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Monthly Archives: January 2012

Super Bowl Snacking: Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Kelly Senyei

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

We’re joining forces with our food media friends for a virtual potluck starring all of our favorite Super Bowl recipes. From classic beef meatballs to tangy Buffalo wings, going gourmet on game day has never been easier thanks to the communal table of appetizers, entrees, and desserts we’re assembling online.

Although savory sliders and creamy dips have their place in the spotlight, we couldn’t resist sharing one of our favorite ways to work a little festive red into your spread. Our whoopie pies layer sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting between two moist red velvet cakes. Opt for an added garnish by rolling the pies in your favorite chopped nuts or sprinkles.

Grab a taste of Red Velvet Whoopie Pies then check out all of the other dishes being served up this year for the Big Game. And feel free to share a link to your own favorite Super Bowl dish in the comments section below or on Twitter (#pullupachair)!

Drinks:
Liquor.com: Lights Out Punch, Marvelous Frothy Margarita and Black Velvet
Food52: Bubbly Manhattan

Dip Recipes:
Food.com: Buffalo Chicken Dip
BlogHer: Warm Tomato Basil Dip
Yahoo! Shine: Artichoke Dip

Appetizers:
EatingWell: The Best Guacamole
Devour: Sweet and Sour Pork Sliders from Ching-He Huang
The Daily Meal: Fancy Potato Skins With Chorizo
Food Republic: Spinach Artichoke Balls
Big Girls, Small Kitchen: Pork and Avocado Quesadillas
Fox News: Cheddar Jalapeno Hush Puppies

Mains:
Epicurious: Classic Beef Meatballs
YumSugar: Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Wings:
Men’s Health: Angry Dijon Mustard and Honey Glazed Chicken Wings
Healthy Eats: Baked Buffalo Wings
FN Dish: Alton Brown’s Buffalo Wings

Desserts:
Gourmet Live: Red Velvet Whoopie Pies


Posted in News & Events | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Image of the Day: Sandwich Artist

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Sarah Angileri
Mondrian Sandwich

Artist Brittany Powell refuses to stop playing with her food in Low Commitment Projects‘ delightfully quirky and edible interpretation of a Mondrian-style painting. Classic sandwich fixins’ are geometrically cut and arranged against a canvas of multigrain bread.  To see more art imitating food- or food imitating art- check out the rest of Powell’s blog, where she recreates work by the likes of Rothko, Pollack, O’ Keefe and more, all in sammy form.

Posted in Image of the Week | Tagged , , , , , |

Food Blog of the Week: What’s For Lunch Honey?

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Brie Schwartz
What's For Lunch Honey?

Name: Meeta K. Wolff
Blog: What’s For Lunch Honey?

Location: Weimar, Germany

What is your favorite recipe from your blog?
Too many … but it would have to be my mum’s creamy back lentils and definitely the ossobuco with prunes, apricots and saffron

If you had to blog about one ingredient every day, what would it be?
Saffron!

Is there an ingredient you used to hate but now you love?
Well I wouldn’t say I hated it, but I was never too keen on goose. Now I like it, especially when my mother-in-law makes it for Christmas Day lunch!

What’s your go-to quick and easy dinner?
Bulgur or quinoa risotto with a lot of seasonal roasted veggies, garlic and herbs. Comfort always!

Posted in From the Food Blogs | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Root Cellars vs. Greenhouses: No Contest at Essex Farm

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Patricia Reilly
Frosty kale on Essex Farm

Photo: Kristin Kimball

“The farm we run in northern New York produces a full diet, year-round, for 200 people,” writes Essex Farm‘s Kristin Kimball, author and essayist for Gourmet Live. “We have two greenhouses here, but we use them for plants mainly in the spring, to get a jump on our 100 days of frost-free growing weather. In the winter, the greenhouses shelter our flock of laying hens, so the produce we eat this time of year comes from the root cellars, or occasionally from the freezer, but never from the greenhouses.

“It has been years now since I’ve craved, in winter, the kind of greens most people think of as salad. Much as I love them in season, once it gets cold I don’t want them. They seem too insubstantial. It’s possible this is some kind of physical wisdom, since greenhouse greens can be high in nitrates. (Their growth, limited by light, is too slow to assimilate all the nitrogen in the soil.)

