Eat/Cook | Page 9 of 44 | The Rambling Epicure

Culinary Chemistry: On the Technique of Brining

Published by Jonell Galloway + Tuesday, November 13, 2012 Permalink 0

Culinary Chemistry: On the Technique of Brining

by Jenn Oliver

Hello and welcome to the first post of Culinary Chemistry with Jenn! I am Jenn, your resident scientist with a gluten-free husband who is curious about all things related to the how and why of cooking. Today, we’re going to talk about brining, but each post will explore a different technique or phenomenon related to cooking/baking in the kitchen. Do you have questions or are curious about a particular aspect in the kitchen? Feel free to send me an email at jennoliver@theramblingepicure.com or on our online chat to the right of the screen, or join our Community and follow the Culinary Chemistry group and forum.

This past holiday season, families and friends gathered to share in their holiday traditions of a meal together — many of which surely included an oven-baked roast. Mine certainly did, as my husband and I celebrated our first Christmas abroad, a cozy romantic weekend together, marking our one-year anniversary since arriving to Switzerland, our current home. But just because the holidays are over doesn’t mean you have to swear off making roasts until next winter’s festivities roll around.

Rosa’s Musings: Beet Salad with Cottage Cheese & Soft-boiled Egg

Published by Jonell Galloway + Monday, November 5, 2012 Permalink 0

Rosa’s Musings: Beet Salad with Cottage Cheese & Soft-boiled Egg

by Rosa Mayland

Some people are not afraid of the cold and others regard it with utter contempt. Even though I can’t say I savor every season or mid-season of the year, I nonetheless definitely prefer the fresher season as I hate sweating excessively or getting sunburned like a shrimp on a barbie.

Sometimes I wonder if those predispositions are linked to my DNA or whether is it just a personal preference. What if our genes influenced our manner of conducting ourselves and our traits of character? Hmmm, that is quite a difficult question to answer, but I believe that if our health can be defined by our bloodline, then there are chances that our emotions, temperament and identity are also outlined by it.

You see, my father’s ancestors were Swiss mountaineers who might have had Danish or English origins (my family name is NOT Swiss at all). Then, on my my mother’s side they came from the rugged areas of Northern England where Viking settlers made themselves at home and also from European Russia, a place which is known for its dreadful cold.

A Look at Slow Food’s Salone del Gusto, October 2012, in Turin, Italy

Published by Diana Zahuranec + Saturday, November 3, 2012 Permalink 0

by Diana Zahuranec

Salone del Gusto ended on Monday 29, but I can’t stop thinking about it.

Salone del Gusto, held in Turin, Italy, is a Slow Food biannual food fair and conference. To sum it up in these few words undermines everything else it is, too, and its importance as an event that brings together producers from all over the world. These are producers that grow ancient varieties of grain to save genetic biodiversity, that make Slow Food Presidia cheeses or salumi, that pipe their cannoli full of the freshest organic ricotta you’ve ever tasted, and whose principles and values align with your own and, it goes without saying, Slow Food’s – good, clean, and fair food for all.

The Slow Food mascot

For all things Slow Food, here are some links courtesy of Scoop.it and Slow Food. To understand a few of those words in the paragraph above, just look at the end of the article.

This year, Salone del Gusto was a marriage of the original Salone del Gusto, first held in 2006, and Terra Madre, first held in 2004. While both events had food artisans and producers from all over the world, different activities were held at each and were not all accessible to the public. Salone del Gusto focused more on the exposition and sale of high quality foods and products, while Terra Madre was a gathering of a network of food producers from around the world. Having never been to either of these before, I can’t offer judgment on the differences of before and after. What I would love to do is share my first-time impressions of this year’s.

To say Salone is a food fair means that, like your down-home county fair, the place is jumping with activity – with a few notable differences. The funnel cakes are replaced with French butter cookies in 20 different flavors, the groundhog whacking game is replaced with the foodie’s (divisive word, I know) form of fun, that is vertical Barolo wine tastings, and that feeling of riding the Zipper right after you eat your funnel cake is replaced by the feeling of pressing up against crowds right after you drink your Barolo wines.

Handmade Italian cheese from Tuscany at the Salone del Gusto 2012 in Turin, Italy

Published by Jonell Galloway + Friday, November 2, 2012 Permalink 0

Related articles

What we’re reading: food sculptures, hugging carrots, revolting cakes, Salone del Gusto 2012, 100 best American cakes

Published by Jonell Galloway + Thursday, November 1, 2012 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

Click here to keep up with the latest in world food and wine news.

Recipe: Kids in the Kitchen: Making Homemade Halloween Treats with your Children

Published by Jonell Galloway + Sunday, October 28, 2012 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

American Jack-o’-lanterns. Photo courtesy of Nosajanimus.

Have you ever thought of making homemade Halloween treats, and getting your kids into the kitchen to help out?

Sharon Bowers’ book Ghoulish Goodies: Creature Feature Cupcakes, Monster Eyeballs, Bat Wings, Funny Bones, Witches’ Knuckles, and Much More! (Frightful Cookbook) arose out of her lifelong love affair with Halloween. Epicurious has featured some of her recipes and ideas in its weekly newsletter.

Itsy Bitsy History of Candy Corn and other Halloween News

Published by Jonell Galloway + Sunday, October 28, 2012 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

Don’t miss Gourmet Live’s history of how candy corn was invented in a time when corn was seen as low-brow, and how it later came to be associated with autumn.

Click here to read more.

For lots of fun and novel uses for candy corn (and for a few good laughs), you might want to read this article on Jezebel.

Laughing Squid has produced an series of sculptures made from candy corn.

Craftberry Bush shows a step-by-step photographic explanation of how to make candy corn party favors. These are some of the most original Halloween treats I’ve seen.

Day of the Un-Dead

Published by Alice + Sunday, October 28, 2012 Permalink 0

by Alice DeLuca

The Day of the Dead and Halloween are nearly upon us and I am frantically digging for recipes that can protect the living against the Un-dead. Books and papers fly as I paw through shelves and piles, seeking something to ward off the Zombies, Vampires and Werewolves that may be lurking outside the door, or that may invade my kitchen at any moment. They all have highly specialized dentition designed to make swift work of the main course – me!

Day of the Dead Secretary Alice DeLuca 2011

I’m calling on restaurateurs — please, this time of the year, an amuse-bouche for the living might be just the thing to calm the customer’s nerves. Could chefs please get a little creative, and instead of offering me a puddle of olive oil, or herbed olive oil, or olives in a lake of olive oil with obligatory bread (that I don’t eat anyway), could they provide something that will protect our table from monsters? Let’s get our priorities straight please; safety comes first!

What we’re reading: best cities for street food, India’s women farmers, baker from Kabul, Southern cuisine food trend, etc.

Published by Jonell Galloway + Friday, October 19, 2012 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

Click here to keep up with the latest in world food and wine news.

Meetings with remarkable bakers: The baker from Kabul

Published by Jonell Galloway + Friday, October 19, 2012 Permalink 0

Jean-Philippe de Tonnac

Click here to read original French version

Translated and adapted by Jonell Galloway

Dan de Mirmont, the baker from Kabul

How did it happen that you discovered French cuisine and bread making in Burma, and that today you’ve decided to teach the inhabitants of Kabul about it? This is about Dan de Mirmont’s surprising path, and the reopening of Le Bistro Bakery in October.