Looking for more economical recipes that don't involve canned chili or hot dogs? Kevin Weeks, a food writer at Gather.com, does a twice-monthly column called Paisano, which offers luscious-yet-affordable rustic recipes from culinary traditions worldwide. Think rich, slow-cooked, peasant-y foods - sumac-spiced chicken kebabs, steak and mushroom pie, lamb with caramelized onions. Stuff from cultures that, out of necessity, invented really really tasty ways to use up that cheap cut of beef.
I might try the Middle Eastern-inflected chicken kebabs, marinated with yogurt, garlic, lemon juice and spices, over green salad for a quick warm-weather dinner. Do you have any favorite peasant recipes in your repertoire?
Grilling season is nearly upon us and what better way to open the season with a grilled beer can chicken? Thanks to Another Pint Please... for the tasty bird.
You can't help but really like Ellie Matthews. Ten years ago, she won the Pillsbury Bake-Off with her Salsa Couscous Chicken recipe, a blend of salsa and the flavors of Morocco.
Now she's written a book about her experiences: "The Ungarnished Truth: A Cooking Contest Memoir."
NPR's Steve Inskeep recently chatted with Matthews. Turns out, she's an unbelievably down-to-earth, sweet woman with a self-deprecating streak that you can't help but appreciate. Throughout the interview, she insists that she's not anyone special, that she "doesn't claim to be a better cook than anyone else." Typically, Matthews says, she will "buy ingredients that look good, wrestle them into a pan, and serve a meal."
"I'm not a fussy cook," Matthews said. "I don't put four different kinds of sea salt into something, or 18 different kinds of vinegar" (it could be assumed that the book title partially refers to the fact that her final recipe for the contest wasn't garnished or artfully arranged, but she won anyway).
What's more, she didn't even really seem all that impressed with the prize money. She simply enjoys cooking, and was a little disappointed when she won because she knew it would disqualify her from participating in the contest again.
As for what she did with the money? She admitted, "I'd like to think my life is just more than just what I buy on a whim or how I indulge myself," and then said that if she was, say, at a plant nursery, she could maybe splurge on a new plant for her garden.
One of my favorite cookbooks is The Comfort Diner Cookbook, by Ira Freehoff and Pia Catton. It has a ton of comfort food recipes from the famed New York City eating establishment, everything from classic American sandwiches and breakfasts to pies and other desserts and great side dishes. This one sounds especially intriguing. It's the Cobb Salad Sandwich. Hey, why have a salad as a salad if you can have it as a sandwich?
However, in an effort to woo back customers who have denied the fried for health reasons, the fast food fried chicken joint will start adding grilled chicken to their stores. The chicken will be called Kentucky Grilled Chicken (so it is KGC), but the company will continue to serve its namesake, fried chicken. The new grilled chicken has been and is currently being tested in Indianapolis, Colorado Springs, San Diego, Oklahoma City, Jacksonville, Fla., and Austin, Texas, with plans for the full national rollout in early January 2009.
Actually, according to the people at Wikipedia, it stands for "rooster in wine," but I'm going to assume that most people who make it nowadays will use chicken. It's not the quickest recipe in the world to make, but if it was they'd be selling it at the Arby's drive-thru ("yeah, I'll have the Coq Au Vin Mega Meal").
Chefs in some smaller upscale bistros double as waiters, creating an intimate, dinner party-like ambiance. Only the host never sits down to eat.
Animal rights activists are using hidden cameras to document slaughterhouse abuses, like sick cows being dragged with forklifts. Still hungry for that sloppy Joe?
An ode to pasties and other savory portable pies. Yum.
Frank Bruni continues his coast-to-coast tour of his favorite new restaurants: Fearing's in Dallas, Michael's Genuine Food & Drink in Miami, and Cochon in New Orleans.
Driving through Nashville yesterday, I stopped at my favorite fried chicken joint, famous for its cayenne-laden, demonically spicy "hot chicken." Having had the "medium" and "hot" before, this time I went for the "x-tra hot."
