fidzu : Cooking

Have you ever had Anadama bread? It's a traditional dark yeast bread from New England. Please welcome Hank Shaw as he shares the recipe for this delicious loaf he made for us the other day. ~Elise

My mum was never much of a baker, but she used to tell us about a bread she loved back at home on the North Shore of Massachusetts called, oddly, anadama bread. Apparently the old tale is that Anna was a fisherman's wife who fed her beau little more than cornmeal porridge sweetened with molasses. One day, so the story goes, the fisherman came home, added some flour and yeast to the mush and tossed it in the oven to make bread - all the while muttering, "Anna, damn her!"

Continue reading "Anadama Bread" »

29 Jul 2010 1:40pm GMT

From the recipe archive, first posted last summer, reposting now because not only is it a terrific casserole, it uses up a lot of zucchini, and if your garden is in any way like mine, you have tons of it right now. ~Elise

In my garden, there lives The Beast, a 5 foot tall zucchini plant that puts out 2 full-sized zucchinis a day. Even with all the great zucchini recipes we have, it's hard for three people to consume 14 zucchini a week. (There's also a pattypan squash plant.) So around this time of year I'm always looking for ways to use up my overflowing vegetable drawer of zucchini. This is an easy-to-make strata-like breakfast casserole with grated zucchini, tomatoes, basil, ricotta, and Parmesan. (The tomatoes and basil are growing like mad now too.) Actually I'm not sure what to call it. Breakfast casserole seems to fit because of the eggs, though we ate this for lunch. You could also call it a strata. It's like a frittata but it's baked, not made on the stovetop (though I'm sure you could make a frittata out of it). The inspiration for it comes from a "cuajado", or a baked frittata popular in Sephardic cooking. This isn't a cuajado, but the flavors are there, and they're terrific together.

Continue reading "Zucchini Breakfast Casserole" »

27 Jul 2010 10:41pm GMT

When Garrett McCord told me he had the best mussels recipe in the world I was skeptical, that is until I tried it. Yikes this is good! ~Elise

When I need a good party food or want to impress some friends I usually turn to mussels cooked in coconut milk and curry. It's affordable, easy to prepare, and has a definite wow factor. I mean, who can't resist the look of these obsidian peaks jutting out from a plate from canary-colored broth? These mussels take on the flavors of the broth which is spiked with lemongrass, pungent red chilies, and kaffir lime leaves leaving them with a distinct Thai flavor. The mussels themselves imbue the broth with a slight, ocean brine that cuts through the richness of the coconut milk. This recipe will feed four people happily or make an excellent appetizer for a group. This is a dish best served with beer and crusty bread.

Continue reading "Coconut Curry Mussels" »

27 Jul 2010 2:54am GMT

Have you noticed the beautiful peaches and nectarines in the market lately? I find them so hard to resist, and often buy more than I can eat. Here's a quick and easy salsa, made with fresh peaches, jalapeños, lemon, ginger and mint, that goes beautifully with the grilled meats of summer. Try serving this with grilled pork, chicken, or fish. Perfect. Also makes a great dip for chips.

Continue reading "Peach Salsa" »

26 Jul 2010 6:17am GMT

Yes my friends, it's time for blackberries. The season is here, the berries are ripe and ready for picking. Blackberries grow wild here along the American River, and pretty much around all of the creeks and streams in California. Heck, they even grow wild in empty lots and neglected back yards in San Francisco. Hank, I, and our friend and fellow food blogger Amber went berry picking at the river this week and brought home a couple pounds of fresh, ripe, juicy berries, perfect for a pie. And a perfect pie it is, or was. It didn't last long. Honestly I think it was one of the best pies I've ever made, and that's saying something, because I like to make pie. The filling held together (instant tapioca is a great thickener), the additions of lemon, cinnamon, and almond extract just intensified and enhanced the blackberry flavor. And the crust? Well, in my opinion, homemade pie is just an excuse to eat homemade butter crust.

Continue reading "Blackberry Pie" »

25 Jul 2010 6:55am GMT

My friend Peg recently gave me some sweet pickled jalapeño chili peppers that she made using my bread and butter pickle recipe and oh my gosh, I couldn't stop eating them. So of course I had to make my own batch the very next day. Ay caramba they are good, and oddly not as spicy as you would expect. Certainly not as hot as my regular jalapeño pickles. Just a little bit hot. Perky hot. And sweet and crunchy the way a bread and butter pickle should be.

Continue reading "Jalapeño Bread and Butter Pickles" »

24 Jul 2010 4:59am GMT

Oh the joys of summer! On the top of the list is fresh, ripe tomatoes, garden cucumbers, and basil that the more you cut, the more it grows. (Ever notice that basil is like a hydra? Cut one stem and two grow in its place.) And the tomatoes. Beefsteak tomatoes, early girls, heirlooms, plum tomatoes, not to mention the little ones like sun golds. Anyway, the heat has come, the garden has finally started to act like summer, and this classic Tuscan bread salad is a perfect thing to make with the bounty. According to Hank who made this salad for us the other day, panzanella at its core is really a way to use up crusty bread that has gotten hard and to celebrate perfect summer tomatoes. It is a cooling summertime salad that relies on the bread as the "filler" to soak up the juices of fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, as well as the olive oil you pour over everything.

Continue reading "Panzanella Bread Salad" »

22 Jul 2010 11:16pm GMT

Everyone I know is looking for a good recipe that uses zucchini. Enormous zucchini appear from behind large green leaves surprising even the most vigilant gardeners. It seems there is always too much of it. No one complains about too many peaches or too many tomatoes. Too much zucchini? It's likely to be left on a neighbors doorstep as a "present."

This salad is one of my favorite ways to cook and eat zucchini. It's based on a salad in Claudia Roden's The Book of Middle Eastern Food, a book I turn to again and again. I like it seasoned with toasted cumin instead of coriander and caraway and a little bit of scallion to add texture and oniony flavor. It's called a salad but it's soft, like a dip. The sweetness of the zucchini is balanced by the saltiness of the feta, the sourness of the lemon. If you want to make even the blandest vegetable taste good, I recommend dousing it in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and topping it with feta!

For a light Summer meal I'd serve this salad well chilled along with bread and other assorted vegetable side dishes like this Middle Eastern carrot salad, tomato salad, marinated mushrooms or with hummus and pita or grilled kebabs. It's a healthy dish to keep in the fridge for a little snack though you may find you polish if off pretty quickly.

