OOO by Kate Krukowski Gooding
Smoked Salmon Rolled in Pistachios
An easy and great holiday favorite! The pistachio is a seed fruit originating in Persia. The 20-foot tall trees thrive in stony and poor soil, high heat and little or no rainfall. To date, Iran boasts a 700-year-old tree still living. The pistachio’s first archaeological findings date back to 6760 B.C. in the Palaeozoic period, presently called Jordan. This nut was first brought to the United States in 1854 and the first commercially usable crop harvested in 1976. Pistachio production in the U.S. has increased rapidly since then because of high domestic demand.

Much of pistachio history reflects the “royal character,” endurance and pride. Especially fine pistachios are said to have been a favorite delicacy of the Queen of Sheba, who confiscated all Assyrian deliveries for herself and for her royal court.

Smoked Salmon Rolled in Pistachios
Ingredients 

15 ounces canned pink salmon, flaked with no bones
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 ¼ cup shredded white cheddar cheese
2 tablespoon minced yellow onion
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
½ teaspoon celery seed, ground fine
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup finely chopped pistachios

Directions

You can find Kate Gooding's book, Black Fly Stew - Wild Maine Recipes at Foodie's Emporium! Click here.

by J. Michael Wheeler
Tasty Ideas for a Holiday Feast
Tis indeed the season to be jolly. And well-fed. Nothing puts a smile on my particular face like foods prepared with joy and love and all of those squishy feelings that make a festive meal with friends and family a pinpoint of memorable happiness. I'm becoming a pleasure zone just thinking about it!

So to spread the potential joy, I've scoured over some 300 recipes on Dancing Spoon Magazine to find some very tasty ideas for some very tasty meals. From a traditional Honey Baked Ham to Smoked Duck & Raspberry Sauce to Cranberry Crusted Salmon. Then there're the potatoes, green beans, and Brussels sprouts! To get you started on the holiday morning there are quiches, scrambled eggs, and scones! And don't forget the Cranberry Zinfandel Port Relish!

Holiday Feast Starters
Edamame Italiano!
Crab & Prawn Salad
Lentil Wakame Soup
Provençal Goat or Lamb & Bean Soup
It's a Piece of (Crab) Cake

Holiday Feast Mains
Cranberry Crusted Salmon
Honey Baked Ham
Smoked Duck & Raspberry Sauce
Filet of Beef Roast with Horseradish Cream Sauce
Sautéed Calamari
Holiday Bouillabaisse

Holiday Feast Sides
Dub Spuds (Potatoes)
Sage Green Beans
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Roast Fennel
It's a Piece of (Crab) Cake
Cranberry Zinfandel Port Relish

Holiday Feast Brunch
Really Simple Quiche
Chef Ramsey's Scrambled Eggs
O'Reilly's Most Excellent Scones

Happiest of Holidays!

From all of us here at Dancing Spoon, we wish you a very happy holiday season. And we've got a little present for all of our members, magazine readers, newsletter readers, and customers. Please accept this coupon for 20% off of any purchase of $75 or more on our Cuisipro, Emile Henry, Little Barrel Designs, MKS Design Handcrafted Knives, Mauviel, and Rösle lines at Foodie's Emporium. This is just for you. Use it wisely, it's good for 20% off an entire order, but only once! And it's valid for a limited time, excludes shipping, and can't be combined with other offers. Use promo code LOYALCUS. 

Foodie's Emporium is an Amazon Pro Merchant!

---

by J. Michael Wheeler
Really Simple Quiche
There are several techniques in cooking that I call foundation cooking. One of those is the quiche. There is nothing complicated or difficult about making a quiche.

But I hear you say, "Yes, but what about the pie crust? That’s not quick or simple!”  Oh, but it is! Here’s my foolproof pie crust recipe: Go to Whole Foods Market and buy their really delicious (made with good ingredients) frozen pie crusts. You just fill the crust (still frozen) and pop it in the oven. The crust’s flaky, tender, and tasty. So we’ve got the crust out of the way, now to the filling.

Ever made a cheese omelet? A quiche is pretty much the same thing.

