weekend: eat your radio

Don't miss these delectable broadcasts/podcasts:

• Eat Feed (podcast) is like going along on a friend's culinary road trips. A meandering through the byways and days gone by, a good helping of history and seasonal flavors.
• The Splendid Table (streaming audio or public radio) is hosted by Lynne Rossetto Kasper, who manages to be bubbly without being saccharine. Her advice is useful and her taste straightforward and refined at the same time.
• I'm new to A Chef's Table (public radio) but like what I've heard so far. Chef Jim Coleman gives a very personal and inside view at everything from gardening to cocktails.

Have a great weekend everybody!

the global garden and local grubbin’

right: cherimoya, left: rambutan)

Melissa's Great Book of Produce: Everything You Need to Know about Fresh Fruits and Vegetables by Cathy Thomas (hardcover, $29.95, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)

I confess I couldn't tell a jujube from a jackfruit. Nor could I reasonably assist you if you were to ask me how best to prepare red kuri squash or what a volcano orange might taste like. Just because I may be at ease in the presence of rambutans and tomatillos unfortunately does not mean I am prepared for the ever increasing globalization of the produce aisle. The vastness of my ignorance became clear as I perused a copy of the brainchild of Joe and Sharon Hernandez who’s company, Melissa’s/World Variety Produce, is the nation’s largest distributor of specialty produce (the company is named for their daughter Melissa).

A modestly sized, easy to read volume, Melissa's Great Book of Produce will fit easily on your cookbook shelf. It’s mostly reference, sprinkled with recipes ranging from the straightforward (grilled stuffed Portobello mushrooms) to the exotic (cherimoya crème brulee). Most useful are the instructions for selection, basic prep and storage of anything and everything you might happen upon in your produce aisle. Anyone for gobo root mash?

Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen by Anna Lappé, Bryant Terry (paperback, $18.95, Tarcher Penguin).
Even if you fear seitan and tempeh, this book is worth a read. More food for thought (pardon the pun) than cookbook, Grub a non-preachy, straightforward education on what it means to eat with the greater good in mind. A bit frightening at times, as all books that tell the truth about agribusiness are, see The Real Food Revival) Anna Lappé, herself the daughter of Diet For a Small Planet’s Frances Moore Lappé) rights the bulk of the book’s first three parts that are meant to enlighten you as to the impact of eating seasonally, locally and organically. It’s a drum I’ve heard beaten over and over, but Lappé manages to keep things light and upbeat, insisting that her definition of grub is “real choice” and “freedom from fear of food…grub means pleasure and health.” And to aid the newest converts, there’s a cocktail party “cheat sheet” of grub talking points and a seven-step kitchen makeover.

Bryant Terry, a food activist and founder of bHealthy, spices up the last sections of the book with seasonal, ethnic menus (Tropical Corn Dumplings with Maple Syrup and Anise, Rosemary-Chile Mashed Potatoes, Coconut-infused Quinoa) and includes soundtrack suggestions and flavorful anecdotes from his culinary past.

Grub is serious stuff, but yummy and good for you.

Also new for spring:

• Vegetables by 40 Great French Chefs (Hardcover) by Patrick Mikanowski
• The Scented Kitchen: Cooking With Flowers by Frances Bissell
  

Here's a chart of edible flowers!

Next week: The New Basics

Feeding Desire: Design and the Tools of the Table

What? Which? Huh? We are so civilized now in the 21st century that many among us would be hard pressed to match any of the elegant utensils above with the food for which they're intended. So if you'll be passing through NYC in the next 5 months or so, head over to the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum (a branch of the Smithsonian) and educate thyself on the history of sifting spoons, ice cream hatchets and, of course, sporks, knorks and knoons! Find a full preview and the correct matches in today's NY Times.

From May 5 to Oct. 29, "Feeding Desire: Design and the Tools of the Table, 1500-2005," will be at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, 2 East 91st Street; (212) 849-8400.

wwwed: view, bubble and shake!

Foodie View is billing itself as "the recipe search engine." You can also try out Google Base which has a recipe subsection. The nice thing about Foodie View is that you can have a recipe box to save to and share with others and, in theory, not have to log in to all your fave recipe sites separately.


Find "boba," or bubble tea, by zip code with BobaFind (Via The Food Section). You can, of course, try making your own, too.

Classic Bubble Tea

The tea should be very strong. A Hong Kong-style tea or Ceylon Black tea is recommended. If using coffee, espresso is a good choice.

1/2 cup chilled, cooked bubble tea pearls
1 cup crushed ice
1 cup very strong chilled black tea
1 cup homogenized milk, or to taste
Honey or granulated sugar, to taste

Place pearls in a large parfait glass. Combine all remaining ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake rigorously until mixture is frothy. Pour into glass and serve with large-diameter straws.

Makes 1 (16 ounce) drink.

Shakers were masters of simplicity. 18thC Cuisine recently shared this classic lemon pie recipe. Make sure your lemons are organic and washed well, they're going in, rind an all!

Shaker Lemon Pie

2 large lemons

4 eggs, well beaten

2 cups sugar

Slice lemons as thin as paper, rind and all. Combine with sugar; mix well. Let stand 2 hours, or preferably overnight, blending occasionally. Add beaten eggs to lemon mixture; mix well. Turn into 9-inch pie shell, arranging lemon slices evenly. Cover with top crust. Cut several slits near center. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake for about 20 minutes or until silver knife inserted near edge of pie comes out clean. Cool before serving.

