Watch: This Man's Kitchen Beef and Barley Stew

We shot a new episode of This Man's Kitchen. Hooray for that.

This Man's Kitchen: Beef & Barley Stew from This Man's Kitchen on Vimeo.

Interview: Hal B. Klein Talks To Mr. Media

 Have a listen to my interview on Mr. Media.

I sound very smart.

Pizza Madness

I'm obsessed with pizza. Like Ed Levine obsessed. Possibly not quite as obsessed as This Guy, but I'm up there. At home in Los Angeles, it's tough to satisfy the craving. Pizzeria Mozza might have the best crust I've ever tasted, but the sauce is imperfect, and a personal sized pie never manages to satisfy like a proper sized slice. Joe's Pizza in Santa Monica reminds me that I'm missing Joe's Pizza in Greenwich Village. I'm a crap baker, so until I meet an adorable pastry girl, making my own is a challenge.

I had planned on a eating a wide variety of food on my most recent trip to NYC. (By wide, I mean that in addition to pizza, I would eat deli, Chinese, Indian, and bagels...) Turns out, what I ate was mostly pizza.

I ate like a champ. Twice, I visited three pizza joints in a single day. I visited old favorites (Sal & Carmine, I love you with all my heart), and randomly found a terrific slice in Brooklyn (the Grandma at Vinny's Pizza).

There was a moment or two when I thought I was satisfied. But those moments passed quickly. Back in California now, and the pizza dreams have started again.

At the Farmers' Market: Grapefruit

I always thought of grapefruits as horrible softballs of sourness that grandparents eat for breakfast and fad dieters believe are spiritual. And there certainly is something to that stereotype; they are indeed sour & astringent, fad dieters love them for their high lycopene and vitamin C content (as well as a mythical, yet unproven nutrient found only in grapefruit that, when combined with protein causes rapid weight loss), and, as they are grown primarily in Florida, many old people eat them for breakfast.

But there is more to the grapefruit than sour old fads. They're in abundance right now at Los Angeles farmers' markets (CA is third in the nation in grapefruit production, behind Florida and Texas), so it made sense to give some a try.

Oro Blanco: Larger than a softball, the Oro Blanco is a white grapefruit with lemon-green skin. Nearly half of the fruit is pith, with means it will keep at least a week on the counter, even longer in the refrigerator. The sections of flesh are small, and there are a few seeds. When you cut the Oro Blanco open, you'll be hit with a strong citrus smell, almost like surface cleaner. The taste is acidic and astringent, almost as mouth puckering as a lemon. There is a mild sweetness, but I found I needed to add a pinch of sugar to eat the whole thing.

White Marsh: Lemon colored, medium sized grapefruit. The white marsh smells refreshing even before it's cut into. There isn't much rind to it, so store in the refrigerator. The fruit separates easily into individual sections. The flavor is like natural sour candy- it's very tart, but the tartness is pleasantly balanced with sweetness. It was the most complex and interesting of the bunch.

Pink: Slightly smaller than a softball, with deep orange skin flecked with pink. The interior is pink. When you cut the pink grapefruit open, you get a natural burst of grapefruit room spray. Sadly, that was my favorite part of the experience. The fruit itself was acidic and astringent. For me, pink grapefruits are best as part of a juice blend.

Ruby Red: The most popular commercial grapefruit. Sadly, none were available at the farmers' market, so I picked one up at the grocery store (via Texas). The Ruby Red is about the size of a softball, and has a bright orange outside. One the inside, it's deep pink. The flavor is very sweet- it's the least complex of all the grapefruits I tried- but, it's also the most accessible to those new to eating grapefruits.

Pomello: The basketball sized father of the grapefruit. Lemon yellow on the outside, the orange-yellow inside is buried beneath a wall of pith, making it a perfect storage fruit (if you have room for it). It has a soft, sweet flavor, with just a touch of astringency. Very refreshing!

So try a grapefruit. They're great for you, and taste better than you might think.

Frozen Food Test: Pacific Natural Fire-Baked Thin Crust Pepperoni Pizza

I was wandering through the frozen food isle the other day, thinking about how long it had been since I'd eaten anything from it. So I thought it might be an interesting idea to test the quality of frozen foods these days.

