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 featured bento is an impressive spa-themed box from Sakurako Kitsa. The mud-masked face of our turbaned spa lady is made from a turkey slice slathered in green-dyed mayonnaise. Her turban and robe are made from white cheese with fruit leather trim, and she wears diamond-shaped squirts of canned cheese for earrings. Wow!
After disliking scallops through most of my childhood, I found them on my birthday dinner plate a few years ago. My friend had whipped up a warm scallop salad for my big day, and it was insanely delicious. Now, of course, I love the things. They're very tasty, pretty versatile, and are ridiculously simple to prepare.
Over the last few weeks, I wanted to use up the last of the big scallops hanging out in my freezer. First, I made the above -- a warm salad to get back to the roots of my scallop love. The key is to have a creamy sauce/dressing, and vegetables that are warm and almost limp (but still holding some firmness). This one had tomatoes, peppers, green beans, basil, and feta.
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.
This time of the year, I love going to the farmer's markets to try the many succulent and colorful tomatoes. Depending on the season, we can enjoy these fruity delectables into mid-fall. Like so many fruits and vegetables, there are plenty of varieties of tomatoes to try. Below are 8 with some history.
Heirloom - Within this category there are approximately 400 different varieties. Aesthetically, they look striking with their unusual coloring and size. I would not use them to cook with. They're preferable eaten on their own with fresh basil, mozzarella, and vinaigrette.
Big Rainbow - These large beefsteak tomatoes can weigh over two pounds. They've been growing in the U.S. since the early 1900s. They start off yellow, and as they ripen they resemble a green pinkish-red rainbow. They're perfect for sandwiches and cooking.
Brandywine - This is another beefsteak tomato. The Amish community has been growing them since the late 19th century. They're softer than Big Rainbow tomatoes and they're bursting with both sweetness and acidity.
Cherokee Purple - These small sized salad tomatoes are perfect for cutting in quarters. They were first grown by the Cherokee tribe as far back as the 1800s. If you have a sweet tooth, these are for you! They're probably the sweetest large tomatoes at the market.
Djena Lee's Golden Girl - Tomato breeder Djena Lee created this deep yellow variety in the 1920s. They're known for their intense taste and sugar-acid balance. Cut them for your summer salad.
Green grape - This yellow-green cherry tomato has a relatively short history. It was created in the 1980s by being bred between four different heirloom tomatoes. They look like muscat grapes and are great for snacking.
Currant red - These tart cherry tomatoes are the smallest ones available.
Yellow Pear - This gorgeous yellow pear shaped small fruity tomato is great for snacking with grey sea salt mixed in with greens.
What are some interesting tomatoes you've tried so far this season?
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 now know what I need to hunt down this weekend -- lots and lots of cherry tomatoes.
Deb from Smitten Kitchen, a woman after my own heart, has just posted a sweet ode to the wonders of the tomato. Better yet, she has shared a great way to use up those small, sweet cherry suckers -- slow roast them. There's just a little bit of prep, a few hours for roasting, and then a bunch of little, roasted tomatoes to eat up. Don't they look delicious?
Just think -- small nibblets for snacking, a wonderful topping to pasta, a great addition to a sandwich, or even a nice twist on classic bruschetta on toast.
Until today, I was completely unaware that there were rules governing how produce had to look at the supermarket. I just thought that it was the retailers who were only accepting the "pretty" stuff.
However, in Europe there are all kinds of rules that dictate what produce has to look like. It covers the diameter of bananas all the way to what percentage of asparagus has to be green. The produce that doesn't fit those regulations gets tossed out. Recently, the European Commission decided that throwing away perfectly good produce just because it doesn't look perfect is just plain wasteful. Additionally the practice may also be contributing to the global food crisis.
As a result, the old rules are being abandoned on about 26 fruits and vegetables. Due to some opposition, though, not every variety of produce is having the rules changed. The compromise is that strawberries, pears, tomatoes, apples, kiwi, and lettuce must still meet the old guidelines.
What do you think about rules regarding produce appearance?
Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter picks up his second restaurant, Monkey Bar. His first, the Waverly Inn, has been luring a high wattage crowd for two years, despite not being officially open.
L.A.'s fast food moratorium raises questions about choice and personal responsibility.
