Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Chicken Soup for the Soul, Winston-Salem style

Sometimes, I get a little obsessed with a dish or two. When I came back from France last year, it was garlicky lentils and salad Lyonnaise. The year before, it was New Orleans’ barbecue shrimp, with Pimm’s Cups to wash them down (or drink as a cocktail - I’d actually rather have wine with the shrimp, or the Lousiana beer Abita).

Right now, my husband and I are renovating (on the cheap, on a tight budget and all ourselves, so slowly) our kitchen so I’ve been a little unambitious there lately. With half the new cabinets in, and half the old cabinets there and in pieces, things are too crazy. The new dishwasher is still in its box, in our dining room, and there are drawers with odds and ends in them stacked in our office because there is just no where for them to go right now. No, right now, I’m obsessed with a restaurant dish that speaks completely of coziness and home - chicken tortilla soup at La Botana.

I know I talk about La Botana a lot, but owner Rigo Valazquez makes one killer tortilla soup that I can’t get enough of. He serves the smooth, slightly grainy broth in a large, shallow bowl, and topped with sour cream, hot, crisp tortilla strips and lots of fresh avocado. The soup is rich, yet it has this undercurrent of freshness, perhaps lime? Oh, boy. And on a chilly, rainy night like tonight, it would sure hit the spot. It’s not on the regular menu, so you’ll have to ask if the kitchen can make it for you. I hope for your sake the answer is yes.

Friday, May 01, 2009

The Incredible, Affordable Egg

Back last fall, when I was writing about money-saving ideas for food during the recession, I mentioned eggs as a good choice for protein for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Compare the cost of two or three eggs to a serving of just about any cut of meat, and you’ll see why it makes sense to eat more eggs when money is tight.

The American Egg Board confirmed that yesterday in a press release I received. It priced out three egg recipes and all of them came out at under $1 a serving.

One is just a “coffee cup scramble” of two eggs and cheese, at 46 cents a serving.
Another is a spinach, ham and cheese omelet, at 98 cents a serving.
The third is apple-cinnamon oatmeal with egg and milk beaten into it to give it a “boost,” at 96 cents a serving.

You can get all those recipes in the recipe section of http://www.incredibleegg.org.

(Photo courtesy of the American Egg Board)

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A Sucker for Slaw

I love sweet potatoes and I love slaw. There’s something about crunchy raw vegetables with a slightly tart dressing that goes especially well with grilled or roast meats. Barbecue, anyone?

Anyway, when I saw a recipe for sweet potato slaw from the N.C. Sweet Potato Commision, I knew it was my kind of dish. Raw sweet potatoes are underappreciated, but quite good in the right recipe.

Here’s the recipe if you want to try it. Note the serving suggestions at the bottom.
Sweet Potato and Ginger Slaw

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup lime juice
1-1/2 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, julienned or coarsely grated
(about 5-1/2 cups)
1/2 cup toasted walnuts pieces or unsalted peanuts
1/4 cup sliced scallions (green onions)

In large bowl, whisk together oil, lime juice, sugar, ginger and salt. Stir in sweet potatoes, walnuts and
scallions. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Serving Suggestions
—Sweet Potato and Ginger Slaw in Lettuce Cups: On each of 4 dinner plates, place 2 Boston or iceberg lettuce cups. Spoon slaw mixture into each
lettuce cup, dividing equally. Serve with grilled pork tenderloin, sliced diagonally, if desired.
—Asian Sweet Potato and Chicken Salad: In bowl, combine refrigerated sweet potato slaw with 3 cups shredded cooked chicken, 1 tablespoon
hoisin sauce and 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil or to taste. Serve over bed of mixed greens, if
desired.

(Photo courtesy of the N.C. Sweet Potato Commision)

Friday, April 24, 2009

Beer, Wine and Organic Food

Ciry Beverage on Burke Street will have its semiannual tent sale of wine and beer this Saturday, starting at 9 a.m.

Coincidentally, Saturday is also the day when City Beverage starts holding a farmers market in its parking lot. Spencer Davis of City Bev says he plans to have a market every first and third Saturday through October.

This Saturday’s market will start at 9 to coincide with the tent sale. Subsequent markets will be from noon to 4, with beer tastings.
Yes, you won’t have to get up early for these!

Oh, I almost forgot—Davis plans to make this market all organic.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Soup’s On

I just returned to the office from Empty Bowls, the annual fundraiser for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina.

