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Showing posts from 2009

Mouth Wide Open ... for Bagna Cauda

A little something about a traditional Italian peasant dish that is perfect for cold weather ... from John Thorne's Mouth Wide Open at Forgotten Classics podcast. As well as a couple of Christmas podcast highlights. Enjoy!

Granola

From The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham, this is the simplest and most delicious granola I have ever made, or indeed, eaten. It has wowed those who have sampled it. The kicker is that it is fairly inexpensive to make. Unlike those store-bought granolas! If you don't have easy access to mixed flakes, just use regular rolled oats (don't use quick oats though). I have changed the flavoring around in various ways. The nutmeg seemed too perfumey to me so I switched to cinnamon. Equal parts of ginger and cinnamon have been quite tasty. I always add the nuts with the flakes, just making sure to stir enough so they don't burn and they haven't yet. I've tried almonds, walnuts, and pecans. Almonds are my favorite nuts for this granola. Granola (about 5 cups) 4 cups mixed flakes (oats, rye, barley, wheat, rice) Salt to taste (I never use any) 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1/2 cup honey 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted 1 cup roughly chopped walnuts Put the flakes in a large bowl and s

A Happy Hour Duo: Garnet and X.Y.Z. Cocktails

Actually we had these separately. The Garnet cocktail was tried out last Saturday with Hannah and a friend who came home to attend a wedding. The X.Y.Z. Cocktail was the one thing about watching the Cowboys' game last Sunday that we found enjoyable. The Garnet lived up to its name as pomegranate juice lent it a ruddy hue. It was one of those drinks that you have to be careful about. The alcohol is not very obvious perhaps until one has had one too many. The X.Y.Z. is a classic seeming "sour" cocktail and, as such, would naturally be one that Tom and I would really enjoy. Garnet 1-1/2 ounces gin 3/4 ounce Triple Sec 1 ounce pomegranate juice 1 ounce grapefruit juice Shake with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a flamed orange peel. X.Y.Z. Cocktail 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1/2 ounce Triple Sec 1 ounce light rum Shake with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Amarcord: Marcella Remembers ... the good, the boring, and the bad

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It is really too bad that Ms. Hazan didn't have a talented grandnephew to write Amarcord as did Julia Child in her fantastic memoir, My Life in France . As with Child's memoir, when Hazan focuses on the big picture, not just the food, it is very interesting. I didn't expect Hazan's many fascinating memories of survival in Italy during World War II, first from Allied bombings and then from authorities who suspected them of assisting the resistance. Hazan's reminiscence of school and her mother's survival cooking took us to a different world than now exists. Likewise, after Hazan has married her American-born husband and moves to New York City as a non-English speaker, we are still interested in her immigrant experience. The bad news is that once Hazan has a food-oriented career, the big picture melts away and only food becomes the focus. As well, she tends to focus on the celebrities she has met and I found most of those stories to be fairly boring. I was especi

Rum Daisy

Another addition to the very pleasant surprise from the first sip category ... the Rum Daisy. The grenadine makes this a gorgeous pink which would be a nice offering for a holiday drink now that I think of it! The only thing I changed was that Daisy drinks are traditionally served in a beer mug or metal cup. I couldn't bear to do that so went with a traditional cocktail glass. And without the ice cube. Rum Daisy 1/2 ounce lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon superfine sugar or simple syrup 1 teaspoon grenadine 2 ounces light rum Shake with ice and strain into chilled beer mug or metal cup. Add one large ice cube and garnish with fruit.

Bee's Kiss Cocktail

Something else to be thankful for ... perhaps when sipping it as an after dinner drink? Simply delicious and very simple. It is creamy, rich and powerful with a feel possibly reminiscent of Bailey's Irish Cream or a well-dosed eggnog. Bee's Kiss 1-1/2 ounce White Rum 1 ounce heavy cream 3/4 ounce Honey Syrup* Shake and strain into a champagne flute. (which I chilled quickly in the freezer while assembling) * To make Honey Syrup: Mix equal part of honey and warm water. Stir well until dissolved, and then chill.

Looking Good Enough to Eat

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Black Grapes By James Neil Hollingsworth

Best. Canned. Tuna. Ever.

