more August goodness

In addition to the always beloved tomato + anything good = deliciousness and fish fry (good anytime of year, I'd say) suggestions, a few people have kindly pointed out additional food-related things that make August worth enjoying.

"tomatoes squaredcircle"
photograph by Liz West, some rights reserved

So, in no particular order, my friends/readers/husband suggest that you also check out the following events:

• African Unity Festival, featuring Taste of Africa - August 14 & 15 - Sounds like a great event, with lots of elements, including food!
• Saint Thomas Aquinas Sausage Fest - August 21 & 22 - "Beer, Brauts, Music & More" - They had me at the alliteration. Not sure that Thomas Aquinas had booze, sausage and tunes in mind when he was working on his trinity arguments...
• Harvest at Home - August 29 - Second Helpings' fundraiser, featuring a smattering of local food delights and drinks, too. Stuff your face to fight hunger. (The husband was displeased that I neglected to mention this in my first August-love post. Maybe I'm trying to keep nepotism at a minimum?)

If you've got another suggestion, please share!

even cuter vegetable bags

Okay, I've mentioned vegetable bags before as part of my greater less-guilt-ridden kitchen efforts. But I still haven't purchased them. Instead, I make grocery clerks and baggers throughout Indianapolis persnickety by suggesting that they should deal with slightly damp vegetables. Because the average grocery staffer will overzealously use three or four paper towels per drop of water on their check-out surface, I'm actually hurting the planet with this practice.

Today, I believe that I found the answer to this planet-killing situation. Dear reader, behold, the cutest vegetable bags seen to date, found via Twig & Thistle.

Vegetable Bags from Wonderthunder $20 for four bags - pretty awesome.

These pretty bags also come in blue and red, but it looks like you'll have to pre-order them, as Etsy seller Wonderthunder.

Oh, August, I love you!

Despite a temperament and complexion better suited for rainy Spring and blustery Autumn, August is my absolute favorite month to live in Indiana. It's taken many years for me to come around to this conclusion, and several factors have influenced me. Meeting Ben mid-summer in 2002 was a factor, as was the increasing strength of over-the-counter sunscreen. But...

Being a food-obsessed woman, I must credit August's outsize contribution to eating in central Indiana as a pivotal element of my August love. Local produce is amazing in August. The State Fair happens in August. And August also hosts many local food events and cultural festivals. To be honest, Ben's quick salsas that first August had me completely smitten. I mean, he's great on his own, of course, but when you add in perfectly ripe tomatoes, garlic and cilantro, well, he's irresistible.

the potato spiral that 8 members of my family devoured in
less than 45 seconds at last year's State Fair - no shame

In an effort to spread the August love around, here are some food highlights for the coming month:

• August 7 - 23 - The Indiana State Fair will offer up fried cheese, fried pizza, fried potato curls, and some other not-fried stuff like lemon shake-ups and lots of meat, in addition to tons of displays from Indiana's food producers. My favorite spot - the 4H contest winners.
  
• August 10 - 23 - Devour Downtown provides access to a wide range (some awesome, some...) restaurants with special multi-course meals for $30 per person - and sometimes $30 for a couple.
• August 22 - Hoosier Beer Geek's 3rd Anniversary Roundtable - you must get $30 tickets in advance to enjoy a wide variety of beers and food. Designated Driver tickets available, too.
• Throughout the month - tons of events happening with the Slow Food Indy folks!
  

I know that I'm missing tons of good times - what would you recommend? I must know immediately!

finer things - simple dessert and guest-contributed wine

Last night, Ben and I had our friend Andy over for dinner, to brainstorm for an event Andy is planning. In between talk of DJs, marketing, twitter and - yes - pirates, we had a really nice meal. I made sauteed tomatoes with garlic, green onions and tarragon, as well as harissa-spiced green beans and zucchini. Ben modified his regular polenta recipe, adding fresh corn and skipping the handfuls of cheese; Parmesan and harissa just didn't sound like a great match. The dishes balanced creamy, spicy and sweet, and took advantage of the super-fresh vegetables available at the height of summer.

the simple supper

All of that was good, but the highlights of the evening for me were the wine that Andy brought, a Barone Di Valforte Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2007 from Goose the Market's wine club and the plum clafoutis that cooled in the kitchen while we ate dinner.

the awesome finale

The clafoutis is one of life's great dessert dishes, too seldom used. The process is simple - (1) gather some fruit, (2) slice it if it's large and arrange it in a pie plate, (3) pour a crepe-like batter, rich in eggs and laced with sugar's extra sweetness over the fruit, (4) bake, and (5) let it rest briefly before sprinkling with powdered sugar. The almost-custard that develops is heavenly and a lovely foil for a starch-heavy main course, like polenta or pasta. A clafoutis is also a great way to use stone fruits (cherries, apricots, plums, etc.) that are just coming into their peak right now. Enjoy them after dinner, just barely cooled, and save a few pieces for a morning or mid-day snack the next day. I guess it's clear what I had for breakfast today...

