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Dining Among the Redwoods at Sunset's Celebration Weekend

YumSugar — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 05:50:52 -0700

On a recent weekend, I had the opportunity to attend Sunset's Celebration Weekend, an outdoor event dedicated to all things lifestyle, from gardening to home improvement to, of course, food. The festival, which took place under a shining sun at Sunset magazine's headquarters in Menlo Park, CA, featured cooking demos from chefs like Cindy Pawclyn, Jamie Lauren, and Aaron McCargo, Jr.; composting seminars from Sunset editors; wine tastings; and vendors selling fresh greens, molés, and gelato. There was tons of food and drink to sample: I spotted everything from grilled sausages to watermelon beer to the tallest strawberry daiquiris known to man. To transport yourself to this sunny California festival,

Happy Hour: Josh Wesson on Pairing Food and Wine

partysugar — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:00:16 -0700

Despite the long lines and hungry event goers, there was one thing the organizers of the Great American Food and Music Festival did right: they invited Josh Wesson to give a special wine seminar. Wesson is a highly regarded wine professional. He's won countless awards and cofounded New York's acclaimed Best Cellars. I was lucky enough to attend Wesson's seminar, Fast Food/Faster Wine! In it he discussed the foundations for pairing food and wine. To learn what he had to say, .

Look for similarities. An obvious pairing is a dessert with a dessert wine. Just make sure the dessert (cake, cookie, pie, etc.) is sweeter than the wine.
Balance sweet and sour. When a dish is highly acidic, look for a sweet wine. If the pairing works, the food will taste less acidic and the wine will taste less sweet.
Think about the dominant taste. Do you want the strongest flavor to be the food or the wine?
Look for ways for the food and wine to complement each other. When a fish tastes oily, it's often served with fresh lemon because the acidity mutes the fishy flavor. This same effect can be achieved with an acidic white wine.
Consider the smell of the wine. Without a sense of smell, the wine is tasteless.
Drink a lot of wine. Don't be afraid to try new wines and different pairings.
The final point that Wesson stressed was that drinking and pairing wine is subjective. If it doesn't appeal to your palate, don't drink it.

Do you enjoy pairing wine with food? What are your go-to matches?

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Summer of Salads: German Potato Salad

YumSugar — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:00:46 -0700

One of the reasons I look forward to Summer is the remarkable seasonal fare that comes along with the warm weather, from barbecue to ceviche to tropical Popsicles and everything in between. Since Party and I have had such a blast putting together Summer recipes (we instated an ice cream sandwich series in years past), we've decided to bring you a brand new series: Summer of salads.

From a crunchy classic Caesar to a Calabrian tuna panzanella, this season is sure to be all about refreshing salads that will keep you going even when the mercury rises. Traditional German potato salad is one of my favorites. Since it's made with a vinegar-based sauce, it's not as creamy as American potato salad, but what it lacks in creaminess it more than makes up for in tang from the vinegar and smokiness from bacon bits. It also stands up to the heat better than classic potato salad. To make this for a Summer grillout or picnic, .

German Potato Salad
Adapted from Bobby Flay

Ingredients

3 pounds new potatoes
1 yellow onion, quartered
1/2 pound bacon, diced
1 large red onion, diced
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1/4 cup canola oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
8 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

Place potatoes in a large pot with the onion and cover with cold water. Cook on high until tender. Drain, discard the onion, and cut the potatoes into cubes when cool enough to handle. Place the potatoes in a large bowl and cover to keep warm.
In a large sauté pan, add the bacon and cook until crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper-towel-lined plate. Add the onions to the rendered bacon fat and cook until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes. Carefully add the vinegar and mustard seeds and cook for 2 more minutes. Whisk in the canola oil and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
Add the hot dressing and the bacon pieces to the potatoes and toss gently to coat. Fold in the green onions and parsley. Season again with salt and pepper, to taste.

Serves 8 as a side dish.

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Dark Chocolate and Red Velvet Make a Scrumptious Sandwich

YumSugar — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:15:02 -0700

I celebrated the season premiere of True Blood this weekend with a southern classic: red velvet cake. Rather than make a layered cake, I opted to try a cookie variation. Traditionally the cake is iced with a vanilla cream cheese frosting; however, I was in the mood for something more decadent and concocted a dark chocolate cream cheese frosting. In addition to the sinful filling, to add a little crunch I sprinkled each cookie sandwich with roasted hazelnuts. The cookies are simple to make, but take into account that they spread, so avoid overcrowding the baking sheet. Don't feel limited to cream cheese frosting filling; a variety of ice creams would be a delectable Summer treat. I definitely want to make these again to celebrate the Fourth of July — the color is perfect! Whether you make them now or later, you'll need the recipe. Get it when you .

