Every good kitchen has a bunch of gadgets. They keep well in drawers, some used rarely, some never. Earlier we examined "The Big Drawer," those tools that stir, scoop, shred, and otherwise make a meal happen. Here we examine "The Small Drawer," those gadgets that we could live without, but they really really come in handy.
They measure, they shred, they peel. Like I said, we could cook without them, but we'd rather not. Here is our list of gadgets which you will find in "The Small Drawer":
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From the Foodbuzz website:
The Foodbuzz Blog Awards recognize outstanding talent, creativity and hard work in the blog community, as determined by the food blogging community (and its readership) for both nominations and voting.
Nominations & Voting Timeline:
-Nominations open September 14th, 2009 and close on September 30th.
-The top 5 nominees per category will be announced by Foodbuzz on October 2nd.
– Voting will be open from October 2-October 29th, 2009.
-Winners will be announced November 7th 2009 at the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival and on Foodbuzz.com
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Everyone has at least one drawer for all their kitchen gadgets (even if you don't cook). Because most of these gadgets are unitaskers, they spend the majority of their lives dusty and lonely, but if they play their cards right they get to join in the party during Thanksgiving (I'm looking at you, turkey baster).
There are a small handful of crucial and irreplaceable gadgets; however, that are, and should be omnipresent in every functional kitchen. Here is a closer look at our collection
It may be obvious to my regular readers (my mom, my girlfriend) that I’m a bit of a salad guy. I love salad. And one of my favorite ways to start my day is with a breakfast salad. Here’s how it goes:
· Wash a few handfuls of fresh mixed greens. I like having some bitter greens in there, such as radicchio or frisee.
· Make a sharp, acidic vinaigrette: Mix two parts olive oil to one part vinegar. Equal parts of champagne and red wine vinegar add pleasant aromatics to the vinegar component of the dressing. Drop in a few dashes of Old Bay or Tabasco if you like – not too much, just enough to taste the spice. Whisk or shake...
photo by Loren Tama
I’ve eaten Cobb salads for dinner, breakfast, and lunch, sometimes successively and usually in that order. I love the crunch, the tanginess, and the complements achieved by the right balance of acidic tomatoes, sweet and smoky bacon, and fragrant blue cheese. A properly-seasoned chicken breast can make the difference between a lame Cobb and a gourmet delight.
I’ve been known to praise restaurants that use a traditional Cobb dressing, complete with blue cheese, garlic, Worcestershire, and vinegar. At the same time, I’ve often lambasted a Cobb served with something as pedestrian as thousand island dressing: pounding my fist on the table, I lecture my fellow diners, reciting my familiar phrase “it’s not a Cobb without Cobb dressing!” As much as I’d like to say that the dressing makes the Cobb, however, the reality is that...
Although the end result will make you look like a culinary rockstar, this Fig and Gorgonzola Flatbread recipe is [albeit time consuming] relatively easy. The caramelize onions and the fresh figs add a sweet counterpoint to the funkiness of the Gorgonzola cheese. The colors are amazing too, violet, emerald, sky blue, all atop the toasted background of flatbread.
Give yourself two hours...
Ah, the Loco Moco. Take white rice, plop a fried hamburger patty on top (usually well-done), pour brown gravy over everything, and then top it all with a fried egg. What hungry beast designed this dish?
According to the Wiki, "James Kelly, a University of Hawaii-Hilo professor writes that the loco moco dish was created in 1949 by the Inouye family, who owned the Lincoln Grill in Hilo, Hawaii in 1949. A group of boys from the Lincoln Wreckers...
This is a take on a traditional Caprese salad but with 4 different types of tomatoes and the addition of Lemon Cucumbers. Everything was given to us from our friend's garden (thank you Heather and Steve!), except the Mozzarella, thus the name Summer Garden Salad. If Lemon Cucumbers are not available...
The crew of the current Endeavour mission completed what was almost a 5 hour spacewalk on Monday, detached from the space station today, and prepare for a Friday landing. Which begs me to ask... what are they eating up there?
