Food Meditations: October 2009

30 October 2009

Locavore Movement, Healthy and Hearty Recipes

Author: orsiko | Posted at: 11:24:00 | Filed Under: Chef-Talk, Cooking, Europa, FoodGuide, Healthy-Eating, Organic - Sustainable, Travel-Bites, Vegetarian, WorldCuisine

Recipes for Health on the NYTimes.com
Mediterranean Vegetable Pies
Rustic pies are hearty vegetarian fare - Mediterranean-style vegetable pies are not difficult to make and work well as vegetarian entrees. Such pies are a great way to serve healthful vegetables.
Vegetable pies and tortes are a recurring culinary theme throughout the Mediterranean region, where cooks pack the season’s produce into dough, enriching the dish with eggs and local cheeses and adding herbs for flavor. These rustic pies make substantial main dishes and are a great way to work vegetables into your diet; ...
Full Story: ...
... Mediterranean Vegetable Pies; By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN

Eat.Drink.Better.com
Cook More, Shop Less
Spend less time shopping, more time cooking - Don't have time to cook? That's a common excuse for buying more processed and fast foods, but according to Rachel Shulman, it's grocery shopping that's really time-consuming. For more sustainable eating habits, try planning your grocery shopping ahead of time and cook in bulk with fewer ingredients to minimize waste.
With all of the attention being paid to the platforms of foodies like Jamie Oliver and Michael Pollan, you would think that Americans would cook more and ...
Full Story: Cook More, Shop Less; by Rachel Shulman

Recipes for Health on the NYTimes.com
Collard Greens: Rethinking a Southern Classic
A meal of slow-simmered, braised collard greens will be rich in vitamins A and C, calcium and dietary fiber. Simmering the leaves for 30 minutes to one hour with garlic, onions and olive oil will make a great side or wrapper.
Not long ago I received an e-mail from a reader requesting collard green recipes. I was happy to accommodate, especially since I’ve not worked much with collard greens. ...
Full Story: Collard Greens: Rethinking a Southern Classic; By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN

Perspective on the Boston.com
A bitter reality
Splashing some cold water on the locavore movement - Eating locally grown food benefits small farmers and tastes good, but it does not reduce energy use or create self-sustaining communities.
Choose local food for the taste? Sure. But if you’re convinced you’re saving the world, think again.
"Local food" is all the rage, touted by adherents as offering better food, an environmentally responsible lifestyle, and ...
Full Story: A bitter reality; By Tom Keane

Save The Deli
For the past two years, Canadian journalist David Sax has been blogging about his adventures with Jewish deli meats. Now, he's written a book, which is hitting bookstores (and arteries) right now.
Full Story: Save The Deli

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29 October 2009

P = Persimmon and Pomegranate, Chocolate and a Healthy Libido

Author: rk.info | Posted at: 11:15:00 | Filed Under: Asia, Chocolate Etc, Comfort food, Cooking, FoodGuide, Healthy-Eating, Travel-Bites, WorldCuisine

It is more easy to be wise for others than for ourselves. ~François Duc de La Rochefoucauld

Market Watch on the LATimes.com
Sweet and spicy: Chocolate persimmon and GoldRush apples
The chocolate persimmons have brown pulp and a rich, sweet and spicy complex flavor. They can be eaten when hard but are best when slightly soft.
The two delicious fruit varieties are sold at the Santa Monica Wednesday farmers market.
The so-called Tsurunoko or Chocolate persimmon is a most mysterious, elusive and alluring fruit. Technically speaking, it belongs to the obscure class of "pollination-variant, nonastringent" persimmons, ...
Full Story: ...
... Sweet and spicy: Chocolate persimmon and GoldRush apples

Travel on Canada.com
Top 10 chocolate museums
SYDNEY - For people who love chocolate and love travel, what could be better than a chocolate museum.
The members and editors of VirtualTourist.com have compiled a list of the World’s Top 10 Best Chocolate Museums. Reuters has not endorsed this list.
1. The Cologne Chocolate Museum; Cologne, Germany
Located on the Rhine River, ...
Full List: Top 10 chocolate museums; Reuters

Food on SimplyGreen.co.za
Feed Your Libido- Sexually Enhancing Benefits of Pomegranates
For centuries, pomegranates have been used to promote fertility, increase vitality and to lengthen and improve human life. Foods that resembled seeds or eggs were historically thought to be aphrodisiacs. It turns out, those ancient sexual beings were on to something. The pomegranate, with its abundance of seeds, is said to be a symbol of fertility. The seeds of the fruit were often compared to the seeds of life. ...
Full Story: Feed Your Libido- Sexually Enhancing Benefits of Pomegranates- Vegan Recipe Included