First on the list: Hal B. Klein eats a frozen pizza. I chose the Pacific Natural Fire-Baked Thin Crust, with pepperoni. If I'm going to eat a convenience food, it might as well start with a pizza, right?

Pacific Natural is an organic food company located in Oregon. They are known mostly for their organic soups & broths, and have now expanded into boxes teas/mates/nut drinks, as well as frozen pot pies & pizzas.

Pros:

• Good Ingredients: Pacific Natural's pizza is made with better stuff than you'll find in most frozen pizzas. Crust & sauce contain no high fructose corn syrup. Cheese is made from actual cheese.
• Pepperoni: Nitrate free pepperoni. Excellent flavor with a hint of spice. Exactly what you want in a pizza topping. (When you want a topping- I'm generally a purist!)
• Perfect amount of cheese

Cons:

• Topping to the edge: A pizza needs an edge. How am I going to hold it if you top it all the way?
• Not actually a thin crust: You can't call your pizza thin crust, and then not deliver on it. While we're talking crust- it didn't have any give. Too soft, for sure. This is the area that needs most improvement.
• Sauce too sweet.
• Took longer to cook than advertised: Box instructions suggest cooking for 12-14 minutes at 400 degrees.  After 12, the pizza looked very undercooked. At 14, it seemed edible, but still not perfect. I ended up leaving it in the oven for 16 minutes. That's a little too long for something meant to be convenient. One could have a pizza delivered in nearly the same amount of time.

Overall:

Not bad, but it didn't make me feel all giddy inside, either. Pacific Natural is trying to build a reputation for wholesome foods; however, unlike their soups, teas, and pies, the "artisan" pizzas contain no organic or sustainable ingredients. Also, they are factory made, which makes them not artisan at all, and I don't like cheeseball slogans.

Would I get it again? Too soon too tell. My frozen pizza experience is still too limited. It's a step up from Mama Celeste, at least. But is there really a frozen pizza that will ever satisfy my pizza obsession?

Hearst Ranch Flank Steak

I met Brian Kenny, manager of Hearst Ranch Beef, at the Foodbuzz weekend last November. He took part in a conversation on grass fed beef, and the workings of Hearst Ranch, that had me all kinds of excited about the future of beef in America.

A few weeks later, we followed up with a phone conversation. Kenny spoke more of Hearst's commitment to careful stewardship of the land. His philosophy (one that I share) is that cows reared on a natural diet, living a stress free life, produce better meat. We also spoke about Kenny's innovative approach to marketing better beef by supplying convention centers and other large venues.

I love free things, and I love steak, so imagine my happiness when I was offered a gift card for Hearst Ranch beef. This was very nice indeed.

It's one of those strange SoCal days when it seems perfectly sensible to grill in February. So I made a little spice mix, and put a flank steak over the hot hot hot coals. This beef is fantastic.

Pat one Flank Steak with:
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce, per side

Rub both sides with spice mix.
I used:
2 Tsp. Salt
2 Tsp. Sugar
1 Tsp. Celery Salt
1 Tsp. Black Pepper
1 Tsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tsp. Onion Powder
1/2 Tsp. Cumin
1/2 Tsp. Chili Powder
1/2 Tsp. Ground Mustard
Don't overseason. Or underseason.

Let rest for at least one hour, up to twelve hours.

Grill over very hot coals for five minutes per side.
Let rest five minutes before slicing.

*Let the meat come to room temperature before grilling. You'll notice an improvement in the texture.
*You could cook this on a gas grill, or even broil it, but coals are best for this one. I even added a few wood chunks, too!

*Ask for grass fed beef at your grocery store. If they don't carry it, tell them they should. Then walk away, without buying any industrial beef. You can order directly from Hearst if you're having trouble finding well raised cows near you.

Trying More New Foods: Hal B. Eats an Oyster

I ate a raw oyster. Actually, I ate fifteen of them.

As many of you know, I grew up a really picky eater. Terribly picky. I didn’t even eat carrots until I was 24. Seriously. During the last few years, however, a marvelous thing has happened—I’ve started to enjoy foods that I had convinced myself I hated.

So last weekend, at the terrific Foodbuzz food blogger festival, I took the biggest jump yet. Oysters. Why not? Raw? Well, if I’m going to eat an oyster…

The oysters were from Hog Island Oyster Company, a sustainable oyster farm located about an hour north of San Francisco. They were kind enough to set up a stand at the first night’s event. I was feeling brave, and, with a dash of mignonette, sucked down a Hog Island sweetwater oyster.

