Slashfood

Isn't that how you make hashbrowns?

Marisa McClellan — 2008-05-12T12:02:00 00:00

Filed under: Vegetables, On the Blogs, Real Kitchens

From the time I was 11 years old, when I was sick, I would be allowed to stay home alone. I loved the freedom of having the entire house to myself, and despite my coughs and sniffles, would often take advantage of the solitude to do a bit of kitchen experimentation. My favorite thing to make was homemade hashbrowns. I didn't know much about the properties of frying back in those days, so I never used enough oil to get a crispy mound of shredded potatoes. Instead, I'd end up with a pile of grey (albeit, still tasty) potato bits.

Last Friday, a friend sent me a link to the xkcd cartoon you see above and it immediately made me think of those days at home, sneakily making hashbrowns. How about the rest of you? Anyone else have a home-sick-from-school specialty?

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Have you seen herb scissors?

Marisa McClellan — 2008-05-12T11:05:00 00:00

Filed under: Food Gadgets

My birthday is coming up, and so Saturday night I got together with a few friends to celebrate with a potluck dinner. Despite the fact that I told all who asked that I didn't need a thing, several people brought gifts. Because these people all know me so well, nearly all the gifts were food-related.

My cousin Angie brought the scissors you see above. The package calls them Herb Scissors and up until this weekend, I had never seen anything like them. I haven't actually tried to use them yet (although I have plans to use them on a bunch of parsley in my fridge soon), but I find them fascinating (and oddly reminiscent of Edward Scissorhands).

What do you all think? Useful time saver, or space stealing gadget?

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Bathing with beer

Stefani Pollack — 2008-05-12T10:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Beer

Last week, I wrote about Bill Bramanti, the man who bought a Pabst Blue Ribbon coffin. This week, I discovered Pabst Blue Ribbon soap. If Bill does not own this soap, he needs some now! Etsy seller Dennis Anderson says of the soap, "It's fun, lathers beautifully, and wont leave you with a 'Cheap Beer' hangover in the morning."

For those who don't want to go the cheap beer route, Dennis also features a Guinness soap with a very important warning: "DO NOT attempt to eat or drink this soap! You will not get a buzz, you will get a major tummy ache and be blowing bubbles for a week."

What beer would you like to bathe with?

[via Awesome]

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A fraking amazing Battlestar Galactica cake

Marisa McClellan — 2008-05-12T09:05:00 00:00

Filed under: Dessert, Chocolate, Television/Film, Bakeries

Last Saturday night, some folks in Philly got together to throw a Battlestar Galactica party. When it came to the dessert, they knew that they didn't need to look any further than local baker Zoë Lukas (she's the one who created those those really cool Robert Indiana cookies that I posted about a few months ago).

She didn't let them down, creating a work of art out of chocolate devil's food cake. It is filled with raspberry jam and ganache, iced with chocolate buttercream and ganache, decorated with chocolate ships and explosions, silver dragees and silver and gold space dust. Lukas is in the process of opening her own bakery in Philadelphia and I think I speak for the entire when I say, we can't wait.

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Feast Your Eyes: Multi-colored plums

Marisa McClellan — 2008-05-12T08:01:00 00:00

Filed under: Fruit, Feast Your Eyes

Plums won't be here for a couple more months, but this image was far too pretty to wait until later in the season. It's a nice reminder that plums come in many different colors, a fact we sometimes forget because grocery stores typically carry only the purple ones. It gets me excited for the coming of the summer fruit!

Thanks to Loua for adding her picture to the Slashfood Flickr pool.

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The Boston Globe in 60 seconds: Apricots, Artichokes, and A Whole Fish

Bob Sassone — 2008-05-11T15:08:00 00:00

Filed under: East Coast, Recipes, Newspapers, in sixty seconds

Three breakfast treats using apricots.
How to cook a whole fish.
Bake Me A Wish is sending cakes to troops overseas.
Kids learn how to cook in a South Boston kitchen.
Restaurant reviews: Flapjacks, Grezzo, and Center House of Pizza.
This week's recipes: Cheese Biscuits, Buttermilk Pancakes, Plumped Ginger-Caramel Shrimp, French Toast with Lemony Cream Cheese and Warm Rhubarb Jam, Seared Baby Artichokes, and Marinated Chicken with Spring Vegetables and Ginger-Garlic Sauce.

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Iced Tea 101

Kat Kinsman — 2008-05-11T13:45:00 00:00

Filed under: Teas, Southern States, America, Guilty Pleasures

AOL Food has brewed up an iced tea-stravaganza! Get recipes, tips & tricks with How to Brew Iced Tea, read our ongoing Bottled Iced Tea Reviews, and slurp up fun historical and cultural facts in our Iced Tea Quiz. Don't forget to c'mon back to share your quiz scores, tea brewing strategies, and suggestions about what store-bought blends we should sample next.

