Crepes and Beignets for Bastille Day!
Bastille Day could also be known as the restaurant tribute day- a true foodie celebration! Restaurants in simpler forms have been around for ages, but restaurants as we know them now partially exist due to the French Revolution. When the monarchy was forced out, so were their chefs, or catering guilds, which led to several chefs setting up restaurants all over Paris. The word “restaurant” comes from the French word restaurer- or to restore, referring to a place where one goes to regain health. Therefore it only makes sense that Bastille Day in Paris brings people out into the streets to visit boulangeries, cafes, bistros and street vendors to celebrate French Revolution.
If you are not storming the streets in your town searching for French restaurants, crepe stands or beignet street vendors, you can celebrate the food of France at home with a couple French-inspired recipes from Foodista.
Bon Appetit!
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| Categories: | French | 0 Comments |
Pavlova With Lemon Curd and Berries
I love meringue. I love the way it floats, then melts in your mouth like a cloud. I’m embarrassed to admit how much of it I can eat in one sitting. Years ago, while vacationing in Paris, I surprised even myself. Poor Barnaby got a stomach bug and was hotel-bound, so I went out in search of something to soothe the belly: yogurt and medicine for him; wine, cheese, and meringue for me. I took the loot back to our shoebox-sized room and hoped that, by some miracle, he would be cured and ready to enjoy the feast. Not a chance. Along with my stinky cheese, I was banned to the tiny fire escape to snack. While Barnaby hugged the toilet, I noshed shamelessly on my cheese and wine.
Then came the meringue.
I pulled out the near-dinner-plate-sized beauty and even Barnaby in his deathly state exclaimed, “Holy crap, that thing is huge!”
Indeed. I took two hands to hold the fluffy white mound of glorious almond-studded meringue - the largest I’d ever seen. I had seen piles of them in the bakery window and am sure the baker didn’t appreciate my drooling all over the outside of his window. I refrained myself and bought only one.
Then ate the entire thing.
Last week my friend, without knowing about my meringue madness, made a stunning pavlova for dessert (she went to culinary school in Paris back in the day). I squealed when I saw it. It was a masterpiece. She formed the meringue into a bowl, into which she spread a lemon curd, anchored it with dark chocolate, then topped it with fresh blue- and blackberries.
Mon dieu!!
“Oh no, I couldn’t eat a piece that size!” I exclaimed as she placed an enormous slice on my plate.
“Oh yes she can!” Barnaby countered.
And I did.
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| Categories: | Baked Goods • desserts | 1 Comment |
Grass Fed Beef And Blue Cheese Burgers
After reading Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food, Barnaby vowed to only buy grass fed beef. Some of you may ask why not give up beef all together? Well, you can blame me. I love meat and have given up being ashamed to admit it. We don’t eat a lot of beef, but darn it, I love it! So, politics of vegetarians versus carnivores aside, I’d like to share with my fellow meat-eaters our beautiful, super-duper-delicious-grass-fed-beef burgers.
Grass fed beef reminds me of the uber-high quality meats we enjoyed in Argentina. Not only is it a better way of living for the animal, but the meat tastes so much more flavorful and clean. In fact, if you did a side-by-side comparison of grass fed to non-grass fed beef I’d bet money that you’d make a switch too (even if you didn’t care about the animal’s life).
We seasoned these little burgers with just a little salt and pepper, grilled them to a nice medium wellness, and tossed on a bit of blue cheese at the end. Perfect with some grilled red onion.
They taste so darn good!
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| Categories: | Meat & Poultry | 4 Comments |
Thai Tacos
A lot of families make tacos for mid week dinners because they’re easy, delicious and everyone can modify them to their own preference. Mark and I love larb dishes at Thai restaurants and have modified our taco night dish so that instead of pork inside a crisp corn taco shell, I create a larb style dish by sauteing ground pork with garlic, basil, Thai chilies and fish sauce. Then I put out small dishes of cilantro, raw sweet onions, chopped tomatoes, limes and iceberg lettuce leaves. Next, we fill the lettuce leaves with the pork and add a small amount of each item to the lettuce and wrap it up. Several adaptations could be made to the Thai tacos, like using ground turkey or chicken, or sauteing the meat with lemongrass or ginger or even use grilled steak or pork tenderloin or even grilled halibut would be a delicious option. Serve up these Thai tacos with a cold pilsner or chilly ice tea, ahhh refreshing!
