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Yum's September Must Haves

YumSugar — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:01:31 -0700

For me, September means hoarding as much Summer produce as possible before it's gone and savoring each day of beautiful weather - while we still have it- with pool parties, picnics, and fireside campouts. On the social front, this month also brings more political banter as we approach the presidential election. Here are five of my essentials for September.

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Off To Market Recap: Mandoline

partysugar — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 03:13:39 -0700

To kick my culinary skills up a notch, I've decided to invest in a mandoline. Pronounced mahn-duh-lee, a mandoline is a compact, hand operated machine similar to a cheese grater. Instead of grating, the blades can be set to various settings to cut vegetables and fruits into uniform sizes. With this fabulous little gadget, I can make melt in your mouth gratins and perfectly uniformed French fries. I asked you to head off to market in search of the most functional mandoline. You saved the tool in in the Yum Market on TeamSugar with the keyword tag Mandoline. As much as I would love to be able to afford a super sleek $200 mandoline, I'm more inclined to purchase a reasonably priced, practical mandoline like this one bookmarked by mellie_608. It has five blade attachments to cut waffle, straight, or julienne slices and it's on sale! Awesome find mellie! Scroll through the list to check out the rest of the finds.

Please refer to geeksugar's guide to bookmarking on TeamSugar for more information on how this fabulous feature works.

Off To Market: Mandoline

partysugar — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 03:01:39 -0700

The quintessential French gratin is one of my all time favorite dishes to make and eat. I've made many a gratin in my day, but I know that my gratins will not be as delicious as they could be if I had a mandoline. Pronounced mahn-duh-lee, a mandoline is a compact, hand operated machine similar to a cheese grater. Instead of grating, the blades can be set to various settings to cut vegetables and fruits at uniform sizes. French fries are cut with a mandoline set on the julienne setting and it can be used to slice perfectly circular thin potatoes and zucchini for gratin making. Let's all head off to market in search of the most functional mandoline. Bookmark the mandolines that you find in the Yum Market on TeamSugar with the keyword tag Mandoline.

Please refer to geeksugar's guide to bookmarking on TeamSugar for more information on how this fabulous feature works.

Yummy Link: Zucchini Carpaccio Salad

YumSugar — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 14:01:18 -0700

If there was ever a reason to purchase a mandoline, I think it might be this one. Doesn't this paper-thin zucchini carpaccio salad look amazing? - Smitten Kitchen

In Season: Fennel

YumSugar — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:00:09 -0700

It's surprising that a hardy green such as fennel is so unknown to so many home cooks, especially considering the vegetable's adaptability: Its bulb, stalks, and fronds are all completely edible, either raw or cooked, and it possesses a pleasing, mild anise flavor. Although it's a perennial, fennel can be found at a reasonable price during Autumn months. Fennel newbies can sniff it at the market for a hint of the flavor to come. Select sturdy bulbs that are firm and free of blemishes, with vibrant, healthy fronds. Store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, for use within 3 to 5 days. Before preparing, trim the vegetable of any discolored or tough outer layers. Discover your favorite way to use it when you read more.

Just Beet It Salad

YumSugar — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:15:27 -0700

A salad of roasted beets with crumbly goat cheese and a delicious vinaigrette is a pretty common dish on menus these days. While I've had my fair share of this scrumptious salad, when browsing Dinner at my Place, I was intrigued by Tyler Florence's variation because he uses raw beets.

In their raw state, beets are difficult to peel; even on a mandoline, they were a little cumbersome to thinly slice, but the rest of salad is simple and worth the effort. The earthy crunchy beets, creamy tangy goat cheese, crisp bitter greens, toasted walnuts and blood orange vinaigrette combine to create a delightfully complex dish that is perfect in terms of flavor and texture. To get started on this surprising, Spring salad read more.

Shaved Beet Salad With Balsamic Vinaigrette
Tyler Florence's Dinner at My Place

Ingredients

Dressing
1 shallot, finely diced
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup blood orange-infused olive oil
Salad
1 large golden beet
1 bunch bitter greens*
1/2 head radicchio*
1/2 bunch mizuna*
1 bunch kale*
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 pound crumbled goat cheese

Directions

Toast walnuts in an 350°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Occasionally shake to ensure they don't burn.
Make the balsamic vinaigrette by combining shallot, parsley, mustard, vinegar and sugar in a large bowl. While whisking constantly, slowly add the olive oil. Once all the oil has been added and the vinaigrette is emulsified, season it with salt and pepper.
Peel the beet using a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler.
Using a sharp knife or mandoline, shave it into thin slices.
Wash and tear the salad greens into bite-size pieces. Toss greens with shaved beets and walnuts in a large salad bowl. Dress with balsamic vinaigrette. Top with crumbled goat cheese.