Get sipping!

And we had a few things to say about Southern Sweet Tea a while back.

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The Big Book of Backyard Cooking, Cookbook of the Day

Monika Bartyzel — 2008-05-11T12:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Books, Grilling, Cookbook of the Day

It's spring, and as the air continues to warm, eyes glaze over with the thought of great grilled food and backyard feasts. For me, that used to mean tasty, barbeque, sauce-laden steaks, or my old roommate's frequent marinated chicken souvlaki. But then I got a new cookbook, one that has been my backyard, outdoor bible for a few years now -- Betty Rosbottom's The Big Book of Backyard Cooking.

It's not a fancy book. There are no delicious pictures of grill marks and icy drinks, but that's okay. There's more room for recipes and flavor combinations, and really, it's not like we don't know what some potato salad or a grilled hamburger looks like. But it's more than just the mainstays. This recipe has just about every sort of meal you could dream of eating outside, from the bites you grill to the sides you make ahead of time -- from hot dogs to boiled lobster, sandwiches to tasty salads, cool drinks to desserts.

Some recipes are as simple as a steak with a simple, tasty sauce. Others infuse the flavor throughout, like my favorite Lemon Dill Chicken Burgers and the insanely tasty Spicy Fried Corn, Vidalias, and Red Peppers. There's lots of classic recipes, as well as little twists to make your old favorites new. I've found this to be not only the perfect book for creating a large barbeque menu, but also for quick sauce ideas and year-round treats. Plus -- it has a recipe for the best iced tea I have ever had -- but that will come soon, in a separate post.

If you're looking to switch up your old outdoor mainstays, or add a little variation to your menu, Rosbottom's book is for you. It's clear, diverse, and ridiculously handy.

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Pierogies + cheese + onions + kraut = Parmageddon!

Emily Matchar — 2008-05-11T10:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Restaurants, Cheese, America, Comfort Food, Bread

As a devotee of the "more is more" school of sandwich making, this picture of the "Parmageddon" sandwich makes me drool. Two potato and cheese pierogies (Slavic stuffed dumplings), a greasy tangle of grilled onions, sauerkraut, and a slab of cheddar cheese, squeezed between two thick slices of grilled bread.

The photo comes courtesy of writer-photographer David Lay, who captured this beast at Lakewood, Ohio's Melt Bar and Grilled. Melt specializes in a psychedelic variety of grilled cheese sandwiches - smoked turkey, kraut and gouda; beer battered walleye, tartar sauce, American. The Parmageddon was featured as a reader's favorite in Esquire's "Best Sandwiches in America." Now, if I can just get my Polish grandmother to teach me to make her potato pierogies, I'd be all set.

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Recipe: Greek yogurt cupcakes

Emily Matchar — 2008-05-10T16:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Dessert, Recipes, Baking, On the Blogs

One of the best things about living half a mile from Trader Joe's is access to cheap Greek yogurt. Thick and tart, Greek yogurt gets its rich texture from straining, not from stabilizers, and lacks that sometimes slimy feel of many commercial American brands. Full-fat Greek yogurt mixed with honey and nuts makes for the most hearty, luxurious breakfast; it's also terrific doctored up with lemon juice, salt and paprika and used as sauce for cold chicken or lamb.

Gena, over at Big City, Little Kitchen, has found another great use for Greek yogurt: cupcakes. She simply used full-fat Fage (pronounced fah-yeh) as a substitute for sour cream in a Gourmet golden cake recipe. Though the yogurt is dense, the cupcakes came out as light and fluffy as if she'd beaten in egg whites. Mixed with sugar, butter, and lemon juice, it made a tart, cream cheese-like frosting. As a lover of sweet-sour yogurt gelato, I say mmmmm!

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My new addiction: Trader Joe's Black bean and cheese burritos

Julie Tilsner — 2008-05-10T11:05:00 00:00

Filed under: Microwaving, New Products, Comfort Food

First, let me apologize to every foodie who reads this blog. I deeply regret making this admission: I do sometimes consume microwavable food.

The new obsession is making me do it.

Black bean and jack cheese burritos from Trader Joe's.

I buy three. Over the course of a week, I eat three. I hide them from my kids. They're perfect for lunch. I work from home, blogging, blogging, blogging, and often waiting until my blood sugar is so low I can barely make it down the stairs into the kitchen. With great effort, I reach into the fridge, pull out a burrito, rip open the wrapper and slap it in the microwave. Two minutes later, I'm shoveling cheesy, beany-goodness into my pate.

I normally turn my nose up at such processed food, but (and I speak here as a native Los Angeleno and lifelong burrito lover), these taste pretty darn good. The cheese melts, the beans taste fresh, the tortilla is firm yet moist....it's the next best thing to running out and buying a fresh burrito. And God knows I'm not taking the time to do that.