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I am not kidding. As my family knows, I am darned picky about tuna. Years ago, there was a brand usually sold to restaurants that I was able to get over the internet. Mothers routinely would call or corner me and ask what I did to make tuna salad that their kids loved and mentioned to their mothers. "Easy," I said. "Just use albacore and real mayonnaise." You would not believe how many faces of disgust I saw at the mention of real mayo. Our country is so messed up. However, I digress. My beloved tuna was discontinued, at least for public purchase. Sadness ensued. Accompanied by a quest to replace it. I have been able to do so to varying degrees, finally settling for a kind sold at the Central Market. For $6 per can. It was worth it. Just believe me. Not equal to my restaurant tuna but close enough. Then, of course, The Central Market discontinued carrying it in favor of their own brand which, you should excuse me, is something my cat would enjoy but not something I

Lemon Ginger Muffins

This recipe, originally Bridge Creek Fresh Ginger Muffins, is from The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham. I served these for a book club meeting and was greeted with cries of delight mingled with demands for the recipe. Indeed, one friend's mother loved them so that she is being applied to daily for the recipe, where is that recipe! Now that surely warms the cockles of any baker's heart. Rather than type it in, which I have been trying to find time to do since that meeting three weeks ago, I found it at Williams Sonoma where it looks as if they slightly adapted it for one of their cookbooks, such as more than doubling the amount of ginger called for. I changed it back to Cunningham's amount. You can find a wonderful photo of the muffins here . Update : I now have had a chance to compare Cunningham's original recipe with that from Williams-Sonoma and they tinkered with more than the ginger amount. I have restored the recipe to its original state. These are fresh tast

Looking Good Enough to Eat

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Believe it or not, these are each 150 sheets of note paper , though the stem is made with a real twig. They are detailed right down to the seeds, as you can see below. As you may well imagine they are very expensive. (Via The Food Section )

Recipe for a Happy Hour ... Heck, For a Couple of Happy Hours!

Tom and I suddenly found that we have slid into having our very own little happy hour every Saturday and Sunday evening before dinner. This began when Hannah turned 21, became enamored with cocktails, and I bought her a Mr. Boston Official Bartender's Guide. I liked it so much that I bought one for us also. We've never been cocktail drinkers before but how boring things would be if we always did the same thing all the time. About 5:00 or 5:30 in the afternoon, we settle down with a new cocktail to sample, listening to music and either reading, knitting (yes, that would be me), or just chatting. Without meaning to, it has become a routine that we have realized we both anticipate with pleasure. Just a little time to stop the day, slow down, and mark the progression into the evening. We tend to play jazz or other music that could be classified, perhaps, as happy hour music. For those who are not sure what that would be, do go over to The Happy Hour Lounge where Andrew and Jeremy

Tartes aux Fraises (Fresh Strawberry Tarts)

This is what I made for my birthday ... yes, waaaay back in May. I began typing in the recipe waaay back then also, but you can see that I got sidetracked and never got back to it until now. (That's a heckuva sidetrack!) At any rate, this was a staple of my teenage years at home each spring, once my parents got the Time-Life Foods of the World: The Cooking of Provincial France. It is not difficult at all and can be done in steps. I make a 10" shell with 2" inch sides, using a spring-form pan since I don't have a tart pan. Also, I have added the step of beating up an egg white and lightly brushing the inside of the shell with it, letting it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes, and then baking. That greatly helps to preventing the custard from softening the shell if on assembles it ahead of time as I am wont to do. Tartes aux Fraises (Fresh Strawberry Tarts) To serve 6 6 individual 3- to 4-inch pate brisee tart shells or 9- to 10-inch pate brisee (I use Perfect Piecrust

Let me just explain something to the Full Plate bloggers ...

... or more probably to their marketing person ... whose missteps make it sound as if the blog culture is something they just heard of (what is this new creature we discover in the Amazonian jungle?). Here's a sterling example from the email I just received: Each author will do one blog a week, and The Full Plate Diet staff will do two weekly blogs a week. Dang! Really? Because I'll clue you in. "Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen" is a blog. What you are reading right now is a "post." Amateur mistake. Which, if one is getting any sort of advice at all from informed sources, one would know. Forgivable in individuals, just plain clueless from a probably professional writer. Also, having a disclaimer that one must agree to before one reads the blog ? No. Period. If the info is that sensitive or likely to be misused then don't put it on a blog people. Far better to have an overall disclaimer as part of the main layout ... or at the bottom of each post. Or somet

Food, Glorious Food (Photos)

