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LIVE AT HY-VEE ON WEDNESDAY IN THE CLUB ROOM

Kitchen activity is easy when you have the proper skills, plus it's great to know how to make essential condiments so you don't have to buy the packaged variety.  Mayo and ranch dressing are two perfect examples.  Savannah Strode and Kellie Kuenzler, students in the Indian Hills Culinary Arts program, are going to show us how easy it is to do these two preparations at home.  Your sandwiches, salads, and dips will taste better than ever. 

So what are they going to use the mayo and ranch dressing on?  How about potato salad-two different types for the mayo, and chips and chicken breast strips to go with the ranch.  Perfect for summer fun.

I think they might put their skills in action mixing up some fresh-squeezed lemon and limeade, too.

A reminder:  If you want to receive Great Taste's weekly emails with show information and other interesting stuff, send an email to greattaste@kruufm.com.  Put "Sign me up," in the Subject line.

LIVE AT HY-VEE THIS WEDNESDAY

LIVE IN THE HY-VEE CLUB ROOM AT 7:00 PM ON WEDNESDAY

Mexican food, like many other culturally-rich cuisines, suffers a great injustice in restaurants, grocery stores, and households throughout our country.  Typically, when you wander into the local Los Arcos or Mi Pueblo or a myriad of other spots with the same names, the menu is basically the same.  Instead of General Tso's Chicken, found on every postage-stamp "Chinese" restaurant's menu, you find the "list"-different nachos, taco, enchilada, chimichanga, and assorted other "specialties" available in combinations, or à la carte.  In groceries you can find many varieties of Mexcian cheese.  What that means is the queso fresco is hiding, if it's even on the shelf, but there are lots of those tiny shredded packaged blends that combine cheeses you won't really find in authentic Mexican regional cooking.  Mexican food is mainly understood by the public as "fast food."

Several listeners find our new dual format a bit confusing.  Let me clear things up.  Every Wednesday at 7:00 pm CT there are two distinctly different Great Taste shows.  On solar-powered KRUU at 100.1 FM, simultaneously streaming online, is a GT show usually recorded the week before (unless noted otherwise).

Which brings us to the other GT event on Wednesday--the LIVE at Hy-Vee show.  Again, unless you read something different in the blog, we are cooking and dishing on some food-centric topic(s) in the Club Room at Hy-Vee every Wednesday evening.  It's always free, open to food lovers of any age, and tasting the results is a heavy responsibility that most folks don't pass up.

GREAT TASTE WEDNESDAY ON KRUU

This Wednesday's GREAT TASTE LIVE show is in a new location for one night only-Caribou Coffee.  It's a fitting site since we're talking about-come on, I know you can figure it out.  That's right, coffee.  Those special beans are the key ingredient that gets the day started for millions of folks.  We'll visit with Dennis Lopp, who helped get the Caribou facility up and running locally.  In addition to sampling the coffee and some of the food choices on the menu, we'll learn about the company's commitment to the Rain Forest Alliance, the type of commercial equipment necessary to run a spot entrusted with the difficult task of keeping folks alert, and some insight into its "Do Good" corporate philosophy.

What about making coffee at home?  Do you need an expensive espresso machine with all sorts of bells and whistles?  Is it better to join a coffee club and have everything you need shipped to your door regularly?  Do I need to grind the beans fresh every morning?  Whatever works for you is part of my answer, but I'll share my personal preferences and discuss two simple methods of preparing deliciously rich espresso quickly and economically.  

On the KRUU stream at 7:00 pm CT our health coach, Emily Rose Shaw, discusses berries.  Personally, I'm a big berry fan,  and Emily clues us in on why they are so good for us, fresh versus frozen, and ways to prepare them. 

Our guest the remainder of the hour is Dr.Thimmaiah, an inspiring proponent of agricultural methods that enrich our environment and individual lives.  Dr. Tim, as I like to call him, has an infectious personality that will take enthrall you, and help you understand why and how everyone must assist in making our food system healthier.  As the advisor to the Bhutanese Ministry of Agriculture, and the Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority, Tim is assisting that nation in its drive to have its farming community 100% organic by 2020.  He is an expert on organic, bio-dynamic, and Vedic agriculture, and advises governments in many other countries about the critical environmental and health issues surrounding the growing of food.  I need to mention he's also a terrific cook.  You can find his blog here:   http://organicagrisolutions-thimmaiah.blogspot.com

Enjoy 60 minutes of delicious radio in your choice of flavors: Live at Hy-Vee on Wednesday at 7pm in the Club Room, or spicing up the internet on the KRUU stream.

Our live show features health coach Emily Rose Shaw continuing her quest to make each one of us a healthy, vital human being by helping us make informed food choices.  That may sound pretty sterile, but actually the suggestions she has every week are quite tasty.  On the show stovetop we'll present a celebration of the flowering spring perennial-asparagus.  We're in the midst of that fleeting time of year when I eat asparagus every day for lunch and dinner.  Even I was impressed that today, three of us and a baby consumed three pounds of those luscious, thick, fresh-picked stalks. Hey, as a very close friend of mine says, "When it's over, all you can do is dream."

On KRUU at 100.1 FM you are really in for a treat.  Emily kicks off the show talking about the power of mushrooms.  (No , not those kind.)  Next up, I talk with Lisa Catherine Harper, co-editor of The Cassoulet Saved Our Marriage.  It's an engaging anthology of stories and essays from a wide variety of angles, and all centered around food, of course.  During our discussion, Lisa shared a bit of the creative process involved in putting together this collection with her co-editor, Caroline M. Grant.  Also, she gives us a peek into what motivated several of the contributors, including herself.

