August 28, 2009
Posted by KarynMC, August 27, 2009 at 7:45 PM
Note: We received this thoughtful essay on the perceived dichotomy between food-lovers and vegetarian/vegans from longtime Serious Eats community member KarynMC and thought we'd highlight it here. Take it away, KMC! —AK
Interestingly enough, the very first installment of Spy vs. Spy was somewhat food-related.
Whenever an article touching on vegetarianism or, worse, its shorter-lettered derivative, appears on a food-centric message board or in the mainstream press, the comments always follow the same lines:
"PETA: People Eating Tasty Animals"
"Vegans are soulless, self-absorbed idiots whose tastebuds have withered into nothingness."
"Vegans are terrorists. Bacon-hating douchebag terrorists."
The assumption? Those who love food cannot be vegan, those who are vegan cannot love food. Perhaps the attitude derives from the meat=masculinity=real food bravado put on by certain celebrity chefs. Maybe there's a deep-seated cultural association between meat and prosperity (though I'm pretty sure ancient agriculturists didn't moan and groan when the grain crop came in), making vegans look as weasel-y as Mad Men's Pete Campbell when they bring home the tempeh bacon.
But the vegan vs. foodie dichotomy hardly rings true. When my vegetarian or vegan friends and I get together, we often discuss, at length, our favorite farms and orchards, new cookbooks, restaurants we want to try and newly discovered techniques and recipes. An eavesdropper might just think, "They sound like foodies." Or, in the actual words of a vegan friend's omnivorous husband, "You guys sure do talk about food a lot."
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- 10 Mayan Foods that Changed the World: Chocolate, vanilla, and corn are just a few of the important foods cultivated by the ancient Mayan civilization. [SFGate]
- Paella Party: Here are some tips for paella success in your kitchen. [Chicago Tribune]
- Eat Real Event in Oakland This Weekend: Eat Real is an outdoor street food event with free admission also featuring microbreweries and local farmers and artisans. [SFGate]
- World's Longest Dosa: A restaurant in Ahmedabad, India, made a dosa that's 32 feet and five inches long in less than 40 minutes. [The Times of India]
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From Recipes
Posted by homesicktexan, August 27, 2009 at 6:15 PM
Note: You may know Lisa Fain as the Homesick Texan. She joins us each Thursday this summer with a new salsa recipe for you to try. Have at it, Lisa.
My philosophy is that you can always judge the quality of a taco truck by the appearance of its salsas. For example, if there are no salsas for you to use then you should walk away—these people are not only stingy, but they’re also probably not very proud of their food. If there are only one or two salsas—say, the requisite red and green—I’d probably stay, but first I’d check and see if there are other taco trucks in the area with more condiments on hand.
What exactly am I looking for? How about a truck that has an array of salsas—red, green, yellow and orange—along with pickled jalapenos, sliced radishes, chopped cilantro and onions. If I see this, there’s no question—this taco truck is where I want to eat. And heck, even if the taco isn't all that great, you’ll be able to make it sing with that chorus of delicious condiments. There’s a taco truck I like to go to* and I started eating at it for this reason alone. Out on display for your eating pleasure are usually at least six salsas, if not more.
My favorite taco to order is a carnitas taco and this truck makes them especially well—crisp and juicy. And while I usually opt for a creamy green salsa to put on my carnitas, at this truck I choose a yellow salsa instead.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, August 27, 2009 at 6:00 PM
[We Make Words]
We Make Words is a fun blog/art project dedicated to constructing words out of objects—including those of the food-related sort. Each new work is related to the previous one, as seen in the photographs above. [via swissmiss]
In case you were wondering what you're ingesting when bite into a Slim Jim, Wired explains the meat stick's ingredients. It's a glorious combination of beef, mechanically separated chicken, corn and wheat proteins, one-sixth of your daily sodium needs, and so much more. Mmm!
From Recipes
Posted by Kerry Saretsky, August 27, 2009 at 5:00 PM
Children always grow up too fast. For me, that meant wanting to drink wine so desperately so I could be just like Maman. But she had a strategy for dealing with me: just say yes.
