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YumSugar Gift Guide: Who's the Boss?

partysugar — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:13:31 -0800

If you decide to get your boss a gift these holidays, stay away from a generic gift basket. They'll be receiving tons of gift baskets from PR agencies and other businesses. Instead of the obvious, choose universal gifts that work well for almost anyone. Sushi plates are out of the ordinary and not usually included in an everyday China set.

Wine is a great go-to gift idea. I suggest giving a bottle of California's Ridge because it's my boss's favorite wine!

A classic cookbook, like Julia Child's The Way To Cook, is another option. The book is Child's most creative and comprehensive, making it a gift to be enjoyed by any food lover.

For more ideas, browse below.

Maki Sushi Plates ($5.95 each)	Tasting Olive Oils ($21.95)
Fluted Carafe ($29)	Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel 2005 ($32.99)
The Way to Cook, by Julia Child ($52.00)	Rise to the Occasion Pastry Stand ($198.00)

Must-Read: Field Guide to Cookies

YumSugar — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:00:19 -0700

If you're completely over the cupcake craze but looking for other sweet entertaining ideas for Spring, consider the Field Guide to Cookies: How to Identify and Bake Virtually Every Cookie Imaginable ($10.87). Authored by Bay Area pastry veteran Anita Chu, the guide packs an impressive amount of information on the world's cookies into a rather teensy tome. Find out if this book would be a good match for you when you read more.

Pros:

Comprehensive notes include background information and history of each cookie, serving suggestions, and icons that indicate tools needed.
Nice balance of traditional favorites - such as gingersnaps, whoopie pies, and snickerdoodles - as well as ethnic favorites (Chinese almond cookies, baklava, lebkuchen, and stroopwafels).
Reasonably priced, durable paperback edition is practical and portable.

Cons:

Book feels small; tight binding makes it hard to keep book open on desired page.
The book didn't include instructional shots of baking techniques - only photos of finished cookies.

Recipes: The book has over 100 recipes for occasions throughout the year. A few that called my name:

Italian Easter cookies
French macaroons
Greek butter cookies
Buttercream thumbprints
Ladyfingers
Springerle
Pfeffernüsse

Imagery: Every cookie is photographed in a full-color photo index, so readers know exactly what to expect.

Overall Rating: This inexpensive cookie index contains something to please everybody, and its readable format makes it a great cookbook for cookie fanatics. If you don't have a cookbook stand, however, be prepared to be frustrated trying to stay on one page.

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Man Dies in Company-Sponsored Pastry Eating Contest

YumSugar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:00:22 -0800

A few months ago we noticed that competitive eating was a rapidly growing "sport": This year, 1.5 million people tuned in to ESPN to watch the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, and there's now a game, Major League Eating, available on the Nintendo Wii. Yet while it's entertainment for many, it comes at a cost for others. Yesterday, Saurab Sabharwal, a 22-year-old engineer at Nokia-Siemens in Gurgaon, India, died during a company-sponsored pastry eating contest held in the office cafeteria. After choking, he ran to the bathroom alone, and was found unconscious an hour later. Colleagues called for an ambulance, which rushed him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. This isn't the first death we've heard of from competitive eating. Last month, a Taiwanese student fell unconscious and died during a steamed bun eating contest.

Does this call for further measures to be taken, so that others don't get hurt? Should a medical expert have been mandated to stand by, just in case? Or should government officials consider placing a ban on eating contests?

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I Scream, You Scream We All Scream For Ice Cream!

partysugar — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 01:48:39 -0700

Not only is today National Vanilla Ice Cream Day, but it's the ice cream cone's birthday as well! Charles Menches is credited with inventing the ice cream cone when he began scooping ice cream into pastry cones at the 1904 World's Fair. Nearby ice cream venders caught on and historians believe that there were over 50 ice cream stands serving ice cream in cones by the time the fair ended on December 1st. By the next summer, people all over America were cooling down with ice cream cones. I prefer the thin, crisp standard grocery store sugar cone, so I'll be buying a box and whipping up a batch of vanilla ice cream. Purchase your favorite cones - or - and make vanilla ice cream to celebrate! For a classic recipe with flecks of vanilla bean, read more

Vanilla Ice Cream
From Alton Brown
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2 cups half-and-half
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup minus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons peach preserves (not jelly)
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

Combine all ingredients (including the bean and its pulp) in a large saucepan and place over medium heat. Attach a frying or candy thermometer to inside of pan*.
Stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to 170 degrees F. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
Remove the hull of the vanilla bean, pour mixture into lidded container and refrigerate mixture overnight to mellow flavors and texture.
Freeze mixture in ice cream freezer according to unit's instructions. The mixture will not freeze hard in the machine.
Once the volume has increased by 1/2 to 3/4 times, and reached a soft serve consistency, spoon the mixture back into a lidded container and harden in the freezer at least 1 hour before serving.

