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Off to Market Recap: New Whisk

partysugar — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 01:01:33 -0700

A wire whisk is one of my favorite kitchen tools because it's incredibly versatile, necessary, and makes all sorts of delicious things. Recently I've noticed a growing trend in alternative whisk styles, so I asked you to help me bookmark them in the Yum Market on TeamSugar. You looked for whisks that are functional and made from a variety of materials. The one I am most eager to experiment with is Nigella Lawson's bliss whisk. It must make astonishingly emulsified vinaigrettes and incredible sauces. According to marcella - who saved the whisk - it's also easy to clean. She whisks it in warm, soapy water and voila, clean whisk! To look at all of the whisks, browse below.

Off to Market: New Whisk

partysugar — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 05:21:31 -0700

A wire whisk is one of my top ten favorite kitchen tools. It's an incredibly versatile and necessary utensil that can be used to make all sorts of delicious things. Recently I've noticed a growing trend in alternative whisk styles. If you've watched a Nigella Lawson cooking show, you know what I'm talking about. I'm interested in experimenting with different kinds of whisks and was wondering if you could help me find them. Look for whisks that are functionally fabulous and made from a variety of materials. Bookmark the whisks in the Yum Market on TeamSugar with the keyword tag, New Whisk. I appreciate your help!

Please read geeksugar's explanation for more on how to bookmark.

If you don't know where to start searching check out a list my favorite online shops when you read more

Bed Bath & Beyond
CB2
Cooking.com
Crate & Barrel
Ikea
Linens and Things
NapaStyle
Pier 1
Plum Party
Pottery Barn
Sur La Table
Target
Restoration Hardware
Williams Sonoma
Wishing Fish
World Market

Southern (Indian) Thanksgiving

Yum Community — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:30:42 -0800

This story was written by member courtneyd and comes from the Kitchen Goddess group in the YumSugar Community.

For a few years now I've wanted to try to marry the traditional Southern Indian food my husband grew up enjoying with Thanksgiving as I know it (Southern girl with a love of spice and heat). So this year I did a trial run of a tandoori-style turkey made in the oven.

By next year I hope to build my own tandoor, or at least grill this guy, because it needs a little more heat to crisp up properly. Even so, the meal turned out great! Tandoori turkey, tamarind gravy, creamed saag, masala mashed potatoes, and Whole Foods' naan, which has a slight dinner roll texture, so it works out perfectly for this blended meal. The tamarind gravy was an original creation (that I cannot believe turned out properly, it was sooooo good), and the other recipes were either inspired by or taken directly from The Food of India from Whitecap Books. I love their "food of" series, and my husband is impressed with the Indian recipes.

For the turkey, I followed the instructions from November's Martha Stewart Living to spatchcock a turkey and cooked according to their instructions after marinating for about 7 hours. Not including the marinade time, this meal came together in about 2 hours on a Friday night. Also, we discovered New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc complements Indian food perfectly.

To get her recipes for this Southern Indian feast, keep reading.

Come Party With Me: Gossip Girl Premiere - Dessert

partysugar — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:30:47 -0700

Gossip Girl premieres next week and to celebrate I've invited over some friends to enjoy dinner and watch the show with me. It's a Monday night, so the menu is minimal but delicious and filling. Since Gossip Girl takes place in New York, all the recipes I'm using were crafted by acclaimed NYC chefs. This dessert, a simple raspberry clafouti, is Eric Ripert's recipe. Although the French name makes it seem like the dessert is complicated, it requires nothing more than a wire whisk and can be assembled in minutes. I'll put the clafouti in the oven when the episode starts and half way through we'll be savoring the fruity pastry piping hot. For Ripert's recipe, read more.

Raspberry Clafouti
From Eric Ripert

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup sugar (and a little more for ramekin)
1 large egg
6 tablespoons half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup raspberries
Vanilla ice cream (or a flavor of your choice)

Directions

Heat toaster oven to 400 degrees. Butter two 5 1/2-inch oval gratin dishes and dust with sugar.
Whisk egg until frothy and add sugar, half and half, and vanilla extract; mix to combine.
Add the all-purpose flour and whisk very well.
Divide the raspberries into the baking dishes and pour the batter over the berries.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until golden brown and the middle is set.
Serve with a scoop of ice cream.

Serves 2.

Print recipe with images | without images

Yummy Links: From Leah Cohen to Korean Barbecue

partysugar — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 07:50:47 -0700

Making ravioli with Top Chef's Leah Cohen. - Decider New York
Learn the difference between pudding and custard. - Chow
Go green with Cuisinart's new Green Gourmet cookware. - Al Dente
One expert's advice on hosting the perfect Seder. - The Epi-Log
Padma Lakshmi appeared in this weekend's Parade magazine. - Eat Me Daily
Use a whisk to break up brown sugar. - The Kitchn
Find out what your favorite contestants from The Next Food Network Star are up to now. - The FN Dish
Take a trip to Korea in your kitchen by making this easy barbecue beef bulgogi. - Serious Eats

Tyler Florence Makes the Ultimate Dinner

partysugar — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:00:19 -0700

At Tyler Florence's demonstration at the NYC Wine and Food Festival, Florence taught the crowd how to make the ultimate birthday dinner. It was the exact dinner he made for his wife on her birthday! The boyishly handsome chef has had a busy year. Not only did his wife give birth to a baby girl, but he also released two new cookbooks, opened a kitchenware store in Northern California, and filmed an upcoming season of Tyler's Ultimate, all while making appearances and doing demonstrations.

