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Know Your Ingredients: Hearts of Palm

YumSugar — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:50:57 -0700

You may regularly get hearts of palm as a fixing at the salad bar, but do you know what these vegetables are, exactly?

Hearts of palm - also called palmito or swamp cabbage - are the sweet, tender cores of various palm trees. When harvested, the tree's bark and white fibers are removed, leaving an edible core. Because extracting the palm's inner core destroys single-stemmed coconut, acai, and sabal palm trees, multi-stem palms known as peach palms are cultivated solely for the purpose of harvesting palm hearts.

A staple of Latin American cuisine, hearts of palm are used in spreads, eaten out of hand, tossed into salads, and served with pasta.

The plant has a mild flavor similar to that of an artichoke heart, and is crisp when fresh, though it turns softer when canned. Are you surprised to hear where this salad bar staple comes from? What are some other ingredients you've always wondered about?

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Fast & Easy Dinner: Seared Shrimp With Cucumber Salad

partysugar — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:45:37 -0700

Just because it's a weeknight doesn't mean you can't experiment with new flavors and ingredients. If you've never had hearts of palm, consider making this recipe tonight. With a smooth, firm texture and artichoke-like flavor, hearts of palm look like white asparagus but with no tips. While it's difficult to find hearts of palm fresh, the canned variation is readily available and simple to use.

In this delicious dish, the palm hearts are mixed with cooling cucumber. The salad is a base for spicy seared shrimp. To look at the recipe, read more.

Seared Shrimp with Cucumber Salad
From Everyday Food magazine

Ingredients

1/2 cucumber, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and thinly sliced
1/2 small red onion, minced
1 jalapeno chile pepper, ribs and seeds removed, minced
1 can (15 ounces) hearts of palm, drained and thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (tails removed)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
4 teaspoons olive oil

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, toss together cucumber, onion, jalapeno, hearts of palm, orange juice, and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.
Dust shrimp with cumin, coriander, and oregano; season with salt and pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 teaspoons oil over high heat.
Add half the shrimp; cook until browned on both sides and opaque in the center, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate; repeat with remaining 2 teaspoons oil and shrimp.
To serve, spoon shrimp over cucumber salad.

Serves 4.

Print recipe with images | without images

What Would You Serve?

YumSugar — Thu, 28 May 2009 12:50:38 -0700

Entertaining at home is one of my favorite activities of all time, but as with all hobbies, it requires lots of thinking ahead and decision-making, from planning a prep schedule to coordinating the menu. In this series, I'll present a dish and ask you to share what you'd serve alongside it.

Here's the scenario: You're having some old friends over this weekend to soak up the Summer sun over a laid-back lunch in your backyard. You know the star course for your meal will be a Cuban sandwich, made with roast pork, ham, provolone cheese, and pickles, and spread with a layer of mustard. What would you feed your guests to accompany it? See what I'd make when you read more.

I'd take my guests on a tropical-Latin staycation by placing a lemonade mojito in each of their hands. To start off the lunch, we'd enjoy a cilantro-dressed hearts of palm salad. I'd serve the sandwich next, alongside crispy plantain chips. The meal would end on a high note with coconut flan for dessert.

What would your menu include?

Know Your Ingredients: Capers

YumSugar — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:00:33 -0700

Like hearts of palm, capers have become a fixture in salad bars, smoked salmon spreads, and meat marinades. But besides their characteristically piquant flavor, what do we know about them? Capers have played a significant role in Mediterranean cuisine for thousands of years; early dishes have been traced back to before 3000 BC. These tiny green dots are the immature flower buds of a thorny, prickly bush that's widespread all over the Middle East and Mediterranean.

Processing the buds is labor-intensive, as they must be plucked at a specific point in the maturation process. The bud, which is generally flavorless when fresh, develops an intense, sharp flavor after the blossoms are sun-dried and brined in vinegar, salt, or wine. And while they range in size from 7 mm to the size of a small olive, smaller caper varieties are more aromatic and come with a higher price tag.

Are you astonished to hear that capers have been preserved for thousands of years? What are your favorite ways to enjoy them?

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Let's Dish: What Are Your Salad Bar Fixings?

YumSugar — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:00:29 -0700

A few weeks ago I asked you where you stood on salad bars. Although they're somewhat controversial, I have to admit that I frequent them. I like to mix up the variety, but there are certain standbys that I always get: pepperoncinis, hearts of palm, feta cheese, tuna salad. Salad bar lovers: what fixings do you always get on your salad?

Noteworthy Nibbles - Nov. 4-10, 2008

YumSugar — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:00:33 -0800

This week Noteworthy Nibbles includes an international chocolate show complete with chocolate-inspired runway designs. In sunny Florida, the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival should be quite the spectacle. Folks who live in Virginia have the great fortune of two oyster events this weekend. Personally, I'm looking forward to San Francisco Wine Week!

Know of anything we've left out? Drop us a line in the comments below!