The recipe I used is from Orangette - one of my favorite simple dessert sources. My only modification was to use reduced-fat milk, because that's what was around, and to use slightly less sugar (1/3 cup minus a Tablespoon), because my plums were sweeter than usual.

Review: Naisa Pan-Asian Cafe

The newest addition to the many mid-range restaurants popping up in Fountain Square - or at least the newest to me - is Naisa Pan-Asian Cafe. My family gathered there to celebrate a birthday recently, and Naisa served us well, accommodating meat-eaters and -abstainers alike.



Details
Address - 1025 Virginia Avenue, Indianapolis Phone - 317-602-3708
Hours - Monday to Thursday - 11am - 3pm & 4pm - 9:30pm
Friday to Saturday - 11 am - 3pm & 4pm -10pm
Dinner entree cost - $8 - $13


Food
To begin our meal, our server brought out little bowls of fried crispy wonton skins, paired with house-made duck and mustard sauces. Both sauces are a great deal more special than packet-bound and jar-sourced accompaniments that most restaurants serve. The mustard is zingy without being bitter, while the duck sauce was far less sacchrine and more fruity than any other duck sauce I've had. From the variety of appetizers - veggie spring rolls, shrimp tempura, seafood cheese wontons and steamed vegetable dumplings - the dumplings were the clear stand-out, with shredded vegetables encased with a spinach wrapper.

Though we could have made a meal with the ample "small plate" appetizers, we excitedly ordered a variety of entrees from Naisa's menu, which is composed primarily of Chinese dishes. At the non-meat end of the table, we ordered three dishes to share - the garlicky triple greens, ma po to fu and stir fried rice noodles. I'm not certain that I would have enjoyed any of them quite so much in isolation as I did side-by-side. They were each delicious, but felt like a whole meal when they filled a plate together. One other diner had the chicken rice noodles and, while the flavor was good, he found them a bit oily. The triple greens are particularly good, and the greens vary depending on what ingredients are freshest. Naisa distinguishes itself from many other mid-price restaurants with a focus on freshness and flavor; cilantro and basil leaves, as well as hints of acidity and a measured approach to frying, make their dishes bright and surprising.

Naisa offers tea service, presented in an iron pot at the table, which I recommend. We were all much too full for any dessert.


Atmosphere
Naisa's simple surroundings, carefully selected and calming, allow the food to be the center of diners' experience. For the most part, the interior and mood of Naisa is that of a focused cafe - plenty of space for quiet chatter and no overly ornate or gaudy surroundings to distract diners from enjoying the two most important things at any meal - the food and the company. One little caveat - the table we sat at, which was actually two tables pulled together, felt a bit too large for a six-person party. I waved to my mom, seated at the far end of the table, but didn't get to talk much.

Service
The service was fine, but not extraordinary. Reading others' accounts of their trips to Naisa, I'm a bit sad that our server seemed disinterested in both our experience and the full menu, because others seem to have had wonderful, attentive service. Nothing was terribly wrong, our experience just wasn't warm and welcoming. I'm not sure how to capture my issue with it - a lack of eye contact, a coolness toward certain people in the party, a general spaciness, but one thing unequivocally bothered me... Maybe this is a special peeve of mine, but I hate being in a large party and having the server affirm one person's order, but not the rest. And, in the course of the evening, our server reminded me of this special irritation, telling my stepdad that he ordered the "best thing on the menu" while not even giving an approving nod after others' orders.

Overall
Mostly-apathetic hipster server aside, I will definitely be eating at Naisa again. Even if the rest of the food had not been delicious and fresh - which is was - those veggie dumplings are an undeniable draw. The food has soul and freshness, both of which matter mightily to me.

tv obsession - Diary of a Foodie

Every once in a while, from the muck that normally constitutes food-focused television, something truly good emerges and then I become obsessed. Thanks to a suggestion from two very trustworthy people recently, my new obsession is Diary of a Foodie, a show co-produced by Gourmet magazine and public television. And it's not just my sister and Mark that like it, the show is a James Beard award winner.


But more than that, it is good television. Diary of a Foodie fills the screen with lively shots of food and cooking. The featured food consistently inspires, with its new-to-me combinations of flavors and intriguing background stories. The producers share about incredibly diverse cuisine, but they do it on a human scale by allowing chefs, eaters and growers to describe the food. This approach makes the show feel like a great conversation with people who are thoroughly entranced by food, but who aren't snobbish or close-minded about sharing that excitement.

Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie airs locally on WFYI-3. My DVR is set to record every episode, so I can watch it again and again. I'd recommend that you do the same.

BlogINDIANA coming up!

I've been invited to join the Foodie Panel at the upcoming Blog Indiana 2009 conference, happening August 13th & 14th. Last year's event was great - I got to meet a slew of local bloggers, some who I knew about and some who I should have known about and learned much. This year, the organizers have developed a nonprofit summit on Friday of the conference, something near and dear to my nonprofit heart!

In other words, if you're a local blogger, nonprofit professional, social media producer or marketer of anything, I would definitely recommend that register for the conference.

Oh, and this is some great fire under my patootie - watch out for my official Return to Hardcore Blogging in the following weeks.