Grocery store bins are still overflowing with fresh sweet corn, its silky hair littering the tile floors like pine needles, so you might as well get as much as you can, while you can. The New York Times has a good story on stretching late summer corn, with an especially awesome-looking recipe for corn, basil and tomato chowder. This thick soup packs in the trifecta of summer flavors, made hearty with potatoes and a dollop of crème fraîche. And, best of all, soup's great for freezing, which means you can thaw a container-full any time during the winter for a burst of early September's golden goodness.Late Summer recipe: Corn, Tomato and Basil Chowder
Grocery store bins are still overflowing with fresh sweet corn, its silky hair littering the tile floors like pine needles, so you might as well get as much as you can, while you can. The New York Times has a good story on stretching late summer corn, with an especially awesome-looking recipe for corn, basil and tomato chowder. This thick soup packs in the trifecta of summer flavors, made hearty with potatoes and a dollop of crème fraîche. And, best of all, soup's great for freezing, which means you can thaw a container-full any time during the winter for a burst of early September's golden goodness.Martha Stewart's fall cupcakes
To continue with my cupcake boosterism, here's a link to Martha Stewart's new gallery of fall cupcakes. I'm not sure they're the "reclaimed" "elevated" cupcakes so prevalent in upscale bakeries these days, but they sure are cute. And Martha is almost always reliable for making even her gimmicky recipes tasty. Check out the apple cupcakes: Vanilla cupcakes with red icing resembling newly-picked apples, with pretzel stems and sour apple candy leaves intact. Or the pumpkin patch cupcakes, with tiny hand-made marzipan pumpkins atop spice cake batter. The carrot cupcakes are a bit more complex, flavored with allspice and orange juice and topped with cream cheese icing loaded with shredded coconut.
Recipe alert: New Chez Panisse cookbook
Check out this week's New York Times magazine, which features several recipes from Chez Panisse chef David Tanis's new cookbook. The book, "A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes," embodies the Chez Panisse philosophy: "simple cooking meant to illuminate nature's perfect simplicity."
Think strawberries elevated with just a splash rose-petal syrup; braised carrots with a whiff of saffron, simple avocado salad of avocados, scallions, salt and limes. There are three featured recipes in the magazine: no-casing fennel sausage with nothing more than pork, salt, crushed red pepper, fennel seed and garlic; the aforementioned saffron carrots, and a moist, deeply mahogany duck breast with baked figs.
Cupcake backlash
I must have read half a dozen articles in the past year which contained some sneery line about the women on Sex and the City bus tours of NYC standing outside Magnolia Bakery trying out Carrie Bradshaw's favorite cupcakes. High-end cupcakes were awesome a few years ago, the message goes, but now they're becoming a little....déclassé.
And now, a wave of imitators is spreading across the city; the Crumbs franchise is planning to open 40 shops in the next year. This leaves some to wonder whether cupcakes are the new Krispy Kreme - a beloved, slightly kitschy dessert raised to sugary highs by the media only to become overexposed and fall as flat as a punctured souffle.
Apparently there are already signs of a "cupcake backlash." Joel Stein, writing in Time, says cupcakes are "fake happiness, wrought in Wonka unfood colors. They appeal to the same unadventurous instincts that drive adults to read Harry Potter and watch Finding Nemo without a kid in the room."
I disagree. Taking something as humble as the cupcake and transforming it from cloying pink nastiness to something much more sophisticated and sublime seems to be part of the larger, positive foodie movement of reclaiming and elevating ordinary American foodstuffs - red velvet cake, mac and cheese, tuna noodle casserole.
Box Lunch: Simple, elegant bento
For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. The boxes can range from austere lacquered trays to multi-tiered Hello Kitty confections of neon pink plastic. The meals themselves are anything from rice and leftovers to elaborate themed affairs of Pikachu-shaped dumplings with sesame seed eyes and carved radish trees. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.
Today's lovely bento, from Mimisimos, is a minimalist work of art. There are two onigiri (rice balls) with tuna salad and bits of nori, a line of cherry tomatoes, a nectarine with a blackberry in the center, and some extra tuna salad on lettuce with some sliced cucumbers. Lovely, highly edible, and healthy.
Novelist poisoned by mushrooms
Nicholas Evans, the author of the best-selling novel "The Horse Whisperer" is recovering in a hospital after eating a highly toxic variety of mushroom.
Evans, his wife, her sister and the sister's husband became sick after cooking and eating Cortinarius speciosissimus mushrooms, which they'd gathered in the woods during a vacation in Scotland. The mushrooms contain kidney toxins; all four received dialysis and were reportedly doing well.
Incidents like this shouldn't scare you off mushroom hunting, especially during prime chanterelle season. Just be VERY sure you know exactly what you're doing. Check out Jonathan's 'Chasing the wild mushrooms' features for more on (non-deadly) mushroom hunting.Box Lunch: A summer composition
For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. The boxes can range from austere lacquered trays to multi-tiered Hello Kitty confections of neon pink plastic. The meals themselves are anything from rice and leftovers to elaborate themed affairs of Pikachu-shaped dumplings with sesame seed eyes and carved radish trees. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.
Today's bento has the color and textural balance of a painting, while appearing to maintain its essential edibility. The creator, Wonder Zdora, notes that this is a bento made for hot weather - lots of juicy fruits and veggies and few heavy proteins. It includes rice noodles with shiso and umeboshi (pickled plum) and tahini dressing, radish flowers, cucumber salad with wakame seaweed, carrots, grapefruit and fresh medlar fruits.
