Posts Tagged ‘cookbook’
Posted by Warren Rojas / Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
Manor House chef/founder Howard Foer wants to let us in on a little secret:
The restaurant biz is hard work. After a long, arduous day of catering to everyone’s gustatory wants, just about the last thing a working chef wants to do is head home and beeline for the kitchen. But this chef cum inn operator soldiers forward, keeping his Casanova retreat front and center while also developing a line of signature preserves and a pending cookbook.
WR: Salt. Pepper. What other spices/herbs could you not live without?
HF: I love fresh marjoram. It reminds me of great memories (that I can’t discuus[sic]) when I was young.
WR: What’s the very first dish you ever mastered? How long did it take? Do you still make it today?
HF: Mastering the use of the egg. Poached, scrambled, Hollandaise. Of course the egg is an integral part of the classical kitchen and mine as well.
WR: What seasonal ingredient(s) get your creative juices flowing?
HF: Fresh vegetables and tomatoes!! If that was all I could eat all summer, I would every day and enjoy!
WR: My latest cookbook obsession is …
HF: I do not have much time for cookbooks. I work very hard to keep up on products and trends that are available to chefs and are ever changing every day.
WR: What’s the most challenging dish you’ve ever attempted? Would you make it again?
HF: I make great soups and bisques, but I am not a big soup eater. But making a great consomme is a challenge and a great accomplishment when done correctly … and so elegant to boot!
WR: If I could the spend the day working alongside any local chef, I’d love to collaborate with …
HF: I would like to spend the day with Patrick O’Connell. We are both in the business in the same region local to each other. And a glass of nice white burgundy and the end of the day with a chat would be great!
WR: What’s the easiest/quickest–but still wholly satisfying–meal you make for yourself?
HF: Working long hours always makes it very difficult for some chefs to be overly creative at home on a day to day basis. My wife and the kids love to make a great salad sometime with protein and sometimes without. The key is to have great vinegar and olive oils. I do not like the packaged dressings.
WR: In the next six months you won’t want to miss my …
HF: Two things I have been working on is compiling recipes for a cookbook; maybe this will happen in the next 6-8 months. The other is I have been working on a few products that I like to package: lobster butter, apple honey and foie gras butter. They are great and I would like to expand this line!
WR: It’s quitting time. I’m pouring myself …
HF: After long hot shifts in the kitchen I like to have a glass of a nice chablis. Like an old wine making couple in France told me, making a good bottle of white wine is like making a perfectly fitted dress. I agree!!
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Chilled chablis and lobster butter sound like ideal summer splurges. Appreciate the inspiration, chef.
Come back next Tuesday for another helping of Red Meat.
–Warren
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Monday, May 24th, 2010
(Image: Charles & Hudson)
Memorial Day is right around the corner.
And the High Priestess of Hospitality, Ms. Martha Stewart, wants to whip us all into expert grilling shape, pronto–hosting a 10-hour “grilling hotline” (7-5 pm, 5/24) for satellite radio subscribers, while gifting anyone with internet access her summer grilling e-cookbook.
The outdoor cooking primer features 32 recipes authored by Stewart and various cheflebrity pals.
And while some of the fancier dishes may never enjoy the smoldering warmth of my barrel smoker, I’m very jazzed to add the following flame-friendly numbers to my repertoire:
* Girls at the Grill co-founder Elizabeth Karmel‘s smoked oysters with cherry-horseradish relish (hurt me, baby!);
* Barbecue guru Steven Raichlen‘s bacon-wrapped prunes (savory, sweet and smoky? Jackpot!);
* Seasoned pitmaster Mike Mills‘ smoked pork butt (I’d be an ass not to try it);
* Honky tonk ribmeister John Stage‘s lamb with caramelized onion barbecue sauce (I’m claiming the lion’s share now);and,
* Captain Branding, himself, Emeril‘s grilled banana splits with rum-caramel sauce (dessert and nightcap, all in the same bite).
