Monday, January 18, 2010

Going Kosher

Reporter Kim Severson of The New York Times had a good story last week about the growing popularity of kosher foods—by non-Jewish people.

As Severson reports, people buying foods specifically because the label says kosher could be a $17 billion business by 2013, accordinng to Packaged Facts. Only about 15 percent of people buy kosher for religious reasons, according to Mintel research group.  A lot of these shoppers reach for kosher chicken and other foods because they think they are cleaner, safer and, in the case of meats, more humane.

The truth behind those beliefs is a bit gray. The answer is really that it depends on the processor.

But some people, too, simply think some kosher brands, like Empire Kosher chickens, taste better.

Are you one of those people who swear by Hebrew National hot dogs because they taste better or you think the animals were treated better? Or maybe you heard that a 2007 USDA study found that the kosher method of salting and rinsing chickens reduced salmonella contamination? (The USDA also found kosher chickens had the most listeria in another study that year—a result that kind of cancels out the good news of the salmonella study.)

And here’s something you may not know: Oreo cookies have been kosher since the 1990s, and the kosher Tootsie Roll came on the market last month.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Julie Powell is Back….with Knives!

Julie Powell got a lot of heat from people who thought she was the less charming half of Julie and Julia, last year’s movie that combined two books - her memoir of cooking her way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking and My Life in France, which focused on Julia Child’s experience developing and writing that cookbook in the 1960s.

Some thought Powell’s character (played by Amy Adams) was too whiny. Too unlikeable. I defended her. Her book is better, I said. Things got lost in the translation from book to film.

Now that I’m done with her second memoir, though, I’m more unsure. It’s not I think Julie Powell is whiny. I do wonder if she doesn’t lean hard toward self-destructive.

This time, Powell combines the unravaling of her marriage with her increasing interest in learning the craft of butchery. You might get a clue from the title that Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession is going to be rawer than Julie and Julia. Oh, and a wee bit angrier. And people who want to make the whiny case…hmm, you may have more ammunition here.

Golden chances seem to fall into Powell’s lap. Her best-selling book did sweep her old life as a cubicle drone away, but even Powell had to hustle to find a butcher shop willing to let her apprentince with them. But when she did, did she land one of the best: Fleicher’s, a small butcher in upstate New York dedicated to grass-fed, heirloom meat. Their meat is fantastic - we bought our Christmas roast from there in 2008 when my husband and I were in charge of cooking Chirstmas Eve dinner at my mother-in-law’s house (it crossed my mind that Powell might have prepped it).

Back to the book. It’s not the nitty-gritty descriptions of breaking down steer sides that bothered me. It’s that all the while, Powell seems hell bent on wrecking her marriage - sneaking back to her lover, obsessing about him when he cuts things off, and having sex with a stranger. This is not a syrupy, oh-no-the-beef-bourguignon burned kind of story. It’s pretty fierce, and kind of unpleasant. Yet I couldn’t put it down, and to this day, I’m not sure how I feel about the book. Or Powell. But as long as she keeps writing, I’ll keep reading.

Monday, January 11, 2010

A Surplus of Soups

I received dozens of soup recipes from readers for my Jan. 13 story in the Journal.

In fact, I got way more than I could print in the paper.

So here are a few more to keep you warm and satisfied this winter.

Country Chicken Soup

Recipe submitted by Dot Rutledge. This is best made over two days. When the broth is refrigerated until thoroughly chilled, the fat will congeal all at the surface and become easy to remove.

1 whole chicken
Water
2 onions, chopped
2 to 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 ribs celery, chopped
Salt
Black pepper
Dried thyme leaves
Parsley flakes
1 to 2 cups egg noodles

1. Place chicken in a slow cooker and cover with water by about 2 inches. Cook on low about 8 hours. (Alternatively, gently simmer chicken and water on the stovetop until chicken is thoroughly tender, 1 to 2 hours.
2. Strain broth and place in refrigerator. Remove chicken from broth. When cool enough to handle, remove skin and bones and discard. Shred or chop meat and set aside.
3. When broth is chilled, scrape off solidified fat and discard.
4. Place defatted broth in a soup pot, and add onions, carrots and celery. Bring to a simmer and add salt, pepper, thyme and parsley flakes to taste. Add reserved chicken meat and simmer until vegetables are tender.
5. About 30 minutes before serving, add egg noodles and simmer until noodles are tender.
Potato Soup

Recipe from Anne Hardy of East Bend.

12 slices bacon
4 large potatoes, baked or cooked in a microwave
2/3 cup butter or margarine
2/3 flour
6 cups milk
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1¼ cups (5 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
8 ounces sour cream

1. Cook bacon until crisp. Drain, then crumble and set aside.
2. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Scoop out potato flesh from skins and set aside.
3. Melt butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly until thickened and bubbly.
4. Add potatoes, salt, pepper, green onions, bacon and cheese. Cook until heated through. Stir in sour cream; heat, without boiling, until heated through.(Taste for salt and pepper and adjust as needed.)Remove from heat and serve.
Makes about 6 servings.

