"insixtyseconds" news and stories

Here's what's doing in the Los Angeles Times Food Section for Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008:

Bonjur, dude. Vietnamese street food, with a French and SoCal twist. Get thee to Westminster or make it yourself. In either case, like, bon appetit!

The slow drip: Because you have to know how to make that delicious Vietnamese coffee. Here's how.

Comeback Kid: Years after dying out, the American chestnut is making a slow and much-welcomed return. Russ Parsons reports.

How to skin a chestnut. Right here.

Recipe: Brussels sprouts braised with bacon and chestnuts.

The craft beer revolution in L.A.

The best beer bars in L.A.

S. Irene Virbila reviews BiMi in L.A. and finds it not just another sushi-bar in L.A.

Where the slow food movement is headed.

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• Sometimes pricey-tasting wine doesn't have to have a big price tag, like Priorat, "the Sidney Crosby of wines."
• Old cookbooks, history, and orange/almond Icebox Cookies.
• If you have lots of money to spare, and would like olllld wine and rare, futuristic wine storage perks with your charity donations, how about spending tens of thousands to help the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine and getting a Porsche Design Studio wine fridge full of vintage selections date back to the '50s?
• The ins and outs of "aromatic whites."
• Recipe: Grilled Tuscan-Style Rabbit with Olive, Thyme, and Tomato.
• KFC Canada not only works towards fixing chicken issues, but gets into some "vegan chicken."
• West Restaurant and Warren Geraghty's move to Vancouver.
• Halloumi -- a cheese that doesn't melt.

• Tarapaca 2007 Sauvignon Blanc from Chile leads the wine pack, and it's under $10.
• Vancouver chef David Wong will be Canada's representative at the Bocuse d'Or, to take place this January in Lyon, France. So far, he plans to work with Angus beef tenderloin with oxtail and beef cheeks, as well as Norwegian cod with lobster.
• Is wine out of a tetra pack, rather than a bottle, really better for the environment?
• Go ethnic with your crepes and try a South Indian dosa -- they're made "from fermented rice and lentil batter, spread onto huge griddles to make thin, savoury crepes that have a mild, slightly sour flavour."

• If you got to attend a celebrity dinner, would you? What if you were served a big pig's head, with eyes ready to eat, or maybe some of those wobbly red things on roosters? It was all for $295 a plate.
• Did you know that dry scallops are better? The water and preservatives affect the quality, so get some dry ones and try scallops with chorizo.
• Toronto restaurant reviews: Grace on College St., Swatow on Spadina, and Chinese Traditional Bun on Dundas St. West.

• David Kamp criticizes the few choices restaurants are offering our children nowadays, in what he calls a chicken-finger pandemic.

• Is tap water the new black? Many restaurants are ditching over-priced designer waters and returning to the stuff that comes straight from the sink

• Summer is the right time to serve up Soft-Shell Crabs, according to The Minimalist, Mark Bittman

• Are you intimidated by the power of saffron?

This week's recipes include:

The Soft-Shell Crab Poor Boy (video), Fettuccine with Mushroom Ragù, Saffron Almond Meringues, Papas Bravas (shown, above), and Vegetable Paella With Wild Mushrooms

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