1 good quality frozen pie crust
4 eggs
Cheese
Goodies for the filing
Herbs
Salt and Pepper

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375º

1. Put the frozen pie crust on a baking sheet to make it easy to transfer to and from the oven. First quiche secret: smear some good quality mustard in the bottom of the pie crust. A whole grain mustard is really good here.

2. Line the bottom of the pie crust with some cheese. I’ve used cheddar, goat, Gruyère, and just about any cheese, or bits of cheese, I’ve found in the fridge. (Or, use no cheese at all. The traditional Quiche Lorraine has no cheese!)

3. Next  add some cooked bacon, or sautéed onions, or shrimp, or sliced tomatoes, or leftover Chinese food. Whatever you’d put in an omelet is great in a quiche. Put enough of these goodies in the crust to make it interesting, but not so much that they’re falling over the edges.

4. Now, in a bowl, beat enough milk, cream, or half and half, into four eggs until the mixture turns a nice buttery hue. (You’ve just made a custard, by the way.)

5. Season the custard with salt and pepper; maybe some freshly ground nutmeg, chopped parsley, chives, rosemary, whatever’s a match for your goodies. Carefully pour the custard over the filing until it almost reaches the edge of the pie crust. (The custard will grow a bit: overflow is not the goal.)

6. Put the baking sheet with the quiche into the oven. Set your timer (you really should have a timer: buy one if you don’t) to 25 minutes. Ding. Check the quiche. If it’s still jiggle-y when you shake the baking sheet, reset the timer for another 5-7 minutes. The pie crust gets a bit brown at about the same time the quiche is cooked.

7. Jiggle the pie crust. If there’s no jiggling, and the crust is starting to brown, take the baking sheet out of the oven. Insert a knife into the center of the quiche; if the knife comes out clean, the quiche is done. If the knife comes out with bits on it, then cook for another 5-7 minutes.

When the quiche is done, let it cool for a while before slicing it. Garnish with chopped parsley, or chives, or whatever herbs are inside. Really simple stuff.

---

 
Foodie's Emporium is an Amazon Pro Merchant!

---

by J. Michael Wheeler
Who Wants to Lick the Stamps?

Send your loved ones chocolate in the mail. Well, actually on the mail. In France, (where else?) food and postage are strangely blended as a .56€ first class postage stamp. These chocolate-scented postage stamps tell the story of chocolate from bean to bar in ten scented stamps.

At La Boutique Web du Timbre, the French Post Office online stamp store, the Bloc Le Chocolat is described:

Le chocolat est un aliment issu de la fève de cacao après fermentation et torréfaction. Le cacaoyer est originaire d’Amérique centrale et des forêts tropicales humides d’Amazonie. Monnaie d’échange, nourriture des Dieux, favoris des cours des grands rois, plaisir des enfants d’aujourd’hui, le chocolat est devenu un mythe dont l’histoire est retracée sur un bloc de 10 timbres traités de façon hyper réaliste. Le bloc est imprégné d’une senteur chocolat.

(Chocolate is a food derived from the cocoa bean after fermentation and roasting. The cacao tree is native to Central America and the rainforests of the Amazon. Currency exchange, food of the gods, favorite of the great kings, and joy for children of today, chocolate has become a myth whose history is traced on a block of 10 hyper realistic stamps. The block is impregnated with a chocolate scent.)

Your Bloc Le Chocolat is available at La Poste in France of course, but you can order a box, I mean a sheet, of chocolate-scented stamps online. La Boutique Web du Timbre. With stamps like these, snail mail may make a comeback: Viva la poste d'escargot!

---

 
Foodie's Emporium is an Amazon Pro Merchant!

---

by J. Michael Wheeler
Got Better Tasting Milk?
Great story/article on NPR Got (Good) Milk? Ask The Dairy Evangelist by John Burnett about  "the Che Guevara of the American dairy industry." Warren Taylor owns and runs Snowville Creamery, and he's trying to make milk the way it was made 40 years ago, when, he insists, it tasted better.

