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Serves 8

Ingredients

3 cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean pod, split
6 fresh large basil leaves, coarsely torn or chopped
Zest of ½ orange
2/3 cup sugar

Preparation

Place a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat.  Combine the cream, vanilla, and basil to the pot.  Gently warm the cream over the heat, but do not let it come to a boil.  Remove the saucepan from the heat when the mixture is just coming to a simmer: you should see steam rising from the surface and small bubbles forming along the edges.  Add the sugar and the orange zest, and stir until combined.  Remove from the heat, set aside and allow the mixture to infuse while cooling to room temperature.

Optional: Strain into a clean container.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours until cold, or overnight.

Stir the chilled mixture and then freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions.  Transfer ice cream to a container and freeze until solid, about 2 hours.  Remove to the refrigerator to “cure” about 20 minutes before serving.

Cinnamon Tuiles

Tuiles are thin, crisp cookies that are meant to imitate the shape of a French roof tile.  While the “classic” preparation is to drape the hot tuiles over a rolling pin to shape them, you can get adventurous and use underside of a muffin tin to form a cup.

Makes approx. 2 dozen (24) tuiles

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter at room temperature
2 egg whites
½ cup flour
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
Scant 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine the butter and egg whites with a whisk.  Whisk until smooth.  In a larger bowl, combine the flour, confectioners’ sugar, and cinnamon.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until smooth.  Add the vanilla and whisk until well combined.

Using an offset spatula, drop one tablespoon of the batter onto the prepared cookie sheet and spread very thin to form about a 6” diameter circle.  The batter will look translucent in some spots.  Repeat spacing each tuile about 3” apart.

Bake each cookie sheet separately for about 6 to 8 minutes, until the edges are just beginning to brown.  Remove the cookies from the oven.  Working quickly, drape the hot cookies over a rolling pin or the side of an empty wine bottle, making sure they do not touch.  Once the cookies are firm, transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.

Prepare the other cookie sheet for baking while the first is in the oven.  Repeat.  Make sure the cookie sheet is cool before spreading the next round of batter on it.

Recipe by Donna Marie Desfor
Photo: Kelly Cline

As children, we loved those creamy orange frozen treats on a stick, and often ended up with sticky orange faces, never mind the unnaturally bright orange color. As warmer weather approaches, it’s time to bring back that childhood delight, but with a slightly tipsy adult option:  a splash of orange liqueur.  This creamy dessert, with both mascarpone and whipped cream to balance the sweetness of the orange, is a sophisticated way to finish a spring meal.

8 servings

Ingredients

4 large egg whites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
½ cup confectioner’s sugar
½ cup frozen orange juice concentrate, partially thawed
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
½ cup mascarpone cheese, softened
3 tablespoons orange liqueur
2 cups chilled whipping cream

For the orange glaze topping:
½ cup orange marmalade
2 tablespoons orange liqueur
1 Mandarin orange, thinly sliced, cut into small triangles
mint leaves, to garnish

Preparation

Fill a medium saucepan with 3 inches of hot water and set over low heat. Do not allow the water to boil. Combine the egg whites, cream of tartar and sugar in a heatproof bowl that just fits into the pan without touching the water. Using an electric mixer, beat at medium-high speed until the beaters leave tracks on the base of the bowl, then beat at high speed for about 7 minutes until the egg whites have become very thick and form stiff peaks. Remove the bowl from the pan and continue beating the egg white mixture for 2-3 minutes more until it is cool.

Fold in the partially thawed orange juice and the finely minced zest. Whip the chilled cream until it forms soft peaks and fold gently into the egg white mixture. Whisk 3 tablespoons of orange liqueur into the softened mascarpone and gently fold into the mixture.

Spoon into a 6-cup ring mold. Gently shake the pan from side to side to remove any air bubbles and to level the mixture in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight.

[Chef’s Notes: Beating the egg whites over hot water helps to coagulate the egg proteins and firm up the meringue, as well as to kill any harmful bacteria. The cream of tartar adds stability to the egg whites.

When folding in new ingredients, always use a very gentle hand and move the spatula in a figure 8 shape to incorporate the flavors without deflating the egg whites.

When whipping cream, it helps to use a metal bowl that has been chilled in the freezer for several minutes.]

Prepare the glaze:
Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons of orange liqueur with the orange marmalade, blending well to form a syrupy consistency.

Supreme the mandarin orange, removing the segments and leaving behind the pith and membranes.

Service

To unmold, dip the frozen ring mold in warm water for about 5 seconds and wipe the base. Invert a serving plate over the mold, and holding it tightly against the mold, turn over together, then lift off the mold. To decorate whole, drizzle the orange glaze over the top and garnish with the mandarin orange slices and mint leaves, if desired.

If you prefer, you may slice an individual serving from the ring and set it on its side on the serving plate. Drizzle with the orange glaze and garnish with mandarin orange slices and mint leaves. Serve immediately.

Store the remainder in the freezer.

Recipe and photo by Mark Tafoya

You may or may not know that I do another podcast called Chef Mark’s Daily Cooking Tips, which I record on my iPhone and upload via a great app called AudioBoo. It’s an almost daily 3 minute podcast with a short and easy tip to make your cooking better, from foundational techniques to simple recipes for weeknight eating, or dinner party tips. On today’s show I thought I’d gather a few of these tips to show you what you might be missing.

Theme Song: “Go Fish”, by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network.

ReMARKable Palate is a production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

“Full steam ahead.”  It is a phrase that would serve as a mantra for the ebullient woman that was Julia Child.  This giant of character, spirit, and stature changed the meaning of cuisine for a culture with its feet firmly implanted in a quagmire of frozen dinners and canned, limp ingredients.

(Here is where I am supposed to say: “We have come so far!”  But have we?  More on that in a moment.)

As a child, I was enthralled with Julia.  Since PBS was the station of choice for my allotted television time, I often watched in piqued curiosity as she bombastically wielded her instruments around the kitchen.  And that voice.  Knowing no better, and given the name of her series (“The French Chef”), I assumed she was indeed French, and that she and her countrymen all spoke in that funny pitch.  I distinctly remember being alarmed to discover she was American.

Because of Julia, I would often tie an apron around my waist and stand on a chair at my mother’s kitchen counter, ingredients and cookbook at the ready, prepared to speak to my audience.  The window, a perfectly-centered camera, recorded every one of my gastronomic sermons.  Given that my only talent at the time was for baking Snickerdoodles, I can’t imagine that my proselytizing was of much use to my viewers.

After reading Noёl Riley Fitch’s biography of Julia, Appetite for Life, it is easy for me to say that I admire this spirited cook even more now than I did before.  Aside from being a true bon vivant and culinary legend, she was so fantastically independent in her thinking and actions that to me, she has become a personal hero.

At a time when it was taboo to do so, she remained single into her thirties, determined to marry a man about whom she was passionate, and with whom marriage would be fun.  Her husband Paul fit the bill admirably, and became her beloved partner in every way possible.  She railed against conventions she found insupportable, and staunchly believed that individuals should be responsible for themselves, turning her back on a president (FDR) whose policies she felt had gone too far in enabling the complacent.

What I loved most in exploring her life, however, was discovering that she had little patience for “trendy” food.  She wanted good, solid cooking, and held disdain for the entertainment spectacle the industry became in the later years of her life (though one can certainly say she kicked it off).  That she stayed true to her principles, and refused to sell out lest her objectivity lose its credibility, is a testament to her character.

Her lack of pretense made cooking an inviting topic for those who might initially feel daunted by taking on such a field of exploration.  She handled mistakes with humor, and insisted they were the only way to learn.  What a dame.

So, fifty years later, what have we learned?

Well, as I look around me, I see that despite her efforts, and the proliferation of cooking schools, shows, and chefs who spread the gospel, there are still woefully few who cook in this country.  When I say “cook,” I mean not from a package.

Yes, the packages have gotten prettier, and the ingredients better (in some cases), but how does that translate into culinary knowledge?  If people were paranoid about cholesterol in Julia’s time, look at their reactions to carbs now.  I would love to hear Julia respond to being chastised for making a cake laden with white flour and sugar!

Her mission was to ignite the passions of would-be cooks, to show them that solid skills opened a world of sensory possibilities.  She “brought a new aesthetic to food, one based on the centrality of pleasure and taste” (Appetite for Life, p. 299); “she celebrated her appetite, the joy of the kitchen, and the pleasure of food, a pleasure conveyed in the way she patted the bread dough and caressed the chicken” (p. 301).

One can see the impact of her influence: We have passionate amateurs who take knife skills classes, install magnificent kitchens in their homes, and fully embrace the sensual experience that is preparing a meal.  A young woman named Julie Powell, seeking a meaningful experience, took Mastering the Art of French Cooking and set out to prepare each one of its recipes within a year’s time.  She now has a book and a movie, and has garnered a legion of fans who cheered her on every step of the way. Some of her dishes were successful, and others a disaster, but the process evoked something powerfully fulfilling within her. For what task, in today’s world, could be more challenging (and frustrating) than teaching oneself traditional French technique — from a book?