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Pasta taken by Donna Turner Ruhlman Is this not an absolutely gorgeous photo? Truly beautiful. I have long admired the food photography over at Michael Ruhlman's blog . (For those who do not do much food reading, I have admired Michael Ruhlman's work since reading the definitive work, The Making of a Chef . His other writing is just as wonderful and following his inquiring mind via his blog has been a real pleasure.) I simply never wanted to go through the trouble to write requesting permission to feature the photography (yes, I'm lazy too...). You can, therefore, imagine my delight at reading his announcement that his photographer is his wife who is now setting up shop. She says on her blog : I landed my first staff photographer position in 1982 and have been shooting since, everything from news editorial to fine art. Over the past couple of years, having become involved with Michael’s work, his books, his blog, I’ve turned my focus to food. I’ve initiated this blog to co

Coffee Buttercream Frosting

I've been so very lazy about cooking. However, when one has a large group of people coming over for a meeting and is providing the dessert, well, then one must bestir oneself. I made my favorite Chocolate Buttermilk Cake but was bored with all the usual ways I frost it ( Chocolate Malt or plain but oh, so good Buttercream ...). So I started digging through The Cake Mix Doctor* where I found a copied page from ... well another of her cookbooks that I picked up from the library (can't remember which, maybe her chocolate cake cookbook?). At any rate, the chocolate cake paired with this intense coffee frosting was a huge hit. Coffee Buttercream Frosting Makes 3-1/2 cups, enough to frost a 2- or 3-layer cake 1/4 cup whole milk 2 tablespoons instant coffee granules 8 tablespoons (1 stick butter), at room temperature 4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted, plus additional if needed Pour the milk into a small glass bowl andheat in the microwave oven on high power for 30 seconds, or

Sorry Wilma ...

... my weekend got away from me, but NEXT weekend I definitely plan on making that Lentil Soup I was telling you about. So check back!

Fine Art Friday

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Peeled Clementine by the extremely talented Duane Keiser

In which we travel the wide world seeking rice and also find adventure.

More lagniappe at Forgotten Classics .

The Food of a Younger Land

I reviewed the book a while back and now offer a bit of lagniappe from it over at Forgotten Classics.

Do People Still Cook? Michael Pollan's Answer Raises Hackles But I Think He is Right.

The movie Julie & Julia, due out soon ... or possibly out now for all I know ... has raised a lot of food chatter and contemplation of the state of cooking in American kitchens. Perhaps none has raised hackles more, and for me more unexpectedly, than Michael Pollan's article for The New York Times, Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch . It is a long article but well worth it as Pollan considers why we have gone from cooking food to watching others cook it on The Food Network. But here’s what I don’t get: How is it that we are so eager to watch other people browning beef cubes on screen but so much less eager to brown them ourselves? For the rise of Julia Child as a figure of cultural consequence — along with Alice Waters and Mario Batali and Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse and whoever is crowned the next Food Network star — has, paradoxically, coincided with the rise of fast food, home-meal replacements and the decline and fall of everyday home cooking. That decline has several

Whole Foods Plans Return to Natural Food Roots ...

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... as we can see here . Dr. Boli helps us see the strength of their argument!

Stir-Fried Spinach

In my brief flirtation with a local produce co-op (one morning constitutes "brief" doesn't it?), I received a lot of fresh produce that I normally don't get. I did like that part of it. It made me cook fresh green beans and discover that all those people who always assured me in recipes that frozen green beans are "just as good" were lying. Lying. Those fresh beans, even though limp and characterless when I washed, topped, and tailed them, turned somehow silky, toothsome, and subtly flavored. Emboldened and needing to produce some space in my refrigerator, I pulled out the two pounds of fresh spinach and my go-to vegetable cookbook, Irene Kuos' The Key to Chinese Cooking . I saw that probably about 20 years ago I had noted it "great" and "great" it remained. Rose took enough for two small bites and then quickly took a much larger helping. Tom had seconds. Again, I had been a victim of those cookbook authors who have been assuring me t

4th of July Pie

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A friend, knowing of Rose's predilection for pie making, emailed me the link to this photo. It fired up Rose's imagination sure enough. We will be attempting this with blueberries and raspberries. Photos and recipe to follow ... if it works. If it doesn't, we'll just eat the evidence.

