Feast Your Eyes

Corn Relish - Feast Your Eyes

by Nanette Maxim, Posted Sep 10th 2010 @ 10:00AM

Hot dog fans, take this out to the ball game. Next time you're about to slather pickle relish on a perfectly grilled burger or frank, switch it up and top it with this relish of corn, onions, and roasted jalapeños and sweet peppers. It's a fairly simple canning project, as you can simply make the relish and pop it in the refrigerator for up to three months. And when you make a pot of chowder this fall, a dose of this stuff will give it some heft.

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Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins - Feast Your Eyes

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by Nanette Maxim, Posted Sep 9th 2010 @ 10:00AM

Photo: Pig-gy, Flickr

How close to "from scratch" are you willing to go? Would you, say, grind your own corn for cornmeal? Buy some artisanal stone-ground meal? Or make these corn-and-pepper muffins starting with a box of muffin mix and add some jalapeño chiles and red and green peppers? One is no more noble than the other; it's the simple act of baking them and handing them to people you like that's the thing.

Someone, somewhere is going to grind that corn, though, and if you decide you want to go back to the essentials, you may want to arm yourself with a Vita-Mix blender or a good coffee mill, according to this how-to story in Mother Earth News. A coarse grind will give you plenty of texture, medium is great for breads, and a fine grind is better for dusting baking pans.

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Jalapeño Corn Chowder - Feast Your Eyes

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by Nanette Maxim, Posted Sep 8th 2010 @ 10:00AM

Photo: Harald Walker, Flickr

Corny may mean "tiresomely simple and sentimental," if you listen to Webster's dictionary, but in the book of late-summer fields, it means "give us more." In our second corn feature of the week, creamy corn chowder goes creamless with soy milk, soy cheese, and even soy yogurt in a vegan chowder recipe from vegalicious. Jalapeño chiles spice up this mellow soup, made with sweet corn and roasted sweet peppers, and topped with a cilantro-cream(that's where the yogurt comes in). And if you want the full-throttle creamy version, try this jalapeño corn chowder recipe from Kitchen Daily.

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Maple Corn Fritter - Feast Your Eyes

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by Nanette Maxim, Posted Sep 7th 2010 @ 10:00AM

maple corn fritters Photo: (cup)cake_eater, Flickr

The long weekend's over, you're back on the job, and maybe you need some comfort food to take the edge off. Our suggestion, via blogger (cup)cake eater, is to treat yourself to a good old country breakfast, and put a batch of fluffy maple corn fritters on the griddle. Comfort food is the star in Joni Marie Newman's vegan cookbook Cozy Inside, and you can check out her fritters recipe here.

Want more corn? It's the height of the season, and we're going to be featuring corn for the rest of the week in recipes that take it off the cob and into a chowder, a relish, and some very spicy muffins.

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Watermelon Lemonade - Feast Your Eyes

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by Nanette Maxim, Posted Sep 6th 2010 @ 10:00AM

Photo: fakeginger, Flickr

Ice-cold lemonade making glasses sweat on a shady porch, Paul Newman's steamy-as-the-afternoon Quick flirting with JoAnne Woodward's longing-for-love Clara in The Long, Hot Summer; Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant moaning "The Lemon Song." Squeezed lemons may refresh, but they're also hot. Make a pitcher of lemonade and get busy.

Blogger Fakeginger gives us the recipe, courtesy of Rebecca Rather's Pastry Queen cookbook, for a lemonade that is brimming with fruit-luscious watermelon and berries, and slices of lemons, oranges, and limes. And since it's Labor Day, pull up a chair under a shade tree, turn off the cell phone, wrap your hands around a glass of the cold stuff, and take a good breath of what has been a breathtaking summer.

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Grilled Striped Bass - Feast Your Eyes

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by Nanette Maxim, Posted Sep 3rd 2010 @ 10:00AM

grilled striped bass Photo: joshbousel, Flickr

Here's a little "striper" trivia: these big boys can reach a weight of 100 pounds (although most never get larger than 50), and can live up to 40 years. It's actually the big girls that pull in the weight -- female striped bass pack on more pounds than the males. I'm not recommending you throw a three-stone-strong fish on the grill, but it's nice to know they're out there, taunting fishermen with their heft.

