Cooking as a cure for creative block?

Posted on May 21, 2010 by

(Warning: This post is too long. It has profanity in it. And pizza. Fucking get over it.)

It has a been a rough week. The cause: an assignment that I should be able to turn around in a jiffy, but which has eluded me and, so, drags on. And on. And on. I’ve requested and received specific, clear, and helpful guidance from my editor, so the ball is in my court, so to speak. Still, I can’t wrap up this little shit.

Did you ever see the movie “How to Get Ahead in Advertising?” Richard E. Grant plays an ad exec who’s stumped trying to come up with the clever campaign for new pimple cream. The stress makes him develop a boil that grows into an evil twin that ultimately takes over his life until he becomes some kind of postnatal chimera.

It’s not that bad. Yet.

I would call this writer’s block, but I think everyone can fall victim to creative constipation, whatever it is they do. There must be times when accountants can’t get numbers to crunch, when lawyers can’t devise winning arguments, when salespeople can’t sell–fuck, I dunno–ice to eskimos.

So, after sitting at the computer, fussing with the story and making it worse with each pass and chanting “shit-shit-shit-shit” under my breath, I headed into the kitchen. Yesterday, a New York Times article about pizza caught my eye. The gist of it was that if you proof the dough a really long time–”at least 27 hours of resting time”–you’ll end up with pizzeria-like results. Heck, we like pizza, I thought, I should try this. I write about food, so I must try this. Right now. I had to be in the kitchen anyway, developing a couple of recipes for another project (another distraction, yes, but one that pays). As an added benefit, the pizza would be a helpful exercise in delayed gratification, something I rarely practice.

In all honesty, I wanted to make the pizza for “Real Housewives of New York” tonight. God, I love that show in all its incarnations, from the plastic Barbies of Orange County, to the low-rent crew in Atlanta, to the thick-as-thieves” inbreds in New Jersey. This season, my NYC bitches are particularly strident and menopausal. Well, Bethenny’s hormonal ‘cause she’s preggers (and oddly shocked that the news leaked to Perez Hilton after she peed on the pregnancy test stick in front of a camera crew). And I’m forever grateful to The Countess for her “hit” new single, which has become my new motto:

Money can’t buy you class. Elegance is learned. Oh, yeah!

Oh, yeah, the pizza.

I exercised a little restraint and ignored the recipes that ran with the NYTs story, since they called for two kinds specialty flours and making your own sourdough starter. I’m saving those distractions for another day and another stumped project, when I can happily waste hours hunting down the flour and baby-sitting the starter. Instead, I decided to try this with my go-to pizza dough. It’s more scientific that way, see, since I could gauge whether the technique made a difference.

Whoa! That dough is alive!

So I pulled together the dough, and it didn’t take up that much time anyway, and plopped it into a bowl to proof on the counter for a three hours. I checked on it every so often and, my, it was robust and bubbly. Those little yeast were busy! Things were happening. Then I divided the dough into two balls, which went into the refrigerator to proof for another 24 hours. This was hard, because I really wanted to roll that dough out and make pizza. But, no, all I could do was visit it occasionally, pulling it out of the fridge to prod it and inhale its yeasty aroma and admire its bubbliness. Oh my god! It looked like the evil boil from “How to Get Ahead in Advertising”!

Pizza sauce, no cooking requiredI carved out some time this afternoon (OK, it was another distraction) to make the uncooked Pizzeria Mozza’s pizza sauce from the L.A. issue of Saveur. Mozza makes the best pizza in town (I think), and the uncooked sauce comes together in a jiffy so this thing wasn’t too much of a time suck. It’s good; not spectacular, but a great result for the effort.

When it finally came time to roll the dough, after letting it sit at room temperature for 90 minutes (now going on 29 hours of proofing time), it was snappy as hell. I should have let it rest a bit, but, shit, Richard was home from work, we were hungry, and the Housewives were bickering on that boat in the Caribbean, so I shaped it by hand (because, apparently, a rolling pin “abuses” the dough), tossed it around a bit, then slathered on some tomato sauce, cheese and prosciutto and slipped that fucker onto a pizza stone in a very, very hot oven.

OK, not the prettiest but, damn, it tasted good.

The outcome: Delicious crust that was airy and chewy, but tender, and definitely an improvement over the usual drill of making dough, letting proof for an hour, and then rolling it out. Next time, I’d crank the oven even hotter, and possibly hunt down that those specialty flours. Now I’m hooked.

So here I am, feverishly writing this, thinking, “Yes! This will help!” As if pizza and blogging will act like a creative enema. We’ll see about that.

Meantime, I’ve accomplished a few things:

  1. I’ve learned that longer proofing time does make a superior crust, but you have to plan your pizza, like, two days in advance.
  2. We had a really good dinner.
  3. I realized the world has officially turned upside-down, since on tonight’s episode of RHW-NYC LuAnn was the voice of reason (surprise!), Sonja was the smart one (didn’t see that one coming), and Ramona was the sane one (that’s crazy!).I put the words “enema” and “constipation” in a post about food. Yum! Hungry now?
Posted in Food News, Techniques, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

High-fat food worsens asthma symptoms

Posted on May 17, 2010 by

If you have asthma, fatty foods like butter aren't your best pal. (Photo by Alison Ashton)

If you have asthma, pass up the Happy Meal.

A new study from the University of Newcastle in Australia finds a fatty, caloric fast-food meal makes it harder for asthmatics to breathe. Even worse, the high-fat fare renders albuterol, an inhaler commonly used to relieve asthma symptoms, less effective.

The study involved 40 people with asthma, who were randomly assigned to gobble a 1,000-calorie fast-food meal (burger and hash browns) that was 52% fat or low-fat yogurt that was just 200 calories and 13% fat. It’s the first study to examine the effect of high-fat food on airway inflammation, which is the hallmark of asthma, says researcher Dr. Lisa Wood.

The results raise intriguing questions, including whether the type of fat makes a difference. Could heart-clogging saturated fat also inflame airways? And do unsaturated fats have the same effect? “We expect that saturated fat would be driving the inflammatory response, as this type of fat has been shown to have the strongest inflammatory effects in other studies,” says Wood. “We are exploring the effects of fat quality on fat-induced inflammation in asthma in our future work.”

If follow-up studies confirm the link between fat and symptoms, reducing dietary fat may be a smart–and easy–way to manage asthma.

Posted in Food News, nutrition, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The new Dirty Dozen

Posted on April 28, 2010 by

Blueberries: No. 5 on the EWG's Dirty Dozen to always buy organic

Is organic better than conventional?

That depends on what you mean by “better.”

Maria Rodale, author of Organic Manifesto, led the panel discussion “Why Organic Matters” at last month’s Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, Calif. Thus far, she noted, much of the debate has been over whether organic food is more nutritious than conventionally produce food. The jury is still out on that–some studies suggest organic is more nutritious, while others find no significant difference.

“Forget nutrition,” Rodale said. “It’s time to shift the debate.”

Her argument: Organic is undoubtedly healthier for the environment. It’s better for the soil, and better for people, since agricultural chemicals may be linked to cancer, diabetes, infertility, and other diseases. Despite what the Environmental Protection Agency might claim, “there really is no safe dose,” Rodale contends.

In this respect, every shopper can be a food activist. Whenever you buy certified-organic food, you’re voting for a system free of pesticides, herbicides, and GMOs.

One way to start: avoid the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen–the 12 fruits and vegetables most likely to be laden with pesticides, and which you should always buy organic.  Their latest version includes:

  1. Celery
  2. Peaches
  3. Strawberries
  4. Apples
  5. Blueberries
  6. Nectarines
  7. Bell Peppers
  8. Spinach
  9. Kale
  10. Cherries
  11. Potatoes
  12. Imported Grapes
Posted in Food News | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Avocados, like buttah!

Posted on February 23, 2010 by

Bacon-Avocado Tartine: A whole mess of issues on one plate. (Photo by Alison Ashton)

Avocados have been on my mind lately, though, of course, I welcome any excuse to eat them.

This current obsession started a few weeks ago with late-night dinner at a swanky pan-Latin eatery in downtown Los Angeles. I ordered “Tortillas Florales with Indian Butter” because I adore handmade corn tortillas under any circumstances.

“What is this Indian butter?” I wondered. Then I was served a plate of pretty handmade tortillas laminated with edible flowers–this was a swanky-danky place, indeed!–with a sidecar of pureed avocado. Of course! Creamy avocado could be considered the New World Indian version of butter (as opposed to Old World East Indian ghee, which is made with…butter). Whatever, it was tasty, and I gobbled it down, though the cynic in me couldn’t help thinking it as a fine example of creative, price-boosting menu writing.

I was at the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market last week, searching for ripe avocados for a recipe that needed testing. This being Southern California, ripe fruit of several varieties was plentiful. I picked up a Bacon avocado, which has thin, smooth skin and mellow, exceptionally creamy, even buttery flesh. No, it doesn’t taste like bacon, though you know I had to ask, but is named for the California farmer who developed the variety in the 1950s. Still, the words “bacon” and “avocado” reminded me of my brother’s all-time fave treat (well, next to fried shrimp, anyway): bacon and avocado sandwiches. Fat on fat, what more could you want?
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Bacon-Avocado Tartine
by Alison Ashton February 22, 2010
Tartines seemed to be everywhere while I was on a recent trip up to Northern California’s Wine Country. These little open-faced sandwiches are simple to make and visually appealing. This one, inspired by one of my brother’s favorite childhood meals, is a big, ole schizophrenic fat fest, with heart-healthy omega-3 fats from the avocado undermined by artery-clogging fat from the bacon. Aww, well, it’s delicious. I used crunchy pink kosher Redmond Real Salt from Utah but any kind of fancy-pants salt you have on hand will do
Ingredients

2 thick slices applewood-smoked bacon2 slices sourdough bread1/2 ripe avocado1 lime wedge

Instructions
Cook the bacon in a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat until crisp. Drain bacon on paper towels. Pour off excess fat from pan. Return pan to burner, and increase heat to medium-high. Add bread to pan; cook on 1 side until toasted.Mash avocado with juice of lime wedge. Spread avocado evenly on toasted bread slices. Sprinkle with finishing salt. Tear each bacon slice in half; top each bread slice with 2 bacon halves.
Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 15 mins Yield: 2 servings

Posted in Food News, Ingredients, nutrition | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Got my goat

Posted on February 8, 2010 by

Goat: the other red meat (photo by Alison Ashton)

Here’s my trend prediction: Goat meat is ready to go mainstream. I’m not the first to make this forecast, but I hope it’s true this time.

Of course, goat already is mainstream in  much of the world, from Latin America and the Caribbean to the Mediterranean and Middle East to India and Pakistan. I’m sure I’m overlooking a few more goat-eating regions. But for most Americans, goat cheese is our goat product of choice, though you might occasionally sample the meat at an ethnic food fair or restaurant. You’re certainly not going to find it next the beef ribeye at the local supermarket.

In my sheltered little life, despite extensive travels and an eagerness to try anything, I’d never been presented a plate of goat before–until a recent trip to Northern California’s Wine Country, where I enjoyed goat twice in three days. The first time was braised goat served over polenta at Osteria Stellina in Pt. Reyes Station. I urged the diner next to me to order it so I could sample it, and probably ended up eating half her dinner.

“Oh, man, I have to find goat meat at home,” I said, tucking into another bite. She was nice about it. The second time, it was goat poached in whey at the two-Michelin-starred Restaurant at Meadowood resort in Napa Valley.

In both cases, I found the meat tender, yet lean, and satisfying. It’s flavor was deep and a tad gamy, reminiscent of of lamb. Henry Alford has described it as “jungle lamb.”

Good point: If you like lamb, you’ll probably love goat. If you’re one of those people who hates lamb because it’s so lamb-y, goat isn’t for you. And I’ll bet the people who dislike goat cheese (I’ve observed that many folks detest both lamb and goat cheese) won’t like the meat any better.

But I love lamb and goat cheese, and happily embraced goat meat. I went home determined to track the stuff down.

I’m fortunate to live near Culver City, Calif., which is chockablock with Latin grocery stores, carnicerias, and bakeries, and dotted with more than a few halal butchers. A quick consultation with Yelp! (hey, “the people” have helped me find an awesome vet and a great hairdresser, so I trust ‘em) led me to Sanchez Meat Co., a dinky Latin grocery/meat market with a crew of friendly butchers who actually do butcher meat. Try finding that at the local Albertson’s.

There wasn’t any goat nestled among the gorgeous cuts of flank steak, ribeye, and pork chops in the display case, but the butcher looked in his freezer and pulled out two whole bone-in kid shoulders. (When it comes to goat meat, you want a young ‘un, usually labeled “kid” or “cabrito.” Like lamb, goat gets tough as it grows up.) I didn’t have a plan for the meat yet, so he offered to cut a shoulder down into 3-inch chunks. Perfect. I took my find home, where I later turned into a ragu.

So why goat, why now? The tender texture and rich flavor, of course, but there are some health advantages, too. Goat is lower in calories and leaner than, say, beef, weighing in at just 122 calories and 3 grams of fat (1 gram saturated fat) for 4 ounces. Yet it has 23 grams of protein. That alone should earn it place next to the ribeye at the supermarket.

Posted in Ingredients | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Beyond breakfast: steel-cut oats

Posted on February 1, 2010 by

Steel-cut oats: good for breakfast and a whole lot more (photo by Alison Ashton)

Like, well, just about everyone else, as soon as the calender flips to a new year, I renew my pledge to eat better. As in more of the healthy stuff–whole grains, fish, fruits, and vegetables. A recent project got me reacquainted with steel-cut oats.

Also known as oat groats, Scotch oats, and Irish oatmeal, steel-cut oats are oats that have been hulled, toasted, cleaned, and cut, which renders them palatable to humans. (Cattle are fine munching on whole oats.) They have a wonderful chewy, nutty quality that makes them a beloved hot breakfast cereal. They’re rich in vitamin E, B vitamins, and cholesterol-busting fiber.

Shopping tip: Look for steel-cut oats in the bulk bins at the health-food store, where they’ll be far cheaper than the stuff sold in tins.

Steel-cut oats also have a starchy quality that lends them to risotto. Of course, we typically think of risotto as involving a starchy, medium-grain rice like Arborio or Carnaroli, but it’s a method that you can use to cook other grains and even pasta.

Steel-Cut Oat Risotto with Mushrooms and Peas

Possessed of leftover steel-cut oats, a yen for risotto, and a New Year’s desire to eat more whole grains, I made this dish the other night. If you use fresh mushrooms, skip the soaking step and increase the broth to 3 cups.

1/2 ounce dried mushrooms

2 cups hot water

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 cup steel-cut oats

1/4 cup vermouth or dry white wine

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

1/4 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese, divided

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

  1. Combine mushrooms and water in a medium bowl. Let stand 30 minutes. Drain mushrooms through a fine-mesh sieve over a small saucepan. Add broth to soaking liquid in saucepan; bring a simmer over low heat (do not boil).
  2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms to pan; saute 2 minutes or until tender. Set aside
  3. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion to pan; cook 2 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add oats; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add vermouth; cook until absorbed, stirring constantly. Add 1/2 cup broth mixture to oats, stirring constantly until liquid is absorbed. Repeat, adding remaining broth mixture 1/2 cup at a time and stirring after each addition until liquid is absorbed, until oats are tender (you may not need to use all the liquid). Stir in mushrooms, peas, and 3 tablespoons cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with remaining 1 tablespoon cheese. Yield: 4 servings.
Posted in Main Dishes, nutrition, Techniques | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Sustainable sippers, part 6: Tequila

Posted on January 1, 2010 by

Although produced in Jalisco, Mexico, 4 Copas Tequila is made from organic blue agave plants in a “green” distillery and certified organic by the USDA. Available in blanco, reposado, and anejo styles, 4 Copas also produces certified-organic agave nectar–a preferred alternative to simple syrup for mixing organic cocktails.

Benefits: Supports sustainable farming practices south of the border. Proceeds from sales of 4 Copas’ special-edition bottles also support preservation of endangered sea turtles in Baja California.

Drawbacks: Like other organic spirits, organic tequila is pricey–4 Copas Blanco starts is $57 for a 750-milliliter bottle. And organic tequila is still new to the green scene, so it can be especially hard to find. But more producers are coming on board: Last year, the 200-year-old, family-owned Casa Noble distillery in Jalisco, Mexico, where 4 Copas is produced, received organic certification from the USDA.

Sparkling Paloma

A Paloma is a traditional Mexican cocktail combining grapefruit juice and tequila. Use fresh grapefruits, which are in season, juicy, and abundant right now. This is an easy sipper to prepare and a change of pace from the best-known tequila cocktail: the margarita.

Kosher salt, for rimming the glass (optional)

2 ounces organic blanco or reposado tequila

2 ounces organic grapefruit juice (no pulp)

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon agave nectar

Sparkling water

  1. Optional: Pour a thin layer of salt in a saucer. Moisten the rim of a highball glass with a damp towel. Place the rim of the glass in the salt, gently turning to help salt adhere to glass.
  2. Fill glass with crushed ice. Add tequila, juices, and nectar, stirring gently to combine. Top with sparkling water. Yield: 1 serving.

Also in this series:

Part 1: Wine, beer, and spirits hop on the organic bandwagon

Part 2: Wine

Part 3: Vodka and gin

Part 4: Mix with Care

Part 5: Sake

Posted in Food News | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Sustainable sippers, part 5: Ah, sake

Posted on December 30, 2009 by

American producers are making some mighty fine versions of the traditional Japanese rice wine, including SakeOne Momokawa certified-organic line and Takara Sake’s Sho Chiku Bai Organic Nama. As with grape wines, offerings range from those made with organic ingredients–organic rice and/or koji (yeast)–to those that are certified organic.

Benefits: There are six styles of Momokawa, from lush, fruity Organic Junmai Ginjo to the traditional-style, minimally filtered Pearl. The sake is affordable enough (about $11 a 750-ml bottle of Momokawa and $7.50 for a 300-ml bottle of Organic Nama) to host a tasting for your friends.

Drawbacks: Berkeley, California-based Takara Sake’s product is made with certified organic rice from the nearby Sacramento Valley, but the rice wine itself is not certified organic. Also, it’s made in very small batches and may be hard to find.

Sake-jito

Inspired by the Cuban cocktail, this drink uses organic sake in place of traditional rum for a cocktail that’s refreshing and subtly sweet.

8 fresh mint leaves

2 teaspoons powdered sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

2 ounces organic sake

2 ounces sparkling water

1 mint sprig (optional)

  1. Place mint leaves in the bottom of a highball glass, add sugar and juice. Muddle (crush) with a muddler or the back of a wooden spoon. Add sake; stir. Add crushed ice. Top with sparkling water. Garnish with mint sprig, if desired. Yield: 1 serving.

Also in this series:

Part 1: Wine, beer, and spirits hop on the organic bandwagon

Part 2: Wine

Part 3: Vodka and gin

Part 4: Mix with Care

Part 6: Tequila

Posted in Food News, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Sustainable sippers, part 4: Mix with care

Posted on December 29, 2009 by

If you use expensive organic spirits in a cocktail, be sure the other ingredients are organic, too. Organic spirits generally don’t belong in a neon-green apple-tini, says Square One Vodka founder Allison Evanow. “Don’t shop for your mixers in the liquor aisle; shop for your mixers in the produce aisle.”

Use organic fruit purees as mixers. Mixologist Darryl Robinson, a k a DRMixologist, who creates organic concoctions for special events and at the Hudson Bar at New York’s Hudson Hotel, always selects peak-flavor, in-season fruits. “I’ll puree them and freeze them to use later.”

“Don’t shop for your mixers in the liquor aisle; shop for your mixers in the produce aisle.” Unless, of course, it’s a bottled mixer made with organic ingredients.

Choose organic sweeteners for cocktails. Robinson uses organic agave nectar instead of simple syrup made with white sugar. He also likes organic brown sugar or organic maple syrup for cocktails made with dark-colored spirits.

Balance the flavors. Organic spirits, like a botanical gin, can taste bolder than conventional booze, says Robinson, so you may need to adjust the amount of other ingredients. His secret ingredient: organic pineapple juice. “Just a splash, even in a cocktail that doesn’t call for it, can make a difference.”

If you do use a bottled mixer, make it an organic one, like modmix or Monin’s organic line.

Also in this series:

Part 1: Wine, beer, and spirits hop on the organic bandwagon

Part 2: Wine

Part 3: Vodka and gin

Part 5: Sake

Part 6: Tequila

Posted in Food News, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Sustainable Sippers, part 3: Vodka and gin

Posted on December 29, 2009 by

Vodka and gin are two examples of small producers using organic ingredients to craft first-rate spirits. Some examples include vodkas from Square One,Highball Distillery, and Vodka14. Juniper Green Organic London Dry Gin and TRU2 Gin are among the organic gins.

What makes it organic: Square One is crafted from 100% organic rye by DRinc., an Idaho-based distillery that has been certified organic since 2000. Highball Distillery’s certified-organic Elemental Vodka is produced in a wind-powered facility, also from organic grain. Vodka14 is crafted from organic grains and Rocky Mountain spring water. Made with 100% organic grain and botanical herbs in a distillery in Central London, Juniper Green is certified organic in the United States and United Kingdom, while Los Angeles-based TRU2 Gin is made with certified-organic grains and a complex blend of 14 botanicals.

Benefits: Organic vodka is flavorful, smooth, and subtly sweet. It’s nice to sip neat or in a simple cocktail. Organic grain byproducts from producing vodka may be recycled as animal feed. Organic gins are crafted with an intriguing mix of botanicals (TRU2’s blend includes lavendar, vanilla, and chamomile in addition to traditional juniper berries, for example), which makes for a complex, Old World-style spirit.

Drawbacks: Small-batch liquors, including organic vodka and gin, are expensive. Prices start at about $35 for a 750-ml bottle. Availability is limited, too. “You can go into a lot of states and not find any organic vodka,” says Gray Ottley, owner and chief marketing officer of DRinc.

Basil Gimlet

This cocktail, from Square One Vodka, is typical of what founder Allison Evanow calls “culinary cocktails,” which combine organic spirits with high-quality ingredients. Experiment with different varieties of basil–Evanow likes to use Thai or lemon basil, but any type will do. Square One’s Cucumber Vodka also works well in this recipe (so well, in fact, that this was my favorite evening cocktail last summer).

4-5 fresh basil leaves, torn

2 ounces organic vodka

1 ounce fresh lime juice

1/2 ounce light agave nectar

  1. Place basil in the cup of a cocktail shaker; muddle (crush) with a muddler or the back of wooden spoon. Add crushed ice, vodka, juice, and nectar; shake for 10 seconds. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Yield: 1 serving.

Organic Tom Collins

A Tom Collins is a classic, simple cocktail, and an ideal way to showcase the complex botanical qualities that are the hallmark of many organic gins.

1 1/2 ounces organic gin

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon light agave nectar

Sparkling water

Lemon slice (optional)

  1. Combine gin, juice, and nectar in a highball glass. Add crushed ice, and top with sparkling water. Garnish with lemon slice, if desired. Yield: 1 serving.

Also in this series:

Part 1: Wine, beer, and spirits hop on the organic bandwagon

Part 2: Wine

Part 4: Mix with Care

Part 5: Sake

Part 6: Tequila

Posted in Food News | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Improvising

Posted on October 31, 2008 by

Cookies from memory

Cooks love gadgets…even if we don’t really need them. In fact, we probably don’t really need most of them. Many kitchen items can do double, or even triple duty. And you can always improvise with ingredients.

Case in point: I’ve been staying with a friend for a couple of weeks, and his kitchen is, shall we say, minimally equipped. Cooking isn’t his thing, but it’s certainly mine, so I’ve had fun improvising with the available ingredients and equipment. He doesn’t have a hand mixer (and certainly no stand mixer), for instance, but he does have a blender, albeit a cheap, tiny model more suited to blending margaritas than to mixing cookie dough.

And cookies were what I was craving. I was going to make this work, dammit! Here’s the recipe for chocolate-chip oatmeal cookies–with my clever MacGyver-like moves to get ‘em done.

Ali-Gyver Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda**

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup quick-cooking oats

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (or semisweet, white chocolate, peanut butter, etc.)

1/2 cup chopped almonds (or pecans or walnuts)

1/2 cup raisins (any kind of dried fruit works here. I’ve used dried figs, golden raisins, dried cherries, dried cranberries, even dried marionberries)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer*** until smooth. Combine flour through salt, stirring with a whisk. Stir in oatmeal. Stir in chips, nuts, and raisins. Drop dough by level teaspoonfuls onto 2 baking sheets covered with parchment paper (or sprayed with nonstick spray). Bake for 15 minutes; let cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: 2 dozen.

(Adapted from the New York Marathon Cookbook.)

* MacGyver move #1: there was not granulated sugar in the house, but there were packets of Sugar in the Raw. That stuff is too chunky to use as is, so I whirled in the blender for a 30 seconds to achieve a fine, granulated-like texture.

**MacGyver move #2: couldn’t find baking soda, but there was a new container of baking powder. I used 1/2 teaspoon of that and the cookies tasted fine, but came out taller than usual (see photo above).

*** MacGyver move #3: As noted, there was not mixer in the house, and the blender was a tiny, flimsy model. I used the blender to cream the wet ingredients (step 1), then stirred them into the dry, ultimately using my hands to combine everything. It came together just fine.

Posted in Desserts | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Best fast food

Posted on November 2, 2008 by
lunch from In-N-Out.

A tray of goodness: roadside lunch from In-N-Out

If you don’t happen to live in California, Arizona, Utah, or Nevada, but your travels take you to that neck of the woods, be sure to stop by one of the many In-N-Out Burger outlets that dot the landscape. As any native of the region will boast, it’s the best, hands-down. Even Eric Schlosser sang the praises of In-N-Out in Fast Food Nation, his landmark expose of the fast-food industry. 

In-N-Out’s appeal is its simplicity. For 60 years, they’ve kept it streamlined: variations of burgers, fries, and great shakes. No Baja Tango Chicken Margaritaville Wraps. No Tuscan-style Sandwich-inis. No concessions to changing tastes and trends. They just make burgers and fries better than just about any fast food chain. Nothing is frozen (there isn’t even a freezer on the premises), burgers are made to order, buns are baked from sponge dough, fries are cut on the premises.

Although the menu is small, you do have options, all part of their “Not-So-Secret Menu,” which you can find on their Web site. Vegetarians can order the Grilled Cheese (no meat), carbo-phobes can opt for the Protein Style (no bun). The really, really hungry can choose a 2×2, 3×3, or even 4×4 (as in 2, 3, or 4 patties). And there’s the famous Animal Style, with a special sauce.

My favorite: a cheeseburger, with onions, fries, and a chocolate shake, which I recently enjoyed at windswept In-N-Out off the I-40 in Kingman, Arizona. My dog was happy we made the stop.

Rascal enjoys a lip-smacking bite of cheeseburger.

Rascal enjoys a lip-smacking bite of cheeseburger.

Now, some folks might consider this attitude jingoistic–my burger’s better that yours. So there. But I’ve been living in heart of Dixie for the last six years and have made it a quest to find a burger that rivals In-N-Out. I’ve tried Milo’s, a Birmingham, Alabama institution that serves burgers smothered in their BBQ-like special sauce. Locals adore them. I think they taste like a flat tire…smothered in BBQ sauce.

My In-N-Out substitute down south has been Sonic, which has friendly car-side service and a reasonable burger and great tater tots. But they confuse the issue by loading up the menu with chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, sausage & biscuits, and a plethora of ice cream creations that rivals Dairy Queen. 

Sweet and simple…that’s the way Rascal and I like it.

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Aye carumba!

Posted on November 3, 2008 by

 

 

A giant sombrero points the way to a delightful lunch in Tucumcari, NM.

A giant sombrero points the way to a delightful lunch in Tucumcari, NM.

Yesterday, I wrote about my favorite fast-food chain burger. But today, my cross-country jaunt demanded local food. As in no chains. As in something I can’t get at any interstate-side stop.

 

 

Tucumcari, NM, would offer just what I craved for a late lunch. In other words, simple New Mexican fare. So, beckoned by a roadside billboard, I pulled off I-40 and headed toward historic Route 66 in search of La Cita (located on the corner of Route 66 and S. 1st St.). Imagine my delight when I was greeted by a giant sombrero.

For all its kitschy charm, the exterior of La Cita was, admittedly a bit shabby, but inside it was all bright, soft pink walls and the chummy buzz of locals enjoying a Sunday lunch. A single, friendly waitress jockeyed between tables, keeping all of us happy. She set down a basket of thick tortilla chips fried in lard (I think) and small bowl of salsa that boasted bright, zingy heat and a wonderful thick consistency that clung to chips. I hate it when a salsa is thin and just sort of dribbles of a chip. What’s the point?

I ordered a plate of cheese enchiladas, ’cause I was in the mood for something unfussy and satisfying. It was three corn tortillas wrapped around cheese and smothered in a sea of red chile sauce and topped with a bit more cheese–just what I wanted.

A plate of cheese enchiladas at La Cita is worth a short detour off the interstate.

A plate of cheese enchiladas at La Cita is worth a short detour off the interstate.

 

 


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Shop smart

Posted on November 4, 2008 by

 

 

Milk, bread, and eggs all cost more than they did a year ago, motivating consumers to shop more creatively.

Milk, bread, and eggs all cost more than they did a year ago, motivating consumers to shop more creatively.

By now, we’re all spending less in order to save some dough. We’re driving less. Eating out less and cooking more at home. Shopping differently–everything from clipping coupons, to buying in-store brands, to trolling the aisles at discount stores. The market research firm Booz & Co.’s latest survey finds those are among the top behavioral changes consumers have already made or plan to make. Even well-heeled shoppers who make $95K+ are looking for bargains these days.

Traditional bargain outlets like dollar stores and other high-value retailers are seeing sales climb while high-end retailers are watching sales dip. Sales at the Commerce, Calif.-based 99 Cents Only stores rose 9 percent in the third quarter and the company now boasts “The Right Store..Now More than Ever” on its Web site. On the opposite end of the grocery scale, Whole Foods’ sales grew just 2.6% in the third quarter (down from 10% growth during the same period in 2006), and the company has trimmed plans for new store openings, according to the Wall Street Journal. They’re fighting back with weekly “value tours” to show customers how they can save and still have their Whole Foods, too.

 

I’m certainly shopping differently. A year ago, I cheerfully perused the aisles of Whole Foods, tossing gourmet cheese, exotic produce, and pricey meat into the my shopping cart. Last week, I bragged that I dropped just $18 at the store (picking up a few specific items and ignoring the temptation that lurked at every corner). My best buy was a couple of links of in-store-made lamb merguez sausage for less than $3. I cut them up, cooked them in a soup pot, and sauteed the aromatics in the rendered fat to make Potage de Lentille, which provided us with 2 generous suppers. You can pick up French lentils at gourmet groceries or online.

I’m also planning a recon mission to 99 Cents Only, now that I know I can 99 Logo-Color-Final-EPS [Converted]score a 3-pound sack of potatoes or a 2-pack of red bell peppers for a buck (gratin, anyone?).

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Lean times

Posted on November 5, 2008 by

 

a treat for a cash-strapped era

Mexican Chocolate Brownies: a treat for a cash-strapped era

As if I needed more evidence of how times have changed, consider how I marked

Birmingham's Chef Frank Stitt is a god.

Birmingham's Chef Frank Stitt is a god.

a good friend’s birthday. Last year, I treated her to a lavish Champagne dinner created by Chef Frank Stitt of Bottega (and Highlands Bar & Grill and Chez Fon Fon)  fame in Birmingham, Ala., using spectacular selections from Champagnes Bruno Paillard. Bubbly and beef cheeks speak to richer times, at least for me. This year, it’s a different story. Cash-strapped, I opted to spoil her with homemade Mexican Chocolate Brownies and a pint of premium (I’m not that poor) dulce de leche ice cream. Here’s the recipe for the brownies (shown above):

Mexican Chocolate Brownies

Mexican chocolate is sweet, cinnamony, and nutty. The chile powder adds a touch of smoky heat, but you can omit it.

1/4 cup 1% low-fat milk

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

6 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour (that’s about 1 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon chipotle chile powder (optional)

1 1/3 cups sugar 6 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

2 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.

2. Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat, and add chocolate chips, stirring until they melt and the mixture is smooth.

3. Whisk together the flour through cinnamon in a large bowl. Add vanilla, almond extract, and eggs; beat with a mixer. Add flour mixture and chocolate mixture; beat just until combined. Spread batter (it’s thick) into prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

Yield: 16 brownies.

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Doing fine, thanks

Posted on November 6, 2008 by

 

These days, more people know what they should eat, according to a new survey.

These days, more people know what they should eat, according to a new survey.

If you’re confident that you’re on the right track as far as diet, nutrition, and fitness are concerned, you’re among the 42% of folks who made that claim in the American Dietetic Association’s Nutrition Trends 2008 survey. Other categories include people who know they should do better (up 8% from 2002) and those who just don’t care (down 13%). Most consumers, especially women, in the survey ranked diet, nutrition, and physical activity as “very important.” 

 

People are eating more of the good stuff–whole grains, vegetables, and fruit. In particular, 56% said they’re enjoying more whole grains these days. And that’s good news, because whole grains provide ample fiber, plus vitamins, minerals, and a host of antioxidants. Eating whole grains may reduce the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. The government recommends at least three servings per day (a serving is a slice of 100% whole grain bread, for example, or a half-cup of cooked brown rice).

Check my follow-up post with a recipe for one of my favorite whole grains these days: quinoa.

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Warm fuzzies in a cup

Posted on November 5, 2008 by

 

A hot cup of joe generates warm fuzzy feelings.

A hot cup of joe generates warm fuzzy feelings.

Starbucks was onto something when they handed out free cups of java on election day. The outcome certainly generated a worldwide wave of bonhomie.

In a small way, coffee may have had something to do with it. Yale University psychologists reporting in the journal Science say that just holding a hot cup of coffee is enough to generate goodwill towards others.

The researchers randomly assigned undergrads to hold either a cup of hot coffee or iced coffee and then review a packet of information about an individual to assess that person’s personality traits. Students who had clutched a warm cup of joe deemed the individual “warm”  (i.e., more generous and caring) while those who had held iced coffee were less magnanimous. 

In a follow-up study to gauge the effect of temperature on behavior, the researchers asked volunteers to hold either a hot or cold therapeutic pack and then choose between a gift certificate for a friend or a token for themselves. Sure enough, volunteers who had cuddled up to a heated pad were far more likely to opt for the gift certificate.

Hmmm…I know a cup (or three) of Peets Arabian Mocha-Java (sorry, Starbucks, it’s my fave) sets me up for a good day. Of course, if tea is your brew, you’ll still reap the feel-good benefits of holding a hot cup as opposed to the iced version.

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Keen-what?

Posted on November 6, 2008 by

 

 

Quinoa's tiny grains are packed with protein and fiber.

Quinoa's tiny grains are packed with protein and fiber.

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) a South American grain that’s high in protein with a delicate flavor and texture similar to couscous. (The Incas loved the stuff, apparently.) You can find it in many supermarkets, most health-food stores, or online. It’s available in white or a heritage variety called Inca Red (they taste the same). You can cook it just like rice, adding whatever herbs or other ingredients you like. Here’s my recipe for a simple pilaf.

 

Easy Quinoa Pilaf. Really easy.

Easy Quinoa Pilaf. Really easy.

Easy Quinoa Pilaf

Add this to your repertoire for a versatile side dish; it’s great with grilled salmon and asparagus, for instance, or roast chicken. This recipe has a large yield, but leftovers will keep in the fridge of a few days. You can add chopped chicken or shrimp for a brown-bag lunch. Once you know the basic method and proportions, you can change it up in any number ways. Use Italian parsley or fresh sage instead of cilantro, perhaps, or trade the pecans for pine nuts or walnuts.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 (12-ounce) package quinoa, rinsed in necessary (about 1 3/4 cups)*

1/2 cup diced red onion

1 garlic clove, minced

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth**

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons toasted finely chopped pecans

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

 

Toasting the quinoa intensifies its flavor and color.

Toasting the quinoa intensifies its flavor and color.

1. First, toast the quinoa, which enhances its subtle nutty flavor. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the quinoa, and cook 6 minutes, stirring frequently, or until toasted. You’ll hear the quinoa grains pop as they cook.

2. Add the onion and garlic; saute 2 minutes or until the onion has softened.

3. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly add the broth (the mixture will pop and bubble). Return the pan to the heat, and stir in the salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the quinoa is tender and the liquid is absorbed. Remove the pan from the heat. Uncover, fluff with a fork, cover, and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in the pecans, cilantro, and juice. Yield: 4 1/2 cups; 8 servings.

* Uncooked quinoa needs to be soaked and thoroughly rinsed to remove saponin, a naturally occurring chemical compound that’s harmless but tastes bitter. But brands like Ancient Harvest sell quinoa that has been pre-washed and -rinsed, so you can skip this step.

**If you’re using broth from a can, it won’t be quite 2 cups. Not to worry, just top it off with water.

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Recession repast

Posted on November 7, 2008 by

 

Soup is good food, especially during lean times.

Soup is good food, especially during lean times.

My neighbors have settled in for a nice, long recession. Neither of them has lost a job (yay!), but they’re still pinching pennies because these are unpredictable times and they want to be prepared for any curve ball the economy might lob their way. One of the ways they’re conserving cash (along with having their old cars repainted rather than investing in new wheels) is relying on cheap, homemade soups and digging up their mamas’ Depression-era eats. This kind of stuff is the epitome of all-American comfort food…filling dishes designed to stretch cheap ingredients. Soup, naturally, tops the list, since you can cook up a big pot of the stuff and eat it for several days. A steaming bowl satisfies the soul and the stomach, which makes it quite a bargain, indeed. 

There’s some science to support the notion that soup is especially when money is tight (and, hence, the proliferation of soup kitchens during the Great Depression). Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., of Penn State University has studied this extensively, finding that low-density (meaning foods that are high in water and low in fat) foods are satisfying even though they have relatively few calories. The idea is that you can high volume of low-density food (like soup) and still feel full while consuming fewer calories. That’s good news if you’re watching your weight–or trying to fill up on cheaper, lower-calorie foods like vegetables.

Beer batter bread is a speedy, comforting accompaniment for soup.

Beer batter bread is a speedy, comforting accompaniment for soup.

Last night, my friends made a northern bean soup with ham hocks and veggies. My contribution was Onion and Fontina Beer Batter Bread (click the link for the recipe and a picture that does this yummy treat far more justice than my snapshot). Of course, the $5 worth of fontina cheese that went into the bread wasn’t exactly a recession-friendly ingredient, though you could substitute a cheaper cheese, say, provolone or Monterey Jack). The point is, I love a beer batter bread for a several reasons: 1) it’s hearty and 2) it’s a quick bread, so you don’t have to wait for a dough to proof, though the beer lends it a nice, yeasty quality. You can throw it together in about 10 minutes, bake it for less than an hour, and serve it with dinner.

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Bake sales without the baked goods?

Posted on November 10, 2008 by

 

Many schools have banned sales of soda on campuses, but a new study reveals kids drink as much of the stuff as ever..

Many schools have banned sales of sweet drinks on campuses, but a new study reveals teens drink as much of the stuff as ever. (Photo courtesy of Dreamstime.)

Today’s New York Times reports that California schools are banning traditional cookies, cakes, and other sweet treats at bake sales in light of the state’s strict new nutrition guidelines designed to battle rising obesity rates among children. It’s an admirable goal, but something tells me crudites won’t sell as briskly as chocolate-chip cookies. I’m all for better guidelines, but demonizing any food is a bad idea. What about urging portion control (so you can have your cake and eat it, too….just not too much)? Or encouraging bake sale participants to whip up lighter treats?

It’s hard to gauge whether such interventions have much effect. A new study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior reports that despite efforts to reduce or eliminate the availability of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs, a k a soda, sweetened juice, and the like) in schools, teen-agers guzzle just as much of the stuff.

But a study from the University of Minnesota offers some hope: Elementary school kids will eat more whole grains when the grains are gradually added to school lunches. Working with two schools over the course of a year, researchers increased the amount of whole-grain flour in school bread and rolls. By the end of the school year, students were no more likely to throw away bread products made with up to 70% whole-grain flour than they were to toss refined-flour breads at the beginning of the year. This, researchers say, suggests kids can develop a taste for healthier fare, especially if changes are made slowly.

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Lunch for 1

Posted on November 10, 2008 by

 

Grilled Asparagus is a supereasy side for any meal.

Grilled Asparagus with a quesadilla is my idea of a great lunch.

Lunchtime rolls around, and I don’t always want to pop out to pick something up. Today, I had a hankering for my favorite comfort food: quesadillas, which are basically my go-to breakfast/lunch/dinner. I like mine made with corn tortillas and Monterey Jack cheese, cooked in a grill pan (if you don’t own one, get one–you’ll be glad you did). I love the way the tortillas puff up as a they cook. Add a dollop of Sriracha hot sauce, and I’m ready to chow down.

Today, I wanted some kind of side, and I had some asparagus in the fridge. OK, granted, asparagus aren’t exactly in season (they’re a spring veggie), but the stuff is in the supermarket all the time now. I’m not sure it even knows it has a season anymore, but that’s an issue for another post. I also had limes on hand, so I could make one of my favorite, all-time sides. Here’s the recipe.

Grilled Asparagus for 1

The amounts aren’t exact on this, and you can use other veggies instead of asparagus. I’ve made this with sliced zucchini and summer squash for a summertime appetizer. Of course, you can make this on an outdoor grill; just be sure to skewer the asparagus or cook them in a grill basket.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon OR lime juice 

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

3 ounces trimmed asparagus

Fleur de sel (optional)

1. Combine the first 4 ingredients in a shallow dish; stir with a fork or whisk to combine. Add the asparagus; toss to coat. Let stand 20 minutes.

2. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Add the asparagus and marinade. Grill 4 minutes or until the asparagus is tender and some grill marks have formed. The cook time really depends on the thickness of the asparagus; very thin stalks will just need a few minutes, while thicker stalks will need more time. Sprinkle with fleur de sel, if you like. Yield: 1 serving.

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Gumbo and the Green Goddess, part 1

Posted on November 11, 2008 by

 

Green Goddess Salad is a nice counterpoint to gumbo.

Green Goddess Salad is a nice counterpoint to gumbo.

It started on Sunday afternoon, while I was perusing The New York Times, a ritual that takes up the better part of the day. Flipping through the magazine, I came across Amanda Hesser’s story about the Green Goddess Salad with a circa-1948 recipe for the iconic salad. Crisp romaine dressed in a briny, pungent mixture of anchovies, garlic, Worcestershire, and mayo is a classic recipe, and one I wanted to share with friends. So last night a bunch of us gathered in the kitchen of my friend and neighbor Aimee, who had asked another  another friend and neighbor, Jon, over to teach her how to make his gumbo. Jon has a made a study of this Cajun stew, and perfected his recipe. I’ll share his lesson in a follow-up blogs.

The evening was the ideal opportunity to try out the recipe. You need to make the dressing at least an hour before serving so the flavors have plenty of time to develop their signature punch, which makes this salad good for entertaining. I couldn’t help pondering how much the Green Goddess Salad has in common with another iconic California (albeit Baja California) salad: the Caesar Salad, which legend says was born in 1924 in Caesar Cardini’s eponymous Tijuana restaurant.

The classic Caesar dressing–as opposed to the bastardized version that haunts so many chain restaurant menus these days–uses raw egg yolks, olive oil, smashed garlic, Worcestershire, and anchovies, along with, white white vinegar or lemon juice, a dash of mustard, and Parmesan cheese. The Green Goddess dressing employs mayonnaise (which is an emulsion of raw egg yolks, oil, and acid), Worcestershire, garlic, anchovies, and white wine vinegar to create a briny bite and lovely creamy consistency very similar to Caesar dressing that coats the crisp Romaine lettuce beautifully. If you really want to make this salad sing, you’d use homemade mayo (whenever I’m moved to whisk up a batch of mayonnaise, I consult James Peterson’s recipe from Essentials of Cooking), but in this case, I just opened a jar of Hellmann’s. If you use jarred mayo, it’s important to use a good-quality one, since it’s such a key ingredient.

Up next: Gumbo and the Green Goddess, part 2: Do Roux

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Gumbo and the Green Goddess, part 2: Do Roux

Posted on November 11, 2008 by

 

Rascal helps Aimee make her very first roux.

Rascal helps Aimee make her first roux.

I may have devoted my last post to bragging about my salad, but the real purpose of our shindig last night was for my friend Jon to teach my friend Aimee how to make his gumbo.

For the uninitiated, gumbo is a hallowed Creole stew that first appeared in Louisiana more than two centuries ago. It was made in humble backwoods Cajun settlements and in the kitchens of the finest Garden District homes in New Orleans. Every pot of gumbo is an American melting pot, melding culinary traditions from West Africa (in the form of okra; “gumbo” is an African word the green pods) to the file powder (made from dried ground sassafrass leaves used by the indigenous Choctaw Indians) to the roux contributed by French settlers. Gumbo takes many forms, with each cook tailoring the ingredients to suit. In lean times, folks might settle for a vegetable-only gumbo. In times of plenty, gumbos are augmented with oysters, crab meat, even turtle meat. Gumbo may be a child of Louisiana, but it’s been embraced across the South, from Mississippi to Alabama and beyond. For a wonderful, comprehensive history of the dish, check out the Southern Foodways Alliance’s Gumbo Trail Web site. It’s a treat.

Jon gives Aimee a lesson in the finer points of making roux

Teacher and student: Jon gives Aimee a lesson in the finer points of making roux

So when someone agrees to share his gumbo with you, he’s sharing more than a recipe. He’s sharing a piece of his soul. (Sorry, Jon, I know that will make you puke, but it’s true.) That’s because gumbo recipes are handed down from one generation to the next, evolving with each cook’s taste. Jon made a study of gumbo, seeking advice from his mom, of course, a chef from New Orleans’ Commander’s Palace, and anyone else with expertise. Along the way, he refined his gumbo (I’ll share the recipe in a follow-up post). Last night, he taught the recipe to Aimee, who in turn will refine it and make it her own.

Gumbo’s foundation is the roux (pronounced ROO), which is nothing more than flour cooked in fat (can be vegetable oil, butter, lard, or drippings) over low heat for a long time. It takes patience. There are a few things to keep in mind:

  • Roux takes time–at least 30 minutes, often longer. You can’t rush roux. 
  • Roux requires constant attention. It can burn in the blink of an eye. Do not stop stirring, do not turn your back. Do pour yourself a glass of wine, gather a few friends for company (they can take over the stirring, if needed), and settle in at the stove.

    Kevin helps with the stirring.

    Kevin helps with the stirring.

  • If the roux burns, you’ll need to start over.
  • Making roux is a lesson in trusting your senses. You’ll see it change color, from a pale paste to a smooth, chocolate-colored, nutty-scented concoction with a consistency similar to thick yogurt.

 

 

 

Time and attention will transform a humble paste of flour and oil into a luscious roux.

Time and attention will transform a humble paste of flour and oil into a luscious roux.

Jon had Aimee start with 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup canola oil in a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet (if it’s one that’s been in the family for generations–this one had been a gift to Aimee’s husband, Kevin, from his mama–so much the better). You can use any sturdy pan, but cast iron holds and conducts heat particularly well. Adjust the proportions as needed. If it looks too thin, add a tablespoon or so more flour. If it’s too thick, add a bit more oil.

 

 

Aimee settles in at stove to make her roux. Brodus supervises.

Aimee settles in at stove to make her roux. Brodus supervises.

Within 10 minutes, the roux takes on a smooth consistency and pale-almond color.

Within 10 minutes, the roux takes on a smooth consistency and pale-almond color.

Within 10 minutes or so, the roux begins to take on a pale almond hue. Things are happening…

Halfway point: the roux is the the color of caramel.

Another 10 minutes or so, and it’s starting to look more like caramel. Things are looking good!

After about 20 minutes, Aimee needs a quick break, so Kevin steps up to the stove. She returns, commences stirring again. After about 30 minutes, the roux is looking like milk chocolate.

“It’s magic!” Aimee claims.

“It’s science,” says Jon.

He’s a former high-school science teacher, so we know he’s right. He starts explaining how the heat and oil are affecting the gluten in the flour, etc. Etc. Etc. If you want to learn about the science behind roux, I suggest you consult the fine work of food scientists Harold McGee or Shirley Corriher. 

Finally, the roux reaches chocolate stage. It’s smooth. It’s dark. It smells nutty. It’s ready.

 

 

The roux is ready. It's time to make gumbo!

The roux is ready. It's time to make gumbo!

Up next: Gumbo and the Green Goddess, part 3: Time to Eat (and the recipe).

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Gumbo and the Green Goddess, part 3: Time to Eat (and the recipe)

Posted on November 11, 2008 by

 

Jon swears by Tony Cachere's Creole Seasoning

Gumbo Guru: Jon swears by Tony Cachere's Creole Seasoning

OK, my previous post covered the importance of roux and how to prepare it. Now it’s time to share the full recipe and share the finished product.

Jon’s Gumbo

You’ll need to allow plenty of time to make this Creole-style stew. The roux alone takes a half-hour or longer, and the stew needs to simmer at least an hour. It’s time well spent. Invite some friends and make a party of it.

Roux:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup canola oil

Gumbo:

2 small bags frozen seasoning blend vegetables (onions, bell peppers, celery, and parsley), thawed

1 bulb garlic, minced

6 cups water

1 (2-pound bag) sliced frozen okra, thawed

2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained)

1  can Original Ro-Tel tomatoes

2 bay leaves

2 pounds spicy smoked sausage, sliced* 

2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined**

1 pound jumbo lump crab meat (optional; add it if you’re feeling flush. We weren’t.)

1 pint raw oysters (optional; add them if you’re feeling flush. We weren’t.)

1 1/2 teaspoons Tony Cachere’s Creole Seasoning, to taste

Salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

Gumbo file powder***

Tabasco 

Rice:

4 cups water or chicken broth

2 cups Louisiana popcorn rice****

 

a pot of goodness on a chilly evening.

Jon's Gumbo: a pot of goodness on a chilly evening.

1. Prepare the roux, as per my previous post. When it’s done, add the seasoning blend and garlic. (As Jon, notes, this helps cool the roux mixture so it doesn’t blend. Still, keep in mind, roux is called “Cajun napalm” for a reason–it’s very hot and may bubble and spatter when you add the vegetables. Use caution.) Cook the vegetables until tender.

 

2. While the vegetables cook, bring about 6 cups water to a boil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven. Add the roux-vegetable mixture, okra, tomatoes, bay leaves, and sausage to the pot (“At this point, it’s just a dump soup,” Jon notes.) Reduce the heat, and simmer 1 hour. Add the shrimp (and crab and oysters, if you’re using them); simmer 5 minutes or until the shrimp are done. Stir in the Creole seasoning. Add salt and pepper to taste (you may not need them at all. Serve with file powder and Tabasco at the table.

3. While the gumbo simmers, prepare the rice. Bring 4 cups water or broth to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in the rice. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. 

* Jon is a fan of Alabama-made Conecuh sausage. I couldn’t find it at the local supermarket, so we used Savoie’s Andouille sausage. Andouille is a spicy smoked Cajun-style sausage available in many supermarkets. You can use any kind of spicy smoked sausage you find.

**If you have the time and want to make your gumbo extra special, Jon suggests saving the shrimp shells and using them to make a simple stock for the soup. To do this, combine the shrimp shells; half an onion, coarsely chopped; 1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped; 2 bay leaves; 3 thyme sprigs; and a teaspoon of black peppercorns in a Dutch oven or other large pot. Cover with 8 cups cold water. Bring it to a boil; reduce the heat, and simmer for 45 minutes. Every so often, skim the surface to remove any solids. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl. You can do this step a day ahead. Use the shrimp stock in place of the water in the gumbo.

***Gumbo file (pronounced FEE-lay) powder is made from ground dried sassafrass leaves. It adds an herbaceous quality and acts as a thickening agent. It’s added to the gumbo after cooking.

****Popcorn rice is a Louisiana specialty, a cross between basmati and American long-grain varieties. It actually smells like popped popcorn as it cooks. You can find it at specialty stores, order it online, or substitute regular basmati rice.

 


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Cutting edge

Posted on November 12, 2008 by

 

These imported Japanese knives live up to the hype.

Mac the Knife: These imported Japanese knives live up to the hype.

I’m a sucker for a good a good sales pitch. As a kid, I loved listening to the pitchmen at the annual San Diego County Fair hawk their wares…juicers, blenders, Ginsu knives–you name it, they sold it. TV shopping channels and informercials have much the same appeal (I was seriously tempted by a cheap plastic caulking tool on TV last night), and the words “but wait, there’s more” are oddly hypnotic. Of course, I want more. It takes some willpower to ignore that siren song.

But was a carnival-like pitch at a trade show that led me to my favorite knife. As I trolled expo aisles chockablock with gourmet chocolate, fancy cookware, and food commodities marketers promoting the culinary virtues of kiwifruit and hazelnuts, I noticed a crowd gathered around a table, where a salesman enthusiastically extolled the virtues of the Mac knife. It’s imported from Japan, which produces some of the world’s best cutlery, and is the new favorite knife of such gastronomic heavy hitters as Thomas Keller and Eric Ripert.  

“Here, give it a try,” the salesman said, when I worked my way up to the table. He handed me a santoku knife, a tomato, and a potato.

It was lovely to hold, light and well balanced. It fit perfectly in the palm of my hand. It sliced through the tender tomato without mangling the fruit. It made short work of the denser spud, too.

“That’s nice,” I said, handing it back. “But how does it hold its edge? My Wustof doesn’t hold its edge at all.”

“You won’t have that problem with these knives,” he promised, unsurprisingly. He pointed out the knife’s thin blade and slender spine, noting that it helped the knife hold its edge.

I was hooked, and a small trade show discount sealed the deal. I ordered a 6 1/2-inch Mac Mighty santoku knife. It retails for about $110, comparable to other high-quality knives, but you could certainly pay a lot more; a similar-size Shun Ken Onion, for example, is almost twice as expensive.

Two weeks later, my little cutter arrived, and I’ve loved it ever since. It stays sharp, as promised, and its agile quality serves me well. Recently, I decided it needed a friend, so I picked up a 10-inch dimpled Mac chef’s knife, which, thanks to its light heft and perfect balance, is easy for me to wield. It cost about $100. Needless to say, the Wustofs are gone.

I’ve rarely seen Mac knives in retail stores (except for the gift shop at the Culinary Institute of America/Greystone), but you can find them easily online. I promise.

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Mmmmm….chocolate….

Posted on November 13, 2008 by

 

 

Chocolate or a brisk walk? Which do you prefer?

Chocolate or a brisk walk? Which do you prefer?

I came across this interesting nugget: exercise may reduce chocolate cravings. Researchers at the University of Exeter in the UK asked 25 self-confessed chocoholics to abstain from their favorite fix for three days. Then they were randomly assigned to take a brisk 15-minute walk or rest, followed by an activity that would normally make them jones for chocolate (either a mental test, which induces stress, or opening a chocolate bar, which triggers a Pavlovian response). The participants reported reduced cravings during the walk and for 10 minutes afterward.

Researchers cite this as the first study to link exercise with diminished chocolate cravings. “This could be good news for people who struggle to manage their cravings for sugary snacks and want to lose weight,” says Professor Adrian Taylor. Craving chocolate is often a symptom of stress or a low mood, and exercise can both dissipate stress and lift your spirits.

Unfortunately, upon reading about this study, I started to crave chocolate and went into the kitchen to fix my favorite snack–Greek yogurt and dark chocolate chips. Since I’ll take the dog for a brisk walk in a little while anyway, I figure I can have my chocolate and enjoy it, too.

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Spuds for Thanksgiving

Posted on November 14, 2008 by

 

If potatoes are on your Thanksgiving menus, cook the spuds with their skin on.

If potatoes are on your Thanksgiving menus, cook the spuds whole to maximize their nutritional punch. (Photo courtesy of USDA.)

Thanksgiving may be a couple weeks away, but if you’re cooking the feast, you’re probably deep into planning the feast. No doubt, spuds of some type–russets in a mash, perhaps, or sweet potatoes in a casserole–will be part of the menu.

As you prepare your potatoes, keep some news from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in mind: How you cook the spuds affects their nutritional value. ARS researchers found that cubed and boiled potatoes may cook faster, but they also lose up to 75% of their mineral content. To preserve the spuds’ nutritional value, the ARS folks suggest boiling them whole with their skin on.

Clearly, our friends at the ARS don’t cook, because boiling whole potatoes would take forever. A better strategy would be to bake (about 45 to 60 minutes in a 400 degree oven) or microwave (about 10 minutes on HIGH; turn ‘em halfway through) the spuds. (Don’t forget to pierce their skin with a fork so they don’t explode in the oven.) The baked potatoes will have a drier texture, so you may need to add a bit more liquid to the mash. 

It’s worth cooking tubers with care. Potatoes may have gotten a bad rap from the anti-carb crowd in recent years, but they are an excellent source of the mineral potassium, which helps regulate blood pressure and kidney function, and may prevent strokes. The recommended daily allowance for potassium is 3,500 milligrams. A medium baked russet potato has 610 milligrams; a baked sweet potato has even more, at 694.

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Have yourself a consumable little Christmas

Posted on December 2, 2008 by

Do people really need more stuff? Homemade goodies are likely to chic this year. (Photo courtesy by Dreamstime.)

Do people really need more stuff? Affordable, consumable goodies are likely to top lists this year. (Photo courtesy of Dreamstime.)

 

 

New York Times columnist Michael Kinsey wrote an interesting blog recently about a debate he had with himself: Should he purchase a whiz-bang coffee grinder/maker on sale at home emporium store going out of business? Although he could certainly afford the $179 the gadget would set him back, he noted, the current dour economic conditions made think him twice and he ultimately decided to leave it on the shelf. Expense aside, he figured, it was just another appliance to clutter up the kitchen counter.

Hmmm, he raises a good point. When you think about it, buying more junk willy-nilly is the opposite of fiscal responsibility (even if it’s deeply discounted at pre-Christmas sales and  was the engine that drove our economy for so long) and counter to environmental responsibility (more stuff=more clutter=more junk in the landfill).

Kinsey’s blog also reminds me of my friend’s husband. Long before the economy began to tank, he despised gifts that just took up space and favored tokens that could be consumed, literally. A gift of food was the most obvious example (for goodies to make, check out Eating Well magazine’s roundup of healthy recipes and cool printable gift tags). The recipient eats it, enjoys it, and–voila!–it’s gone. Tickets to an event are an idea in the same vein. And since I’m in the process of packing for a cross-country move, I can appreciate this concept better than ever. I’m shedding stuff, not looking to acquire more.

Long before the economy began to tank, my friend’s husband despised gifts that took up space and favored tokens that could be consumed, literally. Nothing fulfills that criteria better than the gift of food.

So I predict these austere times will make homemade gifts, including baked treats and other cadeaux from the kitchen, a hot item this holiday. These presents may once have smacked for quaint; now they’re the height of recession-era chic. If you don’t have time to be an elf in the kitchen this year, here are a half-dozen affordable, consumable items to consider for those you love.

For the coffee lover

OK, at $39.95 for a half-pound, Peet’s Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee isn’t exactly cheap, but recipients will no doubt consume it in no time. And if your giftees have downgraded to Yuban lately, this rich, world-renowned brew will be all the more appreciated. Or to keep stretch that $39, enroll someone in Peet’s Monthly Coffee Tour ($39 for 3 months, $74 for 6, $149 for 12) so they receive 1 pound of a different coffee monthly.

 

For the artisanal food aficionado

Located in the heart of Kentucky’s Bourbon Country, Bourbon Barrel Foods crafts small-batch sauces using bourbon barrels. The result is very intriguing gifts for little coin: their Worcestershire or soy sauce is just $5. Their sorghum syrups–billed as Kentucky’s answer to maple syrup–are about $8. Their bourbon barrel-aged vanilla extract ($8.95) is a must for bakers. For $17.50, you can give a set of the their bourbon barrel-smoked salt, paprika, and peppers–a nice item for the grillers on your list.

 

For the cook…

…a hands-on cooking lesson, of course. You can find these in just about any community for all manner of cuisines and techniques. Culinary schools often offer recreational classes for passionate amateurs, national chains like Sur la Table have great lineups of guest teachers, and local restaurant chefs also occasionally invite students into their kitchens. Prices range from about $60 for an evening class at a local store to $2,095 for a five-day Culinary Boot Camp at the Culinary Institute of America‘s Hyde Park, NY, campus. And remember, hands on, no demo sessions, because a cook isn’t going to want to sit around and watch someone else at the stove.

For the gourmand or health-food lover

Farro is high on the list of trendy foods these days. The ancient grain is high in fiber and protein, has appealing nutty flavor and al dente texture; you can use it in a place of rice in a pilaf or cook it like risotto. But it can be hard to find, so make it easy by ordering a pretty little linen bag of Tenuta Castello Farro. 

 

For the (adventurous) chocolate lover

Chocolate and bacon? Trust me, it’s compelling…sort of a gourmet sweet-and-savory riff like chocolate and peanut butter. Vosges‘ Mo’s Bacon Bar ($7.50) combines velvety milk chocolate with bits of applewood-smoked bacon and a sprinkling of alder wood-smoked salt. Yummmm. The chocolatiers at Vosges aren’t shy about creating offbeat flavor combinations; they also have the intriguing Organic Enchanted Mushroom Bar (dark chocolate, reishi mushrooms, and walnuts for $8.50) or the Habana bar (milk chocolate and crunchy plaintains, also $8.50)–and these are some of their more mainstream concoctions. For those who like variety, awesome gift sets of mini exotic bars starting at $25.

For the wine (and food) lover

Wine is a classic consumable gift, and a bottle of Dobbes Family Estate’s 2007 Grand Assemblage Cuvee Pinot Noir ($28) is a crowd-pleasing winner.  The wine’s ripe fruitiness, soft texture, and pleasing acidity makes it play well with all manner of holiday foods. If you go to someone’s house for supper, a bottle of this Oregonian wine will ensure you’re invited back. A guest brought me a bottle for Thanksgiving, and it certainly left me with warm fuzzy feelings.

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Spahhh…

Posted on November 17, 2008 by

 

Rancho la Puerta (photo courtesy of Rancho la Puerta.)

Rancho la Puerta (photo courtesy of Rancho la Puerta)

I’m at Rancho la Puerta in Tecate, Mexico, this week, eating well, hiking, and yoga’ing it up. I’m especially eager to explore their new culinary center, La Cocina que Canta, where Chef Jesus Gonzalez shares the legendary spa’s epicurean secrets with guests.

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It’s all about the chow.

Posted on November 19, 2008 by
the culinary school at Rancho La Puerta.

La Cocina que Canta: the culinary school at Rancho La Puerta.

Am at Rancho la Puerta in Tecate, Mexico. RLP is the legendary spa started in the 1940s by the couple who later went on to found the ultra-luxurious Golden Door. It’s my first visit here (the first of many to come, I hope, assuming I win the lottery–good thing I’m moving from no-lottery Alabama to back to lottery-fevered California).

I’ll go into more detail when I return, but suffice to say it’s like an upscale camp for grown-ups. Lots of activities to choose from, do nothing at all, if you please.

One of the many highlights is the food, which is healthy, but tasty and filling. When the staff rings the mealtime bell, I come runnin’, just like Pavlov’s dog. The produce comes from the Ranch’s extensive organic garden (overseen by the delightful and enthusiastic Salvador, ) and the occasional seafood dish features fresh catch from nearby Ensenada.

So, this afternoon, it’s lunch, of course, followed by making prayer arrows this afternoon. I have no clue what that entails, but it’s bound to be crafty and spritual. In any case, Hillari wants one. Why, is a mystery.

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Back from the Ranch

Posted on November 24, 2008 by

 

Lunchtime offerings at Rancho la Puerta typically include a stellar salad, like this one made with roasted beets and medallions of goat cheese. Yum!

Lunchtime offerings at Rancho la Puerta typically include a stellar salad, like this one made with roasted beets and medallions of goat cheese. Yum!

I’ve just returned from a week’s stay at Rancho la Puerta in Tecate, Mexico. It was a nice little item I’d bid on and won at a charity auction last year because I’d always dreamed of going. So my pal Hillari and I made the long journey, arriving under cover of darkness (she found the trip winding along San Diego County’s quiet backcountry roads toward the border crossing in Tecate a tad unnerving, or at least carsick-inducing).

The week was all I’d hoped for–relaxing, with lots of opportunities for early morning hikes on

When you start the day with a brisk hike up a desert mountain, you feel fine about eating as much as you want.

When you start the day with a brisk hike up a desert mountain, you feel fine about eating as much as you want.

desert mountain trails, plenty of yoga, and other classes to sample. The special poetry workshop was a pleasant surprise, as were the qi gong sessions. The chance to learn about healing touch and colors, and to craft my very own prayer arrow (basically yarn wrapped around a stick with some feathers and a crystal) was fun, but I’m still a skeptic.

Certainly, a standout highlight was the food. The overriding philosophy at The Ranch is to enjoy lots of fresh fruits and vegetables at every meal. Ideally, in every dish. Butternut squash was the veggie of the week. It seemed the gardeners at the Ranch’s Tres Estrellas organic garden had a bumper crop this fall and the chefs found ways to include it in almost every meal. I even had a Mayan Chocolate Sorbet that incorporated the stuff, and it was delicious. Whatever was served, guests were welcome to enjoy as much or as little as they wished. I didn’t hesitate to ask for an extra fish taco (awesome!) and always pushed away from the table contentedly full. In general, The Ranch’s chefs hit a home run when they prepared Mexican and Mediterranean fare; their one foray into Asian wasn’t so successful.

Of course, I couldn’t resist picking up a copy of the new book Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho la Puerta by The Ranch’s founder, Deborah Szekely, and Chef Deborah M. Schneider, who often teaches at The Ranch’s new cooking school, La Cocina que Canta. Can’t wait to try the sorbet (for Thanksgiving, I think) and the fish tacos.

 

Marmalade rejects my handcrafted prayer arrow as a cat toy. Bitch.

Marmalade rejects my handcrafted prayer arrow as a cat toy. Bitch.

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Wing it

Posted on November 25, 2008 by

 

Guests of Rancho la Puerta prepare a lavish dinner at La Cocina que Canta.

Will work for food: Guests of Rancho la Puerta prepare a lavish dinner at La Cocina que Canta.

Because food is so central to the experience at Rancho la Puerta, and guests often want to learn how to make all that great food at home, The Ranch opened an on-site cooking school and culinary center: La Cocina que Canta on the grounds of Tres Estrellas organic garden last year. Of course, I was eager to check it out.

Located on the grounds of The Ranch’s expansive Tres Estrellas organic garden, La Cocina features a

Students check out the garden before cooking

Students check out the garden before cooking

 large demonstration kitchen that also offers ample space for students to cook hands-on. I’ll take a hands-on class over a demonstration any day, and, it appeared, so did about a dozen of my fellow guests, who also signed up for the 3 1/2-hour class. We gathered in the kitchen under the tutelage of Deborah Schneider, a San Diego-based chef who specializes in Baja California cuisine and is the co-author of Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho la Puerta. After watching a brief demonstration of basic knife skills, we divided up to prepare the eight recipes (some folks worked in teams on the more involved dishes) that would comprise our supper. There was a salad, of course, a Mexican-style lasagna (with tortillas and ancho-chile salsa standing in for pasta and tomato sauce), chiles rellenos, pinto beans, a quinoa salaed, chocolate sorbet, and almond cookies. 

 

While other students gravitated to the recipes, I decided to take up the No-Recipe Soup from the Garden. A bowl of vegetables plucked from the garden  and a few scribbled suggestions were offered as inspiration. I enjoy improvising, and the ingredients were good, so I couldn’t go too far wrong. I set about chopping onions, garlic, and celery; peeling, seeding, and cubing butternut squash; and chopping up a couple of apples. Healthy cooking requires getting well-acquainted with your chef’s knife. Chef Schneider stopped by my station as I sliced, and diced, and chopped.

 

Chef Schneider at the stove

Chef Schneider at the stove

“What do you think you’ll do?” she asked.

 

I had some ideas. “I think I’ll roast the squash in the oven, saute the aromatics in a pot, then add the squash and apples and some broth and let it cook.”

“I don’t think we’ll have enough time to do that,” she replied. “How about if we layer the ingredients in a pot and cook it that way?”

I’m all for simplicity, and a chance to learn something new. So, here’s the recipe, although, it’s not really a recipe, since the amounts aren’t precise, and you can use whatever is on hand. This is what we made (I’d halve the amounts when I make this at home), and it would be a terrific addition to any holiday spread:

You don't always need a recipe to make a great soup.

No-Recipe Soup from the Garden

1. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Layer 2 chopped onions, 3 minced garlic cloves, 4 chopped celery stalks, and about 1 tablespoons of peeled and chopped ginger in the bottom of the pan. Top with 2 peeled, seeded, and chopped butternut squash. Cut out a circle of parchment paper large enough to cover the vegetables; lay the parchment paper directly over the vegetables. This allows them to steam and sweat and soften. Cover the pot and cook 15 minutes or until the squash begins to get tender.

2. Uncover the pot; discard the parchment paper. Add 2 peeled and chopped apples. Add enough vegetable broth (homemade is ideal) or water to cover by 1 to 2 inches. Reduce heat, cover, and cook 30 minutes or until squash is tender. Puree in batches in a blender or food processor (or use an immersion blender to puree it in the pot). Add and additional 1 tablespoon peeled, chopped ginger; puree. Add salt and black pepper to taste, along with any other spices you like–fresh nutmeg, perhaps, or ground cumin. You also could stir in a little Sriracha or sambal oelek. Whatever suits your mood works here.

Yield: A hell of a lot (we didn’t measure it, but I’d guess this made about 12 cups).

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Pantry treasures

Posted on November 26, 2008 by

 

A can of tomatoes provides the base for versatile sauce.

A can of tomatoes provides the base for versatile sauce.

One way I’m preparing for an upcoming cross-country move is to eat through my pantry staples. Sure, I can donate unopened cans of broth or boxes of pasta to food banks, which really need them this year. But they won’t be too interested in my half-consumed sack of Great Northern beans or Carnoli rice or artisinal cornmeal. Can you say soup? Risotto? Grits?

I’ve been eating popcorn like a fiend, yet the level of kernels in the jar appears to remain constant–a magic jar of popcorn that seems to insist on migrating with me! Any thoughts on what to do with popped corn (other than slather it with butter and salt) will be much appreciated.

Pasta is high on my list of pantry favorites. So, in an effort to dress up the stuff, I pulled a can of whole peeled tomatoes out of the cupboard and whipped up a pot of tomato sauce. It’s a low-effort recipe that yields lots of flavor and possibilities.

Pantry Pasta Sauce

The flavors are intentionally simple; add rosemary or oregano, if you like. You can use this, of course, on pasta, or as the base for lasagna. Last night, I combined some with cooked penne, Monterey Jack cheese, and Parmigiano-Reggiano in a little gratin dish and baked at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. It’s also good on pizza, or spooned over sauteed chicken.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Pantry Pasta Sauce

Pantry Pasta Sauce

1 cup chopped onion

2 minced garlic cloves

1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes (use kitchen shears to roughly cut up the tomatoes in the can)

1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil. Add onion; saute 4 minutes or until onion is softened. Add garlic; saute 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Puree in the pot using an immersion blender or transfer sauce to a blender or food processor. Yield: 2 1/2 cups.

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Iron chef

Posted on November 28, 2008 by

 

Elbow grease and patience restored a rusted-out vintage saucepan to cooking glory.

Elbow grease and patience restored a rusted-out vintage saucepan to glory.

Rascal and I were taking a walk one recent blustery Saturday morning, when my friend Kevin called to us from the driveway of a house where there was an estate sale.

“Hey, come take a look at something I’m thinking of buying,” he said.

So we trotted up driveway and made our way to the back of the garage, where there was a gorgeous wood church pew in the shadows. It was in terrific condition, and the top of the bench lifted to reveal ample storage in the seat. The price was right, so I urged him to buy it. Rascal agreed.

Then we spied the real treasure on a table catty-corner from the pew: a number of pieces of old cast-iron cookware. There were a couple of Dutch ovens, deep skillets, a saucepan, and even a large casserole dish, all deep red with rust. It had been many years since these pots had taken a turn on the stove.

“Wow,” we said.

 

A deep fryer before we start work

The rust belt: A deep fryer before we start work

“That one could be a Christmas present,” I said, pointing to a deep skillet. Of course, I wasn’t suggesting Kevin put a bow on a rusted-out pan and hand it out. But I knew he could restore the pan to culinary glory, and that effort would be the real gift.

Kevin has a particular appreciation for cast iron and often reaches for his well-seasoned skillet (a hand-me-down from his mom) to whip up cornbread. He ended up buying the whole lot of estate-sale cookware, with plans to restore all of it. His wife assumed he was going to dole the stuff out to family and friends. But he was so beguiled by the stuff that he decided to start a collection. 

Cooks prize cast iron because it heats slowly, but evenly and retains heat better than just about any other material. It’s great for high-heat cooking, to sear a steak or scallops, for instance. A deep skillet is ideal for frying chicken. A well-seasoned pot has a lovely, stick-resistant patina (made of carbon, really). These days, manufacturers like Lodge sell preseasoned pots, but traditionally, pots have been seasoned by years of cooking. (Note: You could opt for enameled cast-iron cookware, which offers the benefits of cast iron but is rust-resistant and doesn’t require seasoning, thanks to the enamel coating. But it costs a lot more. Lodge’s 5-quart cast-iron Dutch oven is $50 vs. $168 for their enameled cast-iron version.) Kevin’s cache of cast-iron cookware would need serious cleaning and reseasoning.

How to season the pots was a conundrum, since Kevin discovered that there are nearly as many ways to season cast-iron cookware as there are cooks, and everyone swears their way is the One True Method. The Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Companion, for instance, suggests heating a pan on the stove over high heat until it’s hot enough for a drop of water to sizzle. Then coat the pan with vegetable oil, rubbing vigorously and blotting up any extra oil; for a new pot, repeat the process several times until the surface blackens. Some cooks swear by animal fat (i.e., lard) for seasoning; others say you should never use animal fat. Some sources say you must bake the oiled pot in a high oven; others advocate a low oven. After some research, Kevin settled on a method that works well, and he gladly shared with me and another friend…as long as we came over and did the work. A hands-on lesson, so to speak. Here’s what we did, beginning with two very rusted pans.

 

Scrubbing with a steel wool pad removes much of the rust.

Scrubbing with a steel wool pad to remove rust.

Cleaning Cast-Iron with Kevin

1. Thoroughly wet the pan.

2. Scrub with a steel-wool pad. This will remove much of the rust. Use a stiff-bristled steel-wool brush to remove stubborn rust spots, especially in crevices. Rinse every so often so you can check your progress. If the rust is really intractable, you may need to resort to an electric sander. Whatever tool you use, take care to remove the rust without scrubbing away the dark patina.

3. Dry the pan completely and check it again for any lingering rust. The rust will become apparent as the pan dries.

Kevin is satisfied with my cleaning efforts.

Spot check: Kevin deems my cleaning efforts satisfactory.

 

4. Scrub the pot with hot water, a dish brush, and mild dish soap. Dry the pot thoroughly and do one last check for any lingering signs of rust. Scour the pan as needed to remove remaining rust.

 

Coating a pot with oil to season it

Coating a pot with oil to season it

5. Generously coat the clean pot with fat (Kevin uses canola oil, which has a neutral flavor). 

 

6. Bake the pot in a 325- to 450-degree oven (people use a wide range of temperatures) for about an hour. 

7. Remove the pot from the oven. Let it cool until it’s safe to handle. Reapply oil and bake again. You can repeat the oiling/baking process several times, if you like.

The results of our efforts were glorious, as you can see below. Of course, I borrowed the deep fryer yesterday to fry up some chicken for our Thanksgiving feast. It did the job beautifully. Hmmm, perhaps I can “forget” to return it?

 

restored cast-iron cookware

Vintage beauties: restored cast-iron cookware

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Thanksgiving cookin’

Posted on November 27, 2008 by

 

Traditional Sweet Potato Casserole (Cooking Light)

Traditional Sweet Potato Casserole (Cooking Light)

One of the benefits of hosting a smaller Thanksgiving feast is feeling that you can depart from tradition. I’ve got four folks coming over today. And since at least a couple of us aren’t particularly fond of turkey, and the gathering is small, I’m making fried chicken. Here’s the menu for this afternoon:

 

Appetizers (Marcona almonds, olives, shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano, apples)

Bruno Paillard Champagne

Green Goddess Salad (from The New York Times)

Fried Chicken Masala (from Suvir Saran’s American Masala)

Traditional Sweet Potato Casserole (from Cooking Light)

Grits (from Frank Stitt’s Southern Table)

Snowflake rolls (bought from Whole Foods)

Gysler 2006 Weinheimer Mandelberg Riesling 

Apple pie, provided by Aimee

Mayan Chocolate Sorbet (from Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta)

Coffee

It’s time for me to get back to the preparations. Have a wonderful, healthy holiday, and enjoy the company of good friends and family!

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Bean fest

Posted on November 29, 2008 by

 

Dried heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo

Bean-O: Dried heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo

Tonight I’m cooking up a big-ass pot of beans to use up a package of dried beans that have been languishing in my pantry. Cooking dried beans more often is part of my resolution after visiting the Rancho la Puerta last week.

I adore beans, and the only drawback with dried beans is that you have to plan ahead to soak them. The task doesn’t involve much work–just sort through the beans to remove any small stones or other debris, put them in a large pot, cover with water, cover the pot, and let it stand for eight hours or overnight.*  (Smaller legumes, like split peas or lentils, don’t require soaking.)

Dried beans also can take awhile to cook, which also doesn’t involve much actual effort, but you do have to keep tabs on them.

  • Drain the soaked beans, return them to the pot, and cover them with 1 inch of cold water.
  • Bring the pot to a boil.
  • Immediately reduce the heat to s simmer and cook the beans, anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple of hours. Cooking time depends on the size and age of the bean. Be sure to test for doneness. Maintain the water at a simmer, so the beans don’t come out tough, and don’t add salt to the beans while they cook, which also can toughen them. 

I’m cooking Great Northern beans tonight and will use them tomorrow to make a Tuscan Bean Soup. I’ll share the recipe tomorrow.

If you have a bean recipe to share, check out the Is My Blog Burning? My Legume Love Affair recipe event, which yield lots of creative ways with beans. 

* I prefer the overnight method for soaking beans because I think it yields a more tender, uniformly cooked bean. That’s completely unscientific, just my opinion. You could opt for the quick-soak method: place the dried beans in a large pot, cover with triple their volume in water; bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes; remove the pan from the heat, cover, and soak 1 hour. 

Posted in Techniques | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Soup’s on!

Posted on November 30, 2008 by

Simona of bricole is hosting the fifth edition of Is My Blog Burning’s My Legume Love Affair, which challenges participants to show off how they use beans and legumes in sweet and savory applications. It’s chilly these days, and I had a bag of dried Great Northern beans I’ve been wanting to use in soup. So, I made Tuscan White Bean Soup, which is my riff on a classic Italian dish. Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook oversees MLLA, which is hosted monthly by a different blogger; check out her site for upcoming legume events. I can’t wait to see what other bloggers have done. In the meantime, here’s my contribution to the November event.

 

Tuscan White Bean Soup

Tuscan White Bean Soup

 

Tuscan White Bean Soup

If you don’t have cooked dried beans on hand, you can substitute an equal amount of canned Great Northerns, cannellinis, navy beans, or even chickpeas. Be sure to rinse and drain the canned beans, and you may want to adjust the amount of salt in the recipe. If you happen to have a Parmigiano-Reggiano rind on hand, you can add it to the soup while it simmers (discard before serving). For a light supper, serve with crusty bread and a green salad.

1/4 cups extra-virgin olive oil

2 cups chopped onion (1 large)

4 minced garlic cloves

4 cups cooked dried Great Northern beans

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 1/2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (optional)

Fresh rosemary sprigs, for garnish (optional)

1. Heat a Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat. Add oil. Add onion and garlic. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally or until the onion is very tender. Add beans, broth, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and rosemary; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir in the vinegar. Puree, using an immersion blender (or transfer soup to a regular blender or food processor); adjust the seasonings, if needed. Serve topped with grated cheese and a rosemary sprig. Yield: 6 cups (4-6 servings).

Posted in Main Dishes | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Winter fruit

Posted on December 1, 2008 by

 

Satsumas are a seasonal treasure.

Satsumas are a seasonal treasure.

Why is it that so many restaurants treat a fruit cup like an afterthought? I was eating brunch with friends at a local spot yesterday when my breakfast casserole and grits were accompanied by the saddest little sidecar of melon, pineapple, and grapes I’ve ever seen. The fruit selection was uninspired, anemic, and virtually tasteless. There’s really no excuse for that, given the cafe is attached to an overpriced gourmet grocery.

 

And, of course, there are wonderful winter fruits to choose from, not the least of which is a bumper crop of citrus, including grapefruit, blood oranges, and my favorite: Satsuma tangerines. They really are winter jewels, with loose skin that reveals incredibly juicy flesh that’s more sweet than acidic. I love snacking on Satsumas out of hand, but you can use the juice and rind in any recipe that calls for regular orange juice and rind. Try it in Olive Oil Bundt Cake with Tangerine Glaze.

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Farro, the king of grains?

Posted on December 4, 2008 by

 

farro

Golden grains: farro

The pharoahs apparently ate farro, also known as emmer, and the grain fueled Caesar’s armies on their conquests. And now the this ancient foodstuff has become chic again, turning up in gourmet groceries and on high-end restaurant menus.

But there’s some confusion surrounding farro, so I read Heidi Julavits’ “The Way We Eat” column, “Grain Exchange,” about farro in Sunday’s New York Times, with particular interest. The Italian grain has been much on my mind lately, and the source of some confusion. When I worked on staff at a national food magazine, we routinely referred to spelt as an appropriate substitute. Even The Cook’s Thesaurus, a source that is typcially reliable, agrees.

Farro was the star among whole grains at the recent Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives conference at the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone campus in California. Joyce Goldstein, author of Mediterranean Fresh and other cookbooks, extolled its virtues during a cooking demonstration. Farro is a highly nutritious whole grain, which we all need to enjoy more of, with a wonderful nutty flavor and chewy bite. It’s versatile, too; it can stand in for barley or rice in many dishes. (It would be great in the Mushroom Casserole recently featured on Heidi Swanson’s 101 Cookbooks blog.)  I figured Joyce could settle the farro/spelt issue:

Is farro interchangeable with spelt? 

“No,” said Joyce. 

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that spelt is not an acceptable substitute for farro.

Spelt is a different beast, culinarily speaking. Farro is a relatively quick-cooking grain–it takes anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes of simmering, depending on the brand and how al dente you like it. Spelt takes several hours to cook. Farro has a nutty flavor and appealingly chewy bite and takes well to other flavors. Spelt can taste like cardboard. Farro is emmer wheat; spelt is…not. If you can’t find farro, some experts say barley is a better substitute than spelt.

After the conference, I was sold on farro’s flavor and nutritional value. But the stuff isn’t easy to come by, so I was particularly glad to find a bag of farro at in a store at San Francisco’s Ferry Building Marketplace. The marketplace is ground zero of all things local, sustainable, seasonal, and twee, which means I find it irresistible.

One cup of dry farro yields 2 cups of cooked grain.

