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Fast & Easy Dinner: Manhattan Clam Chowder

partysugar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:30:13 -0800

Living in San Francisco it's virtually impossible to find a Manhattan-style red clam chowder. To enjoy this chunky and filling soup, I have to make it myself, thus I've decided to experiment with this recipe.

With its pieces of clams, tomatoes, and veggies, this red chowder is healthier then the cream-based variation. Serve with a side of mixed greens and a hunk of crusty bread, and you've got a deliciously comforting weeknight meal. Check out the recipe and read more.

Manhattan Clam Chowder
From Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients

1 pint shucked clams or two 6-1/2-ounce cans minced clams
1 cup chopped celery (2 stalks)
1/3 cup chopped onion (1 small)
1/4 cup chopped carrot (1 small)
2 tablespoons olive oil or cooking oil
1 8-ounce bottle clam juice or 1 cup chicken broth
2 cups cubed red potato
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 tablespoons purchased cooked bacon pieces or cooked crumbled bacon*

Directions

Chop fresh clams, if using, reserving juice; set clams aside. Strain clam juice to remove bits of shell. (Or, drain canned clams, reserving juice.) If necessary, add enough water to reserved clam juice to equal 1-1/2 cups. Set juice aside.
In a large saucepan cook celery, onion, and carrot in hot oil until tender.
Stir in the reserved 1-1/2 cups clam juice and the 8 ounces clam juice. Stir in potatoes, thyme, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat.
Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Stir in undrained tomatoes, clams, and bacon.
Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes more or until heated through.

Serves 4.

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Come Party With Me: Fashion Week Party - Drinks

YumSugar — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:15:19 -0700

For the bash I'm throwing in honor of New York Fashion Week, I'll be serving everyone rounds of this drink, the Manhattan. Not only is it a classic cocktail, but it's sleek, urban, and distinctly New York. The best thing about this bar classic? It's just as easy to make in a large batch as it is to prepare just one.

For those of my guests who aren't sipping spirits, I'll have sparkling cranberry juice on hand to pour, so they can look (and feel) just as glamorous as the rest. To stir up this fashionable drink, read more.

Manhattan
From Food and Wine

Ingredients

Ice
12 ounces sweet vermouth
8 ounces rye whiskey
2 ounces Grand Marnier
16 dashes of Angostura bitters
8 orange or lemon twists

Directions

Fill a pitcher two-thirds full with ice.
Add the vermouth, rye, Grand Marnier, and bitters, and stir for 30 seconds to chill.
Strain into 8 chilled martini glasses.
Top each with a twist.

Serves 8.

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Happy Hour: Manhattan

partysugar — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:55:47 -0700

In order to be a wonderful home entertainer, you must learn how to make the classic drinks. The Martini, Cosmopolitan, and Margarita are popular drinks that highlight gin, vodka, and tequila respectively. It's good to know one basic cocktail for each of the five major liquors (gin, vodka, tequila, rum, and whiskey). Dating back to 1870, a Manhattan is the optimal whiskey drink. Take care when mixing this cocktail because it can be difficult at first to get the correct ration of whiskey to vermouth. Use a rye or bourbon whiskey for best results when making your guests this drink. Meant to be stirred rather than shaken a Manhattan is a wonderful before dinner drink that pairs nicely with salty appetizers. To see how it's done, read more

Manhattan
From Williams Sonoma: The Bar Guide

2 1/2 ounces rye, bourbon, or blended Canadian whiskey
1 1/2 tablespoons sweet vermouth
2 dashes angostura bitters
1 maraschino cherry, for garnish

Pour the whiskey, vermouth, and bitters into a mixing glass two-thirds full of ice cubes.
Stir well.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with cherry and enjoy.

Serves 1.

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Which Clam Chowder Reigns Supreme?

YumSugar — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:27:31 -0800

New York may have beaten New England at the Super Bowl, but I want to know who would've won the chowder bowl? Would New York (aka Manhattan) clam chowder take home the prize or will New England clam chowder win it all? Vote for your team below!

Source

Campbell's Emphasizes Oodles of Noodles With New Campaign

YumSugar — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:30:02 -0700

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of its celebrated chicken noodle soup, food company Campbell's has really used its noodle. Yesterday, the 140-year-old company launched a bold campaign called "Slurp" to get consumers to think about its staid soup in a new way.

To promote the fact that there are 32 feet of egg noodles in every can of its chicken noodle soup, the corporation partnered with ad agency BBDO New York and Traction Creative. They've erected a giant billboard with a 54-foot noodle coming out of it, which appears to be slurped by a mannequin standing in a window three stories above.The billboard is near Manhattan's Times Square and will be displayed on the corner of 7th Avenue and 53rd Street for the next four weeks, where it will attract plenty of attention in a high-traffic area.

