Leftovers!
From Slice
According to a New York Times reader, Finn's Pizza in Homer, Alaska, offers terrific thin-crust pizza made with local ingredients in a wood-burning oven. But how long can tomato-growing season really be in Alaska? According to an Alaska native we checked with, it's short, just two or three months, but since there are roughly 22 hours of daylight during summertime, tomatoes grow to jumbo sizes. And, he pointed out, "locavore" toppings could also include smoked salmon.
From Required Eating
Posted by Sarah Wolf, August 7, 2008 at 10:30 AM
It's commonly found in everything from soda to canned soup. But after some studies suggested a link between the sweetener and obesity, many consumers have become wary of high fructose corn syrup and are putting pressure on soft drink companies to start sweetening their beverages with sugar cane. In fact, some smaller companies like Hansen, Jones, and Thomas Kemper have already gone natural to satisfy consumer demand.
Nutrition expert Dr. Peter Havel of UC Davis expressed doubts that fructose was any more unhealthy than cane sugar, telling the Los Angeles Times, "This is really an area that needs further study." But science aside, there's no question that sugar just plain tastes better, which ought to be reason enough to avoid the artificial stuff.
Related:
Jones Soda Switches to Pure Cane Sugar
Why Do Diet Sodas Taste Like Crap?
Weight Gain and Fructose
From Required Eating
Posted by Raphael, August 7, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Ever go to T.G.I. Friday’s and say to yourself, "Hey, this line is really long! I wish there was a way to cut ahead of all these people!"? Now there's at least one way to get some V.I.P. treatment in the local strip mall without slipping the maître d' a twenty. Not sure how we missed this, but T.G.I. Friday’s launched their loyalty program, "Give Me More Stripes" on July 14, and the numbers are astounding: more than 380,000 members signed up, which evens out to more than 600 members per U.S. restaurant.
In a way, it's not surprising when given these perks: a free appetizer or dessert upon sign-up, a one-time use jump-the-line-pass, and an $8 certificate for every $100 spent (excluding alcohol). T.G.I. Friday's has got promotion right. Who needs to pretend-blow up fake restaurants? People just want free food and a shiny, personalized membership card.
From Required Eating
Posted by Sarah Wolf, August 6, 2008 at 8:00 PM
Curious cook Harold McGree is spending the day answering interesting kitchen questions on the New York Times's Diner's Journal blog. So far, he's deemed carrot tops safe to eat but reserved judgment on cheese with the mold trimmed off. On a more pleasant note, he explains why salt and pepper are our "basic" spices. And in the realm of kitchen thermodynamics, McGee analyzes the effects of heat on oil in pans and rimmed baking sheets.
From Recipes
Posted by Amanda Clarke, August 6, 2008 at 7:00 PM
I love corn. When it’s in season, I sneak fresh sweet corn into every meal that I can. Before it goes out of season, I cut a bunch off of the cob to keep in the freezer, and when that runs out, I content my urges with store-bought frozen or canned. I eat the fresh stuff straight off the cob or use the stripped kernels of all varieties in quesadillas, salsas, salads, soups, stuffings, casseroles and pastas. I even enjoy corn in desserts, but it wasn’t always that way.
My first encounter with corn in a sweet context came perhaps 20 years ago, in the form of pancakes—delicate, fresh kernels had been folded into the batter before it was dolloped into a skillet of hot bacon fat. I was appalled: not at the bacon grease (even then I inherently understood that just about everything could be elevated by association with bacon), but at the corn.
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From Required Eating
Posted by Robyn Lee, August 6, 2008 at 6:45 PM
When I attended the Louisa County Agricultural Fair in Louisa, Virginia, last Saturday, I wasn't expecting to be wowed by locally grown produce. The first place winner in the "garlic" category practically gave off a glowing aura of perfection (or maybe that was due to the reflection of the sun's rays, but let's go with divine illumination). I ooh-ed and ah-ed, wondering why I had never seen such pristine garlic before. That's what the loving Louisa farmer will get you.
From Required Eating
Posted by Paul Clarke, August 6, 2008 at 6:00 PM
T.S. Eliot began his landmark poem, The Waste Land, with the memorable line, “April is the cruelest month.”
Eliot obviously never spent July or August in Washington, D.C.
Considering the hair-melting heat to be found in the nation’s capital during summer’s peak, it’s not surprising that the city’s primary contribution to mixology is the long, cooling drink known as the Rickey. As Jason Wilson writes in today’s Washington Post, the combination of spirit (originally bourbon, but more commonly made with gin), lime juice, and soda water was named for Colonel Joe Rickey, a former Confederate soldier and longtime lobbyist. He is credited with first combining the ingredients sometime around the turn of the last century at Shoemaker’s Bar, a Capitol Hill watering hole.