But there are not enough of her — of us.  There are too many who dine out for the sake of being fashionable, rather than for the gustatory experience.  Cooking has become a circus, with a superstar in every ring.  Those devouring the spectacle do not participate — they are armchair travelers and cooks who live vicariously through a television chef, wearing their virtual toques.  Julia called them “fluffies” (p. 476).

To offer an eerie comparison from her time period: Poppy Cannon, the can-opener queen, occasionally appeared nationally on CBS’s Home show, demonstrating, for example, how to make vichyssoise with frozen mashed potatoes, one sautéed leek, and a can of Campbell’s cream of chicken soup” (p.296).

That same show, circa 2005, now appears five nights a week on the Television Food Network, touting “Semi-Homemade.”  Everything old is new — and mind-numbingly unappetizing — again.

Those of us who do cook, however, savor the exploration of a world of ingredients, seeking knowledge of technique, history, taste, or the myriad of wonderful sensations to be found in the realm of gastronomy.  Our need to satiate our senses is a tribute to the spirit of Julia Child, who understood why it is preferable to take a small taste of something wonderful, rather than a bowl of something lackluster (or god forbid, fat-free). As Fitch so eloquently concluded, “[Julia's] message was her philosophy of life: life is to be joyous, and joy comes from sensory pleasures shared with others” (p. 459). Amen.

Since this week marks what would have been La Grande Dame’s 93rd birthday, I will be sure to find myself a magnificent bottle of bubbly and offer a toast to her memory. For what you have brought to our lives, our country, and our cuisine, dear Julia, bon appétit.

Resource:
Appetite for Life by Noel Riley Fitch, © 1997 Noel Riley Fitch (Anchor Books).

This article was originally published in August 2007.

a test kitchen dossier

Imagine a flower: A climbing orchid, to be exact; the one of some twenty thousand varieties that produces something edible…that its blooms must be pollinated either by hand or a small variety of Mexican bee, and that each bloom only opens for one day a year. Now imagine the fruit of this orchid, a pod, being picked and cured, sitting in the sun all day, sweating under blankets all night for months until, shrunken and shriveled, it develops a heady, exotic perfume and flavor. Now imagine that this fruit’s name is synonymous with dull, boring, and ordinary. How vanilla got this bad rap I for one will never know.
— Alton Brown

Foodstuff: Vanilla

Proper Name: Vanilla Planifolia (also vanilla pompona and vanilla tahitiensis)

Etymology
From Spanish vainilla, dimunitive form of vaina, meaning “sheath.” The western term is a permutation of the Latin vagina, also meaning sheath.

Area of Origin
Originally cultivated on Mexico’s Gulf Coast, vanilla is now grown throughout the tropics, particularly in Tahiti and Madagascar.

Description
Vanilla is one of the world’s most expensive spices due to its labor-intensive process of cultivation. The world’s only edible orchid, vanilla grows on the vine when the orchid is pollinated, producing a fruit (the vanilla bean). Herein lies the challenge, however: Since the orchids are unable to self-pollinate, they must rely on specific bees, hummingbirds with very long beaks, or the hands of man to do the job, and that is just the beginning of the beans’ lengthy journey to the pantry. Much additional labor must take place before vanilla can be used as a spice: After the beans mature for about nine months on the vine, they must be picked, dried, cured and prepared for consumption (Tahitian beans stay on the vine until they turn brown). Contrary to popular notions, the familiar, soothing scent of the beans develops only during the drying and curing process, as the beans release no scent during their time on the vine. Interestingly enough, soil and climate deeply affect the taste of vanilla beans, whose nuances of flavor could be compared to those of grapes grown for wine. The flavor in vanilla comes from vanillin, the primary component of planifolia, which comprises 25% of the bean’s flavor and fragrance profile.

History
Vanilla has been pleasing the senses for centuries. First grown in MesoAmerican cultures in Mexico, it was considered a gift from the gods. The Totonaca tribe, who likely first grew vanilla, spread their knowledge to other MesoAmerican peoples. In the early 1500s vanilla beans set sail for Spain, but at that time vanilla was appreciated for its perfume alone; the pleasures induced by its flavor weren’t discovered by the Europeans until after Cortes’s invasion in 1519. Mexico maintained a vanilla-growing monopoly for many centuries, but in the late 1800s production moved eastward. Currently Madagascar and India are the world’s biggest producers, and Guatemala, Costa Rica, Uganda, China, Fiji, Tahiti and the Philippines now grow vanilla crops.

The Mayan people included vanilla in their list of spices bestowed by the gods, and it was initially used as a currency as well as a spice. Vanilla also enjoys a long history as an aphrodisiac (Montezuma is said to have been a fan), and could be called the “Ancient Viagra” due to its stimulating effect on the senses. From the 1820s to the early Nineteenth Century apothecaries would craft tinctures of vanilla for men in need of further stimulation. Though the effect may have been a placebo, the Fragrance Foundation and the Smell and Taste Research Foundation have conducted studies on vanilla’s fragrance, and found that older men became aroused when inhaling the scent (young men were more partial to donuts). Interestingly enough, vanilla has also been proven to be a natural calmative when ingested and inhaled. Tahitian vanilla’s heliotropic properties are calming in particular.

Its intoxicating effect on the senses may also stem from our taste memories, in which the soothing reminders of freshly baked goodies and “home” evoke a secure sense of calm within us.

Types of Vanilla
Vanilla is available in whole beans, powder and extract. The bottled vanilla extract we’re familiar with is vanilla mixed with alcohol as a flavor carrier (most of the alcohol burns off during cooking). Note that extracts most often contain high fructose corn syrup and caramel coloring to mask the harsh nose of the alcohol, so we recommend using the real beans or extracts made with sugar cane alcohol.

The vanilla vine comes in over 150 varieties, but two are mainly used for cultivation: Bourbon (Mexican) and Tahitian. Bourbon beans are the most common; they are now grown primarily in Madagascar and are often called Madagascar vanilla beans. They have a thick, oily skin and a very rich scent, and are long and sleek. The flavor has been described as creamy and grassy, and very easy on the taste buds.

Tahitian vanilla is actually an entirely different species; it mutated long ago but comes from the same original Mexican bean stock. Tahitian vanilla beans are usually much shorter and fatter than Bourbon ones, with a thinner and oilier skin. The Tahitian vanilla flavor is more fruit-based and floral, and is one of the world’s most coveted. Tahitian beans are becoming rarer and rarer as their terrain is taken over by other crops, making them the most expensive variety of vanilla beans available. (Note: Tahitian Gold is a brand name rather than a variety).

Vanilla can also be purchased as a powder ground from the pods, or as a thicker paste. The powder has an intensely concentrated flavor and the paste is ideal when you don’t want to add much liquid to a dish.

Cooking With and Storing Vanilla
The best vanilla beans should smell very strong and be oily to the touch; avoid scentless, brittle or dry beans. Liquid extract should be stored in a cool and dark place (light can affect it) and can last for several years. Vanilla beans will keep indefinitely when stored in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. They are best kept dry to prevent the growth of mold, so do not refrigerate them. If you live in dryer climate, it is best to wrap the beans in wax paper before placing them into the airtight container. If your beans dry out, you can either rehydrate them in hot water or grind them into vanilla powder.

Then entire bean, pod included, is full of flavor and can be used; you can cut a piece off and use the rest of the bean later, or use the remnants from a recipe to create treats such as vanilla sugar (Test Kitchen Note coming on that!). To cut the bean open, hold it still and sever it lengthwise. You can then scoop out the seeds and use them if you don’t want the tougher pod to end up in the dish, or if infusing a liquid you can add the entire inside and outside of the bean.

Best Matches
Vanilla is most popular in the baking department, but also shines when used in savory combinations, particularly with seafood such as scallops and lobster. Vanilla is also a wonderful companion to citrus, chocolate and nutty flavors, and provides a subtle foundation when used in combination with other spices.

Our Approach
Given our propensity for seeking the sublime, we wanted to explore vanilla’s use in both sweet and savory. Our scallop and lobster dishes evoke a sensory overload (no, really), and in our sweet dishes we’ve gone beyond the typical cakes and cookies to place vanilla in the spotlight.

Recipes

Lobster Ravioli with Vanilla Butter Sauce
Vanilla Citrus Crème
Vanilla Sea Cocktail
Vanilla Vixen Cocktail
Vanilla Pancakes with Broiled Vanilla Plums
Vanilla Bean Vinaigrette
Molded Vanilla Cream with Berry Compote
Seared Scallops with Vanilla Champagne Crème
Fig Tart with Vanilla Crème Patissière

Resources
We offer very special thanks to Patricia Rain, the Vanilla Queen and founder of The Vanilla.COMpany, who provided most of the information for this dossier. Be sure to listen to Jennifer’s Food Philosophy interview with the Queen, who is well-deserving of her crown!