Zucchini Salad with Feta
Serves 2-4

1 lb zucchini
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon chili paste or harissa
1 clove garlic, pressed or finely minced and mashed
1/2 teaspoon toasted ground cumin
2 scallions, white and pale green parts only, minced
1/4 cup feta, crumbled
Salt

Cut zucchini into about 5 pieces and place in a large saucepan; cover with water, add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cook about 15 minutes or until zucchini is very tender. Drain in a colander, while zucchini is still in colander, coarsely mash zucchini with a fork; pressing out the liquid but not the pulp.

Combine the lemon juice, olive oil, chili paste, garlic and cumin in a serving bowl. Add zucchini and minced green onion and mix. Taste for seasoning and salt, but don't use too much if your feta is salty. Top with feta. Chill before serving with pita or bread.

Enjoy!

DO NOT STEAL! ©2010 Cooking with Amy. All rights reserved. This material may NOT be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. If you are reading this post somewhere other than Cooking with Amy or Gather.com, then the site where you found this post is illegally publishing copyrighted material.

22 Jul 2010 7:55pm GMT

My young friend Audrey and I have many things in common. We both like to dress up with pretty aprons. We are both excruciatingly accurate with water guns in a swimming pool. We would both rather read a book than do anything too physically strenuous (water fights excepted). And we both have a serious love for rich chocolate desserts and pretty much any homemade ice cream. So when Audrey (age almost 15) suggested that we make chocolate ice cream, I was all over it. The credit for this recipe goes to Audrey, who has been making it for her family with great results. My own meager contributions were to include some salt and instant coffee (both intensify the chocolate taste), and vanilla to help deepen the overall flavor of the ice cream. The ice cream is rich, creamy, smooth, and super chocolate-y.

Continue reading "Chocolate Ice Cream" »

21 Jul 2010 6:30am GMT

Why is it that so much great food comes out of Louisiana? Case in point, this "dirty" rice. It's a Cajun classic, and so good that the first time you eat it you'll wonder where it's been all your life. It's basically a rice pilaf that is called "dirty" because it's cooked with minced chicken livers or gizzards, which infuse it with crispy, tasty browned bits. If you aren't a liver lover, don't worry, the rice doesn't taste like liver, the addition just deepens the overall flavor of the rice, and the bits are so small you can't really distinguish them.

Continue reading "Dirty Rice" »

19 Jul 2010 11:44pm GMT

You know the cool thing about tarragon? You only have to plant it once. (Assuming you don't pull it up thinking it's a weed when it surprises you by coming up the second year. Yes, that would be me.) I planted a young tarragon plant in a corner of our garden several years ago, and although it dies back every winter, each spring it reemerges even more robust than the year before. Tarragon is a lovely herb to pair with chicken or fish, and is terrific in omelettes. It also tastes great with hard boiled eggs, either deviled or in an egg salad such as this one. My nephew Austin took one bite of this the other day and wide-eyed exclaimed "Wow, what is in this?!" as he gobbled it up. The tarragon, along with similarly flavored fennel, adds an unexpected punch to an otherwise rather basic egg salad.

Continue reading "Tarragon Egg Salad" »

17 Jul 2010 4:47am GMT

Sing along! ♪ Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam ♫ ... and the deer and the antelope play; where seldom is heard a discouraging word, and the sky is not cloudy all day. ♫

Yes we do break into song occasionally around here. It's good for you and it warms the soul. What better song to sing than Home on the Range when enjoying an all (North) American buffalo burger. And yes, this is more accurately called a bison burger. For the record we are talking about an American buffalo (bison), and not an Asian buffalo. There used to be just a few American buffalo still alive, but now they are no longer endangered, and enterprising ranchers are raising bison as a leaner alternative to beef.

Continue reading "Buffalo Burger" »

16 Jul 2010 6:27am GMT

This smoky barbecue sauce from Hank Shaw is one of the best bbq sauces I have ever tasted. Smoky, spicy, and rich in flavor. Seriously good. ~Elise

Yep, I'm back with another barbecue creation. This time it's a dark, rich sauce loaded with smoky flavor. I designed this to go with red meat, preferably beef, venison or bison, but I bet it'd work with pork or poultry, too.

The two key ingredients in this sauce are chipotles in adobo and liquid smoke. Liquid smoke, which is essentially distilled smoke collected from moisture added while burning hickory - and it's hickory smoke I use here -- is available in most supermarkets.

Continue reading "Smoky Barbecue Sauce" »

15 Jul 2010 10:04am GMT

Last Friday night I was glad to join the street food revolution, at Off the Grid. Off the Grid takes place Friday nights from 5 pm until 9 pm in the Fort Mason Center parking lot, right near the entrance by the little guardhouse. It's a great mix of carts, people, food and drink. Families, couples and groups can be found mingling, eating, chatting and discovering deliciously affordable bites of food.


There was plenty of room to walk around, chairs and a few tables and there was even some live music. There was no overcrowding, significant waits or lines (Chairman Bao had a line but it moved quickly). The most difficult decision may be what to try because with about 10 vendors, there is no way to try it all. They ranged from traditional taco trucks like El Tonayense to the new fangled Creme Brulee cart.


I started with potato beef curry puffs from Malaysian Lacy Crepes. They were freshly fried to a crisp on the outside with a tender and mid curry on the inside. Like most things, the portion was good for sharing. I want to try their chai banana fritters next.


I was very impressed with Chairman Bao. I tried both a duck confit and mango bun and the pork belly bun, steamed, $2.75 each. Both were juicy and fresh but I think the crunchy daikon pickle in the pork version made it my favorite. They also have a baked version. Next time!


Lee had a cup of chai, which came in various flavors such as rose and vanilla almond. It seemed a bit pricey to me at $4 a cup. Most of the dishes were in the $2 to $6 range. He also approved of the lemon mochi and succulent adobo chicken.


The spiciest bites came from Curry Up Now. The Indian street food truck. The Kathi roll made from roti stuffed with pickled onion, chutney and chicken was hot stuff! In the future I'd love to see Chinese dumplings or some kind of noodle dish along the lines of the Noodle Fest in Chinatown. But the variety thus far is terrific and I will be back!

More on Off the Grid:

A Little Yum post

SF Weekly slide show

Yelp reviews

DO NOT STEAL! ©2010 Cooking with Amy. All rights reserved. This material may NOT be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. If you are reading this post somewhere other than Cooking with Amy or Gather.com, then the site where you found this post is illegally publishing copyrighted material.