Red Velvet Cookies With Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and Roasted Hazelnuts
Adapted from Paula Deen

Ingredients

Cookies
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons buttermilk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon red food coloring
Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups roughly chopped dark chocolate (72% cocoa)
2 squares of baking chocolate
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time.
Then beat in the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and red food coloring.
Once combined, add the dry ingredients to wet. Mix until thoroughly combined.
Onto a parchment lined sheet tray, drop batter using an ice cream scoop, forming 2-inch round circles.
Bake for 10 minutes, until baked through. Cookies should be cake-like and light. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the dark chocolate cream cheese frosting: Melt all of the chocolate in the microwave roughly 2-3 minutes stirring occasionally.
Let chocolate cool. Add cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar and beat on medium low until well combined.
Spread frosting evenly on a cookie. Top with hazelnuts and another cookie.

Makes 12-15 cookies.

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Paul McCartney and Friends Launch "Meat Free Mondays"

YumSugar — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:06:21 -0700

For those of you who haven't become recession flexitarians just yet, Sir Paul McCartney and friends want you to start somewhere. That's why today the Beatle and other celebs launched the UK version of "Meat Free Mondays," a campaign that already exists in the US and Australia to convince consumers to forgo meat one day a week. To check out which celebrities were in attendance, .

At the UK party, McCartney — along with fellow conservationists Stella McCartney, Yoko Ono, Kate Bosworth, Moby, and Kelly Osborne — walked the green carpet in London's St. James's Park to draw attention to climate change issues. There, the singer emphasized that going meatless even once a week means fewer greenhouse gas emissions from the world's livestock population. "I thought this was a great idea," McCartney told reporters. "To just reduce your meat intake maybe by one day a week and this would seriously benefit the planet . . . You've had too much over the weekend anyway and you're all running down to the gym to try and work it off, so just have a meat-free Monday."

With increased concern over greenhouse gases and more of a focus on affordable and healthy options, meatless eating has become a popular concept, even taking flight in the progressive town of Ghent, Belgium. Although I've already had a couple of meaty bites today, I'd consider implementing this beginning next week.

What about you: do you think you could go meatless one day a week?

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A Day at the Great American Food (and Line) Festival

partysugar — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:30:42 -0700

For weeks I was looking forward to attending Serious Eats Great American Food and Music Fest at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, CA. With big-name celebrity chefs like Bobby Flay and Guy Fieri, and the best of America's regional cuisine — Katz's pastrami sandwiches, Pink's hot dogs, Tony Luke's Philly cheesesteaks, etc. — it was sure to be a fabulous festival.

Unfortunately, the first-time event was plagued with problems, so much so that the organizer, Ed Levine, published a formal apology. The computerized credit card pay system crashed, the staff was unhelpful and clueless, and, most importantly, the wait to get any food was two hours long! Instead of smiling, contented faces and full bellies, the crowd was hungry, aggressive, and angry.

Luckily, as the day wore on and the crowds thinned out, things got a little better. Fieri and Flay both gave enthusiastic demos in front of cheering fans. The wine-tasting room was uncrowded, the line for bacon was empty, and the chocolate-almond-covered caramel sticks were finger-licking good. Did anyone else attend? What food did you eat?

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To take a closer look at the festival, check out all of my images and .

The Basics: Croutons

partysugar — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:30:18 -0700

Homemade croutons are a staple in my kitchen. Whenever I have leftover bread, I make them. Like crostini, there's something wildly satisfying about cubes of toasted, crunchy bread. They're a versatile ingredient and can be thrown into salads, placed on top of soups, or munched on as a snack. Toss them with chunks of fresh tomato and olive oil for a quick panzanella. Or spear with toothpicks and plunge into cheesy fondue.

Once you know the simple technique for making croutons, you can season them with whatever you like: grated cheese, dried or fresh herbs, spices, garlic, etc. You can also vary the moistening ingredient — sometimes I'll make croutons with melted butter and other times I prefer olive oil. Same goes with the crust: you can remove it or, for a more rustic crouton, leave it on.

One thing, however, that always remains the same, is the cooking method. Although you can easily saute them in a pan on the stove, I prefer to bake my croutons in the oven. It provides a crispy texture and requires less work. To look at my recipe, .

Croutons
Modified From Martha Stewart

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 loaf (8 to 10 ounces) rustic Italian bread, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine butter and olive oil in a large bowl. Add bread cubes, and toss until coated. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper; toss until evenly coated.
Spread bread in a single layer on an 11-by-17-inch baking sheet.
Bake until croutons are golden, about 15-20 minutes.

Makes 3-4 cups of croutons.

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Make Use of Summer's Berries With Ina's Pavlova

partysugar — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:00:24 -0700

Ever since I saw Ina Garten make a berry pavlova on her Food Network show, Barefoot Contessa, I've fantasized about making one myself. The episode debuted in 2006 and here I am three years later, finally making the recipe! A pavlova is a dessert consisting of a meringue disk filled with whipped cream and chopped fruit.

Although it requires time and patience, the recipe is rather simple. The three components are made separately and then are combined just before serving. Ina's pavlova includes blueberries, but I subbed in cherries — feel free to use your favorite fruit.

The final dessert is sophisticated, scrumptious, and ideal for Summer entertaining. The outside of the meringue is crisp, while the inside is pillowy and marshmallow-like. The whipped sweetened cream forms a fluffy cushion for the perfectly ripe plump berries. To get started with your own pavlova you'll need the recipe so, .