His special dinner menu - which is ideal for the holiday season - consisted of beef tenderloin with Béarnaise sauce, Brussels sprout and fingerling potato hash, and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. To see what Tyler had to say about this menu, read more.

Instead of a regular round cake, Florence recommends making a long, rectangular cake (I loved this idea and am doing it the next time I make cake). Pour the cake batter into a large cookie sheet. Bake as you would any cake. Remove from the oven and cut into three even rectangles. Layer frosting between the pieces.
Beef tenderloin is a great cut of meat when feeding a crowd.
"Color equals flavor." To maximize the flavor of the beef, Tyler sears it in a smoking pan. Then he roasts it in the oven until finished.
Always add fresh herbs. Dried herbs don't do much to a dish. Fresh herbs, on the other hand, make a dish fragrant and delicious.
Be cleaver with garnishes. Florence refers to the process of making food beautiful as "culinary pyrotechnics."
Make the Béarnaise sauce in the blender. It's quick and easy.
For the fluffiest frosting, always stir or mix with a wire whisk.
Take the beef out of the oven when the temperature reads 125°F. While the meat rests, its temperature will rise to 130°F.

What's your go-to menu for special occasions? What do you think of Tyler Florence's menu and tips?

View 15 Photos ›

We Visit Campton Place

YumSugar — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 16:22:21 -0800

Yesterday afternoon, a few of us went out for a fancy lunch feast at Campton Place (it was part of the Dine About Town going on here in San Francisco). Traditionally, it's supposed to be a 3 course meal for lunch, but lucky us, we managed to swing a 5 course meal plus a little tidbit to see us on our way.

So how was the lunch, what was the decor like, and most importantly how tasty were our SEVEN AND A HALF desserts? To find out, read more

Campton Place is one of those fancy restaurants located in a hotel off of Union Square. Its cuisine is best known as "modern American" and the decor is exactly what you'd expect: classy, if not somewhat stuffy (aka, this is the kind of place you want to take your grandma for brunch).

When we arrived they whisked our coats away, sat us at a lovely round table, promptly wheeled over a champagne cart (Party has some great coverage about the champagne) and whisked out a basket of bread.

Since it was Dine About Town (which sadly ends today), there was a fixed menu that consisted of: Celery Root Soup OR Sashimi, Tai Snapper OR Chicken with Watermelon Radishes, and dessert. I ordered the sashimi and snapper, Party ordered the soup and chicken.

Now I know that appetizers generally are smaller portioned, but when the tiny pieces of sashimi arrived on a GIGANTIC plate, I was a little taken aback. The enormous plate made it seem small and inadequate. Luckily the flavor was fresh and lively. I had a chance to taste the soup and I thought it was a nice choice. PartySugar didn't enjoy the chunks of celery and although she enjoyed the flavor, she felt it wasn't very memorable (she also thought she could make something like this at home).

Next up was the entrée. The Tai Snapper was delicious. The fish was flaky, and firm, but not overcooked. The bed of chard that it sat upon wasn't overly bitter and the cauliflower on top had the perfect texture. I also enjoyed the sauce, and actually used the bread to soak up the remaining bits. Unfortunately the Chicken just didn't seem to live up to the hype. Although it looked gorgeous (check out those watermelon radishes), it seemed a bit too dry. When it arrived on the table, the servers went around and drizzled the Au Jus on top, however they took it away and it never returned. PartySugar felt that it could have been better if it was smothered in more sauce.

After the entrée, we were expecting dessert to arrive next. Our server came by and set new place settings for us, only to have them whisked away by someone else. See, it wasn't time for dessert yet, because before dessert comes the cheese course! It was a delicate pairing of epoisse cheese and vanilla bean ice cream on top of caramelized pumpkin seeds. The potent cheese turned out to be a perfect pairing with the ice cream. The creamy textures of both literally melted in my mouth.

Once we had devoured the cheese course, we were then treated with a light delicious Mojito Soda with Coconut Foam and Tapioca. The dessert was amazingly unique and wonderfully tasty. It was intended to cleanse the palate and it absolutely worked. I personally thought the tapioca added a nice texture, but was almost unnecessary, although I don't know what would be a better texture. Some of our lunch dates thought I was crazy for even saying that.