It was sweet and briny. Fresh. Mineral. Smooth. As soon as I swallowed the thing, I totally understood why oyster lovers are oyster lovers. There is a certain joy that envelops you when you eat an oyster. It’s hard to explain what that feeling is—if you’ve experienced it, you know what I’m talking about. If you haven't, you ought to.

After eating my first oyster, I walked away. I felt proud being such a brave dude, trying something new. “Great, I ate an oyster. Now on to the steak and cheese meat pie.” But a few minutes later, I was back at the oyster stand. One, two, three more oysters. I wanted that joy again. Four, five, six, seven. One with a little hot sauce. One with lemon. One just as it was. On and on. This is why I love food.

I felt the joy all night long. Part of it was the magic of the oyster, and part of it was the joy at trying something new. When you taste something you’ve never imagined before, you’re going to be happier for it. I speak often of having courage in the kitchen when you’re trying something new. The courage translates well to food festivals, too.

That happiness was still clearly evident the following morning. As I wandered through the Ferry Building farmers’ market, I found myself at the Hog Island stall. I told the fellas working the stall about my experience the night before. “I think we have convert,” the dude with the beard said as he shucked me another oyster.  He sure does.  Next time I'm in the Bay Area, I think I'm going to have to head up to Tomales Bay, and learn more about the process. Until then, I'll be chasing the buzz you get when you eat your first oyster.

*Check out Foodbuzz for quite a few recaps of the blogger festival, as well as a ton of other excellent content.  

Hal B. Klein Cooks (and Talks About Presidential Facial Hair)

Interviewed last night on Live! From the Future with Stuart Paap. Showed the crew how to make a simple creamy pesto sauce, talked about some movies I've been in, and shocked the world with my brilliant knowledge of mustachioed United States Presidents.

Watch the interview. I'm on about 30 minutes into the show.

Special message for the dudes out there: If you needed more proof of why you should learn how to cook, check out IM Girl Jessie Schneiderman's reaction to my killer pesto.

Apple Obsession

I'm enamored with apples. They are amazing little things. Thousands of different apples exist in nature, as each apple seed will produce a unique variety. Although most of them are not great for eating, hundreds of them are.

Sadly, much of the diversity has been lost to the ages, and, more recently, giant agriculture's decision to bring just a few types to the MegaSuperMarket. Happily, I'm not the only person who is obsessed with apples, and a handful of good people have kept many heirloom apple trees producing tasty fruit.

I recently spent 10 days in New York. It's an apple state. So, naturally, I ate my way through the greenmarkets, one apple at a time. With one exception, I chose apple varieties that I was unfamiliar with.

Golden Russett: The Golden Russet was grown as a cider apple. It has been grown in New York since before 1845. It's a smallish apple that has a bronze-green, sandpaper textured skin. The apple's flesh is fairly crisp, and very airy- reminiscent of an Asian pear. The flavor is soft, mellow, and sweet, with a faint cider-like taste.

Winesap: Grown since 1817, the Winesap is one of the more popular heirloom apples on the east coast. It's a medium sized apple, with a thick red skin that has speckles of green. I found the skin a little too thick for my taste, so enjoyed most of the apple with the skin peeled- seems like the thickness would make for a great baking apple. The flesh is very crisp & juicy, with a well rounded apple flavor. It tasted almost like drinking a great apple juice.

Keepsake: The Keepsake is a medium sized brick-red apple, with mottled green undertones on its thin skin. It's a crunchy, snappy apple. I found the flavor reminiscent of apples I ate growing up- sweet, earthy, and a hint of tartness. This is one fantastic snacking apple.

Golden Supreme: From what I understand (information is limited), the Golden Supreme is a fairly new variety of apple, grown from a lucky seed. The thin skin is pale yellow, with a very slight pink hue. The flesh is fairly crisp, and on the juicy side. It has a mellow flavor, with a slight white wine aftertaste. It's not terribly sweet, with just a tiny hint of acidic tartness.

