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Do You Like to Get Dirty When Cooking?

partysugar — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:00:41 -0800

TV Dinners: Ugly Betty - Dirty Girl Scout

YumSugar — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 11:58:31 -0700

Today's happy hour comes from one of my favorite new shows, Ugly Betty. I don't know if you guys watch, but on last week's episode, Betty and Christina find themselves at Club Prague where another club patron suggests that Betty orders a "Dirty Girlscout." Later, Betty (in a clichéd Betty moment) actually refers to it as a Filthy Girl Scout, which I somehow find even funnier.

To find out how to make your own Filthy Girl Scout (which gets its name because it reminds people of the Thin Mint Cookie), read more

Also, I'm not sure why the girl in the picture has what appears to be some sort of celery garnish. I can't imagine thin mint cookie & celery stalks go hand in hand.

Dirty Girl Scout
From Drink Swap

1 oz vodka
1 oz coffee liqueur (like Kahlua)
1 oz irish cream (like Bailey's)
1 oz white creme de menthe

Mix the vodka, kahlua and bailey's and pour over ice. Pour the creme de menthe down the center of the glass.

Alternatively, I've also found recipes where you can put all ingredients into a shaker over ice and strain into a glass with or without ice cubes.

And, I've also seen it without vodka and served as a shot.

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What's Cooking at Slashfood

YumSugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:00:43 -0800

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

Twi-Hards might be let down by Burger King's New Moon promotions.
Should a server ever comment on how much you've eaten?
New Bravo show Chef Academy is not only grating, but also hard to understand.
For a healthier tailgate, make baked jalapeño poppers instead.
Another 10 dirty restaurant tricks you might be scared to learn about.
Would you eat a dessert made with Viagra?

How to Quickly Clean a Whisk

partysugar — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:50:56 -0700

For years I hated when a recipe required whisking. Not because it hurt my wrist, but because cleaning the whisk was such a pain. Until one day, while doing the dishes, I had a light bulb moment. The dirty whisk was sitting in a small bowl filled with soapy hot water. Without thinking I quickly swirled the whisk, whisking the soapy water. In seconds, I realized the whisking had whisked all the sauce off, and voila! The whisk was so clean I could make another custard or béchamel sauce. Now I always whisk my whisk until it's clean.

Do you have any secret no-brainer tips for cleaning everyday kitchen tools? Share with us below!

VeggieTrader Turns Lemons Into . . . Carrots?

YumSugar — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 05:50:19 -0700

Home gardens are all the rage, and if you have friends who grow their own produce, you probably end up eating a lot of it too. One downside to getting down and dirty in the garden is that you often have way too much of one thing (kale, anyone?) and not enough of another. Enter VeggieTrader, a new website that wants to help gardeners swap their surplus fruits and veggies for crops that might not have come up so well. Using the free service, growers can sell their extra apples or pears for a bit of cash, and folks without gardens can log on and look for local produce. Though I've heard of community produce swaps, VeggieTrader is the first site I've seen attempting to facilitate swaps on a large scale. It's still relatively small, but it looks worth exploring. If you're interested, here's how it works. Or, if you have a lot of friends who garden, why not host your own produce swap and make it an excuse to throw a party?

Yummy Links: From Fried Chicken to Chef Empires

partysugar — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 05:50:27 -0700

A roundup of the best fancy-pants fried chicken New York City has to offer. - Serious Eats
How to avoid dirty looks while working on your laptop at a coffeehouse. - Chow
Watch a woman throw her bra at Guy Fieri. - Eat Me Daily
Did the Washington Post spoil Top Chef 6? - Eater SF
Hosting a baby shower? Download these circus-themed decorations. - Hostess With the Mostess
Learn the best way to get a truly medium-rare burger. - The Epi-Log
The top 20 biggest chef empires. - Grub Street

Source: Flickr User delgaudm

What's Cooking at Slashfood

YumSugar — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:50:22 -0700

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

Caesar's, the Tijuana joint credited for inventing the Caesar salad, has closed.
Former 007 Roger Moore boycotts anything foie gras - including friends who eat it.
Luggage-themed cakes are looking to be the next big dessert trend.
Doctors discover a Wendy's plastic utensil in one man's lung.
A taste of the elusive churros from Rick Bayless's newest street-ery, XOCO.
The dirty little secrets of the restaurant industry that may make you never want to eat out again.