The woman behind the counter looked me up and down and said "mmm hmm."
That should have been a warning.
Now I love spicy food. Love it. Drown my scrambled eggs in Valentina hot sauce, eat the extra jalapeños out of my friends' enchiladas, order my lamb vindaloo "as hot as possible. Seriously, as hot as possible."
But this chicken darn near killed me.
Biting into its crispy, cayenne-orange skin, a mushroom cloud exploded in my sinus cavity, my lips went numb, my feet began to sweat. I stuffed my mouth full of white bread and Diet Coke to stifle the battery acid burn on my tongue and gums and prayed I wouldn't pass out. Seriously, I can't believe that chicken isn't regulated by the government as a chemical weapon. When the pain finally subsided and I could move, I slunk back to the counter and ordered a "mild."
The woman behind the counter laughed.
Next time, I'll order the regular "hot."
So I was wondering: what's the hottest dish you've ever tasted? And what are your favorite remedies to cool the heat in your mouth (I've tried milk, bananas and bread in the past)?
Roasted chicken with fried yucca root was the obvious winner for judges at the Food Network's Ultimate Recipe: Chicken Showdown (just so we're clear, the contestants were battling it out, not the chickens). Grand Prize Winner Amparo Alam of Syracuse, Utah, swept the competition, winning 99 out of a possible 100 points for her original dish.
The recipe, listed here, uses ajies (Peruvian chilies) and huacatay (a Peruvian herb) to enhance the flavors of both the bird and the veggie.
What do you think? Do these recipes sound good to you? Or could you do better? Put your money where your mouth is and submit your recipe by March 31 for the next competition.
Alright, this post has been waiting in the wings for a few days because I couldn't decide whether I was proud to identify myself with the country that developed this, or wanted to drop my shaking head into my hands behind my laptop like I did with the pizza cone.
Apparently, the Korean fast food chain that has arrived in the US via New York and New Jersey, BBQ Chicken, has come up with a new way to make fast food even faster for you. The Col Pop is scary convenient, and by "scary convenient," what I really mean is, "scary." The top of the cup holds popcorn chicken, while the bottom of the cup holds your soda, and keeps both at the optimum temperature. Technology-wise, that's kind of neat. Eating-wise, I'm not sure that this is all that convenient.
The guys over at Serious Eats did a test drive of the Col Pop and though I couldn't figure out what the final conclusion was, it seems that it wasn't all that bad. I'd just like to see them try the spaghetti-version of Col-Pop.
NYC's Board of Health attempted last year to pass a measure that forced fast food joints to post calorie counts on their menu boards, right where people could see them (and, I guess, be horrified by them and run screaming from the restaurant. Or...something. Not quite sure what the city's goal was).
At any rate, a judge struck down the measure, so now they're back to where they started. But they're not giving up on trying to hoard their mighty caloric knowledge on the citizens of New York! By golly, they will succeed in getting people to acknowledge the 600 calories in that Premium Crispy Chicken Ranch BLT Sandwich they're eating! And then the Board of Health officials will sleep soundly at night, feeling virtuous that they have single-handedly handled the "obesity epidemic." Right?
For the record, Burger King and McDonald's already make this information available (it took me half a minute to find how many calories were in that Chicken McWhatever listed above), they just don't advertise it like the marquee outside of Radio City. Currently, if the city's restaurants want to display their food's nutritional info, they are more than welcome to.
And I mean, really, how many people nowadays don't know that fast food is bad for them? I highly doubt that prominently displaying caloric information will make people who have already walked through a eatery's doors gawk at the fat content and walk out of the store in a huff. I mean, if I want a cookie, I'm eating the cookie knowing that it's bad for me (and even secretly reveling in that fact).
If enacted, the regulation will go into effect March 31. So, until then, we can remain uneducated, bumbling masses. Sound good?
