New York - Smokin' good times

Smokin' good times at the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party
BY ROSEMARY BLACK

The city's biggest barbecue starts smokin' June 7, with 14 of the nation's top pit masters turning out ribs, brisket and all the trimmings for a two-day feeding frenzy that will serve an estimated 125,000 people. The sixth annual Snapple Big Apple Barbecue Block Party at Madison Square Park is one of the city's best-smelling summer events, and it gets bigger and better each year. More ...
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Can a Strawberry Be Savory?

Can a Strawberry Be Savory?
Washington Post

A big shout-out to the strawberry, who's back in town and making Washington area farm markets a little more gorgeous.
A member of the rose family, the strawberry is unlike her other berry brethren, as she's the only one that keeps her seeds in full view, on the skin. Of all the berry options to come our way this summer, More ...
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Restaurant Side Dishes Take Centerstage

Restaurant Side Dishes Take Centerstage
By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley | Food Editor
Sun Sentinel

These days, you can get a juicy strip steak or porterhouse at just about any steakhouse. And most seafood restaurants carry the usual mahi-mahi, tuna and salmon. What sets these restaurants apart is their sides.
Often ordered a la carte and served family style, these side dishes are where chefs shine. More ...
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A new crowd cultivates a taste for caviar

A new crowd cultivates a taste for caviar
By Tina Dirmann,
Special for USA TODAY

At some of the USA's hottest and hippest restaurants, young chefs are rediscovering a food once revered by their grandparents but largely ignored by today's jet-set diners: It's those salty little fish eggs, better known as caviar. More ...
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U.S. Agencies Must Talk to Boost Food Safety

U.S. Agencies Must Talk to Boost Food Safety: Study
By Christopher Doering

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. federal agencies must do a better job of sharing information with each other as well as state, local and private organizations to combat deadly bacteria such as E. coli that threaten thousands of people each year, More ...
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Deceiving Diet Menus

Deceiving Diet Menus
By Annie Bell Muzaurieta
The DailyGreen.com

Beware When Opting for "Healthier" Fare; You Might Be Getting More Calories and Fat Than You Ordered
Several TV stations conducted an investigation of dishes touted as healthy at popular chain restaurants, according to Good Morning America. The results were not appetizing. More ...
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Rice Bran Approved as Meat Enhancer

Breaking News on Food & Beverage Development - North America
Rice Bran Approved as Meat Enhancer
By Laura Crowley and Jess Halliday
FoodNavigator-usa.com

NutraCea has received approval from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to supply stabilized rice bran as an enhancer for pulverized meat and poultry products.
The Phoenix-based company hopes to reach new markets following the approval, and has filed a provisional patent for the rice brand, both in the US and internationally. More ...
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Cupcakes, Sex and the City style

Recipes:
Cupcakes, Sex and the City style
Telegraph.co.uk

So easy to bake and yet so fashionable. Xanthe Clay has the last word on cupcakes
It's classic television. Carrie Bradshaw sits in Magnolia Bakery, New York, bites into the thickly iced cupcake, spraying crumbs and licking buttercream from her lips. More ...
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Photography - Spiral on Pink

Spiral on pink

Photo by tanakawho

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Harvard's New Food Pyramid

Harvard's New Food Pyramid
Posted by Elizabeth Cooney
Boston.com

Remember when the government revised its food pyramid three years ago, only to confuse Americans with its 12 versions and staircase on the side?
The people at the Harvard School of Public Health certainly do. They set out to create a guide to good nutrition that uses the familiar pyramid shape but incorporates current research findings in a more straightforward way. More ...
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Brown Rice Wins FDA Health Claim

Brown Rice Wins FDA Health Claim
By Shane Starling
Food Navigator

Brown rice has been added to the FDA-approved list of whole grains that may make health claims including reducing the risk of heart disease and some cancers.
Brown rice, along with many other grains was prewviously excluded because its dietary fiber content was considered too low, but this requirement has been relaxed.
The health claim means brown rice products will be able to bear a whole grains logo and information pointing out the benefits of consuming whole grains. More ...
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Chefs in a Stew Over "Pretentious" Cuisine

