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Edible Radio presents Lynne Rossetto Kasper

LYNNE ROSSETTO KASPER ON


EDIBLE RADIO'S GROWING HOME

Growing Home host Marla Camp visits with Lynne Rossetto Kasper, host and cocreator of the American Public Media radio show The Splendid Table, about Lynne’s latest book, The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Weekends. On this episode, Lynne talks about why we love cookbooks, the alchemy that turns groceries into meals and how to prepare a sumptuous vegan holiday dinner. Plus she gives us a tip on what to do with Franklin Barbecue leftovers (if there is such a thing). Listen at edibleradio.com.

Four String Farm

By MM Pack   
Photography by Justin Butts

Even for a farm dog, Bando has a complicated job description and he takes his work seriously. He’s responsible for nightly patrols here at Four String Farm, guarding chickens and ducks from predators, exterminating gophers, running off deer, herding frisky pigs home if they escape and alerting farm owner Justin Butts with specialized barks about problems he encounters like snakes, hawks, wild hogs and alligators (yes, alligators).

Going Whole Hog

By Elizabeth Winslow    
Photography by Jody Horton

My mother grew up on a small farm in Louisiana, and has vivid memories of hog-butchering time. Each year, when the weather turned cold, neighbors would gather to help my grandfather slaughter and butcher the hogs that would feed his family through the winter. For three solid days they worked—butchering table to smokehouse—telling stories and laughing; feasting at a communal table.

Capital Area Food Bank

By Kerri Qunell

In keeping with one of the Capital Area Food Bank’s (CAFB) goals of empowering people by teaching them to grow their own food, a group of 18 CAFB staffers led by example and planted a garden on the food bank’s grounds in late March. Since then, the four, 4’ x 4’ raised beds have erupted with tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, corn, basil and eggplant—with more abundance on the horizon.

A Raw Deal

By Janet Heimlich

While on a lunch break, Ruth stands in her tiny kitchen making kefir. The 31-year-old receptionist and hair stylist places a spoonful of kefir starter grains into an empty mayonnaise jar, fills it with whole milk and sets the jar on the counter to ferment. “The warmer it is, the faster it makes up,” she says. “Every once in a while I’ll give it a little jiggle.”

Twenty-four hours from now, Ruth will be enjoying a rich, creamy, yogurt-like drink containing probiotic properties that she says are “good for the gut.”

Home Plate: Feeding Baby

By Kristi Willis
Photography by Andy Sams

Wee Chloe happily accepts a heaping spoonful of cottage cheese nestled alongside homemade spinach puree, then smiles from ear to ear. “I love knowing that she’ll grow up loving vegetables,” says mom Cari Marshall—matching her daughter’s smile.

Having an ample supply of fresh produce on hand has long been a commitment of Marshall and her husband, Eric de Valpine. They joined a CSA while living in Long Beach, California, and loved the diversity and volume of produce that arrived each week.

Eastside Cafe

Photography by Jody Horton

Eastside Cafe’s Garden Crudite appetizer: an ever-changing plate of seasonal vegetables sourced from Eastside’s own vegetable garden and its sister garden at HausBar Farm, just two miles away. Fall vegetables including heirloom cherry tomatoes, asparagus beans, windy wood okra and golden zucchini squash are served raw with handmade sweet basil pesto and anchovy-herbed butter.

2011 Eddy Awards

And we’re proud to have been recognized for excellence in publishing from this year’s 2011 Edible Communities Annual Publishers Conference:

Best Website (Winner for the second year)
Best Editorial—Special Issue for Edible Austin COOKS! (Winner)
Best Editorial Spread or Layout for “Setting the Season,” Edible Austin COOKS! (Finalist)
Best Electronic Feature for our e-newsletter (Finalist)

The-Motivational Meal

Wouldn’t it be nice to have your boss working for you for a change? Better yet, to have him working for you in your kitchen? How great would that be? Your boss slaving away over a hot stove for you. But why waste all of that culinary talent on just you? You’re not the selfish type. You should invite your coworkers. All of you could kick back with some wine and take your sweet time enjoying, say, savory mushroom crepes with Madeira and cream. Sure, they have to be painstakingly made, one by one, but your boss doesn’t mind.

Just look at him back there, wide-eyed and covered in flour—loving it. Even better still, let’s do all of this dirtying-of-pans, feet-up-on-the-coffee-table business at HIS house. And for kicks, let’s throw his wife into the kitchen with him and let them handle all of the waiting and bussing, too. You wouldn’t want to break that wonderful sitting-and-eating streak, would you? No way. You should enjoy yourself!