Source: Flickr User stu_spivack

Hardee's Is Back With Biscuit Holes and High School Humor

YumSugar — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:50:32 -0700

If you were shocked by Audrina Partridge and Padma Lakshmi's lascivious Carl's Jr. commercials, then wait until you see what the company's up to now. Hardee's, the sister brand to Carl's Jr., has debuted "Biscuit Holes," deep-fried, doughnut hole-shaped biscuits that are iced with cinnamon sugar. To come up with a more creative moniker, however, Hardee's is asking customers for help through a new campaign titled "Name Our Holes." Customers can submit their name ideas on the campaign's microsite, NameOurHoles.com, where they can also view other entries.

In the TV spot below, consumers offer up names ranging from "hole munchers" to "puffy nuts." I don't know about you, but I think Hardee's is taking toilet humor a little too far - just watching the clip makes me feel kind of dirty. In your mind, is the campaign funny and successful, or simply gross and immature?

Source

Sunday BBQ: Beer Can Chicken with Dirty Bird Rub

YumSugar — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 05:31:37 -0700

Something about yesterday's side dish made me think of the quirky summer fave: beer can chicken. I've personally never made one, but I am absolutely fascinated by the concept. Some say that the vapors from the beer keep the inside of the chicken moist, while others say the juiciness comes from the fact that the bird is positioned vertically. However no matter what the reason is, one thing is for sure: this recipe is guaranteed to get comments from your guests. And from what I understand, once you've had beer can chicken, you never go back! To check out an easy to follow recipe and join me on a beer can chicken excursion, read more

Beer Can Chicken with Dirty Bird Rub
From Elizabeth Karmel in Every Day with Rachael Ray June/July 2007
Image Source

Serves 4
Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 1 1/2 hr

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried ground sage
One 4- to 5-pound chicken, rinsed and patted dry
Extra-virgin olive oil
One 12-ounce can beer, preferably Budweiser

Build a charcoal fire or preheat a gas grill. In a small bowl, mix the dry ingredients to make the rub. Brush the chicken lightly with olive oil and season with 2 tablespoons rub. Sprinkle the remaining rub inside the cavity of the bird and set aside.
Open the can of beer, pour out about 1/4 cup and punch an extra hole in the top using a bottle opener with a piercing point. Carefully stand the beer can in the center of the grill over indirect medium heat and place the cavity end of the chicken over the beer can.
Close the grill lid and cook the chicken until an instant-read thermometer registers 165º in the breast and 180º in the thigh, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. To remove from the grill, use tongs to hold the chicken steady and slide a large spatula underneath the beer can to keep it stable. Transfer to a work surface and, using the tongs, remove and discard the beer can. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving.

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Must Read: 2009 Food & Wine Annual Cookbook

partysugar — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:15:50 -0700

Food & Wine magazine is one of my favorite glossies. I love it so much that at the end of the month I page through each issue and rip out interesting and delicious recipes.

Little did I know that the fabulous folks over at Food & Wine have already done the dirty work for me! Every year they release an annual cookbook ($29.95) with an entire year's worth of recipes.

Lucky me: I got my hands on 2009's copy. To find out what I thought of the compilation of over 700 recipes, read more.

Pros:

The book reduces paper waste. Now I don't have to rip out of the magazine or print up a recipe from online.
It's like a nostalgic look back on the year. Many of the recipes I've already made or remember thinking I wanted to try them.
No topic is left uncovered. There are recipes for everything from vegetarian starters to Thanksgiving dinners to pitcher cocktails.
Each recipe has a different author resulting in a wide range of cuisines and culinary point of views.

Cons:

There's something lacking in terms of organization. While it's broken up into sections (including breads, pizzas, and sandwiches; breakfast and brunch; and beef, lamb, and game), they're hard to navigate.
With so many recipes, sometimes the pages feel crowded.
Without the accompanying magazine story or headline, some recipes seem out of place.

Recipes: The recipes are written in Food & Wine's straight forward, easy-to-follow style. Here are some I hope to make:

BLT salad with blue cheese
Creamy asparagus soup
Sticky marmalade-glazed baby-back ribs
Pop-open clams with horseradish Tabasco sauce
Warm potato salad with arugula
Sour-cherry gin slings

Imagery: Not every recipe has a picture, but the book's smooth pages are filled with photos. Each image is in color. Some are full sized, while others take up only a quarter or half of the page.

Overall: If you're a fan of the magazine, you'll enjoy this book. Because there is a year's worth of recipes, it also makes a good basic cookbook.

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