tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62085832024-03-08T03:30:26.316-10:00The Free Range GourmetFree range thoughts on the finest ingredients, cuisine, and fine dining in Hawaii.Larrynoreply@blogger.comBlogger271125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-24303032558756731102017-01-19T18:44:00.001-10:002017-01-19T19:00:39.309-10:00How to enjoy Hawaii fish that is free from the taint of slave labor by Larry Geller Tonight we’re going to enjoy Hawaii-caught fish that is completely traceable—so that we know that we won’t be feasting at the expense of trafficked foreign fishermen. Eliminating human trafficking: laws are a beginning but must be enforced Four months after the Associated Press revealed near slave labor conditions aboard some ships in the Hawaii longline fishing fleet, Larrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-34942844153792234222014-08-20T16:55:00.001-10:002014-08-20T16:55:38.543-10:00Another good reason to push for GMO labeling: Fake DNA Frankenfood will be next on our plates“What could possibly go wrong with vanilla flavoring brewed by DNA-manipulated yeast? Well, like genetic engineering, synbio falls into a regulatory void that often allows products to go from lab to grocery store with little or no oversight. Evolva's vanillin and resveratrol will likely sail through the Food and Drug Administration's approval process—and end up in your food without any special Larrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-3486423447398569762013-06-19T11:58:00.001-10:002013-06-19T11:58:40.918-10:00Will it be times of famine or an age of plenty? IEEE Spectrum thinks the latterby Larry Geller Good grief—an engineering magazine has produced a food issue. The IEEE Spectrum underwent a transformation some time ago into very much a general-interest technical magazine. In other words, although it still has an engineering slant, you don’t need to have an engineering degree to understand and appreciate most of the articles. So I wasn’t totally surprised that they did a food Larrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-6747584121272308332012-08-21T17:35:00.001-10:002012-08-21T17:38:35.002-10:00Breaking the Safeway seltzer monopolyby Larry Geller It’s been frustrating all these years—buying Safeway seltzer in the 2-liter bottles because there is no alternative in Hawaii. Safeway seems to have a monopoly on seltzer. And over the past year or so, the price has crept up and up. Why not, given monopoly power? What was under a dollar is now $1.50. Cost of transportation doesn’t account for it, nor does the cost of Larrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-22766552379282814942012-08-07T14:28:00.001-10:002012-08-07T14:28:59.079-10:00Are eating insects a win-win solution, or has the BBC finally gone bonkers?“Insects, or mini-livestock as they could become known, will become a staple of our diet, says [food futurologist Morgaine] Gaye. It's a win-win situation. Insects provide as much nutritional value as ordinary meat and are a great source of protein, according to researchers at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. They also cost less to raise than cattle, consume less water and do not have Larrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-2170650993725583462012-06-29T22:27:00.001-10:002012-06-29T22:32:31.733-10:00Try Singapore kaya breakfast at Pig and the Lady at the KCC Farmers Market Saturdayby Larry Geller I first visited Singapore in December 1971, to canvas local GE managers on the possibility of using GE’s time sharing services. The job was made infinitely more difficult, as it turned out, because while I was in the air enjoying Singapore Airlines hospitality (and great meals!—they even sell a cookbook), President Nixon had floated the dollar, and so the overseas operations took Larrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-8601320223106859592012-06-24T19:49:00.001-10:002012-06-24T19:49:19.157-10:00Report: studies show that GMO crops have harmful effects on laboratory animals and on the environment“One of the report’s authors, Dr. Michael Antoniou of King’s College London School of Medicine in the UK, uses genetic engineering for medical applications but warns against its use in developing crops for human food and animal feed.”—Nation of Change by Larry Geller A 123-page report released this month will not please Hawaii’s pro-GMO lobby: GMO Myths and Truths: An evidence-based Larrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-58482130480392982592012-06-14T09:53:00.001-10:002012-06-14T09:58:17.941-10:00Tuesday night KCC farmers market opensby Larry Geller Tuesday June 12 was the first day of the new KCC Tuesday Farmers Market, 4-7 p.m. at the same location (Kapiolani Community College Diamond Head Road parking lot) as the wildly popular Saturday market. While the Saturday market has become a tourist destination, which discourages some local shoppers who prefer a quieter experience, Tuesday should be more relaxed. The tourists are Larrynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-12486950742049860342012-04-17T11:03:00.001-10:002012-04-17T11:03:45.305-10:00Health concerns