For further exploration, see The Vanilla Company’s web site, www.vanilla.com, which is chock full of information, including the following articles that we found fascinating:

Sex, Love and the Vanilla Bean

The Legend of Vanilla

We then headed over to Chinatown with Melissa and Tommy Wong to check out all the great eats. We really got lucky to be able to go into the Luk Fun factory, where they make delicious rice noodles. Melissa thinks it’s because the “round eye” stayed in the back of the line while the Chinese people asked if we could shoot video! (Thanks to Tommy for explaining to the proprietor what a podcast is in Cantonese!)

Those Dan Tat were so sweet and “eggy” (in a good way), and I’m really craving some more right about now!

Special thanks to Melissa Chang for showing us around. We’ll have a few more Honolulu Eating Tour episodes coming, as we try malasadas, cocoa puffs, Helena’s Hawaiian Food, and Filipino food! You can find Melissa’s blog at The Urban Mix Plate.

More to come!

It’s the CHIC podcast at the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago. I’ve been going to this show for many years now. It’s the largest show of its kind in the US. I love to go to look at the new equipment, taste a lot of great new food. But I also like to people watch. See if you can find some famous faces in the podcast this week. I’m just going to let you take a look at what it’s like going to the NRA show. At the end of the podcast are some demonstrations of pastry and cooking by Chef George Jack and Chef Wook Kang.

This week I include recipes for an easy zucchini relish, Tuscan Kale & White Bean Soup, Italian Pork Chops & Leeks, & how to wash, dry & store all the lettuce we’re getting.

Download the PDF here or click the images below: July 9th Newsletter

by Donna Marie Desfor

For days I’ve been thinking about how to wax poetic on the multitude of berries that are everywhere: in the markets, in the grocery stores, at roadside stands, and even in your favorite restaurants.  I thought about lauding the natural vitamins, flavanoids, and beneficial antioxidants they offer.  I also considered discussing the color element of food and food pairings (trendy, but not really useful).  And at one point, I even became obsessed with creating that brand new summer berry dish that would have the gastronomes of the world in a fit of delight.  I was tormenting myself.  Soon enough, I came to the realization that berries — at their height of ripeness and season — need little more than a gentle nudge and a bit of a caress to lift their flavor and make them beg to be devoured. There is little more that needs to be said.

Berries, especially summer berries, are simple:  They are meant to be devoured — never savored.  The fact that they are available literally year round should raise a red flag of caution, however.  Availability shouldn’t mean they can carry a leading role in months other than summer.  When ripe (as opposed to fresh), a berry’s juice will literally stream over your tongue delivering a sweet or tart tang of flavor.  Nature knows what it is doing.  Perhaps that’s what ultimately brought me back around.  I embraced that natural intuitiveness and decided to strip away that epicurean ideal that any ingredient can be improved upon.

So with that purist intent, our Test Kitchen crew set out to create a multitude of recipes that, in essence, capture nature’s pure genius and its gift of summer flavor — flavor that is delivered in sweet, ripe juices that fill our mouths and splatter our lips, cheeks, and chins.

It was my Master Gardener friend and Sous Chef who coined the phrase “naked deliciousness.”  She was right, but as a gardener extraordinaire, she would know.  The blueberries and blackberries, the strawberries and raspberries that are at the roadside stands are meant to be purchased and consumed almost immediately.  Local berries — ones that aren’t grown or modified to withstand early picking and long-distance travel — are ideal.  They may not be perfectly round or evenly colored, but one bite and you’ll redefine sweet desire — and perhaps come to know what it has taken me years to understand:  that glorious imperfection can be nature’s way of pointing to extraordinary flavor.  And there’s only one way to know if they’re good:  taste them.  Yes, pick up a berry and taste it.  You’ll know.  You’ll reach for another.

Recipe: Berries with Citrus and Vanilla

Beyond the simplicity of natural sweetness, there are other flavor elements that marry so beautifully with summer berries:  floral notes, as in the Blueberry Lavender Syrup, and acidic notes that draw out the flavor of strawberries in the Aromatic Rice and Pearl Barley Salad.  That’s not to say that any berry can be combined with any other fruit, or wrapped into a dish and simply be delicious, just because it’s in season.  We tried and failed a number of times during our testing process. Berry sauces and glazes for main courses: A nice idea (we tried it) that rarely works (trust us on this one).  When it does, the berries have been worked so hard that they literally lose all of their natural appeal.  Why bother?

Recipe: Blueberry Lavender Syrup
Recipe: Aromatic Rice and Pearl Barley Salad

It is fun, though, researching what’s already been done for the ingredient of the month used at Gastronomic Meditations™.  It allows me to romp through my collection of cookbooks and visit with those who have tackled ingredients and tasted flavors ahead of me.  I find little that surprises me anymore.  It seems that in one form or another, it has been done — or at least attempted.  It is true that despite our rather straightforward use of the standard berries (blue, black, rasp and straw) there are other delights out there, like gooseberries and mulberries (although, growing up I had a mulberry bush in my back yard, and after two days of making mulberry jam, I am off mulberries forever).  There are the infamous jewels: cranberries and, of course, viticultural grapes — those luscious berries that are transformed into wine.  Though mainstream, I trust you’ll agree that there is nothing pedestrian about our approach here.

My research romp did uncover a recipe for Brandied Raspberries, which I encourage anyone with a craving for summer fruit (and a desire to encounter a hauntingly evocative palate experience) to try.  Alice Waters, in her Chez Panisse Fruit cookbook, captures and extends the essence of summer freshness in a gastronomically pleasing way — without freezing.  She combines sugar, cognac, and raspberries and allows the mixture to macerate for several days.  Once done, they go into the refrigerator, where she says the berries will last for a full year.  How convenient.  The berries get used in desserts, and the liquid gets incorporated into sauces.

Mine have been going for about a month.  I can safely say they will be long gone before next year.  My goal, right now, is to see if I can keep my hands off them until I get to the Holidays.  Or, I’ll make more.  With the abundance of raspberries waning here, now is certainly the time to act.

Alas, with a heavy sigh, we welcome the arrival of summer berries, and then watch them quickly fade from abundance.  They are, in their natural form, a pure flavor:  sweet.  As a pure flavor, you need little more than an acidic platform (lemon or citrus juices and zests, balsamic or other vinegars) to enable the flavor to come through, and when you add other natural flavor elements, like lavender or herbal elements, or natural sweeteners like vanilla or honey, the rest is just a garnish.  And if you really think about it, why would you spend more time on a berry’s garnish than on the berry itself?

Indulge.  Naked is good.  Ah, no.  That’d be, naked is delicious.

Photos: Kelly Cline

Donna Marie Desfor is the founder and executive chef of There’s A Chef in My Kitchen, a portable culinary school in Harrisburg, PA.

I’m liking this idea, as I can envision myself savoring strawberries with vanilla sugar over a nice shortcake come October or November. Can’t you?

Here are Janie’s tips:

- Rinse strawberries and pour them onto a baking sheet lined with a paper towel. Pat dry with another paper towel.
- Put baking sheet in freezer until strawberries are completely frozen (about 2 hours depending on freezer temperature)
- Transfer strawberries to self-sealing plastic freezer bags and place back into freezer.

It really doesn’t get much easier. Hibler insists on freezing the strawberries in exact portions, such as pints and quarts, because strawberries become condensed when thawed (rendering them impossible to measure with accuracy). She also recommends consuming frozen berries within a year for maximum freshness. “After that, ice crystals will start breaking down the berries’ flesh, and eventually they will lose their flavor,” adds Hibler.

You can see more ideas like this in The Berry Bible.

For berry information and recipes, you can peruse our test kitchen dossier, Berries: Naked Deliciousness.

Today’s show is a revisiting of a conversation I had exactly a year ago with Julia Della Croce, one of the pre-eminent authorities on Italian food. Julia has written 11 cookbooks, each focusing on regional Italian cookery. When we spoke a year ago, we discussed the local food movement and what it means for food in America, and it’s interesting how much has changed in a year, with people embracing the idea of intentional food choices, and improving the quality of food we feed our children in schools. Here’s that conversation again.

Theme Song: “Go Fish”, by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network.

ReMARKable Palate is a production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

This simple preparation for fresh fruit is a great way to utilize the grill for more than just charring meat!  The natural sugars in the fruit are enhanced by the cinnamon sugar, which caramelizes on the grill to create gorgeous, sweet grill marks.  Dress them up, or eat them as-is: either way these sweet peaches will sing a sweet song of summer!

Psst…This recipe is in our new Gilded Fork cookbook!

4 servings

Ingredients

4 ripe peaches, pitted and halved
1 14 oz. can coconut milk, unsweetened
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1½ cups sugar, course ground, if available
Mint sprigs, for garnish
Cinnamon or vanilla ice cream, if desired

[Chef’s Note: As peach season approaches, numerous varieties might be available. Within those myriad varieties exists a subdivision: freestone peaches. This simply means that their pit comes out easily when the peach is cut in half or when segments are removed. In the case of the non-freestones, the flesh could stubbornly stick to the pit. While there is no flavor difference, it may be easier to get perfect halves when using freestone peaches.]