14 Jul 2010 4:11pm GMT

Have you ever tried smoked mozzarella cheese? It's sort of like a mozzarella version of gouda. I had never encountered it until my father used it in a recipe he got from a local butcher shop. This is the recipe, with lots of changes from the original which called for three times as much cheese. We found with this cheese that, unlike regular mozzarella which is quite mild in flavor, a little smoked mozzarella goes a long way. We've made this several times; it now makes a regular appearance in my parent's home because it's quick, filling, and quite tasty. It also makes terrific leftovers.

Continue reading "Pasta with Turkey Sausage and Smoked Mozzarella" »

14 Jul 2010 6:19am GMT

Every year about this time we are inundated with fresh apricots from our neighbor's tree. And every year I tell myself I'm going to make a chicken dish with them, but never get around to it. Instead, we'll make apricot jam, apricot cobbler, apricot tart, or just eat them straight. Finally this year, we've experimented with apricot chicken and I'm quite please with the results. The additions of rosemary, Tabasco, and especially cinnamon really brighten up the flavors and make the dish more interesting than you would expect. We served it over rice, but it would be also pretty good with some egg noodles.

Continue reading "Apricot Chicken" »

11 Jul 2010 5:35pm GMT

When the summer months come, I find it almost impossibly hard to resist buying fresh blueberries by the double basketful. Thank goodness they're such good brain food! (These days my brain needs all the help it can get.) My twelve year old nephew is in town which is perfect excuse to make shortcake of any variety. Unlike with strawberries, where all you have to do is cut them and sprinkle them with sugar, to get the blueberries juicy enough for shortcake it works well to cook them, just a little, with sugar. This way more juices are released. This recipe makes a lot of blueberry topping. If you find you have leftover, it's great over ice cream, or better yet, pancakes.

Continue reading "Blueberry Shortcake" »

10 Jul 2010 9:34pm GMT

Are you a stir fraud? Do you stir fry or do you stir faux? During a recent taping of You're Doing It All Wrong for Chow, I learned I was making some pretty big mistakes when it comes to stir frying hence my less than stellar results. The video is not quite ready yet, but to tide you over, here's what I learned from stir fry master and cookbook author Grace Young. Her latest book, Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge is out now.



* Use a 14-inch wok. Other sizes are too small to cook enough food or too large to heat properly on a typical home range. Find a carbon steel flat bottom wok. RESIST the urge to use a non-stick wok! It cannot be heated high enough to give you good results. If you must, use a 12-inch skillet. But again, not non-stick!

* When you marinate meat for stir frying, which only takes five minutes, add a little bit of oil.

* Use a high smoke point oil such as peanut, canola, grapeseed. Grace said rice bran oil is good too and that's generally what I have on hand.

* Hot pan, cold oil! Do not add the oil to your wok until it is hot, hot, hot! Otherwise the food will stick, stick, stick.

* Use the highest heat possible!

* To get good caramelization, spread out the meat and really let it sear before stirring.

* Stir fry the meat only until it's 3/4 of the way done before removing it and adding the vegetables.

* Be sure vegetables are good and dry when they go in the wok.

* Don't crowd the pan! The amount of vegetables will vary depending on the type, but a rule of thumb is no more than 3/4 of a pound meat and maximum 4 cups vegetables.

But you want to know the most important thing I learned? You can make a better stir fry at home than you can get in a restaurant. Really. According to Grace, you are much more likely to use higher quality ingredients than your local Chinese restaurant. And if you do it right, your results should be better.

My thanks to Chow and Grace for inviting me to the taping. I'm only sorry I couldn't stay for lunch!



More tips on stir frying from Grace on Culinate

DO NOT STEAL! ©2010 Cooking with Amy. All rights reserved. This material may NOT be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. If you are reading this post somewhere other than Cooking with Amy or Gather.com, then the site where you found this post is illegally publishing copyrighted material.

02 Jul 2010 4:03pm GMT

Tomorrow I will be heading to one of my favorite places in the world for a birthday celebration/vacation, Hawaii. It also just happens to be one of my favorite dining destinations. In addition to eating, swimming, exploring and shopping at my favorite island farmer's market, on this trip I am looking forward to attending an Obon festival and finally meeting my favorite Hawaiian food blogger.



Since this is my vacation, I will not be blogging from the beach. If you have any hot tips or favorite restaurants on Oahu, please feel free to leave a comment. In the meantime you can check out my Honolulu Dining Guide below.


I will surely be adding to it when I return...

Until next week,

Aloha!

Amy

DO NOT STEAL! ©2010 Cooking with Amy. All rights reserved. This material may NOT be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. If you are reading this post somewhere other than Cooking with Amy or Gather.com, then the site where you found this post is illegally publishing copyrighted material.

23 Jun 2010 8:18pm GMT

When I was growing up we didn't have soda or candy in the house, or junk food like Twinkies, but we did have cookies. Sometimes my mom made cookies from scratch, and sometimes she bought them. The thing is, some cookies need to be fresh and homemade, like chocolate chip cookies or oatmeal cookies. They just don't taste right to me if they aren't. But then there are some commercially produced cookies that are just fine and dandy.

When I was growing up I can almost guarantee you would have found pecan sandies, lemon coolers, raisin biscuits, or almond windmills in the cookie jar. Oddly enough most of those cookies are not so easy to find these days. Pecan sandies are a kind of shortbread cookie, flecked with bits of nuts and are the only cookie I still routinely see in the supermarket (though reviews seem to say they aren't as good as they used to be). Lemon coolers were very tangy cookies coated in powdered sugar. Raisin biscuits were affectionately known as "fly biscuits" in my family. They were thin layers of cookie, filled with raisins. They came in long strips that were perforated. Almond windmills later became just "windmills", as the amount of slivered almonds was drastically reduced. Windmills are based on a spiced Dutch cookie called speculaas.

Recently I got an email informing me that Archway was launching an iced lemonade cookie. Was I interested in trying some samples? Little did I know I would receive 13 packages of cookies in the mail. 13. Packages. Of cookies. So for you, my dear readers, I opened virtually every package and tried them. Call it professional responsibility. Somebody has got to try all those cookies and it might as well be me! Not every cookie made the cut, but a few varieties rose above the rest. Here are the ones I think are particularly noteworthy:


Molasses Cookies
These are soft big cookies with a lingering molasses flavor and a bit of crunch from the decorative sugar crystals. Perfect with a mug of black tea and milk.


