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
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
Modern’s Tasty Fish and Chips with Malt Vinegar
Ingredients:
2 pounds of russet potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch strips (hold in a large bowl of ice water)
Peanut oil for frying
1 1/2 pounds of haddock, (or cod) skinned
Salt and Pepper
Beer Batter:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup flat beer
Place all ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl and stir until there are no lumps.
Directions:
Modern Day Forager
Asian Short Rib Tacos
Bring your curbside cuisine inside to create your own table top taqueria. This recipe is the real deal, starting with a range of flavors, a smoky sweetness with a spicy kick, sesame seeds blended to bring out the nuttiness, brightness from all of the citrus, a punch of flavor with the addition of ginger and if that wasn’t enough a crispiness from the shredded romaine lettuce, red onion and juicy tomatoes, crowned with jalapeños and cilantro, all served in soft warm grilled flour tortillas. Embrace the taco trend and jump on the ubiquitous band wagon or should I say ubiquitous food truck. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
3 pounds beef short ribs (about 11-12 pieces)
1/2 Romaine lettuce, shredded
1/2 red onion, sliced thin
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 jalapeño, sliced thin
flour tortilla
Cilantro leaves to taste
2 limes, wedged
Marinade:
1 cup white onion , diced
1 cup black soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup club soda
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon freshly ginger, minced
1/4 cup sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
Place all marinade ingredients and short ribs to a large zip lock bag marinade the beef short ribs overnight in refrigerator.
Sauce:
3 tablespoons sesame chili oil
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
zest from 1 lime
1/4 cups soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt to taste
Add all sauce ingredients to a medium sized mixing bowl and mix well. Refrigerate until use.
Directions:
Photography & Art Direction by Heather of Heather Gill Photography
Modern Day Forager
Scottsdale Food Truck Caravan
Looking for something to do with family or friends this weekend? Check out Scottsdale’s Food Truck Caravan on the northwest corner of 5th and Goldwater every Saturday 7:30pm to 11:30 pm.
MDF stopped by a couple weeks ago (week 6 of the caravan) and enjoyed every minute of our visit.
The first thing you notice is there is ample parking (for car or bike) and the event is set-up with your comfort in mind, from the large candle lit communal tables, concierge tent and a mister system, (heaters in the winter) not to mention weekly entertainment. The week we attended acoustic guitar player Michael Signorelli played and the next week a local blues act.
As you stroll through the trucks reading the menus and making your decisions, or while you are dining at the long comfortable tables you glance around and notice neighbors and friends, young families and senior citizens what an awesome hodge podge of community. We were struck by the notion that this is the reason for the incredible growth of the food truck movement around the country over the last several years, this is what has been missing in our faster and faster paced lives, a chance to take a stroll and have a meal with others, sharing a brief respite of time in the company of like-minded people. All roads (worth taking) lead to food.
The week we visited there was a nice diverse selection of trucks on hand and they change weekly:
Riteway Catering: http://www.ritewaycatering.com/truck.html
Satay Hut: http://www.satayhutaz.com
Sweet Magnolia Smoke House: https://www.facebook.com/sweetmagnoliasmokehouse
Sandra Dee’s Catering: (always our favorite, “we love you Sandra!) http://www.sandradeescatering.com
Grilled Cheese Truck: https://www.facebook.com/TheGrilledCheeseTruckPhoenix
Smitty’s Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/SmittysKitchen/app_190322544333196
Super Farm Super Truck: https://www.facebook.com/SuperFarmSuperTruck
Torched Goodness: http://www.torchedgoodness.com/schedule.htmlLiberty Biscuits: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Libertys-Biscuits/299579633491167
Udder Delights: http://www.udderdelightsaz.com
Every week is going to be a different themed event all based around “Ate on 5th” a special dish prepared by each truck. The theme while we were there was a competition for best dish, week 7 was BBQ.
The competition was judged by Chef Becky Wendells of The Herb Box at SouthBridge, Jeff Caswell of EVO Scottsdale and Joanie Simon of Restaurant Live AZ. The prize was a guest spot on Restaurant Live AZ with Joanie Simon. The online show airs from 3 to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays at http://www.doublewidenetwork.com. The winner was Smitty’s Kitchen with their Goat and Curry Stew. Congratulations!
Hope to see you there next time!
Modern Day Forager
Thank you to Andrew Gooi, of Gooi Films. Andrew contacted us several weeks ago and asked if we would be interested in participating in a video series he was working on called “a day in the life”, after a few conversations we thought, can we be that interesting? Really? Seriously? Then, the dreaded, we are going to look horrible on camera and UGH the sound of our voices being recorded. UGH again! But, with a little trepidation and a whole lot of why not, we decided to jump in. A true professional, Andrew accommodated our crazy schedules and we shot our first video Monday morning at the larder. We had no idea 24 hours later he would call to say the video had been edited and was on you tube. We are just over the moon, that we got to share our story, our craft, our process and what we love to do.