"I built Snowville Creamery to prove to the American dairy industry that the reason our children have had a 30-year continuous decline in their consumption of milk is not entirely Coke and Pepsi's fault, but because the dairy industry has been delivering a continuously declining quality of milk, in terms of its freshness and taste," Taylor says.

Taylor sells most of his milk within 48 hours, he doesn't homogenize it, and his milk is pasteurized at a lower temperature — 165 degrees. The industry standard is 175 degrees, which Taylor believes diminishes taste. Today, the popular "ultrahigh temperature" or "ultrapasteurized" milk is sterilized at 280 degrees, a process that trades flavor for long-distance marketing and long shelf life.

Listen to the Morning Edition Story Got (Good) Milk? Ask The Dairy Evangelist

 

Foodie's Emporium is an Amazon Pro Merchant!

by J. Michael Wheeler
NY Times 36 Holiday Cookbooks
Summer’s over and the grilling’s no longer easy. So as Christine Muhlke of The New York Times says, “Summer’s homesteading how-to’s and grilling guides have given way to fall’s fearlessly bountiful lineup. It’s the time of year when big chefs send out their big books... It’s also the time for really useful books that will nudge you deeper into the winter kitchen to discover (or rediscover) the secret to no-brainer bread — or find out how much more your co-workers will like you if you bring in a “Naughty Senator” cake."

Here’s an amuse-bouche of Muhlke’s review, followed by the full course of books she’s laid out for our pleasure. All the books listed here are available at Foodie’s Emporium NY Times Holiday Cookbooks.
 
Muhlke begins with Thomas Keller, “...the biggest American chef with the biggest book...is a pro at translating his restaurant menus into lavish cookbooks for the advanced home cook.”  AD HOC AT HOME: Family-Style Recipes

Gordon Ramsay “has also set out to prove he can cook like the little people,” with his new COOKING FOR FRIENDS. This year’s most talked about restaurant book this year is MOMOFUKU from David Chang.

Should a diner who orders a dish called Sound of the Sea listen to an iPod playing waves? Well of course, according to Heston Blumenthal, the chef of the three-Michelin-starred Fat Duck in Bray, England. His new tome, FAT DUCK COOKBOOK  is a “lavish extravaganza.”

GOURMET TODAY: More Than 1,000 All-New Recipes for the Contemporary Kitchen, compiled by the magazine’s editor, the former New York Times food critic Ruth Reichl.

I KNOW HOW TO COOK (Je Sais Cuisiner)  was written in the early 1930s by the Sorbonne home-economics teacher Ginette Mathiot. It is the French “Joy of Cooking.” While I lived in France I sought out such a book and this it the one I found. My copy is the French version. But that’s okay, because if a dish doesn't come out quite right, I can blame it on my tortured French!

LA CUCINA: The Regional Cooking of Italy translated by Jay Hyams

THE PLEASURES OF COOKING FOR ONE by Judith Jones, who  concluded that it’s a delight to cook for one: “I open up the wine and light the candles, turn on some music, and give thanks.” 

THE CRAFT OF BAKING: Cakes, Cookies and Other Sweets, With Ideas for Inventing Your Own by Karen DeMasco.

ALL CAKES CONSIDERED by Melissa Gray. “Gray’s sassy-pants prose will inspire even food snobs to shamelessly lube a tube pan with Pam before pouring in Crisco-filled batter.”

And 25 more...
BAKING: 350 Recipes, 2000 Photographs, One Baking Education. By James Peterson.

COCO: 10 World-Leading Masters Choose 100 Contemporary Chefs. By the editors of Phaidon Press

COOKIN' WITH COOLIO: 5 Star Meals at a 1 Star Price. By Coolio.

THE DUMPLING: A Seasonal Guide. By Wai Hon Chu and Connie Lovatt.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT, THOUGHT FOR FOOD. By Ferran Adrià, Richard Hamilton and Vicente Todolí.

FORKING FANTASTIC: Put the Party Back in Dinner Party. By Zora O'Neill and Tamara Reynolds.

FRENCH FEASTS: 299 Traditional Meals for Family Meals and Gatherings. By Stéphane Reynaud.

