How does your favorite cafe roast their beans? What beans go best with which roasting methods? (article complete with eerily magnified photo of coffee bean that looks more like...well, you figure it out)
Grandpa's Dribble Cake is no easy task: two layers of cake and two kinds of frosting make this a daunting - but rewarding - task
Forget vanchocstraw - instead, get a load of these Cook Farm family ice cream recipes: apple-blueberry crisp; coconut with chocolate and almonds; and - why not? - asparagus
Organic spirits continue to gain popularity, so you can drink with a clear conscience
Want to teach your old dog new tricks? Try one with homemade sauerkraut, or even pineapple
A father, his road to chef-dom, and a really awesome recipe for fig, pear, caramelized onion and blue cheese pizza
Hungry, but down to the last quarters in your laundry money jar? Head to The Culinary Review, a consumer guide to food costs, to figure out just how much grub that last $.75 will get you.
The Culinary Review has broken down the costs of various common meals, some of which make a McDonald's Egg McMuffin look like caviar on toast. Make yourself a fruit yogurt smoothie, hard-boiled egg and toast for a mere $1.11 or a cup of black bean soup for $.80.
They also give the prices of a number of Food Network chef-prepared meals. Some are surprisingly expensive - Tyler Florence's mozzarella grilled cheese is $5.59 a serving, certainly pricier than at many diners, while others are grad student-cheap - Alton Brown's baked mac and cheese is a mere $0.96 a serving. Serve that with some sauteed greens or cabbage slaw and you've got lunch for less than the price of a cup of coffee. Also check out the handy tips for saving money in the kitchen (don't buy pre-cut meat) and a list of where to splurge (olive oil, canned tuna) and where to save (canned veggies, cured meats).
Unlike some states, there is no state food of Indiana, but if you want to inject something from the state into your SuperBowl menu, there are lots of foods that originated in or are otherwise associated with the crossroads of America. For example, Van Camp's Beans was established in Indianapolis in 1861 as a result of the popularity of pork and bean dishes with the early residents. Clabber Girl baking powder, Wonderbread, Gatorade and Endangered Species Chocolate all originated in the state as well, and there have been many noted Indiana fans who also got into the food business, like Orville Reddenbacher.
So, an Indy-oriented menu will have baked goods (made with baking powder), pork and beans, chocolate and popcorn. If you can find some at the market, you could add deep fried strawberries in for dessert, or opt for other fair foods, like corn on the cob dipped in butter. But according to the Indy Star, the one food that really says Indiana is a breaded pork tenderloin sandwich (Hoosier rib-eye sandwich is a close second). You can find a recipe for this (semi) regional treat here.
Starbucks, contrary to popular belief, does not pays less for their coffee than other coffee buyers, using their size to bully their suppliers into meeting extremely low prices (like one here-unnamed major retailer does). In the past year, Starbucks paid about 36% more than the average price per pound of coffee beans, shelling out $1.42 for every pound of beans they bought.
Does this definitively prove that Starbucks is making the world a better place for all coffee growers and that there will be no starving farmers working coffee plantations in the world? Of course not. The latter problem can't be helped because that low average price means that there are companies paying far, far less for their products. What this does mean is that Starbucks is making positive policies that will benefit growers in the long run, setting a higher standard that other buyers will, hopefully, meet at some point.
Red beans and rice doesn't sound like a very exciting dish, but the staple of Louisiana cuisine can actually be elegant as well as delicious, as long as you put as much care into making yours as BWJones did with his version of the dish. His recipe calls for rice, red beans, onion and a lot of spices, including sage, thyme, bay leaf, cayenne pepper, garlic, paprika and chipotle. His is topped off with crawfish, seasoned generously with Old Bay (not to be confused with Old Spice), although some would say that sausage (andouille, in particular) or ham sets the standard for the dish. The meat can be left off entirely for a less expensive or vegetarian version of the dish.
This is an easy recipe to master and an extremely versatile one. Not only can you play around with the spices, increasing and decreasing the heat, but it can work both as a side dish and as a main course.
Bada Beans are a new specialty product designed to make your coffee more flavorful. I use the phrase "specialty product" here because I haven't really seen anything like them before. The beans are small, sugar-free tablets that are flavored and are meant to be stirred into a cup of coffee for instant flavor, a portable alternative to the flavored syrups they offer at coffee shops. Immediately, I loved the idea because I often take my coffee on-the-go with me. I tried all three of their flavors: McCoy's Dream Vanilla Bean, Hazel's Nutty Hazelnut and Crazy Carl's Caramel Fudge.
The little tablets all smelled great in their little tins and dissolved easily in the hot liquid. Unfortunately, and this could be partially do to the fact that I like my coffee on the strong side, the flavor from the Bada Beans was not particularly strong. The chocolate had some caramel notes, but the hazelnut and vanilla had only a slight presence. Adding a second bean improved the flavor somewhat, but I also had to add milk at that point to take the edge of the sweetener. Not ready to give up what I still thought was a good idea, however, I tried adding the beans to tea and the difference was amazing. I could much more easily taste the flavors of the beans and they added a mild sweetness to the tea that was just right. The vanilla went particularly well with chai/spiced teas.
