LOS ANGELES — Any chef will tell you the choices you make in the grocery store can impact the quality of your output in the kitchen. According to TV chef personality and cookbook author Aida Mollenkamp, the first step to becoming a great home chef is to first be a responsible one – and that means knowing where your food comes from.
“You wouldn’t drive a car without the keys, so you shouldn’t cook without first having keys to the kitchen,” says Mollenkamp, author of the acclaimed cookbook Keys To The Kitchen (Chronicle Books, 2012).
Chefs all over the country are not only more interested in fresh, locally grown and all-natural foods; surveys and opinion polls consistently reveal that responsible food sourcing and farm animal welfare is a top concern among consumers as well. In a recent survey of West Coast consumers, the vast majority revealed that the way animals are raised for food is more important to them than it was five years ago and the same consumers want humanely raised foods to be more accessible. Yet, the survey also revealed, many consumers have difficulty identifying the options available to them when navigating the grocery store.
“The good news is that due to increasing awareness, humanely raised products ensured by credible, independent certifiers like American Humane Association™ are more affordable and available in mainstream grocery stores,” says Mollenkamp.
In this video, Aida Mollenkamp showcases two favorite chicken recipes – perfect for springtime entertaining – prepared with humanely raised ingredients. The fresh chicken is provided by family-owned Foster Farms, the first major poultry producer to carry the American Humane Certified™ seal.
More About Aida Mollenkamp:
California chef Aida Mollenkamp has been cooking, eating, and engaging in all things food since she was a teen. She attended Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration then Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Formerly the Food Editor at CHOW Magazine, Aida is featured on Food Network’s Ask Aida and Cooking Channel’s foodCrafters. Her cooking style is West Coast eclectic – combining fresh, seasonal, whole ingredients with the ethnic flavors of contemporary California. In 2012, she released her first cookbook, Keys To The Kitchen.
Source: Foster Farms