Equipment

Outdoor grill or
Cast iron grill pan

Preparation

Heat a cast iron grill pan over medium high heat, or preheat an outdoor grill.

[Chef’s Note: If grilling with charcoal, the coals should be grey and ashy with no flame. As this is a dessert recipe, the coals should be past their hottest point after grilling the main course. When ready to grill, just scrape down the grill grate with a wire brush and lightly oil it.]

Clean and dry the peaches, and cut in half, removing the stones. Shake the coconut milk well to emulsify the liquid and then open the can, pouring it into a shallow, wide dish. Mix the sugar and cinnamon well, and pour into another shallow dish.

Dip the cut side of each peach half first in coconut milk, then in the sugar mixture, and shake off any excess sugar. Arrange the peaches on the hot grate and grill until nicely browned on both sides (longer on the flat side than then round side), about 15 minutes total. To create cross hatched grill marks, rotate the peach halves a little while still grilling on the cut side, after about 4-6 minutes.

Service

Transfer the peach halves to plates or a platter for serving and garnish with mint sprigs. Alternatively, you may serve them in bowls over ice cream, 2 halves per serving.

Variations

You may also use this sweet grilling technique for pineapple, bananas, plums, or nectarines. Cut the bananas in half like for a banana split, and take them off the grill sooner.

You may also use melted butter in place of the coconut milk, if desired.

Recipe by Mark Tafoya

In cooking school we make many dishes that have hard to pronounce names. Sometimes they don’t even have recognizable counterparts here in the states. Today I explore some of the weirder parts of French cooking that are quite delicious. I talk about croque monsieur and croque madame, the financier, croquembouche and many more. I can just taste the duck confit now. Stay with me, have fun and thanks for listening.

If you’ve read or heard me wax poetic on basil leaves, you know that I can find indulgence in seemingly ordinary places and things, so I’ve decided to share my favorite everyday ones with you. Let’s face it: We could all use a little pick-me-up. Some indulgences will be food, some non-food, but all will relate to engaging the senses without adding the stress of a big expense. I’ll be posting all of them over at Food Philosophy, and I’ve created a special feed just for these little tidbits (link down below).

I hope you’ll share yours, too, because I might run out of ideas and will need to pilfer. Oh, stop, I’ll give you credit for it.

As you might imagine, for me, self-indulgence begins with scents, and I like nothing more than smelling deliciously edible. I’ve given up on synthetic-smelling perfumes and instead turned to essential oils to soothe my soul. It’s no secret that aromatherapy can have a profound effect on one’s state of being, and I can think of no better atomizer than the neck. Hair also smells gorgeous with a little drop combed through the ends. Yum.

I discovered the joy of citrus oils after a massage in Los Angeles (back when massages were actually part of my decadent life), so I knew the scent of oranges would send me to my happy place. I found a combination that took it to a whole new level, however.

So if you’re wondering what I smell like, here’s your chance to be a voyeur (sniffeur?). For the past few months I’ve slathered myself with Vanilla Orange Oil from Sun’s Eye. I love that there are tiny slivers of orange peel soaking right in the oil, so you get the full power of both scents. The only drawback is that it needs to be reapplied several times a day, but at $6.75 a bottle, how could I possibly complain about that?

I have other scents that I use for other moods and occasions, but I’ll share those as we go. Did I mention that vanilla is reputed to have an aphrodisiacal effect on the senses? Try it and let me know what happens.

NOTE: You can subscribe to the special feed I’ve created for my Everyday Indulgences, which will include blog posts, audio, some video, and photos. (Note that it says “Everyday” and not “every day.” Have mercy.)

Posted via web from foodphilosophy’s posterous

a test kitchen dossier

A woman should never be seen eating or drinking, unless it be a lobster salad and Champagne, the only true feminine and becoming viands.
— Lord Byron (1778-1824)

Foodstuff: Lobster

Proper Name: Homarus Americanus, belonging to the Homaridae family

Etymology: From the old English word loppestre, which is a corruption of the Latinate word locusta by the old English word for spider, loppe.

Area of Origin: Oceans from around the world, but most famously the Atlantic

Description
Lobsters, the red, cheery, iconic symbols of New England, are actually rather international in nature. There are several varieties of lobster, including a smaller European incarnation and a Japanese one; however, all types of lobsters have the same basic body, which consists of two symmetrical, powerful claws (where many times the best meat is found), an abdomen, head and thorax, both of which are covered by the carapace (shell). A lobster’s vision is generally quite poor, thus it uses its antennas as sensors. Besides these sensors, the entire interior of a lobster is edible, including the stomach for the intrepid for the gastronomic connoisseur.

History
In previous centuries, lobsters were the sustenance of the poor. We may find this hard to believe now, in our luxurious $26-lobster-eating contemporary times, but until the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries, lobsters were deemed a nuisance and used as fertilizer and bait for fish. They were so abundant in New England that they covered New England beaches at low tide. In Europe however, lobsters were always thought of as a delicacy and were routinely immortalized in Seventeenth Century Dutch still-lifes.

By the middle of the Nineteenth Century, New England started to capitalize on the abundance of lobster in the area by canning the excess and selling it. By the Twentieth Century, with the advent of more sophisticated transportation techniques, there started to be a demand for live lobster, which was shipped to Europe at astronomical costs, thus making lobster a luxury food staple. Unfortunately as the demand for lobster increased, it became over-fished and exploited; it was only with the advent of recent conservation efforts that lobsters became more populous.

Varieties of Lobster
By far the most popular and desired variety of lobster is the Maine lobster, which features sweet succulent meat and a subtle flavor. These lobsters are becoming rather rare and expensive as the area becomes rapidly over-fished, and due to this scarcity, restaurants often mislead customers by listing Maine lobster on the menu when they are actually serving lobster fished from off the coast of Canada (be sure to ask!). In response to this growing problem, Maine fishermen are starting to tag their lobsters as a certification of their authenticity.

There are certainly other species of lobsters, most notably the European variety, which is very similar to the American version. The European lobster is found in the Atlantic from Norway to Morocco, as well as in the Mediterranean. Though on average these are slightly smaller than their American counterparts, they are thought by experts to have a finer and more delicate flavor and texture.

Another variety is the Norway lobster, which is a pinkish-orange color and rather attractive. The tail of the Norway lobster is popular due to its tender muscular flesh; it is sometimes served with chips in the upscale pubs of the UK, but is highly esteemed as a delicacy in many parts of Europe and is often called “scampi.”

Storing and Cooking Lobster
Storing lobsters is not very difficult when they are frozen, but as one could imagine, they are much more complicated to accommodate when they are alive. Live lobsters should be stored in open containers in the refrigerator (claws clamped with thick rubber bands), provided they are kept moist with seaweed, or seawater dampened towels or newspaper. Do not immerse lobsters in water or place on ice in an airtight container, as they will suffocate and die. Live lobsters can live up to 48 hours after you’ve purchased them provided they are kept cold and their gills are kept moist, as described above. (Source: Maine Lobster Promotional Council)

Though it is still unclear whether lobsters feel pain when they are boiled (Norwegians say yes, Scots say no), boiling remains the tried and true method of eating and savoring lobster. However lobster is very versatile and can actually used as a base for casseroles, soups and pretty much anything one can think of. See our Test Kitchen Note, How to Cook a Lobster, for detailed instructions.

Best Matches
Lobsters are particularly excellent when served boiled with drawn butter, which is the traditional New England method and a fail-safe one. One can also serve a lobster stuffed and baked with other seafood, such as crabmeat, which is often a nice match. Lobster can also be shown to its best advantage with the addition of cream, which dishes like Lobster Newburg and lobster bisque showcase well. Of course, a classic French pairing is that of vanilla, our Indulgence for this month.

Our Approach
Though we admire lobster’s unique ability to be show-stopping all by itself, here at the Gilded Fork we like to mix things up a bit. This month we are featuring an international approach to lobster consumption, from lobster arepas to lobster bisque shooters — dishes bound to showcase the versatility of this excellent and sophisticated crustacean.

Recipes

Lobster Stock
Lobster Bisque Shooters
Lobster Arepas
Asparagus Risotto with Truffled Lobster
Lobster Ravioli in Vanilla Butter Sauce
Lobster, Mango and Jicama Summer Rolls
Mixed Seafood in Ginger Broth with Confetti Vegetables
Rosemary Lobster Fricassé with Baby Vegetables

Dossier by Rebecca Harrington

I then visited with Mott Green from the Grenada Chocolate Company, is a co-operative owned by its 10 workers. Mott says Grenada Chocolate is the only “tree to bar” chocolate company which grows, ferments, roasts and produces chocolate bars. They’re making a 99% chocolate that I got to taste, and which blew me away with its rich chocolaty taste without the bitterness of most “baking chocolate”.

