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 Chocolate & Zucchini
Clotilde Dusoulier
  
On Hotel Breakfasts, and How Not to Have Them
Hotel breakfasts, even in nice hotels, make me want to cry - remember, we're all children at breakfast - as I stand by the buffet, trying to identify the least unappealing items and more importantly, the most nutritious, so I won't feel faint an hour later. So, whenever possible, I take matters into my own hands, and try to keep the makings of a decent breakfast in my hotel room. The invaluable bonus is that you get to eat it in the privacy of your own bathrobe, without having to endure other guests' early morning conversations (if I had any sort of power, I would make it illegal to conduct business over breakfast).
Washington Post
Food & Dining
I Have Stalked Rhubarb, and I'm Ready to Roll
When dogwoods are in bloom and azaleas are flowering in force, the great wait for local produce has begun. That may explain why the appearance of even the homely, lovable rhubarb seems to be such an event for its diverse groups of admirers: pie bakers, jam makers and trendy young chefs. The vegetable's appeal might not be immediately apparent to the uninitiated. It's a cousin of celery, but its stalks are bigger and longer and grow individually, as opposed to celery's clusters. It comes in colors from green to rosy red. Rhubarb's tartness makes it difficult to eat raw. A wise cook knows how to crack rhubarb's tough exterior by using two simple elements: sugar and heat.
Passionate Cook
Johanna Wagner
Scamorza in Baguette with Tomato Salad & Pesto
In the past week, I have freecycled a juicer, a breadmaker, a set of metal coasters, a bag full of baby toys, a massive terracotta planter I have been moving around empty for the past 7 years (that's 5 moves!), a merchant chest - all was gone in under 30 minutes and I didn't have to lift a finger! (Just as a word of warning: apparently you can NOT recycle yourself or any other members of the family. Not that I've tried: it's in their policies ;-))
Vinography
Alder Yarrow
Yeast: Part of Wine's Terroir
or Its Mortal Enemy?
It comes as no surprise to me that the group couldn't achieve consensus around a concept that remains, as far as I am concerned, a broken metaphor (vinegar is natural, wine requires technological intervention). One particular sticking point arose out of a discussion surrounding the use of commercial yeasts. Many proponents of Natural Winemaking, including those that practice Biodynamic winemaking eschew commercial yeasts in favor of the yeasts that are found on and around the grapes, citing their role in the concept of terroir. Some do not.
Simply Recipes
Elise Bauer
Mango Chicken Curry
There's something about the combination of mango and chicken that just works. We eat mango chutney with roast chicken so often that I even started making my own chutney just so we wouldn't run out. Here is a mango chicken curry I whipped up the other day. I love it, but my father thinks it's a little on the sweet side, so feel free to reduce the amount of mango the recipe calls for if you want a little less sweet. Or add a little more vinegar. The amounts are approximate, feel free to experiment. Just don't let the mixture boil after adding the cream or it may end up a curdled mess.
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Splendid Table
American Public Media
Philippine Kitchens
We are looking at the foods of the Philippine's this week with Amy Besa, author of Memories of Philippine Kitchens: Stories and Recipes from Far and Near, Jane and Michael Stern are at Prince's Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville, TN and Sally Schneider author of the award-winning The Improvisational Cook gives us a cooking lesson for spring.
Cooks Illustrated
Current Issue
In This Issue
Eric Asimov - New York Times
Dining and Wine
Wine's Pleasures: Are They All in Your Head?
The mind of the wine consumer is a woolly place, packed with odd and arcane information fascinating to few. Like the pants pocket of a 7-year-old boy, it's full of bits of string, bottle caps and shiny rocks collected while making the daily rounds of wine shops, restaurants, periodicals and the wine-soaked back alleys of the Internet. It's harmless stuff, really, except to those within earshot when a wine lover finds it necessary to elaborate on the nose, legs and body of a new infatuation. Yet in recent months American wine drinkers have taken their turn as pop culture's punching bags. In press accounts of two studies on wine psychology, consumers have been portrayed as dupes and twits, subject to the manipulations of marketers, critics and charlatan producers who have cloaked wine in mystique and sham sophistication in hopes of better separating the public from its money.