Many of us have had "Astronaut Ice Cream," the freeze dried Neapolitan brick of what was once ice cream. That odd texture of something at room temperature still melting in you mouth always throws me. And then there's Tang of course.
Beyond that however, what those brave souls are subsisting of up there, traveling at 17,000 miles per hour, remains much of a mystery.
There are several concerns with eating on a space shuttle in zero gravity. Liquids can be dangerous. Who knows what would happen if a floating ball of orange-flavored liquid were to slip into the control panel. That and small objects. Just imagine what kind of havoc a fist full of Mike 'n Ikes would create with an onboard air filtration system.
Sometimes this just limits their choices. The serve up, for example, tortillas not bread. Bread crumbs could be dangerous, but tortillas tear nicely - and they make for great frisbies too. They have been on every mission since 1985. In other circumstances, nearly everything they eat is contained in either a plastic bladder, or what they call an "edible coating."
They can Velcro their dining trays to their legs and attach their utensils magnetically. Salt and pepper are delivered to their food in liquid form, airborne salt and pepper could be a nightmare. They rehydrate the food with the waste water from the fuel cells.
Apparently there are no rules against "playing with your food." Many have seen the video of the banana spiraling into the astronaut's mouth...
But what are they eating? Well, pretty much everything that can be freeze-dried, dehydrated, thermo-stabilized, served in a pouch, and eaten with a spoon. That's quite a bit. Common space meals include things like beef stroganoff, brownies, chicken stew, scrambled eggs, granola bars, macaroni and cheese, chocolate pudding.
On the space station, which is a U.S./Russian venture, they eat both American and Russian dishes. Fruit is a luxury, only being available in the space station for a few days after being visited by the shuttle or an unmanned cargo drone. Another luxury they don't ever get... beer or wine.
This is my favorite picture... If you look closely in the photo above you can clearly make out a bottle of the famous Thai hot sauce, Sriracha.
There seems to be issues with fish coming across as too fishy and one swordfish dish was so bad that a few astronauts refused to eat it. Apparently they don't eat the world famous "Space Ice Cream" either.
But what seems to be the most popular dish? Freeze-dried shrimp cocktail, served with horseradish-infused powdered sauce. (Gross)
photo by bashford
photo by Photo Mojo
Ahh Beer Can Chicken, a staple food growing up and always a go-to grill option for my father. The logic is sound, prop up the bird so that the breast meat is not scorched by the direct heat of the grill and thus dried out. The beer gently steams the cavity adding a subtle nuance of malted barley and hops; the liquid also adding to the moisture of the meat. Brilliant.
But wait. Is there a plastic liner in my beer can? What's this about Bisphenol-A (BPA)? Is BPA going to kill me? What about the paint on the outside? Is it true that Aluminum is linked to Alzheimer's Disease? Oh my gosh, is my Beer Can Chicken going to kill me?
This debate sprung up recently and I decided to check the facts. Note: I'm not a doctor but I had a cameo as one in a school play. Let's begin:
Is there a plastic liner in my beer can?
- Most likely. Beer and soda are reactive to metals and would taste horrible out of a can without a liner of sorts. There is a wonderful article on the History of the Beverage Can by the Museum of Beverage Containers and Advertising that states that lined cans hit the market in 1935 - and the industry, basically, never looked back.
This is an image of the plastic liner inside a beverage can that has had the aluminum exposed by dissolving it in acid (photo courtesy of Steve Spangler Science):
What is all this news about BPA?
- BPA is a building block of many everyday plastics. Researchers have correlated exposure to BPA to heart disease, diabetes and possibly cancer. Consumer awareness about BPA hit an all time high last April when news detailed baby bottles that contain BPA and Nalgene quickly removed its water bottles from shelves.
Is BPA going to kill me?
- Maybe. Not from drinking beer it appears [thank god] but a recent study by the Center for Disease Control fount BPA to be present in 93% of the population in the U.S. That's how everyday this stuff is.