“For Mark and me, there is also the question of where to invest energy. Greenhouses can be real propane hogs, burning lots of fossil fuel to produce very few calories. There are methods of growing in unheated systems called high tunnels, and some farmers do this very well, but on our farm, we focus on filling bellies, and high tunnels seem too labor-intensive for a relatively small return, nutritionally. In the kitchen, I actually enjoy the relative limits of this season. It’s the aisles of big supermarkets—untethered from the seasons—that tend to leave me cold.”

Read about weathering the winter deliciously and try Kale à la Kristin Kimball.

Posted in News & Events | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Five Tips For Egg-cellent Scrambled Eggs

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Kemp Minifie
half a dozen brown eggs in container

Photo: CN Digital

In the computer age we live in, when speed is gold, the fastest way to cook eggs is to scramble them. The French wouldn’t agree. They like theirs cooked very slowly, over a double boiler, so that the eggs come out smooth and creamy. No thanks! I like mine cooked quickly, with big moist curds. Here’s how:

• Forget about scrambling one egg. Once beaten, it will cook within seconds of hitting the pan and you won’t have time to stir it to form those large curds. Allow two eggs per person, or 1 1/2 if you are cooking for a crowd.

• For fluffier eggs, add 1 tablespoon water for every egg and beat it until it’s combined well. For creamier, more luxurious eggs, replace the water with heavy cream or milk.

• Use the right-sized skillet, preferably non-stick. If you are only scrambling 2 eggs, use an 8-inch skillet. A 12-inch skillet will cook the eggs before you’ve had a chance to stir them.

• You need only as much butter, olive oil, or bacon fat as it takes to film the bottom of the skillet—anywhere from 1 to 2 tablespoons—and get it hot over medium heat.

• Use a heatproof flexible silicone spatula to keep stirring and turning the cooked part of the egg up and over the uncooked part.

• Take the pan off the stove while the curds are still moist. The residual heat of the skillet will continue to cook the eggs. And have your buttered toast ready!

Posted in Kemp's Kitchen | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

What We’re Cooking: Savory Pies

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Sarah Angileri

Cheese and Onion Pie

I’m calling a post-holiday resurgence of pies to order. Just because Thanksgiving is long gone and fall has left us with little more than a 40ºF day, doesn’t mean we need neglect the beloved, all-encompassing glory of shareable filled pastry. And you thought you could give your rolling pins and pie hands a rest! The only twist: Rather than a stewed fruit filling, why not invite savory ingredients to participate in the tradition too?

Pies are the perfect blank canvas for showcasing your favorite ingredients. The subtle perfection of classic pastry dough in a Cheddar Cheese and Onion Pie gives ample room for the flavors of sharp, good quality white cheddar and fresh thyme. Try incorporating thyme in your next pie, whether savory or sweet.

Make the most of your CSA basket or a run to the farmers market by using kale, a favorite of mine, in Kale, Butternut Squash and Pancetta Pie. The green’s heartiness stand up to high heat in the oven, while layers of sweet butternut squash balance out pancetta’s salty smokiness. A phyllo dough crust holds it all together.

Another creative crust varietal is biscuit dough, used in Tomato and Corn Pie. The thin biscuit topping is crucial (akin to the wholesome pot pies from your childhood). Lemon mayonnaise tops off tomato, chive, and corn filling, promising each forkful is packed with flavor.

What are some of your favorite savory twists on pies?

Posted in News & Events | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Now In the Store: Soups, Stews, and Chowders

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Kelly Senyei

Soups, Stews, and Chowders

Fight the winter chill with rich and satisfying recipes from our Soups, Stews, and Chowders collection, now available in the Gourmet Live Store.

Kick up the heat with a fiery bowl of Thai-Spiced Tomato Soup, or keep it classic with Chicken Soup with Rice made with store-bought broth and rotisserie chicken. For fresh flavor from the sea, opt for a mug of Seafood Stew that’s loaded with baby squid, white fish, and veggies, and finished off with a splash of dry white wine.

Download the free Gourmet Live app then head to the Library to access the Store for our Soups, Stews, and Chowders collection.

Posted in New on the Gourmet Live App | Tagged , , |

Mocktails Packed with Vitamin C

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Brie Schwartz
lemonade

Photo: Gourmet

It seems everyone is some variation of ill around here, and as much as I swear by a nice hot toddy to make you tipsy enough to forget your sore throat, if you’re actually fevered, it’s probably best to abstain from alcohol (though I seldom take my own advice). If you’re among us sicklings, then the idea of consuming liquor makes your stomach turn.

