Results tagged “tomato”

       

Yes, I said fruit. Let's get that out of the way immediately, shall we? The tomato--versatile, plentiful, flavorful, and local--is a fruit. It's also something that is in season right now (although you can conceivably make a go of growing your own right now and celebrating a little later on). The Patina Group of restaurants is celebrating this stellar ingredient with Tomato Festival menus at nine of their eateries, and to show off the spoils of the season they brought together a crew of food bloggers and Paul and Maryann Carpenter (the couple who operate Coastal Organics, the 17-acre Santa Paula farm from which the Patina Group sources produce) for a caravan tour of three Downtown eateries, with one course per stop, each showing off the tasty tomato.

Plant F-ing is a new Ask LAist series about growing food and flora at home--especially for those renters who do not have access to the luxuries of a yard and only have windows and patios to work with. If you've got a question, please send it to editor[@]laist.com and our in-house garden guru, aka Hand of Gardener, will answer.

It's been hot lately. Okay, really hot (at least in inland and in the Valley). But the weather should not stop us from enjoying the guilty pleasures of a simple grilled cheese and the usually-paired tomato soup. Problem is, 90-degree temperatures and soups are just not that fun. Thankfully local YouTube chef Aarti Paarti has a solution.

Nancy Luna, otherwise known as the Fast Food Maven at the OC Register, has developed a true appreciation for tomatoes in the midst of the latest food recall. A recent trip to El Pollo Loco inspired this realization:

Supermarkets, restaurants, and fast-food chains across the Southland are removing three types of tomatoes from their shelves today, in response to a nationwide salmonella outbreak. Almost 145 infections have been reported since mid-April; the FDA is urging consumers to avoid raw red plum, red Roma or round red tomatoes. Cherry, grape, and tomatoes on the vine are still okay to eat. From today's LA Times:

The physician who heads the FDA, Andrew C. von Eschenbach, was scheduled to be at an FDA lab in Irvine today, where he was to make a public statement updating news on the ongoing outbreak of salmonella saintpaul, a rare strain of the salmonella microbe, the agency said Sunday.

Continue reading "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Salmonella Outbreak"