Rice Culture: Up Close and Personal

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Seductions of Rice Long ago, when I was living in Sri Lanka, I had a roommate who was rom the Netherlands. He was the most courageous traveler I had ever met, having no fear of wild animals or snakes or the jungle, all the things I will never get accustomed to. From where we lived outside the town of Kandy, he would deliberately take a route into town that took him through the jungle, while I would always walk safely on the road. He'd routinely encounter snakes, and if it was one he'd never seen before, I would hear about it at length that night over dinner. Lucky for me, he was as good a storyteller as he was courageous. [...] And Kaziranga National Park was everything my roommate had promised it would be. We went into the park each day by elephant, and we got right up close to one-horned rhinos, wild buffalo, wild deer. In the late afternoon we'd hand out with the mahouts (the elephant keepers) as they'd wash down the elephants. Sometimes in the morning while we were

I always wondered what liquid smoke was ...

... and now, whether we want to know or not, here is the answer. What is liquid smoke? Liquid smoke is very simply smoke in water. Smoke usually comes as a vapor, but there are ways to condense it and turn it into liquid and that liquid can then be carried in water. How is it different from regular smoke? Regular smoke is a vapor, and it is difficult to store. SlashFood has all the scoop on liquid smoke.

A Taste of Heaven for Body and Soul

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A Taste of Heaven: A Guide to Food and Drink Made by Monks and Nuns Mount Saint Mary's Abbey Near Wrentham, Massachusetts Tourists in New England expect to see lobsters. The crustaceans appear on menus, license plates, and store shingles. There are lobster candies, cookie cutters, and key chains. Of course, real New Englanders know to go down to the dock for live lobsters, fresh from the trap. What neither tourists nor natives expect to see here is a creature who looks like he was headed for the Inca ruins of Peru but ended up at an abbey closer to Boston: a llama named Oblio. Llamas are sometimes called "camels of the clouds" for their ability to haul mountain loads, yet Oblio looks like he's dressed for a dinner party in a snowy white tux with black tails. Visitors who buy the abbey's wool blankets can thank Oblio for protecting the sheep from coyotes. In addition to a llama, this monastery is home to some of New England's best candy. Mount Saint Mary's

Food, History, and The Great Depression

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... Two hundred and fifty thousand New Yorkers go through these silent processes daily in favorite or convenient Automats. Some are regular customers, others appear only on certain days, keeping a tryst with a favorite dish. No New York wife knows her husband until she has studied him in an Automat. And all suburban mothers have learned that on a day in town lunch at the Automat is the kids' delight. A stranger entering these precincts is led by the crown toward a trim marble counter, in which are several plate-like depressions. A nickel is the unit of purchase, so coins or bills are here exchanged for scintillating shower of nickels, which are miraculously never too many, never too few. With a fistful of nickels, and wearing hat, coat, carrying brief-case or handbag, the crowd moves on toward the walls of food, assembling as they go trays, silver, and napkins. ... The Works Projects Administration (WPA) came up with an amazing quantity and variety of projects designed to help emp

Score One for Low Tech

Last week's Hive Five demonstrates that no matter how packed with technology our homes and lives become, some things are best done the traditional way. Edging out all of its digital competitors by a long shot, paper takes home the crown for best recipe management tool. Lifehacker readers used paper in a variety of forms: index cards, notebooks, and three ring binders all served as repositories for your favorite recipes. Lifehacker tells us what I already knew. My technique is to keep the files in an InDesign file (hey, I'm in graphics; its easy for me that way) and print out the pages for my three-ring binder. Which I also gave one each of to the girls when they went to college and apartments with kitchens. Thanks to Tom for the heads up on this!

A Little Summer Cooking ...

No, not from me. I have been cooking and have both recipes and book reviews to post soon. However, in the meantime, the report from the homefront is of others cooking for us. Which is pretty fantastic, I must say. Pretty in Pink ... Ice Cream Rose suddenly became interested in ice cream recipes and that is nothing but delicious for us. She whipped up a quick little number featuring raspberries, cream, a pinch of salt ... and maybe a bit of milk? I'll have to get that recipe up for everyone. It was simple and the essence of summer on the tongue. Not to mention that glorious, natural, almost-glow-in-the-dark pink! Is There a Chef in the House? Why, Yes There Is. Hannah's boyfriend was in the mood to cook this weekend and on Saturday made us smothered steaks, mashed potatoes, biscuits, and fruit with yogurt-lime dip for dessert. Mmmm, that boy is a good cook, I have to say. Not sure which brand of can the biscuits were from but the rest of it was all fresh and made from scratch. T

