July 3, 2009
From Recipes
Posted by Joshua Bousel, July 3, 2009 at 8:00 PM
On Fridays, Joshua Bousel drops by with a recipe for you to grill over the weekend. Fire it up, Joshua!
Before you run out and grab all those burgers and hot dogs for tomorrow's great Fourth of July cookout, let me tempt you with another great American tradition that's great for the grill and revelers alike: pizza Although the high heat of the grill produces a truly excellent pizza, it's a challenge to get a perfectly cooked crisp crust at the same time the toppings are ready, but after years of trial and error, I've developed a fairly foolproof way to get perfect pizzas every time.
This requires a two-zone fire, with all the coals piled on one side of the charcoal grate, and a process of cooking the crust in stages.
First you stretch the dough out to a personal-size pizza and place it directly over the coals, cooking it until it browns and crisps nicely. Then remove the crust to a plate, arrange the toppings on the cooked side, place it over the cool side of the grill, and cover. When the cheese is melted and the toppings are done to your liking, check the bottom of the crust; if it needs to cook a little longer, just move it over to the hot side again until it's perfect.
What comes off the grill is a real beauty of a pie. A wonderfully cooked crust, with that balance of crisp and chewiness that makes a great pizza—something to truly celebrate alongside our independence.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, July 3, 2009 at 7:00 PM
I feel like the most fun part of making dumplings is the part where you crimp the edges and marvel at your hand made dough pouch, but maybe my opinion would change if I tried Bandai's new gyoza (dumpling) maker [English translation]. According to Bandai's website, the gyoza maker is geared towards 8 to 12-year-old girls (no boys allowed?) and their parents, and will be available starting on July 25 for ¥3,150 (about $33). Place the dumpling skin on the rollers, use the included spatula to plop in some filling, close the lid, crank away, and—ta da, dumpling sort of instantly plops into the drawer below!
If I were a kid I'd probably love this thing. As an adult, I love it just because it takes the individual dumpling-making process to such complicated heights by way of an aesthetically pleasing toy. I'm looking forward to hearing how well this thing works in real life. [via Gizmodo]
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From Recipes
Posted by Paul Clarke, July 3, 2009 at 6:00 PM
Let's start the weekend right—with a cocktail recipe from Paul Clarke (The Cocktail Chronicles). Need more than one for the three-day? Hit up the archives. Cheers!
For all its reputation as a warm-weather refresher, on a truly hot afternoon when you’re relaxing outside with the smoke from the grill blowing across the yard, a beer has a hard time keeping up. No matter how thick your beer cozy, by the time you reach the bottom half, the heat of the day has sapped the beer’s refreshing character right out of the bottle, leaving the rest of your drink tepid and disappointing.
Fortunately, there’s this stuff called ice, and it has a wonderful way of keeping your drink cold even on the most sultry Fourth of July weekend. Pack a highball glass with big chunks of very cold ice, add a measure of something sharp, and leaven it with something crisp and bubbly, and you’ve got a drink that keeps its backbone long after your average beer has turned flaccid and unappealing.
Here’s a highball that’s easy to prepare and immensely refreshing. Named for an opera singer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Mamie Taylor was quite fashionable at the turn of the last century, though by the middle of the 20th it had almost completely disappeared. For fortification, the Mamie Taylor relies on blended scotch, but while this dark spirit can evoke the cooler months, fresh lime juice lightens the spirit’s ponderous demeanor, and a spicy ginger ale or ginger beer places it firmly in summer-cooler territory—making it just the thing to help celebrate a long holiday weekend.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, July 3, 2009 at 5:00 PM
There's so much going on in Talk week to week that we almost can't keep up. If you're in the same boat, here's a small selection of topics and responses that have piqued our interest this week.