Sanders Family Vegetable Soup

Recipe submitted by Barbara Beaudin.

4 beef short ribs
1/2 head (or less) cabbage
2 stalks of celery
2 boxes (frozen) mixed vegetables
A little onion
1 small can tomato sauce
1/3 cup barley
Potatoes, peeled and chopped (if desired)

Put short ribs in large kettle with two quarts water, 1 tablespoon salt, a little pepper, and a little onion. Cook covered for two hours, or until tender, adding more water if necessary. Add other ingredients (barley last), and cook for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Sante Fe Five Bean Soup

Recipe submitted by Sue C. James.
1 15 oz. can black beans
1 15 oz. can red kidney beans
1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans
1 15 oz. can great northern beans
1 15 oz. can navy beans
1 14.5 oz. can chopped tomatoes with mild green chilies
1 14.5 oz. can chicken broth ( or use vegetable broth to keep it vegetarian)
3/4 cup chunky mild salsa
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes (can use less or more)
Sour cream (as a garnish)

1. Drain the black beans, place in blender with tomatoes & broth; puree until smooth. Spray large pot with
PAM. Place mixture in large pot.
2. Drain & rinse each of the remaining beans…running cold water through the beans while draining. Place
beans in pot with puree.
3. Add salsa, cumin & red pepper.
4. Cover & simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until hot. The mixture has a tendency to stick to
the bottom of the pot so be careful not to bring to a full boil.
5. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with sour cream.

Baby Clam and Sausage Soup

Recipe submitted by Jane Wallance of Sparta. I would love to try this with fresh clams. If you want to do that, it’s best to steam them in a separate pot, then carefully strain the liquid to remove any sand or other particles.

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided use
2 fist-size potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
1 12-ounce pkg. sausage (I use Jimmy Dean low fat)
1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
½ teaspoon minced garlic
1 28-ounce can petite diced tomatoes or 2 14.5-ounce cans
1 8-ounce bottle clam juice
1 1-ounce can baby clams
1 cup (or more) chicken broth
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

In a large frying pan sauté the potatoes with 1 tablespoon olive oil. When slightly browned, remove and add sausage, mushrooms and garlic along with the remaining olive oil. Sauté until sausage is done, and no pink remains. Stir in tomatoes, clam juice, clams, chicken broth and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes are done. Additional chicken broth can be added if soup is too thick.

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Eggplant Parmesan Revisited

I got a lot of positive feedback on my eggplant Parmesan recipe when I published it Aug. 26.

In fact, I’m still getting feedback. The latest is from DD Hellebush.

Here is what she had to say:

My husband and I became obsessed this summer with your eggplant parmasan recipe.  We fixed a version of it every week until our eggplants and basil ran out!  I thought you might be interested in my final version that is more mozzerella than parm, and adds whole wheat orzo to bulk it up as a main dish.  We send an annual recipe card every year with our Christmas cards and your/our dish was this year’s pick. 

Now, it was flattering to know that the Hellenbushes liked the dish enough to send it out as the year’s pick with their Christmas cards.

More interesting, though, was the most significant change she made to it: adding pasta, and whole-wheat pasta, to boot.

I also liked DD’s choice or tiny orzo, which are rice-shaped pasta. The size allows the pasta to spread through the dish, and allows diners to get just a little pasta along with the eggplant, cheese, etc. in every bite.

She avoids an extra dirty pot by cooking the orzo right in the tomato sauce. That has an added benefit of helping the tomato sauce thicken. Note that the orzo will be only partially cooked when you assemble the dish. The orzo will finish cooking in the oven.

Here is DD’s adaptation of my recipe:

Fresh Basil & Eggplant Mozzarella

9 Roma tomatoes, halved
1 large or 2 small eggplants, peeled & sliced
½ small onion, diced
1clove garlic, diced
1 cup, or more, fresh basil, coarsely chopped
8 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced
½ cup Parmesan cheese
¾ cup uncooked whole-wheat orzo
Tabasco, salt, pepper and olive oil

1. Place halved tomatoes on baking sheet and drizzle with
olive oil and s & p. Broil for 10 to 12 minutes.

2. Sauté onion and garlic, add coarsely chopped, broiled, and
and peeled tomatoes and Tabasco and cook until thick, about
10 to 15 minutes Add orzo half-way through cooking the sauce.
Stir basil into thickened sauce.

