice to the food styling and photography world, (“recipe dude”) as I am called, can tell you, this blog is no small undertaking. When I suggested ice cream as a theme, (in my infinite wisdom, I thought that ice cream in the valley of the sun, in the dead of summer, sounded like a great idea) my partners, to their credit, didn’t bat an eye.
Sunday, our first day of shooting was a BIG disaster, to say the least. Heat, sun, humidity, me reacquainting myself with making ice cream, my renewed ice cream skills and techniques (hadn’t made scratch ice cream in about 10 years), had devastating effects on our results. I can tell you from personal experience, Traci and Heather can do the impossible and come together to make just about any photo look good but when these “oh no I’m melting” photos did not pass their litmus test, it was back to the kitchen for me, and we re-shot everything the following day and boy are we glad we did. (Plenty of shots for out take week)
First up, was our chocolate stout ice cream, now my new favorite, because of it is rich chocolaty taste and creaminess. For me, it coated my mouth in all of the right places and but had a slight bitter hoppy finish that lingered, which is just how I like my beer. Next, we tackled Traci’s grown up take on the old-fashioned ice cream float. The flavors were inspired by a close friend, brew master and Master Cicerone Brian Helton’s house made chocolate stout, that we tried about a year ago and still talk about to this day.
Number two on the list, was our figgy ice cream; we chose this one to bring one of our favorite fruits to the table and use the fig all the way from beginning to end. In order to really bring out the fruits flavor we incorporated AZ Bitters Lab Figgy Pudding bitters and to fully appreciate the texture we added even more fresh figs for their seediness and complexity. Bitters in ice cream, come on, oh yes, we did!!!
Number three, and our final ice cream was, pink peppercorn goat cheese. We had to bring a savory ice cream into the mix that really exemplifies one of the things we like to do at urban table. The goat cheese brings a mild delicate creaminess with a whole lot of tang, while the pink peppercorns bring a very slight peppery finish with the addition of floral notes. We couldn’t just leave it alone, we had to push it a little farther, so we stirred in pieces of honey comb and drizzled honey in the batch for just the right amount of sweet and savory, it really pushed the boundaries and it became a winning combination for us.
To finish up this theme of ours, Heather took over the writing reins and shop girl, to introduced us to an old school ice cream machine, reminiscent of one she used as a child. She shared the two books we read in preparation for ice cream week, both of which are great resources, (I am a big fan of the Humphry Slocombe book and took inspiration from it when writing the recipes), and finally she gave us a link to Joy cones, the perfect cone for our chocolate stout ice cream.
We sure hope you enjoyed this as much as we did! Please send us your feed back here or on our facebook page.
Modern Day Forager
As we wrap up our week of ice cream we wanted to give you a few things we love for making this wonderful treat. Memories come flooding back about summers of our youth. Many a summer was spent gathering up supplies to make our fresh churned ice cream. Boring but was always the favorite, vanilla. Sometimes adding miniature chocolate chips.
It was never super hard and would melt very fast on a hot summer day. It always seemed at the time to take forever to make it, adding the crushed ice around the outside of the aluminum freezer. Adding rock salt to help it melt and then adding more.
The first bite was so satisfying and worth every minute of the time it took to make it. This first item reminds me so much of the summers when my daddy would say, ‘Let’s make some ice cream.”
We found this on Wayfair. There are many newer and less labor intensive models to choose from but this reminds me of what we used growing up. This is sure to add many wonderful memories for you and your family.
If you need inspiration about what flavor of ice cream to start with, we would like to suggest a few books on ice cream.
Not only are the photos fun to look at but the recipes are delicious as well!
If you want to jazz up your homemade ice cream offerings you can get fancy with what you serve it in. We love pretzel cones. The Chocolate Stout Ice Cream would be so wonderful in these cones.
