The state of Louisiana, which produces one-third of the nation's oysters, has mustered the first quasi-official response to new FDA guidelines banning the sale of unprocessed Gulf oysters from April through October.
The strict new rules, designed to combat the deadly Vibrio vulnificus bacteria that swarms in warm water, require Texas, Florida and Louisiana oyster processors to freeze, heat, radiate or pressurize their oysters. But oyster connoisseurs worry their favored bivalves won't be the only casualty of post-harvest processing; Insiders suspect the law will also kill the Gulf coast's oyster industry.
Gulf Coast oyster harvesters say a food safety plan introduced by the Food and Drug Administration this weekend could doom the domestic oyster industry by subjecting sellers to regulations they call needless and cost-prohibitive.
The FDA's Michael Taylor cited the deadly threat posed by the bacterium vibrio vulnificus in explaining the agency's decision to ban the sale of fresh, live, unprocessed oysters from Florida, Louisiana and Texas during the warm summer months. The law is set to take effect in 2011.
Oysters that have been quick-frozen, heated, pressurized or treated with gamma rays will be exempt from the ban, which mirrors a law adopted by California in 2003. According to Taylor, that law has winnowed the state's vibrio death rate to nearly zero, with just one fatality being investigated as a possible vibrio case. The nationwide vibrio death rate over the same period has approached 15 annually.
Zucchini, Potato and Scallion Pancakes. Photo: Rec(ession)ipes.
As we transition from summer to fall, it's the perfect time to pair prime vegetables from each season.
And these zucchini, potato and scallion pancakes from Rec(ession)ipes beautifully capture the colors of autumn, while sneaking in the last tastes of summer. Pan-fried and topped with a dollop of chive sour cream, a glimpse at these almost makes up for the fact that we'll be seeing a lot less of the sun for a while. Almost.
Labor Day -- the most bittersweet of all national holidays. Sweet because the majority of folks have Monday off; bitter because it marks the end of the summer season.
And as you cut open that watermelon, why not find other ways to enjoy the juicy summer staple?
So while Labor Day may mark the end of summer, it means stores are spending the weekend unfurling their Halloween decorations. We're sad to see summer go, but can't wait for the candy, turkey and eggnog!
Roasted broccoli with shrimp. Photo: Sarah LeTrent
Few of us want to make a complicated lasagna for solo dining -- by day six, you'll never want to see lasagna again! In this series, AOL Food staffer Sarah LeTrent taste-tests simple recipes suitable for a "table for one."
Grilling out defines summer, but after a busy weekday, few people feel like manning the grill or huddling over a hot grill pan. In this recipe, the oven does all the dirty work for you.
Enter this often overlooked and underrated method of cooking: roasting.
Try this method for broccoli and shrimp. Roasting caramelizes the natural sugars and brings out both ingredients' natural sweetness.
We have a confession to make: We have a really hard time not turning Feast Your Eyes into a direct daily feed from Smitten Kitchen. Not only does the blog's author, Deb, constantly concoct an amazing array of seasonally diverse dishes over and over and over again, she manages to always take incredibly flattering photographs of her subjects.
Case in point: this nectarine galette -- a flat, round tart which Deb claims is "ridiculously easy to make." Making it look beautiful, however, is another story, yet somehow she manages to make that sound simple too: "A single pie crust, a brush of melted butter, a sprinkling of sugar and big wedges of peak-season fruit, in this case, arranged on a bed of ground almonds, baked until the edges are browned and the fruit is starting to caramelize."
Yeah... we'll just watch from over here -- with mouths watering, of course.
In this weekly series, home cook Bruce Watson works his way through a decades-old family cookbook, adapting the best recipes exclusively for Slashfood.
Back in the early 1980s, when my Aunt Evie was putting together our family cookbook, my mother volunteered a recipe on my behalf. Titled "Brucie's Microwave Cheesecakes," it stood alongside my cousin Teddy's "Sesame Street Cookies" and my cousin Cathy's "Oven Fried Chicken," evidence that, at age 8, I was already a kitchen prodigy. However, it was all a lie: My recipe was stolen from the "Sunset Microwave Cookbook."
Years later, I found out that my cousins' recipes were also reprinted from various sources. In the meantime, however, I felt like a plagiarist and was always careful to point out that it wasn't my recipe, but rather one that I made a lot. Even so, there was something about my culinary larceny -- intentional or not -- that rubbed me the wrong way.
Recently, as I was working my way through various family dishes, I decided to give this one another shot. While the recipe that follows owes much of its inspiration to the fine folks at "Sunset," the ingredients, preparation method and taste are definitely my own, and I take full responsibility for all of the above!
Get the recipe for lime cheesecake tarts after the jump!
Smoked brie. Photo: Erica George Dines Photography
Part of a continuing summer series by grilling expert Gena Knox.
Whether you are having guests over for a grill-out or just cooking for the family, start up your grill a few minutes early and smoke your own cheese for an amazing yet easy-to-prepare appetizer.
Plank grilling is a familiar concept when it comes to cooking salmon and other types of fish, but you can also use wood to smoke brie, cheddar, Gouda and mozzarella in just 10 to 15 minutes.