Manuel Conti from Conti - I Sapori Della Toscana in Florence, shared with me some of the new products Conti is releasing in the US under the Tuscany Flavors line. I love cinghiale sausage, which is made from wild boar, and Manuel gives me a taste of his wild boar ragu, with 55% meat! I then discover his latest product, which I’d never heard of before (and that’s not very common!). Manuel gives me a taste of Pascolini, tiny dwarf peaches which have been cured with vinegar, oilve oil and sliced black truffles, which gives them an amazing flavor. They can be used as an appetizer like olives, but with a different flavor, one that’s less briny and more sweet, with the hint of truffle.

And finally, I spoke with Brian Han from the Black Garlic Company, which produces one of the most interesting products I’ve come across in a long time. I was lucky enough to get to play with black garlic, which is fermented using a special process, a few months ago at our last “Food Blogger Playdate“, which me made a video of. Brian explains the different forms they sell the black garlic in, and introduces me to a new drink they unveiled at the show.

Links to further coverage of this year’s Fancy Food Show:

ReMARKable Palate Audio Podcast 202: Summer Fancy Food Show

Chef Mark’s Quick Bites: Fancy Food Show Day 2

Chef Mark’s Quick Bites: Fancy Food Show Day 1

Microgreens from Nicolas Mazard at Koppert-Cress

This week I include for cabbage soup, sauteed peas, zucchini feta pie, and more ideas for what to do with all those Japanese Turnips.

Download the PDF here or click the images below: June 25th Newsletter

Show 202 is an audio recap of some of the people I met at the 55th Annual Summer Fancy Food Show in NY. I’ve been releasing my Quick Picks videos throughout the show, so be sure to look for them on the website at www.culinarymedianetwork.com, but this gave me a chance to speak with some people in depth. I learn about new European yogurt from Conrad Lowell, Portuguese influenced Indian food from Sharon Fernandez of Stonehouse 27 Spice Company, and dried mushrooms & chiles from Angie Padgett of Earthy Delights.

www.lowelldairy.com
www.stonehouse27.com
www.earthy.com

Theme Song: “Go Fish”, by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network.

ReMARKable Palate is a production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Links to further coverage of this year’s Fancy Food Show:

Chef Mark’s Quick Bites: Fancy Food Show Day 3

Chef Mark’s Quick Bites: Fancy Food Show Day 2

Chef Mark’s Quick Bites: Fancy Food Show Day 1

Microgreens from Nicolas Mazard at Kopper-Cress

These luscious ravioli combine the delicate flavors of lobster and shiitake mushrooms with the decadence of vanilla and white wine. Made with wonton wrappers instead of fresh pasta dough, they are as easy as they are delicious. And although they may seem like they are only meant for special occasions, you’ll want to enjoy them any day of the year.

Makes about 5 servings

Ingredients

For the lobster shitake filling:
3 small cooked lobsters, meat removed
3/4 lb shiitake mushrooms thinly sliced
4 teaspoons butter
2 shallots, chopped
½ cup crème fraîche
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 teaspoons chopped chives
1 package round wonton wrappers

For the vanilla butter sauce:
2 tablespoons butter plus 1 cup diced chilled butter
3 shallots, diced
1 cup dry white wine
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Salt and pepper to taste
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

Preparation

Prepare the filling:
Dice the lobster meat rather finely. Melt 4 teaspoons butter in a large saucepan. Sweat the shallots over medium heat until translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook over high heat until lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Mix in the crème fraiche, salt and pepper to taste, and allow the mixture to simmer for a few minutes or until slightly reduced. Stir in the cooked lobster meat and set aside.

Prepare the sauce:
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan. Add the shallots and cook on medium-high heat until the shallots are translucent. Add the white wine and scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the sauce and whisk until evenly distributed. Allow to simmer until the mixture reduces to about 3 tablespoons. Remove the sauce from the heat and add the vanilla extract and the remaining chilled butter, whisking until it is melted and the sauce thickens. Strain the sauce into a clean container, applying pressure to it so that the vanilla and shallots go through. Keep warm until service.

Prepare the ravioli:
Lay one wonton wrapper down flat. Place one tablespoon of the lobster and mushroom filling in the center, and brush the edges with water. Place another wrapper on top to cover, and seal with your fingers. Press down on all of the edges, being sure to get any air out from inside the ravioli.

[Chef’s Note: You may be tempted to overfill these ravioli, but when working with filled pasta or wonton wrappers (or even empanadas or turnovers, for that matter), it is best to use less filing than you think necessary, to avoid them splitting open when cooked. The key here is to squeeze any extra air out of the ravioli before sealing the edges.]

Bring a stockpot of salted water to a boil. When the water reaches a rolling boil, drop in the lobster ravioli and cook until they begin to float, about 4 minutes. Remove the cooked ravioli from the surface with a slotted spoon, carefully draining away any water pooled on the surface.

Service

Place 3 ravioli on each plate, spoon a few teaspoons of the vanilla butter sauce over the ravioli, and garnish with finely chopped chives. Serve immediately.

Recipe by Sandra Di Capua
Photo by Mark Tafoya

As you know, we’ve been having a love affair with the Flavors of Chile here at Culinary Media Network. We couldn’t resist visiting our Chilean friends at their pavilion to see what was cooking. Chef Pilar Rodriguez spent the day whipping up a variety of dishes for the eager crowds who gathered, and she used all of the products from the various exhibitors. I then visited with Paulina Peñaloza of Chilean Gourmet, who showed me their new Quinoa Pop product, an air-puffed quinoa that’s ready to eat, which can be used in a breakfast cereal, mixed with yogurt, or as a creative topping on a number of dishes.

My last stop in my Latin American journey today was Peru. I spoke with Betsy Power of the Culinary Collective, who are debuting a bunch of products from Peru this year. The one that most caught my eye is the Kañiwa flour, a high protein flour made form a native Peruvian plant.

As always I’ll have more videos to share as well as audio for my ReMARKable Palate Podcast, with more in depth interviews of some of the people and food stories that I find fascinating.

Watch for more videos from the Fancy Food Show throughout the week!

Since I’ve been bringing you my “Quick Bites” lately, short videos shot with my handheld Creative Vado camera, I figured I would do a post each day of the show to share with you my “Quick Picks”, those products or people that I find interesting. This is by no means exhaustive, nor representative of the thousands of exhibitors at the show, just a few of the standouts that caught my eye and my camera, and those that are short enough to include in a quick show.

This the 5th year that I’ve been coming to the show, and while there are many faces, products, and countries that are familiar by now, there are always surprises, and discoveries to be found, even from the old standbys.

As always I’ll have more videos to share as well as audio for my ReMARKable Palate Podcast, with more in depth interviews of some of the people and food stories that I find fascinating.

Imagine buttered pan-seared pineapple, warm as a garnish, and chilled as juice in a sensuous champagne coupe. Then let us look back at some of the legacies of the American cocktail — rum and bitters — which are further expressed through the addition of star ruby grapefruits and maraschino liqueur (which was, incidentally, Ernest Hemingway’s preference for his daiquiri).

1 serving

Ingredients

1 ounce of cachaca (agricultural rum)
1/2 tablespoon of maraschino liqueur
1 1/2 ounces of juice from pan-seared pineapple brushed with butter
2/3 ounces of grapefruit juice (recommended cultivar: Florida Star Ruby)
dash of angostura bitters

For the pan-seared pineapple with butter:
2 tablespoons of butter (recommended: grade AA & First Quality butter)
1/4 of whole pineapple or 8-10 quarter-slices (recommended: high sugar cultivars like Kona Sugarloaf)

Total: about 3 1/2 ounces per serving (guide for glassware)

Small triangular wedge of pan-seared pineapple for garnish

Equipment

Pan
Utility knife and chopping board
2-piece Boston shaker
Hawthorne strainer
Muddler
Funnel
Sieve
Glass bottle (perhaps reused from finished spirits, at least 7 ounces in capacity)
Champagne saucer glass (5 ounces), for service

Preparation

Chill the glassware and spirits until ready for use. Wash fruits thoroughly.

Prepare pan-seared pineapple with butter:
Skin the fresh pineapple, retaining the quarter-slices nearest to the base — the sweetest part. Melt butter in pan and then sear the pineapple slices over low to medium heat until lightly caramelized. Put aside to cool and remove excess butter.

Once cooled, place pineapple slices, one at a time, into the glass half of the Boston shaker. With the flat side of the muddler placed into the base, apply downward pressure using the insides of your palm. Muddle until most solid ingredients are well broken up. Using a funnel and sieve, strain the mixture into the glass bottle. Repeat and then refrigerate till ready for use.

Prepare the garnish:
Reheat a pan-seared slice of pineapple right before use. Cut to a proportionate size and triangular shape. Place along the rim of the glassware while still warm, right before use.

