How many times have you come across a certain ingredient in your pantry and wondered if was still safe to eat?
Tip of the Day: Clarifying butter
Do you have a recipe that calls for clarified butter but aren't sure what to do?
Tip of the Day: An easier way to cut peppers
Looking for a quick, easy and less messy way of coring a bell pepper? Well, you've come to the right place!
Continue reading Tip of the Day: An easier way to cut peppers
Tip of the Day: Chopping garlic
Looking for an easy way to work with garlic? Look no further!
Slashfood Ate (8): Pi Day roundup
No. that isn't a typo in the title. Yesterday was March 14th, which, in abbreviated form, is 3.14 (feel free to add the 1592653589793238... if you so desire), better known to us non-mathematicians simply as Pi.
As is usually the tradition here at Slashfood, we are willing to turn just about any circumstance into something to celebrate, so why should Pi Day be any exception? Fortunately for us, the blogosphere was full of others who jumped on this bandwagon as well. In fact, Kitchen Parade collected submissions all week, resulting in dozens of mouth-watering pie recipes all linked up on one page.
So without further ado, following are my top eight favorites, which I will be putting on my "need to make" list. (Corresponding photos can be found in the gallery at the bottom of the page after the jump.)
Starbucks barista donates kidney
After reading this story at our sister site That's Fit, I may look at my local Starbuck's barista a little differently the next time I stop in for a triple venti non-fat peppermint white chocolate mocha. Apparently a Starbuck's employee and one of her long-time regular customers had developed a friendship of sorts. If you've ever worked in the food and beverage industry, you'll know this happens often - serving the same people day in and day out, you tend to find out a lot about their lives. As much as they talked over the course of three years though, the customer, Annamarie Ausnes, hadn't revealed that she was suffering from polycystic kidney failure until it got to the point where her kidneys were only functioning at 15 percent and she would be needing a transplant.
Annamarie's husband and son weren't matches, and she was already on a very long waiting list for a donor when she happened to mention it to Sandie Anderson, her barista. Sandie immediately volunteered to be tested, and was found to be a perfect match.
Earlier this week, surgeons removed one of Sandie's kidneys and successfully transplanted it into Annamarie. Both ladies are doing well and are expected to make a full recovery. Now that is going above and beyond in the way of customer service.
Tip of the Day: Help preserve the flavor in dried herbs
Though I try to use fresh herbs as much as possible, a good selection isn't always available so I started drying my own a few years ago. Doing this, I'm able to buy them in bulk when they are on sale or pick them fresh out of my garden in peak season. Admittedly, there is also the added bonus of not having to purchase as many of those tiny bottles of the ground variety which cost $5.00 each (or more!), for very little flavor.A friend of mine advised that I start placing the fresh herbs in paper bags with a sheet of paper towel to absorb extra moisture, allowing them to dry out in there. Apparently the darkness helps prevent light from changing or damaging the flavor, plus the bag itself keeps the herbs clean and clear of dust or other substances. This has dramatically helped to preserve the flavor of the herbs that I am drying, and when used in cooking, it is hard to tell they aren't fresh out of the garden.
Shrove Tuesday Recipe: Watermelon Pancakes
As Marisa pointed out earlier, tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday. Now in my household we have a set rule - that means I am free to shoot my low-carb diet out the window one day of the year without guilt and indulge in a whole lot of pan-fried batter. Sounds heavenly after passing on flour-laden foods for so long.
Since I plan to indulge, I thought I would search for something a little extra special, and certainly found it when I came across Ashwini's Food For Thought blog and her recipe for Watermelon Pancakes. This recipe, straight from her Grandma's kitchen in India, was originally posted as a summertime treat, but I think that it would be great to try for Shrove Tuesday or even for a special Valentine's Day breakfast simply due to the gorgeous color.
It gets even better though. She also posted a very interesting recipe for "Shaepi Pole" (Sweet Dill Pancakes) which are made out of rice, dill, coconut, cardamom pods, and more. You can find a picture of these after the jump.