It’s hard to imagine extricating the French from their wine, and as we know from French Women Don’t Get Fat, denial is not a part of the French regime, but rationing is. Many French children, yours truly included, start training for the main event—a glass of wine with dinner—from a very young age. First, we get a finger dipped in a glass of smoky Merlot. Then, a splash of Sauvignon Blanc diluted into our water. That's where I got the idea for this week’s recipe: Drunken Angel Hair with Leeks and Cream.
The angel hair is cooked in a boiling cauldron of water and white wine, just like I had drank as a child, and then tossed together with a soft, sweet sautéed spaghetti-julienne of leeks and sweet cream, plus a little more "raw" wine to finish it off. It's like a drunken Vichyssoise with pasta instead of potato.
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From Recipes
Posted by Blake Royer, August 27, 2009 at 4:15 PM
Isn't chicken salad kind of a dish for wimps? It reminds me of pay-by-the-pound delis and church picnics, of gobs of mayonnaise and stringy chicken. In the hierarchy, it's below both tuna salad and egg salad, so I usually don't see the point of bothering. True, I get a little more interested when curry powder and raisins are in the picture, but the usual celery and mayo schtick? Not thrilled.
Despite this, I was swayed by The Silver Palate cookbook, a contemporary classic (growing up, it seemed to be on the shelves of every friends' mother I knew). Its recipe for chicken salad hit all the clichéd notes, but added one crucial new one—pungent tarragon, which sets it apart from the rest.
In the original recipe, the chicken is baked with crème fraîche and the salad is made with sour cream mixed into mayonnaise. I adapted it to be healthier and cheaper by losing the crème fraîche and sour cream and replacing both with plain yogurt. It kept the chicken succulent and moist while cooking, and the dressing was lighter. This makes a nice summer dinner with some greens and good bread.
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From Recipes
Posted by Grace Kang, August 27, 2009 at 3:30 PM
You Will Need
I've found the perfect way to make my insides delightfully and childishly cold this summer: by eating patbingsu. Robyn neatly summed it up as a Korean "shaved ice-based dessert loaded with sweet toppings such as chopped fruit, condensed milk, fruit syrup, and red beans." (The "pat" in patbingsu refers to the sweetened adzuki beans. "Bingsu" refers to the shaved ice component.) The huge pile of light-as-air shaved ice, studded with various morsels and nubbins make for an extremely satisfying mouthful of sweet, creamy, crunchy, and chewy that still manages to be ultra light and refreshing.
There are some prepackaged varieties available, but I don't know how it could be as good as the real thing. With my cousin's recent purchase of an electric shaved ice machine from her local Asian market, an H-Mart ($40), we've been on a patbingsu rampage.
The beauty of patbingsu lies in the freedom to tailor each bowl to your tastes. Love tteok? Dump it on! Hate fruit cocktail? Don't need it! Fresh fruit? Hell yeah! So take the ingredients I've suggested as a jumping off point for your slushy fantasies and let us know what successful combinations you come up with!
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, August 27, 2009 at 3:15 PM
Each week we round up our favorite posts and recipes from our friends at The Kitchn.
This week, the Kitchn admits to five beers they love to hate. From Red Stripe's stubby bottle to the unrivaled champagne of beers.
Also on the Kitchn, DIY microwavable mac and cheese, watermelon juice, a wearable stove, and spiffy new lunchboxes.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, August 27, 2009 at 2:30 PM
[Design*Sponge]
How do you get that doughnut-strewn placemat you always wanted? Just make one yourself with iron-on transfer sheets! Design*Sponge has a tutorial that shows you how to do it. Print the images at actual size for the most realistic look.
Related
How to Make a Portable Picnic-in-a-Briefcase
How to Make Nesting Doll Salt Shakers
How to Make Fake Cupcakes
Posted by Leslie Kelly, August 27, 2009 at 1:45 PM
Critic Turned Cook follows former Seattle Post-Intelligencer food critic Leslie Kelly on her journey away from the keyboard and into the kitchen. Take it away, Leslie!