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28 October 2009

Seafood ~ Fresh and Sustainable Catch

Author: OCK | Posted at: 11:03:00 | Filed Under: Asia, Cooking, FoodGuide, Healthy-Eating, Organic - Sustainable, Seafood, Travel-Bites, WorldCuisine

Food on Post-Gazette.com
No lost catch here: Enjoy great seafood without guilt
A guide to guilt-free seafood - "A Good Catch," a new cookbook from Jill Lambert, provides recipes centered on sustainable seafood. The author suggests to start looking at a broader range of fish adding sardines, considered more sustainable than big carnivorous creatures such as bluefin tuna.
In one of my food fantasies, I'm living on the sparkling blue waters of Indian Arm fjord, off Burrard Inlet, near Vancouver, British Columbia, ...
Full Story: ...
... No lost catch here: Enjoy great seafood without guilt; By Bob Batz Jr.

Food on SFGate.com
Restaurants turn to trout instead of salmon
Trout swims past salmon as restaurant favorite - Restaurants in California's Bay Area are offering more trout and less salmon, a decision propelled by issues of sustainability as well as economics. Most trout in the U.S. is farmed, and it is easily available year-round, as well as versatile in recipes.
Mike Selvera had an idyllic introduction to trout, fishing alongside his grandfather in Idaho and cooking their haul over the campfire. But that's not the reason the Bar Crudo chef/co-owner made trout a staple on his menu.
"It's just very economical," Selvera says. "It's sustainable, ...
Full Story: Restaurants turn to trout instead of salmon; Janny Hu

Food on Philly.com
Tuna, packed in questions
Canned tuna is economical and popular, but concerns abound related to health risks and sustainability. When choosing tuna, look for brands that are line-caught, contain no additives and are high in omega-3 fatty acids.
Draining some useful knowledge out of those cans.
If you eat canned tuna for lunch, you're among millions of Americans who polish off almost a billion pounds of tuna a year, more than 95 percent of it canned. Partly because the size of cans has been reduced, we're eating less canned tuna, ...
Full Story: Tuna, packed in questions; By Aliza Green

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27 October 2009

Memoirs, Tricks of the Trade and Nutritional Calculator

Author: Midori | Posted at: 11:29:00 | Filed Under: Africa, Asia, Chef-Talk, Cooking, Eat-Italian, Europa, Healthy-Eating, Travel-Bites, WorldCuisine

Food and Drink on the Telegraph.co.uk
Diana Henry's life in food
The award-winning food writer Diana Henry shares some memories, along with favorite recipes from her earliest days growing up in Northern Ireland.
Aged six she was making her own sweets; by her teens she was throwing candlelit suppers. Here Diana Henry, our award-winning cookery writer, relives her kitchen adventures, and shares three recipes that have a special place in her heart. ...
Full Story: ...
... Diana Henry's life in food; By Diana Henry

Food on TheAtlantic.com
6 Australian Foods Worth Trying
Favorite foods from Down Under - Australia's food culture has developed with influences from German, Italian, Greek, Asian and South African immigrant communities. Some favorite foods include Anzac biscuits, Joseph La Casetta Aged Vinegar and curries.
Australia today is a pretty happening place, but that's really a pretty recent phenomenon; in the 1950s the now massively hip-hopping city of Sydney had only 800 total hotel rooms (by comparison, Ann Arbor--hardly a world capital--has 4,000!). Culturally, ...
Full Story: 6 Australian Foods Worth Trying; by Ari Weinzweig

Tricks of the Trade on WSJ.com
How to Eat Out Without Spending a Lot
Restaurant owner Donatella Arpaia, co-owner of three New York City restaurants, shares secrets for saving money when dining out. She prefers eating at high-end restaurants for lunch instead of dinner, and ordering two appetizers instead of an appetizer, entree and dessert. She'll also look at menus online and plan what she's going to order.
When eating out, Donatella Arpaia never used to complain if her food wasn’t cooked to her liking. ...
Full Story: How to Eat Out Without Spending a Lot; Jennifer Saranow Schultz

The Cheat on the NYTimes.com
Bar Menu
It's fall in New York and people, like everywhere else, start packing-on the winter weight.
Fall in New York, wool coats of tourists folded under seats at the Gershwin, the scent of firewood bright in the downtown air. It’s football weather, locals say, and then turn on the television from bed. There’s that Vermeer at the Met to see. But dusk comes so fast now, and dawn tarries until far too late. Hear the man on the L train platform singing: “No time!”
Plenty of time, though, for potato skins. For fried green beans. ...
Full Story: Bar Menu; By SAM SIFTON

