November 22, 2009
Posted by Colin Parent, November 21, 2009 at 5:00 PM
Note: Colin Parent has contributed reviews of burgers in San Diego for A Hamburger Today. Today he's taking a break from burgers to cover the San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival.
[Photographs: Colin Parent]
Entering its sixth year, the 2009 San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival is an epic week-long (November 18 to 22) eating and drinking extravaganza. At least 19 events stretch over the five days, including a series of cooking and wine appreciation classes, wine-tasting parties, and the banner Grand Tasting Event.
The festival is the largest food and wine event in Southern California, with an anticipated 9,000 attendees, 170 wineries, and over 70 San Diego restaurants and chefs participating. The press fact sheet breaks things down to brass tacks: There will be over 800 different wines poured, totaling over 120,000 ounces over the week.
The climax of the festival, like most of these food and wine festivals, is The Grand Tasting Event, a parade of wine and food stations, celebrity chefs, and culinary competition. It's a four hour-long open bar in sunny San Diego, with some serious eats tossed in.
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, November 21, 2009 at 3:00 PM
Still don't have a turkey plan this year? Then we've got a contest for you. The good folks at D'Artagnan are providing us with a turkey a day to give away to one lucky Serious Eats reader from today until Sunday, November 22.*
D'Artagnan is a purveyor of many things delicious—from pâtés to sausages, foie gras to wild mushrooms, game meat to truffles. But right now we're especially interested in their turkeys.
D'Artagnan's certified organic birds are fed organic grains and pure spring water—no protein supplements, no added poultry or fish byproducts, no pesticides or herbicides, and no antibiotics or growth hormones. The result is a bird with great flavor, tenderness, and a 25 percent lower fat content than standard commercially raised turkeys.
We will be giving away 12- to 14-pound organic free-range birds for the duration of the contest. Contest is open only to participants in the continental U.S. Details after the jump.
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, November 21, 2009 at 1:00 PM
From brioche ice cream sandwiches to duck tacos, the Los Angeles street food scene looks pretty darn tasty. A few friends decided to hop around the city with a camera and hit six popular trucks: Barbie's Q (barbecue), Lomo Arigato (Peruvian fusion), Little Spoon Desserts (aw, their Twitter account is @weliketospoon), Flying Pig (Asian-French fusion), Coolhaus (fancy ice cream sandwiches), and Kogi (Korean-Mexi fusion, and the only vendor that declined an interview here). The video, after the jump.
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From Photograzing
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Posted by Claire Sellers, November 21, 2009 at 11:00 AM
[Flickr: Vieux Bandit]
At peak season from October through November, cranberries are a great way to bring in the holidays—with a vibrant hue and delicious tart sweetness, what's not to love? They can be enjoyed in a wide variety of dishes, whether fresh, frozen, or dried.
Cranberry recipes, tips, and info after the jump.
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From Recipes
Posted by Joshua Bousel, November 20, 2009 at 7:30 PM
Note: Each week Joshua Bousel of The Meatwave drops by with a recipe for you to grill over the weekend. Fire it up, Joshua!
[Photographs: Joshua Bousel]
If there's any tension during my family's Thanksgiving, it's usually over who and what gets control of the oven. Too many dishes have been scraped because of limited cooking space, so recipes that don't require oven use are golden.
Even though I hesitate to call this recipe for cider-glazed sweet potatoes real grilling, it does bring the cooking outdoors, which gets bonus points for getting me out of the kitchen completely.
The sweet potatoes are roasted in a liquid mixture of apple cider, brown sugar, olive oil, and cider vinegar until the liquid cooks down and glazes the spuds, which just happens to be about the same time the potatoes become velvety smooth inside. It's a simple recipe that requires little attention, but produces a luscious, sticky-sweet side, making it an excellent choice for any Thanksgiving menu.
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Why is "dressing" more appropriate for [the dish] when baked in a casserole pan? The term "dressing" could be equally read to imply "to dress," as in it dresses something...Just as the bird is stuffed with it, the bird is dressed (up) with it. —Lorenzo
- Scrudle: A utensil designed to scrape and scoop every last morsel. [Independent]
- GQ's Chef of the Year: And the award goes to D.C.-hailing Jose Andres. [GQ]
- Dunkin' on West Coast: If this Boston-themed bar in Santa Monica gets enough orders, they'll drive in the donuts from Vegas. [LA Snark]
- Caviar Sandwiches? The Subway chain looks to open 1,000 more outlets in Russia by 2015. [Reuters]
- Popular Demand (Popeye's): The new music video from Clipse about hanging outside of Obama Fried Chicken, not Popeye's. [Brokelyn]
- Bye, Oprah! Cocktail: To salute 25 years on air, guzzle this down. [VanityFair]
- Martha vs. Rachael: Her style is "not good enough," said Stewart of Ray. [HP]
From Recipes
Posted by Paul Clarke, November 20, 2009 at 5:30 PM
Let's start the weekend right--with a cocktail recipe from Paul Clarke (The Cocktail Chronicles). Need more than one? Hit up the archives. Cheers!
Cocktails can be rich and rugged like a Manhattan, or crisp and sharp like a martini, or bright and tangy like a daiquiri (they can also be sweet and murky like a Bahama Mama, but we won't go there right now). But with the holiday season approaching, your taste buds might feel the need for something with a little more elegance—that's where the French come in.
