Wine and Foodie News

Gift Registry from the MOMA Design Store

Epicurious - 13 hours 24 min ago
The MoMA Design Store is home to all kinds of things you never realized you needed or wanted. Every time I go in there I come out with a long mental list of things I absolutely must have or at the very least buy as gifts. Seeing as they are such a great gift-buying source, it makes perfect sense that MoMA now offers gift registry. Instead of matching dishtowels or a 96-piece set of Tupperware, you can sign up to receive more interesting presents like Alessi's Programma 8 Cheese Board from the museum's Destination: Portugal collection, placemats from Chilewich, or quirky inside-out Champagne glasses. For the practical-minded, MoMA has many of the essentials, including glasses and bar ware, platters, flatware, and cutlery. Plus, they have a bunch of handy kitchen tools like measuring cups made of silicone that can be squeezed to form a pouring spout and a rolling pin with built-in measuring guides for perfectly sized pie crusts. The registry includes museum memberships or MoMA Design Store gift certificates. Plus, if you already own all the standard registry items (or don't cook or entertain), you can create a list based on all the other cool things available at MoMA like Philippe Starck's Louis Ghost Armchair, a Bourgie Lamp, or all those fabulous prints and books. Like most registries, MoMA offers a registry completion discount, and as an added bonus, every purchase supports the museum. For more information or to sign up, see the MoMA Design Store Gift Registry.


Categories: Food News

Smack a Summer Melon to the Tune of Lynyrd Skynyrd

Epicurious - Fri, 07/30/2010 - 3:00pm
My wife has long abused our melons, by which I mean that she's taken it upon herself to improve the quality of the cantaloupes she serves our family, by showing them a little tough love. I wrote a post about this a couple years back for Gourmet. The technique is simple: Blair buys a melon from the grocery, one that seems a little taught. And when she gets home from the grocery, instead of bringing that bag in, she leaves it in the trunk. There, the heat and the pinball affect of banging about for a couple of days have their pleasant ways with the melon. It softens. It ripens. It becomes more floral, more funky. Two techniques have developed. My wife likes the Volvonator best. As in our old Volvo. Smaller trunk, more concussions. Jess, our son, is a Venzanator. As in our new Toyota Venza station wagon. The trunk is bigger, thus more propulsive concussions. Thus sweeter-smelling melons. There are, of course, potential problems. We've had a melon explode in our kitchen, from post melon abuse stress. And at times, we have a tough time figuring out when to stop the abuse. Blair says she now knows a melon is ready when she gets in the car and says, "Oooh that smell..." She didn't intend the Lynyrd Skynyrd reference, but, hey, there it was.


Categories: Food News

Arnold Palmers: The Perfect Ratio

Epicurious - Fri, 07/30/2010 - 1:11pm
I know I'm not the only person who enjoys drinking a refreshing Arnold Palmer during the summertime. Named after legendary golfer Arnold Palmer, I think people love drinking the mix of iced tea and lemonade precisely because it combines two classic summer drinks into one. Up until now, I had always thought that the ratio of lemonade to iced tea was 1:1, and various sources (Wikipedia, Chow, The Big Apple, 1001 Cocktails) confirm it. But after watching Arnie himself make the drink, I'm starting to wonder if he's a little more partial to iced tea. Watch for yourself and decide. For a more intricate version of the recipe, try neighborhoodfruit's Perfect Arnold Palmer. And for those of you who like a kick, there's the Leland Palmer that uses limoncello.


Categories: Food News

Midsummer Marriage: Melon and Cheese

Epicurious - Fri, 07/30/2010 - 9:55am
Normally I think cheese goes with everything, even sugar. The best Southwestern/Mexican dessert, after all, is capirotada, a cinnamon- and clove-spiced bread pudding with both raisins and Colby Longhorn or Monterey Jack. But until this summer I never quite got the weirdness of combining it with melon. Even though I don't love cantaloupe unless it's well salted, or at least draped with prosciutto. Maybe my resistance was weakened by all the "rose wine" in Istanbul. There it started to make sense that honeydew-type melons are often teamed with the salty local "white cheese." The nuttiness and the fruitiness harmonize, even more so when licoricey raki is flowing. (As the website notes, it doesn't "meter" what you serve that Turkish tequila with.) Then the other night we trekked to a lavish picnic hosted by Greek wine importers and promoters at Roberta's in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and the first thing I tasted was a wedge of perfect watermelon topped with feta plus fresh dill and mint. It was wildly good. And it looked gorgeous*. Then again, the two very different rosés being poured, from Kir-Yianni and Semeli, could have weakened my resistance. A really amazing watermelon really needs nothing. But this is a pretty good way to dress it up for company. *Photo copyrighted by the amazing Bob Sacha.