Mixed Berry Pavlova
Modified From Ina Garten

Ingredients

4 large egg whites, room temperature
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon white-wine vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Sweetened Whipped Cream, recipe follows
1/2 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/2 pint fresh cherries
1/2 pint fresh raspberries
Triple Raspberry Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using an overturned bowl or a cake pan as a guide, trace a 9-inch circle onto parchment. Turn parchment over, marked side down.
Beat egg whites, cornstarch, salt, and vinegar with a mixer on medium speed until foamy.
Gradually add sugar. Raise speed to medium-high, and beat until stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes.
Reduce speed to medium, and gradually add confectioners' sugar. Raise speed to medium-high, and beat until very stiff, glossy peaks form, about 7 minutes. Beat in vanilla.
Using a rubber spatula or a large spoon, spread meringue into marked 9-inch circle on prepared baking sheet, forming a well in center.
Bake until outside is firm and bottom lifts easily off parchment, about 2 hours. The inside should still be marshmallow soft. Turn off the oven, keep the door closed, and allow the meringue to cool completely in the oven, about 1 hour or overnight. It will be crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. When cool, carefully remove from parchment. Pavlova can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
Spread the top completely with sweetened whipped cream.
Combine the strawberries, cherries and raspberries in a bowl and toss with about 1/2 cup of raspberry sauce, or enough to coat the berries lightly. Spoon the berries carefully into the middle of the Pavlova, leaving a border of cream and meringue. Serve immediately in large scoops with extra raspberry sauce.

Serves 8-10.

Sweetened Whipped Cream:
1 cup cold heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Whip the cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (you can also use a hand mixer). When it starts to thicken, add the sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until firm. Don't overbeat!

Makes 1 cup.

Triple Raspberry Sauce:
1 half-pint fresh raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup seedless raspberry jam (12-ounce jar)
1 tablespoon framboise liqueur

Place the raspberries, sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 4 minutes. Pour the cooked raspberries, the jam, and framboise into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until smooth. Chill.

Makes 2 cups.

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Happy Hour: Pink Torpedoes

partysugar — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:00:54 -0700

Inspired by a cocktail class I recently attended, I decided to make my own strawberry-infused vodka. The technique is simple: all you have to do is slice a bunch of strawberries and combine them with the vodka and a little sugar. Then you let it sit for a couple of days until the vodka has a vibrant pink color. Unlike store-bought-infused vodkas, this homemade variation has a sweet-tart berry flavor that's neither syrupy or cloying. Once the vodka is ready, you can sip it solo or make a pink torpedo like I did.

This fizzy-girlie drink combines the vodka with limoncello and sparkling wine. If you don't have sparkling wine, you can substitute sparkling water. It's a fabulously refreshing concoction perfect for enjoying on a warm afternoon. To look at the recipe, .

Pink Torpedoes
Modified from Everyday With Rachael Ray

Ingredients

2 cups vodka, chilled
1 1/2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
Limoncello
One 750-ml bottle sparkling wine or sparkling water, chilled

Directions

In a large bowl, stir together the vodka, two-thirds of the sliced strawberries and the granulated sugar. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until the vodka turns pink, about 6 hours. Refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days.
Fill 6 glasses with ice. Strain the vodka and divide among 6 tall glasses.
Add a splash of limoncello to each glass and top off with the sparkling wine or sparkling water. Garnish with the remaining strawberry slices.

Makes 6 drinks.

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Say Cheese! Parmesan Fricos

partysugar — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:15:08 -0700

Parmesan cheese is quite possibly Italy's most popular cheese. The hard, dry cheese has clearly won its way into the hearts of America. It's made from skimmed (or partially skimmed) cow's milk and has a pale golden rind and light-straw interior. Although Parmesan is made in the US, Argentina, and Australia, for it to be authentically Italian it must be called Parmigiano-Reggiano. On average Parmesan is aged for two years. It has a granular texture that's sometimes characterized by crystals.

The flavor of Parmesan is salty, complex, and nutty. Parmesan is insanely versatile: it's obviously delicious in pasta, makes a wonderful addition to any cheese plate, is great shaved on salads or crisped on pizzas, and makes an exceptional frico. What exactly is a frico? Find out when you .

Frico, quite simply a crispy disk made of grated cheese, are native to Italy's Friuli region. Traditionally fricos consist of montasio cheese, but authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano is a nice substitute. Fricos can be used in salads, but paired with a glass of Prosecco, they make a light, luxurious appetizer.

Parmesan Fricos
Modified from Food & Wine

Ingredients

4 cups Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, coarsely grated

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°. In the corner of a large nonstick baking sheet, sprinkle 1/4 cup of the grated cheese in a 4-inch round. Repeat to make 3 more rounds on the baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between the rounds.
Bake the frico in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the cheese is slightly melted and golden brown. Let the frico cool on the sheet for 2 minutes to firm up.
Using a metal spatula, transfer the frico to a platter to cool completely; they’ll crisp as they cool. Repeat with the remaining cheese. Arrange the frico on a platter and serve.

Serves 8.

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