They say that the greatest form of flattery is imitation, but what do you call an outright swipe? I guess that would be stealing. I have to admit right off the bat that I swiped this right off of Smitten Kitchen. I came across it one day, and it was so beautiful that I knew I had to include it on this menu idea list. Instructions are on the blog.
Wouldn't mom absolutely love this salad? It would be a colorful, flavorful, and seasonal addition to any brunch menu. I generally think of brunch as more breakfast-y, but (a) lot of people include lunch or dinner items in brunch and (b) who wouldn't want something as beautiful as this salad at breakfast? Anyway, it's just a suggestion, but one I know I wouldn't want to pass up!
Got a magnificent mushroom recipe? You could win two pounds of morel mushrooms from Marx Foods!
According to the contest description, Marx Foods is open to "the most simple ideas to complicated epicurean creations." However, they do point out that "sometimes with fresh seasonal items, they should be the star of a dish and not overshadowed with other flavors." My guess is that they will pick something simple that really features the mushrooms, but they could surprise me.
The recipes will be judged on deliciousness (you better hope that the judge has the same taste buds as you) and originality.
The contest deadline is Thursday, May 15th. As the time of this writing, 35 people have entered.
Get all the contest details and submit your entry at Marx Foods.
A couple of weeks ago, my friend Fran invited me to help clean out a house in which friends of hers had grown up. Their mother passed away recently and they were in the process of clearing out to make way for the new owners. It was a large home that had been happily lived in for many years, and even after lots of work and multiple weekends of packing, sorting and trashing, there was still a whole lot left.
I was invited to come over because there was a substantial vintage cookbook collection, and Fran, knowing my interest in old food writing, figured I'd be happy to take a few boxes of books. I actually ended up with four grocery bags and two boxes of books (as well as half a dozen old canning jars).
The pamphlet you see above was tucked in among other location-based cookbooks (the previous owner was meticulous in her cookbook organization) and when I finally sat down at home to sort through the books, it grabbed my attention. First of all, I've never really thought of Maine as a state that produces a lot of potatoes, but apparently, at one point they did. Second, who knew that you could make desserts based on plain, old white potatoes? The recipe for the Potato Custard Pie is after the jump.
I'm always looking for new ways to make chicken and/or vegetables. Chicken is incredibly versatile, and I find myself eating chicken and vegetables a lot, no matter what season it is. Veggies are good for you and chicken has a lot of protein (and I usually have it skinless).
I also like rosemary more than a human being should like rosemary, so this recipe for Roasted Rosemary Chicken and Vegetables is one I'm going to try this week. I don't think I've ever marinated chicken or meat in a rosemary marinade. Full recipe after the jump.
Mom made you eat your veggies for years, so return the love with vegetarian-friendly gifts this Mother's Day. Whether her diet is strictly vegetarian or just veggie-inclined, check out these lovely presents that will surely brighten her kitchen and her day!
Subscription to Vegetarian Times magazine -- Great recipes and fun eating ideas from a magazine that your mom will love all year long.
Mother's Day petit fours from Figis -- Who am I kidding? These are for any mom -- vegetarian, meat-loving, herbivorous, sweet-toothed... Olive and Rosemary Topiary Trees from Stonewall Kitchen -- A beautiful way to present a practical gift. These will look great anywhere, and come in handy when cooking with fresh herbs.
Bamboo steamer from WokShop -- Great for veggies, and anything else.
Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian from Amazon -- My favorite cookbook. Soon to be your mom's. Bittman offers easy recipes and plenty of suggestions for a well-balanced vegetarian diet.
Soy candles from Welcome-home Candles -- These yummy candles come in great scents, and since they aren't made from beeswax, they'll please even the most conscious vegan. Vegan baking mixes from Goodbaker -- Chocolate cake, oatmeal cookies, fudge frosting, multi-grain muffins...
Anyone have more ideas for the vegetarian Mom? Feel free to share!
I think I'm starting to feature images from Slashfood Flickr group member Another Pint Please... on something of a weekly basis. Please don't think me biased, I just can't help but be smitten with this really delicious, crisp picture of grilling corn on the cob. Plus, the thought of a batch of grilled corn and black bean salad just sends my salivary glands into overdrive. Yum!
If you have any opinions as to what you'd like Feast Your Eyes on, leave your suggestions in the comments and I'll do my best to satisfy your cravings.
The news couldn't be more timely with Cinco de Mayo right around the corner.
According to the Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a native Mexican diet full of soups, legumes, tomato-based sauces, meat and Mexican cheeses seems to help prevent breast cancer. Whether the foods and dished are topped with a chili or two wasn't stated, but Hispanic women believe it's the chili in Mexican food that may prevent breast cancer.
So with Cinco de Mayo coming up and resources featuring Mexican recipes, now might be a great time to add Alondigas Soup, bean-based dishes, and moles (might it be the chocolate?) to your recipe repertoire.
But don't let this be an excuse to gorge on greasy, deep-fried tortilla chips!
I have something of a weakness for cute food. I love things like tiny-BLT sandwiches, little quiches and mini-cupcakes. These small quail egg and cherry tomato mushrooms have been catching my eye in the Slashfood Flickr pool for the last couple of days and last night they finally pushed my cute-o-meter into overdrive.
According to Pille, the Estonian food blogger who made and photographed them, they are fairly common in her country, having appeared in a children's cookbook in the eighties. They are new to me, but I think they would make a fun addition to a brunch spread, especially since they offer a fun variation of the deviled egg.