Chefs in a Stew Over "Pretentious" Cuisine
By Jason Webb
Reuters.com

MADRID (Reuters) - A chef with three Michelin stars has created a schism in Spanish cuisine by labeling avant-garde creations that revolutionized cooking "pretentious."
Restaurants like El Bulli near Barcelona, More ...
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Putting and End on Mindless Munching

HEALTH JOURNAL
Putting and End on Mindless Munching
Melinda Beck
Wall Street Journal

First, ask yourself how hungry you are, on a scale of 1 (ravenous) to 7 (stuffed).
Next, take time to appreciate the food on your plate. Notice the colors and textures.
Take a bite. Slowly experience the tastes on your tongue. Put down your fork and savor.
"Most people don't think about what they're eating -- they're focusing on the next bite," More ...
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Italians Are Losing Taste For Pasta

Italians Are Losing Taste For Pasta As Price Rises Begin To Bite
Richard Owen
Times Online

The Mediterranean diet is under threat in the country that invented it as rising prices for staples such as pasta, bread, fruit and vegetables alter Italian eating habits. The Confedera-zione Italiana Agricoltori (CIA), the Italian farmers’ confederation, said that Italians were eating “chicken pieces instead of pasta, fried foods instead of vegetables and cheese instead of fruit”. Even wine sales have fallen by nearly 5 per cent. More ...
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Seafood, Sustainably Speaking

A Lesson in Seafood, Sustainably Speaking
By David Hagedorn
The Washington Post

As Shannon and Jamie Konn dined on fish cakes and salmon rillettes at the bar of the Westend Bistro in January, they unwittingly inspired today's column. Standing near the petite blonde and her tall, dark-haired husband, I noticed how carefully they savored each bite. But I could catch only snippets of commentary.
So I moved in closer and struck up a conversation. As I'd suspected, the Konns, both lawyers in their mid-20s, proved to be ardent gastronomes; they eat in restaurants two or three evenings a week and cook at their Dupont Circle home on the other nights. More ...
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Cooking for a Crowd

Kitchen Window
Cooking for a Crowd
by Kevin Weeks

This is the season when home cooks become caterers, the time of year when the online cooking consulting company I work with is inundated with requests for help from people planning events. A typical question: "I'm cooking two, 5-pound pork roasts. Can I cook them at the same time?" or, the rather vague: "I'm planning a graduation party for 75. How much food do I need?" More ...
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The $175 Burger

The $175 burger is a haute handful for rarefied tastes
By RACHEL WHARTON
Daily News

Forget talk of a recession - a new $175 burger has set the city's gold standard for conspicuous consumption.
Literally.
The Richard Nouveau - from the Wall Street Burger Shoppe, natch - comes topped with a blizzard of real gold flakes, plus 25 grams of black truffles, plus 25 grams of black truffles, a seared slab of foie gras and an aged Gruyere typically reserved for a high-class cheese tray. More ...
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Veggie Pride Parade

Veggie Pride Parade Humanely Devours Manhattan
The Gothamist

New York’s Veggie Pride Parade wound through downtown Manhattan yesterday, stretching from its defiant start in the Meat Packing District to its triumphant conclusion at the Washington Square Park. The event, intended to raise awareness about the benefits of a vegetarian and More ...
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Iceland Okays 2008 Whale Hunt

CAN SOMEBODY EXPLAIN ME THE REASON TO HUNT WHALES???

Iceland Okays 2008 Whale Hunt
Yahoo News

REYKJAVIK (AFP) - Iceland's government approved on Monday the commercial hunting of whales this year, a move that drew quick criticism from conservationists.
"The quota for 2008 was decided today, that is 40 Minke whales," a senior official in the Icelandic fisheries ministry, Stefan Asmundsson, told AFP.
Whalers could begin hunting from Tuesday and continue through September, he added. More ...
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Crustless Quiches

The Minimalist
Removing the Crust for a Savory Custard
By MARK BITTMAN
The New York Times

