As the ongoing recession/inflation/credit crunch drives the cost of food higher and higher, British chain Sainsbury's has begun working to minimize food wastage. Meanwhile, ever-increasing numbers of consumers are cooking from scratch in an attempt to stretch their food budgets. Clearly, thrift is back!
As you rush around in your search for cheap things to eat, it's worth remembering that, in the kitchen at least, poverty can definitely be the mother of invention. Although cheap gas, greenhouse gardening, and factory farming drove down the price of food for most of the last century, the vast majority of human history has been characterized by the desperate search for sustenance. Keeping that in mind, here's a reminder about a few of the techniques that long-gone chefs once developed to preserve the harvest, get their vitamins, and avoid throwing anything away:
Organ meats: In the days before easy canning and greenhouse gardening, it was incredibly difficult to get the necessary daily allowance of vitamins. Lacking access to fresh fruits and vegetables, medieval farmers turned to organ meats. For example, rich in iron and Vitamin A, the liver was a dietary staple for generations. Similarly, kidneys, sweetbreads, and brains are also great sources of necessary vitamins. Much later, immigrants and the lower classes continued to eat these organs, as they were healthy and relatively inexpensive.
Today for lunch, my sister and I did something we don't do very often. We went to an Italian restaurant. Italian just isn't one of my favorite cuisines. After a minute of looking at the menu, she asked me what cannelloni was, at which point I realized I had no idea. Imagine my surprise when I got home and found this post from Baker's Banter. It's a how-to on Sara Moulton's (Sara's Secrets) version of cannelloni, which uses crepes rather than pasta sheets. It looks incredibly delicious, and would probably make a great, easy, special dinner.
According to this article in Wikipedia, cannelloni can be made with either pasta sheets or crepes and still be considered correct. It was really interesting to learn about this dish, especially since it found me rather than the other way around. It occurred to me that cannelloni is similar to baked enchiladas. Now I'm curious if there are similar recipes from other cuisines. What do you think?
By this time of the year, markets and grocery stores are overflowing with a gorgeous array of melons. There are a few ways to know when your melon is ripe. They involve understanding that there are two classes of melon: the muskmelons and the watermelons.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a review of Vlada, a New York bar that specializes in infused vodkas. As I mentioned in my post, my experiences at Vlada had made me nostalgic for the moonshine that I had once enjoyed in Southwest Virginia. Back in the day, I used to buy 'shine by the gallon and infuse it with fruits, herbs, honey, and other ingredients, producing a wide range of aperitifs. While I'm a huge fan of store-bought liqueurs, I have yet to meet the mass-produced tipple that can rival the blueberry-infused moonshine, moonshine-based absinthe, or moonshine krupnikas that I once made.
The more I thought about it, the more I decided that the time had come to restart my experiments in fruit infusion. I had a half bottle of Everclear in the liquor cabinet, which I quickly determined was still relatively fresh and potent. A trip down to the farmer's market gave me a couple of pints of fresh blueberries, which I washed, dried, picked over, and packed in mason jars. I covered the fruit in grain alcohol, closed the lids, and set them in the back of one of my kitchen cabinets. Apart from giving them a daily shake, I was content to let time and the 190-proof alcohol do their work.
A week later, the alcohol was stained a deep purple and the berries were gray. A quick taste assured me that the grain was still mighty strong, but was now infused with a nice blueberry flavor. Wanting something a little more intense, I let a second batch of berries steep for a week in the alcohol. Afterward, I had a very alcoholic, very intensely flavored blueberry liquor. I also had a second batch of slightly sour-tasting blueberry alcohol that I got from running the leftover blueberries through my fruit juicer.
I often buy more spices and herbs than I know what to do with. So, it's not surprising that after several months they begin to lose their best flavors. Fortunately, there are techniques to preserve their unique taste.
When I was ten or eleven, I read an article in National Geographic World about foraging for food, and it immediately caught my attention. For several months, I made violet syrup, dandelion root "coffee," acorn muffins, and a wide variety of other bizarre concoctions from ingredients that I found in my own backyard. Some of these foods were good and others were horrific, but they taught me a few things about how to survive in the wild, not to mention the underappreciated joys of maple syrup.
In the years since, I've tried cattails and wild walnuts, ramps and rose petals, burdock, sassafras, and a wide variety of other delightful produce. In addition to saving me a small amount on my food budget, they've also continued to bring me close to nature. Now that I live in the city, however, my days of foraging are largely over. While I love the Bronx, I don't know what they're putting on the lawn in Poe Park and have no desire to find out the hard way!
Unfortunately, just as I've settled down in my new urban home, my friend Jen introduced me to Prodigal Gardens, a site that offers numerous recipes for wild produce and herbs, as well as workshops in foodlore and natural medicine. If you happen to be a resident of the upper Midwest, you might want to drop in at one of their classes in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, or ask them to set one up for you!
When purchasing an artisanal extra virgin olive oil, people tell me completely different ways to store it. While some urge me to refrigerate it, others argue that refrigeration spoils the oil's flavor.
When we learn about nutrition, we tend to focus on calories and vitamins. We're taught about which foods may prevent cancer and help our immune system. We normally concentrate on the physical effects of food on our body. It turns out however that foods have many more properties. According to a recent article from The Economist, foods also affect our cognition. They can enhance our mental health. Not only can certain foods improve our memory, but they can also prevent many of the negative effects of aging and even increase our lifespan.