[Flickr: thebittenword.com]
If there's a silver lining in losing my dream job as a newspaper restaurant critic, it's that taking the Grand Canyon-size leap from the keyboard to the professional kitchen has made me a better home cook and caused me reconnect with my collection of cookbooks. (Like everyone else who swooned over Julie & Julia, I cracked open my dusty copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking as soon as I got home from the movie. Admittedly, I'm still working up the nerve to try the duck.)
But even though I get a lot of joy out of cooking, one thing still scares me silly: canning. Yes, I tried to learn the basics from my grandmother, but my peaches were dark and soggy and my dill pickles fizzed when I opened them. My results were like a science experiments gone wrong.
However, I'm going to get back in the game again and here's why: I recently got swept up in a "Canvolution," a grass roots movement to encourage the return of this old-fashioned form of putting up foods. A group of food writers and food lovers in Seattle converged and are pushing forward a preserving and pickling agenda boldly called Canning Across America. The kickoff event is this weekend, with demos at farmers markets, classes at community centers and home parties, from coast-to-coast. Check out their website for events—you can also add your own.
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"As recently as a few days ago, Mr. Kennedy was still digging into big bowls of mocha chip and butter crunch ice creams, all smushed together (as he liked it). He and his wife, Vicki, had been watching every James Bond movie and episode of 24 on DVD." [New York Times]
From Recipes
Posted by Caroline Russock, August 27, 2009 at 1:00 PM
When I was 16-years-old I had a giant crush on this guy who was a few years older than me and pretty much perfect in my young punk rock-obsessed mind. When Valentine's Day rolled around I decided that the best way for me to let him know how I felt was to make him a batch of chocolate truffles—I was confident that these truffles would turn out so delicious that he wouldn't be able to resist me. Despite my lack of candy making experience, the truffles turned out pretty well. I lovingly wrapped them and went to meet my crush.
In hindsight, I would have been much better off buying him a Misfits record. He wasn't too impressed with the chocolates, just eating one before passing them along to his friends. Needless to say, things didn't work out with the guy, but I learned two valuable lessons: First, chocolates don't always equal instant romance; second, I now knew how to make truffles—a pretty great skill to have.
Perhaps I would've had a better chance if I had made these Salted Caramel-Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles from Carole Bloom's Bite-Size Desserts. The combination of bittersweet chocolate and salted caramel is almost impossible to resist.
As for the amount of work goes into these little treats, it's pretty minimal given the impressive nature of the finish product. Simply make the caramel, melt the chocolate, chill, scoop, dust with cocoa, and finish with a few grains of fleur de sel. Whether your intentions are romantic or you are just in love with chocolates, these truffles will surely serve you well.
Win 'Bite-Size Desserts'
As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of Bite-Size Desserts to give away this week. Enter to win here »
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, August 27, 2009 at 12:15 PM
If a cow and a pig had rap names, they'd obviously be Moo and Oink. They'd freestyle about chitlins, nuggets, baybeh baybeh baybeh spare ribs, and cube steak, and encourage audience participation, naturally. "Gimme a wave if you like catfish! Jump up if it's your favorite dish! Tommy likes ribs and chicken wingsssss. If you like them too lemme hear you scream!" Moo & Oink is an actual Chicago-based grocery chain and meat wholesaler with these two lovable mascots. (Pay special attention at about 0:20 when it gets all technofied. Turn it up!) The video, after the jump.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, August 27, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Chef Katie Garcia, the former chef/partner of the celebrated BYOB Pilsen Mexican restaurant Mundial Cocina Mestiza, recently reinvented herself and opened a new Algerian take-out spot Zebda in Chicago's Irving Park neighborhood.
From roast lamb to watermelon salad, literally everything at this spot is great. There are, however, two very special dishes. The first is a flaky pastilla, or sugar dusted pastry-like pocket filled with cinnamon spiced curry chicken, a killer savory sweet combo that tastes like what would happen if a French patisserie smashed in to an Indian buffet.
However, if you’re trying to indulge your sweet tooth only, don't miss the orange flower water, honey, and sesame-coated flaky Ramadan cookies called hebakia. The crunchy and sticky treat was so compelling in its nutty sweetness that my wife and I took down a whole container of ten cookies in one afternoon.
Zebda
4344 N Elston Avenue, Chicago IL 60641 (map)
773-545-7000