I SUPPOSE crustless quiche is a contradiction in terms, like seared ceviche. But if, like me, you sometimes crave what amounts to savory pie filling without the hassle of making an actual crust, this is the way to go. (The other option is to buy a crust and fill it, but if you can find a good pre-made crust you’re a better shopper than I am.)
I don’t question the fact that a good crust can add flavor and crunch to cheese custard (that’s what basic quiche filling is), but there are times when I’m not willing to put up with either the work or the extra calories that come along with that crust. More ...
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Asparagus - Power Food

Power Foods:
Asparagus
MarthaStewart.com

For such a small vegetable, asparagus demands a whole lot of patience. After all, the plant needs to grow for at least three years before you can harvest it. But the wait is always worth it, because in early spring, a time of year when very few green things emerge from the ground, the roots send up shoots that can reach up to 7 inches in as little as a day. More ...
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Make Grilled Meats Delicious

Sweet and Spicy Recipes Make Grilled Meats Delicious
By ERIN COVERT
Dallas Morning News

It may be the quickest way to turn your back yard into a tropical getaway.
Adding sweet, citrusy flavors to spicy grilled meats and fish makes an everyday dinner seem like a vacation feast. Even dessert benefits from the combination of tropical fruit and chile flavors, ending a meal with an exotic exclamation point.
"It's the balance of sweetness and spiciness that people like in this sort of cooking, More ...
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Reindeer Town in Siberia

The Gastronomer
Where Home Cooking Gets the Cold Shoulder
By Andreas Viestad
Washingthon Post

SCHUCH'YE, Western Siberia -- Of all the cowboy towns in this part of Siberia, this must be one of the roughest. When we ride our tractor into town, the first thing I see is a man with a gun next to a dead wolf. On a nearby field a group of men are showing off their lasso-throwing skills.
But of course it isn't a cowboy town. It is a reindeer town. More ...
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Tomatillo - A Tomato's Cousin With a Sweet Side

COOKING
Tomatillo: A Green Sourpuss With a Sweet Side
By Noelle Carter and Donna Deane
Los Angeles Times

TANGY: The tomatillo, a cousin of the tomato, is available year-round, but the main season is May through October.
Roasted, sautéed, grilled or stewed, tomatillos liven many Latin-inspired recipes with their vibrant color, often silky texture and mildly tart flavor.
It's vibrant green and looks like a small, under-ripe tomato hidden under a delicate, paper-like husk. Peel back that wrapping to reveal firm, slightly sticky flesh with a scent faintly reminiscent of freshly picked herbs. Take one bite and the sweet-tart flavor rings with plum, apple and citrus notes. More ...
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World's Best Street Food

World's Best Street Food
by JJ Goode
Concierge.com

Street cooks are magicians: With little more than a cart and a griddle, mortar, or deep-fryer, they conjure up not just a delicious snack or meal but the very essence of a place. Bite into a banh mi—the classic Vietnamese sandwich of grilled pork and pickled vegetables encased in a French baguette — and More ...
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Foie Gras Is Back on the Menu in Chicago

Ban Lifted, Foie Gras Is Back on the Menu in Chicago
By MONICA DAVEY
The New York Times

CHICAGO — Foie gras, run out of town with great fanfare two years ago, is being allowed back.
On Wednesday, Chicago’s aldermen voted, 37 to 6, to repeal their ban on sales of the controversial delicacy, the fattened livers of ducks and geese. Since 2006, when this became the first major city in the United States to enact such a ban, it had been mocked by critics, including Mayor Richard M. Daley, who wondered whether aldermen should really be devoting precious time to telling Chicagoans what to eat. More ...
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Whipping Up Some Mayo

Taste
Whipping Up Some Mayo
Cooking 101
By Kate Shatzkin
Baltimore Sun

Mayonnaise is so easy to buy. But what lots of people don't know is that it's almost as easy to make, and can be dressed up as a sophisticated accompaniment to the vegetables coming off your grill.
"If you can make a base mayonnaise, you can expand your sauce repertoire to 25 sauces," says Baltimore International College chef instructor Michael Wagner.
Start with room-temperature egg yolks More ...
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The United States Threatens to Ban Brunello di Montalcino

The United States Threatens to Ban Brunello di Montalcino
By Monica Larner
Wine Enthusiast

Taking extreme measures, the United States has issued a warning to Italy that all imports of Brunello di Montalcino could be blocked starting June 9th.
From that date forward, the US will require laboratory certificates accompanying all Brunello authenticating that the wine contains 100 percent Sangiovese. More ...
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Old-Fashioned Cheesecake

COOKING
Old-Fashioned Cheesecake Without All The Trappings
By Amy Scattergood

Whether you fill it with ricotta, farmer or goat cheese, cheese curd, mascarpone or cream cheese, the smooth taste is iconic.