Dr Fernando Gómez-Pinilla, a professor of neurosurgery and physiological science at the University of California, Los Angeles, conducted research on the way antioxidants and vitamins work with synapses in the brain. Based on his study, below are certain foods that can lead to a healthy brain:
Unlike Manhattan, which is revered for its cuisine, or Queens, which is famed for its ethnic variety, the Bronx is known for its outstanding little Italy, its collection of Puerto Rican cuchifrito joints, and little else. However, in my constant search for the ultimate neighborhood restaurant, I sometimes find wonderful little gems. A few months ago, I wandered into the provocatively-named "Pisac: Peruvian Food and Pizza." Having tried a few Peruvian dishes in college, I was eager to try some more, and Pisac seemed like the kind of hole-in-the-wall joint that ends up becoming a favorite.
Over the last few months, my wife and I have made Pisac a regular hangout. In the process, we've discovered the wonders of chicha morada, a Peruvian purple-corn drink that is simultaneously sweet, spicy, and fruity. In addition to this, it contains a dizzying array of juices that makes it into something of a Peruvian cure-all. In fact, the patrons of Pisac constantly claim that a combination of chicha, ceviche, and Peruvian lime/onion sauce can cure everything from an underactive libido to leprosy.
There is something magical about saffron. Maybe, it's the striking bright red stigmas that always catch my eye and evoke images of vibrant florid Indian fabrics. Perhaps, I'm struck by its deep aroma that smells of honey with notes of grass and hay. Either way, I'm in love with this spice.
While walking through the colorful Spice Souk in Dubai, I visited several shops where they sell saffron. A merchant showed me different kinds and let me pick up a bundle of the Iranian Sargol saffron from its style, the yellow part of the plant below the red threads. Most people are shocked by the high prices of saffron. Iran is the world's largest producer.
Recently, international sanctions against Iran have contributed to rising saffron prices. Seventy-five percent of Iran's saffron is exported to the United Arab of Emirates and Spain. However, the main reason why saffron is so expensive can be attributed to its harvest. 150 saffron crocus flowers must be plucked by hand to produce just one gram of red saffron stigmas. Persian saffron is the highest quality of saffron. Suggestions on how to purchase saffron can be found after the jump.
Chris Cason is Tavalon's tea sommelier, and in this clip, he explains out to create simple syrup infused with tea, which can then be turned into a tea soda that sounds really quite tasty! I'm looking forward to trying this out on my own at some point. Have any of you created a unique beverage with tea?
I am a big fan of sausage, especially the kind you buy in bulk (as opposed to the stuff that comes in casing). I use it as the protein/flavor base for egg scrambles, pasta sauces and stews. However, despite my love for ground, highly seasoned meats, I've never actually tried to make it on my own (I like to leave tasks like that to the professionals).
On Monday, Culinateposted a piece by Matthew Amster-Burton that's got me thinking that maybe I should change my ways and start experimenting with homemade sausage. I like the idea of avoiding all the perservatives that you find in commercial sausages and Matthew makes it sound so darn easy. He says you don't need many tools (I would have to buy the meat grinding attachment for my KitchenAid mixer) and that there are recipes to turn to until you feel confident enough to create your own flavor blends.
I think I might need a bit more encouragement before I become a home sausage maker. Is this something that others of you have done? Any tips or tricks?
There is nothing better than a fresh baguette! But, how many times have you opened your bread holder at home only to find that your bread has become hard like a rock? It's the fresh well-made bread that does not last more than a day or two. The truth is that this bread never really goes bad. It's use merely changes. Rather than eating the bread on its own, you will want to cook with it or add it to a salad. Below are 8 ways to make use of day-old bread:
Ah, where to begin with my long-lasting love affair with the crêpe, the delicately thin French pancake? I think it started with a photo my parents showed me of them eating crêpes with my older sister in Paris. Perhaps, it was the toppings that attracted me. Since I have such an insatiable sweet tooth, it didn't take long for me to get hooked.
I recently crafted some crêpes with just a few different berries, raspberry coulis, and lemon curd. It was the first time I used raspberry coulis in a crêpe. It was perfect. Raspberry coulis is a fruit sauce made from puréed raspberries. It's often used on desserts. The sweetness and tartness added just the right amount of flavor to the crepe without making it overwhelmingly sweet. Although, I have to admit that it takes a lot of sugar to overpower my palate.
And, the addition of lemon curd was superb! It not only enhanced the creaminess, but it also created an exquisite looking crêpe. As if I hadn't already added enough sweetness to the crêpe, I sifted sugar over it for the finale. The recipe I used to make the lemon curd and other dishes that call for lemon curd can be found after the jump.
Click on the gallery below to see the beautiful colorful process I was fortunate to experience in order to decorate and flavor the crêpe.
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As the ongoing recession/inflation/credit crunch drives the cost of food higher and higher, British chain Sainsbury's has begun working to minimize food wastage. Meanwhile, ever-increasing numbers of consumers are cooking from scratch in an attempt to stretch their food budgets. Clearly, thrift is back!
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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a 
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When I was ten or eleven, I read an article in National Geographic World about foraging for food, and it immediately caught my attention. For several months, I made violet syrup, dandelion root "coffee," acorn muffins, and a wide variety of other bizarre concoctions from ingredients that I found in my own backyard. Some of these foods were good and others were horrific, but they taught me a few things about how to survive in the wild, not to mention the underappreciated joys of maple syrup. 
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Unlike Manhattan, which is revered for its cuisine, or Queens, which is famed for its ethnic variety, the Bronx is known for its outstanding little Italy, its collection of Puerto Rican cuchifrito joints, and little else. However, in my constant search for the ultimate neighborhood restaurant, I sometimes find wonderful little gems. A few months ago, I wandered into the provocatively-named "Pisac: Peruvian Food and Pizza." Having tried a few Peruvian dishes in college, I was eager to try some more, and Pisac seemed like the kind of hole-in-the-wall joint that ends up becoming a favorite.
Chocolate-stuffed bananas on the grill
Tyler Florence welcomes new daughter
Beware kids' menus!