Health and Nutrition on FastCasual.com
FoodCalc launches create-your-own menu items nutrition calculator
A Web-based nutrition-analysis-solutions company, has created a new tool for restaurants: The Nutrition Calculator. The tool can determine nutrition profiles for a particular restaurant's menu offerings and can calculate calories, along with fat, sodium, fiber, carbohydrates and sugars.
SAN FRANCISCO — Web-based nutrition analysis solutions pioneer FoodCalc has announced its creation of an exclusive nutrition calculator for restaurants ...
Full Story: FoodCalc launches create-your-own menu items nutrition calculator

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26 October 2009

A Taste of Autumn Toward Halloween

Author: Midori | Posted at: 11:03:00 | Filed Under: Americas, Asia, Cooking, Europa, FoodGuide, Gluten-Free, Healthy-Eating, WorldCuisine, Безглютеновое питание, Здоровье

A promise is a cloud; fulfillment is rain. ~Arabian Proverb

Food on The Oakland Tribune
A Halloween cookie exchange
Santa has always had a monopoly on the good cookies. But it took Julia Usher a while to ponder the bigger issue: Why should the winter holidays get all the gingerbread? And why should something as deliciously fun as a cookie exchange be relegated to December? ...
Full Story: ...
... A Halloween cookie exchange; By Jackie Burrell

Food and Drink on SoFeminine.co.uk
A taste of autumn

From home-made soups to tarts and seasonal fruity desserts, here are our favourite starters, mains and sweets to brighten up your autumn days.
Enough of salads, BBQs and summer fruit. With the first chills of fresh autumn days creeping in, right now we're in the mood for warming comfort food! ...
Full Story: A taste of autumn

The Minimalist on the NYTimes.com
Autumn Sonata: Sprouts, Bacon and Figs
LIKE many members of the cabbage family, Brussels sprouts are at their sweetest and best when grown in cool weather. (There are those who think they’re even better after a light frost.) In fact they’re as good a symbol of mid-fall as exists, and in recent years they’ve made the happy transition to trendy: we see them cooked in stock, roasted until really browned, halved and sautéed ... and now shredded. ...
Full Story: Autumn Sonata: Sprouts, Bacon and Figs; By MARK BITTMAN

Culinary alternatives on The Globe and Mail
Don't pass the salt
How to add flavor while cutting back on salt - Top food professionals in Canada share their suggestions for cutting salt from their recipes without sacrificing flavor. David Ferguson, chef-owner of Montreal's Le Jolifou, relies on herbs, citrus and other strong flavors.
The Globe talks to some of the country's top food talents about their flavour-boosting tips and what home cooks can do to punch up the taste while cutting back on sodium. ...
Full Story: Don't pass the salt; by Heather Sokoloff

More Interesting Links!
~ A sip of Prosecco and a bite of suppli - Suppli, a ball of rice and meat surrounding a molten mozzarella center, is the perfect thing to eat when drinking Prosecco. NYTimes.com

~ Gluten-Free - Gluten-Free Cinnamon-Glazed Pumpkin Cookies. About.com

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23 October 2009

Artisanal Tofu, Vegan Wines and the Swizzle

Author: Midori | Posted at: 07:30:00 | Filed Under: Asia, Cooking, FoodGuide, Organic - Sustainable, Travel-Bites, Vegetarian, WorldCuisine

Food on LATimes.com
The joy of soy: fresh tofu in Southern California
Artisan tofu shops use old-fashioned methods - Small, family-run artisan tofu shops in Southern California all use different techniques to create fresh tofu. Several recipes are included.
Southern California is full of great tofu makers, and we've searched out the best.
Tofu gets a bum rap. Some people dismiss it as health food for vegans and hippies. Others think that it's just a jiggly white brick with no flavor. That may be because people think of tofu only as the characterless cubes sitting cold and ...
Full Story: ...
... The joy of soy: fresh tofu in Southern California; By Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee

Food on Oregon Live.com
Vegan vino? Sure, but it comes with a few catches
Getting the bugs out when making vegan wine - For a wine to be vegan, it must be made without commonly used elements such as egg whites or gelatin, which are animal-based. They also must be free of the tiny bugs that are inevitably pressed and fermented with the grapes in most wines.
WINE NOTES: Aside from the issue of certification, there's the problem of pulverized bugs in the final mix.
Wines made from organically grown grapes used to suffer from a reputation for inadequacy. These were the murky beverages that were sold in health food co-ops and ...
Full Story: Vegan vino? Sure, but it comes with a few catches; By KATHERINE COLE