Doc Russ, Texas Wineslinger

By Terry Thompson-Anderson

Russell Kane is as dedicated to the success of the Texas wine industry as any winemaker or winery owner in the state. And it’s a safe bet that he knows as much, or more, about every Texas wine and winemaker than anybody else does. Although he has a PhD in engineering and spent over 30 years as a researcher and technical writer producing some 250 technical publications (two of which won awards for writing excellence), Russ says the transition to what he’s doing now was a smooth one.

Kombucha

By Veronica Meewes
Photography by Tae Won Yu

Ask the Permie Pro

By Dick Pierce 

Dear Permie Pro,
Q: We are fairly experienced gardeners, but new to Austin. We’ve heard that Austin is great for fall gardening. Sounds like fun. Can you help us get started? 

Thanks,
Excited and Ready to Dig In

A: Dear Excited,
I’m glad you’re ready because September is planting time for Austin’s unique fall gardening season! It’s a special time for both gardens and gardeners. Tomatoes, squash, lettuces and greens love the cooler nights and, eventually, the cooler days. The season runs to our first frost, usually around November 7. Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Check the Austin Organic Gardeners’ planting calendar at main.org/aog/plantcal.htm for fall veggie options. Tomatoes won’t be listed, but don’t despair!

2011 Local Hero Awards

Congratulations to Austin’s winners picked by your online voting!

Farm/Farmer: Boggy Creek Farm, Carol Ann Sayle and Larry Butler
Chef/Restaurant: Chef Sonya Coté, East Side Showroom
Food Artisan: Stephanie McClenny, Confituras
Beverage Artisan: Bill Norris, Haddingtons
Nonprofit Organization: Sustainable Food Center

El Sueño

By MM Pack

Big dreams turn into vibrant realities at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in San Antonio. This third campus of the prestigious nonprofit college, headquartered in New York, continues to expand and innovate—making waves, making news and making culinary futures happen.

Espirit de Corps

By Jessica Dupuy
Photography by Dustin Meyer 

When opening a distillery, there’s a lot more to consider than simply the resulting spirits to be made. Processes and ingredients used and waste and environmental impact, among other things, are facets that require attention and careful thought. And for many Central Texas distillers, sustainability is playing a key role in planning.

Potato Gnocchi

By Will Packwood
Photography by Jenna Noel

A little over a decade ago, gnocchi was an unpronounceable word with an even more confusing meaning. Today, gnocchi is no stranger to restaurant menus and can even be found on most supermarket shelves. Though the word gnocchi in Italian refers to any dumpling—from potato to semolina to bread, cheese, even pumpkin—here in the U.S. potato is king. The best potato readily available in most markets is the russet.

A Barnyard Dance

By Dorsey Barger
Photography by Jody Horton

Life on HausBar Farms in East Austin is a marvelous, circular dance between vegetables and animals; a whirling waltz of eating and pooping, fertilizing, regrowing and eating some more. My partner, Susan, and I invited many of our animals to this barn dance because of our decision not to use gas-powered equipment on the farm.

Sure, we could dig the 51 beds of vegetables using just pitchforks and shovels, but there was no way that I nor my helpers were going to be pushing around a push mower for the rest of the two acres to beat down grass and weeds.

From Garden to Salad Plate

By Lucinda Hutson

Each bite of salade Lyonnaise celebrates the senses! Frilly curls of frisée keep their sharp, chicory-like bite even when tossed in a tangy shallot-and-Dijon vinaigrette while the yolk of a gently poached egg spreads like a cozy golden blanket atop the mound—a subtle comfort from the other intense flavors, yet melding them harmoniously. Salty, crispy strips of fried lardons (salt-cured pork fat, though bacon will do in a pinch) become the crowning jewels.

In Search of a Raw (I)deal

By Betsy Levy

Directions to the pick-up point come through a crackling phone connection. The newcomer pulls into a deserted warehouse parking lot, exits her car, warily looks both ways, and approaches a side door. The woman—let’s call her My Friend, and she isn’t me—furtively collects a package, and bolts.

What shadowy activity is My Friend mixed up in? Not the return of Prohibition, although a drink is definitely involved.

What I Eat and Why: Eating Seasonally

As a child, I was a picky eater—often too disgusted with the appearance and texture of foods to even attempt to eat them. And these were not exotic foods! I wouldn’t, for instance, go near a tomato. And I had serious doubts about cucumbers.

It wasn’t until I went to the Middle East at 19 that my palate expanded.