A few months back I was invited by my friends at Share Our Strength to attend the Boston premier of Chef Tom Colicchio's film, A Place at the Table. The film, co-produced by his wife Lori Silverbush, is a riveting tale of hunger in America.
50 Million Americans—1 in 4 children—don’t know where their next meal is coming from. A Place at the Table tells the powerful stories of three such Americans, who maintain their dignity even as they struggle just to eat. In a journey that will change forever how you think about the hungry, A Place at the Table shows how the issue could be solved forever, once the American public decides—as they have in the past—that ending hunger is in the best interests of us all.
The film enjoyed a limited release at many independent theaters in the area, and was also shown in conjunction with Share Our Strength an various anti-hunger events across the country. These days the film is available on-demand from most cable providers, can be rented through Netflix, and is available for purchase as a DVD. Given the continuing nonsense in Congress over the Farm Bill (which funds most if not all federal food assistance programs) I urge you all to see the film as soon as you can, get outraged, write to your representatives in congress and tell them to keep their hands off federal food assistance funding!
To learn more about this important movie click here:
http://www.magpictures.com/aplaceatthetable/
As a tribute to the great work Tom and his wife did in making this film I'm giving away a signed copy of Tom's 'Witchcraft Cookbook and a Feed USA 10 Bag, both of which I received at the film's premier. The book is jammed packed with awesome sandwich recipes from Colicchio's wildly successful 'Witchcraft sandwich restaurants, and the canvas shopping bag is from www.feedprojects.com, an anti-hunger organization that raises money to support food banks across the country.
As for today's recipe…..yes, it's from 'Wichcraft Cookbook and it just so happens that it's the best tuna melt I've ever had. Made with diced celery root instead of celery, nutty Gruyère cheese, and chopped roasted tomatoes, this one fires on all cylinders. If you don't have roasted tomatoes lying about, some oil packed sun-dried tomatoes would work as well.
To qualify for the giveaway go the the A Place at the Table website, "Follow" the film on Facebook and "Tweet" about it as well. Come back here and let me know you've done that in the comments to this post and I'll enter you in the random drawing for the bag and book. I'll choose a winner on Saturday, September 14th.
Thanks for showing support for this film, and good luck in the drawing!
Cheers – Steve
Tuna and Roasted Tomato Melt
Ingredients
- 2 - 6 ounce cans of tuna packed in olive oil, drained
- 1/4 cup peeled and finely diced celery root
- 1/4 finely diced red onion
- 1 teaspoon chopped fre4sh oregano, or 1/2 teaspoon dried, plus additional for seasoning
- 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
- juice from 1/2 a lemon
- 4 english muffins
- 8 tablespoons chopped roasted tomatoes (or sun-dried packed in oil, drained)
- 8 slices Gruyère cheese
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350℉
- In a bowl, flake the tuna with a fork and combine with the celery root, onion, and 1 teaspoon oregano. Add the mayonnaise and lemon juice, mix well.
- Toast the english muffins and top each slice with the tomatoes, followed by the tuna salad and the cheese, and season with additional oregano.
- Place the sandwiches in the oven and remove once the cheese is melted. Serve open faced.