All in all, the Bada Beans weren't perfect, but I would definitely use them in teas and would consider carrying them along on trips, where you are more likely than usual to encounter coffee that could use a little boost of flavor, no matter how subtle a boost it is.
Coffee lovers know that the most important ingredient in an excellent cup of coffee is the beans. Not only should they be high quality, but they need to be freshly roasted. The easiest way to get freshly roasted beans is to find a reliable nearby roastery and buy theirs, but there are methods for roasting green beans at home, as well. The iRoast 2 is easier than both of these methods. The small appliance, upgrade from the original machine, safely and accurately roasts coffee beans to perfection in the comfort of your own home.
With a built-in timer and thermometer, the iRoast 2 uses hot air to roast beans evenly and quickly. It has programmable roast profiles that let you choose light, dark or in-between roasts from pre-set temperature options, simplifying the process of getting the perfect result by taking out the guess work. This is especially useful for someone new to home-roasting, as well as for anyone looking for consistency, which other home-roasting methods aren't able to provide without hours upon hours of experience.
A blade coffee grinder, which is the standard for most home coffee drinkers, has a food processor-like blade that swings around and chops up coffee beans. The grinders are usually fairly inexpensive and do the job of grinding up beans faster than you could do it with a hammer, but they are not necessarily very efficient, nor do they come close to getting the coffee beans evenly ground. Burr grinders, which are more expensive but crush the beans instead of chopping them up, produce even grounds and will generate the most consistent flavor in coffee - not to mention that they offer a range of sizes (from powdery fine to coarse) that work with different types of coffee makers, including espresso machines and french presses.
The Wall Street Journal's catalog critic sat down and tested a number of burr grinders to see which ones performed the best. The less-than-satisfactory grinders included the Capresso Infinity burr grinder, The Krups Burr Coffee Mill and the Cuisinart Automatic Burr grinder. The top performer was the KitchenAid Proline Grinder ($200), which produced grounds to exacting specifications and stored them in a nice glass container before use to eliminate the possibility of static charge making grounds adhere to the side of the container, as they sometimes did with plastic container models. The model given the "best value" designation was the Solis Maestro Burr Grinder ($115), which performed perfectly, but had a plastic grounds container that could have a minim static charge. In fact, it is the grinder that I use and it always does an excellent job - even with dark-roasted, oily beans that can jam up some other grinders. The KitchenAid would make a great Christmas gift "for coffee geeks," but the Solis is probably the way to go in terms of both price and performance.
When brewing coffee, there are two factors that play a huge part in the final flavor. The water-to-bean ratio is important, but first you should have fresh beans and they should be ground as soon before brewing as possible. Fresh grounds will have the natural oils of the bean still in them, which will give you the fullest flavor, eliminating much of that flat and bitter aftertaste that can come from stale grounds - and ground coffee can stale very, very quickly. This is why, if you brew coffee at home, it's a good idea to buy a grinder and grind your own beans. Since that's another step between you and coffee in the morning, however, many opt for preground. The all-in-one coffee makers, which have built in grinders, are a good option for anyone who wants to get the best cup of coffee with the least amount of work.
The machines are programmed in advance and they heat water, grind beans and brew your coffee all with the touch of a button. A recent test showed good results from each of three machines. The Melitta preformed well, but had no insulated carafe, which keeps the coffee from becoming burned or overly strong sitting on a heating pad. The Cuisinart made a slightly better cup of coffee than the Melitta, but the Capresso, with a burr grinder to ensure even grounds and smooth flavor, won the test.
All in all, you can't really go wrong with any of the machines from the sound of it, but if you already have a machine you like, look into getting a grinder instead of a whole new machine to really improve the quality of your morning brew.
I'm a big Jelly Belly fan, but aside from the usual 49-flavor blend, there aren't that many opportunities to try some of their other flavors. Every once in a while, though, I spot a more unusual bland and snap them up. This week, I saw the "Soda Pop Shoppe" and "Smoothie Blend" mixes.
I was particularly interested in trying the soda ones after reading a review on the Candyblog and they did not disappoint. The flavors included are the A&W Root Beer, Dr. Pepper and Cream Soda from the classic blend and three new flavors, Grape Crush, Orange Crush and 7-Up. All the flavors had a slight zing to them that did remind me of soda, and the three new flavors bear an uncanny resemblance to their namesakes. Orange Crush, in particular, is outstanding.