Recipe from The Shaker Cook Book by Caroline B. Piercy.

Oh and this just in! She's also posted today instructions for violet water, syrup and conserves!

breaking news: save the fry-up

LONDON - APRIL 20: In this photo illustration an all English fry up breakfast is eaten, April 20, 2006 in London, England. The traditional English style breakfast 'Fry-Up' is under threat of being replaced by more continental style coffee shops (read: Starbucks). (Photo Illustration by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

Luckily HP Sauce, a traditional Brit condiment, has launched Save the Proper British Cafe.

While many blame starbucks, according to the BBC "There are even rumours Full English's evil foreign enemies (Swiss muesli, French croissants and American muffins) had a hand in the death." Read more here.

tools and table: international temptation

At Lille Hus (via Design*Sponge)


Mix & Measure by RoyalVKB


Coasters from BlinkTiles

new adventures in food

From Publishers Weekly:

Gastronaut Adventures in Food for the Romantic, the Foolhardy, and the Brave
Comedian Gates is an "epicurean desperado," willing to cook and eat anything—at least once. After all, he argues, if we eat 22 tons of food over our lifetimes and use 16% of our waking lives preparing food, shouldn't we try for the occasional "culinary epiphany" by maximizing our "excitement-to-mastication ratio"? A "culinary disaster" is not necessarily a "culinary failure," he reminds readers as he explains how to prepare fish sperm, sweetbreads, head cheese and cow heel. He admits he hasn't (yet) tried some dishes—such as those for Roasted Placenta Loaf, and Quick 'n' Easy Termites—but most have the user-friendly directions that signify a well-tested recipe.


Insatiable by Gael Greene
As the title of her longtime New York magazine column (which ran from 1968 to 2000) suggests, Greene was indeed an "Insatiable Critic" and not just where food was concerned. Her fun memoir spices up the standard chronicle of food supped and wine sipped with breathless descriptions of sexual trysts, travel tales and signature fashions. Greene's sensual appetite was voracious and her affairs as abundant and indulgent as her meals; her more famous lovers included Elvis Presley, Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds. With chapter titles like "Splendor in the Foie Gras" and "Bonfire of the Foodies," the book brims with vivid and gluttonously gossipy prose, though it's occasionally repetitive, especially regarding the recent growth of "foodie" culture. At heart a singular story of Greene's gustatory and personal development, the book is also a history of culinary culture since the 1960s. She mentions world events that were occurring as she pursued her sybaritic lifestyle; describes her idols, contemporaries and famous chefs; and depicts spectacular meals throughout France, New York and beyond. This delicious read tells the story of America's haute cuisine awakening as written by the woman who had a seat at the table.


The Omnivore's Dilemma A Natural History of Four Meals
It's a fascinating journey up and down the food chain, one that might change the way you read the label on a frozen dinner, dig into a steak or decide whether to buy organic eggs. … Pollan's narrative strategy is simple: he traces four meals back to their ur-species. …Indeed, one of the many eye-openers in the book is the prevalence of corn in the American diet; of the 45,000 items in a supermarket, more than a quarter contain corn. …This may sound earnest, but Pollan isn't preachy: he's too thoughtful a writer, and too dogged a researcher, to let ideology take over. He's also funny and adventurous. He bounces around on an old International Harvester tractor, gets down on his belly to examine a pasture from a cow's-eye view, shoots a wild pig and otherwise throws himself into the making of his meals.

mmmonday: Soft-cooked Eggs with Vanilla Caramel and Brioche

Photo by Martin Brigdale

4 medium eggs
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
4 slices of brioche loaf

for the caramel sauce:
½ cup (100g) superfine sugar
1 tsp lemon juice

A day in advance, put the raw eggs in an airtight container with the split vanilla bean and refrigerate for 24 hours. The flavor of vanilla will permeate the egg shells.

To make the caramel, put the sugar in a heavy, deep pan and dissolve over gentle heat, stirring constantly. As soon as it turns to a light caramel color, turn off the heat and pour in about 1/3 cup (100 ml) boiling water and the lemon juice. Take care as the caramel to sputter and spit. Stir the caramel with a small whisk and cook over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until it has a syrupy consistency. With the tip of a knife, scrape in a few seeds from the vanilla bean. Pour into a small pitcher and keep at room temperature.

Toast the brioche slices, remove the crusts and cut into soldiers; keep warm.

Soft-cook the eggs: Put the eggs in a pan, cover generously with cold water, and set over medium heat. As soon as the water comes to a boil, count up to 60 seconds for a medium egg; the egg white will be slightly set. If you prefer the white slightly firmer but the yolk still runny, cook the egg for another 30 seconds.

Place the eggs in egg cups. Eat with a teaspoon, letting everyone drizzle some caramel over their egg and dip their brioche soldiers into the soft yolks.

From Eggs by Michel Roux, Wiley, $24.95

And for garnish, some tasty recipe links:

• Kay Rentschler's Belgian Endive Gratin
• Strawberry Basil "Bruschetta"
• Marie-Charlotte's Scrambled Eggs and Dandelions