Culinary disasters
My friends and I were discussing kitchen horror stories the other day, and I was reminded of this one particular disaster that I created shortly after learning how to cook. I was taught basic culinary skills at a very young age. My parent's kitchen was a dream to work in as they had every imaginable ingredient, appliance, and gadget available. Once I was old enough to see over the stove and prepare bacon without burning myself, I was given free reign to create just about anything I wanted to prepare for dinner.
One day I decided to tackle Chicken Cordon Bleu after seeing it done step-by-step on TV. It didn't really seem that difficult - thaw out chicken breasts, pound them to a 1/4 inch thickness. Stuff with thin slices of ham and cheese, dip in egg wash and breadcrumbs, secure with a toothpick and bake until fully cooked. Sounded relatively easy to me. Well, they turned out beautifully. I proudly presented the gorgeous little golden works of art to my family, and everyone humored me with the requisite amount of praise - I was just 13 years old, after all.
The chicken was nicely cooked throughout and tender, and the cheese oozed when you sliced it open. After a bite or two though, it was apparent that something had gone terribly wrong. To put it simply, the flavor was gag-worthy. My family choked back a few more bites before deeming it inedible, and we went over the entire process to try to determine what went wrong.
Turns out when I went to secure the rolls of chicken, I unknowingly grabbed mint toothpicks instead of regular, unflavored ones. After baking for almost an hour, the mint essence had completely permeated the chicken and cheese, absolutely ruining the entire batch. Trust me, that is not a flavor that is soon forgotten, and my family has (naturally) never let me live it down since.
I know some of you have stories that can top that one, so I'll ask - what was the worst mistake you ever made in the kitchen?
Back to School: What not to send
Today we've been focusing on what to send for school lunches, what to send it in, and even what to do when the kids finally leave. (Bob, you are brilliant!) However, in my experience, there are certain food items that I've found are better served at home than sent to school. Feel free to agree, disagree, or add your own to the list.
Food that needs to be heated
Whether I was planning to send leftovers from dinner or products like canned food or Easy Mac, I was thrilled for all of about two days when I found out my daughter's school had a microwave. What I didn't bother to find out was that the kids only had 35 seconds each to use it. Obviously, this isn't enough time to heat most items, let alone cook something. Though this may vary slightly from school to school, even if they do have a microwave available, I suggest to avoid sending anything that needs to be heated or your child will spend half their lunch hour waiting in line just so they can eat something that is only slightly warmed up.
Back to School Confession: What do you let your kids get away with?
Since we are focused on kids today here at Slashfood, I thought there was no better time to look at our less-than-stellar moments as parents when it comes to what we let them get away with in regards to food or drink. iVillage.com has prepared a brilliant little slide show which includes confessions from real-life parents. Though not all of it is related to food, some of the items are really quite shocking. For instance - would you let your kid eat dried cat food? How about licking food crumbs off the rug on the floor? Have you ever filled their sippy cup full of sugary soda?
As for myself, though I'm sure there are plenty more, two situations immediately come to mind when my parenting skills have been more than questionable when it comes to food: At least once a month my daughter and I have popcorn for dinner. This is generally followed up with a chocolate bar, since we need something sweet to balance out the saltiness, naturally. Also, a few times when she was younger and I couldn't leave her home alone, I would wake her up after she had gone to bed, tell her to get dressed, and have carted her across the city in search of a particular food item or restaurant that I had a craving for.
Time to be brave - let's hear some of your confessions. What have you let your kids get away with (or what have you done) when life just happens or we simply get selfish?
Back to School: Various stages of brown-bag hell
I think there is a certain sense of relief parents feel when their children return to school in September. No more worrying about how the kids are going to fill their days, no more dealing with babysitters or shuttling them to and from summer camps. Life simply returns to normal. However, it seems that somewhere over the long, hot summer months we tend to forget the day-to-day dilemmas of our kids being back in school, and for me that always means once again dealing with what to send for lunches.