mount after study shows chemicals quickly leach out into food from plastic packaging“In a study published last year in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers put five San Francisco families on a three-day diet of food that hadn’t been in contact with plastic. When they compared urine samples before and after the diet, the scientists were stunned to see what a difference a few days could make: The participants’ levels of bisphenol A (BPA), which is used to Larrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-43722798398315606352012-03-06T18:20:00.001-10:002012-03-06T18:20:23.526-10:00Iowa enacts laws to hide farm atrocities from viewby Larry Geller On Friday, Iowa governor Terry Branstad signed a bill that will make it much more difficult for animal-welfare advocates to sneak cameras into Iowa's factory livestock farms. The bill's fate is being watched nationwide, because Iowa's factory farms grow more hogs and keep more egg-laying hens than those of any other state. [Mother Jones, Iowa Moves to Keep its Factory Farms Larrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-18377682455229702902012-02-12T20:10:00.001-10:002012-02-12T20:10:33.585-10:00Alternative to factory farming right here in HawaiiMany readers don’t look at comments, so I’d like to “promote” this comment, attached to the article At last–exploding pig poop explained (2/11/2012) by Malama Farm: Thank you for shining a light on the terrible conditions in factory hog farms. This type of revelation is what inspired us at http://www.MalamaFarm.com to prove out a model of gentle, kind and nurturing pig farming. We believe it is aLarrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-19270305150064268382012-02-12T15:22:00.001-10:002012-02-12T15:22:22.748-10:00At last–exploding pig poop explainedby Larry Geller At last, an explanation is in for the pig poop explosions at barns in the Midwest that have plagued commercial pig farmers. In the latest incident, 1,500 pigs died and one worker was injured in an explosion in September 2011 in a barn in Iowa. What? You haven’t been following this story? Are you a vegetarian or something? If not, you soon may be. The culprit turns out to be pig Larrynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-80242897884827920492011-11-19T12:31:00.001-10:002011-11-19T12:31:52.423-10:00WTO ruling against country of origin labeling will screw Hawaii beekeepersby Larry Geller If you buy this honey at Costco, you are buying a product that appears to violate the USDA’s COOL (Country-of-Origin Labeling) laws. The honey doesn’t say where it comes from (see: Help stamp out illegal honey sales that hurt Hawaii beekeepers, 5/24/2011). You don’t know if is from China, for example, where the bees might be fed sugar water and the pollen might be filtered out. SoLarrynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-89481316826851056042011-09-09T17:02:00.001-10:002011-09-09T17:02:20.321-10:00New market choices for farmers market fansby Larry Geller If you’re headed out to market tomorrow (Saturday), you have a choice. There are two new markets in addition to KCC Farmers Market. One is on the Sears parking lot at Ala Moana Center, the other is in Kakaako. The KCC Farmers Market hours are 7:30-11:00 a.m. Ala Moana will be open from 9 a.m. till 1 p.m. The Kakaako market, near Ilalo and Ahui Streets, will run from 9 a.m. untilLarrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-68170676177468376232011-08-07T17:27:00.001-10:002011-08-07T17:27:52.769-10:00Frisée at the farmers market means Salad Lyonnaise for dinnerby Nanette Geller I haven’t seen frisée (curly endive) at the KCC farmers market for a couple of months, so I was delighted to find this gorgeous bunch yesterday at the MA'O booth. Since I’d also picked up fresh eggs from Blue Lotus, we were all set for one of our favorite meals, Salad Lyonnais – salad with bacon and eggs. Click here for details on some Free Range Gourmet Nanettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12873186344624403153noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-73582397762856331942011-07-24T10:42:00.001-10:002011-07-24T10:56:02.001-10:00Sunday morning: Challah French toastby Nanette Geller When we lived in Brooklyn, I stood in line outside the local Jewish bakery on Fridays for fresh challah, hot and fragrant from the oven. Even in winter, it was worth the wait. The shiny, dark brown crust hid a tender, golden crumb that was better than cake. Challah is a lot like France’s luxuriously rich brioche and Hawaii’s beloved Portuguese sweet bread. All are made with Nanettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12873186344624403153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-37410623465051957892011-07-16T18:13:00.001-10:002011-07-16T18:13:56.556-10:00Vichyssoise: Elegant, easy and not so richby Nanette Geller Larry loves Vichyssoise, a rich, suave cold soup of leek and potatoes. For all its elegance, it is rooted in French peasant cooking. It starts with a base of Potage Parmentier, which at its simplest can be made with just leeks, potatoes, water and salt, simmered till tender and enriched before serving with just