Prepare the cocktail:
For the grapefruit, keep at room temperature and cut perpendicularly across the segments for optimum juice. Juicing should be done right before use, while pulp should be strained out. Measure the required ingredients into the glass half of the Boston shaker.

Top up the metal half of the Boston shaker (about 3/4 full) with ice cubes. Place the glass half over the metal portion while pouring in the ingredients. Give a firm knock on the base of the glass half with your palm, ensuring it forms a tight fit with the metal portion. Shake and chill cocktail shaker with firm, concise and vigorous strokes until your hands can’t take the cold.

Holding the metal half at the bottom, knock it firmly around the rim to loosen and remove the glass half. Strain the contents of the metal half into the glassware using the Hawthorne strainer.

Serve immediately, very chilled, in contrast with the warm garnish.

[Flavor Impressionist's Notes: 1 ounce is equivalent to 30 milliliter (ml), 1/2 ounce is equivalent to 15 milliliter (ml), 2/3 ounce is equivalent to 20 milliliter (ml), 1/2 tablespoon is equivalent to 7.5 milliliter (ml), 1 dash is equivalent to 1.875 milliliter (ml) or 1/8 teaspoon.]

Variation

If Fee Brothers orange bitter is available, replace the angostura with it.

Recipe and photo by Damian Sim

INSPIRATION FOR SUMMER IN THE WOODS
BY DAMIAN SIM

[Note: This recipe was originally published in July 2007, when we were off on a fun tangent pairing "Main Ingredients" and "Indulgences." Damian was always up to the challenge -- though sometimes we made it a difficult one!]

July’s theme of fish and summer squash did not present any obvious inspirations at first. Furthermore, summer squash, or even squash as a whole, was not something too familiar to the Asian palate. Rather than shy away from it, however, I found summer squash to actually be quite a compelling challenge.

In Native American lore, squash is one of the “Three Sisters” planted by their forefathers, the other two being corn and beans. Summer squash (also known as vegetable marrows) are harvested immature during their growing seasons, and include courgettes and zucchini, to name a few. Known as askoot asquash in Algonquin tongue, it literally translates to ‘eaten green’. Some of these could be described as having a mild nutty taste akin to fresh corn.

This brought to mind the wonderful marriage of freshly steamed corn with lightly salted butter…delicious. It somewhat reminded me of the grilled pineapple I recently had in a Brazilian Churrascaria restaurant, which had a subtle buttery caramel sensation to the flavor. Why not just buttered pineapples? Hmm…not a bad idea!

For the convenience of those who may have trouble grilling at home, another preparation was to pan-sear the pineapple in butter. The sweetest portions of a pineapple are selected, though not an over-ripe fruit as the light acidity offers a nice balance. We then extract the voluptuous juice through muddling once it has cooled down.

With its major influence in the history of spirits and cocktails in America, rum was selected as the base of this recipe design. The Brazilian cachaça style was chosen in recognition of one of the main inspirations behind this cocktail. Star Ruby grapefruits added further zest to cut through the buttered pineapple, with the ‘bright’ cherry of maraschino liqueur contributing to a certain lift and complexity in the high notes. This combination was inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s preference for his daiquiri cocktail. A literary legend, he once won a bet in which he wrote a complete story in six words. (”For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.”)

The nostalgia continued with the use of bitters, an essential ingredient in the 19th Century definition of cocktails, and the use of the sensuous champagne coupe/saucer to present the libation. Chilled swiftly and with vigor, the floating ice chips contrast sharply with a wedge of warm buttered pineapple garnish.

Have you ever heard of music to soothe the savage breast? Well, I’m just coming off a very long semester at school. I need music to soothe me. I hope these few tunes from the internet help to soothe you too. these are all from the podsafe music network. Check it out at Mevio.com. Have fun and thanks for listening.

Chef Mark and Jennifer attend a luncheon at Chef Aaron Sanchez’s Centrico Restaurant made with products from Chile: Merken spice, carica, myrtle berries, avocado oil, pisco, and more.

A production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

This week I include more recipes for garlic scapes, red beets, snap peas, and rainbow chard.

Download the PDF here or click the images below: June 25th Newsletter

I sit down with Master Sommelier Chuck Furuya at Hiroshi, one of his many restaurants in Honolulu, to talk about his love of wine, and of Hawaii, and how to approach pairing wines with the Asian and Pacific-Rim influenced foods of the Aloha state. Chuck also shares some great stories and his no-nonsense approach to wine, which you know we share here at CMN! We just let the recorder run as we had a hell of a conversation!

DKRestaurants.com

Theme Song: “Go Fish”, by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network.

ReMARKable Palate is a production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

As we hope you’ve noticed, we take a great deal of care in creating our work (understatement). We didn’t want to publish the book with any errors (the horror!), so we sent back the proof for another round of corrections.  Once we approve the final version, our first big order will be placed, so we expect to have books in inventory and ready to ship in early July. We are currently doing an elaborate ritual dance to keep the printing gremlins away.

If you have already ordered a book, you received a love letter from us today, and we thank you so much for being first in line. We’re sorry we can’t kiss you in person, because we love that sort of thing.

Now, for you squillions and trillions of people who will be ordering books between now and July 31st, we’d like to extend some of that love. If you purchase our cookbook before July 31st, we’ll send a free download link to the full-color digital version of the book as soon as it’s available. That way you can print out those pages and get them all messy instead of your pretty book. You can also see the recipe photos in their full glory.

In addition, we’ve created a Friends & Family discount for you “early adopters,” so after purchase you’ll receive a special code to forward to your favorite fellow food fanatics. Say that five times fast. To learn more about the book, see our full list of annoucements, including a video of the unveiling of our galley copy. Or, you can just:

Buy the book!

We’ve been working on making puff pastry and related doughs this week in class. I explain how to make them, what products they’re used for and how to store them. It’s pretty easy to make the dough and you can make some great desserts and dinners using the dough. Think of beef wellington and napoleon. Yum!

This is one of the most unique experiences I had in Hawaii, while on the “So Much More Hawaii” tour sponsored by the Hawaii HTA. Most people know that you can enjoy beaches, luaus and mai tais in Hawaii, but they may not know about this aspect of Honolulu which makes alot of the rest of the party possible.

This is where the boats come into port and unload their catch every day, and starting a 5:30 AM, the buyers for all the restaurants in the city as well as wholesalers and reps from restaurants on the mainland and Asian countries put in their bids. Some days there are as many as 100 boats coming to port. On this morning, we had fish from just one boat, so it was clear that the prices would be dear for what fish they brought in.

In this first Quick Bite, Fish Auction Manager Brooks Takenaka gives us an exclusive sneak peek behind the scenes before they let in the buyers. Brooks explains how the process has gone from a simple one to a highly technical and computerized one. That said, the basic process works the same as it always has. His staff unloads the boat and lays out all the fish according to species. For the Tuna, they cut a few core samples and lay them out so the buyers can see the color, fattiness, and general quality of each fish before bidding:

After we get an exclusive sneak peek, the bell rings and they let in the buyers to do their work. We’re lucky to be there, and get to watch the action.

Special thanks to Melissa Chang, our local Honolulu friend, who was the brave soul who got up even earlier than us to drive us out to the Pier for the auction! She’s an amazing person, and writes a great food blog about the many cuisines of Honolulu, The Urban Mix Plate, and she led us on an amazing eating tour all around the city, which I’ll be posting soon!

This week I include more recipes for green peas, roasted kale, and this week we get the yummy yummy garlic scapes!!

Download the PDF here or click the images below: June 18th Newsletter

If you can believe it, this is my 200th Show! No special programming, just more great talk with amazing people who make food. This week, I speak with Hiroshi Arai, CEO of the Big Island Abalone Corporation on the Big Island of Hawaii, a sustainable farm that cultivates the prized abalone, which has a huge market in Japan, China and Korea, and which is starting to enjoy increased popularity in the US. I posted 2 videos about the process, and here Hiroshi explains a little more about the abalone itself and how they grow it sustainably using deep ocean water.

Theme Song: “Go Fish”, by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network.

ReMARKable Palate is a production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Twitter always brings such great surprises and wonderful connections with cool people. My friend Jaden from www.steamykitchen.com tweeted about a new challenge created by her friend Heather, AKA @flourgrrrl, the “Cooking Away My CSA” challenge. she thought it would be good to share the idea with other food bloggers, to see what we all come up with each week. The idea is that lots of folks who get CSA deliveries scratch their heads wondering what to make each week with their prodigious bounty, sometimes of veggies they’ve never cooked before.

I immediately perked up, since as my readers know, I write the newsletter for my Inwood CSA (powered by Hawthorne Valley Farm in Ghent, NY), and despite being a chef and having a recipe website, I find myself struggling each week to come up with new recipes. It gets especially difficult when we’re in the 5th week straight of rainbow chard and kale!

