It may be your last week or so for fresh local raspberries, so get 'em while you can at your local farmer's market. If you have any left after munching, may I suggest baking them into a cobbler.
Farmer's market finds of the week: blackberries and sweet plums. Not your normal purple-y plums, look for the small orange-y and yellow ones that are almost too ripe. They're a perfect summer treat -a few bites of cool, natural sweetness.
Starbucks has released the locations that are first to close in its 600 store round-up. Check this out to see if you local will survive. Frankly, I'm a little disappointed that not one of the 4 stores within a four block radius of my apartment makes an appearance. In fact, looks like all NYC stores are in the clear for now. Sigh.
Over at Served on Serious Eats, Hannah Howard addresses, from a server's point of view, a very important question: How to serve the right wine to a person who isn't describing their tastes quite clearly? It's an amusing and enlightening article which does make one sympathize with the servers plight in dealing with difficult or confused (or already over-served) customers.
On the flip side, as non-oenephile customers, it is often confounding to describe precisely what kind of wine we want, especially if we don't see a tried and true fave on the list. At a high end restaurant, I tend to trust a sommelier or server to guide me, but I also have an arsenal of types I like at the ready. If I can say, "I don't like oaky Chardonnays, but love Gruner Ventliner," that'll usually get me in the ballpark. And if I'm particularly intimidated or doubtful of the restaurant's selection, I know I can't go wrong with a glass of champagne. I particularly appreciate a place that will let you taste before you buy.
Two things about this article struck me. One, I cannot believe that the woman in question describe the wine she tasted as "gross." That is just rude...and weird, not to mention unhelpful if the goal is to get a drink she likes. Two, I ADORE the Elio Perrone Bigaro wine in question. It is pretty and sweet and festive. Pink and bubbly! A perfect wine to accompany the chocolate truffle tart or a more summery cream based dessert. I encourage you to give it a try.
I spent a weekend in Rhode Island attending two weddings and their attendant festivities. After a weekend of the three d's (dancing, drinking and dining) we probably didn't NEED an enormous platter of fried fresh seafood (and indeed, we barely made a dent), but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to go to Flo's Clam Shack right off of Newport Beach.
I took a picture of the fisherman's platter, but somehow it didn't come out. Trust me, though, it was a mountain of fry: clams, clam strips, calamari, scallops, shrimp, whitefish and a 'clamcake.' The bay scallops were quite good, but the stars, unsurprisingly were the whole fried clams. Crispy on the outside, briny and slimy on the inside. They were the exact opposite of the rubbery, tastless fried clams I've been disappointed by before. If I go back, (and I'm sure I will since my husband fell in love with Newport) I'll limit myself to what is truly worth the cals: whole fried clams. Well done, Flo.
Btw, the lobster roll was also very good, though you curiously have to dispense and mix in your own packet of mayo.
It's Pork Week over at salon.com! In honor of that I will share one of my favorite food quotes.
Homer: Are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon? Lisa: No. Homer: Ham? Lisa: No. Homer: Pork chops? Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal. Homer: Heh heh heh. Ooh, yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal
That, of course, was from The Simpsons episode "Lisa the Vegetarian" and, in addition to being hilarious, does contain a salient point. The pig is a true nose to tail (or snout to tail) animal; virtually all its parts can be consumed.
Rebecca Traister addresses this truly 'magical' quality all the while referencing one of my favorite authors, Laura Ingalls Wilder, AND detailing how to make your own bacon from scratch! It's a great article.
Some of you may know that in fall of 2007 I signed up to be a recipe tester for Cook's Illustrated Magazine. It's been a fantastic experience. It's made me cook things I wouldn't have otherwise, with precision I don't always display, and has given me access to new techniques.
We recipe testers are not supposed to blog about the food before the recipe is published, so I'm just going to give you all a heads up. I got the best short ribs recipe I've ever tasted last night! Yes, its a winter recipe in July, but we test about 6 months in advance of each issue. "Restaurant quality flavor" was the consensus. So, watch out for this incredible recipe (I'll let you all know when it's out in print)
Meanwhile, if you'd like to test recipes for Cook's Illustrated, you can sign up here.
is mad about food. Cooking it, baking it, eating it in her apartment and outside of it. She also likes making things out of paper and drinking champagne.