a touch of cream or butter. Pureeing is optional. For Nanettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12873186344624403153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-77638195656793920752011-07-12T19:56:00.001-10:002011-07-12T20:31:19.464-10:00Penne alla Normaby Nanette Geller Pasta alla Norma is a classic Sicilian eggplant and tomato dish created in the 19th century. It was supposedly named in honor of the Sicilian composer Vincenzo Bellini's enormously popular opera "Norma." Although sometimes made with spaghetti or other pastas, it is most commonly made with penne. American recipes sometimes call for fresh ricotta, a soft, creamy Nanettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12873186344624403153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-36085833490213061672011-07-12T09:13:00.001-10:002011-07-12T09:13:36.876-10:00Tummy ache? Maybe it’s not the flu, could be the sushiby Larry Geller I walked past one of those chain sushi restaurants downtown just before lunch time yesterday, and I have to tell you, I suddenly really wanted some. But no. One thing I love about Hawaii is that we can easily get many of the foods we came to love while living in Japan. It’s great to be able to buy locally made natto in almost any supermarket. For lunch, there is a wide variety of Larrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-26132887686570243662011-07-10T13:37:00.001-10:002011-07-10T13:37:28.364-10:00Sunday morning: Apple pizzaby Nanette Geller Yes, apple pizza. For breakfast. We do like to mix it up on Sundays! Larry’s the baker chez Free Range Gourmet. He makes the pizza dough and shapes it, ready for me to top and bake. Lots of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, coarsely ground black pepper, and a light sprinkle of Ceylon cinnamon. Sliced Granny Smith apples. We like the tartness, plus they don’t turn to Nanettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12873186344624403153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-24202046129417420202011-07-09T21:01:00.001-10:002011-07-09T21:01:26.392-10:00It’s already nattō day in Japanby Nanette Geller I was planning to serve nattō tomorrow for nattō day, but since it’s already 7/10 in Japan I decided to go ahead and make nattō soba for dinner. We both love soba, and cold nattō soba is one of our favorites. Cold soba and broth topped with nattō, okra, grated daikon, finely sliced green onion, and finely julienned shiso. The nattō is lightly chopped. Grated Nanettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12873186344624403153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-22856998784614975932011-07-08T22:07:00.001-10:002011-07-08T22:07:46.229-10:007/10 is nattō day in Japan. A good day to enjoy stinky, sticky, delicious fermented soybeans!by Nanette Geller I love the Japanese penchant for numerical puns. Seven can be pronounced “na” and ten can be “to” so 7-10, “na-to,” becomes the excuse for “nattō” day. That means our dinner this Sunday will definitely feature nattō. When we moved to Japan, Larry’s company sent us to Berlitz for private lessons. Our teachers quickly learned that we already loved Japanese food. One teacher, a Nanettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12873186344624403153noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-6107296487604290712011-07-08T16:03:00.001-10:002011-07-08T16:03:39.913-10:00A hell of a good eggby Nanette Geller OK, technically, uova in purgatorio is eggs in purgatory, not hell. But then, I’m probably making it hotter than most Italians would. This is another of those classic dishes that come together quickly, using ingredients we usually have on hand, that winds up tasting like a special treat. Start by sautéing an onion in olive oil with a pinch of salt, sliced Nanettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12873186344624403153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-2052021551982746272011-06-17T14:26:00.001-10:002011-06-17T14:26:25.306-10:00A Japanese harbinger of Spring, reinterpreted in Hawaiiby Nanette Geller In all cultures, Spring is a time to celebrate rebirth and renewal. Nowhere is it greeted more joyously than in Japan, where the unfolding of the season brings one symbol after another into focus as an excuse to party. February’s plum blossoms remind us that the snow will soon melt. A couple of months later, weather programs report the cherry blossom front as it moves Nanettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12873186344624403153noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208583.post-75780503362021071892011-06-17T11:06:00.001-10:002011-06-17T11:06:03.980-10:00Fresh shrimp alertby Nanette Geller Big Island Abalone will be bringing their incredible Kona Kea shrimp to the KCC farmers market tomorrow. Sweet, fresh, never frozen. I’d forgotten how much better really good, really fresh shrimp are compared to frozen. Click here to see how I made them last week. Even leftover, they were still delicious.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Nanettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12873186344624403153noreply@blogger.com0