3. Meanwhile, broil eggplant slices 12 minutes, until browned.
In a 9-by-9 casserole, make 2 layers of eggplant, mozzarella,
and tomato/orzo sauce. Top with parmesan cheese
Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Let stand before serving.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Bubbling Over

You may have seen my story on champagne and other sparkling wine on the cover of relish. If not, click here.

I didn’t talk to the folks at City Beverage for the story, but it turns out that they are having a champagne tasting ofom 2 to 6 p.m. Dec. 30.

City Beverage has a good selection of wine in general, so I’m sure they’ll have something tasty for New Year’s.

Also, people who don’t like a lot of bubbles in their wine might want to consider prosecco, a lightly fizzy wine from Italy. Wine Merchants, Total Wine and most other places that sell wine carry prosecco and it’s usually a good buy at $15 or less.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Bye, bye, 2009!

I’ve been a blogging slacker lately. I was holding out to share a few photos and stories from my recent trip to Portland, Ore., but it’s almost the end of the month and I still haven’t gone through them yet. I’ll get to that soon. Let’s just say it was fitting that the license plate of our rental car began with E-A-T.

My inbox is starting to fill up with e-mails from area restaurants and wineries that are planning special New Year’s Eve prix fixe menus. Mozelle’s is offering a four-course menu starting with ancho chile risotto and chicken stuffed with peach cornbread, and ending with poached pears, chocolate torte or bread pudding. In Boonville, Sander’s Ridge’s four-course menu is $65 and includes a tasty-sounding fried rabbit with lettuce and roasted fennel. There’s just one seating at 7:30 p.m. If you head there, you may get home before midnight. Meridian will be hosting a five-course dinner with five sparkling wines for $55. And Flint Hill Vineyards in East Bend will have a $60 menu, starting with sauteed jumbo shrimp with vanilla cream and fried sweet potatoes.

Very often restaurants with special New Year’s prix fixes won’t be serving their regular menu, so check ahead.

What I am doing for New Year’s? We’re combining the thrifty with the decadent. I’m hosting a party and asking everyone to bring a bottle of bubbly and a spiffy appetizer (think salmon, tiny cheese biscuits, and the like). And I’m making a galette de rois, a puff pastry cake traditionally eaten in January in France to celebrate Epiphany. I figure, what’s a few days early?

Happy Holidays! I hope yours is cozy and above all, delicious.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Cider Showcase

Foggy Ridge Cider, which I wrote about in 2007, recently was among the hard apple ciders showcased at a holiday party in the Blair House, the guest house adjacent to the White House in Washington.

Diane Flynt, pictured here, is the cider maker of Foggy Ridge, in Dugspur, Va., just across the state line in Carroll County. Flynt has shown a special interest in growing unusual, heirloom varieties of apples to make her ciders—and it has paid off in some delicious and distinctive ciders.

The Blair House party on Dec. 7 was hosted by the U.S. State Department and attended by members of The Magazine Publishers of America—some of whom may now be planning a story on hard ciders.

The party was just one more example of the U.S. government supporting local, artisan foods. Expect more Va. and N.C. food producers to benefit.

In Winston-Salem, Foggy Ridge Cider is sold at City Beverage on Burke Street and at Single Brothers Bar on North Trade Street.

For more information, visit http://www.foggyridgecider.com. The site has a copy of my 2007 article in the Learn section under “Foggy Ridge in the News.”

Monday, December 07, 2009

A&P Lives On

Sometimes people will bring up the old A&P supermarket chain to remark upon some particular item they used to get there that they can’t find anymore.

They’ll say, “I wonder what happened to the old A&Ps?” or “Too bad they aren’ t around anymore.”

Ah, but they are around, just not in North Carolina.

The Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., originally founded in 1859, is alive and well. Based in New Jersey, it has 435 stores in eight northeastern states. Those stores operate under six different names, but some of them are A&Ps.

You can read more about the company at aptea.com.

But it does sell some of the favorite items that older customers remember so fondly. That includes the Jane Parker fruitcakes it has sold for 79 years.

These fruitcakes also can be bought online and shipped all over the world. Go to janeparker.apfreshonline.com for more info.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Cranking Out the Cranberry Sauce

We love cranberry sauce at my house. I have to make two batches, because my six-year-old can eat one whole batch by himself.

I make my cranberry sauce with less sugar than most recipes and no one seems to miss it. I also add a dash of salt to help bring out the cranberry flavor.

Cranberry Sauce
Use a full 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water for a sweeter cranberry sauce. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for one week.
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1 12-ounce package fresh or frozen cranberries
Dash salt

1. Place sugar, water, cranberries and salt in medium saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
2. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until cranberries start popping and sauce thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cool to room temperature, then refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve. Serve cold.
Makes 12 servings.

Open for Thanksgiving

An update to my post last week about restaurants open for Thanksgiving: here’s the list. If you know of any more, let us know.