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Barbecue and Wine Pairing Tips
With all the wonderful sweet, smokey, rich barbecue sauces out there, it would be a shame to not pair your slow cooked ribs or juicy blue cheese burger with something as equally delicious.
There is something magical that happens when you pair the right wine with the right food. It happens when the best of both worlds collide and unique flavors are brought out of both your dish and the wine. When deciding which wine pairs best with your barbecue, here are a couple tips!
5 Tips for Pairing Wine with Your Barbecue
*Avoid high alcohol content wines when pairing with spicy sauces. The higher level of alcohol in the wine will increase the spiciness of your dish.
*High acid white wines like Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Gris help cut through high-fat meat and pair well with tart and tangy sauces.
* Cabernet Franc and Syrah make excellent choices for pairing deep tomato and peppery sauces and pair perfectly with grilled steak.
*Experiment with several varietals depending on what you are grilling. There are many great quality rose wines that make the perfect pairing with barbecue salmon, shrimp or chicken.
*Save your delicate pinot noirs and your mild or complex wines for another pairing. Barbecue flavors are bold, bright and smokey, asking for bright or bold wines.
If planning a party, remember variety. What may be the perfect paring to you may not work for others. So if you are asked to bring wine to the barbecue, bring a full-bodied red and a crisp white and likely you’ll have a match.
Cheers!
Photo by Onzth
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| Categories: | Uncategorized | 1 Comment |
Placing Bets On FOOD FIGHT
Editor’s Note: The following commentary is by Warren Etheredge of The Warren Report.
If you see only one food documentary this year… that’s plenty. Really, that’s all you need, provided you remain hungry to learn more. No movie will tell you everything you need to know, but most should inspire you to investigate further. (Devour all the books you like and never gain a pound!)
Participant Media’s FOOD, INC. takes an encyclopedic approach, cataloguing all the ills of Big Ag. THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN
FOOD FIGHT features omnipresent omnivore Michael Pollan, celebrity pizza-maker Wolfgang Puck and activist/restaurateur Alice Waters among a bushel of other toque-inged heads dishing about the military industrial complex, carbohydrates and California cuisine. They all agree: post-war efforts to mass produce meals and reduce dependence on household help increased efficiency while eliminating almost every element of taste, developing a nation of ignorant shoppers with bland palates and bulging waistlines. They all agree: locally-grown foods top corn-bloated food-like substances. And, unless, you are a self-loathing, slow-witted, fast-food-raised diabetic you simply won’t argue the benefits of reversing 4o years of Earl Butz’s failed farm policy that favors profit over flavor, aimless fecundity over sensible food security.
On screen, FOOD FIGHT knocks out its target, Big Ag, a tomato can if ever there was one. Sadly, in real-life the match drags on. Big Ag’s a bruising student of the sweet science, using government subsidies, savvy marketing and rigged economics to lure consumers into a tragically unhealthy rope-a-dope gambit. They grow crap cheap, sell crap cheaper, wearing us down round by round, getting into our heads with their most literal taunt: Eat s**t and die.
So, what are you going to do? Take the one-way ticket to Palookaville? Or, change your habits, change your diet and rejoin the FOOD FIGHT?
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Canning is cool
When my mom used to make homemade strawberry jam and give it to people- you’d swear they had just been given a jar of diamonds; “Oh this is wonderful!” “Thank you so much! I can’t wait!” When I was younger, I never really got it, it’s just jam. It wasn’t some fun toy or a trip to the park; these people were being given homemade jam, Yawn. Now that I am older the thought of someone giving me homemade jam, banana bread, pickles or slow-cooked peach sauce is a true gift. Not only do these delicious edible gifts taste better when they are homemade, someone spent time making me something from scratch and time in my eyes may just be the most valuable gift anyone can give.