HOT AND HOT FISH CLUB COOKBOOK: A Celebration of Family, Friends and Traditions. By Chris Hastings, Idie Hastings and Katherine Cobbs.

HOW TO ROAST A LAMB: New Greek Classic Cooking. By Michael Psilakis and Barbara Kafka.

THE KIND DIET: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet. By Alicia Silverstone and Neal D. Barnard.

LAROUSSE GASTRONOMIQUE: The World's Greatest Culinary Encyclopedia, Completely Revised and Updated. By Librairie Larousse.

THE LEE BROS. SIMPLE FRESH SOUTHERN: Knockout Dishes With Down-Home Flavor. By Matt Lee and Ted Lee.

LIDIA COOKS FROM THE HEART OF ITALY: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes. By Lidia Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali.

MAD HUNGRY: Feeding Men and Boys. By Lucinda Scala Quinn.

MEDITERRANEAN CLAY POT COOKING: Traditional and Modern Recipes to Savor and Share. By Paula Wolfert.

MY NEW ORLEANS: The Cookbook. By John Besh.

NEW AMERICAN TABLE. By Marcus Samuelsson

NEW CLASSIC FAMILY DINNERS. By Mark Peel and Martha Rose Shulman.

PASTA SFOGLIA: From Our Table to Yours, More Than 100 Fresh, Seasonal Pasta Dishes. By Ron Suhanosky and Colleen Marnell-Suhanosky

THE PHYSIOLOGY OF TASTE: Or, Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy. By Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, translated by M.F.K. Fisher. With an introduction by Bill Buford.

ROSE'S HEAVENLY CAKES. By Rose Levy Beranbaum.

SALT TO TASTE: The Key to Confident, Delicious Cooking. By Marco Canora and Cathy Young.

STIR: Mixing It up in the Italian Tradition. By Barbara Lynch and Joanne Smart.

WHY ITALIANS LOVE TO TALK ABOUT FOOD. By Elena Kostioukovitch, translated by Anne Milano Appel.

All the books listed here are available at Foodie’s Emporium NY Times Holiday Cookbooks.

Read the full article at the New York Times HOLIDAY BOOKS: Cooking

 

Foodie's Emporium is an Amazon Pro Merchant!

by J. Michael Wheeler
Not the Bargain Basement
Just in time for the holidays, one of the most famous Parisian restaurants, La Tour d’Argent, is having something of a yard-sale. Well, a cellar-sale really. La Tour, as it is affectionately known, will be auctioning off 18,000 bottles from it’s historic wine cellar on December 7 and 8, 2009. For example, if you've got about $1800 there's a nice bottle of Corton, a red Burgundy, vintage 1895, that you can snatch up.

But don’t worry if that’s beyond your price range. There’s a 1983 Pétrus, a magnum, that will go for only about $1,350. And then there are the Premier Cru Bordeaux classics, Château Latour, Lafite-Rothschild, Mouton-Rothschild, Haut-Brion, Cheval Blanc and Château Margaux. Burgundies, which make up 60% of La Tour’s current cellar, to be auctioned will not include the big boys like La Tâche and Romanée Conti, but Meursault Clos de la Barre Lafon, Puligny Montrachet Referts Sauzet and Vosne Romanée Jayer.

Emptying out 18,000 bottles of wine from one’s cellar may seem like a lot, but for La Tour it is merely about 4% of the 450,000 bottle cellar! That cellar consists of 27 rooms that are seven stories below La Tour’s dining room.

La Tour d’Argent (http://www.tourdargent.com/) overlooks Notre Dame on the Left Bank of Paris at 15/17 quai de la Tournelle, 75005 Paris. À votre santé!

 

Foodie's Emporium is an Amazon Pro Merchant!

OOO by Kate Krukowski Gooding

Cranberry Zinfandel Port Relish
It’s beginning to rain and that weather keeps me inside and cooking. I began to research and work on old holiday recipes. I thought I would tackle traditional family dishes that have not been my favorite during Thanksgiving and Christmas. I read a cranberry jelly recipe somewhere that used orange liquor, orange zest and port and I immediately thought of my favorite port; Brown Estate Red Zinfandel Port.  We are having old friends over and I wanted to just enhance an old tradition. Simple and delicious!