Give it a try. Keep a couple of these babies in your fridge for when you need a quick bite. You'll be grateful. And let me know what you think.

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Ketchup and fries for someone with a sweet tooth

Marisa McClellan — 2008-05-10T08:57:00 00:00

Filed under: Candy, Food Oddities

Because we as a people don't eat enough french fries, Kandy Kastle has created a candy version of American's favorite vegetable. These fries are made of marshmallow and are sculpted to look like steak fries. To increase the resemblance, they come packaged with a little packet of Kandy Ketchup Sour Candy Gel that looks like ketchup when squirted on these "fries." If you need the experience to be a little bit more complete, the Kandy Kastle company also makes a hamburger out of dyed marshmallow, so you can have your burger and fries and your sugar high, all in one.

[via Neatorama]

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Ways to celebrate Mother's Day without a reservation

Marisa McClellan — 2008-05-09T18:59:00 00:00

Filed under: Mother's Day

You've called around and every brunch place within a 20 miles radius is booked up solid for Mother's Day. How can you salvage the holiday and make your mom feel special without a reservation?

Take her to a local Farmers' Market on Sunday morning. You can buy her a cup of coffee or tea and the two of you can wander around, fondle the fresh produce and taste jams and honeys. If you get there early enough, you may be able to grab a dozen local, free range eggs (those babies sell out fast). Poached and served on top of a bed of tender baby greens and you won't (even for a minute) miss the hassle of the restaurant.
Pack a picnic and head for a local park. Who says a celebratory meal has to be eaten in a restaurant? Gather up an assortment of sliced meats, a couple of good cheese, bread or some good crackers and quickly blanch a pound of asparagus. Strawberries or grapes can take care of dessert.
If your mom is a chocolate lover, put together a chocolate tasting for her. Hit the candy aisle at your favorite natural or gourmet foods store (I've found that they have the best assortment of chocolate) and buy four or five good varieties. The two of you can munch on chocolate to your heart's content and when she figures out which one she likes the best, promise her that you'll get her a few more bars of it next time you go to the store.
Even an outing to a local bakery or coffee shop can be a good way to celebrate your mom. Often, the thing she wants most is time alone with her children. This doesn't even have to happen on Mother's Day, if you can't sneak away, schedule a time to get together over coffee and a scone or muffin for some quality mother/child time.

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Friday Happy Hour: One-Armed Bandit

Bob Sassone — 2008-05-09T18:06:00 00:00

Filed under: Recipes, Cocktails, Happy Hour

We conclude this particular numbered cocktails theme week with the One-Armed Bandit.

I'm more of a red wine guy than a white wine guy (much more, actually), but this drink has so many other ingredients in it that I love that I'm going to try it tonight. It's white wine with Cointreau, grenadine, oranges, lemon, and lime. Cocktail.com doesn't say who created the drink, but does say that it was "discovered in Vegas." That's good enough for me.

Continue reading Friday Happy Hour: One-Armed Bandit

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The deliciousness that is pimento cheese

Marisa McClellan — 2008-05-09T17:02:00 00:00

Filed under: Cheese, On the Blogs, Retro cookery

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the Philly-area food blogger potluck. I love these gatherings, because it is an opportunity to taste a huge variety of foods, all prepared by people who more than usually interested in such things. At the last potluck, someone had brought a tray of what looked like plain tea sandwiches. Triangles of white bread, crusts removes, and a thin layer of orange-y cheese in the middle.

I steered clear of this particular tray for sometime, a little appalled that someone would have brought something so seemingly basic. Then, as I was talking to a friend, she said, "Have you tried the pimento cheese sandwiches? They are amazing!"

Upon her urging, I walked over to the food table and picked up a triangle and bit in. I discovered that what I had taken for soul-less white bread was actually a bit chewy and sour, with a fresh, newly baked aroma. And the cheese that was holding the slices together? Pimento cheese that was pungent, sharp, tangy and wonderful. These were not my Aunt Doris's tea sandwiches.

Earlier this week, Cookthink ran a post about the many ways that it's possible to reinvent pimento cheese, which made me start thinking of those potluck sandwiches. I think that there is pimento cheese in my very near future.

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Peanut Butter Bread

Bob Sassone — 2008-05-09T16:04:00 00:00

Filed under: Recipes, On the Blogs, Bread

I have to admit, I've never heard of Peanut Butter Bread before, but it sounds rather perfect.

I mean, if you're a fan of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, this might be just the thing to make them with. Just think: you won't have to take the time to spread that messy peanut butter anymore, it's already inside the bread. Just add some jelly and grab a glass of milk and you're good to go (unless you love peanut butter so much you want to add more). I wonder if it makes a difference whether it's creamy or crunchy?