Simple Chorizo

This recipe is for anyone who wants real Mexican flavor but doesn't have access to a deli or butcher who makes chorizo. Funnily enough, we get our "real" Mexican chorizo from a German deli. Hey, sausage making is sausage making. Am I right or am I right? I think I picked this up from one of Matt Martinez's cookbooks. Both Matt Makes a Run for the Border and Matt Martinez's Culinary Frontier are great since Matt has a real knack for simplifying techniques but keeping authentic flavor. However, both are also at home and I'm doing this from work. ------------------ Simple Chorizo 1 pound ground pork 1 teaspoon salt 2 cloves minced garlic 2 teaspoons cumin 1/2 teaspoon oregano 1/4 teaspoon pepper 3 tablespoons chili powder 1 tablespoon white vinegar In a bowl, mix all together and refrigerate overnight. Or, freeze it. ----------------- Hey, I told you it was simple!

Weekend Joke

From Dr. Boli's Celebrated Magazine . Dear Dr. Boli: I just bought some “chicken tenders” in the meat department of the Foodland, and I was wondering: What part of the chicken is the “tender”?—Sincerely, A Curious Shopper. Dear Sir or Madam: The chicken tender is not part of the chicken: it is the person who takes care of the chickens, as of course its name implies. Dr. Boli does not ordinarily attempt to dictate in matters of taste, but he would return that meat if he were in your position and still had the receipt.

Mouth Wide Open ...

... breaking away from Uncle Tom's Cabin for an episode to give us all a break, we continue with some selections from Mouth Wide Open. Pick it up at Forgotten Classics .

Food Network's new blog and "Food2 Freebie Friday"

From the mailbag: I would like to exclusively introduce you to Food2.com , from the minds behind Food Network. A web experience that gives a fresh take on everything in the world of food & drink. In addition, video, challenges, recipes, tips and a blog. Hungry for more? I also wanted to give you a heads up about our very first giveaway, called " Food2 Freebie Friday ." Only for tomorrow, give Food2 a shout out in your blog or friend us on Facebook or follow us and Twitter. And you could be randomly rewarded with some awesome food2 goodies like t-shirts, gift baskets and more. How easy is that! Pretty darned easy, I must say. Not having cable, I've never watched the Food Network but the site looks worth perusing. And, of course, a food giveaway is never a bad thing is it? Check it out.

Grilled Lemon Chicken

From Cook's Illustrated ... back when I used to read it. We made it last weekend as Dallas weather was in the 80s and that just cries out for grilling. Don't skip that second dousing in the lemon sauce combo. We did a before and after tasting and it really does make all the difference. You get a lemon zing but not too much. Truly delicious. Grilled Lemon Chicken Step 1: 1/4 cup olive oil 4 large cloves garlic, pressed Heat oil and garlic until garlic starts to sizzle but not color. Remove from heat. Step 2: 1 cup juice from 5 lemons 1-1/2 teaspoons dried thyme Mix with lemon juice and thyme in 9x13” dish; set aside. Step 3: 2 chickens, cut up Grill chicken until dark golden brown. When well colored, roll in lemon sauce to coat. Return pieces to grill; heat 5 minutes longer, turning and brushing with sauce once or twice more. Return pan and roll in sauce again.

Product Review: Garofalo Pasta

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Thanks to one of those periods that come to us all every so often, my personal life has had one darned thing after another going wrong. These happen to be the sorts of things that required a lot of driving, dashing here and there, and (sadly) not really any time to think about cooking. Indeed, I had barely time to do any cooking. It was just a case of coming up with meals to fling on the table at the last minute for several weeks in a row. In our household that means a definite dependence on pasta. There is rarely anything easier or more palatable than a pasta-based dish, salad, bread, and wine (oh yes, definitely the wine with the way that things were going ...). You can therefore imagine my surprise and pleasure at receiving two samples of honest-to-goodness Italian pasta to try out. I was interested to see that this pasta has a 200-year-old history . Looking around the internet, I was intrigued to see that this pasta formerly was only available in Italy . Of course, regardless of a