Traveler's Lunchbox
Melissa Kronenthal
Balkan Beauty
Croatia did, however, have a few surprises in store. The first clue that things might not be exactly what we were expecting was at the airport, where everything was, get ready for it - clean, modern, and efficient. Where were the chain-smoking immigration officers and the broken baggage carousels? Why did every public toilet, telephone booth and ATM looked like it has been installed last week? Why was the public transportation so incredibly punctual? This wasn't the Mediterranean I knew, particularly once we left the airport and realized it wasn't just a facade to lure recently-arrived tourists into a false sense of security. But we only digested this shock until the next one came, namely that despite the fact that neither did Manuel understand any spoken Croatian nor did they understand his Bulgarian, none of it mattered because everyone spoke English. And by everyone I mean everyone. Had we somehow taken a wrong turn and ended up in Sweden?
David Lebovitz
David Lebovitz
Too much information? Or not enough...?
As I type these words - ouch! - I now accept that it's probably not a good idea to drink white wine, red wine, rosé, Champagne, absinthe, and water with all that. (Ok, I was just kidding about the water...) but I did get an invited to join the party next door, when the music started and I passed the bottle of absinthe in their direction. Hey, after all the damage done to int'l relations over the past few years, someone's gotta repair the damage, right?
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Smitten Kitchen
Deb Smitten
Crispy Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies
Some people like them heavily spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, others want them buttery and nutty and still others think that if they don't have chocolate chips or large gobs of dried fruit, they weren't worth the oats they were cooked with. To add further complication, 99.9 percent of oatmeal cookies fall into one of two categories: thick and cakey or thin and lacy, and oh, how it all made my head spin. Well, meet the new category: thick and shattery, and you'll have to make your own to believe it.
Orangette
Molly Wizenberg
A Starting Place
So. I don't believe I'll be eating wild watercress again, or not raw, anyway. Or not without trepidation, at the very least. But this dressing is far too tasty, and too versatile, to be tossed away just because of that. In fact, as we ate it, we thought of all sorts of other things that it would be good on, from other bitter greens to cucumbers and celery. It's just a starting place, really, for so many things. Including, come to think of it, spring.
New York Times
Dining and Wine
An Improvised Asparagus Dish Is a Happy Accident
When it came to cooking asparagus, I thought my skill set was complete. If I craved a browned, caramelized flavor, I applied high heat using a grill, broiler, cranked-up oven or near-smoking sauté pan. Coated in olive oil, the grassy stalks became singed and soft on the outside and just tender within. A simple garnish of whatever was handy - sea salt, fried eggs, Parmesan cheese or chopped herbs - was all that was required before serving and devouring. If I was in the mood for a purer, lighter flavor, I'd blanch or steam the stalks until bright green and al dente, preserving their fresh, sweet taste, making a healthful foil for a liberal drizzle of melted or browned butter or a dollop of creamy hollandaise.
French Laundry at Home
Carol Blymire
Citrus-Marinated Salmon with a Confit of Navel Oranges, Beluga Caviar and Pea Shoot Coulis
This dish freakin' rocks. I almost don't even want to write about it because I'm not sure there are words that can accurately convey how good this was. Let me start with these caveats, too: I really, really don't like salmon (I know, I'm strange), and I mostly detest citrus. The only citrus I like is limes, because you need fresh-squeezed lime juice in a Sidecar. I can't eat grapefruit because it tastes like hot tar smells. Lemons make me gag, and oranges make me sneeze and the pulp feels squeaky on my teeth.
101 Cookbooks
Heidi Swanson
Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa Recipe
The quinoa berry bowl is typical of what you'll find in the recipe section. Broadly speaking, the recipes are concise and approachable, with every ingredient working for you on both the flavor and nutrition fronts. You'll find recipes that are both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, and many that are easily adaptable either way. A few other recipes that caught my attention; Butternut Barley Risotto, Cinnamon Orange Dreamsicles, and Walnut Scented Dessert Pancakes. Now I know many of you will only buy cookbooks that have cover-to-cover photography, but I hope the shot at the top will give you a little glimpse of what you might be missing.
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