So each week, those people participating will post what they did with their CSA share and @flourgrrrl will do a roundup of everyone’s posts, thus providing us all with new ideas each week. That said, we got our first delivery of the season this week (yeah, we’re late bloomers here in New York, and our growing season is a little bit shorter than everyone else’s, but our produce is great!) Right off the bat, we’re getting the rainbow chard that seems to be the mainstay of our CSA, so I pulled out one of my favorite ways to cook it:

This is my interpretation of an amazingly simple yet ingenious dish I had at El Portal de Echaurren in Rioja a few years ago. Chef Francis Paniego told me that his mother taught him to always use every bit of the food that comes into his kitchen, so he came up with this. When I got a batch of rainbow chard from the CSA this past week, I thought I would pull it out again, since it never fails to please!

It’s pretty simple, just make a standard tempura batter and fry the ribs, which you would normally throw out! In this case, I served them with a simple arugula pesto, also made with produce from the CSA.

And you know me, I’m never content to simply type up a blog post, with me it’s always about doing an audio podcast or a video, so since I started Chef Mark’s Daily Cooking Tip Podcast a couple months ago, I figured that I’ll try to include as many tips for the CSA as possible. It just so happens I recorded this daily tip last week:

Subscribe to Chef Mark’s Daily Cooking Tips Podcast in iTunes

My friend, Craig Goldwyn and I took a trip to see Chef Rich Naglich at Allen Bros. Meats down on the South side of Chicago. Chef Rich gave us a great tour and we had some time to talk about meat and where he sees it going in the future. Its a fun discussion and tour of the best meat in the country.

I spent the afternoon at the farm accompanied by Al Salomon, Facility Manager, who gave us a tour around their unique facility. In this video, Al explains the system and gives us insight in the sustainability of the process, which has added benefits in the form of an employee vegetable garden.

I also got to go behind the scenes into the state-of-the-art sorting area where the adult abalone which are large enough for harvesting are sorted by size and weight. This system uses non-toxic CO2 to lull the abalone to sleep long enough to transport them through the sorting process and back into the cold water tanks so that they don’t react negatively and toughen up. The abalone are kept alive throughout this process and even in transport.

I interviewed Hiroshi Arai, CEO of Big Island Abalone, about the project, the process and the tremendous market demand for abalone in Japan and other parts of Asia. I’ll have that audio interview on an upcoming episode of the ReMARKable Palate Podcast, as well as a more in depth “Main Course” video. For now, these are just “Quick Bites”.

Now, we’ve looked it over, and found a few teeny tiny things we’d like to fix, so in order to get you all a better product, we’re going to go through one more round of small edits and fixes before we approve it for printing, so it’ll be another week for those of you who’ve already pre-ordered the book, but the wait will be worth it!

If you haven’t yet pre-ordered, now’s your chance! If you pre-order now, your book will be shipped in the first batch we order, so you’ll have it before the end of June!

This is the first week of the season for us up here in the Northeast (we get going later than other parts of the country) with some fun recipes for green peas, arugula and Japanese Hakurei turnips.

Download the PDF here or click the images below: June 11th Newsletter

The team of was headed by chef Jan Horký of the restaurant Golden Prague in the Hotel InterContinental Prague, along with fellow chefs Martin Svatek, chef of the Hotel Dvořák in the town of Tabor, Adéla Pitrová, chef in the SAS Radisson Alcron hotel in Prague, and Lukáš Skála, chef in the Hotel InterContinental Prague.

When one thinks of Czech cuisine, one often envisions comfort foods rich in flour and butter — the kind of food that keeps out winter’s chill. However, Czech chefs have fully embraced the philosophy of local, sustainable ingredients, and wanted to show us that such heavy-food notions were somewhat off the mark. Certainly, such traditional foods will always remain on the menu, so to speak, but for this luncheon we were treated to a modern interpretation of ingredients like cabbage, pork and dumplings. And fried dough — let us not forget the fried dough.

We started the meal with a sip of Becherovka, a famous herb liqueur from the historic spa town of Karlsbad. Becherovka can be enjoyed either as an aperitif or a digestif, and frankly, I’d be happy to sip it for both. Smooth and herbaceous, this has become a new favorite of mine, so I’m hording the little sample bottles we received in our goodie bags. I was told it could also be mixed with tonic water for a popular Czech cocktail, so I’m happy to experiment with that and get back to you. Hey, I’m all about the research.

When I read the description for our first course, “Smoked duck breast terrine with nut puree and baked chou pastry with honey,” I expected to need a serious nap after lunch, as my thoughts leaned toward a heavy, country-style terrine. Imagine my surprise. The duck was sliced thin as paper and accented by the delicate honey flavor in the pastry. Light and delicate, this course immediately set the tone for the rest of the meal, which alternated lighter and heavier dishes for contrast.

A green asparagus risotto with parmesan cream followed the terrine (my notes refer to it as “gorgeously creamy”), capturing the flavors of spring with delicate slivers of the asparagus.

The pork belly for the main course was served with a garlic confit — heavenly sweet, I might add — and a dumpling that brought back memories of my first love’s family, who would often make these dumplings with pork roast. Mmm. I loved that all of the flavors we sampled were reminiscent of expected comforts, but did not leave us with heavy stomachs.

Our luncheon was capped with a dessert partially composed of fried dough. And fried dough can never, ever be bad. This happy little doughnut was served along with an apple sabayon, apple jelly and chocolate ice cream. Sounds heavy, doesn’t it? Think again.

This entire meal changed my perspective on the composition of seemingly heavy ingredients, as I’m now thinking of them in a new way. Pork, cabbage and dumplings, per the photo above, can be elevated to a level that is quite unexpected. Many thanks to the chefs and Czech Tourism for enlightening us.

We shot a quick video during the event so you can step into the kitchen with us, and you can see more photos on my Facebook profile.

Czech Tourism: www.czechtourism.com

I speak with Michael Richmond, winemaker for Bouchaine Vineyards in the Napa Carneros appelation. He led me through a barrel tasting of several of his Pinot Noir samples from the 2008 vintage, and we learned what different oaks and ages of oak barrels can do to the wine, and what drawing from different lots give him to work with. We also talk about Chardonnay, and Michael even manages to get me to give up my membership in the ABC club!

Theme Song: “Go Fish”, by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network.

ReMARKable Palate is a production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Gustavo explained how the farm is overhauling their composting operation to be able to take on green waste from other areas of West Maui and turn it into organic fertilizer to feed their operation.

We ended our tour in the upper pineapple fields, where Kapalua Farms grows the famous “Maui Gold” organic pineapples. Gustavo explains the process, and how it’s a little more involved and labor intensive than so-called “conventionally” grown pineapple.

Chef Eric Lee from Onyx Restaurant in Halifax, Nova Scotia shows us how he prepares Salmon Potato Canapes for the Savour Food & Wine Festival.

A production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Our “little bloggers tour that could” has attracted some mainstream press as well! I was quoted as the lead in a story for the June 7th edition of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin:

“Chef Mark Tafoya, a celebrated foodie blogger, had to suffer the discomfort of a 4 a.m. wake-up call to catch a Honolulu sunrise and witness Honolulu’s fish auction.

But his followers could have the pleasure of a near-firsthand experience without the discomfort. They could watch Tafoya peruse fresh catch on his Web site, culinarymedianetwork.com, or at the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s new blog site, www.somuchmorehawaii.com, or follow it in real time on Twitter (a free social media site that lets users post and follow short, 140-word updates). They also could access content on video-sharing networks like YouTube, Revver, Vimeo, Viddler and Facebook.

“It’s hard to say how many people were tuned into my trip to Hawaii because they all share,” said Tafoya, who was one of eight bloggers who were invited to participate in the state’s first all social-media travel tour, which visited major islands from May 27 to Thursday.

While Tafoya has 1,000 followers on Facebook, 4,500 tweeple (Twitter people) and about 100,000 hits a month on his Web site, content sharing gets the message out to many more, he said.

“That’s what makes social media so powerful,” said Christine Lu, who organized the tour for the Hawaii Tourism Authority and is the founder of Cilantro Media, a social-media boutique firm.”

Christine Lu, is the force of nature whose ambition helped to make the tour possible, and who graciously thought to include me! She worked with her contacts at the Hawaii Tourism Authority to pitch the tour and convince the powers that be that the power of new media would be useful to help the HawaiiHTA promote the islands.

We were featured on the front page of the June 5th edition of the Pacific Business News, which quoted Christine and credited her for her work on the tour:

“Along for the ride with Lu were seven full-time bloggers from the Mainland (assisted by local blogger L. P. “Neenz” Faleafine) whose trips to Hawaii were paid for by the Hawaii Tourism Authority and its marketing partners.

The bloggers’ junket was the most ambitious experiment by the HTA to exploit social media. Desperate to drum up new business, Hawaii tourism executives are finding that TV commercials, ads in newspapers and magazines and morning talk show chatter — i.e., old media — are no longer enough.

The HTA sees new media and online social networking as cheap, effective ways to reach a highly desirable market of young, smart, adventurous, and relatively well-off vacationers.”