There are so many special memories about ice cream for us. I can remember visiting grandpa and him making peppermint ice cream. He would take the giant candy canes and smash bits of it to add to the sweet vanilla cream. I haven’t had anything like it since. We would love to hear about your ice cream memories.
Pink Peppercorn and Goat Cheese Ice Cream
A sweet indulgence! Goat cheese and pink peppercorns are the perfect match for our MDF wheelhouse. They fit the criteria of being out of the box, something we would want to make over and over again and something we would want to serve and share with everyone.
When thinking about this recipe we had a lot to consider, first, we needed a goat cheese that would not be overly strong, but something light and delicate, a mild cheese that still could hold its own, yet, still had some zip and tang. For us, it had to taste like a rich and creamy cheesecake.
Next, we added pink peppercorns, which by the way, are not really peppercorns at all, they are dried pink berries from a rose shrub. Who knew? These lil pink pods are packed with spicy floral notes that add real depth to the ice cream, and a little bit of attitude and at the same time add some bite and chew.
To push it over the edge and make it MDF worthy, we went all out and added lil chunks of rich honey comb to really make this icy goodness stand out, and with that, we just knew, we had to add the addition of drizzled honey into the ice cream mix, for a sweet mouth feel and a sweet finish, and boy oh boy, this sweet freeze will surly keep you coming back for more.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Transfer to a freezer safe storage bowl, stir in honey comb pieces, and drizzle honey and combine, then cover and freeze for at least 2 hours.
Modern Day Forager
Figgy Ice Cream
One of the reasons we took on ice cream this week is that we have been noticing a trend in the ice cream world, that ice cream never seems to taste enough like what it claims to be, or fully embraces the characteristics of the ingredients being used. We wanted to see if we could change that and focus on showcasing and highlighting the ingredients from beginning to end.
So here is the scoop with our recipe, we have packed it full of fig flavor from fresh figs and figgy pudding bitters in the ice cream base and then finishing it off by garnishing the freshly churned ice cream with even more fresh figs, taking advantage of their wonderful texture, that combines the chewiness of their flesh, the smoothness of their skin, and the crunchiness of their seeds. We think this says summer loud and clear.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Modern Day Forager
No matter what your age, we think there is something really satisfying, watching creamy rich vanilla ice cream being scooped into a tall chilled glass and then the anticipation of ice cold root beer being poured over the scoops, to create a old fashioned soda fountain float. It’s what comes next, that is one of the best parts of this old school treat, there is the foam, the spill over and if that wasn’t enough, the top off of root beer, plus the nifty straw you get to stir, swirl, slurp and sip your icy glass of goodness. Does it get any better?
We think not! We replaced the traditional vanilla flavor of the ice cream and churned out our own milk chocolate stout ice cream. To build the float, we added some stout to our chilled glass giving us better control when we added the scoops of ice cream and the splash of beer, making a thick head of foam and overflow but not making a huge mess. The result was a extremely rich, thick, malty (with hints of hoppy bitterness), that really complimented the intensely flavored ice cream, creating a truly decadent dessert. Who says the kids have to have all the fun this summer…?!?
Ingredients:
Directions:
Ingredients:
Ice cream
Stout
Directions:
Pour about half the stout in your chilled glass, (this will allow the ice cream to set up and you will have better control) followed by a large scoop of ice cream, then add a second scoop on top of that, add a splash of the stout to cover all of the ice cream to get a thick head of foam, add your favorite straw and serve immediately.
Modern Day Forager
Pink Peppercorn and Goat Cheese Ice Cream
A sweet indulgence! Goat cheese and pink peppercorns are the perfect match for our MDF wheelhouse. They fit the criteria of being out of the box, something we would want to make over and over again and something we would want to serve and share with everyone.
When thinking about this recipe we had a lot to consider, first, we needed a goat cheese that would not be overly strong, but something light and delicate, a mild cheese that still could hold its own, yet, still had some zip and tang. For us, it had to taste like a rich and creamy cheesecake.
