In last week's Good Food, Christophe Happillon referenced the above quote. It turns out that it's from Jonathan Swift who was quite fond of the oyster. He wrote this poem called "Oysters":
Charming oysters I cry:
My masters, come buy,
So plump and so fresh,
So sweet is their flesh,
No Colchester oyster
Is sweeter and moister:
Your stomach they settle,
And rouse up your mettle:
They'll make you a dad
Of a lass or a lad;
And madam your wife
They'll please to the life;
Be she barren, be she old,
Be she slut, or be she scold,
Eat my oysters, and lie near her,
She'll be fruitful, never fear her.
After the November 29 show, we posted Padma Lakshmi's recipe for Francesco Clemente's Amazing Hot Sauce. A listener wrote us with this question:
"I love spicy food and often use chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. I have never seen "Pickled" chipolte peppers in adobo sauce. Are they the same thing as regular chipotle peppers in adobo sauce? I can't imagine using 13oz of regular chipotle peppers in a chutney. When I make chili I use 2 or 3 chilies (a 7oz can will have 5 or 6 chilies) and it heats up the whole batch. If this is a different type of chipotle pepper, and where can I find it?" - John.
Wow. That is a lot of peppers. Perhaps Padma's Indian palate has inured her to the flames of hell that 13 oz. of chipotles in adobo provides the rest of us. That doesn't explain her friend Clemente's ability to handle the heat though. I would just cut the amount of peppers down to a level I can stand.
Here's one place that sells pickled chipotle peppers.
If a man wears cologne to boost his self confidence, what exactly will happen when he puts on Flame, Burger King's latest body spray? That's right, I said Burger King, complete with burger scent. The home of the Whopper boasts that Flame has "the scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat." As of yesterday, Ricky's in New York City was already sold out.
If anyone knows where to buy it in Los Angeles, let us know.
The 49th Annual Los Angeles County Holiday Celebration is December 24 from 3-9 p.m at the Music Center. This year's event will feature 1,200 performers and 7 celebrity chefs including Akasha, Chef Jeff, Chef Lala, Susan Feniger, Kajsa Alger Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo.
This is a great way to celebrate the holidays in Los Angeles. Find out more information here.
Two lucky winners of Pamela Sheldon Johns' 50 Great Appetizers sent in their holiday party recipes:
Paul wrote:
"A cracked pepper water biscuit, with a small piece of Brie, topped with a dab of home-made Satsuma Plum Jam. The bright red was very festive. It made me wish I still had some of my Aunt's home-made jalepeno Jelly. It would have been the perfect green, making red and green appetizers for the holidays."
Pshairyn wrote:
"My favorite foods are appetizers! I actually threw a dinner party that consisted entirely of hors d'oeuvres. Proper, no. Tasty? YES! I recently had an excellent chicken salad served inside a cone made from a fried wonton crisp. But tuna tartare is always a win, of course"
Tuna Tartare
(Eric Ripert's recipe from Food & Wine)
Ingredients
1/4 cup corn oil
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 pound sushi-grade tuna
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon minced jalapeño
1 1/2 teaspoons wasabi powder
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon finely chopped scallion
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus half a lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tomato--peeled, seeded and cut into 1/8-inch dice
20 best-quality potato chips
Directions
1. In a bowl, combine the corn oil and ginger and let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours. Strain the oil.
2. With a very sharp knife, cut the tuna into 1/8-inch dice. In a large bowl, combine the tuna with 3 tablespoons of the ginger oil, 3 tablespoons of the cilantro and the jalapeño, wasabi, sesame seeds, scallion and lemon juice. Mix gently and season with salt and pepper.
3.Stand a 1 1/2-inch-tall and 2 1/4-inch-round mold or a biscuit cutter in the center of a salad plate. Fill the mold with tuna tartare, pressing gently. Lift off the mold. Repeat with the remaining tartare.
4. Drizzle the remaining ginger oil around each tartare and sprinkle with the tomato, the remaining tablespoon of cilantro and a squeeze of lemon juice. Stand 5 potato chips in a circular pattern in each tartare and serve immediately.
Christmas in Paris; Crisp Latkes; Cheesy Holiday Guide; Eggnog
A couple of weeks ago we posted a request from a listener about red velvet cake. She was looking for a recipe that used an alternative to red food coloring. "Beets, maybe" she wrote. Well the folks at the Kitchn blog tried just that. The cake didn't hold the beets' red color, but they said it tasted fabulous. We'll certainly keep tabs on their progress.
"Wine nourishes, refreshes, and cheers. Wherever wine is lacking, medicines become necessary." --The Talmud
The season for celebrating Hanukkah is now. Traditionally, a spotlight is put onto kosher wines. When first hearing the words: Kosher Wines, thought goes immediately to the sweet, syrupy, grapey wines that are associated with this type of wine. The next reaction is often: Ugh. But, man-oh-man, those days are over! Times have changed and the contemporary kosher wines win international awards and rival wine made from standard methods.
Today, the major areas of kosher wine production are: Israel, France and California.
One of the most recognized labels, Baron Herzog, produces a Merlot in the Central Coast not to be missed. Weinstock Cellars was the first into the kosher winery business in Sonoma. Started in Geyserville, by Rob Weinstock in 1984, he produces Chardonnay and White Zinfandel.
In Napa, Hagafen (which means vine) produces wonderful Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon.
From France, no less than the Rothschild family weighs in with a rich wine from Bordeaux.
Slow Food LA webmistress Lisa Lucas sent around a compilation of reactions from the sustainable food community:
"Civil Eats," the successor to the Slow Food Nation blog, notes the news and offers an "immodest proposal" for Obama's food policy.
Tom Philpott at Grist weighs in with his initial impressions. And further suggests that we shouldn't be surprised by the choice...adding today that having this much attention paid to the Ag Sec choice is, in itself, a good development.
Bonnie P. at The Ethicurean agrees that Vilsack isn't the best (and isn't the worst).
And Steph Larson points to an online letter to Vilsack now collecting signatures, urging Vilsack to followup on Barack Obama's campaign promise to make a real change in agriculture policy.
Marion Nestle is disappointed but is "willing to give [Vilsack] the benefit of the doubt, at least for awhile."
Also this morning, NPR talked with Michael Pollan about his reaction to the Vilsack announcement:
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