In 1995, the Society of the Plastics Industry, ran a study to quantify the migration of BPA from can coatings. They determined that an average adult consumer would have to consume "about 500 pounds of canned food and beverages every day for an entire lifetime to exceed the safe level of BPA set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)."
Before you sigh a breath of relief, there are some mitigating factors here... Do you trust that the EPA has correctly determined what safe exposures to BPA are? Do you trust the results of a BPA study conducted by the Society of the Plastic Industry? Why hasn't anyone studied the exposure generated by grilling a can of beer that's been stuffed in a chicken's rear end?
What about the paint on the outside?
- Hmm, I've got nothing for ya - except Little Jimmy used to eat paint chips and we all know how he turned out...
Is it true that Aluminum is linked to Alzheimer's Disease?
- "They" don't think so. The link between Aluminum and Alzheimer's was first put forward in 1965 and aluminum has been shown to be present in both plaques and tangles in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. I know people who avoid antiperspirant because they contain aluminum-based compounds.
According to the Alzheimer's Society; however, "The overwhelming medical and scientific opinion is that the findings outlined above do not convincingly demonstrate a causal relationship between aluminum and Alzheimer's disease, and that no useful medical or public health recommendations can be made− at least at present (Massey and Taylor 1989)."
Oh my gosh, is my Beer Can Chicken going to kill me?
- I am completely unqualified to answer this, but... I don't think so. For what it's worth, this is my logic: As long as beer is still inside the can, the temperature won't reach much more than 212 degrees F, the boiling point of water.
The boiling point of BPA is about 428 degrees F, so whatever BPA there might be inside the can liner, likely won't cook into the food. If it does, it will stay mostly inside the cavity of the bird and considering how unappetising chicken ribs are, no one is likely going to be eating them.
The paint on the outside follows the same rules as far as I'm concerned. Ensure there is enough liquid in the can and the paint probably won't bake off either.
As far as the aluminum goes, just think about how much plastic and paint there is on that can protecting you from that nasty aluminum...
There is a great debate on Beer Can Chicken going on in the Chowhound forums, here is my favorite comment so far:
I think to many people are a little to panicky about these simple heath issues. You never heard anyone say anything back in the day when we all as kids drank from the garden hose. How about putting marshmallows on a tree branch to roast them? Maybe an insect deficated [sic] on that branch, or maybe it was sprayed with mesquito [sic] spray, who knows? - Jimbosox04
Lastly, if you want to see how beverage cans are manufactured, thank How it's Made by the Discovery Channel for making this video.
Spanish Almond Soup
I first heard of Almond Soup on Evan Kleinman's radio show/podcast Good Food. She and her guest talked about Ajo Blanco - a kind of gazpacho from southern Spain. I thought, "cool, I was wondering what I was going to do with all those raw almonds that I just I bought..."
I dug around a little bit online to find a recipe; searching "spanish almond soup" I found a theme, grasped some basic ratios, and set out on making it my soup, albiet not Ajo Blanco. Garlic, saffron, and bread or bread crumbs were present in all of them. Besides those, some had cumin, some had milk, some had vinegar, some even had cinnamon.
In full disclosure and truthiness, three of the recipes I found were completely identical: the one from costadelsol-vacationrentals.com, from ezinearticles.com, and also eatmoreherbs.com. They all started with, "Heat the oil and toast the almonds, garlic, bread and saffron. When golden brown set a few..." and completed the recipe verbatim. I wonder who got screwed.
In any case, this is what I came up with. The key is blending the Jiminy Cricket out of it and running it through a strainer. The yield is less but the result is not nearly as grainy. Almonds don't break down under heat like, say, peanuts or other legumes will.
Ingredients:
Technique:
Heat the almonds and garlic over medium-high heat with the olive oil for about 3-4 minutes, just until the garlic develops a little color and the almonds become fragrant. In another pot, bring the 6 cups of stock to a simmer.