THE HAPPY childhood goes like this: My mother unwraps the silver boxes of cream cheese as if they are presents. She beats the soft cheese -- the crack of eggs, a dust-storm of sugar -- into pale snowbanks in the bowl while she lets me crush the graham crackers with a hammer. I sneak a few butter-laced crumbs and, later, watch the cooling cheesecake with that wistful ache children can have about certain foods. Such moments, repeated through the years, transform simple favorites into profound emblems. More ...
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Sparks of Flavor Stand in for Heat

The Minimalist
Sparks of Flavor Stand in for Heat
By MARK BITTMAN
The New York Times

BACK in the early ’80s, when I had just begun to write about cooking, I used to hang around in the kitchen of a man named Peter Chang. Mr. Chang ran a one-man-show of a Chinese restaurant in New Haven, and was kind and patient enough to teach me some of what he knew.
Mr. Chang’s efficiency was questionable: he’d start grinding the meat and shredding the cabbage when someone ordered dumplings, and often began a batch of stock only when the first patron asked for hot-and-sour soup. More ...



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Pollo Papantla From Zarela Martínez

One Pot
Pollo Papantla From Zarela Martínez
By ELAINE LOUIE
nytimes.com

ON a visit to Papantla, a small city in Veracruz, Mexico, Zarela Martínez visited a club of retired women, each 65 or older, or what the locals call “people of the third age,” she said. The women kept local traditions in cooking, dancing and needlework alive, and introduced them to outsiders.
Ms. Martínez, the New York restaurateur and cookbook author, was offered a plate of chicken legs browned and simmered in a glossy sauce flavored with orange juice, a bit of vinegar, garlic, chilies and vanilla.
“I had never had vanilla in a savory setting,” More ...
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Herb Infusion Adds Pizzazz to Chocolate

Herb Infusion Adds Pizzazz to Chocolate
Pioneer Local

The subtle infusion of herbs has long been the secret ingredient to many favorite entrees, but this timeless trend has evolved and can add an unexpected twist of flavor to desserts and beverages, too.
From rosemary to green tea to fresh mint infusions, the process of extracting flavor from herbs is a great way to spark new life into traditional recipes.
Here are a few tips to infuse flavor into culinary creations by way of household herbs: More ...
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Chocolate 'May Cut Diabetes Risk'

Chocolate 'May Cut Diabetes Risk'
BBC.com

Scientists are to investigate whether eating chocolate can reduce the risk of heart disease in women with diabetes.
Volunteers - postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes - will be asked to eat a bar of chocolate a day for a year.
Cocoa is rich in compounds called flavonoids, which are thought to benefit the heart.
The University of East Anglia is using a specially formulated form of chocolate which contains more flavonoids than usual. More ...
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Fashion Statement by Eating Fresh Peas

Backyard harvest
Plucked from the vine
Right from the pod is tastiest way to enjoy the first peas of spring
Imagine Making a Fashion Statement by Eating Fresh Peas.
By Brad Schleicher
Baltimore Sun

Although the idea may seem silly today, indulging in little green legumes was all the rage in 17th-century Europe. It was so popular that it sparked commentary from the court of King Louis XIV.
In 1696, according to The Penguin Companion to Food by Alan Davidson, Madame de Maintenon, the king's second wife, wrote: "There are some ladies who, having supped, and supped well, take peas at home before going to bed at the risk of an attack of indigestion. It's a fashion, a craze." More ...
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French Chef Crazy for Chocolate