For those of us who still have birthday dinners we have to attend, even though we desperately want to be on the couch, catching up on Oscar contenders (okay, the “Kardashians”), and non-negotiable out-of-town guests to entertain, I give you a roundup of my three favorite Vitamin C laden mocktails. They’ll put you in the festive spirit, even if you’re snotty.

Posted in Cocktails, Wine & Beer | Tagged , , |

Weekly Roundup: Dinners for One

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Sarah Angileri

Drunken Spaghetti

The day winds down and you find you’re the only mouth needing to be fed. Unlike the passenger-less car you drove home, a delicious dinner is no excuse to settle for the occasional jerkiness of a meal thrown together with refrigerator scraps. Instead, look to quick meals with little clean up and avoid future roadblocks by preparing enough for leftovers.

Posted in From the Food Blogs | Tagged , , |

Five Reasons to Start Braising Your Veggies

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Kemp Minifie

Braised Carrots Photo

I used to be solidly in the roasted vegetable camp. I’d crank up the oven and blast my veggies to candy-like sweetness. But there’s a lot to be said for braising vegetables, too. If author Molly Stevens doesn’t convince you in her Eight Essential Braising Tips in this week’s Gourmet Live, here are five more reasons to braise vegetables.

• Economy: Roasted vegetables shrink substantially, so you’ll need to start out with more, at least 11/2 times as much. You’re concentrating the flavor, but you’re also losing water your body needs.

• Speed: The dry heat of an oven takes longer to tenderize than the moist heat of a braise. Compare 30 to 40 minutes for cauliflower florets in a hot oven versus 5 to 10 minutes on top of the stove!

• Energy Efficiency: Add up the time it takes to preheat the oven to the upper reaches of hot and then roast those veggies, and you’ve used a lot of energy. With braising, you’ll spend significantly less time over a single burner on the stovetop.

• Great Flavor: Steaming and boiling—your other top-of-the-stove choices—are boring. They can’t give you the flavor you get from a braise. The fact that you can brown your veggies and cook them in moist heat gives you the taste you crave without the shrinkage.

• Sublime Texture: Vegetables with dense fiber, such as carrots, parsnips, and rutabagas, need the moist heat of a braise to get to meltingly tender. Just watch out that they don’t turn to mush.

Posted in Kemp's Kitchen | Tagged , , , , |

A Passion for Potatoes

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Kendra Vizcaino-Lico
French Fries

Photo: Gourmet

Potatoes are not only a time-tested comfort food staple, but this terrific tuber is also among the most versatile of vegetables. There are countless ways to cook them. Some of our favorites include mashed potatoes, latkes, potatoes au gratin, gnocchi, potato chips, hash browns, baked potatoes, potato salad, and French fries.

What’s your favorite potato preparation?

Posted in Reader Polls | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

01.25.12: Winter of Our Content

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Kelly Senyei

This week we’re tucking into cozy chowder and robust braises, as well as food for thought on slow cookers, yeast, and a farmer’s delight in winter produce in the Winter of Our Content Issue. Download the free Gourmet Live app for access to all of the issues and recipes, and visit Gourmet.com to read this week’s issue in full, including:

Posted in New on the Gourmet Live App | Tagged , , , |

Image of the Day: Kentucky Hot Brown on a Biscuit

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Kelsey Vala

Kentucky Hot Brown

Consider the biscuit: a simple bread, best eaten when taken glowing and golden from the oven and pulled apart to reveal a tender, steaming crumb. Whether doused in thick spoonfuls of honey or piled high with creamy sausage gravy, biscuits make a wonderful breakfast main. For an unconventional way to top your buttery biscuit, Seven Spoons’ recipe for Kentucky Hot Brown on a Biscuit gives a twist to this classic Southern breakfast sandwich. This biscuit is topped with roasted turkey breast, thick slices of bacon, creamy Mornay sauce, and a fried egg, all toasted under the broiler until bubbly.