Rhode Island Greening: One of the oldest cultivated apples in America, first documented in 1650. That's just amazing. The Greening is, as you might have guessed, green- though it develops yellow undertones as it ripens. Its medium-thick flesh makes it a perfect cooking apple, which has been its historic use. Raw, the Rhode Island Greening's soft (but not mealy) flesh has a pronounced tartness. Although the tartness isn't overwhelming for hand snacking, it is probably best suited to cooking, juicing, and blending with other apples.

Margil: Another classic apple, the Margil is believed to have originated in England or France in the 1750s. It's a small apple. The russet skin has green undertones, and is of medium thickness. The flesh is fairly delicate- soft and airy. Its flavor is on the tart side, but is balanced by an earthy flavor reminiscent of hazelnuts.

Ida Red: Cultivated since the 1940s. The Ida Red lives up to its name- the thin skin is bright, brick red. The flesh is firm and fairly crisp, and keeps its texture for a long time in storage. The flavor is very well balanced- nice & sweet, with just enough tartness to keep it interesting. Perhaps not the most exciting apple, but certainly one of the best to snack on.

Chestnut: A red/orange apple with very thin skin. It's a crisp apple, with a bold sweet flavor. There is a hint of tartness at first bite, but after that, it's all sweetness. Super sweet, actually. This would be a good apple for people who want to convince kids that fresh fruit is better than candy. Less successful for adults who already know that, and want something a little more complex.

Northern Spy: Believed to have originated in New York in the early 1800s. The Northern Spy is a red & green apple with a thin skin. It's very juicy, with a nice crisp bite. The apple is on the tart side, though there is a hint of sweetness. Probably better suited for cooking or as a highlight in a salad. Or, here's a great idea- use a mix of Northern Spy and Chestnut in your juicer for a perfect apple juice blend!

Macintosh: The Mac is one of the few heirloom varieties to remain popular through the ages- it's been around since 1811. And there is a good reason for it- a fresh picked Macintosh apple is one of the most satisfying bites around. It's has a perfectly balanced, prototypical apple flavor. Not too sweet, not too tart, just wonderful all around. The white flesh is soft and airy, a beautiful bite. However, the soft and airy flesh is also the apple's Achilles's heel- the poor Mac doesn't store very well, before you know it, the poor thing has gone all mealy. If you're lucky enough to find one fresh off the tree, grab it while you can.

As you can see, there is more to the apple than "fuji" or "gala".  Take a trip sometime this autumn to the farmers' market, and try something new.

*Apples were grown by Red Jacket Orchard and Locust Grove Fruit Farm.
*All apples were eaten raw.
* I sourced the dates of earliest known production from Trees of Antiquity, Orange Pippin, and Apple Journal.

Roasting a Pepper

Roasted peppers are expensive to buy. And the quality is generally mediocre. Why spend money on something mediocre, when you can easily do it better at home?

All you need to roast a pepper are:
A Pepper
Fire or Heat
Tongs
A Brown Bag
Oil

You have two options for roasting: oven & open flame.

Fire

Clearly, it's much more fun to roast something over an open fire, so let's start there. Turn your gas burner on high (sorry, electric range users, no fun for you- go to the back yard and build a campfire...). Grip the stem of the pepper with the tongs, and place over heat. Rotate when the sides begin to blacken. You're going to need some courage here- there will be smoke and burning. Enjoy it.

When all sides are blackened, place pepper in a brown paper bag. Roll the top. Let the pepper cool in the bag for 15 minutes. This will allow the pepper to cook through, and the steam will help separate the skin from the flesh. To fully remove the skin, rub the sides of the bag. The friction will expose most of the flesh- use your fingers to do the rest.

Heat

A less fun, if more elegant, method for roasting a pepper is to use your oven. Brush the pepper with vegetable oil, and place on a baking sheet. (To avoid messy cleanups, you might want to line the sheet with aluminum foil.) Put that in a 400 degree oven. Every 10 minutes, use your tongs to turn the pepper. After about 45 minutes, you'll have a wonderfully roasted pepper.

No need to for the brown bag here, as the pepper will be more evenly cooked. Simply allow the pepper to cool, and then peel off the skin.

After that, remove the stem and seeds- they will be very easy to get rid of. Serve warm or cold. Or mixed into something else. However you want to. They're very good.