Categories: Food News

The Future of Food - on Your Phone

Epicurious - Fri, 07/30/2010 - 7:02am
Epicurious fans quickly realized how using their smartphone could help them plan meals and make shopping lists, right in the grocery store. In fact, Epi's iPhone app has been downloaded more than 2 million times and is now available for the envious Android users who pleaded for a parallel app. Now they too can search the Epicurious recipe database and e-mail recipes when they are on the go. Grocery stores also see the potential in smartphones, and keeping their customers happy and informed could mean big bucks. The demand is certainly there: Progressive Grocer reports that more than half of those who took part in a recent survey on "The Interactive Future of Food" said they would like access to more product information while they shopped for food, on issues such as health considerations, food origins, whether or not a product is organic, farming practices, food safety, and ingredients. The study by the Latitude research company also revealed that a third of the respondents asked for practical store information, such as where to find items, the latest prices, and inventory status. Do you think getting food information from the supermarket on your phone will help you when you shop for groceries? What information would you find useful? Store-to-phone coupons?


Categories: Food News

U.S. Is A Spicier Nation (Literally) Since 1970s

NPR Food News - Thu, 07/29/2010 - 10:49pm

Americans' spice consumption has grown almost three times as fast as the population in recent decades. Much of that growth is due to the country's changing demographics. Now, flavors that were once exotic and rare are found on the shelves in many groceries.

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Categories: Food News

Doro Wett: A Flavorful, Unique Ethiopian Stew

Epicurious - Thu, 07/29/2010 - 3:03pm
The latest installment in our Around the World in 80 Dishes series is doro wett, an Ethiopian chicken stew with a thick, spiced sauce. When I was working on this story, I was struck by a quote in chef Marcus Samuelsson's book New American Table, which focuses on immigrant cooking in America. "I've always thought that in America—where you have access to the highest-quality ingredients and great cooking supplies—you can often make ethnic food that actually tastes better than it does in its native country," writes Samuelsson. This is a bold statement, but it makes sense: These days, in most parts of the country, we can buy not only top-notch, fresh-from-the-farm produce, meat, and dairy, but also all the once-obscure seasonings required to produce authentic dishes from around the world. Case in point: berbere, the pungent spice mix that's a required element in many Ethiopian recipes, including doro wett. Our recipe (from Samuelsson) explains how to make it at home, but you can also easily order it from kalustyans.com, an indispensable source for many ethnic ingredients. (We often find ourselves linking to Kalustyans from Around the World in 80 Dishes articles.) Do you like to cook less-known ethnic dishes? Do you agree with Samuelsson's statement—do you find it easy to get top-quality ethnic ingredients?


Categories: Food News

Senators Call On FDA To Rule On Alcoholic Energy Drinks

NPR Food News - Thu, 07/29/2010 - 2:30pm

Eight months ago, the Food and Drug Administration asked makers of beverages containing alcohol and caffeine to prove the drinks are safe. So far, nothing's been made public.

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Categories: Food News

Creamy Peanut Butter Taste Test Results Revealed!

Epicurious - Thu, 07/29/2010 - 1:00pm
The peanut butter taste test results are in! We blind-tasted 21 creamy peanut butters, and found three that we loved. But, we will admit that many of us were surprised to find that the jars we stash in our own kitchen cupboards weren't necessarily the ones we favored in the tasting. Do you have a favorite creamy peanut butter brand that you swear by?