Makes 1 quart.

*Note: If you do not have a thermometer, bring the mixture just barely to a simmer. As soon as you see a bubble hit the surface, remove it from the heat. Do not let it boil.

Print recipe with images | without images

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Hell's Kitchen - 3.5 Recap

partysugar — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 11:01:18 -0700

While nobody burned in hell on last night's episode of Hell's Kitchen, there was plenty of the usual mayhem. Dishes were burnt, Gordon was angry, and the Hell's B*tches (the loving nickname to the all-female team) were back in full force. Forgive me if these recaps have started to sound a little like the Hell's Kitchen narrator, but I just can't help it... For the first time in Hell's Kitchen history, the teams cater a wedding as their challenge (hmm... sounds strangely like the first episode of the Next Food Network Star). To see what happened when the contestants created a meal for the most memorable day of one lucky (??) couple's life, read more

The teams are brought by SUV to Bristol Farms where Ramsay informs them that they will be catering a wedding the following day. Each team has $100 and 30 minutes at the grocery store to create a tasting menu of three dishes: an appetizer, a fish, and a meat dish. Back at the kitchen the teams are given an hour to prepare their 3 dishes for the bride and groom, who are coming in to taste and choose the wedding reception menu.

Melissa takes it upon herself to become the leader of the red team. Instead of leading, she rudely bosses the girls around, doesn't allow Bonnie to answer any questions and second guesses Julia's ability to properly cook duck. In the end, she is the one who overcooks the duck and declares it unfit for the bride and groom to taste. The bride and groom prefer the boy's crab appetizer to the girl's dessert-like brie/strawberry/puff pastry dish and the girl's fish over the boy's. Melissa throws a tantrum stating that the girl's duck should not be presented to the bride and groom. Ramsay overrules her and poor Jen is left trying to describe a plain, overcooked duck breast.

The boys win a trip to a day spa while the girls are left to transform Hell's Kitchen into a beautiful wedding. Melissa is super condescending and the girls, myself, and anyone watching begin to despise her. On the day of the wedding, she really screw up by oxidizing and over-cooking potatoes, causing tension between her and Rock and accidentally spilling all of the girl's sabayon into the water bath. Not even Ramsay can take anymore of her behavior, puts her in her place and demands that Jen lead the red team.

The girls are the obvious losers and Ramsay asks Jen to nominate two of her teammates for elimination. She picks Melissa and Bonnie. When Ramsay calls Melissa forward and asks her to remove her chef's coat, he shocks them all by handing her a blue coat and telling her she will be cooking on the boy's team now. Bonnie is sent back to the line as Ramsay leaves us all anticipating what will go down next week, when we once again meet in Hell.

There were tons of good Ramsayisms and here are my top 5:

You're standing there acting like a jumped up little cave woman... now do as you're told.
Bloody well done, you won hands down.
When was the last time you had a massage? Never? Make sure you keep your pants on.
Shut the f**k up for 30 seconds and you might learn something. Now stop being a stubborn little b*tch and move your ass.
Oh piss off you little sabotage.

Usually I think Ramsay is too mean, but his cave woman nickname for Melissa was right on. What is up with her hair? And what on earth is on her chin, does she have a goatee??

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Top Chef: Uncommon Sense and Sensuality (Episode 11 Recap)

YumSugar — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 14:39:11 -0800

If you haven't watched last night's episode, titled "Sense and Sensuality" then beware, there are big time spoilers ahead! Now, for those of you that did watch it, can I just say, "DRAMA!" - this is the kind of stuff that makes for good TV. I mean (spoilers begin now, so if you haven't watched and are still reading, well, I tried to warn you), how often do you get to see gorgeous food, shaved heads, and wrestling matches all in the same hour!?

Since this was the last elimination round before the chefs meet back up in Hawaii, the stakes were HIGH. I mean, who wants to make it this far, only to pack their knives at the last minute. Even better question: Who wants to get that far and then have to pack their knives because of their actions and not their food???

To check out my full recap, including winners, losers, drastic measures and more, read more

The episode starts off with guest judge Chef Eric Ripert (of NYC's Le Bernardin) and yet another sponsored commercial, er I mean, quickfire challenge. This time it was by Nestlé Chocolatier (which I'm mentioning only because I find it interesting that Nestlé has come up with a new premium brand... I guess that means I fell for the marketing).

For the quickfire challenge, our beloved chefs were asked to make either a sweet or a savory dish featuring chocolate. Ilan lost with a horrific looking chocolate ganache with chicken livers (I thought it sounded interesting, but in the end, even I was repulsed, and I'll eat just about everything) and Sam won with a shrimp, banana concoction.