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From Required Eating
Posted by Sarah Wolf, August 6, 2008 at 5:30 PM
A letter from over 100 college coaches recently urged the NCAA to phase out beer and other alcohol ads from its sports telecasts, stating that they were "troubled by the prominence of alcohol advertising in televised college sports." The petition received support from the Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, whose director George A. Hacker deplored the "hypocrisy and illogic of NCAA's sell-out to beer peddlers." The letter was also supported by 59 college presidents and 239 athletic directors.
Alcohol advertising is currently limited by the NCAA to one minute per hour of any telecast, and may only promote products with alcohol levels of 6% or lower. Should the NCAA follow the coaches' suggestion and eliminate beer ads altogether, or should the coaches give in to beer as a natural part of college life?
Related: WiiWare 'Beer Pong' Game, Now Minus the Beer
From Recipes
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, August 6, 2008 at 4:45 PM
I decided to try this Cook's Illustrated recipe for sautéed chicken cutlets mainly for the accompanying shallot and white wine sauce, besides that I got a great new skillet and wanted to put it to some good use. It just so happened that I also stumbled across a wonderful way to make thin chicken cutlets. Forget those bone dry ones that get hammered into oblivion—this method differs in one key way: the chicken breasts are first sliced in half and then gently pounded out. The result is a thin cutlet perfect for quickly sautéing that also happens to be juicy. Not a bad deal.
But back to that sauce. Because the chicken cutlets are sautéed over high heat, loads of little bits stick to the pan (no non-stick please). When the pan is deglazed with the wine and chicken broth, those bits get dislodged with tongs and a wonderful sauce comes to life. It's almost a little too good. The sauce gets used up quickly.
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From Required Eating
Posted by Ed Levine, August 6, 2008 at 4:00 PM
Fried chicken from Amy Ruth's in Harlem.
The New York Times notes that many traditional soul food restaurants have closed in Harlem as victims of the neighborhood's changing tastes. Having been a big fan of a number of the now shuttered restaurants, including Pan Pan, Wimp's, Singleton's, Copeland's, and Wilson's, I am saddened by this trend. Especially for those of us who love fried chicken, this is a real loss, and these restaurants may not be replaced. (Note: The Times story said that M&G Diner, another fried chicken stalwart, was still open. Were that the case. I believe it closed a couple of months ago, and the phone there was disconnected when I called.)
The story made me wonder if this trend is going on in other non-Southern cities with well-established African-American neighborhoods. Are Chicago soul food restaurants also on the endangered (fried chicken) species list? What about Los Angeles soul food spots? Serious eaters want to know.
From Required Eating
This list puts Van Halen's "Pound Cake" at No. 1. I'll give them points for effort, but where the heck is R. Kelly's "In the Kitchen"? (Then again, with R. Kells, it often goes beyond simple metaphor.)
From A Hamburger Today
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 6, 2008 at 3:15 PM
We just received a copy of The Devil's Food Dictionary here in the AHT-Serious Eats office, and one of the first entries I turned to was, of course, hamburger. Here's what's what:
Ranked a close second among the world's most popular Foods after Crisp, Salty Fried Things in a Bag, the hamburger consists of a cooked ground-beef patty between two halves of a Bun, dressed with various Condiements and Garnishes. For a surprising number of Americans, it also serves as a lifestyle.
The Devil's Food Dictionary in book form grew out of writer and musician Barry Foy's website of the same name, which sports the tagline "A pioneering culinary reference work consisting entirely of lies." The book is full of dry witty gems like this one. Hit up the site's archives for an idea of what you'll get.
The Devil's Food Dictionary will be out on September 2, 2008; $17.95; 268 pages.
From Recipes
Posted by Lucy Baker, August 6, 2008 at 2:45 PM
Grilling is most often associated with bold, forthright flavors—thick sauces, fiery spices, and lots of meat—but there are delicate options out there that are just as delectable. Today's Cook the Book recipe, excerpted from Bobby Flay's Grill It! combines tender sea scallops with soft, translucent rice noodles and a light citrus-ginger sauce.
To toast sesame seeds on a grill, pour them in a single layer in a sauté pan, and place the pan directly on the grates. Shake the pan every couple of minutes to prevent burning, until the seeds are fragrant and light gold in color, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.
Win 'Bobby Flay’s Grill It!'
In addition to excerpting a recipe each day this week, we’re also giving away five (5) copies of Grill It! Enter to win here.
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