This summer is shaping up to be quite the delicious time of year. And that’s a VERY GOOD thing…
–Warren
Giving Up the Goods: Modern Spice
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Friday, November 20th, 2009
Although author and food writer Monica Bhide now calls Vienna home, her artistic center and culinary sensibilities pogo between the otherworldly sights, flavors and smells she experienced as a youth in New Delhi and the modern flourishes she’s amassed after years of stateside cooking and dining.
Modern Spice is the culmination of her intercontinental education, providing home cooks with a very personal road map chronicling the intersection of traditional South Asian ingredients/cooking techniques and contemporary cuisine.
Bhide shares over 120 recipes that challenge the status quo of classic Indian cooking–don’t come looking for tandoori chicken or vindaloo anything in these pages–including:
* pineapple-lentil relish (a tangy topping gleaned from a D.C. chef);
* emerald-ade (a rum-mango-mint cooler);
* roasted spicy fig yogurt (laced with shredded coconut, cloves and honey);
* paneer-stuffed chicken breasts;
* pomegranate shrimp, and;
To claim your copy of Modern Spice, just tell us where you go to stock up on exotic spices or ethnic staples in the comments below.
Bhide suggested that she spends most of her time (and money) at her neighborhood go-to, the Aditi Spice Depot. But she has been known to wander the aisles at other local specialty shops from time-to-time.
“I love Penzeys and also going into Hmart to see what I can find!” she admitted.
We’ll select one winner at random from all the comments submitted before 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov 26.
And don’t forget to check back next Friday for our next cookbook giveaway.
–Warren
Giving Up the Goods: DamGoodSweet
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Friday, November 13th, 2009
(Image: Taunton Press)
Introduce some Cajun to this year’s holiday table by preparing just about any of the Bayou-inspired confections N’awlins native turned local pastry chef David Guas shares in his new cookbook, DamGoodSweet.
The pseudo-autobiographical tome features 50 tantalizing recipes culled from Guas’ youth and professional experience, including: fried rice fritters, lemon doberge cake and banana pudding with crumbled vanilla wafers.
Need more proof?
Watch Guas test Al Roker’s commitment to gastric bypass by parading deep-fried apple pies, sweet potato tart tatin and red velvet cake in front of the one-time Today show weatherman:
(Video: Hulu)
Guas will also wax philosophic about all things honey and the plight of the bees on the “Disappearing Act” episode of Chefs A’Field (airing locally November 21 at 4 p.m. on WHUT).
To claim your copy of DamGoodSweet, just tell us about any local bakeries that regularly leave you swooning–be it from the homey smell of just baked breads, colorful arrays of gourmet cupcakes, rows and rows of old guard pastries or any other oven-fresh temptation–in the comments below.
We’ll select one winner at random from all the comments submitted before 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov 19.
–Warren
Giving Up the Goods: The Entertaining Encylopedia
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Friday, November 6th, 2009
With the latest 50 Best Restaurants roundup finally behind me (have no illusions; these awards issues will be the death of me), I’ve finally had a chance to sort through the mushrooming stack of culinary tomes that were threatening to overtake my office.
Turns out, I’ve neglected some real page-turners.
But no more.
For the next few weeks we’ll be spreading the literary wealth by offering up free copies of various food titles, beginning with Denise Vivaldo’s party planning primer, The Entertaining Encyclopedia:
(Image: Robert Rose)
This indispensable hospitality guide aims to assuage any event planning jitters by serving up a buffet of comprehensive theme menus–25 in all, ranging from casual gatherings like “garden brunch” and “girls night in” to stun-the-neighbor soirees like “Turkish twilight” or “African Ivory Coast”–classic cocktail recipes and even a cheat sheet for on-the-fly coffee service (easy-to-read chart plots everything you’ll need to produce piping-hot java for from six to 75 guests).
Vivaldo also tackles the ins and outs of pantry stocking (a cooking equivalency grid projects the final yield for all your fresh produce), proper place setting procedures and savvy clean-up tips.
Oh yeah, and she weaves in around 200 recipes ready for deployment at just about any hour of the day.
A must-have for budding hostesses, we’re fairly certain even veteran socialites will find a few new tricks worth swiping from Vivaldo’s 400+ page manifesto on merrymaking.
