You may have noticed in the right-hand sidebar a new Foodbuzz widget (along with an ad).  As one of their “Featured Publishers,” I was invited to take part in a first-of-its-kind contest called Project Food Blog.  In this first challenge, I’m competing against 1,847 other food bloggers for one of only 400 spots in the next round.  Winners are chosen by YOU, the readers, other featured publishers, and some distinguished judges after each phase (voting for this phase starts September 20).

The first challenge asks us to define who we are and why we should be “the next food blog star”.  I’m often inspired by other food blogs out there.  That’s why I started doing this–I have photos, recipes, and stories to share too!  From the beginning, I wanted to share my cooking and eating experiences with others and hopefully inspire them to try something new and different.

Too many bloggers out there promote the same ideas.  They’re falling into the “quick fix” mentality that has little in common with good food.  Sure, as my tagline says, “we all need to eat,” and sometimes you need something fast.  But why not make it something good?

Yes, Indian food can take a while to prep and cook, but if you cook in large batches and freeze portions, you can have dinner ready in the time it takes to make some Basmati rice.  If you come to an understanding of how things like bechamel sauce work, you get over the fear of “messing it up,” and you can try all sorts of variations.  I want people to learn how to cook for themselves and gain enough confidence to try something different.  I hope that people learn to love food again, and appreciate (maybe even enjoy) the time and effort it takes to bring it from farm to table.

This blog is about more than cooking, though, because I’m passionate about our local food producers and greater food issues facing the country.  I like sharing my experiences with local farms, artisans, and other businesses, and I want to help bring new resources to our community.  I’ve written about hunger, an issue that strikes in this country and elsewhere around the world, and next week, I’m taking the SNAP Hunger Challenge along with a few other local bloggers.

Image from Flatlander Fund site

I hope that people reading this blog learn something and feel inspired to try something different.  If you care about these topics the way I do, I hope you stay subscribed and get in touch through comments or email.  Since starting this blog, I’ve learned that community is one of the most important things you can find at your dinner table.  Maybe it’s just your family, or friends from down the block.  Maybe it’s Chinese take-out, or maybe you cooked something from the French Laundry cookbook.  No matter what the food is, enjoy it and cherish the people you share it with.  We all need to eat.

Whether or not I move on in the contest, I have to recognize that there’s no way I could have done all this without my family.  Whether it’s words of encouragement from my wife, taste-testing from everyone in the family, or just plain putting up with me cooking gobs of weird things all the time, I’m lucky, honored, and blessed to be able to share this with them and all of you.  Without my family and my readers, this blog wouldn’t still be here.

I also need to make a second thank you to my wife, since she ends up doing the dishes… a job that I really don’t like, but, alas, is necessary when food is being prepared and eaten.

First I made some crusty bread.  This is a pretty standard Ratio (5:3) bread, formed into a baguette shape, baked with steam until very crusty.

The centerpiece of the sandwich are the delicious little meats, carnitas, made from a big hunk of pork shoulder.  I used the simpler-than-you’d-expect “Slow Roasted Pork Carnitas” recipe from Rick Bayless himself.  You get tender shreds (or chunks if you prefer) of pork with crunchy surfaces, and all that without the mess of stove-top frying.

I also made some black beans, a blended chipotle salsa, and some pickled onions.  Slice the bread, top with meat and all the fixings, then slide it all into the oven to melt the cheese a bit.  Here it is pre-bake.

So, I wasn’t 100% accurate, but the spirit was there.  My bread was a little too crusty, but the components come together in a symphony of rich, sweet, salty, tart, spicy Mexican flavor.  The pickled onions are vital to balancing the richness of the carnitas, so you should make plenty.  I usually go with a really simple preparation and wish I made twice as much.

Pickled Onions

These things are great on sandwiches, tacos, toss them in salads or eat with a fork–anywhere you want that acidic zing.  Keep them refrigerated and they will stay nice and crunchy.  I like to use cider vinegar, but feel free to use whatever you like or is most appropriate for your dish.  I like them to be crunchy and bold, still offering the heat of the onion.  If you’d like to tame them a little, combine all ingredients and cook anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes, depending on the texture you’d like.

• 1 medium onion, sliced thinly
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 c vinegar (cider vinegar, or whatever you like)
• sugar, to taste (optional)

1. Sprinkle sliced onions with salt, and toss to distribute.
2. Add vinegar and toss to coat the onions.
3. Allow to sit 10-30 minutes, tossing occasionally.
4. Taste and add sugar to balance the vinegar, if desired.

In blog business, the winner (chosen by random draw) of the contest was Stuart, who writes the excellent food blog kitchenhacker.net.  A couple disks of Mexican chocolate (and a little something extra) from Taza Chocolate will be its way to him very soon.  He used to live in the Champaign-Urbana area, and I was fortunate enough to meet him a few times.  When he was in his last-minute moving preparations, he offered me some of his frozen stash that he just couldn’t take with him.  It’s still in my freezer, but it will be featured soon.

Taza is supporting the efforts to aid people devastated by the earthquake in Haiti by donating half of each retail sale on their website through January 22nd.  You can read more about the organization they are donating to in their blog post.  Go buy some chocolate and help a good cause.  I get nothing for telling you this, but there are plenty of people whose lives will be changed.