Posted in Image of the Week | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Food Blog of the Week: Kitchen Butterfly

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Brie Schwartz
Kitchen Butterfly

Name: Ozoz Sokoh
Blog: Kitchen Butterfly

Location: Nigeria

What is your favorite recipe from your blog?
Tarte de Pommes et sucre, a thin-crusted apple pie inspired by an autumn trip to Paris, when the skies were orange and the streets were lined with maple leaves, lovers arms entwined, and delightful pastries. The result: caramelized apple slices on a bed of pastry cream and apple curd!

What is the first meal you ever cooked?
I can’t remember what I first cooked, but one of my most memorable recipes is cooking up a tomato salsa in 1999, inspired by a store-bought jar of Dorito salsa. I read off the ingredients and made up my own version, which garnishes tortillas and sandwiches to this day.

Is there an ingredient you used to hate but now you love?
Celery. I’m nowhere near being in love with it, but I am working on it. Apparently it tastes great with ketchup, according to my 8-year-old.

What’s your go-to quick and easy dinner?
Pancakes, without a doubt – they are my backup plan for everything from unexpected guests, to really hungry children (of which I am blessed with three). I almost always have a bowl of homemade batter in the fridge. Accompaniments always include fruit, some dairy (yogurt, whipped cream) and syrups from maple to chocolate. Occasionally, I’ll have lemon and sugar, or bacon and sausages

Posted in From the Food Blogs | Tagged , , , |

Five Tips for the Ultimate Super Bowl Bash

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Kelly Senyei
Super Bowl Party

Photo: Chris Gentile

I’m ignoring the fact that my hometown team, the San Diego Chargers, never made it to the NFL playoffs this year. I consider their lackluster performance to be no reason to shy away from celebrating one of my favorite food days of the year: the Super Bowl. Nachos, sliders, soft pretzels, snack mix—if it can be found in a stadium, I’m serving it up fresh from the comfort of my kitchen (or couch).

Get prepared for the big game with five tips for a winning Super Bowl XLVI spread:

  • Throw the Flag: Don’t stop at decorating with your team’s colors. Add yellow and red napkins to mimic the referee’s flag and the coach’s challenge flag. This simple decorative touch will add an element of coffee table competition to your spread.
  • The Perfect Spot: Keep things simple by positioning food near your TV, with sweets kept separate from savory dishes. You don’t want guests to be forced to choose between watching the game and eating. It’s a Super Bowl party, not a seven-course dinner.
  • Tebowing for Trophies: Celebrate the NFL season’s breakout star by organizing your own Tebowing competition complete with score cards and trophies.
  • Pre-game Warm-Up: Include a mix of both hot and room temperature foods, the latter of which can be prepared and set out ahead of time. Opt for a few appetizers that can even be made a day or two in advance, such as homemade snack mixes, potato chips, and roasted nuts. 
  • Call for Substitutions: It’s not all about the booze. Don’t forget to include kid-friendly mocktails like freshly squeezed lemonade or fruity iced teas for those who are looking for beverages that don’t have to be shaken or stirred.
Posted in News & Events | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Celebrate Chinese New Year Simply

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Kemp Minifie
Simple Asian Meals

Photo: Romulo Yanes

Happy Chinese Year of the Dragon today! Celebrate by skipping take-out and letting Asian food authority Nina Simonds guide you in preparing Golden Scallion-Ginger Scallops that look like gold coins, which imply a wish for prosperity in the new year. Or Seared Black Bean Chicken Over Crisp Noodles because noodles symbolize longevity. Or Spicy Hoisin Pork Roll-Ups, a stir-fry served wrapped in lettuce leaves, because the Chinese word for lettuce is similar to that of “rising fortune.”

These recipes and plenty more are in Simonds’ latest book, Simple Asian Meals. Full disclosure: Simonds is an old friend from our cooking school days in Paris, but I’ve just spent the weekend with Simple Asian Meals and it’s going to stay within an arm’s reach in my kitchen.

Continue reading →
Posted in Kemp's Kitchen | Tagged , , , , |

What We’re Cooking: Chinese New Year Classics

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Kelsey Vala

Chinese White-Cut Chicken

The Chinese Lunar New Year begins tomorrow on January 23, and to celebrate the Year of the Dragon we’re cooking up traditional dishes that are an essential part of the festive Chinese table. Food becomes a quintessential component to the celebration, and each dish is assigned a specific meaning and is symbolic of the year to come.

