Molly's Local Foods Blog

I do read things other than The New York Times, but couldn't help but share this bit of news I found there this morning. Brett Anderson will start reviewing restaurants again for The Times-Picayune in New Orleans. His first review since Hurricane Katrina is out (three out of five beans for Mr. B's Bistro). I heard Brett speak last spring about why he stopped writing reviews after Katrina--he and the paper felt there were bigger stories to tell, and that picking on fledging businesses wouldn't help the city get back on its feet--so it strikes me as very good news indeed that enough normalcy has returned for him to go back to his old job. His reviews are funny without being mean and he clearly loves his city and the role restaurants play in its culture.

Heirloom tomatoes can be great. When they're grown right in the right place. Around San Francisco, I look for dry-farmed Early Girls. They're a variety that does well here. If I'm buying from a grower out towards the Central Valley, though, my options expand because they have so much (so much!) more heat day and night. But I still look for dry-farmed--tomatoes grown without irrigation after they've set flowers. When the tomato vine has to work a bit to find water by digging down with its roots, its fruit develops an amazing, concentrated flavor. Read about the search for the best Jersey Tomato in today's New York Times.

Headed to the farmers market this weekend? Check out these 10 Tips to make your trip as easy and culinarily productive as possible! I'll be looking for plenty of basil to make pesto and as much sweet corn as I can carry. How about you? Tell us about where you shop and what you find in the Local Foods Forum.

Cobblers--fruit baked with dollops of biscuit-type dough on top--are one of my favorite desserts. I love how the cake-like biscuit bits are flaky and light on top and just a bit fruit-soaked on the bottom. This Raspberry Cobbler has some cornmeal in the dough, giving it just a bit of crunch.

This light, crunchy, beautiful summer salad of sweet corn and tomatoes flavored with fragrant basil is a cool and easy accompaniment to any grilled meat or fish. See how easy it is to cut basil into a thin, elegant chiffonade in this Step-by-Step guide to cutting chiffonade.

It's not supercalifragilisticexspialadotious, but strawberrilicious is a pretty good made up word. Explore its meaning and beat the heat with this Strawberry Chocolate Shake. Freezing the strawberries makes it thick and luscious without ice cream.

It's not corn bread! It's a delectable butter-and-oil cake made with pureed fresh sweet corn in it. Maybe Sweet Corn Cake sounds weird, I can't remember anymore. I've been making this cake for years and it wins over the crowd every time. If you serve a bit of whipped cream and fresh blueberries with it, you won't even have leftovers for breakfast (and it makes a tasty treat of a breakfast!). I highly recommend it for a casual weekend party or just to use up any extra corn you find in the fridge (that happens, right?).

Nothing like throwing meat on the grill over the 4th of July. Since you have the fire hot anyway, why not try a few locally grown veggies as well?

• Grilled Eggplant
• Grilled Zucchini
• Grilled Corn
• Grilled Tomatoes

Looking for something to do tomorrow evening in the Bay Area? Check out the Buy Fresh Buy Local event celebrating their new eat local guide at Fort Mason.

For those whose interest in local foods is based on reducing their "carbon footprint," this post over at The Ethicurean brings up a recent study showing that shifting to a vegetable-and grain-based diet reduces the carbon emissions associated with your diet as much as "maximum localization." I'll continue to buy the bulk of my food from local sources for other reasons--it's fresher, it supports the local economy, I like knowing from whence my food comes--but its' nice to know that the shift towards eating more fruits and vegetables that I've found goes along with eating locally has a positive environmental effect too.