Ginger Snaps
I like these a lot. They really have a good bite of ginger in them and are not too sweet. They would also be great in desserts. I'd use ginger snap crumbs in place of graham crackers to make a press in type of crust or to top an apple or pear crisp.


Iced Molasses
You have to like molasses to appreciate these chewy little gems, but I enjoyed them even more than the larger soft molasses version.They are really good and strong like a bracing cup of black coffee.


Iced Lemonade
These are not my beloved lemon coolers, but I like them. They are tangy, not too sweet even though they are frosted. Actually I think most of the lemon flavor comes from the glaze. They are small and very crunchy.


Windmills
These are practically as I remember them, just light on almonds. From the photo it's impossible to see any almond flakes, but they are in there. The primary flavor is cinnamon but there are other sweet spices too. Windmills are hard cookies, but not as hard as the ginger snaps. They have an almost melting sandy texture. Are they that delicious or am I just being nostalgic? Hard to say. But I am enjoying them immensely.

You will find these cookies in various supermarkets.

What store bought cookies do you love or miss?

DO NOT STEAL! ©2010 Cooking with Amy. All rights reserved. This material may NOT be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. If you are reading this post somewhere other than Cooking with Amy or Gather.com, then the site where you found this post is illegally publishing copyrighted material.

22 Jun 2010 1:31pm GMT

How would you like to receive 50 free "brain healthy" recipes? Food bloggers from around the world contributed to a special recipe collection called ThinkFood, put together by Posit Science, a leader in brain training interactive software programs, designed to help users think faster, focus better and remember more. Posit Science takes an integrated approach to brain health that includes brain training and now brain healthy eating.

Visit the website to sign up for a recipe of the week. After signing up you'll be able to see the recipe online as well. This week the recipe is for Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and includes brain healthy ingredients such as chocolate, banana, flax, and walnuts. It's from food blogger Tina Haupert of Carrots 'n Cake and it looks great! On the web site you'll get the recipe, cooking tips, meet the food blogger and learn about brain healthy ingredients.

You will also be able to purchase a copy of the hard cover book when it is available in July. I'll let you know when my recipe is available in August.

Here is the complete list of sites that contributed recipes:

Ambitious Deliciousness • Anne's Food • Apples and Butter • The Arugula Files • Best Fruit Now • Brown Eyed Baker • Carrots 'N' Cake • Chocolate Shavings • Closet Cooking • Cooking with Amy • Daily Unadventures in Cooking • Dash and Bella • Dine & Dish • Dixie Caviar • Eclectic Recipes • eCurry • Fake Food Free • Food Blogga • Food Loves Writing • For the Love of Cooking • Gourmet Fury • Greedy Gourmet • Hangry Pants • Healthy Everythingtarian • Herbivoracious • Katiecakes • La Note Restaurant • Laurel On Health Food • The Leftover Queen • Lisa's Kitchen • Local Appetite • The Lunchbox Bunch • Make Life Sweeter • My Cooking Hut • My Sweet Vegan • Napa Farm House 1885 • O-Cookies • Off the Broiler • Off the (Meat)Hook • Pink Bites • Project Foodie • Sassy Radish • Seriously Good • Shelteriffic • A Southern Fairytale • Stone Soup • Sugar Bar • Super Healthy Kids • Tastes Like Home • Wild Yeast

DO NOT STEAL! ©2010 Cooking with Amy. All rights reserved. This material may NOT be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. If you are reading this post somewhere other than Cooking with Amy or Gather.com, then the site where you found this post is illegally publishing copyrighted material.

16 Jun 2010 5:15pm GMT

When I was in Louisville Kentucky a couple of weeks ago I tried the famous Hot Brown sandwich at the Brown Hotel. It's a rich combination of dreamy Mornay sauce, hearty turkey, a couple of tomato wedges and crisp bacon on top. Broiling the sandwich makes the tomatoes and sauce even tastier. But it's a monster! I really don't know how anyone can finish it. If you go to Louisville, by all means do try it. If you don't have an enormous appetite, you can order a smaller portion of the Hot Brown. It's not on the menu but it is available upon request.

All over Kentucky you will find different versions of the Hot Brown. Some have ham instead of turkey or a combination of both, or seafood and no turkey or ham. When I got home I decided I would try my hand at making a slightly lighter version of this delectable sandwich. But I figured why not try it with asparagus? After all, asparagus and cheese sauce is already pretty tasty. While I love Mornay sauce, I rarely have heavy cream on hand so I made a simpler cheese sauce. I kept the bacon because I think the salty, smoky flavor and crunch really are important in this mostly soft fork-and-knife style sandwich. I also like the juicy tomatoes so I kept them in the mix.

The Hot Brown was created as a late night snack for dancing, partying Louisvillians who craved something other than a midnight breakfast. But actually I think it makes a great breakfast or lunch. I know my other half would it eat it for breakfast if I put a fried egg on it! Then again, he would eat just about anything with a fried egg on it. A sandwich smothered in cheese sauce is a yummy thing indeed and I think there are probably endless variations...

Asparagus Hot Brown
Serves 4

3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons flour
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Salt to taste

4 thick slices white bread, such as Pullman or Texas toast, crusts trimmed, bread lightly toasted

1 lb. asparagus, trimmed and steamed
4 teaspoons grated Parmesan
1 -2 ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into 8 wedges

8 slices bacon, cooked

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

For the sauce:
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking constantly, until pale golden, about 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and quickly whisk in milk and cheese. Return pan to heat. Cook sauce, whisking constantly, until smooth and creamy, 1-2 minutes. Remove pan from heat and season sauce with salt to taste.

Preheat broiler. Trim the asparagus spears in half, so they are no more than 4 inches long and cut the toast into triangles. Put 2 pieces of toast in each dish, and cover with 1/4 of the asparagus and spoon 1/2 cup of sauce over it. Sprinkle a teaspoon of cheese over each portion. Garnish each dish with two tomato wedges, tucked next to the sandwich. Broil sandwiches until sauce is browned, about 1-2 minutes. Put 2 pieces bacon on each sandwich and sprinkle with parsley before serving.

Enjoy!

DO NOT STEAL! ©2010 Cooking with Amy. All rights reserved. This material may NOT be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. If you are reading this post somewhere other than Cooking with Amy or Gather.com, then the site where you found this post is illegally publishing copyrighted material.