David Uchiyama, from the Hawaii Tourism Authority, was interviewed on KHON2 News in Honolulu about the tour, as well. The TV station’s website doesn’t offer it’s video player as an embeddable player, but you can see the video HERE, or click the image below.

You can read more coverage of what we did during the week, as well as blog posts from the other participants, at www.somuchmorehawaii.com. My links are all accesible in our HAWAII section in the “Travel & Places” drop down menu at the top of every CMN page.

Here’s all the other folks:

@aricqueen
Aric S. Queen
A new-media producer focused on China who writes about value.
http://current.com/users/aricsqueen.htm

@leahlamb
Leah Lamb
A San Francisco writer and producer at Current.
http://current.com/topics/77529011_leah-lamb

@SheilaS
Sheila Scarborough
Travel writer from Austin, Texas, who specializes in the family market.
http://www.familytravellogue.com

@christinelu
Christine Lu
Founder of Cilantro Media and self-proclaimed “Geek Girl.”
http://blog.christine.lu/about

@blogworld
Rick Calvert, a conference/CEO specialist from Las Vegas, who founded Blog World Expo.
www.blogworldexpo.com

@shiralazar
Shira Lazar, from Los Angeles, pop media star of jaunted.com, who is known for being a “getaway girl.”
www.jaunted.com

@Genuine
Jim Turner, an adventure seeker from Firestone, Colo., who is the social media director of Blog World Expo.
www.onebyonemedia.com

@Neenz
L.P. “Neenz” Faleafine, a local blogger serving as a host and organizer and contributor of Hawaiian culture.
www.ponomedia.com

This cocktail embraces a respect for the simple harmony between lemon and raw salmon, rediscovered through a cocktail canvas, with the richly marbled salmon as a garnish. The gentle yellow potion hides what depth thyme has given, though only from the eyes. A sweet balance of lychee and banana flashes across the palate. Not unlike a citrus herbal seasoning for fish, perhaps this fruity gin-based version might actually be used as one?!

1 serving

Ingredients

1 1/3 ounces of fresh lemon juice
1 1/3 ounces of lychee brine (from canned lychee fruits)
2/3 ounce of fresh banana (recommended cultivar: gros michel)
4/5 teaspoon of freshly chopped thyme (recommended cultivar: garden thyme)
1 ounce of Plymouth gin (a unique gin recipe that uses sweet orange peels instead of bitter ones)
2/3 ounce of lychee liqueur
Slice of salmon sashimi for garnish (recommended: wild salmon, which has a less fatty mouth-feel)

See Mixologist’s notes regarding the measurements above.

Total: about 5 ounces per serving (guide for glassware)

Equipment

Glass half of the Boston shaker
3-piece Cobbler/cocktail shaker
Citrus juicer and cup
Muddler
Utility knife and chopping board for herbs (preferably a mezzaluna hachoir set)
Small bowl and fork for banana (preferably garlic press or potato ricer)
Fine strainer
Strainer (hawthorn)
Cocktail pick
Champagne saucer glassware (6-7 ounces), for service

Preparation

Chill the glassware, garnish (except lemon) and alcoholic ingredients until ready for use.

Prepare the fruits and herbs:
Squeeze a small lemon, ideally room temperature, into a cup. Finely chop a small handful of fresh thyme leaves. Using a garlic press, mash small portions of the banana flesh into a small bowl.

Make the cocktail:
Measure the required amounts of the above items into the glass half of the Boston shaker. With the flat side of the muddler placed into the base, apply downward pressure using the insides of your palm. Muddle until the most solid ingredients are well broken up, and filter through the fine strainer into the 3-piece cobbler shaker.

Add the rest of the ingredients into the cobbler shaker, and top up (about ¾ full) with ice cubes, preferably with the largest possible ice cubes. Attach the top half with the built-in strainer, followed by the cap/lid (this sequence prevents too much air from being trapped inside). Shake and chill the cocktail shaker with firm and vigorous strokes until your hands can’t take the cold.

Strain into glassware and garnish with the freshest possible slice of salmon sashimi (rolled around a cocktail pick).

[Mixologist’s notes: 1 teaspoon is equivalent to 5 milliliter (ml), 4/5 teaspoon is equivalent to approximately 4 milliliter (ml); 1 ounce is equivalent to 30 milliliter (ml), 1/3 ounce is equivalent to 10 milliliter (ml), 2/3 ounce is equivalent to 20 milliliter (ml). A mezzaluna hachoir is a half moon-shaped herb chopper blade usually used with a concave chopping board.]

Serve immediately.

Recipe and photo by Damian Sim

INSPIRATION FOR EPIPHANY
BY DAMIAN SIM

Taking the cue from a salmon theme, the first thing that came to mind was salmon sashimi (quality Japanese sliced raw salmon), which sometimes comes with lemon between the salmon slices that leaves a most delectable crisp tinge in the palate.

Inspired to recreate this experience through a cocktail, lemon served as the culinary canvas for this new recipe. As for the melt-in-your-mouth (when the quality is really good) salmon sashimi, it took the role of the garnish beautifully with its marbling against a rich flamingo-orange hue.

Maintaining the light flavors, lychee and banana were used to balance the lemon, with the latter also adding a little more body to the recipe. Almost like a lemon & herb seasoning used for fish, the lemony thyme was added to give a certain depth to the recipe. Plymouth gin, with its sweet herbal aromatics and smoothness was the natural choice as the spirit base.

A classic Champagne saucer presents the cocktail interpretation of the salmon and lemon experience in a moment of clarity - a harmony of simple elements. Perhaps the recipe might even be used as an actual seasoning for fish?!

Article originally published in January 2007.

Chef Wook Kang and I talk about our recent visit to a Korean bbq joint. There’s hundreds of them on the upper west side of Chicago. You should check one out. We went to Hae Woon Dae on California Avenue. The food was great and the service even better.

4 servings

Ingredients

4 large artichokes
2 lemons, 1 zested
1 tablespoon fresh herbs (parsley, chives, tarragon, or chervil), minced
1 cup mayonnaise
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Equipment

Sharp knife, kitchen scissors, spoon, pot with steamer insert

Preparation

Fill a pot with a steamer insert with about 1-2 inches of water and set it to boil, covered. Meanwhile, fill a bowl with very cold water and the juice of one of the lemons. Have this ready before prepping the artichokes so you can immediately plunge them into the acidulated water to prevent discoloration. Reserve the squeezed lemon halves and put them in with the hot water.

Prepare the artichokes:
Working with one artichoke at a time, and using a very sharp knife, trim the bottom of the stem of each artichoke, and trim the outer skin of the stalk. Leave as much of the stalk as possible, since the tender inner part is edible and quite good. Next, cut the top ½”-1” off each artichoke, being sure to remove the spiny tips. Remove the outermost leaves, and then with kitchen scissors snip the spiny tips from the remaining leaves.

Gently loosen the tightly packed inner leaves to get at the inner leaves and the choke. Using a spoon, gently dig into the center and scrape inward, pulling out the choke. Be sure to scrape away all the hairy fibers, as they are inedible and irritating.

[Chef’s Note: An alternative way to clean the artichokes, depending on the needs of your recipe, is to first snip off the spiny tips, then to quarter them while still whole and scrape out the choke from each quarter.]

Rinse the artichoke to remove any last fibers from the choke and immediately plunge into the acidulated water. Repeat the process with the remaining artichokes.

Place the artichokes in the steamer basket stem-side up so they fit snugly. Cover and steam for 25-30 minutes, until an outer leaf pulls away easily and the stalk is knife tender.

Prepare the herbed mayonnaise:
While the artichokes steam, prepare the mayonnaise by adding the minced herbs, lemon zest and juice to the mayonnaise and mixing thoroughly to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Service

To serve hot, drain the artichokes upside down for a minute or two, then plate with a small bowl of herbed mayonnaise on the side for dipping. The outer leaves can be pulled off and dipped into the mayo, then the fleshy bit at the bottom of each leaf eaten by scraping with the teeth. Once the outer leaves have been removed, the heart and bottom can be eaten with a knife and fork.

The artichokes can also be served chilled or at room temperature. To store, place cut-side down in an airtight plastic container.

Recipe by Mark Tafoya

This week, I’m in Hawaii on the first ever Social media tour of the Aloha state, along with a group of bloggers and media makers in different subject areas. We’re discovering all that lies beyond the typical tourist cliches in Hawaii. My first audio show from Hawaii takes me to the island of Kauai, where I go to a supermarket to discover poke with local foodie Jenny Fujita. I also speak with Marty Amaro of the Kauai Coffee Company, the largest coffee producer in the United States.

Theme Song: “Go Fish”, by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network.

ReMARKable Palate is a production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Warren then takes us on a tour of the Thurston Lava Tube, a formation that leaves a tunnel with lava on the sides. Some stretch for miles, and the natives found many uses for them.

After visiting the Lava Tubes, we epxlored another caldera, then had a great picnic lunch provided by Warren, including my new favorite dish, POKE!

More videos from The Big Island coming soon!