When it comes to these short, dark winter days, there's nothing better than putting a little effort into a dish and then have it spend the rest of the day filling your home with the delicious smells of cooking. The weekends are perfect for these long braises, soups and stews. Many of these dishes don't need a recipe and can be created by feel. However, for those of you who need a little inspiration, here are eight recipes that are perfect for this time of year.
1. The Minimalist makes Beef Bourguignon from chuck, reminding us all that the cheaper, tougher cuts of meat have the most flavor. 2. Food and Wine offers three recipes for winter stews. For those of you who don't actually have all day to let your dish cook, these recipes are for you, as they all should be ready in about an hour. 3. Florence Fabricant went to Greece last year and brought back with her a recipe for Slow-Cooked Beef with Cracked Wheat. It gets browned on the stove for flavor and does a long, slow braise in the oven. 4. Elise has a gorgeous looking recipe for Spicy Lamb Stew with Butternut Squash. 5. Want a rich, veggie-filled chicken stew? Try this one from Orangette, it sounds quite yummy! 6. I love white beans. And I really love roasted garlic. So I do believe that I will adore this Garlic Lovers White Bean Soup from the Farmgirl. 7. I still have a single pomegranate rolling around my kitchen, which may inspire me to try this Pomegranate and Spice-Braised Pork from the The Splendid Table (even though the recipes doesn't call for fresh pomegranate. I could always use it for garnish). 8. Eclectic Edibles invented this Roasted Root Vegetable Stew as a way to use up already-roasted veggies. However, roasting veggies is so easy that it would be a simple thing to do in the stew making process.
About a week ago, I pulled out my four quart (I also have a one and a half and six quart cookers) slow cooker in order to make braised chicken thighs (boneless and skinless) in tomatoes, onions, green pepper and garlic. I was going to be out of the house all day and knew that I'd ravenous when I got home so with just a little forethought I was able to pull something really easy and yummy together with very little effort (it is also one of those dishes that is even better as leftovers than it was originally).
When it comes to slow cookers, I'm not much of a recipe follower. I tend to throw things in and hope for the best. I think that nine times out of ten my experiments turn out really well. There are have been some notable disasters (but we don't need to go into them now). I do have a few valuable lessons to share that I've learned through this process of trial and error. The first is that if you are making a soup or stew and you're going to be adding water, always bring your water to a boil on the stove first before adding it. By doing this the contents of the cooker will come up to temperature more quickly and your food won't sit in the warm danger zone as long. The second is that if you really want your onions to soften, make sure to saute them first on the stove. The caramelization they'll pick up with also improve the flavor of the dish (however, if you're running short on time, it is okay to toss them in raw). The last thing I recommend is seeing if you can't get an older slow cooker at a rummage or garage sale. The older models cook at slightly lower temperatures, which will prevent your food from boiling. Some of the newer cookers bring your food up to a rollicking boil even on the low setting, which is not want you want.
If you are a slow cooker fan I'd love to hear your favorite recipes and any tips you've picked up along the way.
Have you ever stashed a Coke in the freezer, hoping to chill it quickly, then forgotten all about it, only to have it explode all over your frozen peas?
Looking for more economical recipes that don't involve canned chili or hot dogs? Kevin Weeks, a food writer at Gather.com, does a twice-monthly column called 
You can't help but really like Ellie Matthews. Ten years ago, she won the Pillsbury Bake-Off with her Salsa Couscous Chicken recipe, a blend of salsa and the flavors of Morocco. 
One of my favorite cookbooks is 
Well, not really. 
And as we all know, Coq Au Vin stands for...um...
Driving through Nashville yesterday, I stopped at my favorite fried chicken joint, famous for its cayenne-laden, demonically spicy "hot chicken." Having had the "medium" and "hot" before, this time I went for the "x-tra hot."
A fraking amazing Battlestar Galactica cake
Iced Tea 101
Pierogies + cheese + onions + kraut = Parmageddon!