Serves 6-8.

*Substitute your favorite salad greens, if all are not available.

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Must Read: It's About Time

partysugar — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:15:09 -0800

If you live in the Boston area you may be familiar with Chef Michael Schlow.
A James Beard Award-winning chef, Schlow owns three wildly successful restaurants: Radius, Via Matta, and Great Bay. Although I've never dined at one of Schlow's establishments, I recently got my hands on his cookbook, It's About Time ($24.71).

Different from most cookbooks, this tome is not separated into courses. Instead each section represents a specific time - be it a cooking time (Time to Eat and Now) or a time in one's life (Time to Celebrate). To find out more about this excellent cookbook, read more.

Pros:

Unlike some cookbooks by restaurant chefs, this publication is totally accessible to the home cook.
There's something for everyone, from the busy mom desperate to feed her kids healthy food fast to the culinary bachelor looking to impress his latest fling with cooking expertise.
You really get to know Michael Schlow as a chef and as a person. In some aspects, this book is autobiographical.
The recipes use common ingredients and feature classic techniques that the home cook will be familiar and comfortable with.

Cons:

The organization of the recipes is hard to follow. The ingredients are listed on the far side of the page and instead of numbering the steps, the instructions are in an easy-to-get lost bulleted list.
Some of the recipes require cooking gadgets - like a mandoline - that most people might not own.

Recipes: There are over 150 recipes that cover every course from appetizers to cocktails to dessert. While the majority are simple, a few are complex with seemingly endless steps. Still, there are plenty that I am interested in making:

Steamed Prince Edward Island mussels with spicy tomato and herb broth
Yukon gold potato soup with shrimp, bacon, and potatoes
Secret agent raspberry bars
Clams in broth
Veal Milanese with arugula, tomato, and red onion salad
The Schlow burger
Jimmy's dancing punch
Homemade ravioli
Individual lemon sabayon tarts

Imagery: The book is filled with pictures, big and small, of the dishes, of the process of cooking an item, and of the ingredients. However, some are in color and others are in black and white; some are centered on the page and others are coarsely chopped out of the book. These inconsistencies aside, the photos are beautiful and mouth-watering.

Overall Rating: This book was a very exciting find, and I look forward to experimenting with Schlow's recipes. While it would not be my first choice for a novice home cook, it would make a great gift for a cookbook collector or foodie who loves recipes.

Not Your Regular Nachos: Nachos Caprese

partysugar — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:15:32 -0700

At the Food and Wine Classic, I watched Jose Andres make bread chips. He froze a baguette, sliced it superthin with a mandoline, and panfried it until crisp. While Andres topped his with anchovies and other Spanish ingredients, I haven't stopped thinking about this bread chip and wondered how it would translate into a nacho. I don't have a mandoline, so I used regular white bread. However, I wish I would have found a way to use paper-thin bread. The final result was more like a cheesy bruschetta than a nacho. When I realized this, I was disappointed, but the classic Italian flavors - mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil - were so delicious that I soon forgot my sadness. I highly recommend you make this scrumptious appetizer, only instead of calling it nachos, simply call it bruschetta! To see what I did, read more.

Nachos Caprese aka Cheesy Bruschetta
Original recipe by PartySugar

Ingredients

1 small loaf thinly sliced sourdough bread
1 stick butter
2-3 garlic cloves
salt and pepper
8 ounces mozzarella, grated
2 cups tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 cup homemade or store bought pesto
basil leaves, optional for garnish

Directions

Cut the bread into triangular pieces, removing crusts.

Since this was an experiment, I decided to fry some in butter (a la Ryan Scott) and bake some in the oven. For frying, melt one stick of butter with 2-3 peeled garlic cloves in a large pan over medium-high heat. Once the butter is melted add the bread, frying in a single layer. Fry until golden brown 3-4 minutes. Flip and continue to fry for 1-2 more minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat with remaining bread.

Alternately, for baking, preheat the oven to 375°F. Place the bread triangles in an even layer on a large baking sheet. Bake in the oven until crisp and brown 15-20 minutes.
When the bread is cool enough to handle spread evenly on a large baking sheet. Season bread generously with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the cheese, taking care to cover each piece of bread with cheese. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until cheese is melted.

Remove and transfer cheesy bread triangles to a serving platter. Top each piece of bread with a heaping tablespoon of chopped tomatoes.
If your pesto is too thick to drizzle, thin with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Drizzle the pesto over the top of the tomatoes. Garnish with basil leaves if desired and enjoy!

Serves 4-6 as an appetizer.

