Professional Cutlery Giveaway

Now this sounds like a good deal!

Food Service Warehouse sells professional cooking equipment to chef's, restaurants, and anyone interested in commercial quality cooking supplies.

We are giving away $1,000 worth of professional chef's knives made by the largest manufacturer of professional cutlery in the U.S. No purchase is necessary - just fill out the on-line form to enter. You can check out the giveaway here.

The knives they are giving away are of a brand I don't know but then again I don't buy professional cooking equipment. The photos and description are very alluring ...

The Connoisseur® Collection Chef's knives features high-carbon stainless steel blades that are hand-ground and honed for ultimate sharpness. The rosewood handles are infused with polymers and resins, making them impervious to stain, hot water and food acids.

Hot Cocoa

Last night an ice storm blew through. Dallas being what it is, essentially a warm weather spot, this means that the town has shut down. People left work early yesterday, schools are closed, no traffic can be heard on the main road near our house, businesses will open late. Yes, I know. To anyone who has lived in harsher climes, this sounds ridiculous. However, when you live with weather that is in the 70s in April, hits two to three weeks of consecutive over 110 degree weather in August and can have you wearing shorts at Thanksgiving and Christmas, that is how it goes.

This is as wintery as it may get so it is time to break out the cocoa in celebration. I am not talking about those powdered mixes. Nor yet am I going too far on the other side with decadent melted chocolate. We're talking about true all-American cocoa of the sort that my own mother whipped up regularly when I was growing up in Kansas.

I remember reading a few years ago that someone, maybe America's Test Kitchen, discovered that water intensifies chocolate's flavor. News flash, folks. That already was known as you can see if you look at this recipe from one of my favorite American cookbooks, The New Doubleday Cookbook by Jean Anderson and Elaine Hanna.

Be sure to use whole milk, especially since this is using water first in the recipe which will bring out the flavor of the chocolate. Also, if you have a good rich cocoa that helps the drink, of course. I grew up on Hershey's cocoa like the rest of America, but have since found Penzey's cocoa which is a delectably dark cocoa. They recommend Dutch cocoa for cocoa but I only keep natural on hand. It works just fine.

Hot Cocoa
1 serving

1 tablespoon cocoa
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch salt
1/3 cup water
2/3 cup milk

Mix cocoa, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan, slowly stir in water. Heat and stir over moderately low heat until mixture boils, then boil slowly, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Add milk and heat to scalding [almost boiling] but do not boil.

Cocoa for a Crowd
12 servings

3/4 cup cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 quart warm water [4 cups]
2 quarts milk

Make as above, except take 8 minutes to incorporate water and bring to a boil.

Top 5 6 Food Books of 2008

Why 6? Because it's one more than 5. In no particular order and chosen from books I read in 2008. Links are to my reviews.

1. A Tale of Twelve Kitchens by Jake Tilson
2. The Last Chinese Cook by Nicole Mones
3. Beyond the Great Wall by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid: this book deserves a full-blown review but for the moment let me say that this is Alford and Duguid's best book to date. Focusing on the regions of China that we do not often hear of, especially culinarily, this book showcases their customary excellent photography, usable recipes unique to each region, and (best of all) interested understanding of the people they encounter. For those who say that the best way to peace is to understand others, their books goes a great way toward promoting that doctrine.
   
4. How to Pick a Peach by Russ Parsons
5. Gumbo Tales by Sara Roahen (The recipe she sent me for Turkey Bone Gumbo is kick-ass, y'all)

Dishonorable Mention

• How to Eat Supper - book design which makes it almost unreadable.
• Around the World in 80 Dinners by Cheryl & Bill Jamison: Perhaps I feel this so deeply because I have been a fan of the Jamisons' writing since they began publishing long ago. Their Texas Home Cooking is hands-down the best overall book I've ever come across to represent true Texas cooking. With this book they show themselves in an uglier light, however. Jarringly dragging in politics whenever possible (and not just in the way that has become popular in food writing these days), we then are treated to simplistic overviews of the places and people they encounter ... unless that would happen to be a honored Australian wine producer putting on a lavish meal for them.
  
  Small towns are often dismissed flippantly because there is nothing that Cheryl would care to buy there. I was astounded at how often they cheerily record Bill's snarky put-downs based on the sheerest of reasons. Yes, I know that he thinks he's funny but take it from me, he and Cheryl would be the only ones laughing if these muttered asides were said aloud. I now look at my Texas Home Cooking and wonder just how many times such a put-down was muttered before or after meeting some of the regular folks they encountered in Texas. Try reading some of this book and then comparing it with Beyond the Great Wall or A Tale of Twelve Kitchens where the authors always had genuine, honest interest in the places and people around them, despite less than favorable conditions. This book was such a disappointment that I could only make myself read half of it.
  

