I was surprised by the number of restaurants, such as the Pentagöet Inn and Atlantica in northeastern Maine, that had local cheeses. I never knew how delicious the cheeses from Maine were until recently. I discovered four luscious creamy cheeses: Bleu Velvet, Golden Ridge Camembert, Seal Cove Chèvre, and Eleanor Buttercup. After savoring these cheeses, I was eager to find out more about cheeses from Maine. I visited the State of Maine Cheese Company in Rockport where I was given a map of all the cheese makers in New England.
Maine even has it's very own cheese guild that strives to support the growing Maine cheese community. Cheese-making is becoming popular all over the United States. What kinds of interesting local cheeses have you tried?
After a week spent wandering the halls of Tales of the Cocktail in July 2008, sipping many finely stirred and shaken libations; I said to myself, "These special cocktails need to be shared with the world." So I bring you Cocktail Hour, a finer way to celebrate the end of the day; with these recipes. They have either been created specifically for Tales of the Cocktail, or re-designed for a new approach on the traditional version by some of the top Mixologists in the world. Many are being presented to the public here for the first time. Enjoy!
For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. The boxes can range from austere lacquered trays to multi-tiered Hello Kitty confections of neon pink plastic. The meals themselves are anything from rice and leftovers to elaborate themed affairs of Pikachu-shaped dumplings with sesame seed eyes and carved radish trees. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.
Today's bento is from the blog Cooking for Monkeys, where a very creative mom displays her ultra-adorable kiddie bentos. This safari bento is from her three-year-old's birthday party. Each kid got a box containing a PB & J jeep, an alligator carrot, cheese lions and giraffes and a blueberry elephant, all atop Veggie Booty "grass." Beats the heck out of the floppy slices of pizza from my own childhood birthday party days.
Yesterday I posted the Omnivore's Hundred, a list of 100 "must-try" foods written by a British food blogger. I thought it was so interesting I had to try making my own, American-style. My ground rules were this: I didn't include any drinks, and I only listed foods that can be found in more than just one location (so "Krispy Kreme donut" is OK, but "cheese slice from Joe's Pizza in NYC" is not). I also tried to avoid foods that are American in origin but ubiquitous in the rest of the world (so no McDonald's french fries, much as I love them).
So here it is: Emily's 100 American Foods You Really Ought to Try Sometime Before You Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil. And by all means, tell me what you think is missing!
I had a nice time last weekend wandering the woods. I spent Sunday with the Maine Mycological Association on a foray for wild mushrooms, then some hikes looking for wild teas and edibles on Monday.
Tuesday it was back to work. I have been researching many products I want to develop and have been seeking out old texts on distilling, wine making, etc. I spent my mornings brainstorming and working on possible recipes. I won't say what they are quite yet, but when I get them into production in a few months, I'll tell you more.
Tuesday afternoon we got in a nice large shipment of glass. Bottles that is. There is a bit of a global glass shortage and we have had certain wine bottles on back order for months and months; especially needed are the 375 ml. frosted bottles for one of our dessert wines, raspberry Rain. We haven't been able to meet the demand and actually took it off our current list for almost five months since we didn't have any bottles. We do have a full tank of the wine aging in the cellar, so bottling is the focus for the week.
Opening up a box of pasta usually isn't a sensory experience, save for the sound of cardboard ripping, or noodles splashing into some boiling water. Heck, even homemade pasta can seem surprisingly bland, even if its made with a myriad of flavorful ingredients. For the most part, it just offers a nice, rich color. But then there is egg pasta, the classic.
For some reason, my forays into pasta didn't start with the egg variety. I started with whole grain and spinach, moved onto beet and plain flour with water varieties, and came late to the egg pasta game. No kitchen hardware was used -- just a ring of flour and some hand-kneaded pasta. (My first time, I didn't make the ring large enough, the egg started spilling over, hence the lack of a nice ring in the picture above.)
It was the best looking dough I ever made, and I sectioned some for fresh pasta, and some to be dried. This is where the magic comes in. The dried pasta has an insanely delicious and warm smell to it, similar to an Italian cookie. It's quickly become one of my favorite foodie smells, ranked with the likes of coffee roasting and bacon frying. It's also the perfect homemade food to give as gifts -- nestled in a basket with some jars of sauce, antipaste, and dried mushrooms, the pasta will give off a surprising and welcome aroma when it hits the air and the recipient's nose.
Try it for yourself. It's amazing such a great smell can come from something so simple.
One of my favorite things about traveling (or even venturing to different neighborhoods in my own city) is the opportunity to check out new grocery stores and see how the pitch their wares. I love this window of signs, because you can tell that human energy, creativity and a strong love of cheese went into their creation.
From Cooking with Soup (1968), A Campbell's Cookbook
I'm interrupting the semi-regularly scheduled Midnight Sausage series to share molded food images and recipes from my personal collection of early-to-mid 20th century cookbooks. There will be aspic. There will be mousse. There will be various gelatins. All will be semi-solid and of debatable degrees of edibility.
Please feel free to shimmy and shake your way to the comments section to share your very own magical, masticable molds of yore.
It's an old story in marketing. Play to the children, in order to get their parents to spend money on their product. It's why Saturday morning cartoons were once so popular and why lots of the most kid-appealing stuff is placed on the grocery store shelves at their eye-level. Mostly though, this advertising tries to be somewhat discreet.