Turns out, farro is the culinary equivalent of crack. The stuff is cultivated in the golden fields of Tuscany, which automatically ups the ante. A 1-pound bag of Tenuta Castello Farro, packaged in a charming, Old Worldy linen sack was $7.50 (not bad, actually, as I later discovered you can pay as much as 9 bucks for it elsewhere). Sold! (Along with a bar of Vosges’ Mo’s Bacon Chocolate–um, also $7.50–damn that shit is good!)

Farro and White Bean Salad

Beans and grains are a classic combination, and I thought a Spanish-style sherry vinaigrette would work well here. (The vinaigrette is also nice on a romaine salad with shaved Manchego cheese.) Toasting the farro enhances its nutty flavor. You can add all manner of other fixings to this salad–grilled shrimp or chicken, chunks of broiled lamb, feta cheese, olives, cucumbers, red bell pepper, etc. You can make the salad up to a day ahead and refrigerate to allow the flavors to develop; it’s best served at room temperature.

1 cup farro

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 1/2 cups water

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups cooked dried Great Northern or other white beans OR an equal amount of drained and rinsed canned beans

1/2 cup chopped seeded Roma tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

Sherry Vinaigrette:

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

 

Farro and White Bean Salad

Farro and White Bean Salad

1. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil. Add farro; cook 5 minutes or until toasted (the farro will have a toasty aroma), stirring frequently. The grains will pop as they toast.

2. While the farro toasts, bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add 1 teaspoon salt.

3. When the farro is toasted, remove the pan from the heat and carefully add the boiling water. Return to heat, reduce heat, cover and simmer 45 minutes or until farro is done (al dente). Drain any remaining liquid. 

4. Combine the farro, beans, tomato, and parsley in a large bowl. Combine the vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine vinaigrette to farro mixture; toss to coat. Yield: 4 cups (serving size: 3/4 cup).

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Oh, Eric

Posted on December 3, 2008 by

 

Mook's Cheese Straws, made in Alabama, are the real thing.

Mook's Cheese Straws, made in Alabama, are the real thing.

I just cruised over to Chef Eric Ripert’s delightlful blog, Avec Eric.  Like many, I’m seduced by his adorable prematurely gray hair, his Gallic charm, his kid-in-a-candy-store enthusiasm, his sexy accent, his way with food…let me count the ways. “The holidays are an excellent time for a cocktail,” he begins in his current post. Yes, Eric, they are, especially if you’re doing the cooking.

I scrolled through an intriguing roll call of recipes that offer Eric’s interpretation of classic American cocktail fare–chorizo-stuffed shrimp, deviled eggs with smoked salmon, and the like. Then my eyes fell on his Spicy Parmesan Cheese Straws. I clicked on the recipe to check out his spin on the iconic Southern snack. Now, I’ve been living in the Deep South for awhile, long enough to appreciate the simple, decadent pleasure of a good cheese straw. Especially when it’s served with a gin and tonic.  I’ve got a friend who regularly churns out his cheese straws, and they’re so good that I always say he should sell them. 

What Eric offers is. not. a. cheese. straw. His recipe features puff pastry (huh???) cut into strips and coated in a blend of parmesan cheese, chopped pistachios, salt, and cayenne pepper. Delicious, I’m sure. If you served me one but didn’t call it a cheese straw, I’d probably love it. Maybe it’s the language barrier, but semantics count here, and these are by no stretch true cheese straws.

A real cheese straw is a simple decadent please, little more than loads of cheese, butter, and flour. No puff pastry involved.

The real thing is cheese (often cheddar, and lots of it) and butter (lots of it) bound by flour with salt and pepper (could be cayenne), and extruded into their straw shape with a cookie press or pastry bag. Cooks may play with the proportions, the type of cheese, perhaps add herbs. (I once suggested a friend’s college-age daughter bring pot-spiked cheese straws to the family Thanksgiving. Hmm, perhaps that’s why it’s a good idea I’m no one’s parent. But I stand by the concept as a solid one.)

But there is no puff pastry in a cheese straw. Sorry, Eric.

You can buy plenty of classic, packaged cheese straws, even if you’re not in the South. Mook’s, of Florence, Alabama, makes a good one. For a classic rendition, I suggest you try Southern Living‘s Cheddar Cheese Straws. They’d be great with a gin and tonic.

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It’s Aldi good

Posted on December 5, 2008 by

Aldi offers bargain groceries in a clean, efficient environment.
Aldi offers bargain groceries in a clean, efficient environment.

Aldi, the German-owned discount supermarket chain, began popping up around town a couple of years ago. They now have over 1,000 stores in 29 states, from Kansas to points east. It’s only during these new penny-pinching times that I’ve finally ventured inside. After all, Aldi promises shoppers will save 50-90% off regular supermarkets. I was out running errands this morning, needing a couple of items anyway, and decided to pop into a new Aldi outlet to see what it’s all about.

Since I just needed a few things, I bypassed the line of shopping carts, for which you must deposit 25 cents to use (it’s refunded at checkout).

I should have popped for the cart.

My first impression was that the store was clean, well lit, and well organized. It felt spacious without being overly large (it was about the size of a Trader Joe’s, but with a smaller selection and therefore wider aisles). It’s all about off-brand items (Aldi’s house brands, it turns out). I’d never heard of Clancy’s corn chips, but they were available in many varieties, including multigrain and organic blue corn ($1.69 per 9-ounce bag). I couldn’t pass up the Rodeo Bill Peppercorn Ranch Kettle-Style Potato Chips ($1.99 for 9 ounces)–heck, because they were called Rodeo Bill. And they’re damn tasty. I picked up a box of 50 quart-size Kwik ‘n’ Fresh zip-top bags ($1.99), and they’re a much better quality than other bargain versions I’ve found.

My haul from Aldi.

My haul from Aldi.

A few name-brand items are sprinkled about the store–there were Reese’s mini cups and M&M’s amid the candy (alongside Aldi’s Austrian-made Choceur chocolates), but for the most part you’ll find store brands, including their Fit ‘n’ Active lower-cal items and La Mas Rica Mexican staples. You can also find dairy products; eggs; fresh meat, poultry (hormone-free boneless chicken breast, anyone?), and pork; canned and frozen goods; and household items. There’s a small section of decent-looking produce, too. You won’t find exotic stuff, but the basics are there. I’ll say the lettuce was looking better than the tired, overpriced, head of Romaine I bought at a gourmet store yesterday.

There’s even a selection of wine, beer, and a few specialty drinks. If you don’t mind buying O’Donnell’s Irish Cream instead of Bailey’s or Monterrey beer instead of Corona (and I don’t), you’re in business.

In other words, you’d find pretty much everything on an average shopping list, but with a smaller, more mainstream selection. Bakers, for example, will find semisweet chocolate chips, but not dark chocolate. But that also helps Aldi keep it cheap and cheerful.

The central part of the store is taken up with oddball weekly special buys–gift sets of body butter, say, or binoculars, or electric stove heaters.

The checkout line is where they really streamline things to minimize staffing. Shoppers are welcome to bring their own bags, or you can purchase one (6 cents for paper, 10 cents for a roomy plastic bag, or $1.99 for a really sturdy fabric version). You bag your own groceries (which you can take to a roomy counter to bag them up after paying). And Aldi only accepts cash or debit cards.

Posted in Ingredients | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Rock a crock of guac

Posted on December 8, 2008 by

 

Ali's Loaded Guacamole

Ali's Loaded Guacamole

If you love avocados, it’s hard to pass up a bargain like the Mexican Haas avocados for $1 apiece I found at Whole Foods earlier this week. I snapped those suckers up and put ‘em in a paper bag to ripen as soon as I got home. Now they’ve soft enough to make guacamole.

I suspect people fall into three camps when it comes to guacamole:

  • Those who hate it (and I’m not sure I want to know them)
  • Those who are purists and believe guacamole should be little more than mashed avocado, salt, and lime juice
  • Those who are the Ben & Jerry’s of guacamole–the more stuff in there the better

I fall into the last group, though I can understand the purists. Avocados are wonderful on their own and really don’t need much to dress them up. But I like a variety of tastes and textures. Here’s my version:

Ali’s Loaded Guacamole

I enjoy the contrasting flavors and textures in this guacamole–the way the sharp bit of onion plays off the cool, creamy avocado, the hint of smokiness from the cumin, the touch of heat from the cayenne. Adjust the ingredients and seasonings to suit your preference. Avocado is a personal thing. Serve with tortilla chips, Mexican beer, and margaritas.

3 medium avocados*

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 minced garlic clove (optional–sometimes I throw it in, sometimes I don’t)

1 finely chopped seeded jalapeno pepper (optional–if I have one on hand, I’ll use it)

1/4 cup finely chopped onion (any kind is fine, but I like the bite of red onion)

1/4 cup finely chopped seeded tomato (this time a year, I use Roma)

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

1. Cut the avocados in half and remove the pits. Use a fork to scoop the flesh out the skins into a small bowl. Mash avocado with the fork. Stir in the juice, salt, cumin, red pepper, garlic (if using), and jalapeno (if using). Gently fold in the onion, tomato, and cilantro. Yield: about 2 c ups (serving size: well, that depends on whether you’re willing to share).

* Lighten the load: Avocados are good for you, no doubt about it. They’re packed with heart-healthy fat and fiber. But they also have a lot of calories–about 225 per fruit. To lighten the caloric load, replace half the avocado with slightly frozen thawed peas. Sounds odd, but it’s delicious; the peas add a subtle sweetness. I had this rendition at Rancho la Puerta recently, and loved it.

Posted in Appetizers | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Saturday lagniappes

Posted on December 6, 2008 by

A roundup of food news, reviews, and other goodies on the Web:

Salt in unexpected places–The New York Times

 

 

 Tap water for sale?–Slashfood

 

 

 

Heidi Swanson’s Gingered Jewel Salad fit for a holiday table–101 Cookbooks

 

 

 It’s not too late to create your own cookbook to give as a  gift–Tastebook

 

 

Plan a stylish holiday cocktail party with a little help from Eric Ripert–Avec Eric

 

 

 Think your chili is the world’s best? Share your original  recipe and win a cookbook–Foods and Flavors of San  Antonio 

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’70s flashback

Posted on December 9, 2008 by

 

Family heirlooms

Family heirlooms

When I was 11, Dad asked Mom, “Shouldn’t Alison learn to cook something?” Her response: “Why?”

I’m not sentimental about much, but as I pack up my crap to move, I still can’t let go of our family’s meager culinary heirlooms. In our case, that amounts to my mother’s A-Z Woman’s Day cookbook collection, and her clipped and scribbled recipes gathered in a quaint little red binder and a green spiral notebook. There’s some cookware that will make the trek, too: a large yellow early’50s mixing bowl that my father brought into my parent’s marriage, my mom’s Bundt pan (she was proud of her Bundt cake), her red enamel cast-iron Dutch oven.

It’s interesting that I’m so attached to this stuff, because, Bundt cake aside, my mom wasn’t an eager cook. When I was 11, Dad asked Mom, “Shouldn’t Alison learn to cook something?” Her response was, “Why?”

Perhaps I hang onto this stuff is because it’s an amusing time capsule of ’70s culinary ephemera. We were a Southern California ’70s family, down to the redwood hot tub out back, the lessons our family took in Transcendental Meditation (my brother and I only recently revealed our mantras to each other), and an enduring fondness for fondue (we clung to our fondue dinners long after the  Swiss dish fell out of favor).

So it’s no surprise that my mom was a huge fan of Vidal Sassoon. Yep, the hairdresser known for his geometric, low-maintenance cuts that were a departure from the wash ‘n’ set approach of the ’60s. In particular, she enjoyed A Year of Beauty and Health, a self-help book he wrote in the late-’70s with his then-wife Beverly.  The Sassoons were big proponents of health drinks–this was the era of the smoothie, remember–especially those incorporating brewer’s yeast (for energy-boosting B vitamins), lecithin (for a host of supposed benefits), and wheat germ (for fiber, etc.). Her spiral notebook of recipes begins with these two gems.

Sassoon’s Vitality Drink

(For Two)

2 tablespoons powdered protein

1 tablespoon granular lecithin

1 large banana

1 teaspoon raw honey

2 cups low-fat or skim milk

1 teaspoon brewer’s yeast (introduced very gradually)

Whip in blender for 30 seconds.

Vim & Vigor Breakfast 

(serves 4)

1 cup sprouts

1 cup sunflower seeds

6 apples, cored and quartered

3 tablespoons brewer’s yeast

3 tablespoons raw honey

1/2 cup powdered nonfat milk

1/2 cup wheat germ

Juice of 3 lemons.

Liquify in blender.

Are you gagging yet? My parents drank one or the other of these concoctions most mornings. I think Mom induced me to sample the vitality drink once or twice. It was some nasty-healthy-tasting shit. But I have to say, if you saw Vidal on Bravo’s “Shear Genius” last year, you’d know he was onto something.

At nearly 81, dude looks, well, vital.

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Cheap sips

Posted on December 7, 2008 by

 

(Photo courtesy of Culinary Institute of America/Greystone)

(Photo courtesy of Culinary Institute of America/Greystone)

If you’re a regular shopper at Trader Joe’s, you know their deeply discounted wine, beer,and other boozy beverages are a big part of their appeal. Today, Serious Eats spotlights Jason’s Wine Blog, which includes a regular feature on the best wine buys at TJ’s. Stuff as cheap as 4 bucks a bottle, which means you can stock up for holiday entertaining. Jason will release his ranking of TJ’s best wines for 2008 any day now. 

 

And if you’re wondering which wine to serve with which food, check out Trader Joe’s helpful food/wine pairing guide.

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Dinner for 1

Posted on December 10, 2008 by

Baked Pasta and Cheese for One

One of the benefits of being on your own for dinner is that you can have whatever you want. If that’s a bowl of popcorn, fine. A pint of Ben & Jerry’s, fine. Sometimes, that’s just what I want.

One of the benefits of being on your own for dinner is that you can have whatever you want. 

But I find eating alone is a welcome opportunity to cook and indulge in one of my favorite comfort foods: mac ‘n’ cheese. I usually have all the ingredients on hand–some kind of small pasta, a variety of cheeses, and milk. To that you can add anything else you like; I like mushrooms this time of year. Sausage is good, too, as is spinach. But most recipes are for four or more people, so I created this version, which is just enough for one.

Baked Pasta and Cheese for One

You can add anything to the mix, but I enjoy the way the earthy mushrooms mesh with the cheese. Serve with a green salad and a glass of chardonnay for lovely supper.

3 ounces mezzi tubetti (or penne or elbow macaroni)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

2 1/2 ounces white cheddar cheese, shredded (or use a blend of your favorite cheeses)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Dash of cayenne

1. Cook the pasta in boiling water for 10 minutes or until al dente.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

3. While the pasta cooks, heat a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil. Add the mushrooms, and saute 5 minutes or until they’ve released their liquid and browned a bit. Scrape the mushrooms from the pan.

3. Return the pan to medium heat. Add milk. Whisk in the flour. Cook over medium heat 4 minutes, or until thickened, whisking constantly. Remove pan from heat. Add cheese and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk until the cheese melts.

4. When the pasta is done, drain it well in a colander. Add pasta and mushrooms to cheese sauce, stirring to combine. Transfer pasta to a single-serving ovenproof dish. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Yield: 1 serving.

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Kitchen nightmares, part 1: flame thrower

Posted on December 9, 2008 by

 

Cookies flambe--no quite what I had in mind

Cookies flambe--not quite what I had in mind

Flambeed food is exciting. Cherries jubilee, bananas Foster, baked Alaska–if flames are dancing on it, I want it.

Usually. 

Cookies flambe weren’t what I had in mind when I decided to whip up a quick batch of chocolate chip cookies to take to a neighbor’s house for dinner. But that’s what I got.

Blame the oven mitts, which made it awkward to  a good grip on the hot cookie sheet. I watched the parchment paper of cookies start to slide back. “I’ve got it,” I thought. Nope. As if in slo-mo, the cookies slid toward the back of the oven…and onto the heat element, where the parchment paper provided kindling for an impressive show.

Rascal angled in the background while I figured out what to do with my flaming cookies. Hmmm. Let ‘em just burn out? Shut the oven and turn it on self-clean to hurry up the incineration? Ultimately, I turned off the oven, on the vent, put on my mitts back on, grabbed a pair of long-handled tongs, and set fished the incendiary treats out of the oven. 

Luckily, I had enough dough for another batch, which I’m happy to report made  in and out of the oven safely.

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Tuesday morning tidbits

Posted on December 9, 2008 by

 Babbo pastry chef Gina DePalma shares timeless tips for  flawless sugar cookies–SeriousEats

 

 

Bookmark this: 10 basic lessons for the novice cook,all in one place–SFGate 

 

 

 100 foods every omnivore should eat (I’ve sampled durian,  but I’m still not sure I  could stomach haggis)–Pittsburgh  Post-Gazette

 

 

Next trend: Dinky drinks join mini foods (i.e. sliders and the like)–Nation’s Restaurant News

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Pesto, always in style

Posted on December 11, 2008 by

Extra cilantro inspires an impromptu pesto.

Extra cilantro inspires an impromptu pesto.

 Pesto had its heyday in the culinary sun some time ago, when chefs concocted versions of the Italian-style uncooked sauce using all manner of ingredients in all kinds of dishes.

But pesto will never really fall out of favor, in part because it’s such a great way to use leftover herbs. Certainly in summer, when bunches of fresh basil sell for a song at farmer’s markets, home cooks and professional chefs alike whip up batches of the pesto. And as Debbie Arrington notes in the Sacramento Bee, winter herbs work just fine, too.

You can play with pesto’s formula, using different herbs, cheeses, and nuts to vary the flavor and reflect the season.

Traditional pesto is nothing more than an uncooked sauce made of fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, Parmigian0-Reggiano cheese, and olive oil pounded in a mortar and pestle. These days, most people use a food processor or blender. Of course, you can play with that formula, using different herbs (arugula, cilantro, mint, sage, etc.), cheeses (Manchego, say), and nuts (walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, you name it). You can add other ingredients–a touch of cracked red pepper for a heat, perhaps, or a squeeze of lemon juice for bright acidity. I came up with this version to use a bunch of cilantro sitting in the crisper. 

Cilantro-Pecan Pesto

Cilantro-Pecan Pesto

Cilantro-Pecan Pesto

Serve this multipurpose sauce over pasta, fish, or poultry, or toss a bit with steamed or grilled vegetables.

1/4 cup pecan halves

1 garlic clove

1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1. Place nuts, garlic, and cilantro in a mini food processor; process until minced. Add oil and remaining ingredeints; process until smooth. Yield: about 1/2 cup, 4 servings.

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Friday goodies

Posted on December 12, 2008 by

 Just in time for latkes: Food Editor Ann Taylor Pittman  demonstrates how to pan-fry with less fat and crispy  results–CookingLight.com

 

 

Lobster a bargain food?–The New York Times

 

 

 

 Best wine for Indian takeout–The Foodinista

 

 

 

Pig tales: Michael Ruhlman shares his odyssey butchering a hand-raised Berkshire pig–Ruhlman.com

 

 

 Conspicuous consumption: More than  half of all people who give  holiday  gifts, give food–NPD Group

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Farewell, kudzu country

Posted on December 19, 2008 by

 

Southern fare has grown on me, much like the invasive Japanese vine that slowly but steadily has covered the South,

Southern fare has grown on me, much like the invasive Japanese vine that slowly but steadily has covered the South,

After six years inn Alabama, I’m returning to my home turf of Southern California. Still, my time in Dixie has left an indelible impression on my palate. There are many things I’ll miss–great friends and neighbors, my 1930s bungalow in what has to be the kookiest neighborhood in Birmingham. But here are just a few of the foods I’ve come to love:

All of Frank Stitt’s restaurants. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Birmingham’s Frank Stitt is a terrifically talented and versatile chef. He’s kept the empire manageable enough that he and his wife, Pardis, are involved in the day-to-day operations of their three restaurants: the high-end, New Southern-style Highlands; the bistro Chez Fonfon; and  Bottega. 

A plate of pull-pork 'cue and all the fixins=pure goodness.

Barbecue, and especially pulled pork barbecue. Until I moved to Birmingham, barbecue never did much for me. Maybe because I’d never had really great barbecue before. But a former work colleague, Mike Wilson, has a tidy side business making incredible North Carolina-style pulled-pork barbecue and selling his vinegary Saw’s Sauce, which you can buy. Add pickles and crunchy coleslaw (another food I learned to love in Dixie), and I’m a happy camper. Yes, there is barbecue in Southern California, but it won’t be a patch on Mike’s.

All pig products. Well, really, I’ve come to love pork in all its forms–bacon, sausage, roasts, etc.

Summer-fresh shell beans. Birmingham’s wonderful farmer’s market at Pepper Place is full of fresh shell beans and peas (butter beans, lady peas, pink-eyed peas–you name it), which became one of my favorite summertime staples. I love to toss the cooked beans with a simple vinaigrette (usually some variation of the supereasy Marinated Lady Peas from Cooking Light). For the piece de resistance, add a dollop of homemade mayonnaise, which I understand is a uniquely Birmingham treat.

Jon and his secret gumbo ingredient: Tony Cachere's

My friend Jon’s gumbo. Not too long ago, several of us gathered at my friend Aimee’s house for a gumbo-making lesson. It’s a big pot of love.

The soul-soothing, tummy-warming goodness of jambalaya. I was in New Orleans a few years ago and watched Chef Frank Brigtsen do a cooking demo of his jambalaya. The demo was interesting, but the tasting was heaven. The jambalaya was delicious, of course, but even more, it made me warm and contented from the inside out.

My friend Kevin’s biscuits and chocolate gravy. He’ll whip this specialty up on the occasional weekend morning. It’s his mama’s biscuits and a gravy made, literally, of chocolate. Hmm, I’ll have to beg him to make a batch tomorrow morning.

Kevin and one of his many cast-iron cookware pieces.

Kevin and one of his many cast-iron cookware pieces.

Kevin’s cornbread. Also made from a family recipe in a hand-me-down cast-iron skillet.

Sonic, which has helped me through a long, dry spell of no In-n-Out Burger.

Bahn mi sandwiches at Pho Que Huong. Yes, Birmingham has a Vietnamese restaurant, and it’s hopping at lunchtime. I’m addicted to their char sui bahn mi sandwiches. It’s another way I learned to love pork.

Falafel sandwiches at George’s Lebanese Restaurant. Birmingham has a lively and sizable Lebanese community, and my favorite spot is George’s. It’s a modest strip-mall restaurant and grocery, lined with hookah pipes and run by George and his wife.  I just wish George would start wearing his fez again. It was cool.

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Saving money tops food trends for 2009

Posted on December 15, 2008 by

In 2009, chefs and home cooks alike will turn to cheaper cuts of meat to save pennies.

It’s that time, when “experts” and the rest of us look ahead to what’s in store for the new year. And it would appear that my friends are bona fide trendsetters. Months ago, they started cooking up cheapo recession fare, and now they’ve challenged each other other to whip up dinner for less than $3 per serving (or is it $3 for both of them? Whatever, they’re doing it, albeit with mixed results).

People around the world are feeling insecure and are already looking to re-establish a sense of stability in their lives. A good home-cooked meal can do that. 

They’re not the only ones coping with rising food costs and smaller budgets. Many food trends for 2009, not surprisingly, are driven by the current dour economy, which makes value-oriented items more appealing than ever. ”People around the world are feeling insecure and are already looking to re-establish a sense of stability in their lives,” says Joan Holleran, director of research at the global trends research firm Mintel. One way to accomplish that is with the food you eat, and consumers will be more selective than ever about how they spend their money. James Oliver Cury of Epicurious predicts “value” will eclipse “sustainable” as the foodie buzzword of 2009.  These are just a few ways the cheap-and-cheerful trend will manifest itself.

Comfort food still reigns supreme. You might think this has peaked, but consumers will crave familiar ingredients and dishes more than ever. Bon Appetit put peanut butter at the top of its list for 2009, along with eggs in any form. Both are inexpensive sources of protein. The magazine also predicts more restaurants will serve breakfast all day–always an affordable, filling, and comforting option. Overall, restaurant diners will favor bistro-type eateries serving familiar, high-quality, well-priced food. Expect spaghetti and meatballs to “make a roaring comeback,” according to restaurant consultants Baum & Whiteman.

Goat meat may go mainstream in 2009.

Beware, billy: Food watchers say goat meat may go mainstream in 2009.

Cooks will use cheaper cuts of meat. The National Restaurants Consultants forecasts the price of beef will skyrocket, making less-expensive cuts–short ribs, hanger steaks, brisket, chuck roasts, and the like–a better buy. These cuts typically are tougher, but long, slow cooking techniques like braising, stewing, or pot roasting yield tender, hearty results.  Other types of meat will go mainstream, too. Among them: goat, according to “trendologists” at the Center for Culinary Development. George Wilson, of the Australian Wildlife Services, has proposed promoting kangaroo as an environmentally friendly alternative to beef cattle; unlike cattle, kangaroos don’t produce methane and they have high levels of healthy fats.

Tip: When shopping for meat, remember anything with “loin” in the name = tender = more expensive. “Chuck” or “shoulder” = tougher = cheaper. 

Look for offal recipes. Other cultures, especially those in Asia, have a long tradition of using all of the animal, because meat is considered too precious a resource to waste. American cooks are expected to adopt a similar “nose-to-tail” approach, making use of everything from cheeks and tongue to tripe and trotters.

Indulgences won’t go away, but they will shrink. The expense of food may help all of us with portion control. If a beef is expensive, for example, we may opt for the occasional 4-ounce serving of  pricey tenderloin. The high cost of ingredients is driving more restaurants to add small-plate options to their menus. 

Type in your ZIP code at Ueatcheap.com to map out meals under $10.

Type in your ZIP code at Ueatcheap.com to map out meals under $10.

We’ll share information to find affordable meals. Call it Eating 2.0, but diners will continue to flock to the Web in search of the good, cheap eats.  Sites like Slashfood, Serious Eats, and Eater LA (and its sisters Eater NY and Eater SF)  specialize in content by and for avid foodies while users rate restaurants on Yelp and Ueatcheap.com, 

People will stay home. Although restaurateurs will do their best to lure customers with bargains, most of us are likely to dine out less and eat in more in 2009. Analysts at Mintel forecast more entertaining at home while the folks at UK-based thefoodpeople predict we’ll whip up cocktails at home rather than hit the bars.

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The end of the chef cult?

Posted on December 16, 2008 by

 

Has the end of the chef cult arrived? Probably not, but expect to see more emphasis on food than personality. (Photo courtesy of the Culinary Institute of America/Greystone.)

Has the end of the chef cult arrived? Probably not, but expect to see more emphasis on food than personality. (Photo courtesy of the Culinary Institute of America/Greystone.)

Could the age of the chef be coming to an end? A few indicators seem to point that way.  The New York Times ran a pair of interesting opinion pieces in recent weeks, both of which address the perceived divide between cooks and chefs.

On Nov. 29, Marcella Hazan, who many credit with bringing authentic Italian home cooking to American kitchens, sounded off in “No Chefs in My Kitchen.” As the essay’s title suggests, Hazan firmly and proudly considers herself a cook and deplores the way the term “chef” has come to describe everyone from professional chefs who run restaurant kitchens to avid home cooks.

In last Sunday’s Times, Mark Bittman, who writes the paper’s Bitten blog and Minimalist column (as well as a popular series of How to Cook… books) offers “So Your Kitchen is Tiny. So What?” in which he describes his dinky New York apartment kitchen, which suits him just fine, thanks. As he points out, great food is turned out by the person standing at the stove, not by the stove itself. Like Hazan, Bittman is not a trained chef, though he is a first-rate food journalist whose passion for cooking has made him a bona fide authority. I suspect that, also like Hazan, he’d be just fine with being labeled a cook.

Hotels magazine recently polled industry folks about top hotel food trends for 2009, and “Chef-driven restaurants scale back” tops the list. The cost of launching and maintaining big-name chef-driven establishments outstrips their profitability, one expert tells the magazine. I’m always leery of chef-empire restaurants, since I know that the chef whose name is on the door isn’t the one cooking my food, or even overseeing the kitchen.

The cost of launching and maintaining big-name chef-driven restaurants outstrips their profitability, says one industry expert.

All this led me to wonder if the celebrity chef cult–largely driven by media outlets like the Food Network and Gourmet, as well as by hefty PR budgets–is coming to an end. To find out, I sought the opinions of chefs, home cooks, and foodies. 

Iri Greco, of Panforte Productions, which produces food-oriented content for broadcast and new media, says the focus has shifted from true chefs to approachable, accessible food personalities along the lines of Rachael Ray. Viewers are still eager to learn about chefs, she adds, as evidenced by the popularity of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” which showcases pros in “a more ‘real life’ incarnation. [Audiences] want to see the down and dirty, real people succeeding and failing.”

Wade  Williams, of the catering and event-planning firm  PicnicLA, agrees. TV programming like “Top Chef” and the Food Network “will keep the trend going for awhile. People love to eat  and love to watch fun people cook,” he notes. Personality and food go hand in hand, he adds. “You have to have both. Food is cooked with passion and love.  Your personality is always reflected in your cooking. If you’re a dull chef, you definitely will end up with dull food.”

Will farmers displace chefs as the new food world celebs?

Will farmers displace chefs as the new food world celebs?

Focus on nourishing, high-quality, seasonal food will pave the way for rising culinary stars, says Anne Dimon, editor of TravelToWellness.com, “Chefs who will become the new ‘celebrities’ will be those who put healthy, nutritious eating at the core of their food philosophies,” she predicts. Galen Zamarra, of New York’s Mas (farmhouse), and Jean-Charles Dupoire, of Loire Restaurant in Toronto, are two chefs who exemplify this approach. Cookbook author Linda Eckhardt takes this idea a step further. She thinks the emphasis on locally produced ingredients will shift the spotlight from chefs  to farmers. 

I also put the question to the Serious Eats community, which is made up of keen observers of food trends. Overkill is an issue for many. Rachael Ray was fine when she was on one show. But now that we’re bombarded with her (too many) TV shows, magazine, and endorsements, it’s too much. Similarly, seeing Tyler Florence shilling for Applebee’s and Alton Brown using his kitchen-scientist persona to sell grape juice diminishes their credibility.

SweetHeat puts it best: “I see 2 kinds of celebrity chefs: 1) the TV kind (Bourdain, Rachael Ray, etc) and 2) the Chefs who are famous for their cuisine first: (Keller, Ducasse, Boulud, Vongerichten, etc). The TV kind I am sick of. The 2nd group I adore.”

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Wednesday roundup

Posted on December 17, 2008 by

 Finally, a bailout that makes sense: The Italian  government helps  out Parmigiano-Reggiano producers-  -The Wall Street  Journal

 

A box of See's under the tree--yum!

A box of See's under the tree--yum!

 

 

 

Serious Eats peeps love See’s candy–OK, well, really all candy–and so do I.

 

 

 

 

 

 Share the love: Food banks need help now more than  ever, and you can  make a difference–Feeding America

 

 

Wine writer Gretchen Roberts predicts sippers from Mexico, Colorado, Hungary, and, Brazil will emerge in 2009–Slashfood

But The New York Times says Chinese wine is headed for our shores.

 

 

 Food for beauty, foraging, and “bistronomics” are among  the emerging food trends for 2009–thefoodpeople

 

 

Try flanken instead of brisket in your next pot roast–The New York Times

 

 

 How a proposed tax aimed at reducing methane could drive up food  costs and put sustainable farmers out of business-  -Epicurious

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Celebrity chefs, part 2

Posted on December 18, 2008 by

 

Rocco caught in a rare moment of actually cooking something.

Rocco caught in a rare moment of actually cooking something.

Earlier this week, I posed the question whether the cult of the celebrity chef might be coming to an end. The topic inspired a lively discussion among my pals at Serious Eats.

Yesterday’s New York Times profiled Rocco DiSpirito, who has come to epitomize the talented chef who has sold out in pursuit of fame (dubious as it is) and fortune. As Jeff Gordinier’s profile notes, unlike other celebrity chefs (Mario Batali, Tom Colicchio, to name a couple), Rocco is rarely cooks for the public these days. Instead, he urges us to buy nasty Bertolli prepared meals and shows his moves on “Dancing with the Stars.” Serious Eats’ Ed Levine weighs in–scathingly–on his fall from gourmet grace. The sad part of all this is that Rocco is generally acknowledged as a real culinary talent, albeit squandered, and everyone is waiting to see if he decides to show it again. 

At the other end of the culinary spectrum, there’s Rachael Ray. Beloved by millions–but not so popular with the foodie set–Rachael is a lot like Rocco. She, too, turns up everywhere–a TV talk show, a magazine, on a box of crackers. And dog food. Modern Dog magazine gushingly profiled the chatty cook, and included her recipe for some kind of doggy pasta dish. With onions, which are toxic to dogs. The site’s editors took down the recipe after much razzing from the peanut gallery. They claimed the recipe was intended for people though “inspired” by some dish she makes for her dog. So, that means Rachael’s food is inspired by dog food? Huh?

 

Rascal finishes a cheeseburger--without onions.

Rascal finishes a cheeseburger--without onions.

Yes, it was a small amount of onions, unlikely to really hurt a dog. But you’d think someone who is always blathering about how much she loves her pups, includes recipes for dogs in her magazine, and even has a line of dog food, might know better. 

But then, we are talking about Rachael. And just because someone’s mug is everywhere doesn’t make them an expert.

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Cookies are tops for holiday baking

Posted on December 20, 2008 by

 

All across the land, folks are hard at work baking holiday treats.

All across the land, folks are hard at work baking holiday treats.

All across the country, little elves are hard at work churning out batch after batch of Christmas cookies. According to the research firm NPD Group, 60% of American households are whipping up cookies, cakes, pies and other goodies. For many of us, it’s the only baking we do all year long, says NPD VP Harry Balzer. “We keep to long-standing holiday traditions in December and many of those traditions include baking,” he says.

Cookies top the list of holiday baked goods. That makes sense, since they’re pretty much goof-proof, you can make several different kinds with little extra effort, and you can get a lot of gift-giving mileage out of a single batch. These attributes make them especially appealing to the occasional baker.

“We keep to long-standing holiday traditions in December and many of those traditions include baking.”

Sadly, I can’t participate in this year’s holiday bakefest–my kitchen is packed up in a moving pod and trundling across this great land of ours. So, I’ll have to enjoy the fun vicariously (or nibble on the fruits of others’ labor). Here’s what I would make if I could get to my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and cookie sheets:

Chocolate Mint Bars–Cooking Light. These triple-layer brownies may be light, but the result is decadent. I’d add a few extra drops of green food coloring to the peppermint layer so these scream “Christmas.”

15-Minute Chocolate Walnut Fudge–Cook’s Illustrated (membership required). The chef’s in CI’s test kitchen came up with a supereasy fudge recipe, which ran in the January 2007 issue. Last year, I went turned out many batches, playing with different types of nuts and flavorings. My favorite used pecans and bourbon.

Chocolate-Drizzled Mandelbrot–Cooking Light. These Hanukkah cookies are great dunked in coffee.

Chocolate Shortbread–Cooking Light. This recipe is easy enough for a child to make, and the addition of bit of canola oil lightens the saturated fat load without compromising the short texture.

Swedish Rye Cookies–101 Cookbooks. I love the flavor of rye, and I’m intrigued by this recipe, which would be flavorful but not too sweet.

Ali-Gyver Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. I make these babies year-round, but this time of year, I’d be sure to use dried cherries or dried cranberries, and I’d replace up to 1/2 cup of the flour with almond meal.

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Sunday lagniappes

Posted on December 21, 2008 by

Cilantro–love it or hate it? (I love it.) Cast your vote–Serious Eats

 

 

More 2009 food and travel forecasts, including jumbo beans, ice cream supplanting cupcakes, artisanal yogurt, and Cuba and Iceland will emerge as top (i.e., affordable) destinations–Gourmet

 

If you don’t bake 6,00o Christmas cookies like this 79-year-old, you’re just not trying hard enough–The New York Times

 

Tell the folks at Pillsbury how you make a America sweeter and you could win $5,000, or just make their rugelach recipe–Pilllsbury

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Biscuits, chocolate gravy, and cheese straws

Posted on December 20, 2008 by

My friend and neighbor Kevin treated me to a wonderful goodbye breakfast this morning: homemade biscuits and chocolate gravy (mmmm) with sidecars of bacon and scrambled eggs. Biscuits and chocolate gravy are one of his family’s beloved treats, and I’m happy to have enjoyed them. My picture doesn’t begin to do them justice, but, hey, my camera battery was fading fast.

Biscuits and chocolate gravy.

I’ll try to get Kevin to write a post about this Kentucky dish, and share his mom’s recipes.

Another great goodbye treat was a bag of cheese straws from my friend Phillip. His partner makes them, and they’re the best I’ve had–cheddary, peppery, delicate–wonderful with a gin and tonic. I’ll try to procure the recipe for that, too.

Randy's Superfine Cheese Straws

 

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Bigger is better in Texas

Posted on December 23, 2008 by

 

No wonder this little fella looks nervous. He's yours--free!--if you can eat him in under an hour.

Size matters: No wonder this little fella looks nervous. He's yours--free!--if you can eat him in under an hour.

I’m on Day 3 of my cross-country road trip–with dog and cat in tow, in a Mini. Driving along the I-40 for 10 hours a day is bound to lead to a few epiphanies:

  1. Obama’s plan to create new jobs to shore up our nation’s crumbling infrastructure is smart. I thought I’d lose a kidney while bouncing over the rutted stretch of I-40 in east Oklahoma. 
  2. I am a modern-day Okie. The car is packed to the gills with crap and animals. There’s even a soup pot–albeit an All-Clad–on the front seat (I’d forgotten to pack it). So I can always stop and whip up a roadkill soup if things get really bad.
  3. Texas is all about big.

Of course, the third item isn’t really anything new, but I still enjoyed many examples while driving across the Texas Panhandle. It’s home to some of the swankiest rest stops I’ve seen. In Gray County, heading east from Oklahoma, there’s an environmentally sound welcome center built into the hillside. On the westbound side of the interstate, in neighboring Donley County, they’ve upped the ante with a huge, Art Deco-style rest stop. Places like these are enough to make you think, “I should stop for a spell to check this out.”

The largest cross in the Western Hemisphere.

The largest cross in the Western Hemisphere.

A scene from "The Life of Brian"?

In Groom, just east of Amarillo, you can stop to admire the largest freestanding cross in the Western Hemisphere. It’s a soaring, 190-foot-tall, cement achievement that even a heathen like me can appreciate. Although the Stations of the Cross sculptures surrounding the main event made me think of “The Life of Brian.”

Driving away from my stop at the cross, I was greeted by huge (of course) billboards touting the Big Texan in Amarillo. The Big Texan is a cheerfully gaudy Route 66 landmark, as it’s the home of the 72-ounce steak–free, if you can gobble the thing in under an hour. It’s not a challenge I was up to (though my dog Rascal would have been happy to take it on). A free 4 1/2-pound steak is the ultimate in eating cheap–if you succeed. But you must pay the $72 upfront. It’s refunded if you meet the challenge, and 8,500 people have since the Big Texan opened in 1960.

You have to admire people who are willing to create their own grandeur on such a breathtaking scale–not just a steak, but an enormous one. 

Ultimately, the emphasis on superlative size is what I admire about this part of Texas. There’s not much there, really, just miles of barren, windswept (T. Boone Pickens is right about harnessing that wind to generate some energy) ranchland. You have to admire people who are willing to create their own grandeur on such a breathtaking scale–not just any cross, but the biggest one; not just a steak, but an enormous one. I usually subscribe to the less-is-more school of thought. But in Texas, bigger really is better. Or at least more entertaining.

 

Big and gaudy, that's the Texas Panhandle.

Big and gaudy, that's the Texas Panhandle.

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Food safety for Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2008 by

We may imagine farms are as bucolic as this one. In reality, most farms are industrial-size enterprises, and some experts say that results in food safety concerns.

When Obama won the presidential election, many foodies hoped he would advocate for a better food environment. At the top of the wish list is addressing the safety of our food supply.

In today’s New York Times, reporter Kim Severson tries to parse President-Elect Obama’s food policies, including his controversial selection of former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack as the secretary of agriculture. Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food, summed it up for many when he described the selection of Vilsack, who has supports ethanol production and biotech croops, as “agribusiness as usual.” Marion Nestle, author of What to Eat, also expressed some concern about the choice. You can weigh in with your opinion at Serious Eats.

There is a glimmer of hope, though, as there’s the still-open, key post of undersecretary of food safety to fill. The first-rate blog Obama Fooderama urges the incoming president to appoint class-action attorney Bill Marler, because he might actually do something to ensure the safety of our food supply. (Check out his list of the top 10 food safety stories of the year.) Marler’s track record of successfully pursuing food-bourne illness suits since the early ’90s makes him an intriguing, if politically inconvenient, candidate.

The FDA's plans to protect our food supply are mostly in the meeting stage at this point.

The FDA's plans to protect our food supply are mostly in the meeting stage at this point.

But even the government acknowledges–although clumsily–that something needs to be done to improve food safety for Americans. Earlier this month, the FDA released a one-year progress report on its Food Protection Plan. Thus far, the progress is mostly the formation of steering committees and holding public meetings, in addition to:

  • A food-safety self-assessment tool for industry. (Isn’t that like having the wolf guard the henhouse?)
  • Establishing inspection locations in foreign countries that export food to the U.S. (A good idea, but it’s unlikely to be as comprehensive as it should be, due to inadequate funding. But even if there are enough inspectors, they may not screen for everything. The Los Angeles Times reports that melamine-tainted farmed seafood is routinely exported to the U.S., and FDA doesn’t currently require melamine screening for imported seafood.)
  • Approving the irradiation of spinach and iceberg lettuce, a process that many consider controversial. (Irradiation may destroy vitamins in food, and it doesn’t address unsanitary conditions at factory farms, accordng to the Center for Food Safety.)
  • Requesting funds from Congress to hire more inspectors, which the chronically underfunded agency needs. (It will be interesting to see if Congress comes considers the safety of our food supply as important as bailing out banks.)