Add the saffron, cumin, and breadcrumbs to the almond mixture and begin to stir them well. This will bloom the flavor of the cumin and saffron and cook any raw flavor out of the breadcrumbs - about another minute.
Add 2 cups of the stock to the pan to deglaze, bring back to a simmer, then transfer the mixture to a blender. Add the chopped parsley, salt, and pepper. Blend thoroughly, 2-3 minutes.
Pour the blended almond mixture through a strainer into the simmering stock. Add the lemon juice, check the seasoning and serve hot.
You can garnish with slivered almonds, and a pinch of the parsley.
Notes:
I used raw, unsalted almonds. I'm sure you can use roasted and/or salted you simply would not need to cook them as long, and adjust the salt accordingly. I would also not recommend an emersion blender, they wouldn't be able to break down whole almonds like a good 'ole stand blender can.
A la Rube Goldberg, this rediculous contraption dubbed "Falling Water" was built by Joseph Herscher who, by my guess, must either not be employed, be an idiot savant, not have a girlfriend, or "D" all of the above. In any case, it is really cool to watch.
This is another contraption he built in order to smash a Cadburry Cream Egg called "Cream That Egg." At the end of the video he states that the video was made, "With Support from The World's Most Tolerant Flatmates, 30 Sticks of Hot Glue, and 480 Pints."
If you haven't heard if Improv Everywhere yet, this is a great example of what they do. They are self-described as, "[causing] scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 80 missions involving thousands of undercover agents."
Here is another [non food-related] example.
Buy their book, Causing a Scene: Extraordinary Pranks in Ordinary Places with Improv Everywhere
Called a viral mini-epic short film about war, Food Fight is the work of Stefan Nadelman of Tourist Pictures. He has done many ads and short flicks, some of which can be watched on his website including spots he's done for, Saturday Night Live, Volkswagen, Maple Leaf Foods, and Mike & Ike candy.
Food Fight takes through some of the more infamous moments of WWII all the way up to the United States' current conflicts in the Middle East. Pretzels gun down matzo with their salt. Hamburgers destroy everything by shooting their pickles. Sushi rolls turn into kamikaze.
It'll make you laugh, it'll make you cry, but in the end Food Fight shows us how fear for food safety... well, fear for our food's safety. Stefan Nadelman is primarily in the field of motion graphics for film, music videos, and broadcast. Tourist Pictures is located in Portland, Oregon.
Pop up some popcorn and enjoy the show.
We've covered Burger King's controversial ad campaigns in the past (Fast Food Frenzies) like their Whopper Virgins and the Whopper Sacrifice but this time, Burger King deals another foul ad, managing to offend only a billion people, Hindus. In a print ad, they depict the goddess Lakshmi straddling a meat sandwich with a tagline of "Snack is Sacred."
I suppose no one in the Marketing Department knows much about Hinduism - which advocates vegetarianism; and those Hindus who do eat meat, nearly all abstain from beef. The cow is considered a symbol of life and will likely never be successful on a Burger King menu in India.
Earlier this year Burger King released a rare apology over one of its ad campaigns in Spain after it offended the 150+ million Mexican people globally. The ad in question was for its "Texican Whopper" - a cheeseburger with a chile and a spicy mayonnaise.
The ads portray a short-stature Mexican wearing the Mexican flag and a professional wrestling mask co-inhabiting with a tall American cowboy character. At one point in the ad, the American lifts up the Mexican character so that he can place a trophy on a high shelf.
The most notable reaction came from Mexico's ambassador to Spain who wrote a letter to the company. Burger King quickly replied in a statement "Burger King Corporation has made the decision to revise the Texican Whopper advertising creative out of respect for the Mexican culture and its people" (via Reuters.)
Snap, Crackle and Pop are all brothers and they are elves. They were adapted from Kellogg's radio ad and were first illustrated by Vernon Grant in 1933.
