Kitchen Toys and Sweet Treats from Food & Wine · Posted by Editor · April 18, 2008 Posted by Brilynn Ferguson on Paper Palate March's issue of Food & Wine magazine is dubbed the Special Kitchen Issue and reviews a variety of small appliances, giving the top three in each category. The appliances reviewed are blenders, convection toaster ovens, deep fryers, food processors, hand mixers, juicers, and panini presses. I feel like I'm missing out here because I only have two of these (the blender and food processor), bu... lire la suite
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March's issue of Food & Wine magazine is dubbed the Special Kitchen Issue and reviews a variety of small appliances, giving the top three in each category. The appliances reviewed are blenders, convection toaster ovens, deep fryers, food processors, hand mixers, juicers, and panini presses. I feel like I'm missing out here because I only have two of these (the blender and food processor), but at least if I decide to add these gadgets to my kitchen at some point in the future, I'll know which ones are best. One thing I do have in my kitchen though that I absolutely love is my KitchenAid, which is perfect for making all of the amazing desserts in this month's issue. There's an entire section entitled “Big Sugar's Blockbuster Desserts,” which features recipes from the Big Sugar Bakeshop, which is frequented by an ever increasing number of celebrities because of its proximity to major TV network studios. I can't wait to try the Pecan-Praline Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce or the Apple Pie Bars, and I couldn't wait at all to try the Reverse Chocolate Chip Cookies, I made those immediately! With 24 ounces of chocolate, these are a seriously good cookie. Reverse Chocolate Chip Cookies (Food & Wine, March 2008)
For the fourth year in a row, Food and Wine magazine has published a book representing new and innovative drinks from around the country. Of approximately 150 drinks listed in , 21 are from the San Francisco Bay Area. If you were to try all of these drinks, you would travel from a bar at the San Jose International Airport to the Sir Francis Drake hotel in Union Square. Grapefruit Flamingo from Kieran Walsh at Solstice (SF). This drink combines grapefruit vodka with Campari and sparkling wine. tags: food and wine magazine
Watch Video Tour of A16 + Wine Hands down, one of the most impressive cookbooks this season is A16 Food + Wine. The book is divided into sections on the wines of southern Italy, and a longer section on food served at the restaurant. In the food section it's particularly helpful to read the introduction to learn about chef Nate Appleman's approach to cooking Campanian style in San Francisco. A pantry section details the essential ingredients of the cuisine and then, finally, there are the recipes themselves. You'll find tripe, bruschetta, pickled peppers, roasted sardines as well as pizza and pasta. If you are a fan of this restaurant the book is a must. For a taste of the food and wine, the Marin Jewish Community Center in conjunction with Book Passages presents chef Nate Appleman and Wine Director Shelly Lindgren. They will discuss their book, and share the source of inspiration for their restaurant A16. What: A16 Food & Wine Tasting Why: Nate will be serving his wildly popular Monday meatballs and sharing other favorite recipes from the book. Shelly Lindgren will be offering wine tastings, advice, and a chance to order many of the featured wines for your holiday table. Butternut squash is everywhere right now. Here is an easy recipe from the book that is a refreshing change from the sweet roasted version. Recipe reprinted from A16 Food + Wine, copyright ©2008 by D.O.C. Restaurant Group, LLC, courtesy of Tenspeed Press. This entry was posted by Amy Sherman on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 at 11:23 am and is filed under bay area, books, chefs, events, recipes, wine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Also this week in Blue Kitchen: Eating California. A quick look at some of the great food we ate on our recent trip down the Pacific Coast Highway. Makes 2 to 3 servings [see Kitchen Notes] 2 1/2 cups thinly sliced red cabbage [see Kitchen Notes] 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and thinly sliced [see Kitchen Notes] 1/4 cup dry red wine 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar Add wine, vinegar, bay leaf and allspice and gently stir to blend. Cover and cook until liquid evaporates and cabbage is tender, about 10 minutes. Season cabbage mixture to taste with salt and pepper. Serve. Kitchen Notes Why Granny Smith? As apples go, Granny Smiths are nice and tart, so they play well with cabbage, wine and vinegar. There’s no overpowering sweetness here. Also this week in Blue Kitchen Car Tunes. What do you listen to when you’re driving? Let us know, at What’s on the kitchen boombox? Eating our way through California. Some of the delicious highlights, at WTF? Random food for thought.