After the soda came the final course: dessert! At this point, we still assumed that we would have the standard dessert, but oh no no, instead of one dessert, we received five different ones (there were five us there). The desserts consisted of 5 different sorbets (quince, pineapple, grapefruit, mango, and coconut), carrot raviolis, a golden egg, chocolate sponge cake with tandoori paper, and "french toast" with kumquats.

WOW.
I could go on about these desserts for quite a long time, but my favorite was definitely the whimsical coconut mousse filled carrot raviolis, avocado mousse and cardamom nage. The sweet flavor and freshness of the carrots really melded with the creamy texture of the coconut. I know people who won't eat carrots that would have LOVED this dish. As PartySugar said, "The carrot ravioli made me feel like a judge on Iron Chef America for its pure ingenuity. The carrots were wrapped delicately around a creamy coconut and mousse filling to create little pillows of crunchy smooth sweetness. When paired with the cool avocado mousse it was like a whole new taste experience for me."

In short, it was FANTASTIC.

But wait, did I say that was my favorite? Because now that I'm thinking about it, it may have been the golden egg. Imagine a slow poached egg, enveloped in a sweet hard caramel shell, dolloped in gold leaf, and then paired with a pistachio financier with rosemary oil. It was so wonderful and dreamy. I have a thing for egg yolks paired with sweet items (don't get me started about eggs on toast with strawberry jam), and this was just divine. I think I may have licked the plate once everyone was done sharing.

When we were about to leave, Boris popped out of the kitchen to present us with a few chocolate goodies. It was the perfect end to a wonderful eating frenzy.

Overall, I had a great time at Campton Place. The food was good, but not amazing, but the desserts... oh the desserts...

If you're in the area and want a unique scrumptious creation, then be sure to stop by and visit pastry chef Boris Portnoy. Although consider yourself warned, none of the desserts were super sweet, it's not really his "thing."

View 15 Photos ›

Making the Most Fabulous Fondue

partysugar — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:03:51 -0800

While it may seem incredibly easy to throw a bunch of cheese into a pot and melt it, crafting a super-creamy fondue takes a little skill. In the February issue of Vogue, Jeffrey Steingarten acknowledges that the perfect fondue is hard to find. He said:

Fondues as smooth and suave as this are rare; more often the cheese separates and settles on the bottom of the pan in stringy clumps and lonely curds whose flavor is as fine as the cheese they're made from, but that congeal in the mouth into tough and chewy balls not unlike chaws of bubble gum.

No one would want to serve a chunky fondue like the one Steingarten describes. To ensure that you never make a bad fondue again, check out my tips for creating silky fondue, just read more.

Use the best-quality cheese you can afford. When making the classic Swiss version, use gruyere instead of emmentalar. Avoid using low-fat cheeses as they don't melt well.
Similar to a vinaigrette, fondue is an emulsion of melted cheese and wine, so keep that in mind when you are whisking the two ingredients together.
Use a dry white wine and add a little fresh lemon juice to provide acidity.
Cook over a low temperature and never let the fondue boil.
Before using a new fondue pot, break it in by boiling a mixture of half water, half milk for 15 minutes.
Never add all of the cheese at once to the pot. Add the cheese by the handful, stirring between additions to ensure a smooth, melted texture.
When setting up fondue, place in a part of the table that is accessible as you don't want guests reaching to get to the fondue. Place pots on different tables to ensure that everyone isn't crowded around one table.

Got a great tip for making fondue? Please share with us below!

Source and Source

Would You Eat a Marmite Sandwich?

YumSugar — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:46:19 -0800

This year, Marmite - a cult British favorite - introduced a champagne flavor for Valentine's Day. The original Marmite is made from a yeast extract and is a dark brown, salty paste with an intense flavor similar to soy sauce. The paste is then spread on toast or crackers. Nigella Lawson is even known for her recipe for Marmite sandwiches in which she whisks butter and Marmite together and spreads it onto sliced white bread.

The new limited-edition I Love You version contains a hint of champagne, but is still the same intense flavor.

So what I want to know is, would you eat Marmite? How about a Marmite sandwich?

What Would You Make?

partysugar — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 09:18:31 -0800

You know the drill, but just in case you are new around here: You are at home and hungry for food. You have to cook up something scrumptious for you and your boyfriend/ girlfriend/ spouse/ child/ friend, but the ingredients you have on hand are limited.

You have walnuts, fresh oranges, and sugar. Using these ingredients, along with whatever staples you currently have in your cupboard and refrigerator, what would you make?

To see what I would make, read more

I have a bunch of arugula that needs to be used up, so I would make a salad. First I would segment the oranges and catch the juice in a large bowl.
To the bowl I would add salt, pepper, a little grated onion, balsamic vinegar, dry mustard, and the sugar. I would whisk all of this together and slowly stream in olive oil to make a vinaigrette.
Next I would add the arugula to the bowl and toss with the dressing.
Finally, I would add the orange segments, the walnuts, and a little bit of blue cheese for a delicious and simple salad.

Source and Source