A big shout out and thank you goes out to Blue Sky Organic Farms. Sara and David were so helpful, from Sara providing us with a wonderful selection of melons to use in all our recipes and David taking the time to explain the flavor profile and textures of each of the fifteen varieties of melons he grows, so that we could make good decisions on which melons would go best in each dish we had decided to make for the week. Thank you for making our jobs a little easier this week and reminding us why it is so important to get to know your farmer! It makes everything you do in the kitchen easier!
Last, but certainly not least, thank you to you, our readers. We had our highest readership since we started. Monday with the introduction, followed by Tuesday’s post on selecting, storing and preparing, we saw our page views and visitors skyrocket. With the busy holiday weekend approaching, we thought readership would dip somewhat and we even considered not posting, but you surprised us and readership stayed strong. Wednesday’s watermelon soup set a new record for us and then we hit it again Thursday with our melon sangria. Friday’s reaction was great for our summer melon salad and then Saturday we received the most comments of the week for our refreshing take on granita. So, thank you, the work is gratifying, being part of this collective and collaborating is truly rewarding and we are all richer for the experience. We love hearing from you, so keep your comments and suggestions coming, either on the blog or on the MDF facebook page.
Modern Day Forager
ICY MELON GRANITA
Our version of a childhood summer revival with a twist, a little bit more sophisticated and all grown up. Chill out, cool down and make the most of your long hot days. Using white and orange cantaloupe makes for a very fragrant and well-balanced combination. The addition of basil and the spicy, salty, sweet sugars really liven up this recipe.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Our good friends Liz and Aaron Eckburg own a great company, go lb salt which is a local salt bar here in Arizona and boy, do they know their stuff. We highly recommend their website, there is a wealth of information, along with a user friendly online store, filled with everything you could possibly need, and if that wasn’t enough they offer classes as well. Check them out at golbsalt. We also used another favorite resource of ours for this recipe, Didi Davis’s Food Sugar Blends. This is a great source for all things spicy, salty and sugary, and they focus on small-batch handmade productions. Check them out at salttraders. So many new ways to play with your food.
Photography & Art Direction by Heather of Heather Gill Photography
Modern Day Forager
Scottsdale Food Truck Caravan
Looking for something to do with family or friends this weekend? Check out Scottsdale’s Food Truck Caravan on the northwest corner of 5th and Goldwater every Saturday 7:30pm to 11:30 pm.
MDF stopped by a couple weeks ago (week 6 of the caravan) and enjoyed every minute of our visit.
The first thing you notice is there is ample parking (for car or bike) and the event is set-up with your comfort in mind, from the large candle lit communal tables, concierge tent and a mister system, (heaters in the winter) not to mention weekly entertainment. The week we attended acoustic guitar player Michael Signorelli played and the next week a local blues act.
As you stroll through the trucks reading the menus and making your decisions, or while you are dining at the long comfortable tables you glance around and notice neighbors and friends, young families and senior citizens what an awesome hodge podge of community. We were struck by the notion that this is the reason for the incredible growth of the food truck movement around the country over the last several years, this is what has been missing in our faster and faster paced lives, a chance to take a stroll and have a meal with others, sharing a brief respite of time in the company of like-minded people. All roads (worth taking) lead to food.
The week we visited there was a nice diverse selection of trucks on hand and they change weekly:
Riteway Catering: http://www.ritewaycatering.com/truck.html
Satay Hut: http://www.satayhutaz.com
Sweet Magnolia Smoke House: https://www.facebook.com/sweetmagnoliasmokehouse
Sandra Dee’s Catering: (always our favorite, “we love you Sandra!) http://www.sandradeescatering.com
Grilled Cheese Truck: https://www.facebook.com/TheGrilledCheeseTruckPhoenix
Smitty’s Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/SmittysKitchen/app_190322544333196
Super Farm Super Truck: https://www.facebook.com/SuperFarmSuperTruck
Torched Goodness: http://www.torchedgoodness.com/schedule.htmlLiberty Biscuits: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Libertys-Biscuits/299579633491167
Udder Delights: http://www.udderdelightsaz.com
Every week is going to be a different themed event all based around “Ate on 5th” a special dish prepared by each truck. The theme while we were there was a competition for best dish, week 7 was BBQ.
The competition was judged by Chef Becky Wendells of The Herb Box at SouthBridge, Jeff Caswell of EVO Scottsdale and Joanie Simon of Restaurant Live AZ. The prize was a guest spot on Restaurant Live AZ with Joanie Simon. The online show airs from 3 to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays at http://www.doublewidenetwork.com. The winner was Smitty’s Kitchen with their Goat and Curry Stew. Congratulations!
Hope to see you there next time!
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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