Dining & Wine on the NYTimes.com
It’s Not So Mysterious: The Secret Is in the Swizzle
Drinks that are neither shaken nor stirred - Some bartenders are adept at making drinks that are swizzled with a genuine swizzle stick, from a tree native to the Caribbean. Though the technique is fun to watch, it is not clear whether it actually produces a better drink.
WHEN Katie Stipe, a bartender at the Clover Club in Boerum Hill, gets an order for a mojito, she recommends that the customer try a Queens Park Swizzle instead.
“We steer them to it as a far superior version of the same sort of drink,” she said. Indeed, the cocktails share many ingredients: rum, citrus, sugar, mint. So why bother converting a customer? ...
Full Story: It’s Not So Mysterious: The Secret Is in the Swizzle; By ROBERT SIMONSON

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22 October 2009

Zapping for Ingredients, Delicious Recipes and Beer Cocktails

Author: Skipper | Posted at: 11:06:00 | Filed Under: Cooking, Europa, FoodGuide, Healthy-Eating, Organic - Sustainable, Seafood, Travel-Bites, Vegetarian, WorldCuisine

It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life. ~P.D. James

Food> In Season on BBC.co.uk
October: Mushrooms, Pumpkins, ...
A time for harvest - The time of year when the markets are overflowing with a feast of wonderful autumn produce. Bundles of wild mushrooms sit alongside heavy pumpkins, while curls of watercress make appearances with striking deep-violet elderberries. Get inspired.
As the temperature plunges, comfort food steps into the limelight. Snuggle up this season with soups, slow-cooked dishes and sweet treats made from pumpkins, mushrooms and game. ...
Full Story: ...
... October: Mushrooms, Pumpkins, ...

Food & Drink on the TimesOnline.co.uk
Gordon Ramsay: 3 salmon recipes
Fishing for salmon recipes - Gordon Ramsay says good-quality salmon is at its best with simple presentations. He offers recipes for pan-fried salmon, poached salmon and salmon tartare, which all let the flavor of the fish be the star.
Salmon is a fantastic fish to cook with, not least because of its versatility. As far back as the Middle Ages, it was used in a range of different ways: in dishes that required it to be braised or salted, or added to soups and stews. Once an expensive delicacy, it is now farmed extensively so is relatively cheap. However, ...
Full List: Gordon Ramsay: 3 salmon recipes; Gordon Ramsay

Beer cocktails on TheGlobeAndMail.com
Gimme a lager on the rocks with a twist
Beer on tap as a cocktail mixer - Cocktails made with beer are becoming more popular as bars have come up with specialties such as the Duvel, made with Belgian beer, gin, tonic and lemon.
Once considered déclassé, cocktails that feature beer are gaining converts as bars across the country serve up their own specialties.
The Duvel – Flemish for devil – cocktail lives up to its name. It's a refreshing combination of 8.5-per-cent Belgian beer, gin, tonic and ...
Full Story: Gimme a lager on the rocks with a twist; Alexandra Shimo
Photo: Beer Cocktails from TheBeerista.com

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21 October 2009

Cooking on Budget: Student Survival Guide and Nutrition

Author: OCK | Posted at: 11:05:00 | Filed Under: Chef-Talk, Cooking, Europa, FoodGuide, Healthy-Eating, Travel-Bites, WorldCuisine

Food on BBC.co.uk
Student survival kit
This survival guide, for those leaving for university this autumn, should be the first thing on their reading list. How to create tasty meals on a budget, and which kitchen essentials will get you through the years. These tips are sure to remain in your good books for some time to come.
Students spend an average £29 a week on food according to the 2005 Unite Student Experience report, which sounds like quite a lot ...
Full Story: ...
... Student survival kit; by Fiona Beckett

Small Business on CrainsNewYork.com
The food we eat
More restaurants focus on healthy and sustainable - Small, local businesses like Energy Kitchen are attempting to change the restaurant game by focusing on using nutritional and sustainable ingredients. Other tactics include training chefs in global cuisines that are more healthy than the traditional French menu.
On the menu for restaurant biz: healthier, local offerings.
Energy Kitchen, which bakes, steams or grills all of its food, is too small to fall under the city's menu-labeling rule. Diners, however, will find the calories listed, along with the grams of fat, protein and ...
Full Story: The food we eat; By Lisa Fickenscher

Image by ockstyle via Flickr

Nutrition on About.com
Save Money On Groceries
Good Nutrition on a Budget - Thinking where to start to find healthy, inexpensive foods. Luckily, there are some easy tip and ideas that we could use to save money on grocery bill while increasing the nutritional quality of each meals. Worth to try at least one of these healthy tips this week.
Looking to cut costs on the foods you eat? If you eat at restaurants frequently, your first step is to cook your own meals at home. Eating at home is less expensive than dining out, however ...
Full Story: Save Money On Groceries - Good Nutrition on a Budget; By Shereen Jegtvig

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