Categories: Food News

Homemade Thai Tea Ice Cream

Epicurious - Thu, 07/29/2010 - 10:05am
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, one of my summer kitchen projects is Thai tea ice cream. The inspiration comes not so surprisingly from the Thai iced tea I inhale each time I'm at a Thai restaurant. Recently, while enjoying said cold beverage, I came up with the brilliant idea to try making Thai tea ice cream. Of course, I'm not the only one to think of this. A quick online search yielded about a half dozen recipes and like I said, that was without really even looking. Before I get into the recipes, here is a quick overview of Thai iced tea or "cha yen": While I've only ever had Thai iced tea made with sweetened condensed milk, Culinate reports that it can be made at least a couple different ways, including with half-and-half and sugar or with half sweetened condensed milk and half evaporated milk. The tea itself also seems to vary. According to Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks, Thai tea is made with "a red-leafed tea grown locally in Thailand" and "spiced up with a mix of vanilla, cinnamon, and star anise." But, a couple other sources say it's actually black tea with vanilla, cinnamon, and star anise, plus food coloring to give it that beautiful orange hue. At the risk of admitting my own lack of authenticity, I will tell you that the tea I used was actually green tea with food coloring. Like Swanson, I had some trouble locating red-leafed tea, but I was eager to get started so I just moved forward with what I could find. Now that I've nearly perfected the recipe, I'll continue the search. Many of the recipes I found were fairly similar but because I tend to like ice cream made with egg yolks (so luscious) and wanted an excuse to buy a tea sock, I started with this recipe from the blog My Cake Wardrobe. Noticing the author's comment that she might try making the ice cream a touch sweeter next time, I added ¼ cup of sugar. Otherwise, I mostly followed the recipe, except that I was a little more cautious when it came to tempering the hot milk into the yolks and I strained the ice cream before chilling. This first batch was pretty amazing. It's actually some of the best ice cream I've ever made; I couldn't get over how smooth and creamy it was though considering how much milk and how many egg yolks are in the recipe, I don't know why I was so surprised. The extra sugar was a wise choice as it bumped up the sweetened condensed milk just enough. Still, the ice cream wasn't quite as tea-flavored as I wanted. Plus, the ice cream was a little pale; I wanted it to look more like a glass filled with that lovely, slightly opaque orange tea. After some experimentation, I found that increasing the steeping time (rather than adding more tea) was all that was required. The longer steeping also...


Categories: Food News

Eating More Meat, White Or Red, Is Bad For The Waistline

NPR Food News - Thu, 07/29/2010 - 9:53am

People who ate the equivalent of one big steak a day gained four more pounds over five years than those who ate less meat. That's according to a new analysis of a major European diet study.

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Categories: Food News

Art Smith's Common Threads

Epicurious - Thu, 07/29/2010 - 7:05am
As you may know, I'm in Chicago right now for the second stop on Epicurious' Farmers' Market Tour. This morning I will be at the Daley Plaza market with renowned chef Gale Gand, who is here as a vocal participant of Chefs Move to Schools, part of Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative. If you're in Chicago, drop by our booth and say hello. While I'm here, I'm hosting another episode of ABC News' Chef's Table, which airs Thursdays on ABC HD channels worldwide, as well as on the Good Morning America web site. Yesterday for the show I shot with Art Smith, chef-owner of Table 52. Besides being Oprah's personal chef for over a decade, cooking for the First Family, writing cookbooks, and running his Chicago restaurant and Art & Soul in Washington D.C., Smith has somehow found the time to cook up Common Threads with his partner Jesus Salgueiro. The charity's purpose is to unite kids through food, and give economically disadvantaged children free cooking and nutrition lessons. At Epi, we believe in Smith's goal—that of teaching kids to cook so they can take care of themselves and others around them with wholesome, delicious food. To help fund the program and get some great recipes, buy a copy of Eat The World: Good-For-You Food for Families.


Categories: Food News

The Mustard Museum: Passion For A Condiment

NPR Food News - Wed, 07/28/2010 - 10:54pm

Summer is full of distinctive flavors, but one condiment stands above them all: mustard. Hot dogs just aren't the same without it. And in Wisconsin, there's a museum devoted to the simple spread. It all started with one man collecting unique mustards.

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Categories: Food News

15 Food and Drink Events to Enjoy

Epicurious - Wed, 07/28/2010 - 3:00pm
Food and drink festivals offer a fun, tasty destination for a summer road trip. Do you travel to festivals? Here, 15 good choices this week. New York: Northeast Jazz & Wine Festival (July 29-31) Indiana: Frankfort Hot Dog Festival (July 30-31) Ohio: Columbus Wine Festival (July 30-31) Wisconsin: 2nd Annual Taste of Wisconsin (July 30-August 1) Mississippi: Natchez Food & Wine Festival (July 30-August 1) Florida: Key Largo Food & Wine Festival (July 30-August 8) Vermont: 3rd Annual Deerfield Valley Blueberry Festival (July 30-August 8) California: 8th Annual Mendocino Herb Fair (July 31) Illinois: Taste of the Region (July 31) Maine: Artisan Bread Fair (July 31) New Jersey: Wine Art Music Poetry Project Festival (July 31) Oklahoma: Watermelon Festival & Craft Show (July 31) South Dakota: Clark Potato Day (July 31) California: Watsonville Strawberry Festival (July 31-August 1) Colorado: 14th Annual Bluegrass and Beer Festival (July 31-August 1)


Categories: Food News

Corn Fritters

Cook Local - Wed, 07/28/2010 - 2:57pm


Corn Fritters

Normally, I prefer to eat my corn gently steamed, with a little butter and Secret Stash Salt. If I want to get really fancy, I’ll peel back the husks and slather some butter and seasonings on it, put the husks back, and then grill the whole ears for a bit. But that’s about it. Well, other than the corn and blueberry salad. But that’s it. Really! Even though I wouldn’t be sharing this recipe if it wasn’t a success, I can’t say it’s tempted me away from my old standbys. What it is good for though, is for those ears of corn that aren’t quite up to par. Maybe you forgot them in the back of the fridge for a few days or maybe you just peeled back the husks and the kernels were a little softer than you’d like. Or maybe you’re growing sweet corn and you’ve got so much that you just need some variety.