1-2-3-4 Peanut Butter Cookies

Rose is in a speech class in college. She has to make a persuasive speech and eschews the other very serious topics others have spoken about. For one thing, she's in a fine arts college and astutely notes, "You already know which side they're going to be on for those issues in our school and no one ever changes their mind on that stuff from those kind of speeches." She went on, "I want to lighten it up. I want to talk them into baking. Everyone should bake. It will improve their lives." No kidding. Issues come and issues go. Meanwhile, cooking and baking continue in the background to improve lives, families, and ... dare I say it ... to restore our souls in this increasingly jaded world. She will be touching on the fact that baking frozen lumps of cookie dough from a bag is not baking. That is merely being a technician. As well, she'll be informing classmates on the superiority in taste, health, quality, price, etc. of homemade versus store bought. Here

A Good Looking Shrimp Recipe for Upcoming Fast Day ...

... or for any day to tell the truth. The photos and description of this Greek shrimp dish look so good that I wanted to throw this link out to everyone. Though the mention mastic resin gives me some pause as I think of ... however, that must mean it is truly authentic as you can find when you read this interesting article.

Bread and Coques

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This photo is from Barcelona Photoblog where you will find not only wonderful photography but fascinating details of life there. Click through the link to see not only a wonderful description of spring in Barcelona but to find more links where there is more info about the food. For example, we learn that coques: A coca is a sort of flat, elongated or round bread dough base baked and covered with different ingredients. Technically similar to pizza you could say, but different in taste. You can have coca de recapte where such base is adorned with escalivada - a mixture of aubergines and red peppers cut into strips and dressed with olive oil (recommended for "anti-baconists") - or you can find the sweet versions (trillions of them swallowed with cava on Sant Joan 's eve) covered with glazed fruit, custard, pumpkin jam or just sugar and pine nuts. Although sold in pastry shops and bakeries we prefer the ones baked using traditional recipes and artisan wood fired ovens...

Delacata? No thanks, I'll have the catfish.

From Saveur comes this little tidbit tucked away in their story about catfish, which I take as a warning that repackaging means adding cost, not value. Later this year a small percentage of U.S. farm-raised catfish will be sold as filets labeled delacata. Processed from larger fish, the custom-cut filets will be more than twice the size of regular catfish filets and sold at a higher price. "Let's face it, 'catfish' is not the best name, especially for people outside the South," says Jeremy Robbins, a marketer for the Catfish Institute, the industry group in charge of the makeover, which farmers hope will propel a fish with an inferiority complex beyond the deep-fried South and onto a bistro menu near you.

Look at what's in my fridge!

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Yes, eight ... count 'em, EIGHT! .... bottles of Pom Juice which those lovely folks sent me to sample. This is especially kind of them since I'd always passed by the juice section, casting longing glances at those nicely designed bottles that seemed so expensive. Never daring to try one. The reason I was interested in pomegranate juice at all was because The Central Market used to have their own brand of pomegranate juice which was fantastic. Hannah and I were dashed down to find around Thanksgiving that it was no longer available. Nothing we tried was a good substitute ... and believe me, we tried lots of other brands. In fact, I was surprised at just how much choice we had. Then the Pom people sent these samples, I took a look at my Soda Club sparkling water maker and ... and idea hatched. I threw open the fridge. Yes. Some of my favorite orange flavored sparkling water was left. Here's how you make absolutely delicious pomegranate soda ... combine half pomegranate juice,

Mrs. Appleyard's Kitchen ...

... highlighted in this week's podcast at Forgotten Classics . Never heard of it? Neither had I until I discovered it in my mom's basement. Intelligently funny and some recipes too!

Celebrating Cracker Cooking ... and No, I'm Not Talking About Saltines

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The Cracker Kitchen: A Cookbook in Celebration of Cornbread-Fed, Down Home Family Stories and Cuisine Which is all to say that this particular subspecies of the very earliest Americans, which I will refer to as Crackus Americanis, was an unusually diverse and colorful band of humanity, which took root and flourished all over pioneer America in the latter century. And though their affiliation with whips, poor dental hygiene, and old-time religion gave them a really virulent case of bad PR, they eventually came to embrace their name with humorous deprecation, in no small part because they evolved into such an intractable and stubborn race that self-referring with a derogatory term suited them down to the ground. Their whole persona was wrapped up in being independent, self-sufficient, and boldly against the grain. If you ever come across a multimillionaire central Florida cattle baron, chances are he'll be wearing worn jeans, ancient pointed-toed boots, and the straw cowboy hat he bo

A Few New Favorites ...