Pizza Failure

Every few months, I have to fly to New York to eat pizza. It's genetic. My dad feels the same urge. When you grow up with NY pizza, nothing else really satisfies. So, I've been experimenting with various methods (pizza stone in oven, brick over hot coal, terra cotta stone in smoker) to stop the cravings, and nothing has quite worked.

Last night, my pizza making dreams took a step backward. I thought making my own dough would be the way forward. Unfortunately, I suck at baking. Therefore, my dough was...not great. It turned to crisp flatbread fairly quickly, but didn't cook all the way through for 25 minutes. Effort to delicious ratio was far too tilted to effort. Failure.

Back to the drawing board.

*I had a ton of leftover dough, so I threw it in a bread pan and made a loaf of bread. The bread was about as good as the pizza.

Idea: Dust Off Your Cooler

The problem with farmers' market shopping during the summer is that, unless you go straight home after, your fresh eggs are going to be cooked before you get the chance to cook them yourself. We've all had it happen- raspberries turning into compote, lettuce wilting, good beef gone bad. Fear not, though. A solution is at hand.

Remember when you used bring a cooler full of beer down to the shore? Maybe you still do. Well, grab some ice packs and bring your cooler to the farmers' market. This way you can keep your perishables nice and cool while you go on with the rest of your day.

GiGi's Farmers' Market

What do you get when you take a handful of food vendors and pair it with a production designer? GiGi's Farmers' Market.

Every Saturday from 10AM to 2PM, the Americana at Brand plays host to GiGi's Farmers' Market. Award winning production designer Kelly Van Patter was hired to create "an atmosphere that conjures the spirit of European marketplaces." From a design perspective, at least, Van Patter's work is a great success.

The market, named after developer Rick Caruso's daughter, is, undoubtedly, the prettiest farmers' market in Los Angeles. The vendors' stalls are clean and bright, overflowing with beautiful looking food. The European homage is unmistakable. It looks as if the market is a permanent fixture, rather than a passing four hour fancy on Saturday afternoons.

Although the market is pretty, the uniformity takes a bit away from a true farmers' market experience. It's hard to imagine individual small farms, when all the vendors are wearing "GiGi's Farmers' Market" aprons. The illusion is further broken by having some of the Americana's corporate tenants setting up stalls beside the family farms. It's a very pleasant atmosphere, but, personally, I'm a bigger fan of the discordant hubbub of Sunday's Hollywood market.

Diversity seemed to be the key word in choosing vendors for the market. In addition to the standard fruit & vegetable offering, shoppers at GiGi's Farmers' Market can expect to find French pastries, organic poultry, fresh fish, preserved and prepared foods, and a small spattering of hand-crafted items. Prices match those found at other Los Angeles farmers' markets. 

Overall, the Americana's addition of GiGi's Farmers' Market is a big plus. Sure, it might be a little more slick in design than other Los Angeles area farmers' markets.  But, by being located in an open air mall, the market will attracted a huge amount of people who otherwise might never experience a farmers' market. Hopefully, they'll enjoy their experience enough to find other local farmers' markets and pay them a visit.

Stupid Labels

Nearly a year ago, I wrote about the importance of reading labels. Clearly, this is a very good idea. It's necessary to provide people with as much information as is practical. But, instead of focusing on helpful things like where our food is sourced, companies tend to use labels either as marketing tools or as a place for useless information.

Fat free water?! Really. Well, thank you Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf for inventing that. Oh...water is naturally fat free? Is that because it's...WATER?! I'm not sure what the point of this is. Does anyone not think that water is fat free? Although, maybe some fat in water wouldn't be such a bad idea. Bacon fat infused spring water, anyone? Now that's a label I'd like to see!

Here's a baffling example of protections applied in the wrong place. Indeed, it is very important for people with wheat sensitivities to know if there is wheat in what they're eating. However, is is really necessary to hit people on the head with it? If the ingredients of something are wheat & water, I bet anyone who takes the time to monitor their wheat intake every day could probably detect that there is, indeed, wheat in this matzo. Perhaps, instead, they could let us know where that wheat came from...

Buitoni Riserva Wild Mushroom Agnolotti

From time to time, the good people at Foodbuzz send me free samples. The idea is that since I (theoretically!) have good taste, I can report back to the vendors about their products. I like this. Free things are nice, and I do (actually) have pretty good taste. However, sometimes the enjoyment of reviewing free samples meets an impassible boundary. In this case, it's my deep dislike of mushrooms.