After watching Top Chef last season, I was thrilled to see the winner was Stephanie Izard. I really enjoyed her from the beginning of the season and was rooting for her throughout since she was so skilled and yet modest. She really just dug into each and every challenge and found a way to shine in every episode. In addition to winning the title of Top Chef, the winner is also featured in Food & Wine magazine. When I received the October 2008 issue, I was curious to read more about the first female winner of Top Chef. In the article, F&W asked her to create three dishes to be paired with Gewurztraminer wines. Being a wine lover, Stephanie shared her unique style with these recipes: Scallops with Bacon-Braised Chard, Duck with Miso-Almond Buter and Halibut wih Pork-and-Peanut Ragu. All of the recipes sound so intriguing and will introduce the home cook to Stephanie's style of cooking. Next up for Stephanie is opening a gastropub, which she had success with during the restaurant wars challenge. She hopes to have some of her Top Chef friends join her as guest cooks in her kitchen. Sounds like a fun new restaurant to watch for. Be sure to pick up the October issue of Food & Wine to read the complete article and recipes created by the latest winner of Top Chef. Source: Food & Wine Magazine
When is the last time I posted about a restaurant on this site? It’s been ages. Not that I haven’t been eating out. On the contrary, I think I’ve probably started eating out more since the whole food photography thing started taking off this year. But, my eating out these days tends to be at my usual spots, eating my usual dishes. It’s comfort food, delicious but not requiring a lot of effort. Nothing wrong with that, right? Until about a month ago. I got the call. I was going to the big show... getting a behind the scenes look at Rover’s with... get this... dinner included. Not just any dinner, but their Grand Tasting menu, an eight course extravaganza of food. I could bring along the camera, and take shots in the kitchen, shots of the food, shots of the chef. Because I knew if I had a camera, I’d be lame at asking any questions, I brought along Ethan of Urbanspoon who happily chatted away with Thierry about politics, food and his upcoming new baby. And we feasted... course after course of beautifully prepared, seasonal French-inspired Northwest cuisine (or is it, Northwest-inspired French cuisine? I can never get that right). Rather than describing each course, I thought I’d just share some of the photos with you. Mainly because after about the 4th course with the wine pairings, things start to blur a bit, but also because the photos do a much better job than I could at showing how luscious the food is. I will say I’m amazed that the photos by dessert weren’t a complete blurry mess! But, before I do that, I do have to call out a few of my favorite things... first, the steak tartare with the little perched quail egg was unbelievably delicious. The scrambled eggs with caviar and lime creme fraiche, beautifully served in back in the shell. The Burgundy truffles on the black cod? Heaven on a plate. The escargot with the bacon that is smoked and cured in Adam’s smoker in his backyard... man, that is some good bacon. And, but the most amazing thing on the menu might surprise you... the braised short rib pot au feu with Moroccan sea salt, so tender you could eat it with a spoon. Escargot with Bacon, Artichoke and Spinach in a Citrus Nage (left) and Filet of beef with Chard Gratin and Potato Galette with Bearnaise and Red Wine Peppercorn Sauce (right) Start to finish, the meal took us about 5 hours. We oohed and ahhed over each course, knowing that what we were getting was an experience not many people would get. You can certainly get the same food and incredible service at Rover’s... I’ve eaten here before when no one knew who I was and everything was just as luxurious... but you don’t usually have the chef sit down with you for two hours over dessert, or get to take a whole private room to yourself (all the better for setting up the tripod). PS: For those of you interested in the behind the scenes of the photography for this post, there wasn’t really much to it other than a tripod and really long exposures. The lighting was just standard, fairly dim restaurant lighting. I shot at 100 ISO, which I could only do because of my tripod... something hard to do in most restaurant scenarios. The lighting obviously isn’t great, with fairly out of control shadows and some less than pleasant color casts. But, the food is so lovely, I think that shines through. Technorati Tags: Food, Photography, Restaurant, Seattle