Snap is the oldest and is the problem solver, fixing what his two brothers create. Snap sports a chef's hat. Crackle is the fun-loving middle child. Crackle is also the leader of the group and the supposedly, smartest of the three. Crackle wears a red-and-white-striped hat. Pop is the jokester, youngest elf; Pop doesn’t take anything seriously and he wears a band leader's hat.
According to Mental Floss Magazine (2008) "A Second Helping of Cereal Facts" there was a fourth brother, Pow. - "In the 1950s, [Pow] was supposed to represent Rice Krispies’ explosive nutritional value. Sadly, four proved to be one cereal gnome too many, and Pow was given the pink slip."
I grew up on Rice Krispies, usually heaping three or four tablespoons of granulated sugar atop each bowl. I enjoyed the ads as a youngster, but who knows, maybe I would have enjoyed them 33% more had there been Pow...
Interestingly enough, the names Snap, Crackle, and Pop are changed from country to country in order to better fit into each culture, this process is called glocalization. Here are some of them (via the Wiki):
What's your favorite? - I like South Africa's...
photo by Antoinne von Rimes
The Germans have a word for it: Schadenfreude. It loosely translates as taking pleasure in other people’s misfortune. I experience this gleeful emotion every time I watch a show like the CHOPPING BLOCK, NBC’s reality, restaurant, cooking-game show which seems to be a blend of the Last Restaurant Standing, the Apprentice, and that fiasco with Rocco di Spirito a few years back.
The Chopping Block is back on the air after suddenly being dropped off the schedule a couple of months ago. I guess that was because of low ratings or something, but happily for me it is back on now.
I like the show, even with the over the top monarchial attitude of host Marco Pierre White, noted chef and restaurateur. Chef Pierre White seems to believe he is Machiavelli giving advice to members of the de Medici clan. Chef Pierre White gives basic lectures on the blatantly obvious, but it seems to be brilliantly acute advice for these contestants.
I do not know if it is the hot lights or the cameras that make people on Reality shows lose every ounce of common sense and drains them of the ability to think. There should be a mathematical equation which states: As the value of the prize increases, the contestant’s I.Q. and ability to reason decreases, and this is inversely proportional to their greed.
I am constantly amazed at the dumb things people do on these shows. It is beyond me why people who have never worked in a restaurant would want to open a restaurant, and who are convinced they can operate a successful restaurant. I can cook a mean breakfast, and can cook eggs like the no one on earth, but you do not see me jumping to the conclusion that I have the knowledge base to open a little breakfast nook someplace and make a fortune on my superior ability to roll a French omelet .
No, what I just stated to you was how I am a good cook----eggs mainly. I did not say I knew anything about cooking eggs day in and day out for weeks on end, dealing with suppliers, employees, banks, landlords, acts of god, and the government. No. I said I like to cook eggy things and I am pretty damn good at it — nothing more.
The people on these shows have not taken a true stock of their situation, abilities, and limitations. Most of them would be better situated as caters, private chefs, corporate chefs, and backyard/weekend soirée chefs.
The cowboy world of the chef owner operator is a rarified world reserved for those men and women who leap tall buildings in a single bound, pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger, and would slap Mike Tyson simply because it would feel good. The kind of people who become successful chef owner operators are more than often neurotic, misanthropic, angst ridden, demon plagued, narcissistic, ego maniacs who are just as likely to end up in prison as in front of a hot pan.
These creatures called chef owner operators are akin to the frontiersmen of days of old. Those brave psycho bastards who did not go out into the wild to discover unknown territory, but went out there to be where no one else was because they could not stand other people.
This is not the caliber of individuals who populate restaurant Reality shows. No, these people/contestants are acting like some guy who just got his girlfriend to pay for dinner and he now thinks he can be a pimp. Well, pimpin' ain’t easy and neither is running a restaurant.
Running a restaurant is war. Running a restaurant is like running the U.S. State Department in high heel Manolo Blahniks and carrying a heavy tray over your head. Running a restaurant is what God plans to do when he retires.