French Chef Crazy for Chocolate
Shelley Boettcher
Calgary Herald

If you love chocolate, you'll have a hard time choosing what dessert to make first from the new cookbook, Chocolate Epiphany: Exceptional Cookies, Cakes and Confections for Everyone by Francois Payard with Anne E. McBride (Potter, 2008, $40).
One option? A plateful of rich chocolate financiers. According to Payard, More ...
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Recipe for Semolina Pasta

Recipe for Semolina Pasta
By J.M. HIRSCH
AP Food Editor

This simple, egg-free pasta is a delicious, fun and child-friendly way to try your hand at homemade pasta. While it can be shaped however you like, this style traditionally is formed into small, thin discs.
This recipe calls for forming the dough into long snakes, which then are cut into small chunks that can be pressed with your thumb to create the discs, More ...
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20 Ingredient Greek Salad

It’s Greek to me
20 Ingredient Greek Salad
By Joey Riley
SundayPaper.com

As the executive chef of Buckhead Diner, I’m faced with the constant challenge of creating American food with a flare that fits the restaurant’s unique atmosphere. The Buckhead Diner has a very distinct vibe, and I have the pleasure of matching the style of the environment with the creativity of the food on the menu. Both the food and the restaurant work harmoniously, borrowing from a retro past, to write the future of American cuisine. More ...
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The Year’s Top-Selling Food Products

[I don't know most of the products listed in the article below but the general information are very interesting!]

The Year’s Top-Selling Food Products
by Diane Toops
FoodProcessing.com

Last year’s top new products focused on low-sodium, probiotics and fiber to manage health problems, according to the annual IRI list.
An astonishing 95 percent of new products never catch on. Those innovative few that immediately connect with consumers by solving their problems and delivering multiple benefits create the kind of buzz and purchase loyalty that can make a CFO smile. More ...
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Genetically Modified Crops, The Consequences

The Consequences of Genetically Modified Crops for Organic Farming in Denmark
Gösta Kjellson, NERI and Birte Boelt, DIAS
Darcof.dk

A report from DARCOF analyses the potential risks of plant biotechnology development for organic production in Denmark. The main objective is to compile existing knowledge concerning the effects of genetically modified plants (GMP) and crops in order to propose concrete measures to avoid or to minimize the risks of GM-contamination.
The work leading to the report has been carried out by a group of experts with experience in organic farming, agricultural production, regulation and control, plant biology, plant biotech, modelling and risk assessment of ecological, agricultural and toxicological effects of GMP. More ...
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Misguided Efforts to Promote Food Safety

Habitat Destruction Driven by Misguided Efforts to Promote Food Safety
by Chuck Benbrook
Photos by the Wild Farm Alliance
The Organic Center

The Wild Farm Alliance has compiled a shocking series of photographs that capture the tragic events unfolding in and around California's Salinas Valley in the name of food safety.
It takes no more than five minutes to look at the series of photos in the file posted below. Warning -- these pictures will leave you outraged and saddened. More ...
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Fruit Soups With a Kick

Recipes:
Fruit Soups With a Kick
BY ROSEMARY BLACK
New York Daily News

The hottest cold fruit soups this spring feature a little extra kick, an unexpected flavor to enhance and enrich the other ingredients and to surprise the taster.
It could be a pinch of pepper, or some shallots, or even a splash of red wine that cuts the sweetness and adds some depth to everything from berries to melon. If you try making these soups at home – and you definitely should – keep a light hand and remember, a little goes a long way when it comes to adding savory seasonings. More ...
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Is It Better to Eat Locally or Eat Differently?

Environment
Is It Better to Eat Locally or Eat Differently?

Talk of the Nation, May 9, 2008 · When it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, what you eat may be more important than where that food comes from. A new study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology indicates that replacing the calories from red meat and More ...
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Slim Chances for Weight Loss

[Ever heard of a lip gloss that promises to help shed pounds while plumping your pout? Follow the link because there is more to read ...]

