Friday, April 10, 2009

Shad Roe Memories

I got a lot of response to my April 1 column on shad roe. Much of it was of the “gross” variety.

“It is one of the worst foods I’ve ever eaten and I’ve eaten plenty of strange ones,” one reader said.

Elizabeth Lasley wrote fondly of shad remembered from her childhood in the 1930s. “I grew up in southeastern Virginia, and we looked forward to ‘the shad run’  in the Chowan River,” she wrote. “My father would purchase one or more of the fish, the roe was cooked separately, and the fish was cooked whole, usually baked.  My mother dealt with the small bones by making horizontal cuts about 3/8 ” apart all along the sides of the fish, and laying a couple of strips of bacon on top.”

Others mentioned a tradition I hadn’t heard of.

Barbara Bowman wrote, “Every year when the shad (with roe) were in season, my dad would cook up one of his specialties, ‘shad roe and eggs.’ I remember that the roe was cooked, scrambled up with the eggs, but other than that, I don’t know how he went about the preparations.  It was always a treat though – so before you give up on shad roe forever, you need to try it scrambled with eggs!”

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Winning With Less

I just got back from the annual conference of the International Association of Culinary Professionals in Denver and am stoked with lots of information, particularly as it relates to sustainability, the theme of this year’s conference. More on that to come.

Part of every conference is the announcement of the cookbook awards. This year went mostly like other years, with one notable exception.

The winner in the general-subject category was a book that was not from a major writer and not from a major publisher, and it was perhaps the least-reviewed or hyped of all the nominated books.

That winner was Do It For Less! Weddings: How to Create Your Dream Wedding Without Breaking the Bank by Denise Vivaldo (Sellers Publishing). In line with its title, the book’s suggested retail is just $19.95. And it’s available for just $14.96 at Amazon.com.

Is it just a coincidence that Do It For Less! was the only nominated book targeted at recession-repressed (or is it “-depressed”?) cooks.

Is it also coincidence that Vivaldo’s was the only memorable acceptance speech of the night, complete with heartfelt wit, near tears, and an expletive for good measure?

For those who care, the overall Cookbook of the Year award went to A16: Food + Wine by Nate Appleman and Shelley Lindgren (Ten Speed Press), which is full of the rustic Southern Italian recipes served at A16, a popular restaurant in San Francisco. The book also won the Julia Child Award for a first book.

The other IACP winners are:

American
Arthur Schwartz’s Jewish Home Cooking: Yiddish Recipes Revisited by Arthur Schwartz
Baking
The Art and Soul of Baking by Sur La Table and Cindy Mushet
Chefs and Restaurants
Chanterelle: The Story and Recipes of a Restaurant Classic by Dave Waltuck and Andrew Friedman
Compilations
The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast Easy Fresh by Barbara Fairchild
Food Photography and Styling
Chanterelle: The Story and Recipes of a Restaurant Classic by Dave Waltuck and Andrew Friedman
Food Reference and Technical
The Science of Good Food: The Ultimate Reference on How Cooking Works by David Joachim and Andrew Schloss
Health and Special Diet
The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life by Ellie Krieger
International
Beyond the Great Wall: Recipes and Travels in the Other China by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
Literary Food Writing
Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood by Taras Grescoe
Single Subject
Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient by Jennifer Mclagan
Wine, Beer, or Spirits
Ciderland by James Crowden

Friday, April 03, 2009

Asparagus on the Menu

I love asparagus, and I’m always looking for something interesting to do with it.

I typically eat asparagus for only two months out of the year — when it’s in season in this country.

And now is the time to eat it while the eating’s good.

Here is a nice light meal with Asian flavors that’s as tasty as it is fun to eat.

And if you have any great asparagus recipes, now is the time to share. Send them my way!