What is it about pork that plays so nicely with sweet flavors? Marion made some wonderful lemon ricotta pancakes with sauteed apples for breakfast Sunday [yes, I photographed them—they will be a post one of these days]. Tasting the apples, which had been sauteed in butter with some sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice, I said they would also be great with something savory. Marion immediately said, “Pig meat!” Pork has a natural sweetness that lends itself beautifully to sweet/savory combinations. It also has a richness to it—even with today’s leaner pork production methods—which is a perfect foil to sweet additions. In the past, I’ve sweetened pork with pears for Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Pears and Onions. And I’ve combined it with dried plums to make Pork Chops with Port Sauce. The sweetness in this week’s dish comes from sweet red onion, sauteed and mixed with apricot preserves. You don’t actually caramelize the onion, which would bring out its sweetness more completely, but would also take anywhere from 20 minutes to more than an hour depending on whose recipe you believe. But even sauteing the onion until tender, less than 10 minutes even, begins to caramelize the natural sugar in the onion, and adding an apricot preserves mixture at the end further ups the sweetness quotient. The sweetness of this dish is subtle, not the overpoweringly cloying taste of sweet and sour pork, for instance. I can’t take a dish like that seriously—don’t feel as if I’m eating a meal so much as eating a dessert with meat in it. The apricots disappear into the onions, adding their sugar without their signature flavor. Pork Chops with Sweet Curried Onion 2 thick bone-in pork chops [about 1 pound total—see Kitchen Notes] Pat pork chops dry with paper towel and season on both sides with salt and pepper. Add more olive oil to skillet, if needed, and raise heat to medium high—you probably will need to, since the curry powder soaks it up. Saute chops until browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes on each side [see Kitchen Notes]. Transfer chops to individual plates and tent with foil to keep warm, if needed. Add curried onion and apricot preserves mixture to pan and heat through, about 1 minute, scraping up browned bits in skillet. Top chops with onion mixture. Serve. Kitchen Notes Also this week in Blue Kitchen Poet Robert Frost makes me think about butt bumps. Poetry and personal space, at WTF? Random food for thought. Great jazz comes in threes. Sax player Joe Lovano is rightly fascinated with trios, at What’s on the kitchen boombox?
Every time I have a wine I like I put the bottle on my desk so I can write about it. When space runs out you get one of these “” posts. These are all wines that I have consumed with meals and have usually tasted over a period of several days. They are more often than not under $30 as I frequently find more expensive wines not enjoyable with my day-to-day cooking as they are not ready to drink or just too big and woody. These posts are a true picture of the wines that I choose to serve at home with my own meals. All the wines in these posts are recommended. In fact, you’ll rarely find me writing about a wine I don’t like unless I think it’s an incredible rip-off or a pretentious, over-marketed wine of questionable quality like Veuve Cliquot. · Muscadet Sevre e Maine sur lie, Cuvee Medaillee, Le “L“‘d’Or, Pierre Luneau-Papin, Domaine de la Grange, 2005 - A steely laser of a wine. Very firm and tight with that stony minerality that only Muscadet delivers. I drank this wine over a week and it just kept getting better with air. Muscadet is the clear winner when it comes to the long wine name awards. It was perfect with some pan-fried Oregon oysters. I know it will be better with age, but I just don’t have the willpower not to drink it now. · Muller Thurgau Dry, Phalz, Weingut Okonomierat Rebhotz, 2005 - This is one of those wines that have so much acidity you think your glass has a static charge as it touches your lips. Crisp with a zippy lemon-lime fruit, this was a great match to some Thai spring rolls. Wines like this should be used to define the usually misused term “dry” as this one is almost jarringly dry. As you know combining electric acidity with jarring dryness means that both me and my deep fryer love this wine. · Sangiovese di Romagna Superiore, Torre di Ceparano, Fattoria Zerbina, 2003 - I’ve been a Zerbina fan for a long time. While their top expensive “Super” wines get big points, what I actually love are their least expensive wines like Ceregio and this