Slim Chances for Weight Loss
By NICOLE LYN PESCE
New York Daily News

With bikini season looming on the horizon, many women are turning to drastic measures to get their bods beach-ready. But when your trusty magazines feed you sketchy slimming tricks like "stop swallowing air," what's a woman to believe?
"I always tell my clients that if any of this actually worked, it would be the cover story everywhere," says Betty Kovacs at the New York Obesity Research Center's Weight Loss Program in St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital. More ...
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Aromas Are Emotionally Charged

Aromas Are Emotionally Charged
By Karin Welzel
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Areas of the brain that handle emotions and memories are intricately tied to aromas and smells, a reason why one person will be brought to tears when served a plate of food like Mom used to make -- and another will turn away.
"Smells are strongly linked to emotional memories," says Leslie J. Stein of the science communications department at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. "Most of our responses to smells are learned, More ...
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So What Makes Sugar Cookies Delectable?

Cuisine Quest:
So what makes sugar cookies delectable? It's the cake flower
Send us your best
By Kathy Stephenson
The Salt Lake Tribune

Most cooks reach for the all-purpose flour when making a batch of cookies. Using cake flour never comes to mind.
But this fine-textured, high-starch flour - which makes cakes and pastries so tender - is the key to making the soft, melt-in-your-mouth cookies, similar to those sold at Paradise Bakery & Cafe.
MaryEllen Johnson, a sugar cookie connoisseur, requested a recipe for the Paradise cookies, which are rolled in sugar and not frosted.
About seven years ago, More ...
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Hotel Chefs Embrace Local, Organic Food Trend

Hotel Chefs Embrace Local, Organic Food Trend
By Kelly Carter
USA TODAY

An increasing number of hotels are touting restaurants that offer organic and locally grown foods, much in the same way they would promote pillow-top mattresses and in-room wireless Internet.
Blue on Blue, a poolside restaurant at the Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills, celebrates Earth Day next week with a $55 prix fixe menu showcasing organic and sustainable food from local farms, paired with flights of biodynamic and organic wines for another $25. Early risers can enjoy the Beverly Hills Breakfast, consisting of fresh fruit, bee pollen, wildfire honey, an organic muffin and banana soy smoothie.
How California. But hotels eager to please health-conscious and environmentally aware diners stretch beyond the Golden State. More ...
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I Have Stalked Rhubarb

In Season
I Have Stalked Rhubarb, and I'm Ready to Roll
By Stephanie Witt Sedgwick
The Washington Post

When dogwoods are in bloom and azaleas are flowering in force, the great wait for local produce has begun. That may explain why the appearance of even the homely, lovable rhubarb seems to be such an event for its diverse groups of admirers: pie bakers, jam makers and trendy young chefs. More ...
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Ribs the Modern Mexican Way

TALK OF THE TABLE
Ribs the Modern Mexican Way
Despite flaws typical of chefs' cookbooks, Mod Mex yields some delicious recipes
By MARY VUONG
Houston Chronicle

On the surface, Mod Mex (Andrews McMeel, $25) is a cookbook with lots of potential.
Written by Scott Linquist, executive chef of Dos Caminos in New York, and Joanna Pruess, the book makes clear there's more to Mexican cuisine than fajitas and enchiladas. With Post-it flags in hand, I marked at least a dozen appealing recipes to try, such as Wild Mushroom and Huitlacoche Sopes and Lobster Tacos.
Then I reread them, and the list dwindled.
Chef-written cookbooks can be fussy and time-consuming, More ...
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True Texas Food

True Texas Food: Enjoy the classics, cowboy cuisine, Tex-Mex and Lose Star chic
By KATHIE SMITH
ToledoBlade.com

DALLAS — In this city deep in the heart of the Lone Star state, there’s enough authentic Texas fare to suit anyone’s taste. It can be as simple as classics like a waffle cooked in the shape of the state of Texas or a slice of pecan pie.
There’s also plenty of cowboy cooking, Tex-Mex cuisine, and Texas chic.
Historic Texas foods are as diverse as the immigrants who brought them — the Germans, Czechs, and Poles with their sausage making and meat smoking, the Irish Stew that was a one-pot meal that cowboys adopted, and More ...
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The Coming of Age of Copenhagen’s Nordic Cuisine

Choice Tables | Copenhagen
The Coming of Age of Copenhagen’s Nordic Cuisine
By SETH SHERWOOD
The New York Times