Although I’d certainly like to see more a more vigorous food-safety policy from our government–one that’s aimed at protecting citizens rather than appeasing agribusiness–current economic conditions have likely knocked it down on the list of priorities for Obama’s first days in office.

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Time to stock up on kitchen items

Posted on December 26, 2008 by

The presents may be opened, but if Santa forgot something for the kitchen, now is a great time to treat yourself. I’m banned from kitchenware stores, since I’ve just spent weeks paring down my cluttered kitchen in preparation for a cross-country move. But I can still enjoy a little virtual window shopping. Here are some of the best buys I’ve found for you.

Sur la Table’s 9-piece stainless steel cookware set: $270 (regularly $350). If you’ve been waiting to invest in good-quality cookware, check out this bargain on the kitchenware emporium’s house brand. 

 

There’s no time like after Christmas to stock up on holiday-themed stuff. This Red cutwork table runner from Williams-Sonoma ($24, down from $60) is nice enough to become a family heirloom.

 

Find a 12-inch Calphalon One nonstick skillet for just $49.95, down from $114.95, at Cooking.com.

Find a 12-inch Calphalon One nonstick chef's skillet for just $49.95, down from $144.95, at Cooking.com.

Amazing deals on Calphalon nonstick cookware at Cooking.com. (I really need to visit this site more often–they have some terrific buys.)

 

 

 

 

 

Buy 8 Riedel "O" series stemless red wine glasses for $70 at Cooking.com.

Buy 8 Riedel "O" series stemless red wine glasses for $70 at Cooking.com.

Did a guest drop one of your favorite winegalsses? Restock with Cooking.com’s 8-for-the-price-of-6 offer on Reidel glassware.

 

 

 

 

 

I love Michele Cranston’s full-color Kitchen cookbook for inspiration and her inviting approach to cooking. Buy it for $19.95 (down from $34.95) at Crate & Barrel.

 

 

Plain white serving bowls are at home in every kitchen, and Chefs has lovely Portuguese-made bowls from $9.99.

 

 

I need dishes like a hole in my head, but I’m tempted to break ‘em all so I have an excuse to buy Chefs hand-painted Mocha-Stripe dinnerware set ($60 for the 16-piece set; $90 for 32 pieces, down from $130 and $260). It’s gorgeous.

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Want to find a recipe on this site?

Posted on December 27, 2008 by

 

Now it's easy to find recipes like this easy guacamole on Eat Cheap, Eat Well, Eat Up.

Now it's easy to find recipes like this easy guacamole on Eat Cheap, Eat Well, Eat Up.

Check out the updated Recipe page on Eat Cheap, Eat Well, Eat Up, where you’ll find links to all the recipes I’ve mentioned on the site.

Cheers!

–Alison 

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Molecular gastronomy for the home cook

Posted on December 31, 2008 by

 

sodium alginate

Something new for your pantry: calcium chloride.

 Molecular gastronomy has made waves in the food world for several years now, as cutting-edge chefs experiment with ways to introduce new textures and flavors to the plate. Everyone, it seems, from Herve This and Ferran Adria to that creepy Marcel guy with the Joker hairdo on “Top Chef,” is working with gums, and foams, and goos. Now the trend is nudging into the home kitchen.

[Update: check the comments following this post for Herve This's wonderful explanation of molecular gastronomy, and check out Gourmet's delightful video about him.]

So on Saturday afternoon I eagerly hustled over to Surfas, a high-end restaurant supply emporium in Culver City, CA, for a demonstration of basic molecular gastronomy. The store’s large demonstration kitchen overflowed with spectators, who were there to watch Chef Andi do her stuff. She teaches molecular gastronomy as part of the culinary arts program at a local high school, which would be an awesome way to learn about cooking and science. If only I’d had that option, instead of dissecting a yucky fetal pig, my life might have taken a very different turn. 

Someone like Harold McGee might say that all cooking involves molecular activity and is, therefore, a form of molecular gastronomy. 

In the interest of full disclosure, I admit I’m skeptical about the whole molecular gastronomy gig. First, if you read Harold McGee’s On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen (an indispensable reference), you know that all cooking involves molecular activity and is, therefore, a form of molecular gastronomy. The comprehensive site Khymos.org, which is run by a Norwegian chemist with a passion for cooking and is devoted to molecular cuisine, makes it pretty clear that anyone who has boiled an egg is a molecular gastronomist, or at least a kitchen scientist.

But the term “molecular gastronomy” has come to describe–in my mind, at least–precious tasting spoons filled with dubious-looking foams or tiny gelatinous beads adrift in the middle of a continent-sized white plate. Molecular gastronomy is the antithesis of the kind of hearty, authentic fare I prefer. Of course, that begs the question of what constitutes “authentic.” After all, someone has to prepare my twee plate of molecular chow, so it isn’t really fair to say it’s somehow less authentic than a bowl of nonna’s bolognese. 

Still, on a gut level, I harbor some skepticism. But on an intellectual level, I can appreciate that Ferran, Grant, and other molecular gastronomists are pushing the boundaries of flavor and texture in intriguing ways.

Chef Andi offers a molecular gastronomy demo at Surfas in L.A.

Chef Andi offers a molecular gastronomy demo at Surfas in L.A.

It’s in that betwixt-and-between mindset that I took a seat at Surfas to watch Chef Andi run through her demo. She was showing us three recipes, which made it a little confusing for a molecular novice like me to follow. Primarily, she focused on gelatin–the common gelling agent extracted from animal collagen, with which home cooks are quite familiar;  sodium alginate; and calcium chloride.

The sodium alginate and calcium chloride were where things got interesting. When sodium alginate is mixed with a liquid and then added to a bath of calcium chloride, the liquid gels and forms beads to create lovely pearls that look like caviar.  

This worked with mixed results. In one recipe, Chef Andi and her assistants made Peanut Butter & “Jelly” Dessert Cups (check the Surfas Web site for recipes, which they promise to post soon)–basically a peanut butter mousse (made with gelatin) topped with a black grape “caviar” (created with the help of sodium alginate and calcium chloride) and spooned into chocolate cups in a sort of dessert version of an amuse-bouche. It was tasty, but I couldn’t help thinking you could achieve a similar result with a lot less effort by just using regular ol’ real jelly. Perhaps that’s why I’ll never be a molecular gastonomist.

make little beads of "caviar" with the help of sodium alginate and calcium chloride.

Do this at home: make little beads of "caviar" with the help of sodium alginate and calcium chloride.

I saw–and tasted–molecular gastronomy’s appeal more clearly in the Tuna & Avocado Salad with Green Onion, Ginger, and Sake “Caviar.” Chef Andi made the caviar from a flavorful liquid of stewed ginger, onions, and sake to which she added sodium alginate. She decanted this mixture into a squeeze bottle, and then began squeezing pearl-sized drops into a calcium chloride bath, where they formed perfect little caviar-like beads. This caviar was spooned atop a timbal of sushi-grade tuna salad and avocado. The result was a a complex amalgam of flavors and textures. The tuna was velvety, the avocado creamy, and the “caviar” exploded with flavor–much like real caviar.

As I watched the demonstration, I realized that my reluctance about molecular gastronomy is more a reflection of my approach to cooking than anything. Molecular gastronomy requires a level of patience and precision that’s inherently at odds with my  slapdash cooking style. I glance at a recipe, and then improvise along the way. Molecular gastronomy requires reading–and heeding–the directions. So although I may be temperamentally unsuited to molecular gastronomy as a cook, I can certainly appreciate the results when someone else does it.

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Food of the year: Bacon

Posted on December 29, 2008 by

 

Black Forest bacon from Shaller & Weber.

Black Forest bacon from Shaller & Weber.

2008 may well go down as the year I finally embraced bacon. I’m not sure why it took me so long to come around. My mom was a fiend for bacon–one of the last things I remember her eating was fat scallops wrapped in bacon. She ordered rashers of the stuff when she was in the hospital with lung cancer, much to the consternation of the staff nutritionists. They’d call to set her straight.

“Mrs. Mann, we got your order, and I’m afraid bacon doesn’t count as a protein.”

“That’s not really an issue for me now,” she’d reply. “Send me the bacon.”

Perhaps it took me a long stay in the Deep South, where the natives love all things pig, but I’ve finally come to realize bacon is a staple that deserves a spot in the fridge at all times. I love i’s smoky flavor and crunch, which elevates all manner of dishes. I also appreciate  the flavorful fat it renders, which I use to saute, well, anything, really.

Perhaps it took me a long stay in the Deep South, where the natives love all things pig, but I’ve finally come to realize bacon is a staple that deserves a spot in the fridge at all times. 

Of course, I’m latecomer to a really big party, because bacon has always had a passionate following. I (Heart) Bacon is a Seattle-based blog devoted to cured pig products. Another one is Bacon Freak (i.e., “Bacon is Meat Candy”), where you can order everything from gift baskets of bacon to gummy bacon candy. Serious Eats just named bacon one of their top posts for 2008.

I picked up a half-pound of Black Forest bacon, a thickly sliced, German-style smoked and cured variety, at the Whole Foods meat counter the other day. And I’ve enjoyed it this week with Brussels sprouts and spinach, and in place of unsmoked pancetta in Bon Appetit‘s Fettuccine Carbonara with Fried Eggs (I also omitted the fried eggs and used spinach in place of the broccoli rabe). But here’s how I use it with Brussels sprouts in my current favorite side dish.

Brussels Sprouts with Black Forest Bacon

Brussels sprouts and bacon have a special affinity. You can use any type of bacon in this easy side dish, though the smokiness of Black Forest bacon is especially nice. Depending on the type of bacon you use, you may not need much (or any) salt. Quartering the sprouts helps them cook quickly. You could add shallots with the garlic, if you like, or deglaze the pan with white wine instead of broth. Serve with roasted pork tenderloin or chicken.

1 pound small Brussels sprouts

2 slices Black Forest bacon, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup chicken broth

Salt and black pepper, to taste

1. Trim away the outer leaves and stalk end of the Brussels sprouts. Cut sprouts into quarters.

2. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add bacon; cook 5 minutes, or until bacon starts to get crisp and render its fat. Add garlic; saute 30 seconds. Add sprouts, saute 5 minutes. Add broth, scraping the pan to loosen any browned bits. Reduce heat, and cook 3 minutes, or until sprouts are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serves 4.

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Resolutions that work, part 1: Fruit of the day

Posted on January 3, 2009 by

 

Meyer lemons and satsuma oranges

One a day: enjoying seasonal fruit like Meyer lemons and satsuma oranges is a resolution that's easy to keep.

We all do it: After an indulgent holiday season, we crawl into the new year with promises to do it better this time. Lose a few pounds, hit the gym regularly, revamp our diet. We set resolutions with all the hopefulness of the newborn year, but we’re barely into the first week of 2009, and I know some friends’ resolve is already wavering.

I’m a big believer in small, positive changes. It’s easier to embrace an enjoyable behavior than it is to break a bad habit. So in that spirit, I’ve asked friends and colleagues to share their food-related resolutions for 2009. I’ll focus on one a day for the next week or so, with tips to help them stick.

The first one up is courtesy of Cooking Light contributing editor and NourishNetwork.com founder  Lia Huber: Eat one piece of seasonal fruit a day. “I’m not much of a fruit person, so I tend to just skip over them,” she confesses. “But when I do finally bite into an apple or peel an orange, it makes me feel so grounded and good and vibrant.”

I’m in the same boat; fruit isn’t the first thing I reach for when I’m hungry, and I have to make a point of eating the stuff. Which is odd, because I have an impressive sweet tooth that fruit can satisfy. 

Lia’s resolution to focus on seasonal fruit is a smart way to expand your palate and enjoy a terrific variety throughout the year. 

This time of year, I love citrus fruit, and especially satusma oranges. Once you start focusing a bit of attention on seasonal fruit, you’ll realize that there are many ways to incorporate it in your diet Here are three simple strategies:

Expand your fruit vocabulary. If you see something that looks interesting at the farmer’s market, or even the supermarket, pick it up. You can always ask the farmer or store produce manager for ideas on how to enjoy unfamiliar fruits. Or check out the produce distributor Melissa’s Web site. It has a helpful tool that allows you to search for fruit and other produce by season, with tips to buy, store, and cook with it.

Incorporate fruit into recipes. Of course, you can always enjoy a piece of fruit out of hand as a snack, but fruit can play many roles in sweet and savory recipes. This time of year, sectioned citrus pairs wonderfully with salad greens. You can use different fruits in salsa (depending on the season, try pineapple, mango, or peach), or in a smooth sauce (try tart cherries in summer) to pair with roasted meat or chicken. Fruit-based desserts can satisfy a sweet tooth and boost your nutritional profile; the Culinary Institute of America has some great tips for putting fruit front and center in desserts.  Melissa’s site has  plenty of recipes, too, from big-name chefs, as well as from Melissa’s test kitchen. (I want to try their Meyer Lemon Custard to use up some sweet lil’ Meyers I picked up the other day.)

avotrioDiscover the range of flavors and textures. Many of us associate fruit with sweet flavors, but that isn’t always the case. Consider the avocado. It’s a fruit that boasts creamy texture and mellow vegetal flavor. And I’m always happy to eat one.

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Hop to it, baby

Posted on January 2, 2009 by

 

A bowl of Hoppin' John and collard greens is a fine way to start 2009.

A bowl of Hoppin' John and collard greens is a fine way to start 2009.

I’ve been in transition for some time now, but things started to fall into place when my moving pod of belongings arrived from Alabama on New Year’s Eve. As we unloaded box after box of kitchen gear, I thought, “Ah, now I can make this. I can make that.”

To pay homage to my former home, and because, hell, we all could use some good luck going into 2009, I decided to make a pot of Hoppin’ John. The Southern Low Country dish is a simple melange of black-eyed peas, rice, tomatoes, and some kind of pork (a ham hock, sausage, bacon, whatever), and it’s supposed to bring good luck to those who partake on New Year’s Day.

For the most luck, you should eat a bowl of the stuff at the stroke of midnight. We were at a party in  a penthouse condo overlooking Marina del Rey at midnight, so I sought my luck in a lychee martini. That meant we had our Hoppin’ John at the end of New Year’s Day, so we may only acquire a little luck. I’ll take it. In any case, I figured a pot of Hoppin’ John and the traditional side of collard greens would have  some curative benefits for my mate, who was feeling a tad delicate after the previous evening’s festivities.

Of course, Hoppin’ John’s good-luck powers are well known beyond the South, but I still figured there’d be no problem finding the ingredients at Whole Foods in Venice on New Year’s afternoon. That’s where my luck started to waver. When I approached the bulk bean bins, I was dismayed to find  the dried black-eyed peas bin empty. Not a lone pea to be found. Uh, oh, a whole lot of folks in the Marina and Venice were eating our good luck. Not to worry, I assumed there must be frozen or canned or some kind of black-eyed pea elsewhere in this vast food temple. 

The last two cans of black-eyed peas in the Venice Whole Foods. Good thing I already had a bag of popcorn rice.

My prize: The last two cans of black-eyed peas in the Venice Whole Foods. Good thing I already had a bag of popcorn rice.

Um, not really. No peas in the frozen section. No packaged dried peas, either. Canned peas were starting to sound really, really good at that point. Of course, the shelf space for canned black-eyed peas was empty. I fished around in the dark recesses of the shelf and came up with The Last Two Cans of Black-Eyed Peas. Eureka!

I had better luck finding  collards in the produce section. I picked up two  gorgeous bunches with giant, fresh, green leaves that bode well for prosperity in the new year. At the very least, we’d get a ton of antioxidants.

So, it was in a somewhat triumphant mood that I returned home to make a pot of Hoppin’ John and a side of collard greens.

Hoppin’ John from a Can

I adapted this recipe from Matt Lee and Ted Lee’s version for The New York Times. Canned beans may not have been my first choice, but since I didn’t have to soak dried beans, this New Year’s Day specialty came together quickly. Louisiana popcorn rice is an aromatic long-grain variety that’s a Cajun speciality; it actually smells liked popped corn. You can use any type of long-grain rice. I had some lovely Black Forest bacon on hand, but you could substitute any bacon, a more-traditional ham hock, or even sausage. Serve with hot sauce–Tabasco would be a natural, but I love the bright flavor of Asian-style sriracha.

3 thick-cut slices bacon, chopped

1 cup chopped onion

2 (15-ounce) cans black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained

3 cups fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teapoon cayenne

6 canned whole peeled tomatoes

11/2 cups Louisiana popcorn rice (or any long-grain rice)

Hot sauce (optional) 

1. Cook bacon over medium heat in a large saucepan for 3 minutes, or until the bacon renders its fat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes, or until tender. Add peas, broth, salt, and peppers;. Use kitchen shears to cut up the tomatoes in a bowl or measuring cup; add tomatoes to the pan. Bring to a boil; add rice. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat, and let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Serve with hot sauce. Yields 6 servings.

Quick Collards

Traditionally, collards are cooked with pork fat and boiled. For an old-school version, try Southern Living‘s Country-Style Collards. Since my Hoppin’ John was coming together quickly, I opted to chiffonade my collards and saute them. This will look like an ungodly amount greens once you have them trimmed and sliced, but it cooks down, much like spinach. I find it’s easiest to wash the greens in a colander or salad spinner after they’ve been trimmed and sliced .

1 pound fresh collard greens

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 cup fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth

1. Trim the center ribs from the collard leaves. Stack the leaves and roll them up like a cigar; thinly slice (chiffonade).

2. Heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add oil. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Add a large handful of collards to pan; cook until collards wilt. Repeat with remaining collards until all of them are in the pan. Stir in salt and peppers; sauté 2 minutes. Add broth; cook 3 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates and collards are tender. Yields 4-6 servings.

 

 

 

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Resolutions that work, part 2: Pay attention to what you eat

Posted on January 5, 2009 by

 

An empty bowl is an invitation to focus on what you eat.

An empty bowl is an invitation to focus on what you eat.

Next up on our tour of food-related New Year’s resolutions is what some people call mindful eating, or what I consider simply paying attention to what you eat. Nichele Hoskins, a Birmingham, AL-based magazine editor, put it best when she sent me her 2009 resolutions: Avoid eating in transit, topped the list. Sounds simple, but if you’re an avid grazer (a k a snacker) like me, you first have to acknowledge how much mindless chowing you actually do. You know, those times when you find yourself nibbling on this or that because you’re kinda, sorta, well, not really hungry. Sound familiar? Hmm, I just ate a scone while folding laundry. In fact, when I think about it, most of my eating is done while doing something else.

Evenings have been a downfall for David Mark, a consultant who specializes in nutrition research and development.. “No calories of any sort after dinner,” Mark vows for the coming year, to avoid mindless eating and reduce the likelihood of bedtime acid reflux.

Nichele’s and David’s seemingly small goals are powerful. Essentially, they involve avoiding situations where you eat while engaged in another activity, such as driving, working, reading, watching TV, or noodling on the Internet. 

Nichele’s goal: Avoid eating in transit. That’s a simple, yet powerful goal that can help short-circuit mindless consumption. Eating while distracted makes it difficult to register when you’ve had enough.

Too many of us eat without taking notice too often. According to Brigham & Women’s Hospital, 66% of us regularly eat dinner in front of the TV (yep, guilty of that one). So what? Well, it turns out mindless munching could make the digestive process up to 40% less effective, not to mention create unwanted side effects like bloating, acid reflux, or just plain eating too much. Eating while distracted makes it difficult to register when you’ve had enough.

There are lots of ways to eat mindfully, some of them not really suited to everyday living (are you going to close your eyes and register every bite, or chew every bite 30 times? Not me). But there are some simple strategies to bring your attention back to the task.

  • Eat with your nondominant hand to slow you down. (I can do that.)
  • Don’t watch TV, read, drive, or troll the Internet while you eat. (This one will be tough; I love eating and reading or watching TV.)
  • Serve up a proper portion on a plate. (Easy.)
  • Sit down to eat. (Not so easy, if sitting down doesn’t also involve another activity.)
  • Try to make the meal last 20 minutes. (That isn’t so long, but if you’re in the habit of bolting down your food, it will probably feel like forever at first.)
  • Eat food you like. (I like this one–why waste time eating food you don’t enjoy?)

3d-book_tip_2There are many triggers to mindless eating, as Cornell researcher Brian Wansink, PhD, can attest. He’s made a career of studying the psychology of eating–everything from how different-size plates influence how much we eat to why people consume more calories at Subway than they do at McDonalds. His (often surprising) findings are collected in his book and Web site Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. I’ve signed up for his National Mindless Eating Challenge, which allows you to customize weekly and monthly goals to eat better and with more attention. Also check out Brian’s blog on the Prevention magazine Web site. Now, I am hungry, so I’m going to go eat something. Just eat, nothing else.

[Update: I had a carton of blueberry nonfat yogurt and managed to sit down while eating it (though I had to fight the urge to get up and at least walk around, maybe pet the dog). But it was tasty, and I did note my enjoyment of it. However, I caught myself reading the nutrition info on the carton, which was a bit of a cheat. At least I was reading about the food I was eating.]

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Resolutions that work, part 3: Eat your greens

Posted on January 6, 2009 by

 

What's not to love? Kale's sturdy leaves boast earthy, cabbage-y flavor that's perfect with winter dishes.

Pretty and tasty: Kale's sturdy leaves boast earthy, cabbage-y flavor that's perfect with winter dishes.

My mother never told me to eat my greeens, because she never made them. I’m not sure if she didn’t like greens or just wasn’t sure what to do with them, but spinach, collards, kale, and other hearty cooking greens are something I only came to enjoy as an adult.

And I’d like to join my friend, freelance writer and editor Hillari Dowdle, in her 2009 endeavor to eat more hearty, dark greens. Of course, greens are good for you–they’re rich in a host of vitamins (especially vitamins A and C), minerals (like iron and manganese), and phytonutrients. Even better, hearty greens are at their peak right now, and their earthy flavor is a perfect fit for winter meals.

Select greens that have fresh, crisp, unblemished leaves; they’ll keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. Their leaves tend to trap dirt and grit, so you’ll want to wash them thoroughly. I like to do this in a salad spinner after trimming and chopping the leaves. You also can dunk the leaves several times in a large bowl or sink filled with water; this allows any grit to settle at the bottom. You’ll want to trim away the thick, fibrous stems of tough greens like collards. 

Select greens that have fresh, crisp, unblemished leaves; they’ll keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. 

Sally Schneider has some helpful guidelines for cooking with greens in her book A New Way to Cook:

Tender greens (those with young, small, and supple leaves) can be cooked quickly (i.e., sauteed or briefly boiled) or eaten raw.

Mature greens (those with large, tough leaves) must be cooked. You may want to blanch them (cooked in boiling water for a minute or two) before proceeding with a recipe. Blanching also renders bitter greens less assertive. Mature greens also fare well braised or boiled.

Though you can use most greens interchangeably, their  flavor ranges from mild to spicy. For substitution guidelines, visit The Cook’s Thesaurus  (a site worth bookmarking). Here’s a rundown of a few of my faves:

Beet greens: If you buy a bunch of beets with the leaves still attached, don’t throw those delicious, earthy-tasting leaves away. Instead, simply saute them, much as you would spinach. Yum!

Broccoli rabe has a pungent, bitter quality that Italian cooks adore. A bit of olive oil and salt helps tame the bitterness. Try it steamed, braised, or fried.

The Italians also love bitter chicory, which they boil and serve with a white sauce, or puree with a touch of cream.

I’ve come to love the mild flavor of collard greens, which generally benefit from long braising, though you also could saute them  (see my recipe below).

Kale is a part of the cabbage family, so it (not surprisingly) has a cabbage-y quality. Discard the center stem and treat the curly leaves much the way you would spinach. Frilly-leaved kale is the most common variety, but you’ll find other types (lacinto, for example) at farmers’  markets and gourmet stores.

For a spicy, peppery bite, try mustard greens, which do well braised with bacon. For an even more assertive selection, try turnip greens.

Spinach may well be the most popular variety. Large, mature leaves should be cooked (steamed, boiled, braised), while baby spinach does fine with a quick saute.

This is by no means a complete list. If you visit an ethnic market or farmers’ market, you’ll find many other varieties. Just ask the merchant for tips to cook them.

QUICK COLLARDS

Taking a few moments to thinly slice hearty greens like collards means they’ll cook quickly–ideal if you want to serve this with a weeknight supper. I find it’s easiest to wash the greens in a colander or salad spinner after they’ve been trimmed and sliced. You can treat other greens, like kale, chard, mustard greens, or turnip greens, the same way. This will look like an ungodly amount greens once you have them trimmed and sliced, but it cooks down, much like spinach. 

1 pound fresh collard greens (or other hearty greens)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne or cracked red pepper

1/2 cup fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth

1. Trim the center ribs from the collard leaves. Stack the leaves and roll them up like a cigar; thinly slice (chiffonade).

2. Heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add oil. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Add a large handful of collards to pan; cook until collards wilt. Repeat with remaining collards until all of them are in the pan. Stir in salt and peppers; sauté 2 minutes. Add broth; cook 3 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates and collards are tender. Yields 4-6 servings.

Resolutions that work, part 1: Fruit of the day

Resolutions that work, part 2: Pay attention to what you eat

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Groovy Tuesday tidbits

Posted on January 7, 2009 by

picture-1Eat in: Trendhunter names cooking one of the top 20 trends for 2009. “Fuelled by the credit crunch and food as a fashionable hobby, we’ll see a return to the kitchen, especially for the celebrated meals,” they report.

 

picture-2Fat diets going extinct? Gosh, I hope so.–Slashfood

 

 

picture-31Shirley Corriher explains molecular gastronomy–a k a kitchen science for the rest of us–The New York Times (jeez, how many links can I stuff into one sentence?)

 

picture-4Sign an online petition to let incoming President Obama know that a sustainable national food policy is important to you–Food Democracy Now!

 

picture-5Chef Eric Ripert shares his menu for a Cozy Winter Dinner Social. Send him a photo of how it turns out by Jan. 26, and you could win an Olympus digital camera–AvecEric

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National Soup Swap Day is on the way

Posted on January 8, 2009 by

soupSave the date, invite your friends, and plan to put a pot on the stove: the Third Annual Soup Swap Day is January 24. This event–started in Seattle six years ago because it’s January, it’s cold, and who doesn’t love soup this time of year?–has gone national. It works like a cookie exchange in that everyone brings enough to send home with everyone else (for guidelines, check the Soup Swap web site). I think you could stretch the definition of soup to include stews and chilis.

Basically, you’d need to prepare 6 quarts of your favorite soup, and freeze it in 1-quart containers (those semi-disposable plastic containers or heavy-duty zip-top baggies would would do the trick). Don’t forget to mark the container with a Sharpie so people know what they’re getting. If you feel extra nice, include the recipe in case they want to make more.

Here’s a recipe to get you started.

Tuscan White Bean Soup

cimg0589If you don’t have cooked dried beans on hand, you can substitute an equal amount of canned Great Northerns, cannellinis, navy beans, or even chickpeas. Be sure to rinse and drain the canned beans, and you may want to adjust the amount of salt in the recipe. If you happen to have a Parmigiano-Reggiano rind on hand, you can add it to the soup while it simmers (discard before serving). Include the serving suggestion to add freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and a rosemary sprig.

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

4 cups chopped onion (2-3 large)

6 minced garlic cloves

16 cups cooked dried Great Northern beans OR rinsed, drained canned beans

4 quarts chicken or vegetable broth

2 (28-ounce) cans diced tomatoes

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

11/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1. Heat a stockpot over medium heat. Add oil. Add onion and garlic. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally or until the onion is very tender. Add beans, broth, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and rosemary; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir in the vinegar. Puree, using an immersion blender (or transfer soup to a regular blender or food processor and puree in batches); adjust the seasonings, if needed. Serve topped with grated cheese and a rosemary sprig. Yield: about 6 quarts.

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Red wine boosts omega-3s

Posted on January 8, 2009 by

 

Moderate consumption of red wine may boost hearty-healthy omega-3 fatty acids in your blood.

Moderate consumption of red wine may boost hearty-healthy omega-3 fatty acids in your blood.

File this under good news: Wine Spectator reports that drinking red wine may boost blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s are linked to lower rates of heart disease and may help ward off depression (wow, so you really can drink your troubles away–just kidding!). You need to consume foods rich in omega-3 fats, since your body can’t produce them. Oily fish like salmon and mackerel are good sources, as are nuts and nut oils, flax seed, and canola oil.

European researchers have found moderate red wine consumption–one (4-ounce) glass per day for women, two for men–helps boost blood levels of omega-3s. They say wine helps the body synthesize omega-3s from plant and animal sources. 

Of course, the key is moderate consumption. Heavy drinkers in the study had lower blood levels of omega-3s.

You can celebrate the news tonight by grilling wild Alaskan salmon (it’s available frozen this time of year) and glass of pinot noir. If you want to find a good, super-affordable red table wine, check out Jason’s Wine Blog, which rates the cheap sips available at Trader Joe’s.

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Fun ways with pasta

Posted on January 8, 2009 by

picture-11The New York Times‘ Dining & Wine section gets plenty of attention, and they do a terrific job. But since I’ve returned to Southern California, I’m really enjoying getting reacquainted with the weekly Food pages of the Los Angeles Times. The staff turns out consistently enjoyable features that make me want to get into the kitchen. And isn’t that the point?

This week, Food Editor Russ Parsons kicks off the weekly Get Cooking series that focuses on simple weeknight dishes. The online version is accompanied by a nice video. The first installment focuses on pasta, and I love the way Russ makes a case for the affordable luxury of high-quality dried pasta and tries to explain what, exactly, is meant by “al dente” (a tall order, since it’s an elusive, highly subjective quality). I’m bookmarkin’ it.

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Resolutions that work, part 4: Plan ahead to eat well

Posted on January 10, 2009 by

 

Satisfying, healthy fare takes planning--not a lot, but at least some.

Satisfying, healthy fare takes planning--not a lot, but at least some.

Sometimes you get lucky and you’re able to improvise a tasty, healthy meal. But for the most part, eating well takes at least a little planning.  But life is busy, and it’s all too easy to overlook that key planning step. 

“I’m going to be more dilligent about planning and preparing healthy meals,” says Sara Floor Miller, communications manager for the Dairy Council of California. That’s a goal many of us share.

Planning is also a core tenet of eating cheaply, since it enables you to make use of everything you buy. I attended a seminar at the Culinary Institute of America’s Northern California campus last fall, where Chef Adam Busby  (he’s one of just 62 Certified Master Chefs in the States) discussed the virtues of “planovers.” This is not the same thing as making a massive amount of one recipe and eating the leftovers throughout the week. Instead, it’s  a matter of choosing recipes with similar elements to make your shopping and cooking more efficient. For example, on Wednesday, I made a batch of Pantry Pasta Sauce, which I used on homemade pizza that night and planned to serve over pasta on Friday. When I make roast a pork tenderloin, we’ll enjoy it sliced with veggie and grain sides that night; we’ll have again in quesadillas later in the week.

“Planovers” are not the same thing as making a massive amount of one recipe and eating the leftovers throughout the week. Instead, they’re  a matter of choosing recipes with similar elements so your shopping and cooking are more efficient. 

Here are ways to create your own planovers:

Designate a half-dozen or so dinnertime meals as your go-to recipes. We all have family favorites that we prepare in a more or less formal rotation. The more often you make them, the easier it will be to plan and shop efficiently. You’ll also become more comfortable with substituting different ingredients so you don’t get bored and more confident working in a new recipe every week or so to expand your repertoire. Free, online resources like Meals Matter offer meal planning tools, recipe storage, and shopping lists to make it easy.

Keep the pantry stocked with basics for your favorites. These might include chicken broth, pasta, rice, canned tomatoes, olive oil–whatever you use regularly. That way, you can pull together a good meal on the fly if you need to.

Plan your meals for the week, and create a shopping list. Be sure to check the pantry and fridge to see what you already have on hand so you don’t buy duplicates at the store.

When you’re cooking one night, do work for the next. Stretch prep work by cleaning and chopping extra vegetables for recipes later in the week. You can even cook extra food with little extra effort. Let’s say you’re fixing rice for a side dish. Double the amount, refrigerate the extra, and use it to make stir-fried rice another evening. If you have the grilled fired up, use all the space to cook extra food for another meal. Cooking Light‘s “Grill Once, Eat Twice” guide is a perfect example of this strategy. 

Previous posts in the Resolutions That Work Series:

Fruit of the Day

Pay Attention to What You Eat

Eat Your Greens

Posted in Food News, Resolutions That Work Series, Techniques | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Resolutions that work, part 5: Accessorize with meat

Posted on January 10, 2009 by

 

 

The offer of a free mega-steak may seem like an intriguing challenge, but it won't do you any favors, nutritionally speaking.

The offer of a free mega-steak may seem like an intriguing challenge, but it won't do you any favors, nutritionally speaking.

My friend Donna Florio, who’s a senior writer at Southern Living magazine, rolled into 2009 with this goal: Eat less meat. “I’ve been in a bad meat habit lately, choosing beefy entrees, eating fewer meatless meals,” she says. (By the way, Donna is not referring to the Big Texan’s 72-ounce steak challenge, pictured above.) “I’m going to work on getting back to enjoying meat as an accessory rather than a main dish.”

I’m not including this resolution to demonize meat. I love meat, and believe it deserves a spot in a healthy diet–especially if you choose lean cuts and enjoy them in reasonable portions. If you visit a steakhouse, chances are the 8-ounce New York strip steak is the light-eater’s option. And on a menu populated with 24-ounce porterhouse steaks and other mega-cuts, it is. A 3-ounce cooked portion (that’s about 4 ounces raw) is more like it, according to the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 

I’m not including this resolution to demonize meat. I love meat, and believe it deserves a spot in a healthy diet–especially if you choose lean cuts and enjoy them in reasonable portions. The USDA considers a serving of beef to be 3 ounces cooked (4 ounces raw). That’s not a lot, especially if you’re accustomed to larger, restaurant-size portions.

There are several ways to “accessorize” with meat.

Keep an eye on portions. The USDA considers a serving of beef–or pork, lamb, chicken, or seafood, for that matter–to be 3 ounces cooked (4 ounces raw). That’s not a lot, especially if you’re used to larger, restaurant-size portions, though if it’s surrounded by ample veggies and whole grains, you won’t feel deprived. A kitchen scale is a handy tool to help you keep portion sizes in check. Serious Eats’ Meat Lite recipes offer plenty of inspiration on how to do more with less meat.

In this Mexican dish, grilled pork is part of a bigger picture. (Photo courtesy of the Culinary Institute of America/Greystone.)

In this Mexican dish, grilled pork is part of a bigger picture. (Photo courtesy of the Culinary Institute of America/Greystone.)

Look to other cuisines for inspiration. Meat may be a mainstay of the American diet, but in other parts of the world, meat is an expensive ingredient and cooks have had to devise creative ways to stretch its flavor. Asian stir-fries are a classic example of this. For inspiration, check out the Culinary Institute of America’s Worlds of Healthy Flavors site.

Add meaty flavor in subtle ways. If you love hearty, meaty flavor–what’s known as umami, the so-called fifth taste sense–you can enhance that quality in many ways. For example, last night, I made pasta with some leftover Pantry Pasta Sauce. The sauce itself has a touch of soy sauce, which lends it a meaty, umami-ness that helps tame the tinniness of canned tomatoes. For extra meaty heft, I added sauteed mushrooms and pancetta, and finished it off with a grating of pecorino Romano cheese. 

[Interesting side note: In all fairness, I have to point out that the Big Texan in Amarillo, Texas, which is famous for offering a free 72-ounce steak to anyone who can gobble the thing in under an hour, also serves a nice, comparatively lil' 6-ounce filet.]

Previous posts in the Resolutions That Work Series:

Fruit of the Day

Pay Attention to What You Eat

Eat Your Greens

Plan Ahead to Eat Well

Posted in Food News, Main Dishes, Resolutions That Work Series | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Resolutions that work, part 6: Accept a challenge

Posted on January 12, 2009 by

     

January if flyin' by, baby. How are those resolutions coming along? (Flickr photo.)

January if flyin' by, baby. How are those resolutions coming along? (Flickr photo.)

It’s hard to believe we’re almost halfway through January. And there’s a good chance all those New Year’s intentions to eat better are starting to wane in the face of a busy post-holiday, return-t0-work routine. One way to stay on track is to join a group challenge, and there are a number of national diet and fitness challenges currently underway. You can start them anytime.

“I am going to do the Small Plate Movement Challenge and start eating dinner from a salad plate,” says Health magazine associate editor Shaun Chavis. “I love eating food from bowls, so I’ll have to find some smaller ones.” (Check out Shaun’s awesome weight-loss blog for Health.com.) Here’s the deal on the Small Plate Movement and four other (free!)  challenges you can join:

 

For portion control: This year, Shaun is accepting the Small Plate Movement Challenge, which was developed by Brian Wansink, PhD. Wansink is a psychologist who heads up the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab. He has done fascinating research on food behavior, including the influence of plate size on how much we eat. It’s pretty simple: When we eat off larger plates (and dinner plates have gotten larger over the last couple of decades), we consume more food. The Small Plate Movement challenges participants to eat the largest meal of the day off a 10-inch plate for one month. It’s a simple challenge, and an easy way to start controlling portion sizes.

To keep an eye on what you eat: Munching while distracted (i.e., mindlessly) leads to consuming unwanted calories. The National Mindless Eating Challenge is another of Wansink’s projects; it allows you to customize weekly and monthly goals, for which Wansink offers research-supported tips to improve your chances of success.

To improve your overall diet: The editors of EatingWell magazine have designed the EatingWell Diet Challenge, which you can start anytime. The 12-week program has interactive tools, tips, and research to help you set realistic goals and meet them. I really like this one, because it anticipates obstacles, like weight-loss plateaus and overeating triggers.

Short and sweet: If you just need to kick-start better eating habits, try the Dairy Council of California’s Meals Matter Nutrition and Fitness Challenge.  Designed by registered dietitians, “the Challenge has three weeks of diet, fitness, and lifestyle assessment and improvement through interactive tools,” says Sara Floor Miller, the council’s communications manager. Miller has accepted the challenge. “I’m already planning to increase my excercise by walking my dogs. I’m also planning to be more dilligent about planning and preparing healthy meals.” 

Extra incentive: Register for Discovery Health’s National Body Challenge, and you’ll get a free 30-day membership to Bally’s health clubs–in addition to free online tools to set and track your diet and fitness resolutions.

Previous posts in the Resolutions That Work Series:

Fruit of the Day

Pay Attention to What You Eat

Eat Your Greens

Plan Ahead to Eat Well

Accessorize with Meat

Posted in Food News, nutrition, Resolutions That Work Series | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Easiest pizza crust, ever

Posted on January 13, 2009 by

 

Impromptu pizza made with the easiest dough ever.

Impromptu pizza made with the easiest dough ever.

I’ve long aspired to make decent pizza at home, with varying levels of success. The trick for me has been finding a reliable dough. Reliable, as in easy enough for a so-so baker like me to pull together. Either the doughs I’ve tried have been too wet, or too dry, or I haven’t been able to get the right consistency after kneading (like I said, I’m no pro).

Well, I’ve found my grail in the Basic Pizza Dough recipe from the September 2008 issue of Cooking Light. It uses a food processor, which means it comes together quickly, though I’ve kneaded it by hand at least once and it still turned out just right. It rises perfectly and rolls out beautifully.  I’ll whip up the dough,take the dog for a walk while it rises, and then finish the pizza when I get home.

I threw together the pizza pictured above using this dough recipe, plus some leftover Pantry Pasta Sauce, pre-grated mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, and a sprinkling of Parmigiano-Reggiano. It baked on a pizza stone (you can pick one up for less than 10 bucks at Wal-Mart) in a 500-degree oven for 9 minutes.

Try it. If it works for me, it’ll work for you.

Posted in Main Dishes, Techniques | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Resolution checkup

Posted on January 13, 2009 by
Posted in Resolutions That Work Series | Leave a comment

Wednesday’s starters

Posted on January 14, 2009 by

picture-12Bookmark this: From aamchur to zira, the UK-based site The Foody defines herbs and spices–as well as fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses and other items. Nice if you’re making a British recipe and forgot that an aubergine is an eggplant.

picture-21It’s one way to fight the deficit: New York Governor David Patterson proposes an 18% sin tax on sugary beverages. Hard fiscal times makes so-called “obesity taxes” on junk food more appealing than ever, says Kelly Brownell, director of Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity–Business Week

© Helen Panphilova | Dreamstime.com

© Helen Panphilova | Dreamstime.com

Vitamin D is the “it” nutrient, especially for people with diabetes. Managing  vitamin D deficiency “may be a simple and cost-effective method to improve blood sugar control and prevent the serious complications associated with diabetes,” says Joanne Kouba, Ph.D., R.D., L.D.N., study co-author and clinical assistant professor of dietetics, Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing–The Diabetes Educator

picture-32Dining out on a shoestring: Best cheap eats across the country, from LA to Atlanta–Gayot.com

 

 

picture-41Can those who critique cook? Ummm, no. Feared French food critic Francois Simon takes a turn at the stove–The New York Times

 

picture-51Room for another cooking competition TV show? The Los Angeles Times’ Rene Lynch reviews the Food Network’s “Chopped” and deems it worthy of a place on the broadcast menu. The folks at Serious Eats aren’t so sure.

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Farmers’ market finds: Roots and citrus

Posted on January 14, 2009 by

 

This morning's haul from the local farmers' market

This morning's haul from the local farmers' market

I hit the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market this morning and was greeted by bumper crops of root vegetables and citrus of all varieties. After duking it out with local restaurant chefs who were stocking up for the day’s menus, I came away with this modest though inspiring selection (I tried to keep my purchases to items we’d use in the next few days):

Meyer lemons (50 cents apiece)–I’ll use the juice to make a vinaigrette and the zest to flavor some buttermilk scones.