Cranberries have history in England, Europe and North America. Did you know that Native Americans combined cranberries (which have a natural preservative) with dried meat mixtures to prolong shelf life and that in 1912 sauce was first commercially canned by the Cape Cod Cranberry Company which marketed the sauce as "Ocean Spray Cape Cod Cranberry Sauce?" It has been a tradition for many years.

Cranberry Zinfandel Port Relish
Ingredients 

4 cups fresh cranberries
2 cups white sugar
½ cup Brown Estate Zinfandel Port (or other port)*
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon allspice

Directions

You can find Kate Gooding's book,
Black Fly Stew - Wild Maine Recipes
at Foodie's Emporium! Click here.
For more great books for foodies Click here.

OOO by Kate Krukowski Gooding

Moose River Corn Chowder
Necessity is the Mother of Invention, my mom always used to say. This recipe is a perfect example!

Five girlfriends and I went up home from University of Southern Maine one weekend to hike Bald Mountain with my brother and five of his friends from Jackman/Moose River. We came home hungry! Looking through my brothers’ somewhat empty cupboard I had to create with what was available – “meal interpretation.” The sweetened condensed milk added a light, sweet richness to this chowder that keeps you dipping your spoon in the bowl over and over again!

Moose River Corn Chowder
Serves 6
Ingredients 

½ pound bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup water
3 cups potatoes, diced
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 cans cream style corn
2 cups frozen corn
2 tablespoons sweet condensed milk
2 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons butter

Directions

You can find Kate Gooding's book,
Black Fly Stew - Wild Maine Recipes
at Foodie's Emporium! Click here.
For more great books for foodies Click here.

by Anna Tourkakis
How to Choose the Right Pasta
Even though all shapes and cuts of pasta are made from the same ingredients, flour, water and sometimes eggs the shape is key to the dish. The pasta’s role is to carry the sauce.  There are no set rules for pasta and sauce pairing but some combinations work better than others.

Sauces can be divided into six different types: meat sauce (ragu), seafood, vegetable, cream, garlic-oil, and uncooked. Pasta shapes have various names but they can be divided into four categories: long pasta (ribbons), short cuts, short tubes, and small types.

Long pasta such as spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine and angel hair are best with smooth sauces. Tomato and oil based sauces work well for these types of pasta. Marinara sauce is one that comes to mind. Fettuccine are especially suited for the Alfredo or cream sauce and angel hair pasta is perfect for a simple oil and garlic sauce (aglio-olio).

Short cuts of pasta shapes such as bow ties, spirals, and shells, are best suited for butter, cheese, tomato, meat, and vegetable based sauces; they hold every drop of these thicker sauces. Large shells are usually stuffed with a ricotta cheese mixture.

Short tubes types such as penne, rigatoni, and ziti tend to be sturdier and are perfect for meat, vegetable, and chunky tomato sauces. Manicotti shape is also an ideal shape for stuffing with a ricotta cheese mixture.

Small types, like pastina, ditalini, orzo are perfect for soups.

Whole-wheat pasta products follow the same general guidelines for pasta and sauce pairing.  

For practical purposes which pasta and sauce to combine depends largely on personal preference but adhering to this basic guide may result in a tastier and satisfying dish. 

Anna Q. Tourkakis, DTR, MPA is a nutritional counselor. She teaches nutrition to food service professionals at North Shore Community College and does cooking demonstrations and healthy eating related presentations. Anna Q. Tourkakis, DTR, MPA is a nutritional counselor. She teaches nutrition to food service professionals at North Shore Community College and does cooking demonstrations and healthy eating related presentations.

Foodie's Emporium is an Amazon Pro Merchant!

FREE SHIPPING on Our New Lines
at Foodie's Emporium!
Starting Wednesday, November 25th, at FIVE AM, Pacific Standard Time, ‘til Saturday November 28th, at Midnight, Pacific Standard Time, choose from our wonderful new kitchen lines and products listed here, and Shipping is FREE on purchases over $50 at Foodie's Emporium!

Use promo code THANKFUL at checkout!

