While I am patently aware of the dearth of new content on F for Food, it nonetheless hit me hard to receive an e-mail last week with an offer to buy the blog. Someone clearly took notice of the lack of activity and exhibited interest in taking it over and 're-aliving' it, so to speak.
Well folks, F for Food isn't for sale.
Even though I have not been able to find the time to put the
proverbial pen to paper consistently for over a year, I really,
really plan to. I think about it all the time. Not only did this blog
keep me relatively sane, relatively grounded, during some very bumpy
periods for half of a decade in LA, but it has also been huge part of
my identity, my creative outlet, my escape, my happiness and, now, my
new career.
My New Career.
If you build it, they will come.*
Whether you are referring to a ghost to play catch with in a field
of dreams or a version of yourself that you are projecting,
creating or recreating, I find this mantra, if you will, to be true.
Sort of a fake it 'til you make it kind of thing, you know?
First jobs tend to always be this way.
Waitress? Gotta start somewhere. Just fib a little bit in the
interview, say you've done it before. At that little cafe. They're
closed now, though. You get the job, and after a few months, you're
Flo. In my own life I have found myself in this field of dreams
scenario quite a few times. It seems that I usually hit the ground
running and end up taking off just fine. A few hiccups here and
there, of course, but that is to be expected. (Dig the mixed
metaphors, here.)
Upon moving to Richmond I decided
a few things. One of them was that I was going to be a Food Stylist
to Fred's Food Photographer. Or rather that we already were. So we
had cards printed up saying as much. Done.
Cut to a few months back, standing in a
studio with Fred, each of our assistants, one for styling and one for
photography, a production assistant scuttling around, and a cluster
of people from The Martin Agency looking over our shoulders as we
style and shoot a holiday ad campaign for Oreo
Cookie Balls. Surrounded by dozens and dozens of said balls for
days with little rest and trying to care for a six week-old baby, you
can imagine the slap-happy-terrible-taste ball jokes flying around.
And then jump ahead to a week ago: I'm
alone – that is, sans Fred, standing in a frozen yogurt shop, after
hours, filled with twenty people, cast, crew and clients, along with
truckloads of cameras, equipment and gear for a Hamilton Beach
blender video shoot. I was The Stylist.
In addition to these high falootin'
gigs we've kind of become the go-to food photographer/stylist team
for our local magazine's
food spreads and we even spoke at a local event recently,
giving a how-to workshop on food photography and social media. Like,
suddenly we're the experts, for crying out loud!
If you build it they will come.*
So, between all that stuff and our five
month-old baby girl, the blog has gotten a little dusty. But not
forgotten! I have been bugging Fred every week about us needing to
get new work up here, and we keep saying we will. Life will regulate
again at some point – I know it will. Bikes will be ridden. Books
will be read. Maybe even a movie. In a theater.
A couple of days after the offer-to-buy
email, I received an email with an offer to publish sponsored
content. Us bloggers receive these with some frequency and with
varying degrees of appeal, but this one caught my eye for a number of
reasons. First of all, I know and respect the source. Secondly, the
company, Rakuten,
to be sponsored was new to me and I was pleasantly surprised with its
bounty of offerings. Third, the post was to be Thanksgiving-themed.
That's right! It's Thanksgiving!
How could this have happened? How could
it be this
close to Thanksgiving with my hardly given it a thought? I am a food
writer! A food stylist! This is the
food holiday! Even though I have never had a tradition for this
holiday, that is I have never really done the same thing twice, I
always host and always cook. A lot. Except this year. This year Fred,
Emerson and I will be flying back to LA. On Thanksgiving day no less.
I don't know what we will be doing or what we will be eating. I don't
even know if Emerson will allow for much anyway, it being her first
flight, her first new time zone.
At
best we will be able to make a humble, yet noble, side dish for the
holiday. So we turned to the beautiful new cookbook Heritage
from fellow Virginia
native, Sean Brock, for inspiration. We didn't have to look far. He
had us at Farrotto.