Not satisfied with the soft sell, one Dairy Queen went for a less subtle approach, entreated kids to "scream until Daddy stops the car." Sadly, this method would have backfired with my parents and would have resulted in us never seeing the inside of a Dairy Queen until we were old enough to get there on our own steam.
I am always amazed at how the simplest things are usually the best. Take chocolate mousse for example: it's a very simple mixture of whipped cream, whipped egg yolks, and melted chocolate and yet it's a classic dessert loved all over the world. Chocolate mousse would make an easy and delicious summer dessert any night of the week. Adding fresh berries makes this an even more summery dish.
Classically, chocolate mousse does not include any cream. For a traditional version, there's actually a bit of work involved, but there are plenty of recipes out there that turn out a light and creamy dessert with very little effort like this one. You can even find egg-free versions.
The traditional recipe involves making a pate a bombe, which is created when you add a cooked sugar syrup to egg yolks while they're mixing, and a basic merengue, and adding them to melted chocolate. That amount of work for a good chocolate mousse is avoidable with the recipes provided above. You'll be out of the kitchen in no time, with brownie points to spare!
I used to curl my lip at my dad's dedication to Key Lime pie. As a kid, it was just too much for me. But once I went to Key West, and had the classic, perfectly made pie myself, I was hooked.
Now I need to try the new ice cream recipe over at The Kitchn -- Key Lime Dream Ice Cream! (Part of the recipe is currently cut off, hopefully it will be fixed soon.) The only complaint I have is that it just says "lime juice" in the ingredients. But at least the submitter says: "If you're lucky enough to find them (unlike me..), substitute key limes for the Persian limes. Cook's Illustrated says the taste is the same between the two, so don't fret about calling it key lime..."
Eh, I'll still fret. The amount of non-Key Lime recipes out there that use the title drive me nuts. If its a good recipe, it doesn't lose its magic to take out the "key." Heck, called it "Persian Lime Dream," if you can't find Key Limes. We don't call sweet potato or yam dishes just "potato." We don't label something "mandarin orange" and then put regular oranges in. So why is everyone so intent on using the "Key Lime" label without using the actual fruit?
Okay, rant over. Now it's time to drool over the thought of how tasty this will be...
MSG has long been a contentious ingredient. It is often vilified, as a lot of people believe that they are allergic to the stuff. Recently, though, MSG has had its reputation partially restored as it is thought to be a source of Umami, the much-heralded fifth taste.
A new study has raised the possibility that MSG might once again losing its good standing. A group of scientists have recently finished a study linking MSG to higher body weight. They found that "high MSG consumption was associated with a 110 per cent increase in the risk" of having a high body mass index (BMI).
Industry groups immediately responded, essentially saying "no way Jose." The Glutamate Association said that on top of flaws in the study, areas of the world that already consume large amounts of MSG do not have high BMI numbers (which would indicate they were overweight). What do you think about the new findings?
South American wines worth mentioning: Chile's Terra noble Vineyard Selection 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, Santa Carolina Barrica Selections 2006 Petit Verdot, and Terra Andina Altos 2005 Syrah Cabernet Sauvignon, plus Argentina's Finca Flichman Expresiones Reserve 2006 Malbec Cabernet Sauvignon and Trapiche Broquel 2006 Malbec.
When most people think about macaroni and cheese, images of ultimate comfort spring to mind. Ideally, mac and cheese is a dish that is soft, creamy and without any difficult-to-chew bits. Unfortunately for Rebecca Shorten, her most recent experience with macaroni and cheese was decidedly un-comforting.
Gallery: Bizarre objects found in food
Sunday evening, Shorten was home with her fiancee, eating a quick dinner of pre-made mac and cheese from Tesco, when she found herself biting into something hard in her meal. Before she could prevent it, she swallowed the object. Looking more closely, she discovered two inch-long metal nails in her dish. Later that evening she was taken to the hospital, where it was discovered via X-Ray that she had indeed swallowed a third nail. She is currently in the hospital and on morphine to dull the stomach pains while she waits for the nail to pass through her system.
Tesco has recalled the product from their shelves and is investigating the situation more closely.
After a week spent wandering the halls of Tales of the Cocktail in July 2008, sipping many finely stirred and shaken libations; I said to myself, "These special cocktails need to be shared with the world." So I bring you Cocktail Hour, a finer way to celebrate the end of the day; with these recipes. They have either been created specifically for Tales of the Cocktail, or re-designed for a new approach on the traditional version by some of the top Mixologists in the world. Many are being presented to the public here for the first time. Enjoy!
The other day I was all set to make mashed potatoes -- I'd even peeled the cooked potatoes and placed them in my big bowl, when I realized that I couldn't find my masher! With a little bit of innovation, clumpless potatoes were only moments away.
I am always amazed at how the simplest things are usually the best. Take chocolate mousse for example: it's a very simple mixture of whipped cream, whipped egg yolks, and melted chocolate and yet it's a classic dessert loved all over the world. Chocolate mousse would make an easy and delicious summer dessert any night of the week. Adding fresh berries makes this an even more summery dish. 
Chocolate-stuffed bananas on the grill
Tyler Florence welcomes new daughter
Beware kids' menus!