Next, we added pink peppercorns, which by the way, are not really peppercorns at all, they are dried pink berries from a rose shrub. Who knew? These lil pink pods are packed with spicy floral notes that add real depth to the ice cream, and a little bit of attitude and at the same time add some bite and chew.
To push it over the edge and make it MDF worthy, we went all out and added lil chunks of rich honey comb to really make this icy goodness stand out, and with that, we just knew, we had to add the addition of drizzled honey into the ice cream mix, for a sweet mouth feel and a sweet finish, and boy oh boy, this sweet freeze will surly keep you coming back for more.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Transfer to a freezer safe storage bowl, stir in honey comb pieces, and drizzle honey and combine, then cover and freeze for at least 2 hours.
Modern Day Forager
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream
We all yearn for the days of the ice cream man, and our favorite quintessential summer time treat. Well, we are here to tell you it is easier than you think, to churn out handcrafted artisan ice cream that tastes like an old fashioned summer. We are pushing the flavor boundaries this week, while celebrating National Ice Cream Month with a few frosty and icy goodies we came up with.
So here is our inside scoop, and boy did we have fun. We started with all-natural fresh ingredients and made our ice cream in small batches. To ensure even more quality, we used our local sources and farmers, which gave us a better end result. So no matter what your age, these recipes will make you as happy as when you were a kid, running down the street with a big old grin on your face, your pocket change and crumpled up wad of dollar bills in hand, to be the first in line to get your favorite frozen novelties.
Enjoy!!!
Modern Day Forager
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Street Food Week
We had a very busy and productive week. We were very excited to bring street food to the pages of Modern Day Forager; it is a subject matter that is near and dear to our hearts for so many reasons, it is a culture we truly enjoy when we travel both here and abroad, it is a part of what we think will bring “community” back to our communities, it’s a connection to a simpler time and its just so darn tasty! Monday we got even more excited when we learned that our Summery Watermelon Soup from last week’s post was being re-published on a national healthy living web site called Hella Wella… Healthy living for the real world. Then, Tuesday we got an email from the Huffington Post asking us if they could use our photograph and recipe for the Simply Sensational Melon Sangria on their HUFFPOST TASTE .
Our week was filled with the hunt and we were in of search of ingredients and inspiration, our first stop was at the Super L Ranch Market at The Chinese Cultural Center in Phoenix, where we found several ingredients on the MDF shopping list, a whole bunch of provisions that just looked fun and of course props, we are always in search of that perfect little treasure and this is the place. Next, we were off to Pro’sRanch Market in search of the perfect tortilla, specialty produce and props, of coarse. props. Our last stop was to Saffron Market which is located in north Scottsdale, were we found our dried chickpeas and ingredients to make our tahini sauce.
One of the best parts of our field trip was that Heather’s daughter Bailey, who is nine, was along for the ride and adventure and how many cool food products we got to experience with her, she is not a stranger to these kinds of trips, however, we were thrilled we got to see it through her eyes as well as share and show her some things we have learned about these foods and cultures. The hunt, the find and the get is something we talk about a lot here at Modern. Doing the R&D is a blast and is so satisfying. We reap the rewards by going to these markets and learning new things.
If you missed any of the posts this week page down and take a look. Tuesday featured an introduction written by Traci explaining why we are so fascinated with street food, the street food culture and why we think it is so important that we embrace it. Wednesday we gave you our first impressions of the new Scottsdale Food Truck Caravan, what a treat, you should stop by some Saturday evening and check it out and please let us know your thoughts in the comments area or on our facebook page. We jumped right into recipes on Thursday with our take on one of the most popular United States street foods, the Korean short rib taco, popularized by the LA food truck scene. If you have never experienced a First Friday in Venice CA. you are truly missing out. Next, we jumped across the pond to the United Kingdom (and Australia) for one of my favorite dishes Fish and Chips featuring a double or triple cooked chip and simple beer battered haddock or cod. For those of you that jump all over me for using lard in my recipes I fought the urge this time and went with peanut oil just for you, and its high smoke point. Yesterday we featured what I think is the most under appreciated sandwich here in the States, the Banh Mi. We did our MDF version with a lemongrass and spice infused pork, but you can use any meat you have on hand, the crunchy, sweet, savory and spicy elements in this sandwich are what pushes it over the top and Traci added an MDF twist to ours with Granny Smith apples and pickled watermelon rinds.
