Whether it’s below the Mason-Dixon , the bottom of New York State or well under Hong Kong,* the South creates rich culinary traditions. Regionally, nationally and internationally, it is synonymous is cuisine. Don’t believe me? Do we need to bring in an expert? I bring to the kitchen FoodCorps’s very own, Jerusha Klemperer.

What to cook (as written by Ms. Klemperer herself):

• 1 bag of rice noodles
• Large handful of bag of bean sprouts
• Ginger (minced)
• 1 bunch scallions (thinly sliced)
• Snow peas (trimmed)
• 2-4 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 onion (sliced into half moons).
• 2-4 skinless chicken thighs
• Canola oil
• Lotsa soy sauce

What to use:

• Wok (or large skillet)

What to do:

1. In a wok, heat up 2 tbsp canola oil.
2. Cook chicken pieces until cooked through, remove from wok.
3. Fry up some sliced half-moon-shaped onions; add minced garlic, add minced ginger.
4. Add a bunch of cleaned and trimmed snow peas, then a few tbsp soy sauce.
5. Add in sliced scallions, rice noodles, more soy sauce.
6. Add chicken and bean sprouts, keep tossing until all is well coated.

*Humans have the natural tendency to group things. We learn about new ideas by comparing them to those we already know. Maybe this is what we in the US did to “Chinese” food. All food from China is Chinese (obviously), but all Chinese food is not “Chinese” food for two reasons.

While there are eight official regional cuisines in China, there is a differentiated cuisine for each of the 22 provinces of the far eastern nation. That said, when majority of the world thinks “Chinese food,” a more experienced palate would most likely consider it Cantonese, or Cantonese-inspired, food. This is especially true for the US, as the majority of Chinese immigrants hailed from Canton. And it’s not just popular here. It is the most desired cuisine in all of China as well. But it turns out Chinese food isn’t quite as Chinese as one might imagine.

In the 1700s, the Quing Dynasty opened the nation to international trade first in the province of Guangdong, also known as Canton. As trade went both ways, so did culinary traditions. And to think, all this time I was under the impression that Asian fusion was new…

Sources:

http://www.handsonkitchen.com/forum/asian-cuisine/chicken-chow-fun-231/

Jerusha Klemperer

http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-food/yue-cuisine.htm

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/10/introduction-what-is-cantonese-chinese-cuisine.html

http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-food/eight-cuisine.htm

The post Interesting Ingestion: Klempress of the Kitchen appeared first on FoodCorps.

What you are doing is amazing…

Who are you?

Jerusha Klemperer

What do you do?

I am the Communications Director for FoodCorps.

Where are you from?

I am from New York City, less than a quarter mile away from FoodCorps headquarters.

What was your favorite meal growing up?

My favorite meal was a version of chicken chow fun that my dad used to make. My dad taught himself to make a version of it and it was absolutely, hands down, my favorite thing to eat.

What would we find in your fridge right now?

Right now you would find bits and pieces from my CSA share and also a lot fish from my community supported fishery. And sun tea that my boyfriend made up on the roof.

Why did you start FoodCorps?

I think the 6 of us all started it for similar reasons but we came at it from different perspectives. Through my work at an organization called Slow Food USA, I had developed a campaign to engage everyday people around the country in reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, which governs The National School Lunch Program. In the process I had to learn a lot about it. And I learned just enough to know that I wanted to be a part of the solution; that if we were going to be feeding kids lunch in public schools that it needed to be better than the broken food system outside the school.

How did you start it?

A really important part of the “how” was the collaborative process. The six of us who were co-founders drew upon all of the knowledge and resources of the people and organizations we knew. We tapped into the networks we were a part of through the organizations we worked for and the people we had met through our various jobs and asked ourselves, “How can we tap into the knowledge base of this huge network of people and come up with a solution?”

Did you all know each other before?

We didn’t all know each other but we each knew a couple of others in the group. And the very first conversations happened at a Kellogg gathering that four of the six of us were at. The Kellogg Foundation was our very first funder and continues to be one of our major funders.

What are your responsibilities as the Communications Director?

In the Communications Department, we are in charge of the website; social media (Syed’s really the awesome executor of all that); email communications that go out on behalf of FoodCorps; training service members and providing them, host sites, service sites and our board with materials to speak knowledgeably about FoodCorps; online fundraising; communication with the press…We are also responsible for…you know what, I think that covers the bulk of things.

Wow.

It’s a lot, right? But we really see ourselves as the storytelling department. We are gathering stories from you guys and we’re helping to push them out to the world in various ways through different outlets.

What do you like most about your job?

You know, I love so many things about my job, but I would say getting into the field and seeing service members do what they do is incredibly gratifying and so exciting. It gives confirmation that the thing that we hope is happening is really happening. It is completely inspiring.

What is the most difficult part?

I think the most difficult part is making sure that I’m telling everyone’s story. We’ve got almost 200 people around the country, each of whom are doing really fantastic things. It’s hard to make sure that I’m staying on top of all the good stuff and not favoring certain stories over others just because they are louder or the person doing it is more open to sharing it.

Most service members don’t think that what they are doing is exceptional. And I’m the person that’s like, “No, no, no, what you are doing is amazing and helping people.” Even within the course of day-to-day service there are things that are happening that are particularly great stories.

Where do you think that the food movement is lacking?

It’s more that we all have out work cut out for us. The place that food holds in our culture right now, between access issues and where people are in their understanding of what’s healthy and what’s not healthy…there’s a lot of room for growth; let’s just say it that way. But I feel really hopeful that it’s possible to help be a part of important shift and I hope that we’re a part of it.

What advice would you give to today’s youth?