To be specific, Farrotto with Acorn Squash and Red Russian Kale. This
dish is all kinds of Autumnal, it's healthy and with kale and farro,
it's super IN. A perfect winner of a choice for Thanksgiving, if I do
say so.
It
will be interesting to return to LA, to my old friends, my old
stomping ground, as a new mother with a new career, a new life. It
will be interesting to head right into a Thanksgiving I have no
concept of and no control over. I guess Thanksgiving's tradition for
me is its non-tradition. That works. Thanksgiving is the holiday that
I am constantly projecting, creating or recreating. If I build it IT will come.*
In
addition to the cookbook, many of the key tools and
ingredients for this recipe are found on Rakuten's
website.
*The original quote from Field of Dreams is "If you build it he will come."
Farrotto With Acorn
Squash and Red Russian Kale
(Recipe
from Heritage
by Sean Brock)
Servings: 6 as a side or 4 as an entree
INGREDIENTS
Acorn squash
1 small acorn squash (about 2 1/2
pounds)
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Scant 1 teaspoon freshly ground white
pepper
1 cup vegetable stock
1 bunch Red Russian or other kale
(about 3 pounds)
Farrotto
2 quarts vegetable stock
1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil
1 1/2 cups Bob's
Red Mill Organic Farro
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup diced white onion
1 garlic clove, sliced paper-thin
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup freshly grated
Parmigiano-Reggiano
cheese
DIRECTIONS
For the squash
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Cut the squash in half. Remove and
discard the seeds and rinse the squash under cold water. Place the
squash cut side up on a rimmed baking sheet. Divide the butter
between the two halves and sprinkle with the salt and white pepper.
Roast the squash for 35 minutes, or until fork-tender.
While the squash is roasting, prepare
the kale: Remove the stems and ribs from the leaves. Make stacks of
the leaves, roll them into cylinders, and cut them into very thin
ribbons. Wash the kale in a sink of cold water, changing it several
times, to remove any sand. Drain and dry with paper towels.
When the squash is done, remove it from
the oven and pour the butter and juices from the cavities into a
container. Let the squash cool enough to handle.
Warm the stock in a small saucepan over
medium-high heat. Add the butter and juices from the cavities of the
squash.
Peel the squash. Place the pulp in a
blender,
add the warm stock and juices, and blend on high to a very smooth
puree, about 3 minutes. Set aside.
For the farrotto
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Heat the stock in a partially covered
large saucepan over medium heat; keep warm over low heat.
Heat the
canola oil in a medium ovenproof skillet over medium heat. When the
oil is shimmering, add the farro and stir to coat it with the oil.
Place the skillet in the oven and toast the farro for 8 minutes,
stirring after 4 minutes. Transfer the farro to a bowl and reserve.
Wipe the skillet clean.
Put the empty skillet over medium-high
heat. When the skillet is hot, about 2 minutes, add 2 tablespoons of
the butter and reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion and cook,
stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the
garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until soft, about 2 minutes.
Add the wine, increase the heat to high, and cook until the wine is
almost evaporated, about 2 minutes.
Add the toasted farro to the pan and
stir to coat. Add 1/2 cup of the warm stock, reduce the heat to
medium, and stir until the liquid is almost absorbed. Continue
cooking, adding 1/2 cup of warm stock at a time, stirring to prevent
scorching and letting each addition be absorbed before adding the
next, until the farro grains have expanded and are al dente, about 1
hour. The farro will look creamy like risotto. (The farro can be made
up to 3 days ahead. Cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate.
Reheat over low heat before proceeding.)
To complete
Remove the farro from the heat, add the
squash puree and kale, and stir until the kale is wilted. Put the
skillet back over medium heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of
butter and the cheese. Stir and serve.
One year ago: Apple-Walnut Cake with Lemon Vanilla Glaze
Two years ago: Chestnut, Apple & Celery Soup with Sage Oil
Three years ago: Cranberry Nut Bread
Four years ago: Sausage over Creamy Lentils
Five years ago: Bouchon Beverly Hills
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