Tangy American Lamb and \California Fresh Asparagus Lettuce Cups
Recipe adapted from California Asparagus Commission.
Dressing:
¼ cup ginger, peeled and sliced
¼ cup lemon grass, sliced
¼ cup lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
          2         tablespoons water
3 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
Filling:
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 pound ground lamb
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut on diagonal into 1 inch pieces
1 small red bell pepper, diced
12 Iceberg or butter lettuce leaves

1. For dressing, puree ginger, lemon grass, lime juice, fish sauce and water in blender. Let stand 15 minutes to 1 hour. Strain mixture into a small bowl. Squeeze liquid from solids and discard solids. Add sweet chili sauce.
2. For the filling, heat 1 tablespoon of sesame oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add ground lamb seasoned with salt and pepper. Sauté until cooked through. Drain off fat. Remove from pan and transfer to mixing bowl. Add remaining tablespoon of oil to sauté pan. Sauté fresh asparagus and red pepper until tender. Add to lamb. Measure ¼ cup dressing and set aside. Add the remaining dressing to lamb mixture and toss until well coated.
3. Arrange lettuce cups on a platter, trimming edges on any oversized leaves. Spoon about 2 heaping tablespoons of lamb mixture into lettuce cups. Serve at room temperature with remaining dressing on the side.
Makes 4 servings.
Nutritional information for one serving: calories 477, calories from fat 313, fat 35 g, saturated fat 16 g, sodium 930 mg, cholesterol 77 mg, dietary fiber 4 g, protein 24 g.
(Photo courtesy of California Asparagus Commission.)

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Hungry for RiverRun

In the weeks before the RiverRun International Film Festival each year, we spend a lot of time watching review copies of films that will be shown on the big screen in Winston-Salem come the end of April. All this movie-watching is for a noble cause - our annual RiverRun extravanganza in relish, which includes reviews of most of the movies. This year’s edition will be come out on April 16. In other words, we watch the duds so you won’t have to. To be fair, RiverRun duds are rare.

Tim Clodfelter is the keeper of the RiverRun screeners, and he would probably tell you I get a little greedy about any movies that touch on food. Last year, I enjoyed All in This Tea, Les Blank’s documentary about a tea importer. So far this year, one food-centric film I’ve watched is Pressure Cooker, also a documentary, but as different from All in This Tea as a movie can be.

Pressure Cooker follows three high school seniors through a culinary arts program. The class culimates in a scholarship competition that could be the students big ticket out of inner-city Philadelphia. The real star of the documentary, though, is their teacher - the sharp-tongue, drill saregent Wilma Stephenson. She is a tough cookie. She would take the soft-bellied contestants on Top Chef and turn them into pools of consomme. And like many good stories about food, this documentary is less about learning how to properly flip an omelet and more about larger issues of hope and escape and a future. For some of these students, cooking is a way out of a very hard exsistence. Definitely make time for Pressure Cooker if you’re attending RiverRun. It’s showing April 24 at 1 p.m. and April 25 at noon at Reynolda House.

Food Inc. is another documentary for the curious epicureans to consider. I’ve haven’t seen it yet but it’s gotten some buzz. It’s showing at RiverRun three times, so if you want to see it, you should have a chance.

I’ve also just finished Shall We Kiss? , a French romantic comedy. Not at all about food, but a lot of fun.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Noel Riley Fitch in Kernersville

If you’re a fan of Julia Child and her warbling, endearing style, not to mention her enduring influence on American cooking, you may want to head on over to the Shakespeare and Company Bookshop in Kernersville Tuesday. Noel Riley Fitch, the author of Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child , among other books, will be speaking about her writing and the ex-pat life at 6 p.m.

While this got to us too late to write a story for the Journal, I thought it was worth mentioning here.

Fitch is also the author of several other books about the ex-pat community in Paris, including Sylvia Beach, the owner of the original and famous Shakespeare and Co. bookshop, which was the center of the literati universe in its heyday.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Buffalo Dip Again, With a Twist

Back in January, the week before the Super Bowl, I ran a recipe for Buffalo chicken dip as part of a story about devoted Steelers fans.
Now it’s basketball time — with the NCAA Tournament — and I happened to stumble upon another Buffalo chicken dip.

OK, maybe that’s not so surprising. Maybe it’s even expected.

But this recipe caught my eye because it’s a little different. Instead of cheddar cheese, this one uses blue cheese for a totally different, more pungent flavor.

Of course, not everyone like blue cheese, but if you do, give this one a try.

