"pesto" news and stories

Have leftover nuts, cheese, herbs and garlic around the house? Make a quick pesto.

Schnitzel. Photo: c(h)ristine, Flickr

• Brauhaus Schmitz revitalizes Philly's German food with 20 German beers on tap and hearty fare.
• Looking into just what makes one of those well-stained and cherished cookbooks.
• Pizzeria Stella is "economical, accessible and open late" while dishing serious pies, plus Tiffin Etc.'s Indian pizzas.
• A chat with Guy Savoy, "famous French toque and longtime Georges Perrier pal."
• Le Grand pestos are gaining cult status.
• Philly restaurant news.
• Recipes: Bacon-Wrapped Pork Cutlets, Leek "Noodles" With Beurre Noir.

Home grown basil. Photo: The Sweet Kitchen

While many scents (sunscreen, chlorine, charcoal) remind us of summer, few foodies will dispute fresh basil's ability to capture the essence of the season. Looking at this picture of the sun shining through the stems of The Sweet Kitchen's homegrown basil, one can almost smell its sweet, pungent leaves.

Luckily, the joy doesn't have to end when summer does. Due to the rainy spring many of us witnessed, gargantuan basil plants lurk all over North America. Clever gardeners like The Sweet Kitchen have preserved Mother Nature's summer fragrance with homemade jarred pesto. That way despite the winter blues inevitably kicking in, a bite of sunshine, captured perfectly in this photo, will remain.

[Via The Sweet Kitchen]

One person's haul from Food Fête. Photo: craigemorsels/Flickr

If New York City's annual Fancy Food Show is a hurricane of food-related items, occupying three vast floors of the sprawling Javits Center, then the tiny, cramped Food Fête is its spin-off tornado.

Hosted in a smaller space and likewise designed to get food writers and editors interested in new and interesting culinary products, the Fête was an interesting and slightly chaotic affair. High-end eats were hawked right up alongside lower-end food, from a very tasty slice of grass-fed steak to a Kikkoman "umami" demonstration in which we were subjected to a taste-off between a regular chocolate and one containing soy sauce -- a rather palate-numbing experience, that.

Former Top Cheffer Stephanie Izard was there with Lucini, the spicy olive oil she endorses, which she had drizzled on a very tasty panzanella. She told us she hadn't had a chance to roam the halls yet. But we had, and our faves are after the jump.

• Grilling over a wood fire presents many nuanced delights, provided you have the right tools and a high threshold for sweat and smoke.
  
• Sriracha Chili Sauce is a flagship product of Huy Fong Foods, and one that chefs like Jean-Georges Vongerichten love for its sweet, garlicky heat.
• Le Fooding, the group that set France on fire with picnics of finger foods and plastic-cupped drinks, is coming stateside to introduce New Yorkers to a new generation of French chefs.
  
• Across the country, drink menus are showing some love for homemade ginger ale.
• Food safety is becoming a mess. Almost every element of processed foods is a potential pathogen carrier, and the industry is shifting the worry to the consumer.
• Scotland Yard isn't just the famous face of London law enforcement. It's also a tasty Scotch and Drambuie twist on the Rusty Nail.