The Smoothie mix was released earlier this year and contains a number of unconventional flavors including Mandarin Orange Mango, Cherry Passion Fruit, Pineapple Pear, Strawberry Banana and Mixed Berry. The cherry and mixed berry flavors seemed common, much like cherry and grape flavors in other types of candy. Strawberry Banana jumps out as the most easy to recognize flavor and the Pineapple Pear was pleasant, but the Mandarin Orange Mango was my favorite from this batch - vibrant and fruity.
All in all, both mixes were good and worth buying again, although I'll have to replenish my supply of the Soda Pop Shoppe beans, since I have already run out.
A few weeks ago, we heard that the Vegetarian Times reviewed some veggie burgers and picked a chicken-style burger as their favorite, despite the fact that most people wanting a burger don't think of chicken as the standard to meat. When it comes to standards, Gardenburgers are it for veggie burgers because they were the first well known brand of non-meat burger. Recently, the company has been in some financial trouble, but they are making a comeback and trying to promote their line, which has been revamped and is, hopefully, better than before.
Hungry Girl did a great job reviewing their patties, tasting and evaluating every one they offer, with the exception of "The Classic." Her top pick was the Black Bean Chipotle Burger, which sounds delicious based on the name alone, followed by The Original and the Garden Vegan Burgers. The unfortunately crumbly Flame Grilled Burger got the lowest marks, so it sounds like you'll want to avoid them. Check out the whole guide if you're looking for a good Gardenburger.
We already know that beans cause, well, everything from a slight rumble to a major quake in the gut. In fact, it's such a gaseous problem that researchers have been trying to figure out ways to reduce the amount of the complex sugar oligosaccharide in the beans themselves. However, until that research is complete, perhaps you can avoid the embarassment by remembering which beans cause the greatest amount of rumble in the gut. The beans are listed from highest to lowest (highest oligosaccharide content, therefore causing the most gas):
So, it's summertime, the season of beaches, parades, and oh-my-God humidity, here in Boston anyway. And accordingly, we often don't eat certain foods during the summer. The ones that make us hot or are too difficult to prepare during the hot days or meals that will have the oven on all day. Sort of like winter, when our ice cream consumption goes down.
Here are the eight foods I stop eating during the summer months. They usually make a comeback in late September.
1. Soup. How can I eat a bowl of hot soup when it's 90 degrees out? It seems really perverse to swallow a really hot liquid in that weather (even if soup if "lighter" fare that could be better for the summer, like salad).
I always considered beans on toast to be an easy, but satisfying meal to make. I mean, you open a tin of beans, warm them up in the microwave (or on the stove, if you want to be fancy) while you toast a slice of bread and then spoon some beans onto the toast. I wasn't one for adding butter to the toast, too, but that is certainly a popular option. The point is that beans on toast is a two-component meal and it looks like two was one too many for Heinz, since they have compacted it into a pre-made frozen food, much like a bean-filled pop tart. It's currently being tested in New Zealand and, if it enjoys success there, it will be treated to a wider release.
Somehow, I think I'll still be able to cobble together this dish on my own, but I suppose if you're really in a hurry....
Grains, beans, and other legumes make up a large part of the Asian diet. In fact, at the Korean market, entire aisles can be dedicated to beans alone. Koreans add beans to white rice, creating a "mixed" steamed rice. My mother did this a few times when we were kids because there are a lot of health benefits, but when we saw bowls of steamed rice tainted with giant red, purple, and black beans, we wouldn't touch it. She made two pots of rice every night after that. One with plain white rice, and one with a mixture.
Some of us may be familiar with adzuki beans after they have been cooked down to almost a paste. They beans are sweet and nutty, but they are made sweeter with the addition of sugar and honey and used as a filling in pastries like Japanese mochi and Korean dduk. Koreans also use the beans to make "jook," a sweet porridge.
Hungry, but down to the last quarters in your laundry money jar? Head to 
Unlike 
Starbucks, contrary to popular belief, 
A blade coffee grinder, which is the standard for most home coffee drinkers, has a food processor-like blade that swings around and chops up coffee beans. The grinders are usually fairly inexpensive and do the job of grinding up beans faster than you could do it with a hammer, but they are not necessarily very efficient, nor do they come close to getting the coffee beans evenly ground. Burr grinders, which are more expensive but crush the beans instead of chopping them up, produce even grounds and will generate the most consistent flavor in coffee - not to mention that they offer a range of sizes (from powdery fine to coarse) that work with different types of coffee makers, including espresso machines and french presses.
When brewing coffee, there are two factors that play a huge part in the final flavor. The 
I'm a big Jelly Belly fan, but aside from the usual 49-flavor blend, there aren't that many opportunities to try some of their other flavors. Every once in a while, though, I spot a more unusual bland and snap them up. This week, I saw the "
A few weeks ago, we heard that the Vegetarian Times 
We already know that beans cause, well, everything from a 
So, it's 
DIY Foods: Making homemade sausage
Cakes so amazing they'd be hard to cut into
Fruit juice: An invitation to diabetes?