14 Jun 2010 7:17pm GMT

Have I mentioned how much I truly enjoy grocery shopping? I might not even buy anything but no matter where I go, home or away, I am fascinated to see what is on offer. As my friend Joe Kowalke says, "Grocery shopping is my baseball." And I am an equal opportunity shopper. I like everything from fancy shops like Dean & Deluca that carry artisanal products, to Asian, Middle Eastern and Russian grocery stores and even supermarkets. I like discovering spices, produce, cheeses, sausages, prepared foods, baked goods, even packaged food I've never seen before and noticing what people are buying.

My latest shopping discovery comes courtesy of my dad, who shares my love of grocery shopping. It's Mi Pueblo, a supermarket that serves the local community in the Canal District of San Rafael. It's the first Latino supermarket I've ever visited and I loved it! There were so many interesting things to see like yards of chorizo, aisles of packaged flan, exotic spiky vegetables and piles of piioncillo sugar. There's even a taqueria and a panaderia right inside the store.

The prices for fresh produce were very reasonable and they carry many unusual things like fresh garbanzo beans and all types of crema that I can't easily find elsewhere, so I know I will be back again. The chickens roasting over mesquite smelled amazing and the guy out front selling oysters in shell was doing a bustling business. I probably won't be buying margaritas in a can or Peruvian soy sauce, but I now know where to find both under one roof!

See the slide show of my visit to Mi Pueblo.

More posts and stories on Mi Pueblo:

Julie's Update
Silicon Valley Moms
Marin Retail Buzz
Marin Independent Journal

DO NOT STEAL! ©2010 Cooking with Amy. All rights reserved. This material may NOT be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. If you are reading this post somewhere other than Cooking with Amy or Gather.com, then the site where you found this post is illegally publishing copyrighted material.

10 Jun 2010 4:50pm GMT

Wine goes with food. I know this sounds obvious, but not that long ago I got into a disagreement with a wine blogger about this very subject. Her point was that not all wine needs to be paired with food, some people enjoy wine without food. Well not me. If I want something to sip after dinner on it's own, I might choose a luxurious and sweet dessert wine such as Sauternes, Tokaji, Port or Madeira. As an aperitif I prefer something crisp and sparkling, Champagne perhaps. Or a cocktail.

There is a segment of the wine drinking public that has taken to drinking wine as if it were a cocktail. They want their wine big, bold, with little acid, plenty of tannin, and don't seem to mind if it's tremendously alcoholic (I mean over 14.5% alcohol). Again, not me. In Old World wine-producing countries there is a culture of drinking wine with meals. But in the New World that isn't always the way everyone is introduced to the pleasures of wine. So some people end up favoring wines that compete with sherry in terms of alcohol. Don't even get me started on the astronomical prices of some of these wines. By the bottle or the glass, I want wine I can actually afford to buy.

I remember once being told that in ballet the ballerina is the picture and her partner is the frame. I'd say the same thing is true about food and wine. Food is the picture, wine is the frame. A good frame can compliment a picture, but on it's own, it's just a frame. I used to attend a lot of wine tastings but I found I was comparing one wine to another and the wines I liked the best in tastings rarely impressed me as much when I tried them with food. So I stopped going to so many wine tastings. You might say I'm not sophisticated enough to appreciate wines on their own, but in my opinion, no wine can ever compete with the perfect pairing of food and wine.

While I don't entirely agree with experts and bloggers like Alder of Vinography who say that food and wine pairing is a scam, I do agree that "there are no right answers" and that ultimately you should drink what you like with whatever food you choose. I also believe there are pairings that are pure magic. Notice I said pairings, there is never just one good pair. The excellent guide book What to Drink with What You Eat shows many great pairs and is a constant source of inspiration for me, because finding those matches is something I strive for each and every time I open a bottle. For me the highest compliment I can pay a wine is that I find it "food friendly." But really, that is what every wine should be.

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03 Jun 2010 1:30pm GMT

Go get yourself some Copper River King salmon. RIGHT NOW. I am not kidding. I don't believe there is a more delicious salmon than Copper River King also known as Chinook and the time to enjoy it is right now. The season begins in the middle of May when the fish are gorgeous orange, rich with healthy fats, including the highest level of prized omega 3 fatty acids. It has a delicate flavor and velvet texture that cannot be beat. The quality of the fish declines as the season progresses so get some at the peak of deliciousness. Like right now.

When cooking Copper River King you really want the fish to be the star. It doesn't need much fussing over. I prepared some this past week in various ways and here is what I would suggest, cook it either very quickly under the broiler or very slowly in a low oven. The slow cooking method yields a very creamy almost custardy texture that is super moist and succulent. I first learned about this style of cooking from a Jacques Pepin recipe but many other takes on this recipe exist. I like crispy salmon skin so I sear the fish first, then gently cook it in the oven set at only 200 degrees. It's important to check it often to make sure it doesn't overcook. A light dusting of smoky spices and a little salt and brown sugar lends a lovely color but doesn't obliterate the natural clean flavor of the fish. When making the spice rub, use the freshest ground spices, if they are over six months old, toss 'em out!



Copper River King salmon from Alaska is expensive, but a little goes a long way, just 4 ounces makes a satisfying serving. It's like the seafood equivalent of chocolate--luscious, creamy and melts in your mouth. I'd rather have a little high quality chocolate than all I can eat of the cheap stuff. Wild-caught Copper River King from Alaska is high in protein and low in saturated fat and is certified as sustainable to the standard of the Marine Stewardship Council. Alaskan salmon are among the most intensively managed species, considered a "best choice" by the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch. Delicious, healthy and sustainable! It doesn't get much better than that.

Slow Roasted Salmon

1 lb Copper River King salmon
1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
1 1/2 teaspoons toasted and ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 mango, pitted, peeled and diced, a firm variety such as Tommy Atkins

In a small bowl combine the smoked paprika, garam masala, cumin, salt and sugar. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Coat the top of the salmon with a heaping teaspoon of spice rub. Rub it into the surface of the fish and shake off any extra. Cut into 4 portions.

Heat a cast iron pan over medium heat. When the pan is very hot, sear the salmon, skin side down for 2 minutes. Transfer to oven and bake until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 125 degrees, the temperature will continue to rise after you remove the fish from the oven. The total cooking time will depend on how thick the fish is, the rule of thumb is 10 minutes per inch. Top with a spoonful of mango and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

More slow cooked salmon recipes:
Slow Cooked Salmon with Salsa Verde
Slow Roasted Salmon with Green Curry Paste
Slow Cooked Salmon with Creamy Leeks and Red Wine Butter
Slow Cooked Salmon with seasoning variations

My sincere thanks to the Copper River/PWS Marketing Association for providing me with a generous shipment of Copper River King Salmon!