Composed of two great Gallic spirits (cognac and the herbal liqueur Chartreuse) along with some lemon juice and bitters, the Champs Elysees is the ne plus ultra of elegant cocktails. The Savoy Cocktail Book from 1930 lists a party-size recipe for this drink, which is good billing for its powers as a social lubricant. Fortunately the recipe is easily scaled-down. This one (from Food & Wine's 2008 cocktail guide) was adapted by bartenders at Zig Zag Café in Seattle, who deploy a Champs Élysées anytime a little elegance is needed.
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Posted by Gordon Mark, November 20, 2009 at 5:00 PM
With all the channels on broadcast TV and cable—and the inevitable episode repeats—it's hard to sort out what's new or worthwhile. Let us sort it out for you so you don't miss anything worth watching. Times and episodes may vary with region (especially PBS shows); check your local listings for exact hour and channels.
Saturday (November 21)
Secrets of a Restaurant Chef (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "The Secret to Pork Loin." Pork tenderloin; homemade applesauce; warm cabbage slaw. (repeat) 10:30 a.m. ET, Food Network
5 Ingredient Fix: "Impress the In-Laws." Claire makes rosemary pork tenderloin, cheesy penne, nutty greens with bacon and blue cheese, and simple pineapple sherbet for her in-laws. (repeat) 12:30 a.m. ET, Food Network
Giada at Home (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "A Family Thanksgiving." Giada serves Thanksgiving dinner with a few twists. (repeat) 1 p.m. ET, Food Network
Barefoot Contessa (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Thanksgiving Countdown." Holiday meals recipes for herb roasted turkey breast, sausage and herb stuffing, homemade gravy, and celery root and apple puree. (repeat) 1:30 p.m. ET, Food Network
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From Recipes
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, November 20, 2009 at 4:15 PM
[Photographs: Nick Kindelsperger]
When I think of kidney beans, my mind usually wanders down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. That's when I start dreaming of perfect red beans and rice. It's one of my favorite meals—I'd make it much more often if it didn't take so long. Other than that, I occasionally find kidney beans in bland soups or bowls of chili (though not Texas chili, of course). So, I was little surprised to see them pop up in this Indian recipe from Lisa's Kitchen. Who knew kidney beans were so popular in Northern India?
Oddly, it's the onions that kind of make this dish. They reduce down to a paste that picks up all the flavors from the spices and chiles. Only the beans can slightly calm the bout of spice.
Starting with dried beans would be the far more traditional route but this quick version is still surprisingly good. It's just another reason why I adore vegetarian Indian cuisine so much.
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Though the pumpkin crop wasn't so hot this year and some have flipped about a potentially apocalyptic canned pumpkin shortage, Whole Foods says settle down. According to an email from a PR representative we just received, the store has plenty of their Whole Foods Market 365 canned pumpkin in stock, in fact more than normal. The organic pumpkin crop didn't hurt as badly since it didn't face the same issues with fungus and mold. But if you still can't find the orange stuff, here are some pumpkin pie alternatives.
Posted by Hawk Krall, November 20, 2009 at 3:30 PM
"Take two of the best classic deli sandwiches and combine them."
[Original artwork and photographs: Hawk Krall]
Kosher hot dogs have always been a staple of New York delicatessens. It was only a matter of time before a deli man or two decided to pile some of that delicious pastrami on top of a frankfurter. The components are pretty self explanatory: all-beef kosher hot dog piled high with good, moist pastrami, on a poppy seed bun, maybe garnished with a squirt of deli mustard.
I found one here in Philadelphia at Famous 4th Street Deli, probably our most well-known classic delicatessen. My Pastrami Dog came with at least half a pound of pastrami piled on top. I made it all the way through without a knife and fork, which wasn't easy, but well worth it.
At first glance the Pastrami Dog doesn't look too different from other meat-on-meat atrocities. But it makes more culinary sense, almost a no-brainer. Take two of the best classic deli sandwiches and combine them.
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, November 20, 2009 at 3:00 PM
Still don't have a turkey plan this year? Then we've got a contest for you. The good folks at D'Artagnan are providing us with a turkey a day to give away to one lucky Serious Eats reader from today until Sunday, November 22.*
D'Artagnan is a purveyor of many things delicious—from pâtés to sausages, foie gras to wild mushrooms, game meat to truffles. But right now we're especially interested in their turkeys.
D'Artagnan's certified organic birds are fed organic grains and pure spring water—no protein supplements, no added poultry or fish byproducts, no pesticides or herbicides, and no antibiotics or growth hormones. The result is a bird with great flavor, tenderness, and a 25 percent lower fat content than standard commercially raised turkeys.
We will be giving away 12- to 14-pound organic free-range birds for the duration of the contest. Contest is open only to participants in the continental U.S. Details after the jump.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, November 20, 2009 at 2:15 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.
©iStockphoto.com/wolfephoto
"Letting your roux get darker than blond will make your gravy even tastier. I admit to an irrational prejudice against pale gravy. To me, good gravy is a deep, dark brown." —RegrettableFoodie
"This post has just inspired me to reorganize my spices...." —yayfood
"...And ever since I hit 40, If someone asks me for my ID when I order a drink, it's an automatic 25% tip...." —CatBoy
"What in the hell is Thxgiving? Is it pronounced "thicksgiving"? If I had to guess, I would say that it must be fat people giving stuff away." —olddad
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