Mauviel Mheritage Collection 5 Piece Cookware Set, Cast Iron Handles, with Wooden Crate
Save over $150 with FREE SHIPPING
The strength and foundation for Mauviel's manufacturing expertise is based upon a rich tradition of copper manufacturing that has been handed down from generation to generation for nearly 180 years. The Mheritage collection is a combination of two powerful and traditional materials, copper and stainless steel.The polished copper exterior provides unsurpassed heat conductivity and control, and the stainless steel interior ensures fast and easy cleanup. The handles are riveted to the pan for a durable, solid grip. The Mheritage collection represents the total experience and heritage of Mauviel 1830, and is used by professionals and household cooks throughout the world. Mauviel

Emile Henry Flame Top Round Dutch Oven/Stew Pot, 7 quart
Save over $70 with FREE SHIPPING
Emile Henry's ceramic bakeware and tableware has been made in Marcigny France since 1850, from high fired Burgundy clay found in the region. The natural clay is unsurpassed for conducting and retaining heat. Solid, durable and lead-free, our dishes retain heat to keep your foods warm. They are dishwasher safe, go directly from freezer to oven, and are chip, crack and scratch-resistant. Ideal for use on any type of stove or in the oven, they are also attractive serving dishes at the table. The Flame-Top Dutch Oven / Stewpot cooks evenly and gently when used on top of the stove, in the oven or even in the microwave. Emile Henry

5 Knife Set Handcrafted by Knife Designer Adam Simha
Save  $40 with FREE SHIPPING
Knife designer Adam Simha designs and handcrafts absolutely superb bench-made high-performance steel blades for his knives. These designs feature body geometry influenced by the best of both Asian and Western traditions. The unique grip: MKS knives come with an injection-molded bicycle grip that is tightly fitted over a naturally bacteria-resistant stainless steel tube. They are visually remarkable and functionally exquisite. Free with every purchase: a rawhide honing strap. Foodie's Emporium is proud to be an exclusive online retailer of Adam's amazing knives. Handcrafted in Cambridge, Massachusetts MKS Design Handcrafted Knives

More FREE SHIPPING available on our lines of
Cuisipro Cook's Tools: Cuisipro designers pioneer the use of new technologies and materials to make cooking more enjoyable and time-efficient. Cuisipro products attract the eye with simple elegance and refined and timeless design. 

Little Barrel WineWear Little Barrel Designs is a luxury line of wine-themed accessories, fun and stylish items suitable for people who are into wine and the wine country lifestyle. Using colorful patterns of wine bottles, wine glasses, and grapevines, the designers have created high-quality essentials for any wine-lover's wardrobe. 

Soiree Bottle-top Wine Decanter  The Soiree is a wine accessory that fits into any standard corked wine bottle, and comes with an extra gasket that will work with any screw cap bottle; allowing you to pour, without dripping, directly through the Soiree. Once you place the Soiree in the wine bottle, the Soiree aerates your wine as you pour it. The Soiree allows you to decant just the portion of wine you want - a glass or a carafe. (Free shipping on Soiree is on our single unit only.)

Ravi, the Instant Wine Refresher An indispensible accessory for wine lovers! The Ravi instant wine refresher is a sleek, easy-to-use accessory that is placed on the neck of the wine bottle to chill your wine to your perfect drinking temperature. You cool your wine at the very moment it's served, bringing out all the properties of your wine and not altering the taste in any way. No need to fuss with ice buckets or go back and forth to the refrigerator during meals.

Storvino Wine Storage System The Storvino wine modules are sturdy and stackable, giving you customized flexibility for storing all of your wines. Each module holds 6 bottles and can be positioned vertically or horizontally. GREEN Product: all Storvino modules are made of 100% Post Consumer Recycled HDPE! 

Kalorik Dual Zone Wine Cooler  Keep your wine at the perfect drinking temperature with Kalorik's Dual Zone Wine Cooler. Most wine storage systems control storage temperature, not drinking temperature. (Storage temperatures are much colder than drinking temperatures.) Our Dual Zone Wine Cooler keeps your wine at the best wine drinking temperature: your wines are always ready to drink.