When you purchase cheeses like "smoked Gouda" from your supermarket, the taste is oftentimes artificial, with a strong aftertaste. By using cedar, maple, alder or other flavors of wood, you can add an all-natural smoky taste to almost any cheese.
There is perhaps nothing more refreshing on a hot day than a fruity drink. Sure, ice cream, Popsicles and beer all have their place in the chill summer pantheon, but the combination of something already so summery (fruit) with nature's most refreshing resource (water) is pure heaven when the thermometer is pushing 90 or 100 degrees. And no one does fruity drinks better than Mexicans (margarita, anyone?).
Shown above are gloriously green and outrageously orange aguas frescas, which translates loosely to "fresh waters." These are typically blended with fruits, cereals or seeds and, of course, sugar. These colorful concoctions from Deb at Smitten Kitchen are made with cantaloupe and honeydew melon, lime juice, sugar, salt, water and seltzer.
The twist of lime on each glass serves as a reminder that though these drinks don't contain any alcohol, they're still suitable to serve to grown-ups at fiestas.
Like many people who love food (and watching cooking shows on TV), I plopped myself down in a cool theater during last week's heat wave to watch Meryl Streep expertly channel Julia Child.
What stuck with me after leaving the theater was not Streep's pitch-perfect accent, but the very brief mention of a recipe for braised cucumbers.
It is quite possible that my brain latched onto this because at the very moment I was having a conundrum with what to do with all the cucumbers we've been blessed with from the heirloom garden this year (after a disastrous beetle infestation in 2008).
Our heirloom cukes and an amazing recipe after the jump.
First, we were reminiscing over cartons of fresh-picked berries. Now we're swooning over seasonal sweet corn custard. That a typically savory grain could be made into such a sweet-sounding dessert is not unusual. (After all, who hasn't -- knowingly or not -- indulged in a little high-fructose corn syrup?) But the fact that it was whipped into such a smooth, butter-colored custard is a rare treat, indeed.
This multiscoop serving was captured by Andrea from High/Low Food/Drink after a late-night run to pick up a pint from restaurateur Danny Meyer's iconic New York Shake Shack. Though Andrea admits the yellow kernels were added at home "for artistic effect" only, they pop beautifully against the blue bowl, making the sweets look all the sweeter.
There are some things that -- no matter what kind of mood you find yourself in -- can put a smile on your face by merely existing. Puppies. Sprinkles. And for us, berries -- an especially potent antidote to a case of the Mondays.
These brimming cartons suggest a sun-kissed summer weekend spent slowly wending through the berry patches, plucking the gems from their shrubs and eventually departing with lips stained red and blue by all the tastes sneaked along the way.
Flickr user The Boastful Baker snapped these beautiful blueberries and ravishing raspberries on a recent trip to the Northwest, and this morning they serve as a happy reminder of weekends past, real or imagined.
Strawberries with wine? It's not a pairing most people ask Chez Panisse sommelier Jonathan Waters about. In fact, he can't remember anyone ever asking him to take the sweet-tart berry -- which has dotted dessert menus for much of the summer -- and combine it with a crisp, ethereal vino. Champagne, yes, but wine, no.
"It's pretty rare that somebody would have strawberries with wine," says Waters (no relation to that other Chez Panisse Waters), who has worked at the restaurant for more than 20 years.
That said, he thinks the two are a very plausible match and was up to the challenge. We caught up with him to chat strawberries, Alice Waters' practice of finishing a meal with seasonal fruit, and his thoughts on organic wine.
Do you guys ever serve whole strawberries? We do. We serve them at the end of a meal. Alice's idea is that the perfect end of a meal is a fruit. If you have ever read [David Mas] Masumoto's book about peaches ... we only serve strawberries for a very short window because it's a short season when they are perfect.
Does the restaurant serve them other ways? We serve strawberries with other things for a longer period, like macerated strawberries over sherbet or strawberry shortcake.
Even as a little boy I was a champion of diversity. I didn't care if the onion was white, yellow or red. I liked them all. My favorite meal at grandma's house was her onion sandwich: thin slices of onion, two slices of bread and a generous layer of Duke's mayonnaise.
Fortunately for all of you, my tastes are a little more sophisticated now, though sophisticated and simple are not mutually exclusive when it comes to good recipes. Have you ever thought about combining savory caramelized onions, tangy blue cheese and sweet, juicy slices of apple? I hadn't either, until our friend (and former Martha Stewart Everyday Food editor Sandy Gluck) made the suggestion. The result was a delicious and decadent onion tart that will impress every single person at your table.
A pasta dinner is what you make of it. A heavy-handed helping layered with too much sauce and cheese can leave a gal feeling lethargic. But when prepared with colorful, seasonal ingredients like zucchini, goat cheese and lemon, it makes for a light, savory summer supper.
Adapted from a recipe in the June issue of Bon Appetit, this beautiful bowlful of fresh fettuccine was tossed with a sauce made of green zucchini, yellow summer squash, olive oil, shallots, garlic, goat cheese, lemon and herbes de Provence. It's topped with what appears to be the only thing that could make it more summery than it already is: chiffonade of basil.
As one commenter on the photographer's Flickr page said, "It's possible that you just captured summer in a bowl." Agreed!
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