Bravo TV has stopped posting the recipes for the quickfires, but here's what everyone made:

Elia: Poached chicken topped with chili chocolate sauce and caramelized pecans AND "Kiss" - Creamed mousse of ginger and chocolate with strawberry and mint crumble
Sam: Shrimp with bananas, chocolate chipotle, black bean and cilantro pesto sauce
Cliff: Braised chicken piquillo peppers, rosemary and chocolate sauce potatoes
Ilan: Chicken liver chocolate ganache with fried ginger and sherry sauce
Marcel: Potato cannelonis filled with coffee whip cream and chocolate mousse with vanilla powder

After the quickfire, the contestants were told they needed to make a five course romantic dinner. Since Sam won the quickfire, he got to choose which course he was making and which protein he was using. He chose scallops and lobster, which meant that no one else could use either scallops or lobster.

When the contestants arrive in Santa Barbara (where the romantic meal took place), they were greeted with a tiny kitchen. Surprisingly, the meal goes off pretty effortlessly. Sam is up first and asks Marcel if he can help plate, but Marcel says he can't because he's busy prepping. So, when it came Marcel's turn to plate, Sam said he couldn't help since Marcel didn't help him. However Sam says he couldn't be "that guy" and ended up helping anyways. The only other kitchen drama occurred when Elia's chocolate hearts couldn't be whipped up fast enough and she claimed that she "quit." Also calling it the first time she's put out something she's not happy with.

The judges eat it up. For the most part they like everything (I think this may be a Top Chef first). The only exception being Cliff's beef dish which they claimed to be like hotel food (Chef Tom also stated that Cliff's greens were worthless). They also noticed that Elia's "chocolate hearts" were missing, but Padma liked it, she thought the dessert was romantic.

Here's what everyone made and in the order it was served:

Sam: Seared Scallops with Lobster Plum Sauce and Beets
Ilan: Fideos with Clams and Saffron
Marcel: Salmon with Celeriac & Beets
Cliff: Sirloin with Lentil Puree
Elia: "The Kiss" Chocolate Mousse with a Chocolate Heart served on a Pastry Heart

So, the chefs cooked a great meal, the judges loved it, it's going to be a tough panel, but WAIT. What's this? We have what, 15 minutes left in the episode? Turns out our fledgling chefs, high off of adrenaline head back to the lofts, where they get tanked and decide to shave their heads.

Yes. That's right. SHAVE THEIR HEADS.
Ilan and Elia shave their heads, Sam chickens out, Cliff is already shaved down, so that leaves Marcel. Poor sleeping Marcel. Now, I'm all over the map with what I think about him, he's endearing one minute, annoying as hell the next, and as much as I can't stand the Teen Wolf hairdo, this is "joke" that's just not funny. I mean the guy is asleep, minding his own business and then Cliff grabs him. He literally yanks him off the couch and holds him in some weird wrestling pin. It was frustrating and uncomfortable to watch. No one wanted it to happen, but no one stopped it either. Sam just sits there, Ilan continues to film and then finally Cliff lets go. Marcel eventually ends up sleeping in the bathroom, I assume with the door locked for safety. And now Cliff seems like an okay fellow, but all season long we've seen some nasty mean streaks and violent tendencies come out. I would have probably also spent the evening locked away.

The next morning the chefs are met by Chef Tom, who arrives and looks quite frightening. He asks everyone but Cliff to leave the room and then WHAT WHAT? Cliff it's time to pack your knives and go. Turns out there's a small clause in their Bravo TV contracts that state, if you touch another contestant, you're out. Cliff is obviously shocked by this, but accepts his departure gracefully.

Back at the judge's table, the rest of the judges learn of Cliff's departure. They are truly shocked (although Padma definitely looked more shocked once she saw Elia's shaved head) and appalled that this could happen. However, they all agree that Cliff's was the weakest dish and that he probably would have gone home anyway. They then analyze all the other dishes and talk about letting one, if not two, of the remaining four go (hrmmm... I thought they liked the meal?). When the contestants return, Padma tells Sam and Ilan they they are still in the running, but that Elia and Marcel need to "pack their knives and go... TO HAWAII!"

I'll admit now, although my brain knew there was no way they could only bring two chefs to the finals, I totally fell for it.

Now, a few things to discuss:

Elia: I LOVE her with a shaved head!
What would you have done if you were Marcel
Would you eat chocolate and chicken livers together?
What do you think of Chef Tom? How about his dismissal style?
Padma's outfits - come on tell me what you really think!
Anything else that comes to mind? Discuss in the comments below!

Source: Bravo TV