wine. The Torre di Ceparano is consistently a great value in sangiovese. Structured with authentic, earthy sangiovese fruit and character, there are few Chiantis that can match this wine and those that do all cost a lot more. If you can’t figure out what the big deal with sangiovese is all about try this wine with some braised lamb shanks. In my opinion, Zerbina is the best producer in Romagna. · Nebbiolo Langhe, Produttori del Barbaresco, 2005 - An very good bargain in Piemonte nebbiolo, which is something that is getting harder and harder to find. Very classic with earthy fruit, drying tannins and distinctive aromatics. You’ll find plenty of the famed “tar and roses”, which are the defining characteristics of classic nebbiolo. It is definitely worth waiting a few years before drinking this fine wine. · Beaujolais Le Perreon, Nouveau, Domaine de la Madone, Jean Bererd et Fils, 2007 - Served lightly chilled with homemade pizza topped with lots of sweet onions and an egg, which made a perfect match and a very enjoyable dinner. Believe it or not, there are some very good Nouveau Beaujolais wines being produced by small estates. Good luck finding them though. · Dolcetto d’Alba, Pertinace, Treiso, 2006 - With so many Dolcetto wines on steroids these days (six are named in the Mitchell Report), it’s nice to find a wine that you can actually drink without going to the dentist to have your teeth cleaned. Fresh, brightly fruity, pleasantly zesty and under $15, which makes this a great wine to buy by the case for casual meals. No it’s not profound, but sometimes deliciously easy is more enjoyable than profound. · Cahors, Clos La Coutale, 2005 - If you ever wondered why people grow malbec after tasting yet another drab commercial grocery store wine from South America, try this rich blend of 80% malbec and 20% merlot. Robust with layers of flavors and a firm backbone that leads to a warm, earthy finish. An excellent choice for this winter’s hearty stews. · Bourgogne, Cuvee Sylvie, Domaine Sylvie Esmonin, 2005 - A great value in fine French pinot noir. Lately I’ve been having better luck finding good pinot in this price range than with more expensive bottles. As a Burgundy lover living in Oregon, I am always ordering bottles of Burgundy to convince locals of its superior charms. Often these wines do not present convincing arguments in support of my position. However, wines like this do. This is almost picture perfect pinot noir. No, it’s not the most complex pinot you’ll ever taste, but it is delicious and purely varietal. Rich, creamy and velvety from first sniff to the last lingering essence of the finish, this wine is pure pinot pleasure. One note, by the next day the wine had faded quite a bit. Therefore, I’d suggest drinking this wine up young and pretty. · Cote de Brouilly, Domaine de la Voute des Crozes, Nicole Chanrion, 2005 - This is one of those rich Cru Beaujolais wines that remind you more of pinot noir than the many insipid wines that carry the name Beaujolais these days. This is a classy gamay with great depth and richness. This wine is still actually a bit closed and needs a year or two more to really strut its stuff. Mixed with the brilliant gamy fruit flavors and aromas are touches of black truffles, herbs and a touch of black pepper. This is a wine that makes you sit up and take notice. · Chateau Aney, Haut Medoc, Cru Bourgeois, 2003 - Just a few decades ago Bordeaux was my go-to wine. It dominated my cellar and my table. Those days are long gone and now I taste more Bordeaux than I drink. However, when rack of lamb appears on my table my taste buds yearn for Bordeaux, or what Bordeaux used to be anyway. Now 2003 is not my favorite vintage and I had not tasted wines from the Chateau before, but with Kermit Lynch’s name on the back label I decided to give it a try and I’m glad I did. While like most 2003’s it is not the most structured Bordeaux you’ll ever taste it has enough of a tannic backbone that it reminds you it really came from the Haut Medoc. For me this wine is ready to drink now and over the next year or two and that nothing worthwhile will be gained by extended aging. It went perfectly with my lamb and cost less than $25. Now there’s a Bordeaux you can enjoy. It’s worth pointing out this wine is listed at 12.5% alcohol, that’s nice too. · Cotes du Rhone, Les Cailloux, Domaine Rabasse Charavin, 2004 - Here’s a big, ripe chewy wine that pulls it off. It took me a glass to adjust to it, but after that I found its ripe earthy warmth comforting and enjoyable. Having a big cheeseburger dripping with extra sharp cheddar tonight? Here’s your wine.