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Good Morning Manuel - A Chat with the Eliminated Chef

YumSugar — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:27:11 -0700

On the last episode of Top Chef, Manuel Trevino had to pack his knives and go. I had a chance to chat with Manuel yesterday and I asked him about his time on the show, and what it was like to say goodbye. To learn more about Manuel and find out what he had to say, read more.

YumSugar: How'd you end up on Top Chef?
Manuel Trevino: I applied. [laughs] Actually, I don't know how we got connected but I was approached when season one was being pitched. But at the time they didn't want only experienced cooks. However the show has really developed into sous chefs and chefs. As the third season was airing, my office assistant and one of my hostesses said I should do it. I said I did, and it wasn't right then. They convinced me to give it another shot.

YS: So was the experience what you expected?
MT: I don't think any of us could have expected the way the show works. We knew it was a competition, but how the magic happens, so to speak, you can never expect something like that. You never know what's going to happen. You wake up and you never know.

YS: Alright, so let's talk about last night's episode. Did you expect your dish to be in the bottom?
MT: I had a feeling that something was awry, because i would see the plates coming back into the kitchen. If the plates are clean, you're doing a good job. But I had a mixed feeling because the portions were big and we were the second course. I didn't know if they were saving room, or if they didn't like it, but as the other teams dishes came back, I saw that some were wiped clean and got a bit worried. Actually the two dishes that really didn't get cleaned were the two teams up for elimination.

YS: Do you regret not pushing your own ideas and going with Spike's movie choice instead?
MT: In the end I did. But I think his main concept was right on with what I wanted to do. The idea was to make a salad without making a salad. Something clean and refreshing.

YS: Do you think you achieved that?
MT: Yeah, but one of the comments the judges said was that it didn't need the fish, and they were correct. If we had just taken that money and bought something else and gone in a different direction without the fish, it may have been better.

YS: So are you going to be eating any summerolls anytime soon?
MT: [Laughs] Maybe not after last night. . . Actually I love them, I think they're great. I definitely order them at a restaurant, but probably wouldn't make them at home.

YS: What will you make at home then?
MT: I love fish. I love making every kind of fish, whatever's in season. I want to work with whatever the seafood purveyor is bringing to me.

YS: Back to the show, how was it to hear Daniel Boulud call your techniques "Level One"?
MT: That challenge was a bit strange. It was supposed to be a knife skill challenge, but sort of changed halfway through. I don't know if you saw Andrew's dish, but he didn't compose or cook anything. We thought it was a demonstration of skills. I must have misunderstood or the judges did. I mean people were using mandolines to slice their vegetables, how is that a demonstration of knife skills?

YS: So do you think you should have gone home?
MT: No. I thought Spike should have gone home. It was his idea, it was his thing. They found a flaw in it, he should have been held responsible for it. I don't understand why I ended up losing. I think I got faulted for believing in my team mate.

YS: Your departure was very graceful and humble. What were you thinking inside?
MT: As a chef you're in the spotlight a lot, in New York you're criticized a lot, by diners, servers, critics. If you can't take something positive away from criticism, it's difficult to learn and progress as a chef. You take from it and turn it into something else and you move on.

YS: Speaking of moving on, I heard you left Dos Caminos suddenly, what happened there?
MT: It was a mutual departure. I was ready to move on. I've been there for four years and I'm looking for bigger and better things.

YS: Do you have anything in the works?
MT: Right now I'm enjoying a bit of time off. It's been nonstop and I'm really enjoying time with my family. I'm looking to start something different, looking to getting back into fine dining and the corporate structure. I'm ready to go back and try new things.

Photos courtesy of Bravo

Yum's November Must Haves

YumSugar — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 07:01:11 -0700

There's no way around it, November means Thanksgiving. Whether you're prepping your own meal, or headed over to someone else's house, you will definitely find something on our list of must haves.

To start things off, we've got the Willie Bird Fresh Organic Turkey ($65-$85). It's raised on natural grains and vegetables in Sonoma County, California. In addition to being organic and free-range, it has a clean turkey flavor.
Once you get a fabulous turkey, you're going to need a large roaster to cook it in. This Calphalon Contemporary Stainless Roaster with V-Rack ($99.95) is sleek and contains an aluminum core for superb heat conductivity. It's large enough for a 25lb turkey and the rack is non-stick.
If you're looking to take the leap from mashed potatoes to thinly-sliced gratin, then you're going to need a slicer or mandoline. This Zyliss 4-In-1 Multi Slicer/Grater ($19.95) will make slicing and grating a breeze!
Need a great way to get the conversation started? These TableTopics Conversation Starters will help you break the ice. Each set of conversation starting questions will help maneuver through those awkward party moments. They're perfect for the host, and great for a guest to bring as well.
Finally, an important Thanksgiving must have is this Multi-Time Triple Timer ($14.99). With three display monitors, you can easily set and keep track of three items at once.