This recipe, from Frank’s Red Hot, calls for mozzarella as an option. To tame the blue cheese, use the mozzarella or part mozzarella and part blue cheese along with the blue-cheese salad dressing. Another option is to use a different dressing, such as Ranch or creamy Caesar, and then to use all blue cheese.

I actually like Texas Pete in here, but choose your favorite hot sauce. The folks at Frank suggest their Buffalo wing sauce or cayenne pepper sauce.
Rotisserie chicken works great in this dip.
Champion’s Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Dip
Recipe adapted from Frank’s Red Hot.
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
½ cup blue-cheese salad dressing
½ cup hot sauce
½ cup crumbled blue cheese, mozzarella or a combination
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place cream cheese into deep dish 9-inch pie plate. Microwave 1 minute to soften. Whisk in salad dressing, Buffalo Wing Sauce and cheese until smooth. Stir in chicken.
2. Bake 20 minutes or until mixture is heated through. Stir well. Garnish as desired. Serve with crackers or cut up vegetables.
Makes 3 cups spread (about 12 servings).

(Photo courtesy of Frank’s Red Hot.)

Monday, March 23, 2009

NC’s Best, Part II

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned how the James Beard Awards was considering several N.C. chefs for its annual awards.

Well, the nominees were announced March 23 and Bill Smith, the chef of Crook’s Corner iin Chapel Hill, s now an official nominee for Best Chef of the Southeast.

Smith is one down-to-earth guy who had to work hard to follow in the footsteps of Crook’s founding chef, the legendary Bill Neal, who died in 1991.

Smith likes pretty simple food. Maybe too simple for the folks at James Beard, but we’ll see.

And he most definitely cooks Southern, at least most of the time.

Here’s his recipe for banana pudding, which he made for me in 2005, when I wrote about his first cookbook, Seasoned in the South.

Really Good Banana Pudding
Recipe adapted from Seasoned in the South. Smith uses Nabisco Nilla Wafers for this recipe. He said he got the idea for the custard from Rose Levy Berenbaum, the author of The Pie and Pastry Bible and other cookbooks.
8 cups (2 quarts) half-and-half, divided use
1 vanilla bean, split
3/4 cup cornstarch
8 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 box natural vanilla wafers
5 pounds ripe bananas
Meringue
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 3/4 cups sugar, divided use
1. Scald 61/2 cups of the half-and-half with the split vanilla bean in a heavy-bottomed pot until it just steams and begins to form a skin, about 5 minutes, over medium-high heat. Do not boil. Meanwhile, beat the cornstarch into the remaining 11/2 cups half-and-half to dissolve it, then beat in the eggs. Whisk the hot half-and-half into the egg mixture in a slow stream. Strain all this back into the heavy-bottomed pot. Return the vanilla bean to the pot.
2. Cook mixture over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. In 3 to 5 minutes, the custard will begin to thicken and to tug at the whisk. Continue to stir for a few minutes more, being sure to move the whisk over the entire bottom of the pot. When the surface begins to steam a little, gradually stir in the sugar. Be careful, because this will make the custard more likely to burn on the bottom.
3. Remove pot from heat and beat in the butter 2 tablespoons at a time. Stir constantly so that the butter is absorbed before it separates. This will temporarily thin the custard. Discard the vanilla bean.
4. Pour a cup of the hot custard into an 8-by-10-by-3-inch casserole dish. Line the bottom and sides with vanilla wafers. Slice bananas over the cookies, then layer any remaining cookies over the bananas. Gently fill the casserole with the rest of the custard.
5. While the custard is settling, preheat the oven to 300 degrees and make the meringue. Put the vinegar and salt in a mixing bowl. Swirl the boil around and dump it out over the sink. The vinegar and salt that clings to the bowl will be the right amount. Add the egg whites and begin beating with a mixer at medium speed. Add the cream of tartar. Increase the mixer speed a bit, and drizzle in 11/2 cups of the sugar. When the sugar is absorbed, increase the speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form.
6. Spread the meringue over the top of the custard with a spatula, making lots of dramatic swirls and curlicues. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup sugar evenly over the top. Bake for 30 minutes, checking from time to time for browning. When it begins to brown, turn up the heat to 325 degrees and cook 10 minutes more or until the points are toasty. Serve hot, warm or cold - this can be served at once or day-old.
Makes 10 or more servings.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Good Food: An Inalienable Right?