A few words on choosing corn… Most farmers market vendors these days don’t want you to peel the corn husks to check out the corn. It isn’t good for the corn and if you peel back the husks, then decide not to buy the corn, that peeled back corn might not sell because another shopper assumed that it was put back for a reason, even if the reason was simply that you decided you didn’t feel like corn tonight. Really, you shouldn’t need to peel back the husks to get a good, fresh ear of corn. Look for a heavy ear, and one that feels relatively solid. The husks should be relatively moist, not dry. Give it a gentle squeeze all along the length to check for soft spots and look for stiff, dark silk. Corn at the farmers market is usually picked and sold the same day. Older corn, such as corn you get from the supermarket won’t be as sweet, as the sugar in corn turns to starch after a day or two.

These are great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner

Corn Fritters, adapted from Gardener’s Community Cookbook

Makes 6 fritters

  • 2 cups corn kernels (approximately 4 medium ears of corn)
  • 1/2 cup cream
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt (flavored salt is even better)
  • 1 Tbsp melted butter
  • Oil for frying
  1. Remove the corn kernels from the cob. You can do this with a knife or with a corn zipper.
  2. Mix all ingredients except for the oil in a bowl to form a thick batter.
  3. Let the batter sit for 15 minutes to thicken and set a bit.
  4. Heat the oil in a large fry pan over medium-high heat
  5. Oil a 1/3 cup measuring cup and pack with fritter batter.
  6. Turn out into the hot pan. Repeat with two or three more fritters, depending on the size of your pan. You want enough space to easily flip the fritters.
  7. Cook for 2-4 minutes per side, or until they move easily in the pan and are golden brown on the bottom.
  8. Flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes, until both sides are golden brown.
  9. Drain on paper towels, and serve with some fresh cracked pepper.

Notes: The original recipe called for 2 eggs to be mixed in with the batter. I didn’t do this because honestly, I just forgot. But they were fine (and lighter) without the eggs. If you wanted a slightly more substantial fritter, and one with more protein, feel free to add in the eggs with all of the other ingredients. I recommend oiling the measuring cup to keep the batter from sticking to the measuring cup. It’s a great trick for any batter that needs to be measured before cooking.

Serve these fritters topped with some Secret Stash Salt. They are also delightful crumbled into a scramble as well.


Categories: Food News

Zucchini, With a Different Italian Accent

Epicurious - Wed, 07/28/2010 - 1:01pm
Honestly, I didn't intend to head back to the Greenmarkets for inspiration so soon. But because I didn't think to tote my own Canon to a party over the weekend, the image for my next post is being held hostage in my consort's camera (or his iPhone) while he deals with the 5,000 things on his own plate. (If work were a buffet, he would line up seven times. Which is more proof that opposites definitely attract.) But this slacker can honestly say the heirloom zucchini on display at so many stands at Union Square today are well worth tracking down (these were at Paffenroth, one of my favorite vendors). They look strange, with their pale skins and their ribs showing, but they really taste, and cook, like zucchini should. So much of the summer squash you usually can buy is pretty insipid, and smaller is always better. These are good even sized like Louisville Sluggers because they are neither watery nor seedy. Great tomatoes are still more a promise than a sensation here, but Romanesco squash are superb stewed with them (cut the zucchini lengthwise into quarters, then crosswise into thin slices; season them with garlic and basil or oregano). But they're also irresistible sliced, dipped in a batter made from chickpea flour, water and salt, and shallow-fried. Or you can grate them to make zucchini pancakes, which always sound most alluring to me when it's too hot to turn on the stove. And of course they work even better than regular old zucchini in Southwestern classics like calabacitas, with either fresh corn or canned hominy If you can stomach all the ad interruptions, other ways to make the most of them can be found on the LATimes sitemess in a piece I did a few years ago on how there really is no such thing as too much zucchini. At least not of the right kind.


