"david lebovitz" news and stories

Normally, macarons are like the one above, colorful, light, and full of sweetness. But what if it wasn't?

The world has seen chocolate on chicken and bacon cookies, so why not Ketchup Macarons? It's almost natural -- tomatoes are fruit too, yet they never get the cookie love. Just replace that center above with the spice of ketchup.

David Lebovitz recently whipped up a batch of Pierre Hermé's ketchup macarons, noting the perception in Europe that Americans put ketchup on everything. I can't say I blame them for that assessment (sandwiches, eggs, fries, meat, you name it). But making it into a cookie... That's something I want to taste for myself.

And speaking of unique cookie flavors: What's the most unique cookie flavor you've ever tasted?

[via Serious Eats]

It's the fourth Friday of August and my office is dead quiet. Half the staff is out on vacation and the other half is surfing the internet, trying to pass the minutes until it's time to go home. Here are some of the things I've been reading to make the moments fly by until the end of the day...

1. Could organic booze be the secret to avoiding a hangover?
2. Joy the Baker and What Geeks Eat both whip up homemade doughnuts.
3. David Lebovitz asks, "Are you a melon washer?" (I'm not).
4. Speaking of melons, Culinate waxes poetic about the noble muskmelon.
5. Looking for a greener way to do your grocery shopping? Check out the iZip Tricruiser.
   
6. If you grew up in California, then you probably have memories of getting ice cream cones at the Thrifty Drug store (now Rite Aid). They used a cylindrical scoop to dole out their ice cream and Kate has finally found one that replicates that experience.
7. Looking to spruce up that hot dog? Marie at Make and Takes has some fun ways to make hot dogs even more kid-friendly.
8. Looking for ways to keep your fruit budget out of the stratosphere? Follow Sweet Juniper's lead and do a little urban gleaning.

I've been cooking, in one way or another, for more than 20 years. That includes my early childhood experiments like when I would try to make hashbrowns on the days when I stayed home from school. Although tasty, they were always grey, a bit mushy and very visually unappealing. In recent years I've come to be something of an adequate cook, but I know that there is always more for me to learn.

It's in that spirit of continuing food education, that I particular love the post that David Lebovitz put up the day after Thanksgiving called "Ten Easy Ways to Improve Your Cooking." His tips are really helpful and include such easy changes as using lots of shallots, making a point of incorporating fresh herbs and rethinking the oils and vinegars you cook with. Another reason to go and check out this post is for the pictures as they are just lovely (that picture of thyme up above is borrowed from his post).

There must be something in the air, because while I didn't see this post until yesterday, about a week ago on a whim I bought a large bag of shallots at my local produce market. It's been lovely having them on hand as an alternative to my normal garlic and onions. They give food a sweeter, gentler flavor that I'm loving. They aren't wimpy though and still pack a punch that stands up to many of the stronger tastes out there.

Source

Every so often I go through phases where I try to reduce the amount of refined white sugar I eat (this is obviously not one of them, given the fact that I was baking a cake last night). It's during those times that I've acquired a variety of different sweeteners, including sucanat (basically slightly healthier cane sugar), a very large bottle of honey and a smaller squirt-bottle of agave nectar. I'm not a huge fan of the chemically constructed artificial sweeteners, I've never been able to get over their bitter aftertaste, so I haven't done any cooking with them.

Agave nectar (Nicole wrote about it here on Slashfood last February) has become my favorite substitute for sugar in drinks like iced tea and chai and now the very clever David Lebovitz has found a way to use it in agave-sweetened chocolate ice cream in order to create a frozen treat that rests at the low end of the glycemic index. I think I need to make room in my freezer for my ice cream bowl and try this one out.