Sorry, this promo can’t be combined with other promo offers at Foodie's Emporium.

Foodie's Emporium is an Amazon Pro Merchant!

by Eric Olson
Years ago we always looked forward to the arrival, just before Thanksgiving, of the Beaujolais Nouveau wines from France. Bottled and shipped almost immediately after being picked, these wines were fun, interesting, another reason to celebrate and highly anticipated. Success almost ruined the idea as more and more large shippers got on board and would ship anything that was red, some tasting more like colored water than wine. I've always liked the idea, however and this year sought out a small producer who neither chaptilize (adds sugar) or uses artificial yeasts, in other words "real wine".  Wild yeasts exist on the outside of grape skin and are a critical piece of the wine making puzzle. They are more difficult to handle than artificial yeasts but make much more interesting wines. The '09 vintage is excellent and, like all Beaujolais Nouveau vintages, cannot be delivered to any store until the Thursday preceding Thanksgiving. We all have an equal opportunity to discover the "vintage." If you've been part of a Nouveau celebration and came away unimpressed, try some made by small farmers who do it the old fashioned way. Fortuitously Beaujolais is an excellent choice with Turkey and all the trimmings.

T-Day Kitchen Helpers from Foodie's Emporium
Just in time for Thanksgiving! Foodie's Emporium has just added Cuisipro cook's tools. Cuisipro tools are innovative, stylish, and time-savers.

Cuisipro Herb Keeper This clever solution for storing and extending the life of herbs, the Herb Keeper is a perfect way to enjoy flavorful meals with the addition of fresh herbs. • Keep herbs fresh longer!  Suspended tray holds herb bunches together for easy access. Removable tray lifts for easy draining. Stems are immersed in water for freshness and hydration to extend life of herbs. Can accommodate large bunches of herbs or bundles of asparagus. 25 year warranty!

Cuisipro Fat Separator  This gravy separator has a unique plug which blocks fat out of the spout until fat and gravy are separated. Once separated, the lid can be snapped up to unplug the spout and release lean gravy. No more greasy gravy. This handy tool takes the fat off gravies and sauces with an innovative plug. Flip-top to open lid. Oversized rim prevents spills. Dishwasher safe. 4 cup capacity. Create clear, healthier gravy and sauces with this unique kitchen tool. Heat-resistant strainer catches unwanted food particles. 25 year warranty!

Find Handcrafted Knives, hand selected Cook's Tools, and unique Gifts for foodes at Foodie's Emporium!

by J. Michael Wheeler
Thanksgiving Tips: Game Plan
There’s no question about it, for me, Thanksgiving is absolutely the best holiday: it’s all about getting together with friends and family and eating a great meal. No Christmas present stresses or New Year’s Eve anxiety. Cook a lot of good food and share it with friends and family. One of my favorite Thanksgivings was when I was in college in San Diego and I organized an “Orphan’s Thanksgiving” for my fellow college friends who wouldn’t be traveling home for the holiday. It was a bit less than traditional, but the spirit certainly was there.

T-Day Kitchen Helpers from Foodie's Emporium
Just in time for Thanksgiving! Foodie's Emporium has just added Cuisipro cook's tools. Cuisipro tools are innovative, stylish, and time-savers.

Cuisipro Herb Keeper This clever solution for storing and extending the life of herbs, the Herb Keeper is a perfect way to enjoy flavorful meals with the addition of fresh herbs. • Keep herbs fresh longer!  Suspended tray holds herb bunches together for easy access. Removable tray lifts for easy draining. Stems are immersed in water for freshness and hydration to extend life of herbs. Can accommodate large bunches of herbs or bundles of asparagus. 25 year warranty!

Cuisipro Fat Separator  This gravy separator has a unique plug which blocks fat out of the spout until fat and gravy are separated. Once separated, the lid can be snapped up to unplug the spout and release lean gravy. No more greasy gravy. This handy tool takes the fat off gravies and sauces with an innovative plug. Flip-top to open lid. Oversized rim prevents spills. Dishwasher safe. 4 cup capacity. Create clear, healthier gravy and sauces with this unique kitchen tool. Heat-resistant strainer catches unwanted food particles. 25 year warranty!