Continue reading Peanut Butter Bread

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Review: Newman's Own Organic Sweet Dark Chocolate Espresso Bar

Stefani Pollack — 2008-05-09T15:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Chocolate

Last night, a friend offered me a taste of a Newman's Own Organic Sweet Dark Chocolate Espresso Bar. I've typically been quite happy with Newman's Own products and always feel good about buying them since Paul Newman and the Newman's Own Foundation donate all profits and royalties after taxes for educational and charitable purposes.

I've had many different chocolate bars that contain espresso. Before the Newman's, my most recent chocolate espresso bar experience was a Vere Chocolate Espresso Anise bar which was unbelievably good. I point this out so you know I'm not just an espresso hater.

Typically, espresso chocolate bars have a deep chocolate flavor with a small, lingering coffee flavor. In some cases, they have a slight crunch where there are pieces of coffee beans in the bar.

In Newman's case, however, the espresso flavor was so overpowering that it completely hid the flavor of the chocolate. I felt like I was having a full shot of espresso with one small chocolate square. Something was way off about the flavor proportions. I like to taste my chocolate.

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100 Mysteries of fresh, Ayurvedic tea

Monika Bartyzel — 2008-05-09T14:02:00 00:00

Filed under: Teas

There's nothing quite like the sharp, fresh flavor that comes from a cup of freshly brewed, loose leaf tea. These days, there's lots of great flavor combinations to choose from, but one of the best that I've found so far is 100 Mysteries Ayurvedic Tea from the Toronto-based company Tea in the Sahara.

The jumbled mixture of coconut slices, cardamom, organic rooibos, apple, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, and large almond flakes look good, but I assure you -- it smells and tastes even better. The sharp scent of the cardamom is made creamy by the almond, while the apple and ginger make it light and slightly fruity. The smell is so good, like many fresh tea mixes, that it would make one heck of a potpurri air freshener as well. As for the taste, it's like a gentle berry tea beefed up by the thick, creamy taste of the almond and coconut, with that great blast of rooibos flavor.

Yes, I'm quite fangirl about this tea flavor, but just look at that mixture. How could you refuse it?

There's also no muss to this blend. For the perfect cup, they ask for 1 tsp of leaves added to boiling water and steeped for 5-7 minutes. If you make a pot, the leftovers make one heck of a tasty iced tea to boot.

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Last minute Mother's Day gifts

Emily Matchar — 2008-05-09T13:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Chocolate, Candy, Lists, Mother's Day

OK, so you didn't start making glacé fruits last month, to be tenderly rolled in sugar and wrapped in handmade paper for Mother's Day. And you didn't pre-order the fancy chocolates from the local chocolatier, the coconut truffles that say "I love you mom" in pink-dyed white chocolate. You didn't even remember to go the grocery store to get more butter to make her a batch of oatmeal cookies. Now it's Sunday morning. What to do? Here are a few ideas.

1) Buy her a subscription to Bon Appétit, Gourmet, or Cook's Illustrated Just order online and go to the bookstore to pick up this month's copy and roll it up with a ribbon and a flower. If she's far away, just forward her the confirmation email and an e-card.

2) Take her to the movies and smuggle in several bags of her favorite childhood candy (my mother's partial to Charleston Chews and those jaw-killing Jujubes). Have an illicit movie theater candy picnic.

3) Create an electronic recipe box for her on Epicurious.com - you can compile your favorite recipes and make comments about them. Email her the password.

4) Show up with a shopping bag full of ingredients and suggest you bake a cake together. Eat half the batter raw. Eat the rest while watching cheesy movies on TV.

5) Send her some virtual chocolates at virtualchocolate.com. One caveat: you must follow it up in a few days with some real chocolates. I'm partial to Moonstruck Chocolates these days - check out the friggin cute chocolate ladybugs.

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Grease bandits strike again

Ellen Slattery — 2008-05-09T12:01:00 00:00

Filed under: Newspapers, Food News

Leave it to The Simpsons to accurately predict the future. Remember the episode where Homer and Bart suck the grease from Springfield Elementary's cafeteria to try and turn a profit, but the vacuum explodes and the kids wind up playing "snowball fight" with grease balls?

Well, that scene is now a reality. Okay, not the part about the grease fight - but pretty much everything else.

As the demand for biofuel rises, thieves making to look a quick buck are stealing the "yellow grease" leftover from restaurants that cook their food in veggie fat. Like Homer Simpson, they suck up the substance with vacuums, and can get a few thousand dollars from about 5,000 gallons (grease has shot up to 32 cents a pound).

It's not a job for the dainty thieves: Christian Science Monitor writer Ben Arnoldy describes the smell of a grease rendering plant as "like a combination between a fast food restaurant and a butcher shop, where maybe the meat's gone bad."

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