"When I do chicken for a crowd, I BBQ thighs on the bone. They are very moist and VERY forgiving as far as window of service goes. I also think they taste better. We're having a Crawdad boil with all the fixin's. We live in the middle of Oregon wine country and this is year three for the Crawfish Feed. Today on Tuesday we are in the false sense of control, Wednesday/Thursday will bring panic, followed by denial on Friday. Looking at anywhere from 60 to 100 people." —NWcajun
"100-cheers for ICE COLD beer! There's really nothing I crave MORE when it's hot out." —hungrychristel
"Racking my brain, here's what I've come up with: Spring rolls or rice wraps — you can fill them with just about anything — my favorite Thai place around here does rice noodles, carrots, shrimp (can be replaced with tofu or left out) and mint. Flatbreads — there are some ideas on this thread. Also, bean salads, marinated veggies, baba ghanoush... hope this helps!" —thinkingincrayons
"...The sad truth is that unless you're grinding your own meat, it's not advisable to cook a burger rare or medium rare. Insert an instant read thermometer in the side of the burger till you reach the center of the patty and when it reads 160, it's done." —therealchiffonade
"I'm a cook in an open kitchen of a corporate restaurant with a policy against being 'unwelcoming' to customers near close. If they walk in at 5 to close and want 3 courses plus dessert, we have to stay and pretend we're thrilled they've come. You can bet we're all talking about the interesting ways we could kill them and chop them into the cobb salad." —unarata Chefs &
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Posted by Robyn Lee, July 3, 2009 at 4:00 PM
Photograph from 17 and Baking
If you're tired of the typical berry-dotted Flag Cake, Elissa of 17 and Baking has a creative Fourth of July dessert recipe for you: layered hidden flag cake! The flag, featuring an outer blue ring of cake, only appears when you cut into the cake. Elissa explains how to construct the cake and shares a recipe for cream cheese frosting. [via @bakingbites]
Related
4th of July: What's on Your Menu?
Celebrating July Fourth with a Plop (Not a Bang)
A Fruitful Crisp for the 4th of July
If you haven't noticed it, I figured I'd call your attention to our new "tweet spot" on the homepage of Serious Eats. The latest tweet from our Twitter stream now appears at the bottom of the upper right hand feature box.
We use Twitter in a variety of ways, but if you're not on Twitter yourself or are not following us (and, really, why aren't you?!?), you may be missing out on the fact that it's become a bit of a supplemental microblog for us. We often post links there that we're thinking about blogging on the homepage or that, for whatever reason, may not ever appear on the homepage but are still interesting, funny, or useful. So hit our tweet spot, why doncha?
And, of course, if you're not following us on Twitter, what the heck are you waiting for? We're @seriouseats.
From Recipes
Posted by Caroline Russock, July 3, 2009 at 2:00 PM
Plantains are not that popular in the U.S., but the rest of the world eats them up. They are a starchy staple of many tropical countries' diets. Wikipedia lists no fewer than 23 regional dishes that revolve around plantains. In the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras, and Venezuela they are sliced into chips and called plátanos maduros. In Cuba they are mashed into a porridge known as fufu. Plantains are fried in Ivory Coast and served with a tomato onion sauce and grilled fish to make aloco.
This recipe for Plantain Shoestring Fries from Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries & Shakes is a great introduction to cooking with plantains. Most stores sell ripe and unripe plantains; they both look like giant mutant bananas, except that one type will be green and firm and the other will be black and soft. This recipe calls for the unripe, green variety, which is starchy enough to fry up crisp.
Win 'Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries & Shakes'
As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries & Shakes to give away this week. Enter to win here »
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Posted by Robyn Lee, July 3, 2009 at 1:00 PM
This fireworks display from stop-motion animation artist PES features Peeps, candy corn, Good & Plenty, and more. If only real fireworks caused candy to fall out of the sky. Watch the video after the jump.
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Posted by Deb Harkness, July 3, 2009 at 11:00 AM
Editor's note: On Fridays Deb Harkness of Good Wine Under $20 joins us to talk some Serious Grape. Today, some advice for entertaining this weekend. Take it away, Deb!
"If you can't be bothered washing stemware or are worried about fragile stems breaking outside, get yourself some stemless wine glasses."
This weekend, at cookouts all over America, people will be drinking wine out of plastic cups.
Sometimes, you just have to. Between the breakage issues and the cleanup issues, we can all be forgiven for occasionally serving Chardonnay in plastic tumblers.
But the wine will suffer for it. It will have barely any taste, no discernible aromas, and seem tart and slightly vinegary. At a backyard cookout that may matter less than someone stepping on broken glass or facing a sink full of dishes. But before you pour your cult Cabernet into a plastic cup, here's what I found out about the importance of good stemware at a seminar led by Georg Riedel, the founder of the wineglass company Riedel.
I knew in a vague way that serving wine in proper glasses mattered. But I had no idea how much until Georg Riedel led more than a hundred of us through a tasting this spring at the Hospice du Rhône event in Paso Robles. We tasted some pretty superb wine in everything from plastic cups to handblown lead crystal. The results were convincing: what you put your wine into matters as much as the wine itself.
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Posted by Ed Levine, July 3, 2009 at 8:39 AM
I am on Martha's Vineyard, where pies seem to be baked on every corner. I can get my pie fix from Mrs. Blake's, The Black Dog Bakery, Little Rock Farms, The Scottish Bakehouse, Fiddlehead Farm, The Old Stone Bakery, Just Pie, Morning Glory Farms, Garcia's, and literally too many other places to mention. I happen to be partial to Mrs. Blake's, because of her flaky crusts and her fruity, not goopy, fillings, but I am not slavishly devoted to her 8-inch round beauties.