White (albino) beets ($3/bunch)–The beets will be roasted, sliced, and added to a big salad, as well as used on a pizza. Their gorgeous greens will go into tonight’s stir-fry.

smfmpotatoes2

Potato patch: Almost too many varieties to choose from, but they're all tasty.

Russian banana fingerling potatoes ($1.50/pound)–not sure yet if I’ll roast these or steam them for a salad

Redwood Hill Farm goat cheese ($8/5 ounces)–this was my indulgence, but it’s hard to pass up artisanal goat cheese. This will likely be paired with the beets in the salad or on the pizza (or both). Is it too decadent to just eat the stuff as is?

Recipes to follow later this week!

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Food terror

Posted on January 15, 2009 by

 

Diners have a surprising reaction when they learn terrorists might have tampered with their food. (Cornell University photo.)

Diners have a surprising reaction when they learn terrorists might have tampered with their food. (Cornell University photo.)

Let’s file this one under, huh, that’s weird.

It’s long been known that terrorists could wreak havoc on our food supply. Cornell University researchers just released a study to determine the effect this might have on consumers. 

This is a tricky kind of experiment to conduct. ”Policymakers have been using naturally occurring outbreaks of food- borne illnesses to assess the potential impacts of terrorism on the food supply,” said first author David R. Just, associate professor of applied economics and management in Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. But that doesn’t really correlate to a terrorist attack on food, he says. So the researchers created a hypothetical setting to gauge people’s response to potential terrorist tampering with their food.

A hired actor created a “mild disturbance” among a group of 103 volunteer diners. In one situation, he declared he wouldn’t eat the chicken because the morning news had reported there was an outbreak of bird flu 45 miles away. In another setting, he passed on the chicken because the morning news had reported terrorists might be responsible for the bird flu outbreak.

If you heard a terrorist might have tampered with your food, how would you react?

When volunteers thought the bird flu was naturally occurring, they ate 17% less chicken. When they thought terrorists were behind it, they ate 26% less chicken. Only a few people rejected the chicken altogether.

Um, so, when people heard terrorists might have tainted the food they were eating, they still ate almost three-quarters of it? Just says the study demonstrates how much more severely consumers react when they believe terrorists have messed with their chow. Eating 26% less potentially tainted chicken doesn’t sound that severe to me. How would you react?

Update:

If you read the comments, you’ll see that a poster took issue with the experiment’s setup, since adequate cooking would kill any bird-flu pathogens and render the hypothetically tainted chicken safe in any case. I contacted Dr. Just at Cornell to inquire further about how the researchers settled on bird flu as their theoretical terrorist threat. Here’s how he explained it:

“We chose this for two reasons. First, because almost nobody knows much about bird flu, and so it was a very ambiguous threat. Secondly, if anyone did know much about it, it would seem plausible to them why we would serve the chicken despite the threat.

“If we had chosen (for example) cyanide, people might suspect the actor was part of an experiment because no one would serve food potentially laced with cyanide. Certainly the amount people would be willing to eat should depend on the particular pathogen or other tampering. We did a bunch of focus groups and asked some open ended questions to figure out how much of a role this played. The results were a bit surprising. When asked an open ended question of why they were willing to eat the chicken despite the potential for contamination, the most frequent answer was that they could bring a lawsuit if there had been any ill effects. More research needs to be done on this, but I think there may be a real issue with having too much faith in the food system.”

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Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

Posted on January 17, 2009 by

 

A cross between an lemon and an orange, Meyer lemons deliver sweeter flavor and less acidity than standard lemons.

A cross between a lemon and an orange, Meyer lemons deliver sweeter flavor and less acidity than standard lemons.

There was an abundance of Meyer lemons at the farmers’ market this week. These lovely winter citrus fruits have been trendy for a few years, and now you can find them in some supermarkets. The skin ranges from vivid yellow to orange-tinged. That’s because they’re a cross between a lemon and an orange, so they are rounder and less acidic than a standard lemon. The juice is sweet and delicate, while the rind has a mellow quality that works nicely in baked goods. They’ll keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, but you’ll probably use them long before that.

I picked up several Meyers and used them to make this simple vinaigrette.

 

Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

Meyer lemon juice has a delicate quality, so you don’t want to use an overly fruity or peppery olive oil. That’s also why there’s no mustard in this vinaigrette–I didn’t want the condiment to overwhelm the lemon. With these proportions, it emulsifies just fine. Use the dressing on salads or drizzled over grilled fish. If you plan to use the rind in another recipe, go ahead and grate or peel the rind before juicing the fruit.

1/3 cup mild-tasting extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh Meyer lemon juice

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Stir with a whisk. Yield: about 1/2 cup.

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Floor show

Posted on January 20, 2009 by
cimg0805

An artist uses Stubbs BBQ Sauce to create portraits of the company's founder at the Fancy Food Show.

I’m in San Francisco for the Winter Fancy Food Show, a trade shindig for producers and retailers put on by National Association for the Specialty Food Trade. (Check out their fun consumer site, Foodspring.) It’s a bustling show, with lavish displays filling Moscone Center’s vast exhibit halls.

“Recession? What recession?” I wondered. 

“Oh, they must have paid for all that by September,” my sister-in-law later told me.

cimg0834The show is slightly scaled back this year, but not that a rube like me would notice (it has been some time since I’ve attended this particular trade show). “It’s a little bit smaller,” said an Oakland, CA-based caterer who attends every year. “Maybe.”

Here’s a quick rundown of just a few highlights:

Infusion. Expect to see even more flavor-infused salts, oils, vinegars, and other products on store shelves. Sometimes this leads to flavor confusion because infusion is a tricky proposition. One flavor shouldn’t overwhelm the other. Sometimes the flavors marry well; others, it’s not so successful. I sampled an orange-infused olive oil from Sicily and all I could taste was orange.  And I do not want raspberry-cheddar cheese under any circumstances.

Tea products of every kind. From rare tea leaves to biodegradable tea bags to nutrient-enhanced iced tea beverages, we’ll have more opportunities to sip than ever.

Artisinal chocolate. The chocolate wave is still going strong, though there are so many players–each claiming to have the rarest, fairest-trade, single-origin bar–that it’s hard for consumers (well, me, anyway) to distinguish them.

One of my favorite finds thus far: Golden Star Jasmine Sparkling Tea. This stuff tastes amazing–crisp, refreshing, an elegant warm-weather sipper. You can find it at Whole Foods.

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Food show faves

Posted on January 22, 2009 by
foodshowfloor

The annual Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco is an opportunity for producers to introduce new flavors to retailers and other foodies.

Having just returned from the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, where I spent two days sampling untold numbers of cheeses, cured meats, chocolate, jams, snacks, teas, and other gourmet offerings, I’ve had a chance to mull over my favorite finds. These are items that stand out in my mind (and on my palate), and which I’ll seek out.

goldenstarGolden Star White Jasmine Sparkling Tea. In a sea of tea drinks–ranging from single-origin loose leaves to biodegradable sachets to nutrient-rich tea energy drinks–this was the absolute winner. The Northern California producers combine jasmine silver needle tea, a smidgen of cane juice, and lightly carbonated spring water to produce a lively, refreshing,  food-friendly beverage. It’s currently available in Whole Foods markets in California and online. If you’re not near a Whole Foods in California, it’s definitely worth ordering online.

vosges1Vosges Haut-Chocolate. The show’s vast exhibit halls were chockablock with gourmet, artisanal chocolates, and I sampled many of them. Most were quite good, but my hands-down favorite is still Vosges. Chicago-based chocolatier Katrina Markoff concocts wildly creative combos–Green Matcha, Mo’s Bacon Bar, and the like–of spicy, smoky, salty, and sweet. What struck me about Markoff’s talent, as I nibbled on a sample of the hickory-smoked almond-studded Barcelona Bar, is that it always results in a surprising blend of flavors that never outshines the chocolate. Vosges sets the standard.

heritagepopcornHeritage Popcorn. Yep, you read that correctly. This Idaho-based company’s popcorn is made with heritage strains of corn, which produces light, airy kernels. Their purple-kerneled Rosita variety is also high in antioxidants. I popped up a sample of this for my family, and I thought my 5-year-old niece was going crawl into the bowl. Forget Orville Redenbacher, and try this stuff instead.

labneLabne. This fresh cheese made from strained yogurt is nothing new if you’re from the Middle East, but it’s getting ready to follow its cousin Greek yogurt (a thick, strained version of yogurt) into the mainstream. Yum. This stuff has the consistency of sour cream or soft cream cheese (it would make a wonderful substitute for either) with a mildly tangy top note. Karoun Dairies has a nice version. Ciao Bella Gelato Co. had their Lebanese Yogurt Gelato, a subtly tart, rich-tasting dessert made with labne and a Sicilian lemon juice. It’s currently only available for food service, but they’re looking into selling it in pints at retail. I hope they do.

oystermushroomsKorean king oyster mushrooms. These mondo-size mushrooms offer meaty texture and flavor that’s perfect in a stir-fry. I’ll seek them out at Asian groceries.

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A trio of smart strategies

Posted on January 23, 2009 by

This has been a week when some clever tips came my way–things to help improve my life in the kitchen. So, of course, I want to share them:

cimg07761. Peel and cube raw beets before you roast them. Melissa Clark shares that nugget in this week’s Dining & Wine section of The New York Times. The smaller pieces roast quickly and caramelize beautifully–without the mess of peeling and chopping whole roasted beets (especially if you’re dealing with the red variety). I’m mad for roasted beets and can’t wait to try this strategy in her recipe for Beet and Radicchio Salad with Goat Cheese and Pistachios.

2. Use a small measuring cup instead of a coffee scoop to measure coffee. This one comes from professional organizer Krista Colvin, of the whole shebang: “After scooping coffee into the pot for the umpteenth thousand time I measured out those scoops and replaced the lil’ scoop with a larger full serve-1 timer scoop.”

 

(Dreamstime photo)

(Dreamstime photo)

3. Make a perfect cup of green tea. Green tea is more delicate than black tea, so you should never pour boiling water over green tea leaves. That will make it bitter. Instead, use water just before the boiling point, says Rona Tison, of the Japanese tea producer Ito En. And allow the leaves to steep only a minute or two before sipping.

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Cheap(er) cheese

Posted on January 24, 2009 by
cimg0863

Reggianito Argentina cheese may not be as complex as Parmigiano-Reggiano, but its robust flavor and friendly price make an attractive option for recipes.

I was in Whole Foods yesterday afternoon, shopping for ingredients to do a little recipe developing when I trolled over to the cheese counter. Whole Foods’ cheese counter always sings a siren song that I’m powerless to resist.

“Come sample my wares,” it sighs. “Just have a little taste.”

The heady aroma of cheese and promise of a sample lures me to the cliffs of pecorino Sardo, into the rocky coast of Gruyere, where I’ll sink into the pungent mounds of Spanish goat cheese. The friendly folks at the counter are like drug pushers at an elementary school, cheerfully doling out samples of this and that. They know that once you nibble, you’ll bit and pop for an unplanned $10 purchase of some remarkable cheese. (Oh, my, there are enough mixed metaphors in this paragraph to give a high school English teacher a coronary. Ah, well, that’s kinda the point of blog–to leave unvarnished bad writing alone.) 

Hmm, I probably should add this tip to my Eat Cheap page: If you love cheese like I do, steer clear of the cheese counter. It will reel you in and cost you money.

But yesterday I had a rather pleasant surprise. My eyes fell on a honey-colored chunk labeled “Reggianito Argentina,” priced at $2.79 for a third of pound. The attendant cut me a generous sample. It was nutty and salty, and for the money, very good buy. Sold!

Now, I’ve probably eaten Argentina’s version of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese many times before and just didn’t realize it. The stuff is often marketed in the United States simply as “Parmesan.”

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Photo courtesy of Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Just after World War I, Italian immigrants arriving in Argentina saw miles of grassy ranch land, lots of cows, and, therefore, the ingredients to produce cheese in the manner of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Parm-Regg is the grande dame of Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, a cheese still made in the traditional way–pretty much by hand in copper vats by expert cheesemakers. The curds are pressed into giant, 80-pound wheels, and then aged in a salt bath in a darkened room, where they are lovely tended and turned, for at least 12 months and up to three years. No wonder it’s a national treasure that’s protected by a consortium (if the stuff isn’t stamped or otherwise labeled “Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano,” it’s an impostor.)

It’s a time-consuming, labor-intensive process that results in a hard cheese of remarkable complexity. And it’s expensive–$18.99 a pound at Whole Foods. The Argentine verison, called Reggianito because the cheese is produced in comparatively petite, 15-pound wheels, is aged just five or six months, so its flavor and character are no where near as complex as that of its older Italian cousin.

But at just $8.99 a pound, I’ll look to Reggianito Argentina for cooking and reserve my beloved Parm-Regg to enjoy for dessert with a nice glass of wine so I can fully appreciate all of its pricey charms.

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Underground supper

Posted on January 30, 2009 by
Our grandparents went underground for booze during Prohibition. In 2009, we seek secret suppers.

Our grandparents went underground for booze during Prohibition. In 2009, we seek secret suppers.

The Food Channel named clandestine dining one of the top trends for 2008. The concept of underground meals–staged by chefs, passionate amateurs, and other foodies in different locations–has been around for awhile. Several years ago, my mate and I attended one of Michael Hebberoy’s not-so-secret Family Supper events located in an unmarked building ’round the back from his restaurant Gotham in Portland, OR. (Shortly thereafter the thing folded its tent when the bad-boy restaurateur skipped town leaving his then chef-wife Naomi holding the bag. Word is, she’s revived it.) 

The more out of the way and unmarked the setting of a clandestine supper, the better; secrecy just adds to the vibe that this is the new-millenium version of the speakeasy.

So it’s an understatement to say the whole underground dining thing continues to gain momentum. And for good reason: It’s fun to be in on a secret and partake in an ephemeral event. Word of clandestine suppers usually spreads by e-mail, there may even be a password involved, the menu depends entirely on the organizers’ whims, and the location is usually some offbeat spot–an empty commercial space, a warehouse, a private home–whatever they can swing for free or at least really, really cheap. The more out of the way and unmarked the setting the better; secrecy just adds to the vibe that this is the new-millenium version of the speakeasy.

I love being in on a secret, so the whole idea of underground dining tickles me. When our friend John sent an e-mail asking us if we wanted to tag along for a secret supper on Sunday, I was in.  (Well, he’d seen it touted on Daily Candy LA, so it wasn’t that secret, but still.)

The event was staged by Chicks With Knives, a pair of enthusiastic local professional chefs–lovely young ladies who go by R and P. The Chicks run the monthly Sustainable Supper Club in Los Angeles, specializing in S.O.L.E. (Sustainable, Organic, Local, Ethical) food sourced within 150 miles of Los Angeles. And when they say local, they mean it. The produce for a meal often comes from their own gardens or is contributed from the gardens of their friends and fans.

The Chicks’ next event is in downtown LA on Feb. 8. For an invite and details, send an e-mail to info@chickswithknives.com. 

We fired off e-mails requesting the password for details about the upcoming supper. The location for Sunday’s festivities was an unoccupied, unmarked house-cum-commercial space in West Hollywood. The price: 48 bucks (suggested donation) for four courses, BYOB. 

I consulted John, who’s plotting his next career as a sommelier, for advice on which sipper to bring, with the caveat “must be cheap”–three words genuine wine lovers must dread. Nonetheless, he offered up some general guidance, suggesting a bold zin or cab to go with the menu’s short ribs. I decided to bring a cheapo sangiovese I’d picked up the day before at World Market. At this point, John probably wondered why I’d bothered to ask his advice, but he said my Italian plonk would probably be fine and graciously offered to share some of the good stuff he and his wife were planning to bring.

“I don’t trust their glasses,” John later told my mate. “I’m bringing my own stems.” And he did–four Riedels nestled in a dedicated padded tote bag. It turns out, his sommelier-in-training sense was on target that night. The Chicks keep things jovially casual, providing glass tumblers for drinks. 

The evening was sold out (thanks, in part, to the Daily Candy tout), with about 60 diners, I’d guess. R introduced her partner, P, and they briefly discussed details of each course before it was served. 

cwk-saladFirst up was Smoked Mushrooms with Red-Fringe Mustard Greens, Leeks, and Braised Mustard Seed Vinaigrette. The smoked mushrooms were an inspired touch, and, of course, I found the jewel-toned diced beets delightful. Beets are good.

 

cwk-soup2Next out of the kitchen was Carrot-Fennel Soup with House-Made Crackers and Black Olive Tapenade. This one seemed to get mixed reviews at our table, but I loved the blend of salty tapenade and sweet carrot. And the delicate crackers held up surprisingly well in the hot soup.

The evening’s highlight, undoubtedly, was Steam-Ship-Style Short Rib with Apple and Root Vegetable Mash and Hash. The hearty aroma wafting out of the kitchen whet everyone’s appetite. And when a plate of the fork-tender meat was set in front of me, I dove right in. So, sorry, no photo. Just take my word for it that these were succulent, tender, and soul-soothing (the last time I was so transported by comfort food was when I gobbled Chef Frank Brigtsen’s jambalaya in New Orleans). And John’s choice of Seghesio Old Vine Zinfandel kicked the whole experience up to a new level with a flavorful seesaw between bite of tender beef and sip of bold, fruity wine.

cwk-dessertThe meal concluded with Torta Sabrossa with Sweet Goat Cheese Frosting and Meyer Lemon Sugar Glass. This was a small cake made with potato flour, with a blood orange glaze and a little tiara of Meyer lemon sugar glass. What intrigued me most, though, was the dollop of sweetened goat cheese frosting. Now, that’s a trick, I’ll have to try at home.

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Time for scones

Posted on January 29, 2009 by
A little leftover homemade ricotta inspires a scone-making project.

A little leftover homemade ricotta inspires a scone-making project.

It’s not often–never, really– that I have extra homemade ricotta cheese on hand. But I did this week, thanks to having prepared a batch of the tasty curds for a recipe developing gig. Much of it was going down my mate’s gullet, one spoonful at a time. Not a bad fate–I was happy he liked it so much–but I thought it could find new life in another recipe.

I also had a lovely little Meyer lemon in the fridge, plus a jar of chi-chi Nielsen-Massey bourbon vanilla sugar that I picked up at the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco last week. Add a yen for scones, and I was ready to bake.

ricotta-scones1Meyer Lemon Ricotta Scones

If you substitute store-bought ricotta, be sure to use the whole milk variety. If you don’t have vanilla sugar to sprinkle on top of the scones, just use turbinado or even regular sugar.

6.75 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon grated Meyer lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup whole milk ricotta

1/4 cup chilled butter, grated or cut into small pieces

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon bourbon vanilla sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Combine the first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk. Cut in the ricotta and butter until the mixture resembles coarse sand, using a pastry blender, 2 knives, or your fingers. Gently stir in the buttermilk. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead gently for 2 minutes (the dough is crumbly but holds together).

3. Place the dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Pat the dough into a 3/4-inch-thick circle. Cut  the dough into 8 wedges (don’t separate the wedges). Use a pastry brush to brush the surface of the dough with egg; sprinkle with vanilla sugar. Bake at 400 degrees F for 17 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in a wire rack. Yield: 8 servings.

Posted in Desserts | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

What’s on your iPhone?

Posted on February 3, 2009 by

 

Cooks are finding different ways to use the iPhone in the kitchen.

Cooks are finding different ways to use the iPhone in the kitchen.

I recently made a huge upgrade, going from a crappy $13 prepaid  cell phone to an iPhone. That’s the techno-equivalent of upgrading from a donkey to a Ferrari. To say I’m still discovering the iPhone’s many capabilities is an understatement.

iPhone regularly joins me in the kitchen. It takes up less counter space than a laptop, so I’ll use it go on the Web, find a recipe, and keep it on the counter for reference. I also use the phone’s timer and stopwatch when I’m developing recipes, as well as the calculator to make conversions.

But that’s just the beginning. The iPhone’s real treasure trove is the myriad apps that you can download, many of them for free. As The New York Times recently noted, even technophobe chefs are turning to cell-phone applications to search for recipe inspiration, manage grocery lists, and take snapshots of their work. Bartenders are even more iPhone savvy, says The Wall Street Journal, downloading apps that put creative concoctions at their fingertips.

So, of course, soon after getting the iPhone into my hot little hands, I trolled around the iPhone’s app store in search of foodie apps (OK, after downloading the juvenile but fun Whoopee Cushion app). Since I’m a cheapskate, I opted for the freebies. First up was UrbanSpoon, an application that uses a GPS to find your current location so you can shake the iPhone to spin a restaurant suggestion. I’m doing it right now, and UrbanSpoon is suggesting I hit up 3 Square Bakery on Abbot Kinney in Venice, complete with reviews, a menu, and a map. I haven’t heeded any  of UrbanSpoon’s suggestions yet, but I still enjoy the novelty of shaking the phone, watching it spin, and checking out what comes up.

Next up, mostly out of curiosity, was AllRecipe.com’s Dinner Spinner, which also has an entertaining slot-machine effect to serve up recipe choices based on dish type, ingredients, and time. For example, Bread/Vegetables/20 Minutes or Less yields 10 matches, including Pita Pizza, Olive Cheese Melts, lots of garlic breads, and some dips. Most interesting is Leona’s Lefse, a Norwegian dish of potatoes and cheese. Recipes are accompanied by user reviews and nutrition. You can link to the recipes online to add them to a shopping list.

I read about BigOven in The New York Times article, so I downloaded that one. Like AllRecipes, BigOven is a recipe swapping site, where users upload and review each other’s dishes. You enter a title or keywords to find recipes. I typed in “macaroni and cheese” (because I love the stuff) and came up with 225 recipes–a few more than I’d want to wade through on the iPhone. However, I do like BigOven’s massive and very informative food dictionary. That alone is a worth the download.

Although I might occasionally look to AllRecipes or BigOven for inspiration, I’m not likely to find myself standing in the grocery store with no idea what to fix for supper and turning to the iPhone for help. (Kraft’s iFood Assistant has similar features, but I’d have to shell out 99 cents to check it out, and, as noted above, I’m cheap when it comes to these things. And of course, I’d be paying 99 cents for access to loads of recipes featuring–surprise, surprise–Kraft products. Really, folks, if you’re going to use the app as a vehicle to promote your products, the app should be free.) 

There had to other apps out there for cooks, so I turned to the friendly community at Serious Eats to ask how they use their mobile phones in the kitchen. Their feedback ranged from using the phone to go on the Internet and search for the recipe they want. (A couple of people mentioned an app called “Silver Spoon,” but I haven’t been able to find that one yet.) Others use the phone’s notes function to keep a running grocery list, and one member uses Evernote’s souped-up, synced-up version that allows her husband to access the shopping list of his phone, too.

But the app that Serious Eats turned me onto, and that I absolutely love, is Little Chef. This is a delightfully simple freebie that’s nothing more than a conversion tool–perfect when you forget that a quart is 4 cups, or need to convert metric or British measurements into American units.

Another app I’ve downloaded that will be helpful when I’m at the store or at a restaurant is the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Guides. Their iPhone app divides guides by region (plus a dedicated sushi guide with Japanese and English names) to put environmentally sound seafood choices at your fingertips. Here’s an upgrade for version 2.0 that I’d suggest to the folks at the aquarium: Offer smart alternatives to fish I should avoid. For example, the entry for monkfish cautions me to avoid the fish and tells me why, but doesn’t offer an alternative. Their online version of the guides does offer other options, though the suggestions can be odd. For monkfish, they direct me to farmed tilapia, catfish, or trout. Huh? Yuck! For taste and texture, lobster would be a far better choice, and American spiny or Maine lobster is a-OK, according to Seafood Watch.

Now, here’s an app I’d pay for: I’d love to see someone like cookbook author/photographer James Peterson develop an iPhone app of visual culinary technique how-to photos and videos. His book Essentials of Cooking is my go-to reference when I need to double-check a basic technique. A virtual version of that would be my iPhone dream come true.

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Wednesday health roundup

Posted on February 4, 2009 by

Plums’ antioxidant activity is comparable to that of blueberries, say researchers, and the stone fruit offers shoppers a more affordable alternative to the often expensive berry.

Texas A&M researchers give plums two thumbs up.

Plums are the new blueberry?

Lately, blueberries have been the antioxidant superstars, but they’ll have to make way for plums, says Dr. Luis Cisneros, Texas AgriLife Research food scientist. “Stone fruits are super fruits with plums as emerging stars.” Plums’ antioxidant activity is comparable to that of blueberries, says Cisneros, and the stone fruit offers shoppers a more affordable alternative. “People tend to eat just a few blueberries at a time–a few on the cereal or as an ingredient mixed with lots of sugar,” he says. “But people will eat a whole plum at once and get the full benefit.”

cimg0952Unlocking garlic’s secrets

Canadian researchers say they’ve figured out what makes garlic such a nutritional superstar (it has been credited with lowering blood pressure, slowing artherosclerosis, and preventing some cancers). ”While garlic has been used as a herbal medicine for centuries and there are many garlic supplements on the market, until now there has been no convincing explanation as to why garlic is beneficial,” says Dr. Derek Pratt, chemistry professor at Queen’s in Kingston, Ontario. Researchers knew garlic contains the organic compound allicin, gives the allium its signature flavor and aroma, but they didn’t know how it generated garlic’s strong antioxidant response. Pratt and his team discovered that garlic’s allicin decomposes quickly to generate a potent antioxidant to trap free radicals.

Trans-fat confusion

cimg0958

The good news in the new issue of the Journal of Clinical Nutrition is that 92 percent of Americans are aware of trans fats (up from 84 percent in 2006), and about one-third of people have changed their buying habits to choose zero-trans-fats foods. The bad news: About 80 percent of us can’t name three foods that contain trans fats. Here’s a cheat sheet, in case anyone gives you a pop quiz:

  • Meat and dairy products contain small amounts of naturally occurring trans fats.
  • Trans fats are present in any food that contains partially hydrogenated oil. That can include cookies, crackers, pastries, and fried foods.
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Roasted vegetable medley

Posted on February 5, 2009 by

Hmm, I’m not wild about the word “medley”–sounds like something you’d see performed on the “Lawrence Welk Show”–but it’s better than, say, “melange.” And it describes today’s recipe, which can include a mix of whatever hearty veggies you like.

This one was inspired by the gorgeous cauliflower I picked up at the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market this week. Normally, I don’t get that excited by cauliflower. It’s fine, but it’s…cauliflower. But the bouquets on display were so pristine and gorgeous that I thought, “yum, cauliflower!” and bought a bunch, along with some beets and Yukon potatoes.

The beet greens and some of the cauliflower went into a pasta toss earlier this week. The rest went into this combo of roasted vegetables.

Farmers' market finds inspire a mess o' roasted veggies.

Farmers' market finds inspire a mess o' roasted veggies.

Roasted Vegetable Medley

There’s no need to get out measuring cups and spoons for this one. Just be sure you can arrange the veggies in a single layer on the baking sheet. If not, split them up between two sheets. Use any combination of hearty vegetables you like. Peeling and chopping the beets before roasting is a cool trick I picked up from The New York Times. Toss the beets with oil separately from the cauliflower and potatoes to minimize staining the light-colored veggies.

3 medium beets, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Olive oil

White wine vinegar

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 medium head cauliflower, cut into bite-size florets

6 small, thin-skinned potatoes (such as Yukon golds), cut into 1-inch pieces

Pinch dried thyme (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

2. Place beets in a medium bowl. Add about 2 tablespoons oil and a splash of vinegar; season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Arrange beets in a single layer on a foil-covered, rimmed baking sheet.

3. Place cauliflower and potatoes in bowl. Add about 3 tablespoons oil; season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Arrange in a single layer on baking sheet with beets. Bake at 450 degrees F for 30 minutes, stirring veggies after 15 minutes. Yield: 2-4 servings.

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Randy’s Superfine Cheese Straws

Posted on February 7, 2009 by

 

Now that Randy has shared his recipe for Superfine Cheese Straws, I can enjoy a taste of Dixie in the City of Angels anytime.

Randy has shared his recipe for Superfine Cheese Straws, so I can enjoy a taste of Dixie in the City of Angels anytime.

When I moved from Alabama back to Southern California in December and listed the Dixie specialities I’d miss, I overlooked a gem: my friend Randy’s Superfine Cheese Straws. He and his partner Phillip were kind enough to give me a generous batch of these delicate treats before I left Birmingham. I’m pretty sure I ate them all (with a little sneaky help from Rascal) before the car pulled out of the driveway.

They’re that good. As I noted in an earlier crazy rant, cheese straws as they’re made in the Deep South are a savory pleasure of cheddar cheese, butter, and flour. Love ‘em with a gin and tonic, which was usually how Phillip served them to me. 

Randy’s Superfine Cheese Straws

Surprisingly, cheese straws are not the place to use your fancy English Cheddar. “The cheap stuff, like Cracker Barrel, works best for us,” says Phillip. A cookie press is a gadget that allows you to load the dough into a barrel and press out cookies–or cheese straws–in a uniform shape. Most come with an assortment of attachments for different shapes and sizes. If you don’t have one, shape the dough into little logs by hand. The results won’t look as refined as the photo above, but you’re using Cracker Barrel for crissakes, so there’s no need to be high-falutin’.

9 ounces flour (about 2 cups) 

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne (or more, if you want them hotter)

4 ounces (1 stick) butter, melted

1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, grated and at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Sift together first 4 ingredients. Place butter butter and cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment; beat until smooth. With the mixer on, slowly add flour mixture, beating until dough forms. Place dough into cookie press, squeeze desired shape. Place on 2 baking sheets covered with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes on pans. Cool completely on wire racks. Store in an airtight container for up to a week (though I can’t imagine they’d last that long). Yield: well, that depends on how the size of cheese straws you choose. I mean, don’t go overboard or anything. They’re just supposed to be a lil’ cocktail nibble.

Posted in Appetizers | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Comfort me with pasta

Posted on February 11, 2009 by

It’s been a rough week, with a really sick cat and all, so I figured we could use some comfort chow for dinner tonight. These days, that means a pasta toss with lots o’ veggies. After hitting up the local market to stock up on Brussels sprouts, cremini mushrooms, and a wedge of pecorino Romano, we were ready to go. I’m not sure when Brussels sprouts became a comfort food for me, but they are they are. Especially with bacon. Come to think of it, everything is better with bacon.

cimg0982Penne with Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms

This would work with any short pasta–orrechiette or cavatappi, perhaps. I used cremini mushrooms for their full, earthy flavor, but white button mushrooms would do the trick just fine. You can substitute a slice or two of regular bacon (with smokier results) for the pancetta.

6 ounces dry penne pasta

2 tablespoons diced pancetta

2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot

1 garlic clove, minced

4 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and thinly sliced

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon sherry vinegar

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup (1 ounce) shaved pecorino Romano cheese

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage

1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain, and keep warm.

2. While the pasta cooks, heat a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add pancetta to pan; saute 2 minutes. Add shallot; saute 2 minutes. Add garlic; saute 20 seconds. Add mushrooms and salt; saute 2 minutes. Add Brussels sprouts, broth, vinegar, and pepper; cook 5 minutes. Add cooked pasta, and toss to combine; cook 1 minute or until hot. Garnish with cheese and sage. Yield: 2 servings.

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Wednesday’s tasty tidbits

Posted on February 11, 2009 by

You don’t always get what you pay for

picture-3The latest food scare–tainted peanut butter–reveals consumers still place too much trust in our current food safety system. It’s the “halo effect,” a new Hartman Group report reveals. Shoppers believe that if a food is labeled “natural” or “gourmet,” it must be higher quality than lower-priced brands. In fact, premium products are often sourced from the same producers as the ordinary stuff. Hartman President and COO Laurie Demeritt says consumers say they’re concerned about food safety when asked about it, but when shopping, they don’t scrutinize the source of their food and assume it’s safe. This echoes a recent study from Cornell University.

Foreign Fast Food

picture-11No matter where you’re from, you still need to get dinner on the table after a long day at work. Reporter Leslie Kaufman goes into the kitchens of immigrants living in New York to find out how they’ve adapted their favorite dishes to the American kitchen. Be sure to check out the audio slide show, too–it’s cool!–The New York Times

 

Smart Apron

picture-12I’m not big on aprons (though I should be, since I’m always spilling and splattering in the kitchen), but Zip&Dry apron, which is edged with a towel, might win me over.–The Food Section

 

Nuts for Nutella

picture-2Can you really trust a person who doesn’t love the creamy chocolate-hazelnut spread known as Nutella? I think not. Reporter Amy Scattergood delves into its seductive charms, with recipes.–Los Angeles Times

 

Best Canned Tomatoes

picture-4If you’re cooking with tomatoes this time of year, they’re probably canned. And the best are Muir Glen’s, according to Chow.

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Shopping scared

Posted on February 13, 2009 by

 

peanut-butter

Killer PB? Most people are aware of the peanut butter scare, but a new Harvard survey finds many don't know how widespread it really is.

“Are you really going to eat that?” my mate asked yesterday.

I was opening a jar of gourmet chocolate chip cookie dough peanut butter, which had arrived in a box of samples.

“Yeah, I’m living on the edge,” I replied, spreading a generous schmear of the stuff on toasted ciabatta. The jarful of three of my favorite things–peanut butter, chocolate, and cookie dough–seduced me into overlooking the risk.

Like just about everyone else who hasn’t been living under a rock, we’ve heard about salmonella-tainted peanut butter, which has led the FDA to recall more than 130 products.  The agency even sent out alerts on Twitter.

A new survey from the Harvard School of Public Health suggests the government has done a pretty good job of getting the word out. More than 90 percent of Americans are aware of the issue, and of those, more than 60 percent have changed their habits. They’re scrutinizing ingredient lists at the grocery store, throwing away potentially tainted foods at home, and avoiding restaurant dishes that contain peanuts.

That’s a good strategy, considering the dudes who head up the Peanut Corporation of America invoked the fifth amendment, refusing to testify before a congressional hearing. Evidence suggests they knowingly shipped tainted PB.

There’s a striking level of awareness of this recall, and many people have taken action. But they’re not aware of the range of products involved in the recall.

But the Harvard study indicates consumers are still confused about the wide range of foods covered by the recall. The array of potentially tainted products is daunting, ranging from the obvious–peanut butter–to the less expected, like pet food. Less than half of consumers know that the recall includes snack bars, cakes, brownies, cookies, pet treats, candies, prepackaged meals, and dry-roasted peanuts. Whew!

“There’s a striking level of awareness of this recall, and many people have taken action. But they’re not aware of the range of products involved in the recall,” says Robert J. Blendon, professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health. “People should check the Food and Drug Administration recall list routinely, since the number of products is still growing.”

The peanut scare is only the latest in a growing list of food safety snafus that point to the urgent need to revamp our food safety system. It’s no surprise to Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics, who has for years noted that the U.S. government does a woefully inadequate job of policing the safety of our food supply. “What more evidence do we need that an overhaul of the food safety system is very much in order?” she recently posited on her blog.  ”Congress: this is your problem to solve!  Citizens: write your congressional representatives!”

That’s easy enough to do–everyone in congress has a Web site and e-mail address. Drop your representatives a line to voice your demand for safe food.

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Oh, Joy

Posted on February 17, 2009 by

 

Portion sizes and calorie counts in The Joy of Cooking have burgeon over the years, along with our waistlines.

Portion sizes and calorie counts in The Joy of Cooking have burgeoned over the years, along with our waistlines.

If you’re of a certain age–like, say, mine–you probably grew up in a household where The Joy of Cooking held an honored spot on the cookbook shelf. Well, maybe not honored in our house, since my mom didn’t really like cooking all that much, but it was a reference to which she turned with some regularity.

First published commercially in 1936, Joy has been updated every few years since. (Irma S. Rombauer had self-published the original edition in 1931.) Leave it Cornell University professor Brian Wansink, Ph.D., to examine how the cookbook has evolved over the years to reflect our changing food habits. Wansink is the author of Mindless Eating and heads up Cornell’s Food and Brand Lab, where he and his colleagues do amazing research into our attitudes and behavior when it comes to food. He and former postdoc researcher Collin Payne culled through 18 recipes that have been published in every addition of Joy, including such beloved American faves as brownies, sugar cookies, mac ‘n’ cheese, and beef stroganoff.

I wasn’t surprised to learn that portions have gotten bigger over the decades, but I was shocked to discover they’ve ballooned 63 percent. Um, that’s a lot. In 1936, the average recipe was a trim 268 calories. Seventy years later, the average was  436 calories per serving. ”What served four people in 1986 would have served almost seven people by 1936 standards,” says Wansink. He thinks analyzing other long-published cookbooks would yield similar results.

What served four people in the 1986 edition of The Joy of Cooking would have served almost seven people by 1936 standards. 

“People often blame eating out as being one of the big culprits for gaining weight, but this study suggests that what we do in our own homes may be equally bad or even worse,” he says. “Family size has gotten smaller, but calorie content and portion sizes have gotten bigger.” Several factors contribute to this, he explains, including:

  • Americans have grown larger.
  • Restaurant portions have gotten bigger, which has changed our expectations for portions at home.
  • Food has gotten cheaper, so we spend a smaller proportion of our income on it and buy more of it.

Now, the last point is really interesting, because when Joy’s 1986 edition was published in the heart of the go-go ’80s, and even when the 2006 version was published, food was indeed cheap. But as we all know, the cost of food has risen steadily in the past year, while salaries have dropped, people have lost their jobs, and the economy has slowed to a deep and tenacious recession (depression, some say). I can’t help wondering how this will influence Joy’s editors as they prepare the 80th anniversary edition for 2011. It will be interesting to see if portion sizes and calorie counts hark back to Irma Rombauer’s Depression-era incarnations.

Food prices have risen sharply over the past year, and we’re in the midst of a stubborn and deep recession. It will be interesting to see if the upcoming 80th anniversary edition of Joy harks back to the portion sizes and calorie counts of its Depression-era roots.

In the meantime, when cooking from the current version of Joy, Wansink has some advice: If you’re preparing a recipe that’s supposed to serve 4, set aside half the recipe to enjoy another night. “Families need to be aware that serving size and calorie composition of classic recipes “should be downsized to counteract growing waistlines.”

Posted in Food News, nutrition | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Recession food: Homemade strawberry jam

Posted on February 19, 2009 by
strawberry-jam

Strawberry jam made with fruit purchased on sale. Does this make me an artisanal producer?

This week, I was working on a story for a Web site about how to eat supper for under a buck per serving when I got some simple advice from Julie Parrish, co-founder of the sites HotCouponWorld.com and OrganicGroceryDeals.com. Even if you never clip a coupon, supermarkets are rich with unadvertised, last-minute bargains that you should snap when you find them. Get the stuff home, she said, and figure out what to do with it later.

If you spot a great deal at the supermarket, buy it and decide what to do with it later.

You would think someone whose blog is named “Eat Cheap” would do that anyway, but there you have it. As this recession deepens, I’m still learning what it really means to shop and eat frugally. I’m old enough to remember the recession of the 1970s, but I was a just a kid then and mostly recall our family’s belt-tightening involved my mother buying store-brand plastic wrap. She probably did much more than that, but I was unobservant in these matters.

So after talking to Julie, I visited the supermarket with new eyes and spied all kinds of goodies on the cheap–two pounds of Tillamook butter for $7 (a great deal and we’ll use it up long before its May expiration date), a couple of lamb sirloin steaks for 5 bucks. But the best buy, by far, was two pounds of fresh strawberries for $3.

I took one look and thought, “Jam.”

You see, my mate is British, and jam is a staple of his diet (along with PG Tips tea, bread, and butter–hence, why we’ll plow through the bargain Tillamook in no time). He probably goes through jar of jam every week or so. And he likes the good stuff–Bonne Maman and the like. No Smuckers preserves for him. He recently weaned himself from a minor addiction to a very fancy-schmancy (i.e., expensive) Italian jam, so the Bonne Maman is a step down for him.

Still, as I pondered the piles of sale strawberries, I recalled that jam is dead simple to make. Basically, just combine fruit and sugar and simmer the hell out of it until it’s a sweet, fruity mush. And that’s what I did last night, stopping to stir the goo between sips of cheapo Sangiovese and catching up on “Nip/Tuck” on Hulu (Lesbian Liz has finally left Christian the Cad–really, it was doomed from the start).

“It’s Ali’s Artisanal Jam,” my mate declared as he slathered it on toast this morning. So that’s it, I’m not just thrifty, I’m an artisan. And you can be one, too, with this recipe.

You-Can-be-an-Artisanal-Producer Strawberry Jam

I used a bit more sugar than usual because the strawberries aren’t quite in season yet, and not as juicy and sweet as they will be in a few months. Taste your berries first and adjust the amount of sugar accordingly–if they’re sweet and juicy, you’ll need less. Also play around around with the flavorings you add at the end. A couple teaspoons of lemon juice can stand in for the Cointreau and vanilla. This is a refrigerator jam, so plan to use it within 5 days. Not a problem in our household.

1 1/2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled and coarsely 

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon Cointreau

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Combine the strawberries and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat; bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until thickened, stirring every so often. Remove from heat; stir in the Cointreau and vanilla. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate (jam will continue to thicken as it cools). Yield: about 2 cups.

Posted in Ingredients, Sides | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Take that, raw foodies!

Posted on February 21, 2009 by
pot-o-gumbo-1

Raw foodies miss out on the soul-soothing comfort found in a hot pot of gumbo.

I’ve always thought the raw food movement was a crock of hooey, a kooky offshoot of vegetarianism in which followers believe heat (above 108 F or 112 F or 116 F, depending on the source) “kills” the nutrients in food.

Okaayyy…of course, once a plant is harvested–pulled from the ground, cut off from its root system–it is no longer living. It is in the process of decaying, in other words. It is not “living.”