My advice would be to believe that they’re worth it.

The post The Beet: Jerusha’s got it. appeared first on FoodCorps.

Whoa Whoa Whoa! How did I ever miss our very own Lindsey Alade’s moment in the sunflower? If you did also, fear not, for this is your opportunity for redemption and the chance to feast upon locally grown news!

The post ‘Sip Shout-out: Tooting Tupelo’s Horn appeared first on FoodCorps.

Me: What’s your favorite vegetable, Jacob?

Jacob: Peanuts…and hot dogs

I have my work cut out for me with this 3 year old friend.

The post Friday Funny appeared first on FoodCorps.

Fate was merciful. Swift.

The post The Little Things appeared first on FoodCorps.

I’m sure many of you gardeners right about now are picking more tomal atl* than you know what to do with. Well, I know just the thing to help you with your terrible burden of “fat water” overabundance: salsa. Here’s the list:

Ingredients (5 servings):

• 1/4 cup and 2 tbsp. chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp. chopped green bell pepper
• 2 tbsp. onion, diced
• 1-1/2 tsp. minced fresh cilantro
• 3/4 tsp. fresh lime juice
• 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh jalapeno pepper (including seeds)
• 1/8 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/8 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

Materials:

• Bowl
• Large spoon

Directions:

1. Stir.
2. …
3. Oh yeah, and eat.^

^If you’re feeling adventurous, try putting some corn, avocado and black beans in the mix. I don’t think you’ll regret it.

*The tomato and its close relative, the tomatillo, were first domesticated by indigenous groups in the area now known as Andes region of Ecuador, Peru and Colombia. These groups introduced the South American nightshades to the Central American Aztecs, who gave it the name tomal atl, meaning “fat water” in their language, Nahuatl. When they started growing tomatoes and tomatillos, they had had already domesticated the chile. Through the Aztecs, the tomatillo, tomato and chile combined forces to make what the Spaniards later called salsa, or sauce.

The New World food is very, very old indeed. It was a staple condiment for the central Mexican nation thousands of years before Europeans even knew they existed. They mixed these main ingredients with others, such as squash seeds and beans. And it turns out that salsa wasn’t the only salsa they made. They concocted sauces from fruit juice, hot chiles, yellow chiles, mild red chiles, mushrooms, squash, sour herbs and avocados. They made sauces that were spicy, heated and smoked. They were condiment connoisseurs. They ate it with venison, wild turkey, lobster and fish.  It turns out the food that holds the title of “America’s favorite condiment” held it long before America was America.

Sources:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Best-Fresh-Tomato-Salsa/Detail.aspx?nextItemId=214893&position=0&prop24=RD_RecipeArrow_Left

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-best-fresh-tomato-salsa/detail.aspx

http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/salsas/history-of-salsa.asp

http://www.salsashack.com/History-Of-Salsa/

http://blog.rev.com/articles/language/you-speak-nahuatl/

The post Interesting Ingestion: Saucy Antiquity appeared first on FoodCorps.

Delta Dirt Youth Growers, Greenwood, MS

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I was running late.  The garden work took me a little longer than I expected at the school and so did purchasing the materials for class at the summer program. It’s not unusual that I was late, but I was unusually late. Class went alright. It could have gone better.

When are you coming back, Mr. Ware?

Maybe it went a little better than I thought.

The post The Little Things appeared first on FoodCorps.

My bones already begging for some more!

– Zoey

I guess it was more than her mouth that ate that second helping of buckwheat porridge with…

The post Funny Friday appeared first on FoodCorps.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup and 11 tablespoons maple syrup**
• 9 tablespoons virgin coconut oil***
• 1 mashed overripe banana****
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• NOTE: 1/16 cup = 1 tablespoon

*DISCLAIMER: Results may very based upon how good of a baker you are and how well I converted and substituted everything. Consequently, it may not look like the picture…or taste good.

Materials:

• Two 8 x 4 inch pans
• Large bowl
• Something to mix stuff

Procedure:

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla and sugar together in a large bowl.
4. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well.
5. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined.
6. Pour batter into prepared pans.
7. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.
9. Eat (cautiously)

**OK, Fine! I admit it: the original recipe required 2 and 1/4 cups of sugar and I don’t think FoodCorps, I mean, we at FoodCorps,  do not advocate the consumption of such copious amounts of sugar, so I changed the recipe a bit. (If you’re daring, you can check out the original recipe.) There are plenty of sugar substitutes to choose, from honey to erythritol (I don’t know what it is either).  I decided to use maple syrup because it’s 40% less sweet than sugar; it’s loaded with zinc and manganese; and it’s made in a tree, not a test tube.  The conversion is as follows: 2 and 1/4 cups of sugar = 1 and 11/16 cups of syrup. You could use a tablespoon or just eyeball it because what’s a tablespoon of syrup between friends?

***Syrup’s aqueous character has to be adjusted for by changing the amount of the main liquid in the recipe: vegetable oil. To do this, you must reduce the amount of oil by 3 tablespoons 13/16. While I was at it, I decided to replace the vegetable oil with healthier option: virgin coconut oil.

****I then got a little carried away and reduced the quantity of oil again with the employment of one  overripe banana, bringing your amount down to 9 tablespoons, nearly half of the original recipe’s amount. The banana also serves as a binding agent, because the syrup cannot bind as well as sugar.

Sources:

http://dish.allrecipes.com/baking-with-sugar-and-sugar-substitutes/

How to Substitute White Sugar in Baking

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/moms-zucchini-bread/

How to Substitute Sugar

How to Substitute Fats and Oils

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/07/130717-sugar-substitutes-nutrasweet-splenda-stevia-baking/

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