Find Handcrafted Knives, hand selected Cook's Tools, and unique Gifts for foodes at Foodie's Emporium!

by Anna Tourkakis
How to Keep Color, Texture, and Nutrients in Cooked Vegetables
Fresh vegetables are the foundation of both nutrition and exceptional meals. They provide our bodies with valuable vitamins and minerals and add color and texture to our meals. Bright beautiful greens, reds, oranges, purples, and yellows are a taste-treat for the eyes and their crunchy texture adds interest to every bite. The basic guidelines for cooking vegetables are: quick cooking, minimum water, and use of a lid. These simple guides will help retain color, texture, and nutrients.

The common methods for cooking vegetables, boiling, steaming, stir-frying and sautéing are all suitable for quick cooking. When boiling vegetables the first questions are always, “how much water to use,” and “should I cover the pot?” Vegetables are added to just enough boiling water to cover them. Cook them to fork-tender. The use of a lid depends on the flavor of the vegetables. Mild flavored vegetables such as carrots, corn, winter squash and potatoes should be cooked with the lid on. Stronger flavored vegetables such as green beans, broccoli and zucchini are best cooked without a lid which allows volatile compounds to escape. These last veggies should be cooked in water one-half to one inch above the vegetables. This dilutes the volatile compounds and prevents discoloration. 

In steaming, stir-frying and sautéing methods, vegetables should be cut to a uniform small size for quick, even cooking. Typically, stir-fry vegetables are cut into thin strips. Sautéing is suitable for tender or thinly sliced vegetables. Steaming is best for retaining water soluble vitamins regardless of a longer cooking time. 

These basic procedures ensure bright colored and crunchy textured vegetables with its many nutrients retained.

Anna Q. Tourkakis, DTR, MPA is a nutritional counselor. She teaches nutrition to food service professionals at North Shore Community College and does cooking demonstrations and healthy eating related presentations. Anna Q. Tourkakis, DTR, MPA is a nutritional counselor. She teaches nutrition to food service professionals at North Shore Community College and does cooking demonstrations and healthy eating related presentations.

by J. Michael Wheeler
How to Smoke Cheese
Don, a reader of Dancing Spoon, was browsing through Foodie’s Emporium (our online store) in the Grilling category when he came across EZ Smoke, our natural wood chip smoker in a can. He asked:

Can you cold smoke with ez smoker. I want to smoke cheese. Thanks Don

Yes, Don, you can. And it’s a simple process.

Just about any kind of cheese can be smoked. Most commonly known are smoked provolones, mozzarellas, cheddars, and goudas, but goat cheeses and even blue cheeses can be deliciously smoked. Because of it’s low melting temperature, cheese must be smoked using the cold smoked technique. Cold smoking takes place at temperatures of 90 degrees or less. Here's how to smoke cheese:

1. After selecting your cheeses (at least 8 oz each) for smoking, unwrap them and set on aluminum pans. Leave at room temperature for 1-2 hours. The cheese will form a slight skin that will protect it from melting while allowing the smoke to penetrate. 

2. When your cheese has set, prepare a grill with a lid. Place 3-4 pieces of charcoal on one side of the grill and light them. The goal is to produce smoke, but not heat. If you have a small grill you may need to use less charcoal at the onset and add a piece of charcoal if you want to smoke the cheese longer. Leave lid off initially, to prevent heat build up.

3. Select one of our EZ Smoke BBQ wood flavors, Apple, Mesquite, Pecan or Hickory. When the coals are hot, peel off the can’s seal and place on top of the coals. (You don’t need to soak the EZ Smoke chips.)

4. Place the aluminum pans on your grill on the opposite side of the charcoal and close the lid. Open the top and side vents to allow the smoke to circulate.

5. Check the cheeses after about a half hour to make sure they are not melting, and then every 15 to 20 minutes to taste the cheese. Remove the cheese when they have absorbed the smoky flavor you desire.

6. Remove the cheeses, let them cool, and enjoy. Store as you normally would.