Let us know your thoughts on the anything and everything we are doing here at MDF. Thanks.
Banh Mi Sandwich
Banh mi is humble, but it packs a real flavor punch and with all the traveling we do, we have found one thing is for sure, no two versions are the same.
Here is ours, we started with a golden crusty baguette with the right amount of chew, we hollowed out the interior of the bread just a bit, so we could add creamy Sriracha mayo, next we add the marinated pork (overnight) flavored with lemongrass and blended spices so the meat would be juicy, tender and succulent, then added it to the bread so that the bread could “sop up the juices”, packed it with a crunchy cucumbers, our twist with the addition of crispy Granny Smith apples, pickled carrot, daikon and added watermelon rind for our take on the traditional pickled veg and put it all together for a real show stopper.
Ingredients:
French baguette or French style hoagie roll (Traditional Banh Mi uses a Vietnamese style french baguette; usually made with a combination of rice and/or wheat flour, resulting in a very light, crackly crust and not overly dense bread. We like just nice French baguette, don’t use sourdough.
Sriracha Mayonnaise (3 Tablespoons good mayo, 1 Tablespoon Sriracha, squeeze of lime)
Maggi sauce
Lemongrass pork shoulder (recipe below)
English cucumber, sliced very thin
Granny Smith apple, matchsticks
Cilantro, chopped
Jalapeno, sliced thin
Pickled Daikon, watermelon rind and carrot (recipe below)
Directions:
Slice the baguette into 6 inch pieces and then slice in half.
1. Slice the bread lengthwise, and then use your fingers to make a trough in both halves.
2. Generously spreading the inside with mayonnaise.
3. Drizzle in some Maggi Sauce.
4. Place pork steak on bottom of bread
5. layer remaining ingredients on top of pork.
6. Enjoy!
Lemongrass Pork Shoulder
Ingredients:
1 pound boneless pork shoulder steak, about 1/2 inch thick cut into 3 inch pieces
Marinade:
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped shallot
1 stalk lemongrass, trimmed and finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon black soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon oil
Directions:
In a food processor, process the sugar, garlic, shallot and lemongrass.
Add the pepper, soy sauce, fish sauce, and oil and process to combine well.
Transfer to a zip lock bag add the pork, and turn to coat well. Refrigerate up to 24 hours.
Let meat come to room temperature before grilling.
Preheat a grill to medium-high.
Grill for 6 to 8 minutes, until cooked through.
Let rest 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Pickled Daikon, watermelon rind and carrot
Ingredients:
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into thick matchsticks
1 pound of daikons (2), (we used green and sakurajima daikons) peeled and cut into thick matchsticks
1 cup watermelon rind, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons plus 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cups distilled white vinegar
1 cup lukewarm water
Directions:
Place the carrot, watermelon rind and daikons in a bowl and sprinkle with the salt and 2 teaspoons of the sugar. With your hands, knead the vegetables for about 3 minutes, daikons should bend but not break. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold running water, squeeze out all excess water. Place veggies in a pickling jar. (we used Weck jars)
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the 1/2 cup sugar, vinegar, and water. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Pour over the vegetables, making sure the brine covers the vegetables. Let the vegetables marinate in the brine for at least 1 hour before eating.
Modern Day Forager
Epicurean Adventures from Eugene, Oregon
Call Don at (602)795-2260 or Maureen at (602)327-1781
Delicious Recipes and Food Photography by Ashley Rodriguez.
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