Have you ever made up a great stir-fry or fajita mix and then struggle to eat all the tasty veggies before they go bad? There are other ways to use those great, leftover veggies.
By August, I usually find myself exhausted by the constant oppressive summer heat. The sweltering heat drains all the energy out of my body and leaves me walking to work sluggishly. To combat this end-of-summer lethargy, I hydrate myself throughout the day by drinking water.
Drinking water is not the only way you can refuel your body during the summer. Many fruits and vegetables can help you meet 20 percent of your daily fluid needs. Also, doctors have proven that a diet rich in H20-loaded foods can prevent dehydration and foster a feeling of fullness without adding too many extra calories. Below are 8 fruits and vegetables that can help recharge your body:
Yesterday, I mentioned the produce anxiety I face when the summer starts to head into fall. One way I combat the unrest I experience during the waning days of peaches and heirloom tomatoes is to eat meals that are simple, easy combinations of the best of the season. After I unpacked my farmers market haul yesterday, I made a very basic salad for lunch.
You can think of it as a very chunky guacamole, and if you were looking for a tasty dip, you could chop everything a bit finer and serve it with tortilla chips. I like eating more like a creamy salad, the corn kernels blending into the avocado chunks and hiding in the tomatoes. I made mine completely plain, seasoned with just with salt and pepper, although if you wanted a bit more acidity, you could dress it with a squeeze of lime juice. My basic recipe is after the jump.
We are now at the point in the summer when I traditionally start to feel a little anxious. You see, while the bounty of the summer growing season is still going strong and the piles of heirloom tomatoes at the farmers markets make it hard for anyone to image a time when such abundance isn't be available, I can feel the end approaching. We've already said good-bye to the asparagus, strawberries, cherries, raspberries and tender greens for the year (although some greens will re-appear in September, when the weather cools down again). I can tell that the apricots are waning and the plums, peaches and nectarines won't be far behind.
I shopped for produce yesterday and today, filling my fridge with vibrant bunches of swiss chard and large bags of local string beans. I've been buying cucumbers, bags of the round lemon cukes, quarts of kirbys and handfuls the prickly gherkins with the intention to make pickles. Instead I just slice them them for snacks or make a quick salad with halved cherry tomatoes and slivered red onion.
Today, when I arrived home from the market, I unloaded my bursting shopping bags and gazed as the stacks of produce in my kitchen. As I put everything away, I mentally mapped out how I'd use it over the coming week. Braised greens with provolone and some leftover brisket for dinner sandwiches. Lightly blanched green beans tossed with goat cheese and a lemon vinaigrette. Chilled canteloupe for breakfast.
How are the rest of you feeling about the summer produce? What have you loved this summer and what foods have already passed out of season? Most importantly, does anyone share this end of season anxiety with me?
My son Alec, who frequently tags along with Amy and me on our foraging hikes, is camping this week in upstate New York, with my wife Marti, and his cousin Colten. I received a picture mail message today around lunchtime which is displayed here. The caption in the text message read: Your son's catch. Complete with butter and garnish!
There are several plants I am familiar with that are considered weeds. Dandelion comes to mind instantly. We'll wait till fall to talk more about our little yellow lawn devils. I was shopping in the Union Square Greenmarket recently during a lunchtime walk, and amongst the multi-colored organic carrots and varietal greens, was purslane. Purlsane is a slightly succulent sprawling weed, with thick reddish stems. It radiates out, flat to the ground from a central root. I had seen this plant in my garden and flower beds before learning from one of my books what it was. Purslane is raised as a crop in other parts of the world, where it is used raw as a salad green, or cooked like spinach. Here we relentlessly pull it from the garden, and just throw it away. I had told a neighbor of mine that seemed to be overrun with the stuff to save it for me a few years ago.
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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 
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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a 
My son Alec, who frequently tags along with Amy and me on our foraging hikes, is camping this week in upstate New York, with my wife Marti, and his cousin Colten. I received a picture mail message today around lunchtime which is displayed here. The caption in the text message read: Your son's catch. Complete with butter and garnish!
Chocolate-stuffed bananas on the grill
Tyler Florence welcomes new daughter
Beware kids' menus!