The theme for this month’s Sugar High Friday was Sugar High Friday #41: Sweet Gifts, where I asked you to tell me about a dessert you made (or want to make) for somebody else. What an amazing group of people you are, to have created such a huge collection of sweet gifts for your friends, family, and loved ones all over the world! I’ve enjoyed reading all of your stories and imagining the tastiness of your desserts. Thank you so much for participating and sharing your stories with me here. Next month’s Sugar High Friday will be hosted by La Petite Boulangette, and the theme is Asian Sweet Invasion. Cakelaw from Laws of the Kitchen Mrs. W from Mrs. W’s Kitchen Holly made these cupcakes for her four-year-old, Aidan, as a special treat that won’t trigger his allergic reaction to too much dairy. What a lucky kid, to have such a sweet Mom! A sweet gift for Mr Soul & City and Mr Bump. When Mike was younger, he and his brother tried to make crepes for their mother on Mother’s Day, and, well, I’m sure she appreciated the gesture, at least. But now that he is older and more skilled in the kitchen, he was able to get over the anxiety of that memory to make these beautiful crepes for his wife. Zlamushka from Zlamushka’s Spicy Kitchen My kitchen treats This was made from V, who got a sore mouth from spicy food and deserved something sweet afterwards. Susan from Food Blogga When Susan had her wisdom teeth removed and couldn’t eat solid food, her father waited on line to bring her a McDonald’s Shamrock Shake after work every day for a week. 15 years later, she recreated the shake as a thank you for her father. Miri used orange extract she received as a gift from another food blogger to create this cake for her orange blossom, her almost-three-year-old daughter. Nicole from Sweet Tooth Sihan’s babe never had much of a sweet tooth, but he sure loved this cake! Meeta made these treats for her lucky local friends right before she left to visit her family for Easter, so they wouldn’t forget her while she was gone. I wish I lived in her neighborhood! Mansi Desai from Fun and Food Mary Lynn Allen from Sweet Mary Zarah Maria Food & Thoughts Aran made these beautiful truffles to welcome her friend Deena’s new baby into the world. Congratulations, Deena! And with such a sweet welcome, I’m sure that child will have the sweetest of lives. Welcome to the world, welcome to chocolate, welcome to life! Maggie from Dog Hill Kitchen Gretchen loves hospitality, and she brought these treats to the new wife a pastor she’s worked with for several months when she was invited over for lunch. Posted by Danielle in Sweets, Food Blog Events, Roundups on March 28th, 2008 | | Permalink wow, this is indeed a brilliant roundup of sweet treats with equally sweet sentiments! thanks for a wonderful theme and roundup Danielle!:) Such an amazing selection of sweet things. Thank you for rounding up so many wonderful treats and gifts for us. Your work in putting this post together is appreciated.
For most of us, the first we had ever heard of baker Melissa Murphy was when she took home the grand prize this past year on the Food Network's Edible Ornaments Contest. But the folks in Brooklyn have adored her devotion to making the finest baked goods in the five boroughs since she first opened Sweet Melissa Patisseries in 1998. Since then, the accolades have been many. In addition to the Food Network victory, Sweet Melissa's was also honored with the Zagat award for “Best Tarts and Pies” in New York City. Melissa and her bakery have been featured in both local publications, like the New York Times, and in national periodicals like Food & Wine and Fine Cooking. On the heels of this success, Murphy is releasing her much anticipated Sweet Melissa Baking Book from Viking Studio, a division of the Penguin Group. Flipping through an advanced copy with a friend who loves to bake gave me some true insight to the Sweet Melissa methodology. Each stunningly photographed treat brought a similar response from my friend, “Ooh, that looks good, but I would have drizzled chocolate on the plate first,” or “Pretty. I bet powdered sugar would have made that even prettier.” Murphy's plate presentation is fine, but not the focus. She decided years ago to concentrate on always preparing the absolute best recipe, not the trendiest. In fact, she states in the introduction, “The best food doesn't have to be challenging in its preparation, but should recall our fondest food memories.” Thumbing through the recipes myself later on gave me the chance to fully appreciate why many say Melissa Murphy is the best baker in the nation. After reading some of her creative specialties like Guinness (yes, the beer) Gingerbread and Sweet Plum Clafoutis with Almonds, I then took time to notice her takes on some of the classics ... sheer genius. At times the narrative seems a bit cocky when you read things like, “The cakes in this chapter are so uniquely delicious, yet the ingredients are so familiar. If you make any one of the cakes from the chapter, you will become somebody's hero!” But when you observe the attention to detail, you begin to understand that Murphy is not bragging, she is stating fact. What makes Sweet Melissa's Red Velvet Cake so good? Dutch-process cocoa, red wine vinegar, and buttermilk in the cake batter. The secret to her Carrot Cake? The zest of one orange in the frosting. The recipes used at Sweet Melissa's are not just her spin on each dish, but rather the result of lots of trial and error. Murphy has tested hundreds of versions of each delicacy she produces to find what she, and her many patrons agree are the best recipes for each. One might say that the Sweet Melissa Baking Book is a greatest hits of baking.