Blogger Josh at the Meatwave prepares his striped bass steaks with a spice rub, then grills them and serves the fish with a tomato salsa (get the recipe here). Without the rub, though, fresh-caught striped bass are perfect (try this recipe for grilled bass with lemon and herbs). And it's a sustainable choice -- stocks have been managed so that the population is fairly healthy.

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Cornmeal Onion Rings with Curry Tomato Sauce - Feast Your Eyes

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by Nanette Maxim, Posted Sep 2nd 2010 @ 10:00AM

Photo: sweetbeetandgreenbean, Flickr

Onion rings are the fried-food lover's way to banish remorse. It's a vegetable, and it has anti-inflammatory properties; maybe it even helps fight cholesterol. So what's a little oil among friends? Works for me. Blogger sweetbeetandgreenbean coats the rings with corn meal and herbs instead of flour, which makes for a crisp batter. (Get the recipe here.) And instead of a big pool of ketchup she spices it up with a curried tomato sauce. (Of course, if you want to cut down on the fat, oven-fry the onions, as in this recipe.) Serving them on a bed of red cabbage adds color and fiber, and, for those of us who live in world where onion rings trump the rings of Saturn, that means it's practically a balanced meal. Or so I say as I reach for another crunchy ring.

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Soba and Tofu in Ginger Broth - Feast Your Eyes

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by Nanette Maxim, Posted Sep 1st 2010 @ 10:00AM

soba and tofu in ginger broth Photo: Mrs. Jenny Ryan, Flickr

The subject is buckwheat. No, not Buckwheat from "Little Rascals," and not Buckwheat Zydeco (although I'd listen to his squeezebox on "Hot Tamale Baby" any day). This is buckwheat as in the whole grain that makes nutty, protein-rich soba noodles, the Japanese answer to what's on for Pasta Night.

Forget about the meat. Slice some firm tofu and sauté it with some scallions, ginger, bok choy, snow peas and serrano chile (and sprinkle a few black and white sesame seeds over the top). Toss the mixture with the soba noodles, for a brothy, healthy, dinner (get the recipe from Whole Living magazine). And while you're at it, put some Buckwheat Zydeco tunes on; there may be some dancing after the last noodle is slurped.

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Mango Panna Cotta - Feast Your Eyes

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by Nanette Maxim, Posted Aug 31st 2010 @ 10:00AM

Photo: clada74, Flickr

Cool custard is what panna cotta is all about. Add a layer of fruit compote, such as the mango version above, and it's a chill summer dessert. There are no eggs in panna cotta, though the custard is made with cream and gelatin. In fact, according to The Gourmet Cookbook, "panna cotta means 'cooked cream' in Italian," and it's a dessert you need to make at least four hours in advance, so it can set. (Here's a Gourmet recipe for vanilla panna cotta with a fresh mango compote.)

Amp up the creaminess by adding yogurt to the cream. This citrusy panna cotta di casa recipe calls for lemon yogurt, lemon curd and mascarpone cheese, and is served with a blueberry sauce.

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Watermelon and Lime Sorbet - Feast Your Eyes

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by Nanette Maxim, Posted Aug 30th 2010 @ 10:00AM

watermelon lime sorbet Photo: norwichnuts, Flickr

Fruit + water + sugar = sorbet. It's simple to make, it's nonfat (unless you use a recipe that contains milk) and it's almost Labor Day already. What are you waiting for? Blogger norwichnuts makes a watermelon-and-lime sorbet, above, that's refreshing and ubercool. Melon and citrus are a great team, reprised in this sorbet recipe from Kitchen Daily that invites you to choose from watermelon, cantaloupe or honeydew to mix it up with orange juice.

Using an ice-cream maker is the key to sorbet, as the action of the blades helps to keep ice crystals from becoming too large. No big chunks of ice; just smooth, frosty, fruity goodness.

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