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01 Jun 2010 1:23pm GMT

Winter is the easiest time of year to feel motivated to cook. When it's cold outside nothing is better than hunkering down in a cozy kitchen to braise and bake and simmer the day away. Summer time is perhaps the toughest season for cooking. Who wants to be in the kitchen when the weather is beckoning you to stay in the sun? When I think of Summer I think of tomato salads, guacamole, ceviche and big antipasto platters served al fresco. And of course anything and everything on the grill.

There are tons of grilling cookbooks and each season a new batch comes out (in fact you can find a recent round up of grilling book reviews on MattBites). But this year there are two Summer cookbooks that go way beyond just grilling, giving you many more options when things heat up. They are very different books, though either would be perfect to take with you on Summer vacation to a beach house or mountain cabin, or make a great hostess gift.

The Big Summer Cookbook is a soft cover book with 300 recipes written by author Jeff Cox who seems particularly attuned to what is ripe and in season. The book starts with a Summer seasonality chart and perhaps even more interestingly a section on how to stock your Summer pantry. This would be helpful in planning meals for a week at a Summer house. There are recipes for no-cook dishes such as Mango Watermelon Salad and Caprese Skewers as well as some baked goods that you will want to eat during the Summer such as Plum and Nectarine Crisp and Sour Cream Breakfast Cake. Recipes I have bookmarked include a No-Cook Blackberry Pie that features a graham cracker crust and a Couscous Salad with Pine Nuts and Summer Fruit. The vegetable and fruit recipes are more interesting in general than the meat recipes which tend to be standbys such as burgers and grilled chicken. There are some new ideas in this book, but it's really more about the basics. Read an excerpt.

By contrast, the substantial hardcover Recipes from an Italian Summer will make you dream of Summer in a villa eating dishes like Grilled Sardines scented with Orange, Wild Duck with Figs, and Spaghetti and Lobster. It begins with a seasonal food calendar and features nearly 400 exciting and adventurous recipes. These are primarily Italian recipes, many you have not likely seen before. With a few notable exceptions, they are generally not complicated dishes and in tune with the season but written for someone who is a confident cook. By "in tune" I mean things you might want to eat in Summer, as there are recipes using ingredients not strictly available in the Summer like apples and radicchio. Here and there the recipes suffer from less than optimal translations. But they are the things you will want to eat when you get bored of tomato salad and grilled chicken. The book has gorgeous photos of food in a rustic style and lots of photos of Italy. If you love Italian food you will find this book deeply satisfying because of the many fresh ideas it presents although there is some overlap with the Silver Spoon cookbook. Personally I can't wait to make dishes like Potato Pizza and Sunflower Petal Salad. It's a book that inspires. Look inside the book.

DO NOT STEAL! ©2010 Cooking with Amy. All rights reserved. This material may NOT be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. If you are reading this post somewhere other than Cooking with Amy or Gather.com, then the site where you found this post is illegally publishing copyrighted material.

26 May 2010 2:51pm GMT

There are lots of myths in regards to cooking. Sadly, they tend to discourage people from practicing a very basic life skill. Here are the myths about cooking that I have heard repeatedly from friends, acquaintances and even cooking pundits. Are any of them keeping YOU out of the kitchen?

1. You can't cook anything good in a short amount of time
You don't need to cook something complicated or cutting edge (unless of course you want to!), plenty of great recipes take very little time at all. Here are just a few examples:

Asparagus Frittata from Simply Recipes
Black Bean Clams from Single Guy Chef
High-roast Chicken and Potatoes from Hedonia
Grilled Tri Tip Steak with Chimol Salsa from Kalyn's Kitchen
Orechiette with Sausage and Kale from The Kitchn
Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Aglio e Olio from Skillet Chronicles

Choose from steak, chicken, pasta, seafood, some dishes are even vegetarian--all are delicious!

2. Cooking takes too long
I don't know what "too long" means. But I can cook dinner faster than you can get it served to you at a restaurant and quicker than it takes to get it delivered. Really. Don't believe me? Revisit the recipes above.

3. You need lots of ingredients
There are tons of recipes that use 5 ingredients or less. Just check out this collection on Epicurious. Or just revisit the recipes above, the ingredients for those recipe would fit in a single grocery bag.

4. Cooking is not enjoyable
Cooking can and SHOULD BE ENJOYABLE! It's not just a necessity, it's actually fun or why would so many bloggers (myself included) be droning on about it endlessly?

5. Cooking is hard
Cooking in a restaurant is hard work. Cooking at home does not need to be hard. If you don't believe me, see Michael Ruhlman's sarcastically named, World's Most Difficult Roasted Chicken Recipe.

6. You need to use processed foods to save time, effort and money
Processed foods actually cost more than raw foods, not less. They do not necessarily save you time. The Kitchn did a test to see what the difference was between making a cake from scratch and from a mix. The results will surprise you!

7. Cooking from scratch is expensive, even more than eating out
Check out this blogger's challenge to create $2 a serving meals.

8. Cooking requires a lot of skill
Nope. Even dummies can cook French food.

9. You need expensive pots and pan to cook
The Breakaway Cook shows you how to use some of the cheapest pans around, cast iron.

10. You need lots of expensive knives to cook
Three knives. That's all you need! And this from a restaurant blogger.

11. You need a very well-stocked kitchen to cook
A basic pantry doesn't need to be overflowing with ingredients. Not sure where to start? Check out this primer on Slashfood.

12. Good cooks never use recipes
There are cooks who advocate ratios rather than recipes, but you know what? They too use recipes too sometimes.

13. Good cooks always use recipes
Pastry chef and blogger Shuna Lydon dispels this myth, thoughtfully and provocatively.

14. Cooking is too messy
Yes, cooking can be messy. But you should be able to clean everything in your kitchen. Keeping your kitchen clean is not a good reason for not cooking!

15. Cleaning up takes longer than cooking so it's not worth the effort
The secret is to clean as you cook, just ask Martha.

16. Cooking is too dangerous for kids to do
When kids learn to cook with adult supervision it's not dangerous. Check out What's Cooking Blog to learn more about cooking with kids.

17. Cooking is fattening and leads to overeating
By cooking you can control and be aware of exactly what is in your food. I guess if you cook well you might be inclined to overeat, but that's about will power, not cooking!

18. You must follow recipes exactly or they won't work
If that was true you would never see the word "adapted" next to recipes.