All you have to do to get your hands on it is leave a comment below sharing where you go to keep your kitchen in optimum working order (i.e., where you do shop for kitchenware, glassware, barware, cutlery, appliances, specialty cooking tools, etc.).
We’ll select one winner at random from all the comments submitted before 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov 12.
And please don’t get discouraged if this cooking resource happens to slip through your fingers. Because we’ll be rolling out another giveaway next Friday.
–Warren
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Friday, June 19th, 2009
We’ve got a copy of the latest Morton’s cookbook up for grabs. (Whet your appetite here).
To claim it, all you have to do is share:
a) where you shop for choice cuts of meat (local butchers, sustainable farms, commercial groceries, etc.), or;
b) the best steak deals you’ve discovered around town (prime rib nights, chateaubriand specials, cut-rate sirloin sandwiches).
We’ll randomly choose a winner from all comments posted by 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 23.
Anyone who misses out on the gratis meat manual can snag a signed copy from Morton’s co-founder Klaus Fritsch at next week’s D.C. and Reston receptions. Each ticket ($59) nets guests a book, access to a dinner auction and includes a $5 contribution to Feeding America.
–Warren
Spanish Heart, San Fran Swagger
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, June 18th, 2009
By Warren Rojas
“Pintxos: Small Plates in the Basque Tradition.” Gerald Hirigoyen with Lisa Weiss. Ten Speed Press. $24.95
If the household budget keeps shrinking, but your appetite for variety refuses to acquiesce, chef Gerald Hirigoyen’s “Pintxos” cookbook may be the culinary prescription you’ve been pining for.
The displaced Spaniard—Hirigoyen owns/operates two San Francisco restaurants, Piperade and Bocadillos—stretches his homeland’s infinitely adaptable tapas model with a slew of American influences, yielding hybrid snacks that romance the palate rather than ravaging the senses.
The cooking guide features over six dozen quick-bite recipes, including: cold melon soup with Serrano ham crisps, piperade-braised beans with baked eggs, a commemorative fried-chicken sandwich (favored by Williams-Sonoma founder Chuck Williams), seared sea scallops over lychee gazpacho, calf’s liver and caramelized shallot brochettes, vegetable tempura with orange-saffron aioli and roasted beets with Morrocan spices and aged sherry (very Basque).
Hirigoyen rounds out the text with unabashed praise for his Spanish cooking—“The Spanish have turned the concept of small plates into both a social event and a culinary art form,” he proclaims—an indispensible appendix of pantry staple preparations (flavored aoilis, lemon confit, romesco sauce) and some of the most lustful snapshots this side of food porn (Ms. Caruso—your imagery is blissfully intoxicating).
(June 2009)
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Friday, May 29th, 2009
By Warren Rojas
“My Mama Made That: Virginia Favorites” Junior League of Hampton Roads. Favorite Recipes Press, 208 pgs., $29.95.
Home cooks can now turn every day into Mother’s Day by simply thumbing though “My Mama Made That,” a treasure trove of regional dishes and motherly advice cobbled together by the Junior League of Hampton Roads.
The nostalgic cookbook is peppered throughout with “mamaisms” ranging from the practical (microwave a lemon for 15 seconds before squeezing, and you can double the amount of juice you get; when you can’t cook, remember the Holy Trinity of Southern cooking—onions, butter and bacon. Add enough of these, and anything will taste good) to the profound (character is what you are; reputation is what you try to make people think you are)—as well as Tidewater-specific anecdotes (I can still remember her [Mama] telling me that any Southern lady should know how to bait her own hook and clean a crab, but a true Southern gentleman should make sure she never had to do it).
Noteworthy recipes include: cheesy ham-and-grits souffle, strawberry-champagne soup contributed by Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, cucumber-and-onion salad contributed by Mrs. Rowe’s Restaurant and Bakery in Staunton, scallop-hoppin’ John, sweet apple meatloaf and trailer-park bread pudding that utilizes Krispy Kreme donuts as the base. The book also proposes various special-events (first day of school, holiday open house, seafood picnic) and traditional holiday menus.
To order online, please visit: www.jlhr.org.