Orlando, FL: Epcot International Food & Wine Festival - Nov. 4-9
Philadelphia, PA: Celebrity Chef Tour - Nov. 6
St. Helena, CA: CIA Worlds of Flavor International Conference - Nov. 6-8
Palm Desert, CA: The Art of Food & Wine - Nov. 6-9
Ann Arbor, MI: Save a Heart Celebration of Wine and Food - Nov. 7

To see the rest, read more.

Ponte Vedra Beach, FL: Food & Wine Fest - Nov. 7
Urbanna, VA: Urbanna Oyster Festival - Nov. 7-8
Cleveland, OH: Heinen's/WVIZ World Series of Wine - Nov. 7-8
Dover, DE: Dover Downs Delaware Wine Festival - Nov. 7-8
Las Vegas, NV: Odyssey Las Vegas - Nov. 7-9
New York, NY: Tastings NYC - Nov. 7-9
New York, NY: Chocolate Show - Nov. 7-9
Kona, HI: Kona Coffee Cultural Festival - Nov. 7-16
Providence, RI: The Great International Beer Festival – Nov. 8
Reedville, VA: Oyster Roast - Nov. 8
Washington, DC: Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show - Nov. 8-9
Studio City, CA: Go Green, Go Organic - Nov. 9
San Francisco, CA: SF Wine Week - Nov. 10-15

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Stephen Asprinio Opens His New Restaurant

YumSugar — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:15:31 -0800

As you may know, Top Chef Season 4 is just around the corner. It's hard to believe that we're already on the fourth installment, it seems like season one was just yesterday. The show just keeps getting better, however I have a special place in my heart for the season one folks. So when the gals at Karmic Kitchen tipped me off to the fact that Stephen Asprinio's restaurant Forte di Asprinio opened, I knew I'd have to share the info with you.

Stephen, known as the obnoxious wine guy from season one, has created his new space in West Palm Beach, Fl. The restaurant is said to be "modern chic" and will seat 175 folks inside and out. The menu will be "traditional Tuscan with progressive touches" but it's not going to be fusion.
And of course it couldn't be a place by Stephen if there wasn't wine. When asked about it he said:

We've got some unique wines not available anywhere else in the U.S. The cellar is more than 500 bottles - not bad for a space like this. Things like a '47 Cheval Blanc, several magnums, a Far Niente signed by the winemaker in its early days - things they couldn't get in Vegas, even.

So what do you guys think, are you interested in checking his new place out?

And in other news, according to his website, he's going to be the host of a new show and online wine course.

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Top Chef: May the Best Chef Win (Season 2 Finale Recap)

YumSugar — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 03:29:52 -0800

Well, we reached the end of Top Chef Season 2! We can now stop speculating which chef is better than the other. Was the finale what you expected? Did you have money on the right candidate? Or did you just stop caring after last week?

The episode starts off with Marcel and Ilan frolicking on a beach in Hawaii. They eat fresh sea urchin for breakfast (which, although my opinion of sea urchin is not always high, I was crazy jealous of) and Marcel even gets stung by one and is forced to pee on his hand. At this point I need to stop the recap for a second and say that I have been tastefully avoiding this topic all season long, but really what was the whole Ilan wanting to pee on Marcel, how homo-erotic was that? And have you noticed it all season long?? - Okay back to recap.

The chefs are told they need to make a 5-course dinner for eight. They get to pick up their produce at a local farmer's market. They will then have four hours of prep time before heading to their respective restaurants where they will have one hour to cook. Ilan is cooking at Donatoni's Restaurant and Marcel will cook at Imari.

Full recap with big time spoilers ahead, including the WINNER, so read more

Before heading to the farmer's market, the finalists are greeted with ghosts from their past. Mike, Mia, Betty, Frank, Elia and Sam are there to be sous chefs. Surprisingly, half of them want to work with Ilan and the other half, Marcel. Marcel ends up choosing Sam, who convinces him to pick Mikey (which, no offense to Mikey, but really, you've a lot on the line and you pick the perpetually stoney-sounding Mikey??). Ilan chooses his BFF Elia and then Betty. Frank and Mia once again get sent packing.

Each chef needed to prepare a five course meal, for eight guests.
The guests were:

The three regulars (Padma, Gail and Tom)
Hubert Keller
Michelle Bernstein
Scott Conant
Roy Yamaguchi
Wylie Dufrense

The chefs both end up picking great produce (did you see those rambutans!?!) and built their recipes around what they saw. Ilan was up first and he served:

Overall the judges loved the meal, they thought the appetizer was okay, they LOVED the soup, thought the lobster sauce on the squab was great, wished they could get more from the short ribs, but were crazy for the dessert. From my vantage point, I thought the soup sounded great (I love gazpacho, so a macadamia nut gazpacho sounded even more delicious) and I definitely wanted to try the bay leaf fritter. Talk about a great infusion of sweet and savory!