2008 Best Blog Discoveries ...

Here's the food blog entry that made my list. You can see the entire list here.

smitten kitchen: Deb almost always seems interested in recipes that interest me also. I probably have tried more of her recipes than from any other cooking blog except Homesick Texan. Her commentary is that of a cooking pal and her adjustments to recipes are intelligent. For those who enjoy cooking photography, her visuals do as much as the written word to draw one into the recipes. Recent samplings include: pizza with broccoli rabe and roasted onions, gramercy tavern’s gingerbread, braised beef short ribs, potato pancakes and even better grasshopper brownies.

The House That Rose Built -- Updated

The recipe came from Nick Malgieri's "Cookies Unlimited" and the scraps from the house were truly delicious. We are going to a Christmas party tonight at Tom's mother's place since his brothers will all be in town. Rose wanted to make this for this little kids to eat. They may have to fight us for some of it.

And the Aftermath

Yes, it tasted as good as it looked.

Sparkling Water, Anyone?

Santa was so good to me and brought so many riches ... Crabtree & Evelyn soap and lotion, the second season of 30 Rock, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog dvd ... and much more.

The biggie though came from Tom.

The Soda Club fountain jet which allows me to make my favorite orange flavored sparkling water whenever I want. Woohoo! He splurged on a big scale so we have many flavors as well as cola samples to try. The diet root beer was pronounced adequate but with a flavoring amount adjustment needed for the next batch. (I see it all was gone within a few hours anyway.)

A Bit of Gingerbread for Your Ears

I have a narration that appeared today on PodCastle ... a delightful bit of flash fiction called Through the Cooking Glass. It's themed for Christmas and isn't very long so give it a listen!

Rated PG. Contains the wafting smell of gingerbread.

A Little Fine Art

Popcorn by Duane Keiser

Daybook ... Meanwhile-style

Edited from my main daybook post to give y'all the food facts and only the food facts. To see what else I'm reading, listening to, watching, knitting and more just drop over there.

Cooking: Curried Beef with Potatoes and Peas ... so good I made it twice in the last two weeks. Next up will be Turkey Bone Gumbo that Sara Roahen kindly sent me the recipe for. I'm having to break it up into steps as I never have all the hours in one day that a true gumbo needs.

Talking: Serve the People: a Stir-Fried Journey Through China ... the lagniappe offered over at Forgotten Classics.

Reading:

• Just finished the above-mentioned Serve the People.
• Getting ready to dive into Eating India.
  

Listening: it's a toss-up.

• Christmas music, especially the newly purchased Tony Bennett's "A Swingin' Christmas." iTunes had a song from it as last week's free download and it was pretty good. Tony's no Dino, but good enough and Count Basie's band backing him up sealed the deal. Plus look at that cover. So good in so many ways.
  
  
• The Catholic Foodie ... yes, you read that right. Catholicism and Food. Two of my favorite things ... in a podcast from Jeff Young. He's only on episode two but I'm likin' it so far. Also, he has some good stuff on his blog. The story about the baked potatoes cracked me up! Here's a tip from James Beard that has never sent me wrong ... one hour at 450 degrees, Jeff. Not 350.
  

Curried Beef with Potatoes and Peas

Thanksgiving left me all cooked out and we lived on leftovers from that and other recent meals for several days.

However, this dish, which is Cooking Light's version of an Indian dish called Tori Keema, appealed to me so much that I made it twice within the last two weeks. It is easy, savory, and quick ... all highly appealing qualities whether faced with feast cooking recovery or a mid-week meal.

I have rearranged the cooking instructions somewhat to only use one pan. I also use more oil than they call for, though the as little as possible needed to get the job done.

Start some rice cooking before you put this on and you'll have a great dinner with little effort.

Curried Beef with Potatoes and Peas

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

1 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled red potatoes (I always use a baking potato)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 pound ground round
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup frozen green peas
1 cup chicken broth
2-1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 tablespoon mango chutney, such as Major Grey (don't sweat this if you don't have any)
1 teaspoon salt (my amount, not CL's)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add potato, cook 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to bowl.

2. Cook beef and onion in skillet over medium-high heat until browned; stir to crumble. Stir in peas.

3. Add potatoes, curry powder and broth; cook 2 minutes. Add chutney, salt and pepper; simmer 1 minute. Sprinkle with cilantro, if desired. Yield: 4 servings.

Fine Art Friday

Melting Snowman
Found via Flickr's explore interesting photos pool.