The campaign is cute - I only wish I could see the billboard in person! - and I learned something new (I would never have guessed there are 32 feet of noodles in every Campbell's can). What do you think of the marketing effort? Does it make you want to buy Campbell's chicken noodle soup?

Source: Flickr User Vagamundos

What's Cooking at Slashfood

YumSugar — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:00:44 -0700

We love Slashfood so much that every Thursday we round up their most delicious stories. Here are this week's finds:

The Swiss attempt to define what constitutes authentic fondue.
Snapshots from a Prohibition-esque party, the Manhattan Cocktail Classic.
Michelin releases its New York City Restaurants 2010 guide.
McDonald's is opening an outpost at the Louvre.
Custom ice cream vending machines and no-fry fryers: the wave of the future?
American chestnuts are the target of a new restoration project.

Source: Flickr User scaredy_kat

Sheila Lukins, Cookbook Pioneer, Dies at 66

YumSugar — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:30:38 -0700

In sad news, food legend Sheila Lukins, the author of such famed tomes as The New Basics and The Silver Palate Cookbook, passed away Sunday at her home in Manhattan after a three-month fight with brain cancer.

Lukins was credited with broadening the taste buds of American cooks. At a time when canned cream soups and fussy French recipes were the rage, she made dishes like gazpacho and Indonesian lamb stew accessible to home chefs. In 1977, she opened the Silver Palate food shop, and five years later, the first of four Silver Palate cookbooks followed.
Most recently, Lukins penned Ten: All the Foods We Love and Ten Recipes For Each, which combined her expertise with 32 chapters on her favorite foods, with 10 recipes for each. When we sat down to breakfast with her not too long ago, she spoke about her rigorous recipe-testing process, the importance of reading recipes thoroughly, and eating seasonally.

Our thoughts are with Sheila's family and friends during this difficult time.

Photo: Francesco Scavullo

Come Party With Me: Summer Cocktail - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:30:06 -0700

A Summer cocktail party must have a specialty cocktail. At first I thought to serve a classic concoction like a martini or Manhattan, but when I came across this updated version of the sidecar - a drink dating back to World War I that consists of cognac, lemon juice, and orange liqueur - I knew I had to make it. The basic three ingredients are there, but the addition of pineapple juice and muddled blackberries provide a distinct and deceptively delicious taste. To ensure that I'm not making cocktails all night, I'll set the ingredients up on a table in the garden and print out the recipe on nice paper. Then, I'll encourage guests to shake their own cocktails!

I've also asked everyone to bring either beer or wine, so they'll be plenty to drink when the cocktails run out. For the recipe, read more.

Blackberry-Pineapple Sidecar
From Food & Wine

Ingredients

7 blackberries
Ice
2 ounces Cognac
1/2 ounce Cointreau or other triple sec
1 1/2 ounces pineapple juice
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce Simple Syrup
1 or 2 pineapple leaves, for garnish (optional)

Directions

In a cocktail shaker, muddle the berries. Add ice and all of the remaining ingredients except the garnish; shake well.
Strain into a chilled coupe or martini glass and garnish.

Makes 1 drink.

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PETA Leads Zombie Protest Outside Manhattan KFC

YumSugar — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:30:26 -0700

Animal-rights activism group PETA has come out with yet another inflammatory campaign. This year, they kicked their off Halloween festivities a few weeks early: On Saturday, more than 100 people gathered outside a Herald Square KFC dressed as blood-drenched zombies, holding signs that said, "I'd rather be dead than eat at KFC!"

The protest was part of the Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign, which addresses concerns about KFC suppliers' treatment of chickens on farms and slaughterhouses. "Even flesh-eating zombies have nothing on the Colonel's cruelty," says PETA's Dan Shannon. "We're urging consumers not to set foot inside a KFC restaurant until the company stops these abuses."

Did any of you see the protest? Do you consider it to be effective at sending an important message, or is it just another obnoxious PETA ploy?

Source

Mario Batali Set to Light Up the Silver Screen

YumSugar — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:30:53 -0700

Looks like Padma Lakshmi's not the only food figure to catch the acting bug. Hot off the news that the Top Chef hostess is starring in a sitcom, we've learned that another celebrity chef, Mario Batali, has joined the cast of the upcoming film Bitter Feast.

Bitter Feast, which is being described as a dark comedic thriller, is currently filming in Manhattan and Woodstock, NY. Written and directed by Joe Maggio, the movie stars James LeGros as a New York chef and cooking personality who takes revenge on a food critic who recently crushed his restaurant in a review. Batali will play the owner of the restaurant. The movie is slated for a release this Fall from Magnolia Pictures.

Do you think Molto Mario has the chops to star in a major theatrical production? Would you rather watch Padma in a sitcom - or Mario in a movie?