So when the good folks at Buitoni sent me a sample of their Wild Mushroom Agnolotti, I was in a jam. Must do my duty as free sample reviewer, mustn't eat hated mushrooms. I decided to solve this problem by splitting the task- I would do everything but the eating.

The cooking directions for the agnolotti - basically a large ravioli with a fancy name - are simple, boil for 4-6 minutes. I like the quick cooking time, but I don't like that Buitoni suggests adding oil to the pasta water- it's a big no no in pasta cooking. Step two of the Buitoni process states that "our premium pastas are do delicious, just toss with extra virgin olive oil," so that's what I did. Simple.

On to the taste tester. Tester reported that mushroom flavor was pronounced and very earthy. They found the flavor generally balanced, but a little on the salty side. Texture was good, especially considering the pasta was made to be refrigerated for a fairly long time period. They thought the just serve with olive oil claim was a bit bold, it could have used at least a little garlic. (To be fair, the olive oil instruction does end with "or one of our fine Buitoni sauces," but, if you're going to make a claim that simply oil works, you better back it up!) "Better than your average refrigerator case pasta" was the final verdict.

The "Riserva" brand is Buitoni's high-end line, and that's reflected in the Wild Mushroom Agnolotti ingredients. Everything looks to be of good quality- there are actually a lot of mushrooms in it, and there is a noticeable lack of high fructose corn syrup & preservatives. Good for you Buitoni! It is a very rich dish, however (6g saturated fat, 25% of your daily cholesterol), so I'd suggest either serving in smaller portions or only enjoying occasionally.

Pin-Up Pastries is Sweet

It's always exciting to see one of your friends do something fantastic. I've been friends with Erin Garcia, the owner and executive pastry chef of Pin-Up Pastries for quite a few years now. After working as a personal chef, and in many of New York's top kitchens, she's now running the show in her tasty new sweets shop.

Garcia's pastries totally hit the mark. What I like best about them is that they're not cloyingly sweet. By using high quality ingredients & amazing technique, Garcia is able to make satisfying deserts that don't overwhelm. Especially impressive are her macrons, which come in a variety of exciting flavors.

The store, decorated with namesake pin-up photos, is located at 13944 Ventura Blvd in Sherman Oaks. Check it out!

Smoker

For the last three years, I've been using a small charcoal grill with a box attachment to do my smoking. Thanks to a sweet $59 deal at the Home Depot, an upgrade has been made. The box is still fairly small, I don't have a lot of people to feed. But, it's bigger than before, opening up a range of options.

I like the square design, with the coal/wood pot located on the bottom, a vessel for liquid above that, then two racks for smoking. Temperature is easy to regulate, thanks to 4 adjustable vents.

My first experiment was with chicken. After seasoning the box, I put a few lightly brined breasts on the top rack. I let them smoke for an hour- a simple, clean smoke flavor was the result. The next thing was a rack of baby back ribs, since I've been secretly plotting a rib smoke for about a year now. The planning and plotting payed off, the ribs were fantastic. Come back on Thursday to see how it all went down.

So, what's next? Well, I think I'm going to live my dreams and smoke a whole Boston butt. Pulled pork is a passion, and if I can pull it off, I'll be a happy happy man. After that, I'm going brisket, two different ways: Texas style and Jew style. That's right, friends, sometime this summer, I'm going to cure and smoke my own pastrami. Sweet.

Health Freedom Expo

The Long Beach Convention Center played host to the Health Freedom Expo over the weekend. New age hippies flew on their positive energy powered magic carpets of healing just as quick as they could. Hucksters and snake oil salesmen rejoiced.

I'm all for stepping out of Western thought and finding a balance in life. I'm clearly for a whole food approach to eating. Traditional medicine can be a very effective tool in treating many ailments. There are many things about wellness I don't understand, so therefore shouldn't judge. Good. Fine. I get that.

I also get that, as a whole, we can be way too concerned for out health & well being. Instead of looking for long-term, sustainable ways of living, we look for the quick fix, the magic bullet. So people head to places like the Heath Freedom Expo to spend money on complete crap.