I’ve been volunteering to serve soup for this ever since the food bank started the fundraiser eight years ago. It’s always a lot of fun to ladle up soup to friends and strangers alike. And this year more than ever, it’s good to help the food bank fulfill its mission of feeding those in need.

After my shift was over, Jeff Bacon, who runs the food bank’s Triad Community Kitchen, was nice enough to invite me back into the kitchen to taste all the soups. I sampled 22 soups from almost as many restaurants and other food-service groups. I’m happy to say that the food bank had no trouble getting these places to donate soup despite the recession.

Here are my favorites, in no particular order:
—Broccoli Chicken Au Gratin from Triad Commmunity Kitchen. This soup went fast while I was serving, and I see why. It had lots of big chunks of chicken and broccoli, was perfectly seasoned and had just enough cheese.
—Tomato Bisque from Mozelle’s. This had plenty of tomato flavor, just a bit of chunkiness, and the perfect balance of tomato acidity and sweetness. Good accent of basil, too.
—Buffalo Chicken Soup from Big Shotz Tavern. This was a bit rich, but had lots of cheese flavor, loads of chicken, and a good spicy kick at the end.
—Chicken Mushroom Florentine from Sweet Potatoes. A very well-seasoned soup with the right balance of spinach, chicken and mushroom flavor.

Honorable mentions go to the simple but tasty Lentil Soup from Mooney’s Mediterranean Cafe and the super spicy Pepper Pot Soup from Old Vineyard Behavioral Health Services. (It’s too bad the latter is a private treatment center where the public can’t just walk in.)

There were lots of other good soups, too. The participant list included NOMA, 6th and Vine, Piedmont Club, Barbara’s Bake Shop in Jonesville, Simply Yummy, Newtown Bistro, Xia, Village Tavern, Ombu, West End Cafe, Finnegan’s Wake, Twin City Chophouse and Hutch & Harris.

Empty Bowls is over until next year. So If you’re in the mood for soup, check out one of these restaurants and reward them for helping out the food bank.

Triad Restaurant Week - Deal or Dud?

A little while ago, I mentioned that some local restaurants were joining forces to organize the first Triad Restaurant Week in May. Well, things are coming together and the website now includes a list of participating restaurants. Area restaurants will offer a special three-course prix fixe menu for $30 from May 1 to 8.

The price doesn’t include tax, tip and libations.

To me, though, the big question is whether this is a deal or just a marketing gimmick. Though I confess that math was never my favorite class (loved geometry, though - all those words! - and I was a champ at word problems, too), I have done a little restaurant number crunching, though it doesn’t account for permutations such as side salads that come with entrees on the regularly-priced menu, or soups as appetizers, or even portion size.

So, with those caveats in mind…let’s do some math, shall we?

Take a casual, pub-like place such as Hutch and Harris. Looking at their online menu and running some numbers, the average cost of an entree is $17.47. Average app is $9.69, and average dessert, $5.38. Total average bill is $32.70 (minus all those tasty Singapore Slings you may or may not have had to wash it all down). So sure, you could make the argument that the Restaurant Week menu may save you a little dough here (enough to buy a gallon of gas, or perhaps get your Starbucks fix one morning). But it’s not enough to make me jump up and down and insist that you don’t turn this bargain down.

Now let’s look at the other end of the spectrum, say, Meridian. There, the average app on their April 21 online menu is $10.85; average entree is $23.38 and average dessert is $7.11. Grand total? $41.34.

OK, so without not knowing exactly what all these prix fixe menus will be, the value of Triad Restaurant Week seems to depend on where you eat. That might seem obvious, but it’s something to think about if you’re trying to choose a place to spend your hard-earned dollars.

I’d also go where the menus look the most interesting. Now, this is more fun than punching in numbers on your calculator, I promise. Not all the restaurants have their menus up, but they include this menu at Bleu, and this menu at Greensboro’s 223 South Elm.

Overall, they sound pretty safe. Pork tenderloin with potato & leek cake, roasted winter vegetables and roasted garlic vinaigrette, and grilled salmon with a grit cake, collards and warm pecan vinaigrette are among the choices for entrees at Bleu. Smoked corn chowder, sirloin with quinoa and chard and chocolate pot de creme with a peanut butter tulle at Noble’s is a little more intriguing. Oh, and at Green Valley Grill in Greensboro, you can get pork belly with preserved lemon and apple compote, or even more delectable-sounding, a blue cheese crostini with strawberry compote for dessert. Maybe it’s time to make reservations. Maybe I shouldn’t be writing this on an empty stomach.