Next up was Marcel. Now right from the beginning you knew this was going to be a disaster. They had talking head clips of Mikey and Sam talking about a hectic kitchen, and then the Bravo TV cameraman zoomed in on several trays left in the hotel fridge. Like I said, not a good sign. However Marcel still managed to pull out a great looking meal. He served:

Like I mentioned earlier, there were a few snafus. Marcel's ingenious encapsulated vinaigrette teardrops didn't work due to the humidity and the fish for the third dish got left behind (lucky for Marcel, Sam was able to whip up an alternate dish). The judges, however, enjoyed the meal. They liked the texture of the urchin, they thought the salad was a bit weak, loved the balanced flavor of the sea beans, thought his beef was better than Ilan's and thought the blinis were whimsical and clever. From my point of view, I also thought the blinis looked fun, I couldn't figure out why on earth he would tell the judges that he forgot the fish, and I was saddened by the fact that his tear drops didn't work out.

Now for the judge's table. They liked everything and were split on whom to declare the winner, so they got some input from the sous chefs. Elia said Ilan should win because his food was superior (even if she didn't taste or see Marcel's), Mikey and Sam confessed that Marcel's kitchen wasn't run very well. Sam also took credit for the sea beans.

After much deliberation, the judges finally have a winner.
This year's Top Chef is Ilan Hall.
Were you surprised? I wasn't really, although I wouldn't have been surprised if Marcel won either.

Now for a few things to discuss:

Marcel telling the judges he forgot the fish. Why would you do that?
Even though Sam fixed the fish dish, he takes credit for the sea beans, but weren't the sea beans actually Marcel's idea? He said he was going to do fish with palm and sea beans

Elia dissing Marcel - Really did she need to get so petty? I've lost a lot of respect for her.
Were you as weirded out as I was about the whole urchins and peeing scene?
Would you have chosen Mikey as a sous chef?
Was the fish forgotten on purpose?
At the end Marcel says, "I thought it was going to take more than saffron and paprika to beat me." My guy swears he said "f**king saffron." Did you hear it?
Before declaring the winner Tom says, "One of you may go on to be the superior chef, but in the end our decision was based on who we believe to be the best chef right now." Do you think he believes Marcel will be a better chef than Ilan?
Did you think the right person won?

Discuss!

View 10 Photos ›

Source: Bravo TV

Exercise in Excess: The French Laundry Part 2

YumSugar — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 08:01:18 -0700

Yesterday I walked you through the first part of my extravagant time at the French Laundry, and while everything I posted was definitely tasty, you guys haven't even seen the meat of the story (bad pun intended). Today I'll take you from fish course to beef and all the lovely bits in-between.

After the foie gras, the next course was either Filet of American Red Snapper with Summer Squash, San Marzano Tomato "Fondue," Cuttlefish and Arugula-Castelvetrano Olive Pudding (shown right) or Spanish Mackerel "En Escabeche" with Hawaiian Hearts of Peach Palm, English Cucumbers, Cilantro Shoots, Haas Avocado "Coulis" and Rangpur Lime "Gastrique" (shown above). I ordered the snapper, while Jimmy ordered the mackerel. When our dishes arrived I was envious of his dish - the presentation was so gorgeous - however after tasting both of them, his fell a little flat and I was certain I picked the winning dish.

To see what's up next (and believe me, the best parts are next),read more

Once the fish was devoured, they presented us with a selection of fresh baked breads. There were some delicious choices, but my favorite was definitely the pretzel bread. [Note to self: get recipe for pretzel bread.]

With the bread out of the way, we moved on to the lobster course, or as the menu said: Lobster Tail "Pochée Au Beurre Doux" with Caramelized Cipollini Onions, Oregon Hazelnuts, Sunchoke Purée and Valrhona Chocolate-Coffee Emulsion. I believe this was my favorite part of the meal, as it was perfectly cooked and paired well with the sauce. Also, whenever anyone asks how my experience was, I immediately tell them about the lobster, so this must've been my favorite part.

After the lobster it was time for either All-Day Braised Kurobuta Pork Belly with Brentwood Corn, Applewood Smoked Bacon, Piquillo Peppers, Fava Beans and "Pimenton Jus" (shown right) or Devil's Gulch Ranch Rabbit Shoulder "Farci Au Ris De Veau" with Jacobsen's Farm La Ratte Potatoes, Lovage, Celery Branch and Apricot Mustard (aka fancy pants rabbit lollipop that my fellow diners wished they ordered instead).

Finally, rounding out the main course, and pushing out my waistline, was the "Chateaubriand" of Nature-Fed Veal with Morel Mushrooms, Green Asparagus, Veal Cheek "Pierogi" and Madeira Sauce. This might actually have been the highlight of the feast. However, at this point I had way too many glasses of wine and far too much brioche to fully enjoy it. In fact, I'm ashamed to say, I actually had to GIVE 1/3 of it to my fellow diners. I also couldn't down all the pierogi, which was a crying shame because they were delicious.

Now wipe up your drool, because after a little breather (seriously, I had to get up for a minute and catch my breath and appetite), we'll hit the cheese & dessert courses tomorrow - so be sure to come back!