19. Cooking is menial or dull
In the 1950's women were told that cooking was a chore and not worth the effort. Laura Shapiro writes about the phenomenon in Something from the Oven. But cooking was and is something truly enjoyable. Cleaning might be menial and dull, but cooking is a joy. The classic cookbook that proclaims it so has sold over 18 million copies!

20. Cooking for one is not worth the effort
Legendary cookbook editor Judith Jones would beg to differ. She's the author of The Pleasures of Cooking for One.

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24 May 2010 2:33pm GMT

One of the best presentations I got to attend at the International Association of Culinary Professionals conference in Portland last month was a conversation between chef and cookbook author Deborah Madison and farmer Anthony Boutard of Ayers Creek Farm. Ayers Creek Farm is an organic farm located in Gaston, Oregon in the Wapato Valley 10 miles west of Beaverton and 40 miles from the ocean. The theme was fruit and I learned so much! Here are a just a few highlights from the discussion:

Deborah Madison asked, "What makes fruit great?"

• Boutard said, in some ways it's hard to say because everyone's palate is different; for example some people love tart marionberries, some people hate them.

• According to Boutard, the best fruit has acidity upfront. Acid and tannins in fruit are complex and cannot be simply duplicated by adding lemon juice. Sweetness on the other hand is not very complex.

• Shipped fruit seems like it loses acidity (another reason to buy local).

• The best way to get shoppers to warm up to fruit with high acid, is to give samples to their kids. Kids love acidity!

• Some fruit are best suited to wide temperature variation, such as melons and plums that want hot days and cool nights. Different plums grow in different parts of the country. In California there are lots of Japanese plums and in Oregon more European plums.

• Cellared fruit takes on different characteristics. It won't have the same texture, it may not be crisp, but the flavor can be amazing. Boutard said the best apple he ever ate was a russet apple in Switzerland, it had been cellared for many months and was mealy, but complex and delicious.

• Grapes with seeds have more flavor and nutritional value. Boutard calls grapes "celibate" or "fecund" instead of seedless or seeded. A little sex helps sell! Grapes with seeds don't last as long as seedless varieties but the seeds are worth eating too. You can't eat Concord grape seeds but other grape seeds have a spicy flavor that balances the sweetness of the fruit.

• Picking fruit takes real skill. For example, some fruit needs to be watered the night before picking, such as raspberries, other fruit like plums will split if watered when already ripe. Boutard has been working with the same Oaxacan family for years because they understand how to pick fruit.

• Systemic pesticides and fungicides cannot be washed off fruit. Boutard chooses to grow fruit that is well-suited to the environment and can be grown organically rather than fight mother nature.

• Machine picked fruit is not as fully ripe because it is picked using beaters.

• The best way to judge the quality of most fruit, is to smell it. Don't look at the size. The first batch of fruit often has more pectin in it that the subsequent crops.

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19 May 2010 2:51pm GMT

I have become a puerh pusher. Anyone who takes so much as a whiff from my cup, ends up buying their own. I discovered puerh tea a few years ago at a wonderful tea shop, Modern Tea, run by tea expert Alice Cravens, (now sadly closed). It was served in the traditional manner in a tiny tea pot with tea broken from a cake of puerh. Not long after I purchases some loose puerh tea from Tillerman Tea in Napa. But it's the perfect-for-sampling Numi Tea tea bags that have made me go pro.

Puerh is a fermented and aged green tea that has many of the characteristics of black tea and more antioxidants than either black or green tea. It is dark and malty with rich flavor that can handle a splash of milk. Up until recently it was almost impossible to find high quality puerh tea bags. Normally I buy all my tea loose leaf, bulk, never in bags, but Numi Tea is making some fabulous puerh tea blends, available in bags. They use whole leaf tea, not dust. The convenience of tea bags has worked well for me because I am usually just drinking one cup and I often take a few bags in my purse and my suitcase.

Back in January I participated in Numi's Puerh Challenge. I didn't drink three cups a day because it's just too much caffeine for me. But I quickly added to my stash buying boxes of Magnolia Puerh and Emperor's Puerh to my favorite the Chocolate version. The Numi Chocolate Puerh tea is a blend of all organic ingredients--puerh tea, cocoa powder, vanilla, Theo chocolate cocoa nibs, rooibos, orange peel, nutmeg and cinnamon. It is such a treat! It has lovely spicy notes that pair with the mild chocolate and rich tea.

For a more delicate tea I like the floral Magnolia blend which has green tea and magnolia flowers along with the puerh. The Emperor's version is pure puerh, nothing else added. It is the most robust with toasty rich flavor, great when you feel like you want a cup of coffee. The only version I'm not crazy about is the Mint Puerh, but to each his own. Numi also sells puerh in a brick and in bulk, which is probably what I will end up purchasing next. The advantage to the brick is that a small amount of tea can be used again and again, to make up to 4 cups of tea.

Puerh is considered a very healthy tea, potentially strengthening your immune system and reducing the risk of heart attack. Other studies show tea can reduce cholesterol and triglycerides and lower blood pressure. I would love to tell you I lost weight drinking this tea, but I don't think I did. But it absolutely gets me going in the morning on those days when I need a little extra boost and the different varieties seem to fit my mood at different times of the day.

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18 May 2010 2:43pm GMT

Ok here's a crazy idea, one basic salad that can be either sweet or savory. I was trying to think of what to do with some mangoes coming my way from the National Mango Board this week and then I saw a tweet from @SimpleGourmetLA with the idea for a "mojito cucumber, mango and strawberry salad." It occurred to me that both cucumber and mango could go either way--sweet or savory.

I'm always looking for ways to use common ingredients in slightly unexpected ways. Here the twist is using cucumber in a sweet fruit salad and using sweet mango in a savory salad. English cucumber is available year round and does not need to be peeled. It has a very mild flavor and a fine texture without big slippery seeds. Best of all, it has a terrific crunch! I used the most commonly available mango, the Tommy Atkins variety in both salads. It's not a very tropical, luscious or creamy mango, but more of a workhorse, with citrus-like flavor, able and willing to stand up to whatever you demand of it. It's a bit on the firm side so it's particularly good in salads.

For the sweet salad I combined cucumber, mango and strawberries and for the savory version, cucumber, mango and radishes. You might recognize the ingredients from the savory salad as being similar to what you find Mexican street vendors selling. Each salad is flavored with lime, but the sweet salad gets a touch of honey and mint, the savory salad, a pinch of salt and green onion. Both are bursting with juiciness, crunch and Summery flavors and would be great at a picnic. I'd serve the savory salad with grilled fish or chicken. I'd serve the sweet salad with a scoop of sorbet or just a couple of cookies.