So faced with this plethora of pies this July 4th weekend I am going to embark on an admittedly gimmicky, some would say radical, others would say ridiculous and silly, one-day diet of just pie.
Stay with me here. Let me do the math.
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Posted by Grace Kang, July 2, 2009 at 7:30 PM
©iStockPhoto/rojoimages
This July 4th the weather forecast is predicting sunny skies all day in my area, so you'll find me basking in the warmth and chowing down on some summer classics. Here's my proposal for a good times menu complete with ribs and rosé! What's on your July 4th menu?
- Pineapple-Braised Ribs with Honey-Garlic Tomato Glaze: "Succulent, retaining their smokiness while adding a layer of depth with the sweetness from the pineapple braise." The only problem when contributor Josh Bousel made them was that they were gone too fast! As long as I get my six rib share, I'll be happy.
- Fresh Corn Salad: Corn salad is my favorite side dish when eating outdoors and it makes for a great alternative to the ubiquitous spud.
- Ed's Favorite Potato Salad: For those on the potato side of things, here's Ed's favorite!
- Marinated Vegetable Sandwich: These are a lighter alternative in case your family likes to get its badminton on during its cookouts. Sadly, you can't bring your A-game when you're loaded down with six ribs in your belly.
- Toasted Almond Lemon Bars: Adding toasted almonds to the shortbread crust elevates the lemon bars into something special. Honestly, since when has adding toasted almonds ever been a bad idea?
- Rosé Sangria: Sangria's easy to put together and a definite crowd pleaser. I would definitely try adding a sparkling rosé though in order to fulfill the three requirements of my perfect drink: pink, sparkly, and fresh!
More grilling recipes »
Burger recipes »
- NASA Drink Comes Down to Earth: The space-orade designed to keep star voyagers hydrated is now available planetside. [space.com]
- Ground Up: Sonic Youth reflects on its Starbucks music deal. [BeatCrave]
- How-To: Placate picky-eater houseguests. [Etiquette Daily]
- The F Word, Indeed: Ramsay's profits dive 90 percent. [The Independent]
- Couch Potatoes: Researchers say TV ads trigger mindless eating. [US News]
- Food Prices: Cost of eggs, milk drops most of any staple foods since 2008. [Newsday]
Though his face is "all messed up," Henry Rouwendal is otherwise fine. It's safe to assume, though, that his Italian hoagie, "loaded with salami and other meats, lettuce, onions, and tomatoes" has been completely mauled by this time. [NJ.com]
Posted by Carey Jones, July 2, 2009 at 6:00 PM
Your mother made you drink three glasses each day. There’s probably a carton in your fridge right now. And, as Anne Mendelson likes to remind us, it was every mammal's first food.
But even though milk is a staple of Americans’ everyday lives, most of us know virtually nothing about it—where it originated, how it’s being produced, or how unique our milk-guzzling tendencies are. In her James Beard-nominated book, Milk: The Surprising History Of Milk Through The Ages, Anne Mendelson sets out to educate us. Sweeping through the human history of dairy and the advent of modern milk production, before diving into recipes for everything from New England clam chowder to Indian panir cheese, Mendelson pens “the culinary guidebook, dairy-chemistry-for-cooks primer, and eclectic recipe collection” that she “always vainly wished somebody had written.”
Milk
The Surprising History Of Milk Through The Ages
Author: Anne Mendelson
Get It: Hardcover on Amazon.com
The result is a somewhat scattered, if thematically coherent look at milk in all its culinary and cultural incarnations. While most Americans think of milk primarily as a beverage or cereal topping, Mendelson wants to show us how unusual our reliance on unsoured milk is. Humans are the only creatures to extract and drink another animal’s milk. Northwestern Europeans, and, through colonial extension, Americans are among the few to drink great quantities of fresh milk, rather than naturally soured; fresh milk is far more difficult to preserve (and, with its unbroken lactose, digest). And twentieth-century Americans, spurred by industrial advancements and widespread demand, were the first to transform milk into the vitamin-enriched, de-fatted, texturally uniform drink we know today.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, July 2, 2009 at 5:00 PM
After seeing VerySmallAnna's cute paintings of animals and food, I knew I had to make a request. A week later, Monsieur Manatee was born. This red beret-clad manatee likes to nosh on crusty baguettes and bags of treats from Pierre Hermé—just like me!
Thanks so much to Anna for making my office space a little bit cuter. If you commission a painting from her, I'd love to see what you end up with.