Categories: Food News

Coffee Aliases Give Cup of 'Joe' New Meaning

NPR Food News - Wed, 07/28/2010 - 1:00pm

When Shefali Kulkarni, a reporting fellow at the Village Voice in New York City, is asked for her name while ordering coffee at Starbucks, she tells the barista a little fib. She uses "Sheila," her "coffee name." Michele Norris asks her why.

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Categories: Food News

Report Asks: What's Lurking In Your Stadium Food?

NPR Food News - Wed, 07/28/2010 - 1:00pm

Michele Norris talks to Paula Lavigne about her recent report for ESPN's Outside the Lines. In that story, "What's Lurking In Your Stadium Food," Lavigne examined the health inspection reports for all the stadiums used by the NBA, NHL, NFL and Major League Baseball.

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Aberrant Alabama Biscuits

Epicurious - Wed, 07/28/2010 - 11:44am
I've been eating biscuits in the Black Belt of Alabama for the better part of a week now. Not just biscuits. Fried catfish sandwiches, too. And liver and onions with rice. And blueberry pie. But the biscuits have gotten my attention. They're reminded me that not all biscuit forms are alike. Hereabouts, I've eaten diminutive catheads and oversized freezer case behemoths alike. What's more, my recent Black Belt eating has reminded me of the great diversity of morning biscuit fillings out there. Sausage biscuits, of the patty and link variety, are ubiquitous throughout the South. Ditto bacon biscuits. More scarce are pork tenderloin biscuits. And streak-o-lean biscuits. Scarcer still are the salmon croquette biscuits and rag bologna biscuits that I'm seeing in the small town cafes hereabouts. As a child growing up in Georgia, I ate salmon croquette biscuits often. While I was eating a salmon biscuit this morning -- made with cheap-as-dirt canned salmon and loads of freshly chopped onions -- I began wondering why I ever gave them up. Next up, a pan-fried bologna biscuit.


Categories: Food News

Chicago Suggestions for Tanya: Haute and Honky-Tonk

Epicurious - Wed, 07/28/2010 - 8:25am
Two additional restaurant suggestions for Tanya's week in Chicago, and for anyone deciding what's worth eating now in one of the country's great dining destinations: First suggestion: The new Elysian hotel, a few blocks off North Michigan, is partly owned by Alice Waters' nephew and the pedigree shows. The hotel is modeled after a twenties Parisian grand dame hotel and the result is actual adult boutique hotel, the kind that doesn't confuse itself for a party lounge, so you don't have to run the gauntlet of drunk kids in the lobby. But that doesn't mean the hotel is clueless when it comes to offering a good time, or better food. In fact drawing as many locals as hotel guests, always an encouraging sign, the Elysian's two restaurants, both overseen by chef Jason McLeod and chef de cuisine Danny Grant in a double tour de force, offer a contrasting sample of contemporary cooking. My favorite of the two dining rooms is the more casual Balsan, a buzzy, reasonably priced (small plates hover around $12.00; large average $25) bistro punctuated by a long bar and marble tables. It's a little reminiscent of the always superb Avec and the menu wanders all over the place. If you're freely wandering get one of the thin crust pizzas pulled from the wood-fired oven (the Goffredo is crowned with proscuitto, arugula, and a sweet, fruity tomato suace). The now obligatory charcuterie is, well, meaty, but I prefer two other small plates: the knockout cured sardine and fennel laid over grilled sourdough, and a perfectly composed dish of porcini mushrooms, chicken livers and a soft-boiled hen egg. Among larger plates the standout is the suckling pig, another dish that pops up on too many menus now and usually sounds better than it tastes. But the Balsan version is perfect, the sweet crackling skin just a thin strip that doesn't overpower the tender pork. For dessert ignore the other inevitability (the creme brulee that seems to have become, by some legal decree, a mandated item on every menu in America now) and order the Paris Brest (pictured). Already locally famous, the wreath of choux pastry explodes with a cloud of hazelnut nougatine and praline cream and it's the best dessert I've tasted this year. If you want to spend more money, cross the hall to the formal, sedate Ria, where it's easy to make a memorable meal out of the sweet Dungeness crab meat rolled up in leeks, and a veal sweetbread with fava beans, green garlic, and lemon. If you want to spend less though a good option is another recently opened Chicago kitchen that mines a very different omnipresent trend. In fact Wicker Park's Big Star follows all the rigid rules of hipster dining. It doesn't take reservations, it self-consciously mimics a back-country dive bar, it comes packed with boys in porkpie hats, and, the best thing, it's really cheap. Plus, it takes its food, despite all the faux, hee-haw informality, as seriously as any Michelin...


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