So I read an article in the current issue of The Economist with particular interest. It details Harvard anthropology professor Richard Wrangham’s theory that cooking is humanity’s killer app. In other words, cooking makes us human. A few years ago, I caught Dr. Wrangham’s keynote address on the same topic at the annual meeting of the International Society of Culinary Professionals. He noted that humans have big brains that require lots of calories. Heat renders otherwise inedible foods digestible–and palatable–which greatly expands our range of things to eat. And even foods that don’t have to be cooked–calorie-dense meat, for example–are more easily digested when cooked. Cooking makes some nutrients–lycopene and iron, for instance–more bioavailable and therefore more nutritious. Heat also kills bacteria, making many foods safer to consume.

And then there’s the social aspect of cooking. As people gathered around the fire to share a meal, relationships and society blossomed. That’s not a small thing.

Some raw foodists claim their way is more “natural.” I’m not sure what this means. Humans have been cooking–i.e., applying heat to food–since the Neanderthals, so one could claim cooking is part of humanity’s evolution. In any case, raw cuisine certainly entails processing food as ingredients are dehydrated, blended, juiced, and soaked. (I’m sorry, but cold-pressed coffee beans, really? Yuck.) It requires finesse and skill. In that respect, raw foodism is a culinary cousin of molecular gastronomy.

The science behind raw food diets is sketchy at best–raw food adherents don’t typically have weight problems, but they can be low on vitamin B12, calcium, and protein. Longtime followers can have low bone mass, which leaves them vulnerable to osteoporosis.

I have nothing against raw food, per se. I love the crunch of a great salad. But I think it’s even nicer paired to a bowl of hot (not tepid) soup.

Posted in Food News, nutrition | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Tuesday’s tidbits

Posted on February 23, 2009 by

picture-13The CIA in Spain

File this one under sites-you-must-bookmark. The CIA (Culinary Institute of America, that is) teamed up with the Spanish trade commissions for food and wine to create the spectacular new Worlds of Flavor Spain Web site. Forget Mario Batali traipsing through Iberia with Gwyneth Paltrow in tow and focus on this gem instead. None other than Ferran Adria and Jose Andres are this site’s co-chairs, and they’ll introduce you to a wealth of instructional videos, dozens of tempting recipes, explanations of Spain’s regional cuisines, glorious spotlights on its cheese and wine, and a marketplace to buy specialty ingredients. The site may be aimed at professional chefs, but there’s plenty here to entertain and inspire the home cook. This one sets a new benchmark for food on the Web.

picture-21Can’t wait to make this

Sunday’s New York Times Magazine featured the rustic charms of a British meat pie. The only motivation I’ll need to make this adaptation of Jamie Oliver’s pastry-topped meat-and-veg Guinness Pie is a chilly evening.

Not every one is a winner

fwpuddingThe March issue of Food & Wine has a gorgeous special section of 40 healthy recipes. The Creamy Caramel Pudding tempted my sweet tooth, so I made a batch this weekend. The results were…mixed. It’s more sweet than caramel-y (my fault–I didn’t let the caramel cook long enough). But what put me off more was the gelatinous texture, thanks to 6 tablespoons of cornstarch. Still, it wasn’t awful, especially when topped with chopped salty roasted peanuts to cut the sweetness. That’s OK, I’m still eager to try the Beet Salad with Tangerines. But for a more satisfying low-fat pudding experience, try Cooking Light’s Butterscotch Pudding or Chocolate Pudding (make it with dark chocolate–yum!). Both include egg yolks and a touch of butter for a richer–yet still low-fat–pudding.

Tom on Coke

picture-41What’s your opinion of “Top Chef” top judge Tom Colicchio in a commercial hawking the “taste” of Diet Coke during the Oscars? It left a bad taste in my mouth–much like a sip of Diet Coke does, blech!–but I still thought, “Dude, take the money and run.” Add your 2 cents at Serious Eats. Or check out what the community at Epicurious has to say about this tempest in a Coke can. Hey, it’s a diversion from worrying about the economy.

But we still love Fabio

picture-5Speaking of “Top Chef,” I joined a lot of other fans in mourning the exit of Season 5 charmer Fabio. Check out YumSugar’s interview with the man who will surely be this season’s fan favorite.

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Kitchen porn, or what I learned from redoing my kitchen

Posted on February 24, 2009 by

 

A room of one's own: My dream kitchen involved color, ample storage and counter space, a decent range, and a working dishwasher.

A room of one's own: My dream kitchen involved color, ample storage and counter space, a decent range, and a functioning dishwasher.

If you’ve ever lived through (survived?) a kitchen remodeling project, you know it’s messy, intrusive, and expensive. But if you love to cook, the kitchen is your favorite room in the house, so you’re always looking for design inspiration. Even if your kitchen is “done,” it’s never really done.

Case in point: No matter what state your kitchen is in, it’s hard to pass up a chance to thumb through the pages of Kitchen Trends, the big-format, lushly produced book-azine published by TrendsIdeas.com. The print edition is $10.95, but the lavish kitchens featured within its pages are a great source of inspiration, even if you don’t have a big budget. Even better, the good folks at Trends Ideas have made the e-book version of the magazine available for free. I’m not usually a fan of digital versions of magazines–they tend to be clunky and slow to flip through–but this one loads quickly and smoothly. Bookmark or print out anything that catches your eye–it can be a great start to your own design idea book.

cimg1031I’ve moved across the country, but my heart still belongs to the kitchen I had remodeled my Alabama home. I couldn’t bring the kitchen with me, but I did pack up the spiral notebook of design ideas that inspired it.

The kitchen was not a selling point when I bought the 1930s bungalow. Counter space was virtually nonexistent, storage was minimal, the stove was ancient (but not in a cute, vintage way), and worst of all was the dishwasher. It was an outdated portable Kenmore that you rolled over the sink and hooked up to the faucet, which inevitably sprayed water everywhere but on the dishes in the dishwasher.

I lived with it for more than a year, to get a sense of what I wanted the space to become and to psyche myself up for the money-pit mess that is any kitchen remodel. But when mice started to invade through the rotting floorboards of the pantry, it was time to call my coworker’s contractor husband to start the project. (After calling the pest control company, of course.) Here’s what I learned from my project.

cimg10321Keep a design notebook. Design experts always suggest this, and it’s a great idea. Include anything that catches your eye–could be a color, a design element, a layout–noting what it is that you like. Themes will start to emerge. I quickly discovered a fondness for color and vintage-looking design that would suit my bungalow. I also found specific items that eventually ended up in my kitchen–Formica’s Citron Ice countertop and the Jenn-Air range.

Be flexible. I went the home improvement store all set to order white cabinetry. Then I spotted gorgeous natural hickory cabinets that I liked even better.

Gather samples. Home improvement stores have samples loan. Take them home and see how different materials work together. I spent a weekend looking at cabinet, countertop, backsplash, and flooring samples before I made up my mind.

Keep an eye out for special promotions. Home improvement stores often have special offers on materials, and it may be worth timing your purchase to take advantage. I put off ordering my countertops for three weeks in order to get a free integrated sink–and saved about $600 on a feature I wanted anyway.

Shop at different outlets. Although I purchased big items like the cabinets, floors, and countertop at Lowe’s, I gathered items from other sources. The appliances came from the manufacturer’s retail outlet. I bought a brand-new John Boos kitchen island on eBay, paying at least one-third less than I would have for a similar model at Williams-Sonoma; I also ordered the antique-bronze cabinet hardware through a dealer on eBay. The copper lights (made from converted antique Turkish bowls) were purchased on sale from the Sundance catalog. The result was a kitchen that looks personal, not like a catalog. More importantly, it wasa place where I loved spending time doing what I love best.

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Making dough

Posted on February 25, 2009 by

The editors at Epicurious must be reading my mind, because I’ve been thinking about bread-baking a lot lately and they just e-mailed me their newsletter with a link to a wonderful online guide to bread basics. How did they know?

Ever since I was a kid and enjoyed the homemade bread baked by my best friend’s mom, I’ve wanted to be one of those people who turned out yeast bread like it was nothing. But, like many, I find the prospect intimidating, from fermenting the living yeast to kneading the dough to proofing. It’s a time-consuming process, not suited to those (like me) who crave instant gratification. I’ve tried baking bread occasionally, but it requires practice if you want to enjoy tasty, consistent results.

But these current economic times have encouraged me to revisit my ambition. You see, bread is a staple of our household. Even during the height of the Atkins anti-carb craze, we never abandoned bread. It’s good for the soul. But we crave artisanal loaves with crunchy crusts and tender interiors, and we’ll go through a pricey ciabatta from the gourmet store in a day or two. That adds up.

So, I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and try again. I’ve had some success lately with pizza dough, which makes me more confident about working with yeast. After trolling around the Internet for recipes, I turned to cookbooks and settled on Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Italian Cooking. Marcella never leads me astray.

Still, as usual I couldn’t resist futzing with the recipe. It calls for a total of 6 1/2 hours of rising time, which works if you start by noon, revisit it at intervals throughout the day, and then bake it for dinner. I was starting at 6:30 p.m. And I had a plan, sort of. Here’s the recipe, with many deviations from Marcella’s sage instructions. Experienced bread bakers, please chime in with any advice you have.

breadcloseupMantovana (Olive Oil) Bread

Adapted from Essentials of Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. Even with a few hiccups, it turned out OK, but practice will make it perfect.

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

1/8 teaspoon sugar

1 cup warm water, divided

2 1/2 to 3 cups unbleached bread flour (’cause it says it’s “better for bread” right on the label)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Cornmeal

1. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in 1/4 cup warm water. Let stand 10 minutes. Place 1 1/2 cups flour in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. With the motor running, gradually pour the yeast mixture and 1/4 cup warm water through the food chute. Process until dough forms in a lump around the blades. Remove dough from processor, and knead by hand for 1 to 2 minutes. Place the dough in a large bowl dusted with flour; cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place for 3 hours or until it has doubled in bulk.

2. Place 1 cup flour in the bowl of the food processor, add the dough and salt. With the motor running, add the remaining 1/2 cup warm water and oil. Process until the dough forms a lump around the blade, add more of the remaining 1/2 cup flour if needed. Remove the dough from processor, and knead by hand for 1 to 2 minutes. Return the dough to the flour-dusted bowl, cover with a damp towel and let it rise in a warm place for another 3 hours or until it has doubled in bulk. [At this point, it was getting late, so I popped the bowl in the refrigerator and went to bed.]

3. Put a baking stone (a k a pizza stone) in the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 F.

4. Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured work surface. [At this point, it was 6:30 a.m., I woke up, scampered downstairs and removed the dough from the fridge. It was very cold so I let it warm to room temperature. Sort of.] Slap the dough down very hard several times or until it stretches out lengthwise. Starting with the farthest edge, fold the dough 3 or 4 inches toward you, then push it away with the heel of your hand. Continue to fold and push, gradually rolling the dough toward you in a tapered roll. Holding the dough by one of the tapered ends, lift it high over your head and slap it down on the counter (this part is lots of fun); do this several times until it stretches out lengthwise. Repeat the folding-and-pushing maneuver. Continue working the dough–slapping, folding, and pushing–for 8 minutes. [Since my dough was chilly, I had to work it a bit longer.] Shape the dough into a thick, cigar-shaped loaf that’s thick in the middle and tapered at the ends. Place it on a cookie sheet dusted with cornmeal. Cover with a damp towel, and let it rest 30 minutes.

[I was just about ready to put bread in the oven when my mate toddled into the kitchen, started slicing an (existing) loaf of (fancy, gourmet-store) bread, and sliced his thumb in the process. It needed professional medical attention, so I turned off the oven, left the dough, took him to urgent care, and returned 2 hours later. It looked fine when I returned.]

5. Use a sharp knife to cut a 1-inch-deep lengthwise slash on top of the dough. Use a pastry brush to brush the top of the dough with water. Slide the dough onto the preheated baking stone. Bake at 450 F for 12 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 F (do not remove bread from oven), and bake an additional 40 minutes or until the loaf is golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack. Yield: 1 loaf.

[Note: Yes, I have tried Jim Lahey's No-Knead Bread recipe, printed in The New York Times a couple of years ago. The dog ate the dough that was proofing on the counter, which could happen anyway, but I'd also rather knead the bread and enjoy it the same day I crave it.]

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Thursday fun: Top(?) Chef, pot brownies, and more goodies

Posted on February 26, 2009 by

picture-22Top Chef?

Anyone else put off by the outcome of last night’s “Top Chef” finale? Hosea? Really? Mediocre all season long, too scared to make a dessert for the finale, and he still won? I’m with Hubert Keller–someone who will be called “Top Chef” should at least be able to turn out a damn dessert. If only my girl Carla had ignored dopey Casey (sous vide steak? souffles?) and stuck to her guns, she might have shown that nice girls can finish first. Join the discussion at Serious Eats, which is abuzz about it today.

Visit Brussels

picture-31Sprouts, that is. Heidi Swanson shares a delectable salad made with shredded raw baby Brussels sprouts, toasted hazelnuts, and lots of other goodness.–101 Cookbooks

 

picture-14Water ways

Food scientist Harold McGee experiments with how much water you need to cook pasta.The incomparable Lidia Bastianich and Marcella Hazan weigh in, too.–The New York Times

picture-42It’s all about location

“Location, location, location,” is the mantra of real estate agents. Turns out, location has a big impact on food, too. A growing body of evidence links locale with diet quality. Residents of poor neighborhoods have limited access to high-quality fresh foods and tend to have correspondingly poor diets while those who are better off have a range of food-shopping options with healthier fare.–Nutraingredients-USA.com

Brain food

picture-8The just-say-no-to-drugs crowd likes to claim that consuming pot kills brains cells. Not so fast. A pair of new studies finds that marijuana, along with red wine, may prevent or slow Alzheimer’s disease. “Neither of these findings surprises me,” says integrative medicine pioneer Andrew Weil, M.D., in his latest weekly bulletin. “That marijuana has medical efficacy against a variety of conditions is firmly established scientifically, and the health benefits of moderate red wine consumption are also becoming clearer with each passing year. As of November, 2008, 15 states had laws with provisions for medical marijuana on the books, and I hope more states enact enlightened policies in this regard.” Now, if the federal government could just get on board and turn the war on drugs to more productive efforts…–DrWeil.com

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Saturday starters

Posted on March 7, 2009 by

dreamstimefree_1149421It’s all about calories

Physicians and nutritionists have been saying this for years: To lose weight, you need to consume fewer calories than you expend. That’s a simple equation, but many of us still seek a magic weight-loss bullet. You know, the special diet that finally unlocks the key to shedding all those excess pounds. So what works best? High fat/low carb/high protein? High protein/low fat/low carb? High carb/low fat/some protein? A new study published in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine compared four different weight-loss diets over a two-year period and found that what really matters is: consuming fewer calories, regardless of diet. So if you want to drop a few pounds, just eat less and move more.

Grow your own

lettucecloseupAs the terrific blog RecessionWire notes, when times get tough, people start planting. During the Great Depression, anyone with some spare dirt grew something; that was followed by the victory gardens of World War II. These lean days are no different, and the National Gardening Association predicts the number of households growing vegetables will sprout 40% this year. This can range from a few containers of herbs to full vegetable gardens. To help you get started, the editors at FineGardening.com have just launched Vegetable Gardener, a cool site devoted to growing and cooking with fruits and vegetables. Sunset.com is another good source of info. Finally, for glorious inspiration, check out Jeanne Kelley’s book Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes: Recipes from a Modern Kitchen Garden, in which she shares delicious recipes inspired by her own home garden. Think of it as uber-local food.

duo10qt_large_horizontal_productTried it, loved it

Lately, I’ve been experimenting with pressure cookers, which cook food in less than half the time of conventional methods. You may remember those retro gadgets from your grandma’s kitchen–they rattled menacingly on the stovetop while pressure built up in the pot. They even exploded on occasion. Hmmm, why bother with them now? Today’s models are safe, sturdy, and easy to use. I recently picked up a 6-quart, stainless-steel Fagor Duo pressure cooker on Amazon for $80 (it typically retails for $120). It’s a solid piece of cookware–you can saute and sear in it before adding other ingredients and starting the pressure. It’s also simple to handle, quiet, and speedy. We enjoyed homemade split pea soup in about 20 minutes, start to finish. I also like to cook dried beans, but hate the long soaking and simmering time. The pressure cooker will speed that process up, too, enabling me to use cheap dried beans instead of pricier, sodium-packed canned legumes.

Posted in Equipment, Food News, nutrition | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Dirty dozen update

Posted on March 11, 2009 by

 

Make mine organic: Kale is number 8 on the Environmental Working Group's updated list of produce items most likely to contain pesticides.

Make mine organic: Kale is number 8 on the Environmental Working Group's updated list of produce items most likely to contain pesticides.

The Environmental Working Group has released the latest version of their “dirty dozen” produce items most likely to be contaminated with pesticides:

 

  1. Peaches
  2. Apples
  3. Bell peppers
  4. Celery
  5. Nectarines
  6. Strawberries
  7. Cherries
  8. Kale 
  9. Lettuce
  10. Imported grapes
  11. Carrots
  12. Pears

According to the EWG, if you eat from this dirty dozen list, you consume an average of 10 pesticides daily. That’s reason enough to pay a little extra for organic versions of these foods.

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Wednesday goodies

Posted on March 18, 2009 by

Field trips

picture-2Jim Denevan, of Outstanding in the Field, has made a name for himself staging top-drawer farm dinners at locales across the country. He’s just released the 2009 schedule of more than 50 destinations, stretching from Santa Cruz, CA, to Asheville, NC. I was especially excited to see that Jim and his crew will be at Jones Valley Urban Farm in Birmingham, AL, on Sept. 23, where Chef Frank Stitt of Highlands Bar & Grill will do the cooking. Dinners are $200 per person, and tickets go on sale at 9 AM PT (noon ET) on Friday, March 20. Events sell out quickly, so log on to check out the locations and make your reservation on Friday.

Nourish yourself

picture-1Wine Country-based food writer Lia Huber is launching the Nourish Network Web site this spring. But you can sign up for her weekly “Nibble to Noodle” e-letter now. It’s a newsletter I enjoy finding in my inbox, since Lia offers thoughts on healthy eating as a daily celebration, along with some tasty recipes. This week’s dish was wonderful Greek-inspired lamb chops:

Lemon-Herb Lamb Chops

Recipe by Lia Huber/Nourish Network

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon zest

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/4 cup mixed fresh herbs (like thyme, marjoram, and fresh oregano), minced

2 pounds lamb chops

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Whisk together olive oil, lemon zest, garlic, and herbs, and marinate lamb chops for at least an hour and up to a day.

Heat a grill to medium-high. Remove chops from marinade; sprinkle with salt and pepper; and grill for 3-5 minutes per side or until medium-rare. Arrange on a plate and serve hot or room temperature crusty bread, beet salad, and the garlicky yogurt dip called tzatziki.

Serves 6

Plan ahead

picture-4Today Jennifer Maiser starts blogging about her efforts to cook week’s worth of suppers with a neighbor so they can both enjoy more variety for less effort while saving money.–Serious Eats

 

Numbers runner

picture-5So are people really eating in more and dining out less? Michael Y. Park runs the numbers on two consumer surveys and finds they don’t quite add up.–Epicurious

 

 

Tomato farming and the recession

picture-6Patrick Horan, who cultivates organic tomatoes in Connecticut, explains how the recession may be a boon for organic farming.–RecessionWire

 

 

Get more D

dreamstimefree_1162831Vitamin D has emerged as a supervitamin in recent years–it’s been linked with lower rates of some cancers and type 1 diabetes; it’s also a key player in bone and heart health. Chances are, you’re not getting enough. A new study finds the current recommendation of 5 microcgrams (200 International Units) is far short of what most people need for maximum benefit, especially in winter. Researchers recommend 20 micrograms. Your best bet for getting adequate vitamin D is fortified foods, like milk, and dietary supplements.–Nutraingredients-USA.com

 

Posted in Food News, Main Dishes | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Fresh chickpeas

Posted on March 20, 2009 by

 

Fresh chickpeas are a pretty harbinger of spring.

Fresh chickpeas are a pretty harbinger of spring.

Isn’t it nice when you discover an unexpected treat in the middle of an otherwise mundane day? That’s what happened when I swung by Marina Farms market to pick up a few items. Now, Marina Farms is a gem of a local corner market, tucked away in a bland corner of Del Rey, an LA neighborhood that’s not Playa del Rey, not Marina del Rey, ’cause it’s a bit inland. So it’s just plain old Del Rey. The market is chock-full of an eclectic assortment of fresh, regional produce, bulk nonperishables, and speciality items. In one trip, you can pick up a bag of farro, guacamole-flavored Mexican tortilla snacks, fresh fava beans, sherry vinegar, and a freshly made chicken empanada as a snack. And the prices are terrific.

I was trolling past the bins of fresh mushrooms when my eyes fell on fresh chickpeas. This struck me as a rare and wonderful find. Well, rare to me, since I think fresh chickpeas are become more widely available, much the way fava beans have in recent years. Still, it was a treat to me, so I filled a bag with a couple of handfuls of the fuzzy green pods.

But what to do with them? The fresh chickpeas were familiar, yet…not. Their inch-long pods are peach-fuzzy and papery. Each houses one pea. Occasionally you’ll find two in a pod, but for the most part chickpeas cop an exclusive attitude. Unlike English peas or fava beans, chickpeas are reluctant to share their digs. The pods are delicate and airy–they sometimes make a satisfying pop when you open them.

This pod is mine!

This pod is mine!

Inside, the peas are a lovely, pale green. On her blog 101Cookbooks.com, Heidi Swanson accurate describes them as looking like little brains. Yes, like little green Martian brains.

I wasn’t quite sure what to do with them. Since they’re fresh, they don’t need soaking or the long-ass cooking time of their dried cousins. After doing some research, I decided that steaming was the way to go. Indeed, it works beautifully. The chickpeas retain their shape, and cooking enhances their emerald hue. They have a lovely, delicate, nutty, vegetal, and slightly sweet quality that begs for simple treatment, like this easy spread.

Sign of spring: Chickpea Spread

Sign of spring: Chickpea Spread

Chickpea Spread

OK, since I only picked up a couple of handfuls of fresh chickpeas, this has a small yield, but you can double the recipe. I used a pressure cooker to steam the chickpeas, since I appear to obsessed with my pressure cooker of late. You can steam them in a regular saucepan in about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve this spread with crackers or crusty bread.

3/4 cup shelled fresh chickpeas (about 6 ounces unshelled)

1 garlic clove

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons grated pecorino Romano cheese

1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

1. Fill the pan of a pressure cooker with water to a depth of 1 inch. Bring to a boil. Place chickpeas in a steamer basket; add steamer basket to cooker. Lock on lid, and bring to high pressure over high heat. Reduce heat, and cook 5 minutes. Release pressure using automatic pressure release OR transfer cooker to sink and run cool water over the rim. Carefully open the cooker, pointing the lid away from you. Drain chickpeas. Rinse with cool water; drain thoroughly.

2. Add garlic clove to work bowl of a mini food processor; process until minced. Add chickpeas, process until chopped. Add olive oil, cheese, and lemon juice; process until fairly smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Yield: about 3/4 cup.

Posted in Appetizers, Ingredients | Tagged | 4 Comments

Chocolate love

Posted on March 24, 2009 by

 

The Chocolate Salon in San Francisco attracted candy lovers of all ages.

The Chocolate Salon in San Francisco attracted candy lovers of all ages.

 As it turns out, I’m a lightweight. I’d always considered myself a hardcore chocolate lover, but I met my match at the third annual San Francisco International Chocolate Salon last weekend. Herbst Pavilion quickly filled with hundreds of eager chocoholics, including my sister-in-law, niece, and me. We started hitting the tables, gobbling samples, and it didn’t take long to reach a conclusion:

A gimmick does not make for good chocolate.

"Sacred Steve"

"Sacred Steve"

Take, for example, Sacred Chocolate, which produces a vegan/organic/kosher/halal product being hawked by “Sacred Steve,” wearing butterflies in his hair and a lavish velveteen duster worthy of “Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat.” Of course, we had to sample the chocolate on offer, and it was…OK. Just OK.

We pushed on, tasting creations combining chocolate with everything from Guinness stout, guava, goat cheese, fleur de sel, durian, and even Pop Rocks candy. The artisanal chocolate arena is crowded these days, so you have to do something to stand out. Problem is, when you venture into creative flavor combinations, it’s all too easy to overwhelm the flavor of the chocolate. As I’ve mentioned before, I think the folks at Chicago-based  Vosges, who were not at the salon, do the best job of achieving a the delicate balance of combining offbeat flavors with chocolate in a way that enhances the chocolate. That’s no small feat.

Sexy chocolate: Xocotal's Kama Sutra chocolate, one of their artistic creations that tastes good, too.

Sexy chocolate: Xocolate's Kama Sutra creation, which tastes good, too.

As it turned out, our favorite finds were those that kept it simple and focused on chocolate. We loved the wonderful nuggets of dark chocolate fudge produced by Jeanne’s Fudge of San Mateo, CA. Schoggi’s imported Swiss chocolates (especially their hot chocolate) were another favorite. Berekeley-based Xocolate’s were works of art in terms of design and taste. We also fancied the Vermeer Dutch Chocolate Cream Liqueur.

I did my bit, trolling the tables until I staggered away in a shaky, giggly chocolate high. But I couldn’t help thinking these are tough times for fancy chocolate. Hershey’s, which bought the upscale Joseph Schmidt Confections in 2005, announced it will shut the operation down as of June 30. Schmidt has been a Bay Area institution in 1983 and was a forerunner of the current wave of artisan chocolate. Of course, one might think that the marriage of mass-market Hershey’s and speciality Schmidt was doomed from the beginning. Or it might hint at an overcrowded market, now that every city seems to boast a raft of chocolatiers.

Master chocolatier Joseph Schmidt, right, samples the wares at the Chocolate Salon.

Master chocolatier Joseph Schmidt, right, samples the wares at the Chocolate Salon.

But those who really love chocolate–and that includes everyone at the salon on Saturday–don’t really care about all that. They just love chocolate, recession or no recession, and they’re happy to sample such lovingly crafted wares. In fact, we spied Joseph Schmidt–the real, live chocolatier, not the company–wading through the crowds, going from table to table, and tasting a bit of this and a bit of that. 

Now, that’s love.

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The beef with meat

Posted on March 25, 2009 by

 

A new study that links red meat consumption with higher mortality rates could be good news for cows. (Photo by Dreamstime.)

A new study that links red meat consumption with higher mortality rates could be good news for cows. (Photo by Dreamstime.)

Red meat can be a killer, according to new, large-scale study by the National Cancer Institute just published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The study, which followed a half-million people for 10 years linked red meat and processed meat consumption (and that includes pork, even though it’s marketed as “the other white meat”) with higher overall death rates, including deaths from heart disease and cancer.

When I saw this, I thought, wow those people must have been eating a lot of steaks.

Uh, not really.

Turns out, people with the highest intakes were eating just over 2 ounces of red meat per day, per 1,000 calories (or about 4 1/2 ounces for an average 2,000-calorie diet). They had an 11% (for men) and 16% (for women) higher death rate than those who averaged just 1/3 ounce of red meat per day per 1,000 calories. The findings were similar with processed meat.

Researchers are still parsing why red meat is linked with more deaths. It might be due to the saturated fat content or carcinogens that form when meat is cooked at high heat.

On the flip side, eating more white meat, like chicken, was associated with lower death rates.

So does this mean you give up burgers and steaks in favor of grilled skinless chicken breast? No, but I do think this study points to importance of variety and smart portions. Don’t eat red meat or pork every day but as part of a rotation with other lean sources of protein, including chicken, fish, and beans and legumes. Keep portion sizes small (4 ounces, raw, or less), and choose lean cuts. That’s how you can have your steak, and enjoy it, too.

Lean cuts

Beef: flank, round, tenderloin, top sirloin, chuck shoulder, 95% lean ground

Pork: tenderloin, boneless loin roast, boneless loin chops

In other words, “loin” in the name=lean.

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Make pasta egg-stra good

Posted on March 27, 2009 by

This post launches a new, semi-regular feature called “Taste the Place,” which will focus on cuisine to enjoy on the road. The inspiration of new flavors are among the longest-lasting souvenirs you bring home from your travels. This feature may inspire you to take a trip. Or, if your budget doesn’t allow for much travel these days, it’s a way to bring far-flung flavors home.

Park Hyatt Mendoza

Park Hyatt Mendoza

Argentina’s cuisine has been greatly influenced by the Italian immigrants who settled in the country. Boris Davila, chef de cuisine at Grill Q at   the Park Hyatt Mendoza, likes to break an egg over very hot pasta and stir it with a fork for at least five seconds before serving. “The heat will cook the egg, and also add great texture and flavor,” he explains. Think of it as a quick take on traditional pasta carbonara.

Inspired by Davila, I made this pasta last night, using ingredients we had on hand. It’s easy, and the results are luscious.

Argentine-Style Pasta for 2

pastaStirring egg yolks into the hot pasta yields a silky, unctuous dish that makes a nice light dinner with a green salad. Adding a little of the hot cooking water to the yolks prevents them from curdling when added to the pasta. If you want to keep this dish really Argentine, use Reggianito Argentina cheese, the affordable Argentine version of Parmigiano-Reggiano, instead of pecorino Romano.

2 large eggs

6 ounces dry pasta (use any shape you have on hand)

1 ounce pancetta, diced

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

2 ounces (about 1/2 cup) grated pecorino Romano cheese

Freshly ground black pepper

1. Crack eggs and separate yolks from whites; reserve whites for another use. Place yolks in a small bowl; set aside.

2. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water until al dente. 

3. While pasta cooks, heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add pancetta, and cook 5 minutes or until crisp. Add peas; cook 3 minutes or until peas are hot; keep warm.

4. When pasta is done, drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water. Return pasta to pan. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons hot cooking water to egg yolks, stirring with a whisk. Add yolk mixture to pasta, stirring to coat pasta. Gradually add cheese, a small handful at time, stirring until cheese melts. Stir in remaining cooking water as needed to achieve a silky texture (pasta should not be watery). Add a generous grinding of pepper. Serve immediately. Yield: 2 servings.

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Restaurant recession specials

Posted on April 1, 2009 by

 

Restaurants are creating value-driven menus to woo diners and fill empty tables.

Restaurants are creating value-driven menus to woo diners and fill empty tables.

By now, we all know the recession has hit the restaurant business. The effects are especially hard in recession-ravaged cities like New York and Las Vegas, but eateries all over are struggling. The NPD Group, a market research firm, offered a grim forecast earlier this month, noting that restaurant business started dipping in the middle of 2008 and that 2009 will be a very tough year.

“Now we face a much tougher marketplace, much greater uncertainty, and a very tight hold on our pocketbooks,” says Bonnie Riggs, restaurant industry analyst and author of the report, commenting on the current climate.  “Restaurant customers are being bombarded with great offers; they can carefully choose how and where to spend their food dollars. Much of the challenge for operators this year will be having a good understanding of what their customers want.”

Bad news if you own a restaurant, but good news for value-seeking customers.

My mate and I are typical of a lot of people these days. We’re eating in most nights and eating out a lot less than we used to. When we do venture out, it’s on a pretty modest scale–lunch from Tito’s Tacos (the best taco stand in LA, really), for example. And when we dine higher up on the restaurant food chain, we’re pretty demanding. We expect great food, excellent value, and cheerful service. We’re also less willing to cut restaurants much slack if they stumble on any of those factors.

That said, I’ve really enjoyed my recent restaurant forays and believe it’s worth eating out. Here’s how I’m getting the most mileage from restaurant meals:

Opt for a prix fixe menu. Many restaurants, from casual spots to fine-dining establishments, are offering high-value multicourse menus. One example: Border Grill in Santa Monica currently has an awesome 3-course, $18 prix fixe lunch menu with lots of options. I love variety and often have difficulty choosing from the restaurant’s terrific menu, so this bargain seems tailor-made for me. My lunch started with a green corn tamale, followed by a trio of different tacos (chicken, fish, and potato rajas), topped off by chocolate bread pudding. Delightful, and worth every penny.

Let restaurant meals inspire  your home cooking. Last night, I had dinner with friends at Frank Stitt’s wonderful Bottega Cafe in Birmingham, AL. (He’s up for a James Beard Award this year, and I’m rooting for him!) We shared an appetizer of farro salad with fresh peas, beets, and ricotta salata cheese. It was wonderful, fresh, and certainly something I could replicate at home. Only I’d use fresh chickpeas, which have captured my culinary imagination lately. 

Share. More people are splitting entrees these days, and you can do the same with a round of appetizers to share at the table for more variety.

Ask for a doggy bag. Hold your head high and tell the server to bag up the leftovers. You’re paying for the food, so you should get the most mileage out of it. Even items like leftover rice can be spun into a home supper of stir-fried rice the next night. 


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Monday starters

Posted on April 6, 2009 by

New ways, new ingredients

picture-1I love Chef John Ash. He has a creative touch with ingredients, and he’s a terrific teacher. His new online series, “Cooking with America’s Finest Ingredients,” offers videos, recipes, and tips for how to use gourmet salts, cured meats, cheese, oils, vinegars, and more.–Culinary Institute of America/National Association for the Specialty Food Trade

Balancing the vegetarian diet

picture-3In general, vegetarians eat a healthier diet and are less likely be overweight than the rest of us, largely because they consume more plant-based foods. That’s the good news. But a new study focusing on teens and young adults finds vegetarians are at higher risk of eating disorders than the general population.–NutraIngredients-USA.com

Enjoy it while it’s fresh

picture-4Antioxidants in foods don’t last forever, according to a pair of new studies. Green tea and olive oil both lost much of their antioxidant compounds after six months, even when stored unopened and unexposed to light or moisture. The lesson: Purchase both in small amounts you can consume within a few months, and shop a store with a high turnover of merchandise (you don’t want to buy oil or tea that’s been sitting on the store shelf for months).–HealthDay

Cheap restaurant eats

picture-2Tire of eating at home every night? Check out the Gayot Economic Stimulus Plan to find excellent value eats in your ‘hood. Also check out their picks for the best wines under 10 bucks.

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Culinary school update

Posted on April 9, 2009 by

 

Culinary 101: Classic French knife cuts

Culinary 101: Classic French knife cuts

I started culinary school this week. It’s exhilarating and exhausting to embark on what my instructor predicts will be “the best seven months of your life that you’ll never want to do again.” It’s five intense hours a day, five days a week, and each day is an opportunity to build on the skills we were taught the previous day. For example, on Tuesday we were introduced to the classic French knife cuts (and sent home with a potato and a carrot to practice) and prepared ratatouille, a dish involving plenty of knife work, on Wednesday.

I’ve been working with food for awhile now, and a friend wondered if maybe I already knew too much to really benefit from culinary school. Not at all. Although I’ve picked up a lot along the way, there are huge gaps in my knowledge and skills. For example, day one answered a question that’s been nagging me for awhile: What’s the difference between stock and broth. The answer: broth is seasoned; stock is not.

Sad first attempt at tourne potatoes

Sad first attempt at tourne potatoes

Another insight occurred to me on day two, as I struggled to whittle my first tourneed potato. The tourne cut is the considered the most difficult, as it involves shaping a potato (or other vegetable) into a little football with seven equal sides. Mine resembled misshapen tumors. I am not, by nature, a precise cook. It will be an interesting exercise for me to learn the discipline of French cooking, one that will ultimately improve my results in the kitchen.

Much of culinary school is about practice and repetition, and I’ve already begun to reap the benefits of that. I was able to whittle my homework potato into better tournes–not perfect, certainly, but a far better shape.

There will be good days and frustrating days. Yesterday was a good one, as we prepared braised leeks and ratatouille. We bustled through the preparation, practicing knife cuts, sauteing, braising, and presenting the results–on warmed plates–to the instructor. My leeks were cooked just so, she commented, but the sauce needed a bit more lemon. She examined my ratatouille.

Ratatouille that works

Ratatouille that works

“Good knife cuts,” she noted before taking a bite. She sample a bit and paused to consider the results. “Good seasoning,” she said, giving a thumbs up. “Yes, it’s very good.” 

And as I took my dish to the back of the kitchen to gobble the results–culinary school makes you very hungry–I had to agree. Of course, every dish won’t be a winner, and there are bound to be some duds. But it’s a nice way to start.

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Shoes and food

Posted on April 15, 2009 by

 

These shoes are made for workin': Marmalade checks out my Dansko pro clogs, front, which replace the culinary school-issued work shoes.gs, front

These shoes are made for workin': Marmalade checks out my Dansko pro clogs, front, which replace the culinary school-issued work shoes.

“Ooh, you’ll get to wear Danskos all the time,” said my friend Hillari when I told her I was going to culinary school. Hillari is an unabashed champion of the ultra-comfy clogs, which also happen to be favored footwear by those who spend long hours on their feet–like chefs and nurses.

I demurred, saying the school-issued uniform included a pair of food-service, industry-grade, black lace-up shoes. Weighty, steel-toed, nonskid clodhoppers designed strictly for function. Useful features, certainly, especially if you happen to drop a hot, heavy pan on your foot, or when you’re wading through the puddles that inevitably form under the dish sink.

Heavy, steel-toe, nonskid shoes are a blessing if you happen to drop a hot, heavy pan on your foot, or when you’re wading through the puddles that inevitably form under the dish sink.

But by the end of the first week, the things were threatening to hobble me, as my Achilles tendons tightened. Who knew I was such a delicate petal? If I was going to get around the kitchen any faster than a snail’s pace, I needed a solution, and fast. On Sunday–Easter Sunday–I decided to pick up a pair of foot-friendly, but safe, Danskos. So we set out for Nordstrom, that Valhalla of footwear, at the Westside Pavilion. It was closed for Easter. Huh? I got used to religiously observed religious holidays while living in Alabama. But in the kosher canyon of LA’s Westside? Really? My mate consulted Google and found the shoes were carried at A16, up the road. Also closed for the holiday. This was beginning to feel like a conspiracy personally visited upon me by Jesus (my friend, Aimee, who prays for my immortal heathen soul would heartily approve). We decided to head continue heading west, to the REI store in Santa Monica.

My heathen prayers were answered! They had the color, the size, the model I needed. The clodhoppers have been set aside in favor of my cuter, much more comfortable, and therefore more functional clogs. My Achilles tendons have recovered. My feet are happy.

I’m a convert.

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Consomme. It’s a metaphor for life!

Posted on May 4, 2009 by

One of the many cool things about culinary school is the Saturday skills-enhancement workshops. They’re included in the tuition, and a great opportunity to work on whatever you want. You sign up midweek so the school can have the ingredients you’ll need on hand. 

On Saturday, I practiced knife cuts, trimming carrots, celery, and celery into julienne matchsticks. French cooking, like French gardening, is to some extent about turning transforming objects from their wild, natural state to geometric uniformity. Round carrots are rendered into perfect cubes; awkwardly shaped potatoes become football-shaped tournes.

Yuck! Consomme needs to become this mess before it can be beautiful.

Yuck! Consomme needs to become this mess before it can be beautiful.

I planned to use Saturday’s practice knife cuts to make consomme. Consomme is a clear, richly flavored, completely fat-free broth. It’s very expensive when you see it on a restaurant menu. It isn’t hard to make, but it requires patience, attention, and no small measure of nitpickiness. It’s also gross while it cooks–the culinary equivalent of the ugly-duckling-turned-swan.

You put the mirepoix of onion/carrot/celery, plus a little tomato, a couple of egg whites, a few ounces of “clearmeat” (ground chicken breast in this case) in a saucepot, and stir this mess to combine. Throw in a  bay leaf, a few cracked peppercorns, and a parsley sprig for flavor. Add a quart of chicken stock. Put it on the stove and let it simmer. The solids gather and form a “raft” on the surface of the stock, with the proteins in the egg whites and clearmeat and acid in the tomato attracting impurities in the stock. You keep an eye on the raft while it forms, using a spoon to gently create a vent, or “chimney,” in the center. The raft looks disgusting, like the worst frittata you ever saw.

God forbid your raft should sink, or you’ll need to take emergency measures to rescue the consomme. Our textbook devotes pages to saving doomed consomme.

Once the raft has done its dirty job of capturing impurities, it’s time to reveal the beautiful consomme below. You set a chinois (fine-mesh strainer) over a very clean saucepot (you don’t want your consomme to pick up new impurities, after all). Place a coffee filter inside the chinois. Then carefully ladle the consomme into the chinois. It’s not a bad idea to repeat this process–and blot the surface of the soup with a piece of parchment paper–to eliminate any lingering impurities. Put your consomme back on the stove to get piping hot, and add salt to taste.

Beautiful, clear consomme, garnished with brunoise-cut carrot.

Beautiful, clear consomme, garnished with brunoise-cut carrot.

The result of all this is one serving of incredibly richly flavored, gorgeous broth. This is what I’d want when I’m sick, if it weren’t such a production to make. But beauty has its price.

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Ravioli, R.I.P.

Posted on May 5, 2009 by

 

Sadly, these pretty babies did not survive the long, hot drive home.

Sadly, these pretty babies did not survive the long, hot drive home.

Food is an ephemeral pleasure at best. It’s made specifically to be consumed, and you certainly don’t want to even look at food that’s been around for awhile. (Unless, of course, it’s the groovy, kitschy plastic variety used to advertise food at Japanese restaurants.)

Still, you’d like the food to last long enough to actually eat it. So, with that in mind, please indulge me in a moment of silence to commemorate the gorgeous Pumpkin-Sage Ravioli I assembled in my culinary school lab on Saturday. I spent hours crafting them as practice making pasta dough, with the intention of cooking them for supper that night. With a browned butter sauce. With a garnish of fried sage leaves.

Oy, the ambition.

As you can see, from the photo, they turned out lovely. I sandwiched them in layers of parchment paper in a sturdy tin, and dusted them with semolina flour. My mouth watered at the thought of eating them. Pity they went all gooey on the long, warm drive home from Hollywood to Marina del Rey. There was no saving them; they were DOA.