Running a restaurant makes for very good comedy though. Watching the Chopping Block is as close to Three Stooges slapstick comedy as it gets.
So, watch the Chopping Block, and thank your lucky stars you are not one of those poor bastards clawing for their own restaurant to run. I for one will be home holding my side while I laugh an even bigger stitch into it as these unprepared dreamers try to catch a tiger by the tail.
Schadenfreude... damn good word.
Like Mike Tyson, Mint and Curry join together in this summer blockbuster to knock your taste buds out. This chicken salad takes only 15 minutes to prepare if you use one of those pre-roasted chickens from the grocery store... and who wouldn't. We put it on a toasted croissant with some field greens and the results were scrumptious.
This would also rock on brioche, on wheat toast, or in a wrap. I will eat it in a box. And I will eat it with a fox. And I will eat it in a house. And I will eat it with a mouse. And I will eat it here and there. Say! I will eat it ANYWHERE!
Ingredients:
Directions:
Put everything in a bowl and mix it together...
Making homemade ricotta is incredibly easy, relatively quick (30-45 minutes), and requires literally no skill whatsoever. It is, on the other hand, a huge crowd pleaser - and if you tell everyone, "it is quite a process," you can impress them with your dark knowledge of the culinary witchcraft called cheesemaking.
Begin with a half gallon of whole milk and a half-quart of buttermilk in a large cold pot. Turn heat up to high and constantly stir with a heat-proof rubber spatula or wooden spoon. While stirring, be sure to continually scrape the bottom of the pan so that the milk does not scorch.
When the milk/buttermilk mixture comes to about 180 degrees F, curds will begin to form on the surface. At this point, stop stirring for one minute to allow them to separate from the whey. Remove from heat.
Line a sieve with cheesecloth and gently scoop curds into the cloth to allow to drain. Do not push down or squeeze. One method to allow the ricotta to drain is to tie the cheesecloth into a bundle and then to a wooden spoon suspended over a pot (see below).
Drain for 15-30 minutes. Gently remove ricotta from cloth and salt to taste.
One simple and delicious appetizer to make with your homemade ricotta is to add fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, parsley, chives, and/or lemon zest. Place it in a bowl and next to a plate of crostini (that's a fancy name for toast) so that you can spread it on yourself.
Get the kids involved and show them that cooking can be magic, making a solid cheese from liquid milk.
Enjoy.
"051707_004 [HDR]" - photo by Ushlambad
High Dynamic Range Photography (HDR) is a technique that takes [usually] three what-would-be-identical images, but with three different exposures. One is under-exposed, which brings out detail in the very lightest areas of the photo. One is normally exposed; optimal for the lighting conditions. The last image is over-exposed, which brings out detail in only the darkest areas.
HDR was developed in the first half of the 20th century but it didn't become mainstream until the digital age; where, now everyone and their Aunt Ruth has a digital camera, and software like Adobe Photoshop CS4
I have dabbled around with HDR photography a little bit, and with either of the two above programs your results can be quite satisfying. Although most HDR content are of landscapes, the broad range of lighting captures and immense amount of detail, here are some photos I found of food (because I can't even take a decent picture of the back of a lens-cap).
Which of these are your favorites?
"snow & HDR" - photo by Giuliagas
"Wine & Chocolate HDR 2" - photo by beatbull
"Subway HDR" - photo by *Melody*
"Late Lunch" - photo by neona
"duckunit" - photo by witpim
"'Know your onions'..." - photo by Compound Eye - 1st book at Blurb now!
"小龍包作っている" - photo by angrydicemoose
"Busy(HDR)-Taiwan" - photo by 中華民國台灣台� � Taipei, Taiwan
"The Secret Underground Restaurant...." - photo by wattsbw2004
"A Chinese Family at Dinner" - photo by Stuck in Customs
"Groceries" - photo by Mista Yuck
"The Secret Ukrainian Underground Restaurant" - photo by Stuck in Customs