New York Times Dining & Wine in 60 seconds: New restaurants, corn, Slow Food
A preview of the new NYC restaurants opening this fall. NYC restaurants take cost-saving measures to keep afloat. Smaller lobster?
The Minimalist takes on the chickpea.
Recipes for end-of-summer corn: chowder, corn bread, fried corn with bacon and chipotle.
The Slow Food movement throws itself a party in San Francisco.
Eric Asimov talks Côtes du Rhône.
Box Lunch: Geese on the go
For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. The boxes can range from austere lacquered trays to multi-tiered Hello Kitty confections of neon pink plastic. The meals themselves are anything from rice and leftovers to elaborate themed affairs of Pikachu-shaped dumplings with sesame seed eyes and carved radish trees. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.
As seems appropriate for the beginning of September, today's bento features two Canada geese, courtesy of the ever-impressive Sakurako Kitsa. One mushroom and nori goose flies in a blue rice sky while the other swims in a dyed pear sauce lake with a couscous shoreline, surrounded by green bean and raw soba reeds. The sun is half of a yellow tomato.
Box Lunch: Safari for kids
For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. The boxes can range from austere lacquered trays to multi-tiered Hello Kitty confections of neon pink plastic. The meals themselves are anything from rice and leftovers to elaborate themed affairs of Pikachu-shaped dumplings with sesame seed eyes and carved radish trees. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.
Today's bento is from the blog Cooking for Monkeys, where a very creative mom displays her ultra-adorable kiddie bentos. This safari bento is from her three-year-old's birthday party. Each kid got a box containing a PB & J jeep, an alligator carrot, cheese lions and giraffes and a blueberry elephant, all atop Veggie Booty "grass." Beats the heck out of the floppy slices of pizza from my own childhood birthday party days.
100 must-eat American foods
Yesterday I posted the Omnivore's Hundred, a list of 100 "must-try" foods written by a British food blogger. I thought it was so interesting I had to try making my own, American-style. My ground rules were this: I didn't include any drinks, and I only listed foods that can be found in more than just one location (so "Krispy Kreme donut" is OK, but "cheese slice from Joe's Pizza in NYC" is not). I also tried to avoid foods that are American in origin but ubiquitous in the rest of the world (so no McDonald's french fries, much as I love them).
So here it is: Emily's 100 American Foods You Really Ought to Try Sometime Before You Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil. And by all means, tell me what you think is missing!
The American Omnivore's Hundred
- Hoppin' John
- Homemade buttermilk biscuits
- Tasso
- Whole
- Calabash-style shrimp and hushpuppies
- Hot glazed Krispy Kreme
Continues after the jump...
Box Lunch: Penguin
For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. The boxes can range from austere lacquered trays to multi-tiered Hello Kitty confections of neon pink plastic. The meals themselves are anything from rice and leftovers to elaborate themed affairs of Pikachu-shaped dumplings with sesame seed eyes and carved radish trees. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.
Today's bento comes courtesy of Cooking Cute, a bento resource site. Our penguin onigiri is stuffed with salmon and wasabi and dressed in a a fetching nori penguin suit. His beak is made of bell pepper, as are the initials above his head. On the side are Trader Joe's chicken drummetes and some stir fried broccoli.
The Omnivore's Hundred: How many have you tried?
Andrew, an English food writer who co-authors a blog called Very Good Taste, creates a little list. The list is, in his words, things "every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life." He calls it the Omnivore's Hundred and suggests readers cut and paste it to their own blogs.
Two weeks later the list has exploded into a major internet meme. Andrew has more than 500 comments on the post and the Omnivore's Hundred has 170,000 Google results to its name. Something about the idea of being able to quantify your eating experiences seems to really resonate with foodies. The list is completely subjective (I'm sure mine would have been quite different - I can't imagine not including New York pizza, tacos al pastor or key lime pie), but quite interesting nonetheless. I've tasted 73 of the 100 items. Some of the ones I haven't tried include nettle tea, fugu and currywurst (picture above).
Check out the list, after the jump, and tell me what you would include on your own Omnivore's Hundred.
Continue reading The Omnivore's Hundred: How many have you tried?
Box Lunch: Cute cat
For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. The boxes can range from austere lacquered trays to multi-tiered Hello Kitty confections of neon pink plastic. The meals themselves are anything from rice and leftovers to elaborate themed affairs of Pikachu-shaped dumplings with sesame seed eyes and carved radish trees. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.
Today's bento take food art to potentially dangerous heights of cuteness while appearing to retain its essential edibility. The rice kitty reclines contentedly on a bed of seafood and veggies, her whiskers tiger stripes rendered in nori (seaweed), her paws and ears in what appears to be lunch meat. Dig into this with a fork, and PETA will be be at your door faster than you can say "mink coat."
The New York Times Dining & Wine section in 60 seconds: Supper clubs, lavender, fortune cookies
Underground supper clubs - half dinner party, half restaurant - are in.
Low alcohol beers gain popularity.
Thinking of opening a restaurant? Think twice. Then think again.
Memories of teenage boy food.
The Minimalist shows us how to cook with lavender without making the dish smell like your grandmother's powder room.
Artisanal cocktails are here. Of course.
Fortune cookies are not Chinese.
Chocolate-stuffed bananas on the grill
Tyler Florence welcomes new daughter
Beware kids' menus!