There were many devices for sale that make your water "pure". A ctually, I take that back. Some made your water "pure", while others infused it with positive energy. There was even one device that would cleanse you AND the planet. All you had to do was pay $300, and stick your feet in the magical tank.

In addition to healing through water, you could also heal yourself with berries. Berries! One better than the next! Antioxidants! Don't get me wrong, I love berries. I'm sitting next to a giant basket of strawberries (bought from the farmers' market because some bastard keeps stealing my garden berries) right now. They're fantastic, they taste great, and yes, they are very good for you. They don't however, create miracles. So when someone tells you that drinking a special juice made from them will cure cancer/headaches/insomnia/low sex drive/memory loss/the recession, you should laugh at them, not buy their berry juice. Because here's the thing: NO SINGLE FOOD SOURCE CAN CURE EVERYTHING.

Some of the vendors really believe in what they sell. And that's fine. The mind/body connection is a real thing, and if you have the funds & think your ion water is helping, be my guest. But you should realize that a lot of the products being sold are scams & pyramid schemes (I'm looking at you Mona Vie), so use caution. Most of what was for sale at the Health Freedom Expo will do you no good. Spend your money elsewhere. (You can spend it funding an awesome cooking show...mmmm, funding.)

There was one pretty awesome thing for sale at the expo- Kangoos. They are ski boots with cleverly shaped rubber attachments that make you walk/job like a kangaroo. Really fun to use, and very low impact on your joints.

Strawberries

Sure, you can find strawberries year round, but, even more so than most fruits, they really shine when they're in season. For those of us in California, the season is here. Be patient in cooler climates. Strawberries are coming your way soon.

The two most common varieties of strawberry are camarosa and albion. There isn't much of a difference in taste between the two. Albion is a new variety, quickly becoming the most popular choice for California farmers. All of the vendors who sold them seemed really proud to be doing so. I had a pretty good sampling of both camarosa and albion, and, though I found the albion to have a slightly more balanced flavor, both were very enjoyable.

The only other variety I was able to find at the farmers' market was one called a '269'. It was billed as "softer and juicer" than other strawberries. It was. However, the flavor was also softer and less complex than either the albion or camerosa. Make your '69' jokes now. Be my guest.

Look for berries that are a deep brick red. There should be no traces of green or white at the top- this indicates a berry that was picked before full ripeness. Avoid bruised berries, unless you're going to eat them immediately. Then again, you should eat them right away- strawberries loose flavor when refrigerated. The best thing to do is pick some up at a farmers' market, and eat them the same day.

I lie. The best flavor comes from growing your own. However, strawberries are fairly difficult to grow, and yields are small. But you should experiment anyway if you have the space. What you should NEVER do is steal another person's strawberries. Especially if they plan on eating the two small ripe berries in their berry patch right before writing a blog about strawberries. Because that will make a person mad. Mad I say!

Be Lazy: Frozen Brown Rice

Ever since I tried to make yogurt, I've been thinking about what is worth putting in extra effort and what is not. Generally, I try to make everything I eat from scratch- it's more satisfying, and nearly always tastes better that way. However, there are times when laziness is rewarded. Such is the case with frozen brown rice.

Brown rice isn't difficult to cook, but it does take some time- about 40 minutes. Now, if you've been reading This Man's Kitchen for awhile, you know I'm not afraid of slow cooked food. However, why take 40 minutes to do something when it can be done in 3 minutes. Three minutes. That's all it takes for frozen brown rice.

So, clearly the frozen stuff wins the time contest. What about quality? Well, I have no problems here, either. The master scientists who designed the freezing apparatus (grains look individually frozen) and the steamer bag deserve some sort of prize. I never thought I'd say this, but: Frozen microwavable rice is at least as good as the rice I'd make on my stove top. Wow. The rice is organically grown, which is a nice bonus.

You can find frozen brown rice at both Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's. Currently, they sell for $4.69 at Whole Foods. With 6-9 servings per box, it's a pretty good deal!

The only downside- the unfortunate name of the brand sold at Whole Foods. It's called "Rice Expressions". Who was the genius that thought of that?! Lame.

In other news, there is strong evidence that First Lady Michelle Obama is a HUGE fan of This Man's Kitchen. Alice Waters spent over 20 years lobbying for a White House vegetable garden. 20 years! I write about it on a Monday, ground is broken on the garden just a few days later.