Serving the whole bird in this recipe for White-Cut Chicken represents unity, while the white pieces represent purity. This moist chicken is served with a scallion-ginger sauce and topped with cilantro. Or opt for traditional Shrimp and Pork Pot Stickers, which are a symbol of prosperity. These dumplings are stuffed with water chestnuts, ground pork shoulder, shrimp, and sesame oil, and then fried and dipped in a mixture of Chinese black vinegar, soy sauce, and Asian chile oil. 

Maximize flavor and presentation by serving a whole fish, such as a Whole Black Bass, which is symbolic of abundance for the coming year. The fish is steamed in the oven and delicately seasoned with ginger and scallions so that the fresh fish takes center stage in this all-important Chinese New Year dish.

What are your favorite Chinese New Year recipes?

Posted in News & Events | Tagged , , , |

What Your Drink Reveals to Your Date

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Brie Schwartz
Old Fashioned

Photo: Gourmet

There’s been a deluge of less than scientific findings about what your cocktail of choice says about you, including David Wondrich’s rather fine write-up. This intel is especially important when you’re on a first date, since all it takes is one curious order at the bar to make your courtesan question you.

My 60-year-old mother recently joined the online dating scene. Her go-to is a vodka martini (which she pronounces vodk-er), straight up, and she asks the bartender to just wave the vermouth over the glass. She likes to pantomime this motion. I think her choice implies that she’s a sophisticate who likes to get buzzed efficiently. Perhaps too efficiently.

Continue reading →
Posted in Cocktails, Wine & Beer | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Weekly Roundup: Winter Pickling and Preserves

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Kelsey Vala

Buckwheat Pancakes with Citrus Preserves

Summer’s not the only time to pickle and preserve in-season ingredients. Winter hosts a number of wonderful ingredients ready to be pickled in vinegar and spices, or simmered into bright citrus jams and curds.
  • The Year In Food stews together a variety of citrus fruits for a quick, tart topping for Buckwheat Pancakes (pictured above).
  • Add a few golden-emerald dollops of Jammy Chicken’s Lime Curd to yogurt, or spread it luxuriously on scones.
  • Vanilla bean and cinnamon are added to Banana Jam from Souvlaki For the Soul for a unique way to use ripe bananas.
  • Start your morning by spreading tart and tangy Bergamot Vanilla Bean Marmalade on hot buttered toast with this recipe from Chez Us.
  • Smitten Kitchen’s Pickled Grapes with Cinnamon and Black Pepper demonstrate the softer side of pickling with a hint of mustard seed and black pepper in a syrupy-sweet brine that will give this pickle a subdued pucker.
  • Rock Recipe’s Pink Peppercorn Pickled Red Onions make a piquant topping for pulled chicken or pork sandwiches.
  • Pictures and Pancakes offers a wonderful way to pickle beyond the cucumber with recipes for Pickled Fennel and Beets.
Posted in From the Food Blogs | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Non-Asian Tricks for Leftover Asian Ingredients

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Kemp Minifie
thai hot chili sauce

Photo: CN Digital Studio

If you cook Asian food, you’ve probably got a cupboard and refrigerator-shelf full of bottles and jars of the many different ingredients and condiments. But just because you used them in an Asian dish doesn’t mean you can’t apply them elsewhere. Here are ten non-Asian ways to jazz up your standbys:

Chili Pastes and Sauces:  

  • Substitute for hot pepper flakes in pasta sauces, pizza, or wherever you use crushed red pepper.
  • Spice up Dijon mustard.
Sesame Oil:
  • Drizzle it sparingly over salad greens or green vegetables, then toss with a little lemon juice and salt. Some toasted sesame seeds would add a welcome crunch.
  • Beat a little into peanut butter cookie dough to push that nutty flavor forward.
Hoisin Sauce:
  • Work a spoonful into tuna or chicken salad for a dynamite sandwich.
  • Stir a little into unsalted peanut or almond butter for an intriguing cracker snack.
Thai Curry Paste:
  • Mix into chicken noodle soup for some nasal clearing action.
  • Mash with hard-boiled egg yolks for stuffed eggs with an exotic zip.
Miso:
  • Substitute miso for some of the oil in a lemony salad dressing to give it a creamy consistency; thin, if necessary, with a little water.
  • Stir some into mayonnaise or sour cream to make a super-savory dip for crudités.
How do you use yours?

Posted in Kemp's Kitchen | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment
 
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