A friend of mine suggested investing in a cooler that plugs into the car’s lighter to avert future such disasters. At the very least, a little ice chest seems like a good idea.

Naturally, I grieved for my sad, dead little ravioli. So, in an effort to lift my spirits, my mate and I headed over to the parking lot at The Brig in Venice, where the Kogi Korean BBQ taco truck was parked for the afternoon. The line for this popular fusion of LA taco truck and Korean fare was long, and we weren’t even sure we’d work our way up to the front in time to order. But the food gods were with us this time. After 45 minutes, I eagerly placed our order for Korean Short Rib Tacos and a Kimchi Quesadilla. They were full of comforting flavor, great texture, wonderful spiciness. They went a long way toward making up for the mourned ravioli.

Such is the healing power of Kogi.

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It’s the towels

Posted on May 8, 2009 by

 

Humble kitchen towels have turned out to be must-have items for culinary school success.

Humble kitchen towels have turned out to be must-have items for culinary school success.

When you start culinary school, your tuition covers a tricked-out knife kit, which includes, of course, various knives, a whisk, a fish spatula, pastry bag tips, and other tools. You’re also given five sets of uniforms–chef’s jackets, checked pants, beanie caps, aprons, and neckerchiefs. I’ve already written about the school-issued shoes.

But among the most useful and versatile items is a set of five white cotton kitchen towels, though I had no idea when I first rummaged through the haul of goodies. “Hmmm, how nice,” I thought, setting them aside to focus on sexier stuff, like the Messermeister knives.

Now that I’ve completed the first five weeks of culinary school, I’d say the towels are easily the most-used item, aside from my the chef’s knife. They’re certainly the most versatile.

That’s because the towels are pressed into service for everything from handling hot pans to wiping down work stations to drying dishes (yes, we have to wash all the dishes, pots, pans, and tools by hand, which makes me appreciate the dishwasher at home all the more) to scrubbing counters and stove tops. By the end of Day 1, I realized I’d need at least five clean towels each day. That called for a stop by Smart & Final to stock up on more towels. I’ve since been back to S&F for still more, since there’s the occasional towel sacrificed to the kitchen gods. My classmates have also stocked up at Costco, though my station partner scored the sweetest deal: a half-dozen thick, thirsty white hand towels for $4 at Bed, Bath, & Beyond.

I covet them.

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Onion confit is easy

Posted on May 12, 2009 by

Anyone who has cooked for awhile knows the culinary world is rife with conflicting information, and there are often several (sometimes many) ways to achieve the same outcome. I used to work at a food magazine where the technique to create a lattice pastry for pie was the source of passionate debate. And the truth was, everyone was right.

Definitions also are fluid. For example, I’ve found at least three definitions for the difference between broth and stock. Some people say stock is made with roasted bones while broth is not. Some of my culinary instructors say the difference is salt: broth is salted, but stock is not. Wayne Gisslen’s Professional Cooking, the textbook I’m using these days, says a broth is made from simmering meat and vegetables, and is usually a byproduct of simmering meat or poultry for a recipe, whereas stock is made from simmering bones (unroasted or roasted) and vegetables.

I’ve come across similar confusion with the definition of confit. Food Lover’s Companion, the go-to reference for many foodies and editors, defines confit as salting and cooking meat in its own fat as a means to preserve it–as in duck or goose confit. Gisslen goes a bit broader, defining confit as a food “saturated with one of the following: vinegar (vegetables); sugar (fruits); alcohol (fruits); fat (poultry).”

So with Gisslen’s definition in mind, I prepared this Red Onion Confit, which is a remarkably easy and versatile condiment. All you do is cook the onions over gentle heat until they’re ultra-tender, sweet, and sour. You can serve the stuff with crackers or toasted baguette as an appetizer (great with gin and tonic), a condiment with grilled or roast meat, or, as I did on a pizza with fontina cheese using the most reliable pizza dough recipe, ever. It’s the new favorite pizza in our household.

Red Onion Confit-Fontina Pizza

Red Onion Confit-Fontina Pizza

Red Onion Confit

Hearty red onions and balsamic vinegar lend this confit vivid flavor. You can experiment with other varieties of onions, different vinegars, and various herbs. The confit will keep in the refrigerator for about 1 week.

Recipe adapted from Le Cordon Bleu.

1 tablespoon butter

1 large red onion, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Pinch of dried thyme

1/2 cup red wine (such as malbec)

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add butter, and cook until browned. Add onion, sugar, salt, pepper, and thyme; stir to combine. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook 5 minutes, or until the onions are tender.

2. Uncover pan, and add the wine, scraping the pan to loosen any browned bits. Cook until the wine almost evaporates. Stir in vinegar. Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes or until the onions are very tender. Stir occasionally. Adjust salt and pepper as needed. Yield: about 1 cup. 

Red Onion Confit-Fontina Pizza

1 recipe Basic Pizza Dough

1 tablespoon cornmeal

1/2 cup shredded fontina cheese

1/2 cup Red Onion Confit

1. Place a pizza stone in oven. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

2. Roll out dough into a 10-inch circle on a floured surface. Transfer dough to a pizza peel or rimless baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Sprinkle dough with cheese. Top with Red Onion Confit. Transfer to preheated pizza stone (the dough should slide off the peel/baking sheet easily, though you may need to use a spatula to guide the dough onto the stone). Bake 9 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and top is bubbly. Yield: 1 pizza.

Posted in Appetizers, Culinary School Adventures | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Any plant foods are good for the planet

Posted on May 17, 2009 by

 

Shopping at the local farmers' market offers variety and supports local growers. But does it reduce your carbon footprint?

Shopping at the local farmers' market offers variety and supports local growers. But does it reduce your carbon footprint?

Reducing our environmental footprint is on everyone’s mind these days, and eating local food plays a big role in that. “Local” also has become a marketing buzzword, as The New York Times’ Kim Severson noted in her terrific story about national food manufacturers seeking ways to jump on the local bandwagon. Severson interviewed big players, like Frito-Lay, about their attempts to inject local fare–and appeal–into mass-market food, as well as Jessica Prentice, the Berkeley, CA, baker who coined the phrase “locavore.”

Prentice advocates eating food sourced within 100 miles of where you live. If you reside in a rich food region, like, say the Bay Area, that’s a challenge you can meet more easily than if you live in, oh, Missoula, MT, where the winters are long and the growing season fleeting. I would argue that greatest success of Prentice and other local-food devotees has been to get the rest of us to take a closer look at where our food comes from and to find out what actually is available locally. When I lived in Alabama–hardly a bastion of agricultural variety, at least compared to California–I was pleasantly surprised to discover locally made goat cheese and high-quality pork, in addition to a reasonable variety of fruits and vegetables.

There’s much to recommend eating locally–or at least regionally–cultivated food, but does it really reduce your carbon footprint? Yes, but not as much as you think.

Recent food safety scares have made local food more attractive to consumers, the thought being that  if there is a food safety concern, it’s easier to trace the source and contain the outbreak. And I certainly like the idea of supporting local farmers–my extended neighbors–especially in this tough economy. There’s also the culinary incentive. A trip to my local farmers’ market offers a choice of many types of carrots, or potatoes, or lettuce, or whatever. The stuff is wonderfully fresh, gorgeous, and inspiring.

But does eating local food reduce my carbon footprint, as touted by local-food advocates? Mmmm….a little. Last year researchers from Carnegie Mellon released an intriguing study reporting that “food miles”–the distance food travels to your table–only account for about 11% of the average household’s food-related greenhouse gas emissions. People’s dietary choices, as opposed to food-source selections, have a much bigger impact. Switching to an entirely locally based diet would lower your greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of driving 1,000 fewer miles per year. Not bad, but simply shifting from meat and dairy to plant-based foods just one day a week would yield the same benefit, regardless of where those plant foods were sourced. That’s because producing red meat and dairy products is energy intensive. If you switched to an entirely plant-based diet, you’d save a whopping 8,000 food miles a year.

Eating more plant foods is good for you and for the planet, says Karen Collins, MS, RD, CDN, of the American Institute for Cancer Research. Limiting red meat consumption to 18 ounces or less per week may reduce your risk of colon cancer, while eating more plant foods (including vegetables, fruits, beans and legumes, and whole grains) is linked with a lower incidence of all types of cancer. The AICR recommends filling your plate at least two-thirds with plant foods. And the health benefits are the same, whether those foods come from your neighborhood farmers’ market or the supermarket.

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Pro baking tricks for home cooks

Posted on May 26, 2009 by

 

Whole Wheat Rolls

Whole Wheat Rolls

One of the fun things about culinary school is picking up tips and tricks to share with friends. Last week, I completed week one of the Intro to Baking course, in which we focused on yeast breads. Like so many things, working with yeast doughs is a matter of practice. And, I’ve decided, yeast doughs are divas of the kitchen–yeast ferments and dough rises in its own good time. In a professional kitchen you can do a few things to manipulate the process, like popping dough in a proofing box to speed up fermentation. Ultimately, though, dough is ready when it’s ready.

Yeast doughs are divas of the kitchen.

That said, I picked up a couple of tricks anyone can do at home. 

 

Plastic wrap and a Sharpie makes it easy to monitor dough as it rises.

Plastic wrap and a Sharpie makes it easy to monitor dough as it rises.

 The first falls under the gee-why-didn’t-I-think-of-that category, and makes it easier to determine if dough as risen enough. When you put kneaded yeast dough into a bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, then use a permanent marker to draw a circle the size of the dough. This makes it simple to tell at a glance if the dough has doubled in size. (You also can press two fingers into the dough, and if the indentation remains, it’s ready.)

The second trick is to use a digital thermometer to test the doneness of bread. This is especially helpful for yeast bread, like pullman loaves or brioche, that is baked in pan, since you can’t pick up a baked loaf and tap the bottom to hear if it sounds hollow. Instead, you slip a thermometer into the side of the bread and when it registers 200F, it’s done.

This is a variation of helpful tip I picked up from the instructor from my previous class to determine when fish is done: Slip the tip of a sharp knife into the side of the fish and hold for 5 seconds. If the tip is warm/hot when you remove it, the fish is ready. This worked like a charm every time, and I ended up with fish that was cooked just right and never overcooked.

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Pasta is tops

Posted on May 27, 2009 by

 

Penne Pasta Toss is idea when you want dinner cheap and in a hurry.

Penne Pasta Toss is ideal when you want dinner cheap and in a hurry.

Americans are anything but carb-phobic these days. According to a new study from the consumer research firm Mintel, 92% of us eat pasta, and one of six Americans reports eating more pasta this year because it’s such a cheap ingredient. It’s versatile, too, which why almost half of the survey’s respondents report they never get bored with the stuff.

One of six Americans is eating more pasta this year because it’s such a cheap ingredient.

Pasta is certainly a must-have staple of the Eat Cheap pantry. We often make some variation of Penne Pasta Toss, while Tagliatelle and Lemon-Cream Sauce with Asparagus and Peas is great for entertaining. Feeling ambitious? Try your hand at Lasagna with Homemade Ricotta and Roasted Vegetables.

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Fruit tart as a Rorschach test? It’s all about perspective.

Posted on May 30, 2009 by

 

Looks count when it comes to fruit tart.

Looks count when it comes to fruit tart.

Presentation is a big part of what you learn in culinary school. How food is designed and plated is nearly as important as how it tastes. Some might argue it’s just as important, since food has to look appealing before someone will pick up a fork or spoon and dig in.

Some might argue that appearance is just as important as taste, since food has to look appealing before someone will grab a fork or spoon and dig in.

It’s a good discipline for me to learn. I tend to hit the mark on flavors and textures, but my plating skills leave something to be desired. Or, rather, they’re on the rustic side, if you want to be charitable. As you can see from my first attempt at Classic Fruit Tart, pictured above, I’m still working on it. We made these in our Intro to Baking class yesterday. While I labored to turn out my rather plain-Jane rendition, many of my classmates created artistic, even architectural designs with strawberries, kiwi, blackberries, mandarin oranges, and other fruit.

As I struggled to arrange my fruit neatly on its bed of pate sucree and pastry cream, it occurred to me that baking shares a lot of qualities with the scrap-booking and home crafts crowd. Both love intricacy and detail. What I consider fussy, they consider doing it right. And, indeed, their results are stunning. And appetizing. 

Mine are thought-provoking and deep, as I learned when a classmate strolled over to have a look at my efforts. I thought my tart was OK–pretty good for me, actually.

“Hmm, it looks a bit like womb,” he ventured.

“A womb?” I asked, gesturing toward my uteral region to be sure I’d heard correctly. It gets loud in the kitchen.

“Yeah,” he answered. “The orange looks like a little baby protected by the fruit…” He explained that he’d spent a year in art school, so he tended to look at things a bit differently.

But when I took another look at my tart, I could see he was right: the mandarin oranges arranged in the middle did look a bit like a fetus curled up in a protective circle of blueberries, raspberries, kiwi, and strawberries. Check it out  from another angle:

 

Classic Fetus Tart?

Classic Fetus Tart?

I was tickled by my classmate’s observation. As he pointed out, food can be an edible Rorschach test, and my humble tart suddenly became a whole lot more interesting. Maybe not more appetizing–fetus tart isn’t for everyone–but certainly more intriguing.

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The cat ate my homework

Posted on June 8, 2009 by

 

Moe stands guard, waiting for fresh baked goods.

Moe stands guard, waiting for fresh baked goods.

 When you’re in culinary school, you can say, “The dog ate my homework.” There’s a good chance she has. I brought home some honey wheat rolls the other day and made the mistake of leaving them on the kitchen counter while my mate and I scooted out to run a quick errand. Rascal has been pretty good about not counter-surfing for food lately, but apparently the temptation was too much. When we drove up to the house, there was Rascal in the window, a honey wheat roll in her mouth and tail waggin’. She’d gobbled, like, seven rolls in the space of 10 minutes.

But the cat?

Our cat Moe is a tiny little white kitty, weighing all of about 7 pounds. At 15 (we think), he’s pretty elderly. He’s always had a thing for baked goods. In his younger days, more than once, he swiped a loaf of bread, dragged it off, and clawed open the packaging, and nibbled away. 

Brioche a tete, before baking, and before Moe.

Brioche a tete, before baking, and before Moe.

Apparently, age and frailty haven’t made a dent in his passion for breads, cakes, and muffins. The same day Rascal decimated the wheat rolls, Moe joined the fun. A few days later, I brought home a gorgeous brioche a tete, which I left tightly wrapped in plastic on the kitchen counter. It had disappeared the following morning, and I assumed my brother, who was visiting and really likes brioche had eaten it. Nope. Moe had stolen into the kitchen in the dark of night, snagged the thing (which was about as big as he is), and dragged it to another room and ate it. In a rare case of inter-species cooperation, Rascal polished the remains off in the morning.

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If you own a stand mixer, you want this attachment

Posted on June 10, 2009 by

 

Beat Blade scrapes the bowl of a stand mixer, so you don't have to.

Beater Blade scrapes the bowl of a stand mixer, so you don't have to.

I wrapped up the Intro to Baking Class at culinary school last week. As you might imagine, one of the most-used pieces of equipment was a stand mixer. The school has both super-sturdy Hobart mixers and fairly sturdy KitchenAid Professional bowl-lift models. I usually grabbed a Kitchen Aid because they’re lighter for me to carry across the lab and similar to the KitchenAid Artisan model I’ve used at home for years.

Professional culinary equipment often is superior to home versions, since it’s intended for high-volume use. But this was one case where I longed for something sitting in a drawer at home. (Actually, the second case, since I still prefer the Mac chef’s knife I use at home over the Messermeister version in the school-issued tool kit.) The school’s mixers use the manufacturer-issued metal paddle attachment. These do the job, but you often have to stop the mixer so you can scrape the bowl to ensure all the ingredients are combined. 

Professional culinary equipment often is superior to home versions, since it’s intended for high-volume use. But this was one case where I longed for something sitting in a drawer at home.

“Man, they need a Beater Blade,” I told my lab partner. The Beater Blade is an aftermarket paddle attachment with rubber “bumpers” that scrape the bowl during mixing. I discovered the Beater Blade about a year ago, and it works well with heavy cookie doughs and delicate batters. I have no idea how well a Beater Blade would stand up to the frequent use of a professional kitchen, but they are a must-have for home bakers who own stand mixers.

Beater Blades cost about $25, and they’re available for KitchenAid’s tilt-head and bowl-lift models, as well as Cuisinart, Viking, and Delonghi stand mixers.

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Safe food is good food

Posted on June 16, 2009 by

 

Poultry tops the list of foods that cause foodbourne illnesses, but smart handling will ensure it's safe. (Photo by Robert Pikul/Dreamstime.)

Poultry tops the list of foods that cause foodbourne illnesses, but smart handling will ensure it's safe. (Photo by Robert Pikul/Dreamstime.)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report last week, noting that poultry (including eggs) tops the list of foods linked to foodborne disease outbreaks. Poultry accounted for 21 percent of single-food outbreaks, followed by leafy greens and fruits/nuts, in 2006, the year covered by the CDC’s report.

These days, I’m in the Meat Identification & Fabrication class at culinary school, which means food safety is much on my mind. Last week was spent breaking down whole chickens and ducks, as well as scrubbing scales off, gutting, and filleting whole fish. With that comes, frequent sanitation and carefully avoid cross-contamination. 

That’s because, like it or not, raw meat, poultry, and seafood harbors all manner of bacteria you want to keep out of your food. Common sense and diligence go a long way toward ensuring food is safe, and the same basic principles apply, whether you’re cutting up a chicken for restaurant service or or prepping ingredients to grill dinner in the back yard:

Clean

Make sure your hands, tools, and surfaces stay clean. Wash all three after handling any raw meat or seafood. Hot, soapy water will do the trick.

Separate

Cross-contamination is the big issue. Never use the same utensils and cutting boards for handling raw and cooked food (unless you wash utensils and cutting boards thoroughly after using them for raw ingredients). Also, be to use a bowl, tray, or plate to transport raw meat or seafood across the kitchen (or through the house the grill outside). Elizabeth Karmel, of Girls at the Grill, has a great tip for grillers: Invest in two pairs of long-handled tongs. Wrap red electrical tape around the handle of one, and green around the handle of the other. The red pair is for handling raw ingredients only, while the green pair is for cooked. Also take an extra plate or tray out to the grill for cooked food.

Cook  properly

Undercooked food can harbor harmful bacteria. Use a digital instant-read thermometer to ensure meat and poultry is cooked to the proper internal temperature. According to the USDA, poultry should reach an internal temperature of 165 F; roasts, steaks, and fish, 145 F; and ground beef and pork, 160 F. Remember that food continues to cook when removed for heat–called “carry-over” cooking–so pull meat from the grill or oven a few degrees early, and it will come up the proper temperature while it stands before slicing.

Chill

Get food into the refrigerator or freezer promptly after bringing it home from the store. Defrost frozen food in the refrigerator, never on the counter. And chill leftovers quickly (divide large amounts into smaller portions so they cool faster).

For more info, bookmark Fight Bac!, the site created by the Partnership for Food Safety Education. It’s a great quick reference for food-safety practices.

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Tasty links

Posted on June 18, 2009 by

Seems to be all about nutrition this week:

Picture 4Sodium patrol: Making salt saltier (so you eat less)–Little Stomaks

 

 

 

Picture 3Would-be urban gardener: I have the rooftop, but not the garden. Maybe this will inspire my not-so-green thumb.–The New York Times

 

 

Are Americans will to pay the cost of good nutrition? Eh, maybe, according to a new survey–NutraIngedients-USA.com

Some people won’t lose weight, even if you pay them. Or, at least, money ain’t a great weight-loss motivator.–Cornell University

Picture 9Beware the box: Lia Huber, founder of the Nourish Network, has a terrific weekly “Nibble to Noodle” newsletter in which she offers tidbits about nutrition, food, and good eats. Visit Lia’s site to sign up for her e-newsletter (with recipes!). This week, she tackles overblown nutrition claims found on packaged food claims:

I walked up and down the supermarket aisles last week with a keen eye towards what packages were promising and I found that, for the most part, the bolder a product proclaimed its virtues the less likely it was to be good for me. 
 
Take Reduced Fat Ritz Crackers, for instance. The green stripe at the bottom of the box draws my eye towards a sunny icon proclaiming the snack to be a “sensible solution.” They have half the fat of original Ritz, no cholesterol and little saturated fat; more than enough to convince a busy shopper to lob that box into their cart and feel good about it. But let’s take a closer look at those claims, shall we?
  • No Cholesterol and Low in Saturated Fat – These phrases typically appeal to those looking out for their cardiovascular health (and bravo to you for doing so!). Where it gets misleading is that dietary cholesterol has turned out to have much less effect on our bodies than previously thought; it’s the types of fat we consume, and their respective impact on LDL and HDL cholesterol, that matter. Saturated fat raises harmful LDL, but it also raises helpful HDL so the net effect isn’t too terribly awful. Trans fat–identified either by gram in the nutritional panel or by the term partially hydrogenated in the ingredients list–is by far the worst type of fat because it both raises LDL and lowers HDL. So let’s flip the box over and see what’s there. The nutritional panel lists trans fat at 0 grams, but because a product can contain up to .5 grams of trans fat and still list the amount at 0, I like to double-check the ingredients list for partially-hydrogenated oils. And there, right in the middle of the list, is partially-hydrogenated cottonseed oil. So much for those benefits.  

  • Half the Fat – True, at 2 grams per serving these Ritzes contain half the fat of normal Ritzes which weigh in at 4 grams. But what does that really tell us? If we’re concerned about the fat itself, we already know that these are made with a less-than-ideal type. And if we’re equating fat grams with whether or not the crackers will make us fat, we’re looking in the wrong place. Calories (or more specifically, an excess of calories) cause weight gain, not total fat grams. These Reduced Fat Ritz have 70 calories per serving–not bad, until you consider that a serving is only 5 crackers. Up that to a more realistic 10 and you’re looking at 140 calories, roughly seven percent of an average daily “calorie budget” of 2,000.

So here you have a snack with virtually no value for your body that gobbles up close to a tenth of your allotted calories for the day and includes a downright dangerous type of fat. This is a sensible solution? For whom . . . us or Nabisco?

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Cookie monster

Posted on June 20, 2009 by

 

Pass up the refrigerated cookie dough and make your own.

Pass up the refrigerated cookie dough and make your own.

Uh, oh, Nestle has initiated a voluntary recall (at the FDA’s prompting, but, still) of their Toll House refrigerated cookie dough, which may be tainted with E. coli. More than 60 people have gotten sick from the stuff since March, and about two dozen have been hospitalized. No one has died from eating the dough or baked cookies.

If ever cookie lovers needed motivation to make their own goodies from scratch, this is it. Try our easy Oatmeal Chocolate-Chip Cookies. The best part: you can tailor them to suit your taste.

C’mon, baby, it ain’t hard. And we won’t tell if you sneak a taste of the raw dough. (Not recommended, ’cause of the raw eggs in it, but some of us like to live on the food-safety edge anyway.)

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What we’re drinking now

Posted on June 23, 2009 by

 

Heady and yummy, Pascual Toso malbec is a delicioso find for 15 bucks a bottle.

Heady and yummy, Pascual Toso malbec is a delicioso find for 15 bucks a bottle.

Yesterday was one of those Mondays when we needed a treat at the end of the day. “Surprise me,” said the text from my mate. That’s a tall order, so I stopped by our favorite bipolar wine merchant in Marina del Rey. We affectionately refer to him as Angry Man. As in, “I’m going to buy some wine from Angry Man.” 

Now, let me put in my 2 cents about wine merchants. I’ve noticed they tend to be a cranky bunch. I think it’s because they open a wineshop with the hopes and dreams and excitement about sharing their love all things grape with the public only to have people turn up demanding, “What do you have that’s under 10 bucks and good?” The merchant is left thinking, “I didn’t open my dream shop to compete with effin’ Trader Joe’s.” So their good stuff gets pushed to the back of the store while they end up promoting the cheap stuff at the front. It’s like opening a cheese shop where people only want to buy Velveeta.

But I also know that people who love wine can appreciate good sippers across the price spectrum. (My friend, wine and spirits writer Jeffery Lindenmuth, is particularly good at sniffing out great, food-friendly value wines–check out his roundup of box wines.)

I’ve also found that nothing makes a cranky wine merchant’s face light up like the words, “I’d like to buy a case today.” That was the case a few months ago, when I went in to purchase a case of French Cahors malbec (the so-called “legendary black wine of France,” which my mate had discovered at Angry Man’s shop). Angry Man only had about 6 bottles on hand, so I asked him to recommend something in a similar vein (and price). He was practically giddy as he offered up a bottle of Pascual Toso Malbec from Argentina. “This is a fantastic wine for the price,” he said of the $15 bottle. Sold!

When we sampled the wine, we were immediately seduced by its rich, plummy, berry qualities. It became our new favorite wine. And yesterday a bottle of it paired beautifully with the leftover filet mignon with Bordelaise sauce I brought home from school. 

Thank you, Angry Man.

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My new love: semifreddo

Posted on June 24, 2009 by

 

Blueberry Semifreddo: a creamy treat just in time for summer

Blueberry Semifreddo: a cool, creamy treat just in time for the dog days of summer

A Facebook friend has been joking that she’s auditioning candidates for the role of her summer boyfriend. Well, I’ve found mine. He’s smooth, cool, and Italian. His name is Semifreddo. He’s a soft-serve style of ice cream that doesn’t require an ice cream maker, which in my opinion makes him an ideal low-maintenance lover.

Semifreddo requires nothing more than gently cooking some eggs and sugar on the stovetop, combining them with whipped cream and flavorings, and freezing the stuff in a metal tin. The result: A cool, creamy, rich dessert.

These days, I’m all about paring down kitchen tools. I gave away a lot of pans and gadgetry when I moved from Alabama back to Southern California. Not that my mate would believe me, given the amount of kitchen crap squirreled away in drawers and cupboards all over our crib. But, really, you can have too much of a good thing. I just jettisoned the curved torne knife (used to whittle annoying football-shaped vegetable tornes) from my knife kit, since a regular paring knife does the job just as well. Or, at least, not any worse.

Next up, I’m eyeing the ice cream maker attachment I purchased for the KitchenAid stand mixer last year. It works just fine, but I’ve used the thing exactly once. Ever. I’m not even sure I could find the bowl since I’ve moved. And in any case, there’s not really room for it to roost in the freezer, where it needs to chill for at least 12 hours before using it. That would involve moving the vodka, and why would we want to do that?

So on Sunday I was developing recipes for a story and ventured into the world of semifreddo, which requires nothing more than gently cooking some eggs and sugar on the stovetop, combining them with whipped cream and flavorings, and freezing the stuff in a metal tin. The result: A dessert that’s cool, creamy, and rich–just what you want on a summer evening. I’ll post my recipe for Blueberry Semifreddo when it goes live, but in the meantime, you can try Donna Hay’s tasty Raspberry Semifreddo.

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…and here’s the recipe for blueberry semifreddo

Posted on July 2, 2009 by

 

Serve up ice cream sandwiches made with Blueberry Semifreddo and gingersnaps.

Serve up ice cream sandwiches made with Blueberry Semifreddo and gingersnaps.

Last week, I offered a tease to a recipe for blueberry semifreddo. Well, here it is, along with other ways with blueberries, just in time for July 4th. Enjoy!

Blueberry Semifreddo

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Beanie baby

Posted on July 6, 2009 by

 

A bag of Yellow Indian Woman Beans inspires a midsummer soup.

A bag of Yellow Indian Woman Beans inspires a midsummer soup.

Soup in July? Something cool and civilized, maybe, like gazpacho or cucumber. But when I eyed a bag of heritage Indian Woman Beans the other day, something thick, hearty, and spicy came to mind. And since I’m on the beach on Southern California, where the nippy June gloom has followed us into July, I went with it. 

I’d picked up a 12-ounce bag of the dried beans on sale at World Market, where they carry heritage beans by Great Valley, for less than $3. Rancho Gordo also sells the beans for $4.95 per pound. Yes, that’s a lot for dried beans, but you can expect to pay a premium for anything with the world “heirloom” or “heritage” in the name. I’d never seen Yellow Indian Woman beans before but was intrigued by their petite size and lovely light brown (OK, yellowish) hue. Info on the label noted that the beans, which have a creamy texture when cooked and flavor similar to black beans or pinto beans, were brought to America by Swedish immigrants in the 19th century. Other sources I checked said the same thing, so either we’re all just reading the same Wikipedia entry or it’s true. Origins of the bean’s politically incorrect  name are murkier.

So I found myself with a little time on my hands, a cool day, and a hankering for soup. The result is this recipe, which got two thumbs up from my mate, so it’s a keeper.

Yellow Indian Woman Bean Soup

Using a pressure cooker means the soup comes together in a hurry, and you can use the cooker to “quick soak” the beans, as I did in step 1. Adding a whole jalapeno infuses it with pleasant heat. If you can’t find Yellow Indian Woman beans, substitute black beans. I used unsalted homemade chicken stock, but you could use store-bought low-sodium chicken broth and adjust the amount of added salt to taste.

1 (12-ounce) bag dried Yellow Indian Woman beans

1 (4-ounce) link Mexican chorizo

1 cup finely chopped onion

2 minced garlic cloves

4 cups unsalted chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 jalapeno chile pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Additional cilantro, for garnish

 

Yellow Indian Woman Soup

Yellow Indian Woman Soup

1. Sort through the beans, discarding any split beans. Place beans in a 6-quart pressure cooker; add water to cover by 2 inches. Lock lid in place, and bring to high pressure over high heat. Reduce heat, and cook 2 minutes. Release pressure using automatic pressure release OR carefully transfer cooker to sink and run cool water over rim until pressure drops. Remove lid, tilting lid away from you to allow steam to escape. Drain beans.

 

2. Return cooker to stove. Remove chorizo from casing; add chorizo to cooker over medium heat. Cook 5 minutes, or until chorizo renders its fat, using a spoon to crumble chorizo. Add onion, and cook 3 minutes. Add garlic, and cook 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add drained beans, chicken stock, cumin, and oregano. Use a sharp knife to cut a slit in the jalapeno; add to cooker. Lock lid in place, and bring to high pressure over high heat. Reduce heat, and cook 20 minutes or until beans are tender. Release pressure using automatic pressure release OR carefully transfer cooker to sink and run cool water over rim until pressure drops. Remove lid, tilting lid away from you to allow steam to escape. Stir in salt and pepper. Discard jalapeno. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup to desired texture (or transfer soup in batches to a food processor or blender). Stir in 2 tablespoons cilantro; cook, uncovered, 5 minutes. Serve garnished with additional cilantro. Yield: 6 servings.

307 calories; 7 g total fat (2 g sat); 19 g protein; 44 g carbohydrates; 9 g fiber; 14 mg cholesterol; 551 mg sodium

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Smart way to save

Posted on July 6, 2009 by

052030_mdFile this one under “why didn’t I think of that?” The folks at Fine Cooking magazine have a new bookazine out: Big Buy. It’s all about making the most of food you buy in bulk, from bulk-bin beans to seasonal farmers’ market bargains to big hunks of meat and mondo chunks of cheese from warehouse stores. With recipes, of course. And it’s $9.99 with free shipping if you bite by July 22. Yep, I’ll bite.

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A trend that makes the cut

Posted on July 9, 2009 by

 

The whole hog

The whole hog

Like many people, I’ve long been in the habit of purchasing parts–skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, pork chops, fish filets, and the like–at the meat counter. Many shoppers are willing to pay a premium for the convenience of prepped meat, poultry, and seafood. Also, we may not know how to break down a whole chicken or clean and filet a fish. Your grandmother probably could do it with her eyes closed, but could you?

Old-school butchery is making a comeback, and butchers are the newest stars on the culinary scene.

I certainly couldn’t–at least, not very well–until I took the Meat Identification and Fabrication class at culinary school. The three-week class was a crash course in understanding different cuts of beef, lamb, veal, and pork, as well as gaining loads of practice cutting up whole chickens and ducks, and filleting all kinds of fish.

Of course, despite that, I’m no expert. Butchery is an art and skill that can’t be mastered in three weeks. But I did enjoy the satisfaction of cooking fish that I’d cleaned and filleted myself, and sauteing the breast of a chicken I’d just broken down.

The class was also particularly well timed, since a do-it-yourself approach to meat, poultry, and fish is making a strong comeback, along with other budget-friendly, old-timey, back-to-basics kitchen skills like canning. Part of it is a desire to save some coin–whole or large cuts are cheaper than parts–but it’s also an extension of the local, know-your-food movement. In other words, pork chops come from an actual pig, not a tightly sealed Styrofoam tray. People are doing this in all kinds of ways, from purchasing meat and poultry from local producers at the neighborhood farmers’ market to raising their own livestock. In one elaborate experiment, an Alabama-based magazine editor raised and slaughtered a pig–and documented it in the fascinating blog Killing Dinner. Top-drawer chefs, like Blue Hill’s Dan Barber, are bringing butchering back to restaurant kitchens in order to take advantage of high-end animal products, like hazenut-fed pigs and grass-fed beef. The newest culinary stars are butchers, according to The New York Times.

Home cooks are jumping on the bandwagon, for quality and cost-savings. If you know how to clean and filet a fish, you can inspect the whole fish before you buy to ensure it’s truly fresh–i.,e, with bright eyes, intact scales, pinky-red gills, and a fresh scent (or no scent). Buying a whole chicken is cheaper than parts, and you can get a lot of mileage out of it. A pound of organic skinless boneless chicken breasts is $9 at my local supermarket; a 4-pound whole organic chicken is less than $8 (and that’s for a premium bird from Whole Foods). I roasted one on Sunday night. Two of us ate the breast halves on Sunday; I cut the meat off the thighs and drumsticks for tacos on Tuesday; and I’ll use the carcass to make stock this weekend.

And, of course, there’s the emerging trend of bringing locally raised/caught meat, poultry, and seafood directly from producers to consumers. NPR just reported on CSFs (community-supported fisheries) in New England, which will may help small-scale fishermen and whole fishing communities survive while bringing high-quality, local seafood to Boston-area residents. CSFs work just like CSAs. Can dedicated CSRs (community-supported ranching) or CSPs (community-supported poultry) be far off? In fact, many CSAs already include delivery options for local meat, poultry, and dairy products.

Of course, the trick for many of the Boston CSF’s new customers is what to do with the whole fish they get each week. And to help with that, organizers offer classes in the fine–and nearly lost–art of cleaning and filleting a fish.

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Truck stop

Posted on July 14, 2009 by

 

Moveable feast: Business is so good that Kogi has added a third truck to their fleet.

Moveable feast: Business is so good that Kogi has added a third truck to their fleet.

In Los Angeles, summer 2009 will likely go down as the Year of the Upscale Taco Truck.

Of course, catering trucks–a k a taco trucks, a k a roach coaches–have plied the streets of Los Angeles forever, feeding hungry construction workers, office worker bees, and college students for generations. Late last year, the cheerful team at Kogi Korean BBQ, led by Executive Chef Ron Choi, put their own spin on the concept by combining the salty, zippy, pickly flavors of Korean barbecue with the Mexican fare Angelenos love so dearly. The result is delectable specialties like spicy Korean Short Rib Tacos and Kimchi Quesadillas. Kogi’s crews started tweeting their whereabouts, and a trend was born. Fans can catch up with them at different stops all over the city, or stop by their brick-and-mortar location at the Alibi Room in Culver City.

We first caught up with Kogi a few months ago, on a Saturday afternoon, when one of their trucks was parked in the lot at The Brig on Abbot Kinney in Venice. Kogi had gotten a lot of local press, and the line wound through the parking lot. 

“This is nuts,” said my mate. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“It’s supposed to be really good,” I replied. So we waited. An hour. And made it just under the wire to put in our order before the truck fired up to head to its next stop. We took our cache over to a bench and dove into the short rib and spicy pork tacos, with a side of kimchi quesadilla. It was salty, spicy, sweet, crunchy, and rich. It was good. And at 2 bucks a taco, it was a fantastic cheap-eat treat. 

Kogi Korean Short Rib and Spicy Pork Tacos

Kogi Korean Short Rib and Spicy Pork Tacos

I’ve had a jones for Kogi ‘cue ever since, so on Saturday we went back to The Brig’s parking lot. The line was a bit shorter (thanks, in part, to a the madness dying down a little and another Kogi truck-in-training also parked at the site). I ordered up a mess o’ short rib and spicy pork tacos. They were just as soul-satisfyingly delicious as last time. Yep, I’m hooked.

But much as I adore Kogi’s food, and their sweet tweets, there are signs the mobile-food-truck trend has peaked. Chi-chi catering trucks now roam the streets of cities all over the country (to follow them, check out Serious Eats’ handy directory of mobile eateries that Twitter). In LA, Kogi has been joined a plehtora of trucks, carts, vans, and bikes, each serving its own funky twist on the concept. There’s the Don Chow Taco truck (Sino-Mex fare), and the Coolhaus ice cream van (architecturally inspired ice cream sandwiches), Let’s be Frank (grass-fed meat hot dogs) and Sprinkles‘ cupcake truck. It’s so trendy that Dwell magazine had a whole panel discussion devoted to mobile street food at its recent design fest in LA. Dwell even organized a Mobile Restaurant Row–a sort of confab of cutting-edge catering trucks.

I very nearly hopped in the car to check it out…until I was struck by the stupidity of driving across town to eat from a truck. Um, isn’t the idea that the truck comes to you, or at least your general vicinity? It’s the delightful serendipity of stumbling out of work (or a bar late at night) and the truck has appeared, as if by magic, to serve up the comforting, unfussy fare you crave. Now, that’s a trend that’s a classic.

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Crepe maker

Posted on July 14, 2009 by

 

Homemade Nutella-Banana Crepes bring a touch of Parisian street life to our humble American abode.

Homemade Nutella-Banana Crepes bring a touch of Parisian street life to our humble American abode.

Neither my schedule nor my budget has room for a trip to France this summer. So if I want to enjoy my favorite Parisian street food–Nutella crepes–I’ll have to join the (very) long line for Acadie Crepes at the Sunday Santa Monica Farmers’ Market or make them myself. I generally avoid lines, so I was pleased when we covered crepe-making in culinary school last week. 

I’d never made crepes at home, and it’s easy–dumb easy–and fun. If I can do it, you can, too. I turned out a bunch of them for breakfast on Sunday, filled those puppies with Nutella (OK, Ralph’s cheapo house brand of hazelnut-chocolate spread) and sliced banana, and we enjoyed a touch of Gay Pareeeee in Marina del Rey. Hmmm, it went so well that maybe I could buy a catering truck and join LA’s current mobile food truck mania. So, in honor of Bastille Day, here are some crepes:

Nutella-Banana Crepes

You don’t need a dedicated crepe pan for this; any nonstick skillet will do. And use a rubber spatula to turn the crepe. The number of crepes you get depends on the size of the skillet. I used a 10-inch skillet and ended up with 9 (8-inch-ish) crepes. To freeze leftovers: stack cooled crepes between layers of parchment or waxed paper and place in a zip-top plastic bag.

4 ounces all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

1 cup 1% low-fat milk (or any milk is fine)

3/4 ounce butter

Canola oil

Nutella (chocolate-hazelnut spread)–use a lot, don’t be shy.

Sliced banana

1. Combine the flour, salt, and eggs in a food processor; process until well-combined. With the motor running, add milk through food chute; process until the mixture is the consistency of heavy cream. Strain the batter through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl.

2. Heat the butter in a nonstick skillet; cook until butter until is browned. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. Whisk the browned butter into the batter. Cover, and let stand 30 minutes.

3. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Soak a paper towel in canola oil; rub surface of pan with oil-soaked paper towel. Use a small ladle to add 2 to 4 tablespoons batter to pan (just enough to coat the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of batter), swirling the pan to coat. Cook about 2 minutes, or until the edges are brown and the bottom is golden (use a rubber spatula to lift the crepe and peek at the bottom). Flip the crepe; cook another minute or so until the other side is golden. Transfer crepe to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with oil and remaining batter. If crepes cool too much, you can warm them in a low oven.

4. To assemble, spread Nutella (how much depends on how generous you’re feeling) on half of a crepe; top with sliced bananas and fold in half. Garnish with additional Nutella and bananas. Bon appetit!

(Adapted from Professional Cooking, 6th Edition, by Wayne Gisslen.)

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Smart scale

Posted on July 13, 2009 by

 

Sexy scale: Oxo's kitchen scales has many features to appreciate.

Sexy scale: Oxo's kitchen scales has many features to appreciate.

Personal scales, as in a scale to measure my weight, are a waste of time. Don’t care to step on one, thanks. Knowing whether my weight is up or down or holding steady has never influenced whether I’ll go in for a second (or third) cookie.

But kitchen scales are another matter. A few years ago a colleague sold me on the benefits of a kitchen scale and I became a vocal convert, blathering on about why everyone should have a kitchen scale to anyone who would listen (and a few who wouldn’t). Even before starting culinary school, I used one to measure ingredients for baking. If you don’t have one, you should. Trust me, it will make your cooking life easier and your food better.

For the most part, the culinary school I’m attending has awesome labs stocked with good equipment. But the scales, frankly, suck. They’re old-school spring models of questionable accuracy, thanks to abuse by students. So by the time we hit the baking class, I started toting my digital Salter scale to school. It’s does a great job. But it’s also made of glass, and I’m clumsy, so it’s only a matter of time until I drop the thing and it shatters into a million pieces.

Good thing I have an acquaintance at Oxo, who was willing to send me one of their top-of-the-line kitchen scales to test drive. This baby has several winning features that make it a keeper:

  • An 11-pound capacity. That’s a lot, but it came in handy when I needed to weight biggo hunks of meat in my meat fabrication class.
  • A removable stainless-steel platform. That makes it easy to clean without potentially damaging the scale’s electronics.
  • A pull-out digital display that lights up (!). That’s perhaps the sweetest of all, since the display on my other scale is often overshadowed by a bowl or plate. Not a problem with this one.