I am eagerly awaiting the opening of my beloved Headhouse Square Farmers Market this weekend, and so this picture caught my eye since I have local and seasonal produce on the brain. I am jealous of Princess Peach, as she has had gorgeous produce at her local farmers market now for sometime. Darn Californians (Don't throw things at me CA folks, I tease because I love). Thanks Princess Peach for adding your picture to our Flickr pool.
Piment d'Espelette grown in just a handful of villages in the Basque country of southern France, is as beloved in their region as paprika is in Hungary. The small red peppers can be used fresh, or hung up in bouquets to dry then ground into powder similar to hot paprika. First introduced to France by returning New World missionaries in the 1500s, the Espelette is now an essential feature of Basque cuisine. The village of Espelette holds a Celebration of Peppers each October, with Espelette-infused dishes, banners made from hundreds of red and green peppers, and street performers painted red to resemble the pepper itself.
Espelette goes especially well with seafood, mild cheeses, and hearty vegetable dishes. In Paris, I ate monkfish over white beans in an Espelette cream sauce. It was divine, silky and smoky with just a teeny-tiny kick. You could substitute hot paprika, but it wouldn't be quite the same. You can find ground Espelette in some gourmet markets or online at Amazon.com. There's a trove of Espelette recipes at Epicurien, which is in French but can be translated by Google to decidedly mixed results. I'm especially keen to try the sauteed shrimp with Espelette and Bayonne ham.
One of my favorite things in the world is a thick wedge of pâté de campagne - rustic French pork pâté - served with crusty bread, coarse mustard, and a little jar of pickles. The buttery pâté is cut by a bracing smear of mustard, given body and crunch by the bread. And digging cornichons and pickled pearl onions out of the jar with a tiny fork and popping them, whole, in your mouth, is just plain fun. This combo makes a great dinner party appetizer because, like roll-your-own sushi, it gives guests something to do with their hands while they get to know each other (and you put the finishing touches on the lamb chops). But I admit I always thought pâté was something you bought, at exorbitant cost, at your local chichi market, not something you made yourself.
But a New York Times story about a new book, Terrine, by Stéphane Reynaud, has me ready to bust out the pork belly and a rectangular pan. The book includes recipes for terrines of all types, from pork head to chicken and lemon, to vegetarian zucchini with cream. Check out the article for two free recipes.
It's my final semester of college, and I'm taking Literature of the Great Depression to finish my English major. I think that my professor often feels badly, though, about assigning texts that are just so darn depressing, so she often opens class with a cheerful question like, "What's your favorite type of pie?" or "What's your favorite breakfast?" Recently, she asked us what our favorite thing about Spring is, and I knew instantly that mine is the delicious new food and produce that Spring brings. Clearly, there's no better way to celebrate these bright new ingredients than with entire festivals dedicated to them! This weekend, we have homages to asparagus, seafood, beer, more seafood, seafood and (my favorite) maple.
Read on after the jump to see where to go for the party, and meanwhile check out these lovely photos from last week's Great American Pie Festival.
When it comes to making a tuna, potato or other creamy salad, most of us know the standard ingredients by heart. You've got your main attraction, along with a little chopped hard boiled egg (if you don't have a hater amongst your diners), maybe some pickle (sweet or dill), a bit of minced or grated onion (I prefer red), mayo to hold it all together and always, a little chopped celery for unassuming crunch. This is the formula that has served salad makers for years, and for the most part, it is reliable and tasty.
But sometimes, you, want to take your salad to another, unexpected level. That's where I believe the sugar snap pea comes it. Chopped into small, bite-sized bits, it adds sweetness and crunch and often leaves your tasters pondering that delicious addition to the salad (and reaching for more). These peas can be eaten whole (inside and outside alike) and will be showing up in grocery stores and farmers markets more and more over the next couple of months. They are also easy to grow, so take yourself over to your local garden center for a packet of seeds and get growing.
It sits alone and untouched at the end of a long buffet table -- a bowl full of apples and bananas, maybe a seedy orange tossed in as an afterthought. Don't let your fruit salad meet this awful fate, spruce it up instead!
I'm always looking for new ways to make chicken and/or vegetables. Chicken is incredibly versatile, and I find myself eating chicken and vegetables a lot, no matter what season it is. Veggies are good for you and chicken has a lot of protein (and I usually have it skinless).
Piment d'Espelette grown in just a handful of villages in the Basque country of southern France, is as beloved in their region as paprika is in Hungary. The small red peppers can be used fresh, or hung up in bouquets to dry then ground into powder similar to hot paprika. First introduced to France by returning New World missionaries in the 1500s, the Espelette is now an essential feature of Basque cuisine. The village of Espelette holds a Celebration of Peppers each October, with Espelette-infused dishes, banners made from hundreds of red and green peppers, and street performers painted red to resemble the pepper itself. 
It's my final semester of college, and I'm taking Literature of the Great Depression to finish my English major. I think that my professor often feels badly, though, about assigning texts that are just so darn depressing, so she often opens class with a cheerful question like, "What's your favorite type of pie?" or "What's your favorite breakfast?" Recently, she asked us what our favorite thing about Spring is, and I knew instantly that mine is the delicious new food and produce that Spring brings. Clearly, there's no better way to celebrate these bright new ingredients than with entire festivals dedicated to them! This weekend, we have homages to asparagus, seafood, beer, more seafood, seafood and (my favorite) maple.
Creating the ultimate Mother's Day gift for the carnivorous mom
Create less clutter with your Mother's Day gifts
Gifts for the vegetarian (or vegetable-loving) mom
