Eat/Cook | Page 14 of 44 | The Rambling Epicure

Simple Sustenance: Roasted Cauliflower with Kalamata Olives and Lemon-Parsley Gremolata

Published by Renu-Chhabra + Thursday, March 29, 2012 Permalink 0

Mediterranean Flair: Roasted Cauliflower with Kalamata Olives and Lemon-Parsley Gremolata

by Renu Chhabra

Food is our common ground, a universal experience.– James Beard

Spring is in the air, a season for new growth and rejuvenation. Everywhere we look, nature is awakening from its long winter rest. With flowers blooming and landscape covered with a blanket of green, there is a sense of new life welcoming the ever-inspiring spring, signifying a fresh start. And what better way to celebrate this beautiful time than to cook up something delicious with fresh ingredients and clean flavors just like the season itself.

Growing up I was always intrigued by cauliflower, a vegetable that came in a beautiful green leafy package. Peel off the leaves, and a white head of tiny trees clustered together greeted me. It was like removing gift wrap to find a lovely present inside. And who doesn’t like presents? I guess, that is why I have always loved this vegetable — a beautifully packaged gift from Mother Nature.

Cross-Continental Cuisine: Chicken Liver Pâté with Cava and Ginger Sangria

Published by sandeea + Tuesday, March 27, 2012 Permalink 0

by SandeeA and Tricia Martin

I spent most of my childhood dreaming about food I’d read about in books: Enyd Blyton’s pies and ginger ale; feasting with Astérix and Obélix and those fantastic roast boars… Now, thanks to this Cross Continental Cooking project with Tricia Martin from Eating is Art, I know how to prepare my own ginger ale… who would have ever thought it? And you must take a look at her highly original ginger sangria recipe. And kudo to her for starting still another project, Studio Tricia Martin. I suggest you have a look; she is a true artist.

Pate al cava / Ginger sangria

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Simple Sustenance: The Rustic Comfort of Eggplant and Pea Stew

Published by Renu-Chhabra + Thursday, March 22, 2012 Permalink 0

Garam masala

“You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh ingredients.” — Julia Child

This past weekend, we got much needed rain. It was a welcome relief to the parched hills and landscape around us. All day long dark clouds played hide and seek, and brought spurts of heavy showers, at times accompanied by loud winds. I sat at my kitchen window observing nature’s enormous beauty. Washed in the rain, it had come alive.

cilantro

Thai Stinky Fruit: Durian

Published by Jonell Galloway + Wednesday, March 21, 2012 Permalink 0

by Lenny Karpman

More than twenty years ago the King of Thailand was about to celebrate a landmark birthday, so he and his government planned a long list of special events and invited expatriate Thais from prominent families to return home and join the celebration. Yao, a Thai friend of mine was among the invitees. I went along.

“Let’s go find some durian, you know – the stinky fruit,” she proclaimed with a smile. I returned her smile with a little apprehension. I was usually impervious to all varieties of natural and synthetic aromas. Not so that Sunday in Bangkok. My diminutive soft-spoken friend from San Francisco was on the home turf of her family and her childhood. She was my guide for the day. Her feather-like hold on my arm steered me through the bustle of the Sunday crowds. There, at the weekend market on the edge of the city, thousands of shoppers gathered to buy everything from plaid boxer shorts and eyeliner to hundred kilo live pigs. We were on a durian quest.

The Macaron: A Dessert of Legendary Proportions

Published by Jonell Galloway + Tuesday, March 20, 2012 Permalink 0

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by Meeta Khurana Wolff

The macaron is a desert of legendary proportions, which easily transcends the cookie genre. Technically, it is simply a pastry, in which two shells made from ground almonds, egg whites, icing sugar and sugar encase a delicate filling flavored with a symphony of different flavors. In reality, its finesse goes far beyond that of cookies.

History of Macarons

It is believed that macarons made their way to the French court from Italy with the chefs of Catherine di Medici who married King Henry II of France in 1533. This dessert of all desserts really came into its own in 1792 when two nuns seeking asylum in Nancy during the French Revolution baked and sold macarons to support themselves and became known as the macaron sisters! At that time, the macaron was just plain pastry no flavor and no filling.

It was not until the 1900s that Ladurée‘s Pierre Desfontaines revolutionized the macaron by taking two pastry shells and filling them with ganache. Today, besides Ladurée, there is, of course, Pierre Hermé, both whom have elevated the macaron to new heights and made them celebrated.