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Friday, April 24th, 2009
Mother’s Day is right around the corner (May 10). And we here at the Food desk want to help ease the gift gathering tension by offering up a few culinary treasures ripe for the plucking.
The question is: what kind of special lady do you call “Mom”?
Is she a spirited Southern belle who would most likely nod approvingly at the time-honored “Mama-isms” and word-of-mouth dishes enshrined in the Junior League of Hampton Roads’ homey, “My Mama Made That”?
(Image: JLHR)
Or might your materfamilias crave adding an array of tongue-wagging tapas to her entertainment arsenal courtesy of chef Gerald Hirigoyen’s artfully arranged “Pintxos”?
(Image: Ten Speed Press)
If home gardening and frequent trips to the farmers’ markets were part and parcel of your childhood dining regimen, perhaps Canadian herbalist Pat Crocker’s new “Vegan Cook’s Bible”–a diet defining work that also doubles as an encyclopedia of fresh food care, use and storage–can provide fertile ground for your favorite domestic goddess to plow.
(Image: Amazon)
All of the above are up for grabs.
What we want to know is: what was the most invaluable cooking tip/family recipe/life lesson your own maternal figurehead imparted to you?
Share the verbal jewels (along with whatever cookbook you’d most like your mom to have) in the comments section below by Friday May 1. We’ll review all the submissions and select our favorite(s) by Monday, May 4–just in time to get the new cookbooks in your mom’s hot little hands on her special day.
–Warren Rojas
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, March 19th, 2009
By Warren Rojas
“Cooking Up a Storm: Recipes Lost and Found from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans.” Edited by Marcelle Bienvenu and Judy Walker. Chronicle Books, 400 pgs., $24.95
Hurricane Katrina didn’t just upend buildings and flood streets across the Crescent City. It swept away generations of culinary tradition by permanently displacing scores of lifelong residents, shuttered historic restaurants (Commander’s Palace, Galatoire’s; both have since reopened) and destabilized the fragile economy by scaring tourists away for months after.
The food desk of The Times-Picayune reached out to evacuees who returned to their ravaged homeland, working to rebuild a society short on basic necessities and starved for a taste of normalcy.
“Cooking Up a Storm” was born of this shared frustration, chronicling a battered people’s attempt to fill in the gaps of their communal cooking memory one misplaced recipe at a time (“In New Orleans, food is culture. Food is family. Food is life”).
Rather than focus on any one style of cooking or specific ingredients, the commemorative cookbook tracks the dishes T-P readers hungrily sought out. Noteworthy contributions include: homemade cheddar and Creole mayonnaise spread, a pre-Civil War specialty known as calas (rice fritters), crawfish braid, Natchitoches meat pies, muffaletta pasta and, of course, all manner of gumbo creations.
View from the Bayou
Most Louisiana natives seem to cherish memories of meals past. We asked some now-locals to share a few of theirs.
David Guas
Pastry chef/N’awlins native
• What single dish most reminds you of home? Beignets.
• Do you still celebrate Mardi Gras? If so, what are some of the festive plates you can’t live without? King cake (of course), doberge cake (half chocolate, half lemon). The day before Mardi Gras, I always make red beans and rice with smoked sausage.
• What local restaurants do you visit to get your fill of Cajun and/or Creole cooking? If I had to go outside of my own kitchen, I would go to Acadiana (which I helped open in Sept. 2005) and order the gumbo, a po’boy, the duck, a muffaletta and a frosty frozen mug of Abita root beer!
Heather Kenney
A Louisiana transplant so enamored with the Big Easy, she named her daughter Nola
• What single dish most reminds you of home? A roast beef po’boy on good French bread with lots of gravy—which is next to impossible to find outside of the Pelican State.
• Do you still celebrate Mardi Gras? If so, what are some of the festive plates you can’t live without? Cream cheese-filled king cake and Abita beer.
• What local restaurants do you visit to get your fill of Cajun and/or Creole cooking? RT’s in Del Ray is my favorite and most like my mom’s home cooking. I’d rather go there or to Popeye’s than go to Acadiana in D.C.
(March 2009)