This model is $50, but Oxo also has a scaled-down (ha! pun intended) version with a 5-pound capacity for $30. Its display also pulls out (but doesn’t light up), and the platform can’t be removed. But for most home cooks, it will do the job quite nicely. So take your pick. Either way, it’s the kind of scale you’ll like to use.

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Wine for cancer patients

Posted on July 23, 2009 by

 

A nice bottle of red wine may be an appropriate gift for a friend diagnosed with cancer.

A nice bottle of red wine may be an appropriate gift for a friend diagnosed with cancer.

When someone you know is diagnosed with cancer, your first instinct might be to commiserate and offer to drive them to radiation and chemotherapy. You might also want to buy her a case of really nice red wine to help her recuperate.

Wine Spectator reports on an Italian study that found women undergoing  radiation therapy for breast cancer fared better if they drank moderate amounts of red wine than women who didn’t drink wine. And moderate consumption was the key: Researchers found that women who drank just one glass of red wine per day had less skin toxicity damage from radiation than women who drank no wine, less wine, or even more wine.

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Tuesday starters

Posted on July 28, 2009 by

FregolaHow did they know?

I stopped by Mozza 2 Go–the latest addition to the LA eatery/pizzeria/pizza school co-owned by Nancy Silverton, Mario Batali, and Joe Bastianich–to pick up a mushroom pizza to go. While waiting for my pie, I couldn’t help picking up a few other goodies, including Silverton’s heavenly butterscotch budino and a sack of fregola (the toasted, pebble-shaped Sardinian pasta that’s making its way onto American menus). A couple days later, Gina DePalma, the pastry chef at Batali’s Babbo in New York, posted a tempting recipe for Saffron Fregola with Potatoes and Peas on Serious Eats. I tried it this weekend, and, yum. It does the pricey pasta justice.

Lean cuisine

Picture 4Fresh may be best, but for cheap eats, shopping the day-old shelf can save a lot of cash.–Recessionwire

Eating better for better health

Picture 6Good-for-you foods are expected to burgeon over the next decade, according to an NPD Group survey. That includes organic fare, low-cal foods, and shifting habits like enjoying petite appetizers as entrees. NPD experts chalk this up to an aging population that wants to take better care of itself. Expected to drop: quick-assembly lunch and dinner foods.

I suspect our ailing health-care system may be contributing to this trend, as aging boomers realize a healthy diet may prevent–or at least minimize–costly ailments in their golden years. And there’s mounting evidence that lifestyle measures, such as diet and exercise, do indeed work. A 20-year study of nurses found those who maintained a healthy body weight, exercised at least 30 minutes a day, and ate a DASH-like diet were less likely to have hypertension than nurses who didn’t.

Shameless self-promotion

Picture 5Looking for ideas to use up the last of summer’s strawberries? Check out my story on LifeScript.com.

Oy vey ich schmear

Picture 7Can a doll’s lunch stir up controversy? It can if it’s the bagel toted by Rebecca Rubin, American Girl’s new doll whose story is rooted in the early-19th-century  Jewish tenements of New York’s Lower East Side. The orange substance on the bagel in Rebecca’s school lunch looks suspiciously like…Kraft American Cheese Singles. The Food Section‘s Josh Friedlander is following the case. Too bad my own grandma, who would have been Rebecca’s contemporary, isn’t around to clear up the question, what would be appropriate on a circa-1914 bagel? Come to think of it, she probably spent her school lunch breaks making deliveries of the family’s bathtub hooch during Prohibition.

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Go ahead, be blue

Posted on August 4, 2009 by
Blue- and red-hued foods may help improve cholesterol.

Blue- and red-hued foods may help improve cholesterol.

If you’ve been gorging on summer-fresh blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and other red and purple foods, good for you. They’re loaded with anthocyanins, flavonoids that lend these foods their distinctive shade. Anthocyanins have been credited with fighting cancer, diabetes, inflammation, and neurological disorders.

Now the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports the flavonoids may also improve cholesterol. Chinese researchers found that twice-daily supplements containing 160mg of anthocyanins raised blood levels of  helpful HDL cholesterol and lowered harmful LDL cholesterol in study volunteers. Of course, you could just eat some berries–100 g (about 3.5 ounces) of blueberries contains 208 mg of anthocyanins–and enjoy other benefits, like the flavor and fiber. They’re great out of hand, or in all manner of sweet and savory recipes.

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Food stamps are fattening

Posted on August 10, 2009 by
A tight food-stamp budget doesn't leave much room for fresh fruit, and that may contribute to recipients' higher body weight.

A tight food-stamp budget doesn't leave much room for fresh fruit, and that may contribute to recipients' higher body weight, according to a new study.

It’s certainly not what the federal government intends, but a long-term, nationwide study finds the U.S. Food Stamp Program may contribute to the obesity of recipients. Food stamp users have a body mass index that’s 1.24 points higher, on average, than nonusers.

“We can’t prove that the Food Stamp Program causes weight gain, but the study suggests a strong linkage,” says Jay Zagorsky, co-author of the study and a research scientist at Ohio State University’s Center for Human Resource Research.

The study tracked 10,000 women–both food-stamp recipients and nonrecipients–over a 14-year period. Even after accounting for income (poverty is a known contributor to obesity), race, and education, researchers identified a strong link between food stamp use and higher body weight. “Every way we looked at the data, it was clear that the use of food stamps was associated with weight gain,” says Zagorsky.

Of course, food stamps aren’t exactly generous–just $81 a month in 2002, the last year examined in the study. ”That figure was shocking to me. I think it would be very difficult for a shopper to regularly buy healthy, nutritious food on that budget,” says Zagorsky. Fatty, high-calorie processed foods tend to be cheap, which helps stretch limited food funds.

“Every way we looked at the data, it was clear that the use of food stamps was associated with weight gain.”

Offering incentives like more benefits for purchasing healthier fare and taking nutrition classes may be a solution, he suggests.

Improving access to good food is a related issue, since food-stamp recipients who want better food may have a hard time finding it. A recent USDA report finds many people in poverty live in s0-called food deserts with limited–or no–access to affordable, nutritious food.

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Midweek nibbles

Posted on August 12, 2009 by

Picture 1Mystery solved

Why didn’t Julia Child like Julie Powell’s blog? Food editor/writer Russ Parsons knows and spills the beans.–Los Angeles Times

Picture 2The dish that made Julia swoon

Well, Meryl Streep playing Julia in “Julie & Julia,” anyway. Here’s a version of Dover Sole Meuniere–Culinary Institute of America

Picture 5Moveable feast

In my post the other day about fattening food stamps, I noted that a major factor in the obesity epidemic is lack of access to affordable fresh food. Rebecca Rothbaum reports on one possible solution: mobile farmers’ market trucks, similar to the mobile library buses of the 1960s.–The Atlantic

Picture 4Food culture overhaul

The folks at The Hartman Group, a market research firm that does some of the most insightful research around about food and health, say the debate about the obesity epidemic needs to move from blaming individuals to our overall food culture. “We believe significant shifts in important dimensions of our eating culture (e.g., increased snacking frequency, the tendency toward eating alone, and the shifts in eating occasions) have contributed to much of our health and obesity problems.”

Picture 3The world’s best

Hmm, maybe our unhealthy food culture is part of the reason why Mexico City is the only North American city to make Forbes.com’s list of the world’s 10 best cities in which to eat well.–Forbes.com

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Hatch a plan

Posted on August 31, 2009 by
New Mexican Hatch chiles have a fleeting season, but roasting preserves the harvest.

New Mexican Hatch chiles have a fleeting season, but roasting preserves the harvest.

It’s Hatch chile season in the Southwest, and those in the know are stocking up.

You may not know Hatch chiles by name, but you’ve almost certainly eaten them if you’ve enjoyed the distinctive fare of the Southwest. The green chiles come from the dinky town of Hatch, N.M., and are a key ingredient in the area’s cuisine. The Hatch is prized for its meaty texture and subtle heat. The chile, which grows to about 6 inches, looks just like its descendent, the California Anaheim, but boasts more complex flavor. Hatch chiles are a seasonal bargain–about $2 a pound, which is a whole lot of flavor for very little cash.

But here’s the thing about the Hatch: It has a fleeting season, harvested from late-July to (maybe) early-September, which contributes to its mystique. If you don’t stock up now, you’ll have to wait until next year’s harvest. All over New Mexico and the Southwest, people will buy 10, 20, 30 pounds or more and have them roasted. Then they freeze the chiles to use throughout the year.

The folks at Melissa’s Produce are on a bit of crusade to make the Hatch a national obsession by distributing the chiles far beyond New Mexico and arranging chile-roasting events at supermarkets. Where I live, in Los Angeles, people line up at Bristol Farms or Albertson’s to have their chiles roasted.  That’s handy if you’re loading up with, say, 25 pounds of chiles. But if you’re new to Hatches and just buy a few pounds, you can roast them at home. That’s what I did with a box of the chiles sent to me by a friend who works at Melissa’s. Here’s how:

Preheat the broiler, and move the oven rack to the top level. Arrange the chiles in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with foil. Broil 15 minutes or until the skins are blackened, turning halfway through the cooking time. Toss the chiles in a plastic zip-top bag or paper bag (I was roasting several batches of chiles so I used a big paper grocery bag). Seal, and let stand for 15 minutes to allow the chiles to steam, which loosens their skins. You can peel the chiles at this point, but I just wrapped them up, refrigerating some for the recipe below and freezing the rest. You can peel the chiles as you use them. In fact, I think they’re even easier to peel after they’ve been chilled.

Hatch Chile Romesco Sauce

Hatch Chile Romesco Sauce

Hatch Chile Romesco Sauce

Traditionally, Spanish romesco sauce is made with roasted red bell peppers and almonds. I used roasted Hatch chiles and pecans instead. It would be interesting to try this with roasted tomatillos instead on tomatoes, too, but, hell, Trader Joe’s didn’t have any when I was shopping the other day. Hatch chiles lend this version mild heat. The sauce is great with grilled fish or chicken, for dipping bread, or tossed with hot pasta.

6 Hatch chiles

2 medium tomatoes

1 medium onion, cut into 1/2-inch slices

1/2 cup toasted French bread cubes

1/2 cup toasted, chopped pecans

3 garlic cloves

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Chopped cilantro (optional)

1. Preheat broiler. Move oven rack to top position.

2. Arrange chiles, tomatoes, and onion in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with foil. Broil 15 minutes or until blackened, turning halfway through cooking time. Transfer chiles and tomatoes to a large zip-top plastic bag or paper bag; seal, and let stand 15 minutes. Peel chiles and tomatoes.

3. Combine chiles, tomatoes, onion, and garlic in a food processor; process until chopped. Add bread and pecans; process until chopped. Add oil, vinegar, and salt; process until smooth. Garnish with cilantro, if desired. Yield: about 2 cups.

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Culinary school’s grossest day

Posted on September 2, 2009 by
A chicken galantine may look pretty, but it's not so pretty to produce.

A chicken galantine may look pretty, but it ain't so pretty to produce.

When I began culinary school in the spring, I noted that whittling potatoes into seven-sided footballs called tornes was the culinary equivalent of hazing. Now I know the real hazing comes in the form of a chicken galantine.

In its simplest interpretation, the galantine is nothing more than a deconstructed chicken. In practice, it is haute French fine dining. “A galantine is an elaborate pate that, instead of being baked in a mold, is wrapped in the skin of whatever bird–usually a duck–is being featured,” Jim Peterson writes in his wonderful book, Glorious French Food. He does not, however, include a recipe for making galantine in his book, probably because it is aimed at home cooks and the home cook who tries to tackle a galantine might swear off the kitchen for good.

Even our cheerfully fearless instructor was rather grim as she prepped us for the day ahead, admonishing us to “work clean.” I think it’s the worst day of the term for her, as culinary students struggle to contain raw chicken, which is handled in many forms. The shit flies everywhere. Here’s how it’s done–keeping in mind that we produced a somewhat simplified version as our first foray into galantine-making.

You start with a whole chicken, removing the skin in one piece so you end up with what resembles a little chicken-skin jumpsuit. Or maybe a chicken-skin hospital gown, since it opens up the back. The instructor likened it to undressing a baby. I commented that it seemed more Silence of the Lambs to me, which prompted classmate to pipe up, “It rubs the lotion on its skin…” Chef was unimpressed by our originality. Okayyyy, set the skin aside, ’cause the fun has only begun!

You start by removing the chicken’s skin in one piece so you end up with what resembles a little chicken-skin jumpsuit. Or maybe a chicken-skin hospital gown, since it opens up the back.

Next, you break down the chicken, removing the meat from the carcass and tossing the bones into a pot with mirepoix to make a stock. Nothing unusual there. The meat goes into a Robot Coupe (a restaurant-grade food processor) to be ground up, along with a splash of cream and an egg (more chicken!) to form a mousseline. The stuff looks finely ground, but it still has bits of carcass and other muck you don’t want, so you have to rub it through a fine-mesh sieve. “It’s like pushing an entire chicken through a window screen,” Chef told us. “Just accept it.” This process took me about an hour and yielded, oh, maybe a 2 cups of fine, sticky chicken mousseline that did not look appetizing to me, though my cat, Moe, who enjoys many of my culinary school efforts, would dig it. The odour of raw chicken that pervaded the lab would have driven him insane.

“It’s like pushing an entire chicken through a window screen,” Chef warned us. “Just accept it.”

Now you take three small portions of the sieved mousseline, mixing them with blanched, pureed carrots, spinach, and mushroom duxelles to form one orange, one green, and one brown mousseline sausage. Wrap each tightly in plastic and poach ‘em in the stock made from the chicken’s bones that has been simmering while you’ve cussed your way through pushing the chicken meat through the sieve. (I quickly fell into cussing, which is my default mode whenever frustrated or bored, and this was both frustrating and dull. But that soon gave way to singing stupid ditties to pass the time.) Plunge the parcooked “sausages” into an ice bath.

Now you’re ready to assemble the galantine. Lay the chicken skin on a work surface, arranging it into a neat rectangle. Top this with a skinless, boneless chicken breast  (not from the chicken you’ve just dismembered and ground to hell, but an extra breast–yep, more chicken!) that has been pounded into a thin rectangle roughly the same size. Smear it with a thin layer of plain chicken mousseline. Arrange your tinted mousseline sausages; smear with the rest of the plain stuff. Roll it up like a burrito. Wrap it tightly in cheesecloth and poach it in the chicken stock. Peterson aptly describes it as “bobbing up like something out of Loch Ness.” Once Nessie is done cooking, dunk her into an ice bath.

Sound good yet? Wait, there’s more. You have to gussy it up with a coating of edible chaud froid, which I can best describe as opaque aspic. I don’t love aspic on a good day; it isn’t any more appealing when it’s opaque. You unwrap the cooled galantine, set it on a wire rack, and slather it with a few coats of chaud froid. Chill it until it sets.

When it’s time to serve, carve slices from the galantine–taking care that the slices are presented so they match up to the gross piece, as the heel of this damn thing is called. And, of course, don’t forget to decorate the grosse piece. I crafted a coy little flower out of blanched oregano leaves and eggplant skin, and set it off-center, like a blossom tucked behind a coquette’s ear.

Of course, the logical question is, “How did it taste?” I can’t tell you. Because of scheduling issues, a long weekend separated assembling the galantine and presenting it, and, well, you know, food safety and all… So, sadly, this little girl was just for show. But I’ll bet it would have tasted just like…chicken.

Posted in Culinary School Adventures | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Do you read labels?

Posted on September 3, 2009 by
You can learn a lot about food just by reading the reams of information on the label. Most of us don't.

You can learn a lot about food just by reading the reams of information on the label, but many of us don't bother.

OK, confession time: I rarely scrutinize the labels on food packaging. Occasionally, I’ll glance at the Nutrition Facts label; I almost never look at the ingredient list.

That’s terrible, because given my background writing about food and nutrition, I know better. It turns out I’m not alone. According to Food & Drug Administration studies, in 2002 (the most recent numbers available) nearly 20% of all American consumers, and 30% of consumers under 35, “never” read food labels when purchasing products for the first time. That was up from 13% in 1994. Hmm, so as manufacturers were required to squeeze more information on labels, fewer customers were actually reading them.

The FDA wants to remedy that and is planning a voluntary consumer Internet survey to find out why people are so reluctant to use the information that’s available to them.

When it comes to items like bread, claims on the front of the package are often undermined by what’s revealed by the ingredient list.

So now I’m going to preach what I rarely practice. Your best bet to know what’s in your food is to examine Nutrition Facts label and the ingredient list. The Nutrition Facts label offers basic info, like serving size, caloric, fiber, sodium, and other content. Keep in mind that “serving size” may not be an accurate reflection of what you’re likely to eat. For example, last night my mate picked up a 5-ounce bag of Kettle New York Cheddar with Herbs potato chips, to which we are addicted. Of course, the two of us plowed through the whole thing. In a case of forensic nutrition, I’m looking at the Nutrition Facts label right now, only to learn that the bag contains 5 (1-ounce) servings at 150 calories a pop. We each gobbled roughly 2 1/2 servings, or about 375 calories. Looks like I could use a Nutrition Anonymous support group (“Hi, I’m Alison A., and I don’t read Nutrition Facts labels until it’s too late…”).

Of course, the Nutrition Facts label is only part of the story. As Nourish Network founder Lia Huber points out, you have to read the ingredient list if you want to know what’s inside. As she notes, using bread as an example, claims on the front of the package are often undermined by what’s revealed in the ingredient list.

Yep, and it also helps to read the labels before you rip open the package to dig in.

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Unhealthy disconnect

Posted on September 4, 2009 by
Most Americans think they're in great health, though they probably aren't eating their allotment of fruits and vegetables.

Most Americans think they're in great health, though they probably aren't eating their allotment of fruits and vegetables.

Ever optimistic–or crazy and schizophrenic, depending on your point of view–Americans believe they’re in better health than they actually are, according to a new survey from the market research firm Mintel.

“Excellent” or “good” is how 71% of respondents described their overall health, and more than 50% said living a healthy lifestyle is “very important.” Although 65% claimed they strive to eat healthier food, almost 60% admitted they eat whatever they want regardless of calories, and 45% conceded they often overeat.  No wonder two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The challenge clearly lies in getting Americans to accept and admit that their health isn’t optimal,” says Krista Faron, senior analyst at Mintel. “Many people need help and guidance to understand where their health is lacking and how they can improve it.”

She’s being polite, of course, since the study reveals mass delusion when it comes to the state of our health. And that, rather than health care options, may ultimately be the biggest hurdle to improving America’s well-being.

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You fraiche thing

Posted on September 8, 2009 by
Creme fraiche: so easy to make, and so rewarding

Creme fraiche: so easy to make, and so rewarding

I recently bitched and moaned up a storm about about preparing a chicken galantine in culinary class, complaining that the thing was icky to make and, ultimately, nothing more than a deconstructed chicken. I also noted that a galantine is something no (sane) home cook would ever want to tackle.

Not so with creme fraiche, which we got around to making a few days later. Creme fraiche is a nothing more than thickened cream, but it’s wonderfully silky, rich, a tad sour, and just a little bit nutty. It’s amazing dolloped on fresh fruit, and you can stir it into soup as a thickener. If you want to elevate a humble baked potato to gourmet status, top it with creme fraiche instead of sour cream. My cat, Moe, likes the stuff straight up from a spoon. (Don’t judge me harshly–if I take it out of the fridge and don’t offer him some as a tribute, the little shit will. not. leave. me. be.)

So, creme fraiche is addictive and versatile (dress up a baked potato, feed the cat, whatever). It’s also a mucho premium ingredient to buy–about $5 for an 8-ounce container. “The expense seems frivolous when it’s so easy to make an equally delicious version at home,” the late Sharon Tyler Herbst wrote in the Food Lover’s Companion (if you don’t have a copy of this reference book, you need one). It’s so easy, in fact, that you do it in your sleep:

Combine 1 cup of heavy cream and 2 tablespoons buttermilk in a small bowl. Let it stand overnight at room temperature (yep, while you sleep). Then refrigerate the stuff and use it within a week.

That process yielded a cup of the luscious cream, which I took home and used to make a variation of Kerry Saretsky’s World’s Easiest Mac and (Four) Cheese with Zucchini and Thyme on Serious Eats. As she notes, using creme fraiche saves you the effort of making a stovetop bechamel sauce. I loved the tangy complexity the creme fraiche added to the mix of cheeses. A little diced prosciutto di Parma was a nice touch, too.

Will I make creme fraiche again? You bet. Heck, it’s so easy that if Moe had opposable thumbs, he’d make it.

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Thursday’s tapas

Posted on September 10, 2009 by

We covered Spain yesterday in our whirlwind world tour known as International Cuisine class, so I’m all about the little nibbles this week.

Quote of the week

The Roma “is truly the eunuch of the tomato world and doesn’t deserve your time.”–Lynn Rosetto Kasper, The Splendid Table

Picture 2Score one for the South

Last night’s episode of “Top Chef” restored my faith in the show, as the contestants cooked for some of the world’s top French chefs and demonstrated they have impressive culinary chops. I love Atlanta-based chef Kevin Gillespie, who wowed Daniel Boulud by serving escargot with Southern-style bacon jam and won the quickfire challenge. Gillespie’s red beard and wide-eyed enthusiasm remind me of a young Kris Kringle; he may look like a humble son of Dixie, but fellow contestants would do well not to underestimate him. The best quote of the night came from fellow Atlantan Eli Kirshtein, who affectionately likened Joel Robuchon to a “unicorn.”

Picture 3Cheap–and sharp

I love my Mac knives, but if I were in the market for a new one, I’d definitely check out the colorful, affordable Pure Komachi 2 knives from Shun. They’re made of Japanese carbon steel and cost less than 15 bucks.–Serious Eats

Picture 4The high price of health food

Peeps think healthy fare is too expensive in this economy, so they’re ordering junkier food at restaurants, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. In a previous story, NRN reported that $5 is the magic number of consumers, as eateries from fast-food outlets like Subway to high-end restaurants load menus with 5-buck fare to attract budget-conscious diners.

Picture 5Food safety clearinghouse

Have questions/concerns about food safety? Check out the new government site, FoodSafety.org. The site includes updates on food recalls as well as tips about food safety.

Picture 6Meat matters

Don’t know a ribeye from a T-bone? This handy chart can clear up the confusion.–The Food Paper (Gayot)

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Ice cream is crafty stuff

Posted on September 14, 2009 by
Warning: Ice cream contains a fat that will send you back for seconds.

Warning: Ice cream contains a fat that will send you back for seconds.

I’ve always believed that no food should be completely off-limits. But I’ve also been known to plow through a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food in one sitting (and, no, I’m not ashamed to admit it).

Now I know why. Apparently, when it comes to ice cream you can’t have “just a taste,” according to a new University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center study. Ice cream contains palmitic acid, a type of fat that causes the brain to suppress the body’s signals of fullness. “Normally, our body is primed to say when we’ve had enough, but that doesn’t always happen when we’re eating something good,” said Dr. Deborah Clegg, assistant professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern. “Since you’re not being told by the brain to stop eating, you overeat.” In particular, palmitic acid causes your body to ignore appetite-suppressing signals from leptin and insulin, two hormones involved in regulating weight.

Palmitic acid is a type of artery-clogging saturated fat commonly found in butter, milk, cheese, and beef. Researchers also examined the effect of heart-healthy oleic acid–a common type of unsaturated fat–and found it did not have the same effect. “The action was very specific to palmitic acid, which is very high in foods that are rich in saturated fat,” says Clegg.

She says the study’s findings are more reason to limit saturated fat in your diet. In other words, just say “no.”

I won’t, of course, but at least now I know why I should.

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Pay less to eat slow

Posted on September 21, 2009 by

Heritage beans are the kind of food Slow Food USA seeks to preserve.

Heritage beans are the kind of food Slow Food USA seeks to preserve.

I’ve always found that Slow Food USA, the American chapter of the international organization dedicated to preserving local foodways, had a whiff of elitism. Maybe it was the pricy chef supper events, declaring expensive dry Monterey Jack cheese an “endangered” food, and the hardcore foodie membership. It’s a little unfair, I know, to say that about an entity that just wants to get people together to cook and enjoy great meals based on local cuisine, made with local products.

Maybe that explains why I’m excited to see Slow Food showing a more populist side. They recently sponsored Eat-In events around the country for their Time for Lunch campaign to bring better food to America’s schoolkids as part of the Child Nutrition Act, which is up for reauthorization by Congress. And anyone can join Slow Food USA for any donation through the end of this month (rates return to a minimum membership of $60 as of Oct. 1). There are chapters all over the country, and if there isn’t one in your neck of the woods, they’ll help you start one.

Posted in Food News, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Midweek snacks

Posted on October 21, 2009 by

Some bits ‘n’ bobs to break a long, dry non-blogging spell. Hey, man, I’ve been busy lately, so cut me me some slack.

Pumpkin time

Pumpkin CupcakesHalloween is right around the corner. Make these cute (and easy) lil’ Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Pig parts

Picture 2I dubbed 2008 the Year of Bacon, and our love affair with all things pig continues unabated. Last week, Top Chef contestants were challenged to create fare for the Pigs & Pinot event in Northern California. Serious Eats contends you can make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear–or at least a tasty snack of Crisp Fried Pig’s Ear (and I thought pig’s ears were only for dog treats…). On The Atlantic, Ari Weinzweig touts the pleasures of smoked pig’s jowls.

Make garlic even better

CIMG0952Here’s a cool trick I picked up recently: Place peeled garlic cloves (doesn’t matter how many) in a small saucepan. Cover with olive oil (be generous). Bring to a simmer, and cook until the garlic is very tender. Drain through a fine-mesh sieve, reserving the oil. The oil can be refrigerated and used for dressings, cooking, whatever. Mash the garlic with a fork. Use the mashed garlic to flavor all manner of things, from salad dressing to beans and legumes.

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Bits ‘n’ bobs + a chance to win a wine country getaway

Posted on November 6, 2009 by

No Sweat

Picture 3My obsession with pressure cookers continues. Really, if you want to include more whole grains, beans, and legumes in your diet, this stove-top appliance can be your new best friend. For more details, check out my story and soup recipe on Nourish Network. And while you’re there, be sure to join as a Nourish Network site member for a chance to win a three-day wine-country vacation for two to Healdsburg, CA. The prize includes round-trip airfare, lodging, winery and farm tours, and private cooking lessons with Nourish Network founder Lia Huber.

For more pressure cooker ideas, check out my recipes for the October issue of Vegetarian Times, including Spanish Wheat Berry Salad, Autumn Vegetable Tagine, Stuffed Cabbage with Brown Rice and Vegetable Sausage, and 30-Minute Marinara Sauce.

Apple Overload?

Apple Beauty

Photo by Alison Ashton

Apples are abundant–and cheap–these days. Check out my story on LifeScript.com for Apple-Walnut Torte, Apple-Stuffed Pork Tenderloin, and other recipes that spotlight America’s favorite fruit.

 

Better Brittle

 

Brittle

Photo by Alison Ashton

The James Beard Foundation’s biweekly Beard Bites e-newsletter is a great source of foodie news and recipes. A recent issue included a recipe for Pumpkin Seed Brittle from Guy Reuge of Mirabelle in St. James, NY. What sets this version apart? A smidgen of freshly ground cumin, which lends it subtle, smokey flavor. Delicious. It’s easy to prepare and makes a nice garnish for holiday desserts. It’s also pretty addictive on its own.

 

Secret to Great Gravy

Picture 1Just in time for Thanksgiving, The Food Section reports that British scientists have uncovered the ingredient for perfect gravy: umami. Now you know.

 

Tweet of the Week

From @RichardBlais: Save a dish. Why not consolidate and have our cereal in our coffee. Think green!

 

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Monday’s starters

Posted on November 16, 2009 by

Easy bake

(Photo by Alison Ashton)

(Photo by Alison Ashton)

Years ago, my mate and I called Costco the “$200 club.” And when I say years ago, I mean decades, back when Costco was still Price Club and 200 clams was  chunk of change. The place is stocked with cheap temptation, so that’s why I only visit once every few months. Yesterday was day. Because I visit so infrequently, it’s always exciting to push my supersize cart through the wide warehouse aisles. The best deal I spotted was Cuisinart’s Electric Pressure Cooker for $70 (it normally retails for $100). But I exercised some discipline, for the most part, stocking up on pasta, satsuma tangerines, cheese, and lamb chops. The two-pack of 26.5-ounce jars of Nutella for $8.47, however, proved irresistible.

“I’ll make crepes, or cookies, or something….” I said to justify the purchase.

Of course, I neglected to pick up a two-pack of La Brea Bakery bread, also sold at the emporium, which would have been the most obvious way to enjoy the Nutella. So when we got home and wanted some bread, I felt obligated to rectify the situation. I’ve touted the ease of this pizza dough many times before and figured it could make a nice bread. It did. My only modifications: double the recipe, let it rise for an hour, punch it down and let it rest five minutes, shape it into a loaf, and let it rest for 30 minutes. Bake on a pizza stone for 15 minutes in a 475 F oven. (Thanks, Josh, for creating this nice recipe.) And, yes, it was tasty with the Nutella.

Vintage cookware

saucepan1

Elbow grease and patience restored a rusted-out vintage saucepan.

All things old-timey are chic these days, and that includes vintage cookware. The Food Section notes that kitchenware retailer Sur la Table now is selling antique pots, pans, and utensils via their Web site. This is the place to go for an antique copper jam pot ($650) or, say, a marzipan tulip mold ($99).  If old-school kitchenware is your thing, also check out P.O.S.H., the Chicago retailer that specializes in vintage china, glassware, and serving pieces. Of course, if you’re willing to invest a little time and elbow grease in restoring the old stuff yourself, you can pick up antique cast-iron and other kitchen items at garage sales and flea markets for a lot less.

Chicken breast, yay or nay?

In a moment of sheer stupidity the other day, I picked up a package of skinless, boneless chicken breast. Chicken tenders, no less–I really wasn’t paying attention. As I noted on Twitter (follow me at EatCheap) and Facebook, these things are a dull, tasteless ingredient that I could skip eating for the rest of my life. This met with much agreement among my friends, but what’s your opinion?

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Goodies for foodies

Posted on December 8, 2009 by

It’s that time, when we’re all searching for just the right thing to put under the tree, next to the menorah, at the Kwanzaa table, or whatever. If you have a foodie or two in your list, you’re in luck. There are a ton of gadgets and equipment for all budgets. Some must-haves I think belong in every kitchen include:

Sharp vegetable peeler

One the best pieces of equipment in my culinary school knife kit turned out to the Messermeister Serrated Swivel Peeler ($8). It’s light, nimble, and sharp. Even better, Sur la Table sells it in a selection of juicy colors.

Digital thermometer

I use my Taylor Commercial Instant-Read Digital Thermometer all the time. With a capacity up to 450 F, it’s  versatile enough to test the doneness of meat or keep track of sugar as it cooks for candy.

Kitchen scale

I’m hopeless at eyeballing ingredients, so I use a digital kitchen scale for everything from weighing out pasta to scaling ingredients for baking. My favorite is the Oxo Good Grips Food Scale ($49.99), which has an 11-pound capacity, removable stainless-steel deck (makes it easy to clean), and a light-up digital display that pulls out (nice when you have a large bowl overhangs). Of course, it also has a taring function and the option for Imperial or metric weight.

Good knives

Mac the Knife: These imported Japanese knives live up to the hype.

A good knife is a cook’s best friend, and everyone has their favorite. Mine is the Japanese-made Mac knife, which is lightweight, well-balanced, thin, and maintains a sharp edge. Their knives are also well priced (starting as low as $25 for a paring knife). Shop around online to find the best deals.

If a quest to eat cheap and/or local fare means spending more time in the kitchen breaking down whole chickens or filleting fish, a good boning knife is a helpful tool. These knives boast thin, super-sharp, flexible, 5- or -6-inch blades that make it easy to separate meat from the bone or skin a fish. Again, check out what Mac has to offer.

Stand mixer

A KitchenAid stand mixer is the workhorse of many professional and home kitchens. Why? It’s versatile. You can use it to mix a cake batter, knead bread dough, or whip up a meringue. Optional attachments extend its reach to include making ice cream, grinding meat, stuffing sausage, or rolling out pasta. (Hint: I’m asking for the pasta attachment this Christmas.) Mine mixer is from the tilt-head, 5-quart Artisan series ($299.99), and I confess I bought it because, well, it was apple green and went very nicely in a kitchen I had just remodeled. It still does a terrific job, but if I were buying a stand mixer know, I’d pay a bit more for the Professional 600 series ($399.99). It has a more powerful motor and 6-quart bowl for bigger jobs.

If someone already has a KitchenAid stand mixer, surprise them with a Beater Blade ($20), a paddle attachment with rubber bumpers so it scrapes the bowl while it mixes. KitchenAid, why didn’t you think of this?

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3 books, 3 ways to cook

Posted on December 23, 2009 by

Which book is best? That depends on how you like to cook.

The holidays bring with them a flurry of cookbooks, which makes sense. People probably do more cooking now than any other time of year, and cookbooks make great gifts for, well, cooks. Here are three, each with a distinct point of view. Are all three for everyone? That depends on how you like to cook.

Good reference: Cooking Light Way to Cook ($29.95)

First, by way of full disclosure, I used to work on staff at Cooking Light, so, yes, I’m a bit partial to this “guide to everyday cooking.” But that also means I can vouch for the thorough testing that’s done to vet the recipes and techniques in the book. It’s organized by technique (braising, sauteing, roasting, and so forth) with lots of helpful step-by-step photography, which makes it particularly handy for novice cooks. There’s also ample info about equipment and ingredients (does butter fit into light cooking? Absolutely). And, of course, since it’s from Cooking Light, the emphasis is on healthy recipes. Looking for something hearty to warm up a winter evening? Make a pot of Beef Daube Provencal, a classic recipe originally created for Cooking Light by Lia Huber (founder of Nourish Network).

Great Expectations: Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller ($50)

Thomas Keller, revered by many as the best American-born chef,  shares his version of family-style cooking in his newest book. In some ways, it’s both an extension of and the polar opposite of Cooking Light Way to Cook. If Cooking Light’s book is about getting supper on the table tonight, Keller’s is about crafting dinner this weekend. But if the basics in Cooking Light Way to Cook are too basic and you’re ready for the next step, I urge you to get a copy of Ad Hoc. It will challenge you, in a gentle way. It’s unlikely you’ll ever have Keller in your kitchen, but his voice comes through in the pages of Ad Hoc, and reading the recipes is a bit like having him coach you at the stove–conversational, thorough, and friendly.

Keller makes some concessions to the home cook. The first recipe, “Dinner for Dad,” which consists of his late-father’s favorite barbecued chicken with mashed potatoes, collard greens, and a dessert of strawberry shortcake, calls for bottled barbecue sauce. “Try to find a sauce with some integrity,” Keller urges, “preferably from a small producer.” He also allows store-bought shortcake for assembling the dessert.

That’s the exception. Overall, Ad Hoc encourages the home cook to a higher standard, with multistep recipes and lots of technique. Meatballs with Pappardelle is a perfect example. Keller’s version of this humble family standby calls for four kinds of meat, which, ideally, you grind yourself. Or ask the butcher to grind for you. Picking up pre-ground meat is offered only as a last resort. He also calls for homemade dried breadcrumbs and homemade pasta (the book has recipes for both), and an Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce that takes several hours to prepare (it’s delicious). The meatballs are stuffed with fresh mozzarella and I’m surprised Keller doesn’t call for making that, too, ’cause, yep, there’s a recipe for that in the pages of Ad Hoc. You see what I mean when I say that Ad Hoc is for weekend cooking.

You can prepare a decent, even good, meal in 20 minutes, sure. But great meals, memorable meals, take longer. They just do. And that’s what Ad Hoc is about. My advice: Start with the Basics section at the back of Ad Hoc. This is where Keller shares some wonderful (and wonderfully approachable) building blocks for great dishes–sauces, doughs, and the like. The Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce is just one example. Yes, it takes a couple of hours to make, but it’s not hard and you’ll be rewarded with a complex-flavored sauce that will enhance all manner of dishes, even a simple bowl of pasta.

Culinary Off-Roading: Ratio by Michael Ruhlman ($27)

Although I make a living developing recipes, I’ve always said that a recipe is only a template to inspire the user to create something new. In Ratio, Ruhlman tutors you in the basic formulas behind cooking–everything from batters and doughs to forcemeats, sauces, and custards. Want to whip up a batch of biscuits for supper tonight? Armed with 3 parts flour, 1 part fat, and 2 parts liquid–plus a trusty kitchen scale–you’re ready to go. Basic ratios won’t yield the best biscuit, pizza, or vinaigrette you’ve ever had, Ruhlman notes, but they are the basis for true culinary creativity. “Ratios free you,” he declares. Interestingly, Ratio is sprinkled with Ruhlman’s tempting recipes, but these simply serve as examples of how basic ratios inspire new variations. His new accompanying Ratio iPhone app ($4.99) makes it even easier to calculate ratios for any yield. Now, go have some real fun in the kitchen.

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Sustainable sippers, part 1: Wine and spirits hop on the organic bandwagon

Posted on December 29, 2009 by

What's in your glass? If you want to know, read the label.

Like many, you may have resolved to eat more sustainably in 2010. You’ll pay a bit extra for organic produce, dairy products, meat, and packaged goods because it’s good for the planet and, most likely, good for you, too.

You can start by saying farewell to 2009 (and not a moment too soon, huh?) and welcoming 2010 with a planet-friendly cocktail. Organic wine and beer have been around for awhile, and more recently they’ve been joined by expertly crafted sustainable spirits, including vodka, tequila, and gin.

The benefits of organic alcohol are mostly environmental, though there is emerging evidence that organically cultivated crops, including those used to produce wine, beer, and spirits, may have more nutritional value than conventional. The industry generally doesn’t tout the health benefits of alcohol, but considers organic cocktails a lifestyle choice. Buying organic alcohol is “as much an environmental/moral decision as a quality one,” says Allison Evanow, founder of Square One Vodka. “You are supporting sustainable farming,” adds Gray Ottley, owner of the Idaho-based organic distillery DRInc., which produces Square One.

Anecdotally, fans point to the smooth, easy-drinking quality of organic tipplers that won’t leave you hung over the next day. Organic wines, for example, tend to be lower in alcohol and sugar, which makes them particularly food-friendly and “easy on the palate,” says Brett Chappell, director of sales and marketing for Calypso Organic Selections, which imports organic wines from Europe, Australia, and South America.

When choosing organic spirits, “you are supporting sustainable farming,” says one industry expert.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture regulates the labeling of all organic products, including alcoholic beverages, and different labels signifying varying degrees of organic credibiity:

  • 100% Organic: a product must contain all organic ingredients and include “Certified organic by” with the certifying agent’s name on the label. Labels may include the USDA/Organic seal, as well as the term “100% organic.”
  • Organic: must contain at least 95% organic ingredients; cannot contain added sulfites, but may have up to 5% nonorganically produced agricultural ingredients that are not commercially available in organic form. Labels may carry the USDA Organic seal and/or the certifying agent’s seal.
  • Made with Organic Ingredients: must contain at least 70% organic ingredients; may contain up to 30% nonorganically produced agricultural products. Wine, for example, may contain added sulfur dioxide. The label may list specific organic ingredients (such as “made with organic grapes”) and/or the percentage of organic ingredients. What you won’t find on the label: the USDA Organic seal.

Imported organic alcohol may or may not be certified organic by the USDA. Instead, it’s likely to be certified in its country of origin. These designations are comparable to (and in some cases more rigorous than) the USDA Organic seal.

Also in this series:

Part 2: Wine

Part 3: Vodka & Gin

Part 4: Mix with Care

Part 5: Sake

Part 6: Tequila

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Sustainable sippers, part 2: Wine

Posted on December 29, 2009 by

Winemaker Paul Dolan (photo by Evan Johnson)

Producers of organic wines include Bonterra, Flora Springs Winery & Vineyards, Paul Dolan Vineyards, as well as a host of European winemakers. And that’s good news, because more producers means more availability and a wider range of price points.

What makes it organic: Organic wines contain organically grown grapes, but not all are certified organic. That’s because winemakers may add sulfites, an antibacterial agent, to achieve a shelf-stable product. Many producers prefer to tout the biodynamics of a wine, says Brett Chappell, director of sales and marketing for Calypso Organic Selections, which imports organic wines from Europe, Australia, and South America. Biodynamics refers to a holistic, closed ecosystem, which includes companion cover crops, composting, and other practices to enhance biodiversity, improve the soil, and, ultimately foster better-tasting grapes, explains Colleen Stewart, wine educator at Bonterra.

Benefits: Grapes that have been cultivated organically have 30 percent more resveratrol, on average, than conventionally grown grapes, according to The Organic Center. Resveratrol is a phytochemical that has been shown to reverse neurological aging and promote liver health in animal studies. Organic wines can be a good value, too. Bonterra’s selections, for example, run $10-$15 a bottle.

Drawbacks: Organic wines can be confusing to identify, since they range from those that are certified organic to those made with organic grapes. Read labels closely.

Rose Berry Sangria

Rose has come on strong as a popular wine in recent years and lends itself to a colorful and refreshing version of sangria, the Spanish sipper.

1 (750-ml) bottle organic rose wine

1 cup fresh organic orange juice (no pulp)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon light agave nectar

2 cups assorted organic berries (raspberries, blackberries, and quartered strawberries)

  1. Combine wine, juices, and nectar in a large pitcher. Add berries; stir gently to combine. Chill at least 2 hours. Stir gently before serving, and pour over ice. Yield: 6 servings.

Also in this series:

Part 1: Wine, beer, and spirits hop on the organic bandwagon

Part 3: Vodka & Gin

Part 4: Mix with Care

Part 5: Sake

Part 6: Tequila

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