Incidently, it didn’t take a promotion for a restaurants like Bistro Sofia in Greensboro to offer an affordable prix fixe. They have been offering such menus for a long time, and with the economy the way it has been, the folks there have only been extending their specials. Bistro Sofia is lovely, fine restaurant with a stunning patio - I’d take advantage of any deal you can get there. Right now, they have a $25 three-course prix fixe with lots of choices each weeknight from 5 to 10 p.m., and on Saturdays from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Mrs. Hanes’ Cookies

In case you missed the April 15 issue of The Washington Post, Mrs. Hanes’ Cookies got a plug in the paper’s food section.

The short blurb in the Shopping Cart feature noted that the cookies’ “hand-rolled thinness and spot-on flavors outshine just about any store-bought cookies of the same ilk.”

That hand-rolling is indeed what sets Mrs. Hanes’ Cookies apart from competitors. It’s a standard set years ago by founder Evva Foltz Hanes, whom I’ve had the privilege to know since I first interviewed her for a story in 2000.  And it’s a standard still adhered to by her children who now run the company.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Garlic Gratification

Today is National Garlic Day!

To celebrate, I’m thinking about aioli, or garlic mayonnaise.

I make it by hand, which isn’t hard. Here’s how.

Take 2 large egg yolks at room temperature and whip with a wire whisk until thick. Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon garlic paste or grated garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and whisk briefly.

For the oil, avoid using only extra-virgin olive oil or the aioli will taste too much like olives. I like plain olive oil, or half extra-virgin olive oil and half a neutral vegetable oil.

Very slowly begin adding oil, a drop at a time. Add the oil too fast and the mixture will separate into an ugly mess. (This goes much quicker in a food processor, but still requires a very slow start with droplets.) Add oil until the mixture reaches a mayonnaise consistency. It will take about 1 cup. Don’t go beyond 1 1/2 cups or the aioli may separate. This may take 3 minutes or more by hand, or 30 seconds in a food processor. Add more salt and white or black pepper, if desired.

Another neat trick is to poach the garlic in the oil before making the aioli. Drop a few whole cloves in the oil and cook on medium-low for about 15 minutes. Watch that the garlic does not burn. Discard the garlic when done and the oil will have lots of garlic flavor. The hassle with this method is that you have to let the oil cool to room temperature before making the aioli.

Use this for sandwiches or for a dip for cold steamed asparagus. Yummy.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Eat Up at Piedmont Earth Day Fair

Earth Day is officially April 22, but Winston-Salem will be celebrating Saturday, April 18, from 10 a.m. to about 5 p.m. at the Piedmont Earth Day Fair at Wake Forest University.

More than 120 exhibitors will be on hand. And, yes, there will be food to eat from such local places as Camino Bakery, Caffe Prada, Francesco’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria. Du Mexique, Blue Ridge Ice Cream and Krankies. Chain folks, such as Lowe’s Foods, Whole Foods, Starbucks and Chipotle Mexican Grill will be there, too.

All of them, I presume, are going to try to convince attendees that they are environmentally friendly. Go check them out and see.

By the way, info for the fair says that all food sold there will be free of artificial food coloring, additives or other ingredients, and that all meat must be humanely raised without growth hormones. Expect some organic and maybe a little local.

I have to say I’m a bit skeptical of the idea that every single ingredient in food for thousands of people will be all-natural. I guess we’ll find out!

If you go, don’t be shy about asking about this or that ingredient. No one who takes pride in their food will be offended.

Food lovers also might be interested in the 11:45 panel discussion on Food, Gardening and Living Without Pesticides.

For more info, visit http://www.peaNC.org.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Hangin’ With Hosea

Top Chef fans: Check out my April 15 column for a report on my meal at Jax Fish House in Boulder, Colo., prepared by Top Chef winner Hosea Rosenberg.

I had a chance to chat with him, getting details on the dishes he served and on the show.

It turns out that he’s not only a good cook, but a nice guy. For someone who just won Top Chef and $100,000, he’s got his head on straight.

By the way, Bravo just announced more ways to capitalize on Top Chef’s success.
The second Top Chef cookbook will be out soon. This will focus on the quickfire challenges. It will be called—guess what?—Top Chef: The Quickfire Cookbook.

Also in the works are a line of Top Chef knives, in partnership with Master Cutlery, to be available this summer, and a line of Top Chef wines, in partnership with Terlato Wines International, to be available this fall or winter.

(Photo by Adell Shneer)