When my daughter was in kindergarten or elementary school it was easy - I packed pretty little sandwiches, a piece of fruit, a juice box and a small treat. She never questioned or complained about what I sent. To be honest, she probably gave it very little thought - she was fed, and that was all that mattered. In junior high / middle school though, that all changed.
Over the past few years we went through what I like to call the various stages of brown-bag hell, and though not every one of the items below specifically happened to my family, these are all true stories from either my daughter, her friends, or from my own personal experience. I'm sure at least some of these will sound familiar to the parents out there, and if you have younger kids, this is what you may have to look forward to in the coming years:
Continue reading Back to School: Various stages of brown-bag hell
Anthony Bourdain dishes about No Reservations
Tonight, another season of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations begins on the Travel Channel, and our sister site Gadling managed to track down the busy host in between shoots for an interview. If you have ever seen the show, you'll know that their primary goal is to seek out authentic experiences in regards to the food and flavor of a particular culture, often traveling off the beaten track in order to find it. They aren't interested in what the local Tourist Board has to say, they'd rather take the word of a street vendor who actually feeds vast amounts of the population on a day-to-day basis. Yes, this sometimes leads to sore stomachs (among other things), but at least you know you are finding out the real deal about a particular locale.
Bourdain reveals how the show chooses their destinations, what they look for in a local guide (or "fixer" as he calls them), as well as divulges some of the locations they will be visiting this coming season. If that alone weren't quite enough for you, he also talks about his love of traveling, and what he really thinks about places like Vietnam and Uzbekistan.
You can read the entire interview via the "read" link below.
Cocktails Delicioso by Ingrid Hoffman
I just saw The Food Network's latest star Ingrid Hoffman, host of Simply Delicioso, for the first time the other day. Maybe it is just me, but other than her Columbian heritage, doesn't she really, really remind you of another Food Network star with her exaggerated hand gestures and cute little phrases? That aside, I do love the recipes that she is coming out with, and had to share these videos which include "12 delicioso, mixed drink recipes with a Latin twist."
With choices ranging from Watermelon Juice to Wicked Chica Punch, Pineapple Mojito Gelatin Shots to Coconut Lemonade (pictured), the drinks are inventive and quite unlike the usual offerings you will find served at a picnic or gathering. I especially love her (almost excessive) use of fresh fruit - after all, it is summer and we should be taking advantage of the fresh ingredients every chance we get.
Fast meals, fresh cherries, and healthy cocktails? NY Times Dining in 60 seconds
To me, summer is not complete without tons of freshly picked cherries. Now don't get me wrong, I don't live anywhere near where I can actually pick them myself, but luckily there always seems to be a large number of cherry trucks lurking around the parking lots of my local malls which I visit often, if not obsessively. This week, the New York Times Dining Section covers a couple of different ways to make the most of these tantalizing bites, whether you are using the fresh and sweet kind, or the sour variety. Find out how to make your own Maraschinos (sooo much better than the store-bought ones) or whip up a batch of Spiced Brandied Cherries. News flash: It is hot outside. Really, who wants to cook for an hour or more? If you are crunched for time this summer but still want to eat tasty, home-cooked food, The Minimalist Mark Bittman lists 101 (yes, 101) fast meal ideas in this column very appropriately titled Summer Express.
Sweet or savory? Everyone seems to have a preference, but it doesn't necessarily have to be one or the other as Frank Bruni reveals after visiting P*ong, a New York restaurant where you will find delectable sweet treats rubbing elbows as though they belong on the same plate with some of your favorite savory flavors.
Still looking for more recipes? Choose from Yogurt Rice (Thayir Choru), or Torchio Pasta served with Oyster Mushrooms, Braised Chicken and San Marzano Tomatoes.
Finally, saddle up to the side of the (health)bar and order an organic cocktail. Mixologists everywhere are jumping on the antioxidant/vitamin-rich bandwagon and are incorporating healthful ingredients into their various libations. Thought drinks were expensive before? I can only imagine how much these will set you back.
May is National BBQ Month and National Hamburger Month
Cupcakes, not for dessert (unless beef is your idea of a treat)
Because eating French Fries in the car is so tough