Correction Appended
THE waiter wore the kind of mad grin normally seen on movie villains as they unleash mayhem on an unsuspecting city. A silvery industrial canister dangled from his hand. It looked like something for transporting dangerous radioactive isotopes. More alarming, it was emitting thick clouds of cold white smoke through the lid.
“These are frozen elder flowers,” he said, reaching into the canister with a small scoop and sprinkling tiny white nuggets into my dessert bowl. “They have been chilled in liquid nitrogen.” More ...
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Pasta Mañana

Menu Development | By Marc Halperin
Pasta Mañana
QSR.com

Suggestions for noodling around with a versatile carrier at dinner.
For some of us of a certain age, a personal history of pasta really begins with a can bearing the likeness of a certain grinning, mustachioed fellow in a white toque.
Chef Boyardee often introduced Americans who grew up hundreds of miles from the nearest community of Italian immigrants to the magic of pasta in tomato-based sauces. When I was a kid growing up in the central-California city of Fresno, those vacuum-sealed steel cylinders packed with beef ravioli were about the most ethnically distinctive offering on the shelves at my family’s local supermarket. More ...
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Fines Herbes: Spring's Zesty Fab Four

COOKING
Fines herbes: Spring's zesty fab four
By Regina Schrambling
Los Angeles Times

CONSIDERING France is the country that gave the world the expression ménage à trois, it's probably not surprising that cooks there have defined ways to use herbs in multiples too. Three of these brilliant combinations will make cooking more enticing any day of the year, but one of them could not be better suited to this season: fines herbes.
Herbes de Provence, typically thyme, rosemary, lavender and bay leaves, are the essence of summertime cooking, More ...
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Cookbook Helps Us Leave Obesity in Our Dust

RECIPE:
Pork sauté helps you walk away from fat
Cookbook helps us leave obesity in our dust
By JENNIE GEISLER
Erie Times News

If you've never heard of the Walk from Obesity, tune in now.
The walk is an annual event that takes place nationwide in September and October, though not in Erie yet; the closest takes place in Cleveland.
It's designed to raise money for programs that serve people affected by obesity. The event has raised more than $2.3 million to fuel the fight between Americans and fat. More ...
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Master Chef's Indian Cuisine Sans Grease

Love for food: Master chef's Indian cuisine sans grease
Indo-Asian News Service(New Delhi):



Indian food has never been lighter. Imagine a full-course desi meal without a drop of oil. For palates bred on lard and dollops of fatty cooking oil, the idea of food that has not been sauted or lightly fried seems a tad strange.
But master chef Sitangsu Chakravarty has pulled off a miracle. His latest cookbook, No Added Fat: Recipes Redefining Indian Cuisine, lists 81 recipes - vegetarian, non-vegetarian and desserts - that have done away with oil from the list of ingredients. More ...
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Cooking With Love - Flavors of Mexico

FLAVORS OF MEXICO
Cooking with love
Traditional cuisine stirs up memories in the Chicago-area homes of Mexican-Americans
Bill Daley
chicagotribune.com

Memories of Mexico are as much a seasoning in the kitchens of Maria Solis and Carmen Darville as freshly squeezed lime juice, chopped cilantro and a judicious pinch or two of cumin. For these two abuelas, or grandmothers, food is a way not only to link the generations but to tie life in Chicago today with their Mexican heritage.
"It's important for me so he can remember me," Solis said, gazing at her 9-year-old grandson, Jason McGrath, who was happily slurping down a cantaloupe agua fresca, a drink made of pureed fruit and water. More ...
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Deep Down, My Favorite Shrimp

Deep Down, My Favorite Shrimp
By John Martin Taylor
The Washington Post

It was with suspicious surprise that I learned nine years ago of a "new" species of shrimp being hawked by my friend Eddie Corley, who sells shrimp from his roadside trailer in Red Top, S.C., on the banks of Rantowles Creek, about 15 miles outside Charleston.
When the local shrimp aren't coming in, Corley drives south as far as he must to bring shrimp fresh off the boats back to his customers. He was jubilant about his find: "royal reds," More ...
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