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Thoughts on Jamie Schler’s latest HuffPost article: You are What You Eat: a Food Blogger’s Dilemma

Published by Jonell Galloway + Friday, March 16, 2012 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

Jamie Schler‘s latest article on the The Huffington Post, “You are What You Eat: a Food Blogger’s Dilemma,” is a must-read for any serious food blogger.

You might ask, “what is a serious food blogger?” One who has 2 million followers, one who gets a zillion hits a month, one with a goal in mind, such as a book or television show, or is it someone one who encourages healthy eating, who is interested in educating the public and sees it as almost a civic duty? That is a really good question in today’s topsy-turvy world, where famous is not necessarily good or good for you, and on the Internet, anything goes.

Image courtesy of CoffeeMuffins.com

‘Nduja: The Spicy and Spreadable Calabrian Treat

Published by Diana Zahuranec + Tuesday, March 13, 2012 Permalink 0

by Diana Zahuranec

‘Nduja (n-due-yah) is a spreadable, spicy, red pork meat that can be found everywhere in Calabria. Calabria is the southern Italian region that is the “toe” of the boot, so to speak. ‘Nduja Nduja is used for sauces, bruschetta, or on anything that spreadable meat – spalmabile – would be tasty, including a spoon.

‘Nduja is produced from the throat of a pig, called the guanciale meat, and also the guanciale – stomach meat – and the back lardo, or fat. The lardo, when mixed with salt and added to the meat, takes on another name that has no exact English translation, called sugna. This meat and fat mix is ground with salt, local peperoncino (the Italian chili pepper), and absolutely nothing else. Not even nitrates, a common preservative added to most sausages and cured meats (linked to a higher risk in cancer), adulterate this all-natural ‘nduja. Salt, the extended maturation, and the fact that 30% of ‘nduja is peperoncino, which acts as a natural preservative, defy the need for synthetic additives.

: Luigi Caccamo, left

Newfangled Food Vocabulary: Food Stalking

Published by Jonell Galloway + Monday, March 12, 2012 Permalink 0

“The act of observing the tables around you at a restaurant and ordering what the other diners are eating.”—Urban Dictionary

I’m a true food stalker when I eat in a new restaurant and gawk at what each diner around me is eating before ordering myself.

Simple Sustenance: Healthy and Easy Bell Pepper, Garbanzo Bean, and Bulgur Salad

Published by Esha-Chhabra + Monday, March 12, 2012 Permalink 0

by Renu Chhabra

“Cookery is not chemistry. It is an art. It requires instinct and taste rather than exact measurements.” — Marcel Boulestin

Healthy and easy might not sound very complicated, but I’m not talking about a cup of yogurt or a bowl of fruit. I am thinking of something hearty and flavorful with a farm-fresh bite. When the vegetable drawer in the fridge is begging for a visit to the produce market, it can become challenging to bring farm-fresh bite to the plate. This was the dilemma I was facing last night.

When I opened my fridge, I found just a couple bell peppers and a bunch of parsley were keeping each other company in the vegetable drawer. While I was wondering how to make the most of what was available, I found two slender carrots and a lemon hidden in a corner of the drawer. I was hoping to come up with something that would satisfy my appetite. A look in the pantry to find some bulgur and a can of garbanzo beans completed the recipe — a well balanced meal of vegetables, whole grains, and protein. It seemed like another victory over a culinary battle!

After the Cheese Making comes the Cheese Tasting

Published by Diana Zahuranec + Thursday, March 8, 2012 Permalink 0

by Diana Zahuranec

A black trash bag is tossed onto my desk. When I peer inside, four rounds of cheese stare up at me, one with a small wedge like a Pac-Man smile sliced out of it.

These raw cow’s milk cheeses are the result of the efforts of a group of students from the University of Gastronomic Sciences who, for one January day, were cheese mongers. After a year of visiting cheese producers, tasting cheese in class, and going a little crazy at the biennial Slow Food Cheese 2011 fair, the next logical step was a DIY cheese-making party (see how here). Five and half weeks later, and the two big and two small rounds are set on the picnic table outside in the approaching spring’s warmth.

The knife squeaked when I pushed it through the small cheese with both hands. It definitely had grate-able potential. Tiny flecks of dark blue mold gathered on the bottom of the rind, but it was mostly creamy white and clean-looking. I sniffed the small cheese, and it smelled like butter. Tentatively biting a small piece, I tasted the saltiness first, and then a slight acidity cut through. It was crumbly and reminded one girl of pecorino cheese, nevermind that it’s cow’s milk, not sheep’s. It had a faint animal-like taste (normal enough in a cheese), but a weird, pungent aftertaste. A little salty overall, but not bad. A few friends thought otherwise. The most exciting thing about it was that we had made it.