Now, maybe it’s just me, but canning is cool again. Maybe it never was un-cool, maybe I’m just realizing how fun, rewarding and delicious creating sweet raspberry jam or vinegary pickles can be. And I’m definitely not alone. Perhaps it’s the recession, perhaps it’s this jump in homemaking interests that my generation is hankering for. Whereas the microwave generation prior, often wanted more time for careers and less time in the kitchen. Making slow sauces, cupcakes from scratch, learning to garden and making pickles all by myself?! That’s waayy cool.
Photo by Ocadotony
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Grilled Bison With Cilantro Mint Pesto
It’s grilling day! Chicken, burgers, steaks, ribs…whatever you’re throwing down on the flames today here’s the perfect condiment: cilantro mint pesto. This recipe, I am super proud to say, came from Melissa and her co-author’s (Marcus Pape) newest book - their fourth! - Eat & Drink In The Northwest. The series is a beautiful food and wine (specifically Pacific Northwestern wines) pairing cookbook that will inspire you with seasonal ingredients. Of course I have to tout it! Even if Melissa wasn’t part of the Foodista team (and my friend) I’d still be shouting praises from the roof tops for her books. Each one is filled with beautiful mouthwatering recipes with local ingredients that are artfully paired with a local wine.
The other day Melissa brought to the office some grilled lamb and a jar of her cilantro mint pesto. (Did I mention that I love my job?) If it wasn’t for the spoon she placed in the jar I would have shamelessly dipped in and scooped out a big, green, tasty finger full.
Last night we grilled up some beautiful bison steaks, which we coated with a bit of the pesto before grilling, and topped them off with more. Perhaps this should be called Green Goddess - it sure is divine! Grilling lamb? Marcus recommends pairing it with a Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Red Blend or a Zinfandel.
Try it on any grilled meat or fish, smear it on your burger, make some crostini topped with ripe tomato, or even mixed with pasta. It’s the perfect condiment.
Here’s the recipe, thanks to Mel.
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| Categories: | Author • Cooking tips • Entertaining • Herbs • Meat & Poultry | 0 Comments |
Road Trip Food
Yesterday I sat in traffic along with everyone else to get out of town for the Fourth of July holiday, but I didn’t have any intention of camping, fishing or hiking, I was on a mission to pick up a gas range.
I just recently bought a 101-year old house with a 1950s electric stove as the only remaining appliance. And since my friend’s dad just happened to have an extra gas range left over after installing his new kitchen, I was more than happy to take it off his hands. The only thing is, he just happens to be outside of Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho and I would have to come pick it up. Which only means one thing- it’s time to pack the cooler.
The best part about road trips is the food of course. I’ve packed some Rainier cherries, pickled wax peppers, grapefruit juice and some cold barbecue chicken. I’ve also left plenty of room to stop and get a chocolate shake from some out of the way drive-in.
I’m not a fan of fast food restaurants so I try and plan ahead. Homemade sandwiches, easy salads, carrot sticks, pickles or fried chicken are all easy enough to pack up and in the end your eating healthier and tastier food. Here are a couple delicious picnic recipes that are inspirational for your next road trip.
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| Categories: | American • Travel • Uncategorized | 1 Comment |
Chilled Avocado And Cucumber Soup
Last summer I was on a gazpacho kick, whipping up a batch about every week, another summer it was a refreshing chilled melon soup with a hints of jalapeno. This summer my new favorite is sure to be this delicious chilled avocado cucumber soup that Barnaby made the other night. It’s creamy, yet light, with a slight lemony tang and bit of a chipotle kick. And so easy all you need is a knife, a blender, and a table set and ready in your backyard.
Here’s the easy recipe:
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| Categories: | Soup • Veggies | 3 Comments |