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Discovered on my trip to Springfield ... McDonald's McCafe Latte ... in the large drive-through size. It hit the spot and I didn't want a cola. Mmmm, latte ... Mrs. Appleyard's Kitchen ... an absolutely delightful "forgotten classic" that I discovered in my parent's basement. Hilarious and intentionally so ... Mom and I kept picking it up and reading each other snippets all day ... and laughing our heads off. I'll be reading some of this at Forgotten Classics for the next episode. Delonghi Coffee Maker . It is sad when you come home to find the coffeepot carafe cracked while doing dishes. Even sadder when you read the scathing reviews of most standard coffee makers at Amazon. This one not only had raves but also was available at the nearby Target. Excellent coffee was enjoyed this morning ... as we would hope from the snazzy Italian design! Another new favorite, though not food related can be found at Happy Catholic .

A Gentle, Sweet Tale of Food, Cooking, and Possibly ... A Little Magic

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The School of Essential Ingredients "I'm thinking something minimal, industrial. Lots of stainless steel--I love stainless steel--with a concrete floor and black cabinets." Susan's hands gestured and pointed. "No handles--I hate handles --and maybe some rows of open metal shelves above the countertops. We could put the dishes and the new pots and pans up there." She turned to her fiance, who smiled and nodded. Amanda waited, thinking perhaps there would be more but this appeared to be the end. :So we'll just leave you to do your magic for a littl while. Jeff and I need to go talk master bathroom, anyway. We're going to have to take out the whole third bedroom just to get a decent master suite!" And with another laugh, she was gone. [...} Antonia stood in the kitchen, trying in her mind to lay the outline of Susan's vision over the kitchen that existed, but the straight lines kept bumping into the curve of the bay, sharp edges rumpled by the

Cilantro Haters are United

fetid barb of green cilantro spoils the stuffing coriander too Such was penned by a cilantro hater after finding cilantro slipped into the Thanksgiving stuffing. I must say that cilantro does not belong in stuffing. This WSJ article looks at the many haters of cilantro who unite in Facebook groups and other places. I used to be one such. When I was a child the smell was unappetizing and the taste soapy. However, with my early adult years my tastes changed. Who can say why? All I know is that my former distaste makes me sympathetic to those who abhor cilantro, such as my mother-in-law, and so I leave it out of any recipe when I know that one such is going to be at our table. I myself am merely happy to now be among those who can glory in cilantro's unique flavor, such as the fellow who wrote this haiku. crisp cilantro sprig trendy garnish refreshes why peeps be hatin

Crunchy Cornmeal Waffles

These sturdy, tasty waffles came from The King Arthur Baking Book.  We enjoy them on their own but that I have a sneaking liking for as the base for creamed tuna. You may raise your eyebrows in surprise at that, but creamed tuna is a family favorite and considered a high treat. I think the secret is in using albacore tuna, whole milk (instead of a lower fat product), and last ... but not least ... that pinch of nutmeg which is du rigeur for a good white sauce (well, one used for this purpose anyway). It also helps when you have searched high and low as I did to find a waffle iron that makes four waffles at a time. So much faster than the regular one-waffle-per sort. Step 1: 1-3/4 cups buttermilk 2 large eggs 5 tablespoons melted, cooled butter or vegetable oil In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter or oil. Step 2: 1½ cups unbleached flour 1 cup yellow cornmeal 2 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons

Worth A Thousand Words

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Watermelon No. 2 by James Neil Hollingsworth

This Just In

The Cracker Kitchen: A Cookbook in Celebration of Cornbread-Fed, Down Home Family Stories and Cuisine by Janis Owens Though our roots are in the Colonial South, we Crackers are essentially just another American fusion culture, and our table and our stories are constantly expanding -- nearly as fast as our waistlines. We aren't ashamed of either, and we're always delighted with the prospect of company: someone to feed and make laugh, to listen to our hundred thousand stories of food and family and our long American past. Crackers, rednecks, hillbillies, and country boys have long been the brunt of many jokes, yet this old Southern culture is a rich and vibrant part of Amer-ican history. In The Cracker Kitchen , Janis Owens traces the root of the word Cracker back to its origins in Shakespeare's Elizabethan England -- when it meant braggart or big shot -- through its proliferation in America, where it became a derogatory term to describe poor and working-class Southerners.