I just want to add a few things to Laura’s post about the White House Garden.

This is big news. No, that that the Obamas are going to be eating fresh, organic food. It’s the symbolism of it all—sustainable food is going mainstream.

Even in this horrible recession, there seems to be no stopping the Slow Food, sustainable, local movement that has the potential to revolutionize the food business, invigorate local economies and return to the dinner table the kind of wholesome food that our grandparents and greatgrandparents ate.

I find it an odd coincidence that Michelle Obama’s announcement came just five days after Alice Waters was profiled on 60 Minutes, talking about sustainable agriculture and a White House garden.

During the program, Water says memorably, “I feel that good food should be a right….”

Of a White House garden, Waters said, “I think it says everything about stewardship of the land and about the nourishment of a nation,” Waters said.

CBS’ Leslie Stahl also asked Waters point blank whether she thought the White House would plant a vegetable garden. Waters replied, “Well, I’m very hopeful. I’ve always liked the idea of doing press conferences at the compost heap.”

Surely, the administration has been planning this garden for more than five days. Is it possible that Waters or the producers were tipped off?

Now this is the kind of conspiracy theory and White House leak I like.

By the way, in addition to the Dixie Classic Farmers Market and the one at Krankies, don’t forget the Downtown Farmers Market, which will reopen in May.

The First Garden

Michelle Obama is apparently breaking ground on a White House organic vegetable garden today. The Obamas will grow about 55 kinds of vegetables. Yes, there will be arugula.

All I can say is, what took so long?

Food guru Alice Waters nagged Bill Clinton about making a garden. I don’t know if she petitioned George Bush, too, but I hope she did. I have gardens on my mind. I sowed my first rows of lettuce, spinach, arugula and peas this week. I’ve some radish seeds I want to get in the ground, too. I love growing my own vegetables, but particularly lettuce. It’s so much more delicious, but really, it’s also a matter of thriftiness and convenience. What’s easier than going out to your own backyard to harvest a salad?

Politics aside, I think there are fewer things as rewarding as growing your own food. Perhaps there are security concerns? Will the First Garden need its own Secret Service agent?

And if you don’t have a garden, you have spring produce in local farmers’ markets to look forward to - they’re beginning to wake up. The one at the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds is open year-round, and a revival of a market at Krankies will open May 5 and will run on Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Whoops Goes the Whoopie Pie

A March 18 story in The New York Times declares the mainstreaming of whoopie pies, a retro sweet and a homespun comfort food for a recession-racked country.

What the story fails to mention is that the South has always had its own homespun cookielike “pie” that has always been mainstream and has never gone out of style enough to be called retro.

Yes, I am talking about MoonPies, which are first cousins to the whoopie pies popular in Maine and the Amish country of Pennsylvania.

These two treats aren’t identical. But they are similar enough that anyone trying to sell whoopie pies in the South would surely get rebuffed for simply trying to knock off a Southern classic.

MoonPies are two large and soft cookies with a marshmallow filling in which the whole shebang is coated with chocolate.

The big difference in whoopie pies is that they lack the chocolate coating. Instead the cookies themselves tend to be chocolate. The filling may be marshmallow fluff or creme, or it may be buttercream or some other white frosting.

The Chattanooga Bakery in Tennessee has been cranking out MoonPies since 1917 — about 10 years before the first reports of whoopie pies up north.

(According to Chattanooga Bakery, MoonPies are distributed nationwide, which makes me wonder why the Times story didn’t at least mention them.)

The Times story goes on to say that pumpkin cookies sometimes sub for chocolate ones. And now that they are showing up in Manhattan’s trendy Magnolia Bakery as well as Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe’s and other hip places, they are being fancified with such fillings as Cointreau, espresso, rum, and raspberry.

Espresso-flavored MoonPie? I don’t think so.

(The photo from The Associated Press shows MoonPies on the assembly line, getting ready for the chocolate coating, at the Chattanooga Bakery.)