James Beard award-winning blogger, Elissa Altman follows Lisa's segment.  Elissa's blog is "Poor Man's Feast," and that is also the name of her recently released book.  Poor Man's Feast is a celebration of food, love, and transformation.  It's a perfect read; mixing a captivating personal story with the art of simple cooking, and some fun recipes representing quite a diverse variety of food.

These two books are all about sharing; the essence of cooking.  Pick them up, and baste yourself in their stories. You'll discover both personal and culinary enrichment.

A reminder:  If you want to receive our weekly emails with show information and other interesting stuff, send an email to greattaste@kruufm.com.  Put "Sign me up," in the Subject line. Great Taste show archives are here.  The live stream is here.  Fairfield Media Center videos are here.

There is so much going on lately during each show I can't even tell you about my recent eating adventures in Northern California, Las Vegas, and Mt. Vernon, IA.  That's a real teaser.

Live at Hy-Vee on Wednesday night we have two authors via Skype that I am very excited to have on the show.  First up is James Beard Award-winning author Elissa Altman.  Her newest book is Poor Man's Feast:  A Love Story of Comfort, Desire, and the Art of Simple Cooking.  I think you can understand Elissa's take on food by reading this excerpt from her website: 

 So, what is Poor Man’s Feast really about?
It’s about sustenance in the face of pretense.
It’s about authenticity in the face of the artificial.
It’s about simplicity in the face of the tarted-up.
It’s about kindness in the face of the rude.
It’s about storytelling — mine, my family’s, yours, your family’s — and how those stories are inextricably bound up with what we feed ourselves and those we love, what we eat at times of joy, sorrow, delight, surprise, fear, and sadness. And it’s always about slowing down a little bit.

Our second guest is Lisa Catherine Harper, one half of the editing team, along with Caroline Grant, that put together, The Cassoulet Saved Our Marriage: True Tales of Food, Family, and How We Learn to Eat.  The book brings to the table 29 different writer's perspectives on food, family, and learning to eat.  You will absolutely experience an emotional roller coaster reading this collection of essays, which, in its essence is about nourishing our body and spirit.  Lisa is the author of the award-winning book, A Double Life:  Discovering Motherhood.

SPECIAL NOTE:  GREAT TASTE IS LIVE AT HY-VEE ON THURSDAY AT 7:00 PM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For this week only our live show is on Thursday.  If you are local, make certain to grab a seat as our special guest is Chef Sam Auen of Tacopacalypse in Des Moines. Sam is bringing his special brand of zaniness to the Hy-Vee kitchen for "fun with tacos" where we'll get a jump on Cinco de Mayo.  I've eaten at Sam's place, and love his take on south of the border food.  It's not your usual taco, and you'll get a chance to hear what makes Sam cook, plus taste the results.

On the streaming show side tonight (Wednesday) we're replaying one of my favorite episodes.  Also, check out our health coach, Emily Shaw, talking about the magic of beans.

Don't you just love serendipitous moments?  I'm sitting at the counter facing the kitchen at Pago in Salt Lake City, and getting ready to enjoy a meal fixed by Phelix Gardner, one of my favorite chefs.  A couple walks in and is seated next to me.  Since I'm such a shy guy, I start talking to them immediately.  If they have in mind a romantic night out, my take is they should have asked to sit at a table for two.  Anyway, we make some small talk.  Phelix comes over with my first plate-two pieces of grilled bread, two cheeses, one jam and one marmalade.  "The jam and marmalade were made by the couple sitting next to you," he says with a grin.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  THERE IS NO LIVE SHOW AT HY-VEE THIS WEEK. 

ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE:  NEXT WEEK GREAT TASTE IS LIVE AT HY-VEE ON THURSDAY AT 7:00 PM.

Join us this Wednesday at 7:00 pm on KRUU for our annual Farmer's Market show.  There is a bounty of information about the upcoming market season, and some insights into what delicious varieties of veggies we can expect.  Our participants included Barb Grijalva, Back to the Basics, Claude Nicholson, Sharon's Produce, Kim Keller, Blooming Acres, Dixie and Bob Mettitt, Tenco Tomatoes, Ana Victoria Braun, local market promoter, Steve McLaskey, MUM Organic Farm, and Jan Swinton, Hometown Harvest.

Also, our health coach, Emily Rose Shaw continued her introduction to the GBombs with an introduction to how beans can play a critical role in improving our health.  We had some fun with that topic.

Crazy fun Wednesday coming up on GREAT TASTE LIVE.  Two shows are on tap at Hy-Vee.  First, at 7:00 pm it's our annual Farmer's Market preview.  The market moves outside in two weeks, and we have some of the key players lined up to tell you what to expect.  At 8:10, the Indian Hills Culinary Crew takes over to cook up some of the dishes they've been working on in class.  It's twice the action this Wednesday because on April 24 the stage will stay dark.  I'll be in sunny California, but back on Thursday, May 2 (this keeps getting more confusing) with our next live show from the Hy-Vee Club Room, featuring Chef Sam Auen of Des Moine's Tacopacalypse cooking up his amazing and uncommon versions of the Mexican staple.

On KRUU at 7pm this Wednesday and replayed at 7am on Friday is our show featuring Chef Matt Steigerwald with the Iowa Source's Claudia Mueller and Nina Benjamin.  Matt came down last Wednesday from Mount Vernon where he runs the Lincoln Cafe and Lincoln Wine Bar, two of the most outstanding restaurants in the entire state.  Though the room was packed, it was an intimate experience as Matt shared his vision of what food means to him.  I learned a lot as it was obvious everything he was saying came straight from the heart.  There's plenty of information to digest for every home cook and/or aspiring professional.  Also, he cooked two tasty dishes using Middle Eastern spices-harissa cauliflower, and falafel with a yoghurt, goat cheese and lemon sauce.  Matt's promised to get me the recipes, and provide a list of some of his favorite cookbooks very soon.