Mango, Cucumber, Strawberry Salad
Serves 4

1 Tommy Atkins mango, peeled, pitted and cut into chunks
1/2 large English cucumber, cut into chunks
1 pint strawberries, trimmed and cut in chunks
Juice of a fresh lime, squeezed
2 teaspoons honey
2 sprigs chopped fresh mint leaves, about 12 leves

In a mixing bowl combine the lime and honey and stir until smooth. Add the mango, cucumber, strawberries and mix. Sprinkle with mint and taste for seasoning before serving.


Mango, Cucumber, Radish Salad
Serves 4

1 Tommy Atkins mango, peeled, pitted and cut into chunks
1/2 large English cucumber, cut into chunks
1 bunch radishes, trimmed and cut into chunks
1 green onion, thinly sliced
Juice of a fresh lime, squeezed
Pinch kosher salt

In a mixing bowl combine the lime and salt and stir until dissolved. Add the mango, cucumber, radishes and mix. Sprinkle with green onions and taste for seasoning before serving.

Enjoy!

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17 May 2010 3:00pm GMT

In part 1 of my interview with Claudia Roden she shared her experiences from years of writing about the food of the Middle East and her thoughts about cooking in the US and Britain. In part two, she tells us about her upcoming Spanish cookbook, recipe testing, and her opinions on culinary innovation.

For years I've read that you're working on a Spanish cookbook, how is that coming along?

For 5 years I worked on it and I've just given it in. I spent years eating, meeting people, having fun, also doing a lot of research and the history of Spain through it's food, the literature and so on. I researched the life of the aristocracy, the peasants, the church, every recipe has meaning. I only include a recipe if it tastes good, usually if it lasts 100 years it is good. The added pleasure is to know how it fits in to the culture. It becomes a way of life and it's been very enriching.

In a year it will be out, we are now doing the food photography, when I get back (to London) we will start again. The photographer is going around in Spain. I've done two editions of the book, one in metric and one in cups, for the American edition, so it's taken rather longer. I always want to test everything myself. I want to make sure of the measures. I am the responsible one so I want to do it.

Your recipes are some of the most reliable and consistent I have ever used. What's your opinion of recipe testers?

You have to give other indications, by that I mean not just timing, cups and measures. Until now I had never used recipe testers, but I also invite people to dinner or invite one person to dinner and feed them, so that is my test. Right now after having tested all the recipes 2-3 times, they are being tested again. My published in the UK, Penguin, has a policy to retest all recipes, so they asked if I wouldn't mind. I was very glad but I'm crossing out a lot that has been put in by the tester. I do add variations in time, but she has put in so much material that I fear will put off anyone from cooking! I want recipes to be short and direct. I assume someone knows a bit how to cook. She puts in every dish how to fry onions, I just think if people are busy with the timing they may not pay attention to the other signs.

You can't tell everyone everything the best is to teach them to gauge for themselves. They'll have to learn to be confident of their taste and their senses. You can't put every single eventuality in a recipe. I believe you must trust people to use their common sense. People should really trust their senses. You must trust your taste. Cooking is an art of the senses. We can explain as writers, that's our job, not to just give measures.

You and Paula Wolfert are both heroines of mine. You both seem to be able to get amazing details from home cooks. What are the keys to getting people to share their recipes, especially people notorious for not sharing recipes, like Italians?

I do a lot of advanced contact. In Italy the very first contact was an ideal one. I was invited to a dinner with regional chefs and cookery teachers from around the country and there was a man who organized things that had connections to other culinary enthusiasts around the country. Cooking teachers were very generous. They were not necessarily teaching Italian food, but I got them to help me make contacts. I found food lovers who go out to eat in different towns, I had personal connections that helped. I didn't waste any time at all since I was under pressure from the Times.

I would ask people on the train for help, I would ask someone in a train compartment, "what is your favorite food?" and several people would join in the conversation. I was told (by the newspaper) to go everywhere, eat everything, take people with me, but I couldn't always fit in so many meals so I just phoned numbers from the phone book calling randomly and asked people what do they eat? But none of the recipes from restaurants or from home cooks worked. You have to try and use your common sense. You can't force people to be absolutely correct.

In Spain I observed people cooking at cooking schools. In cooking and catering schools they teach Spanish and International food, but all that the young people want is to use machines and technology. They are all besotted by Ferran. On the other hand there is almost a backlash in Spain where people are concerned with preserving their culture and region. The threat has galvanized them to not give up on their beloved recipes.

Speaking of Spain, where do you stand on culinary innovation?

I am very impressed by a lot of innovators, I am not only tolerant but I think everyone is free to invent. Of course a lot of chefs think they have to invent everyday to be respected. In the past people had pride in their dishes, even classics. Now people feel driven to do something new. In a way a lot of messing about happens artificially. When there was change it was due to society--like hybrid dishes of different cultures that took 100 years to become part of the culture. There is change in food when culture changes, but to have a culture where you despise tradition and only revere innovation is very sad. Food is part of identity. Countries like France and Italy should not give up there identity, besides, most people are not very good at innovation.

I don't see the point in innovating to surprise or to gain prestige when it doesn't taste all that good. Sometimes the look becomes more important than the taste. Food photography made an impact that way years ago. The visual is important but you want to eat something that has real taste. Knowing what to put together is very important. If you area great creator you are fantastic. If you are just trying to be in fashion chances are it's not worth it.

In Spain chefs have gone through innovation using science and technology and because of the reaction by Spaniards, they have come back a bit. The roots are there, they want to use regional ingredients. I love the cooking of Santi Santamaria (a prominent avant-garde Catalan and Spanish chef). It's exciting, but it's not what home cooking is about. It's good to shake the Spaniards out of bad habits for example frying everything.

The French had the same experience with Nouvelle Cuisine but they have gone back to their original culture. It's important to find the balance between old and new. For restaurant chefs it's one thing, but for home cooks it's another thing altogether. It seems people entertain more in England than they do in the US, but sometimes what they do is too fussy (influenced by the culinary innovators). To entertain you should do one big dish and have everyone serve themselves. People are afraid to entertain because they think it's old-fashioned. That's a shame.

DO NOT STEAL! ©2010 Cooking with Amy. All rights reserved. This material may NOT be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. If you are reading this post somewhere other than Cooking with Amy or Gather.com, then the site where you found this post is illegally publishing copyrighted material.

12 May 2010 2:19pm GMT