The Bitten Word

Leftovers | Interesting Stuff from May Food Mags

Just as we do at the end of each month, here's a round-up of items from this month's food magazines that we found of interest but weren't necessarily recipe related.

Martha Stewart Living

You've likely heard of Mark Kurlansky's other books, such as Cod: The Biography of the Fish That Changed the World and Salt: A World History.  When we read in MSL about his new book, we were instantly intrigued by the title alone: "The Food of a Younger Land: A Portrait of American Food--Before the National Highway System, Before Chain Restaurants, and Before Frozen Food, When the Nation's Food Was Seasonal."  Based on research completed but never published by the WPA prior to World World II, Food of a Younger Land explores regional food cultures in America. Mississippi chitlins and Montana Fried Beaver Tail?  We're excited to read this book! 

Everyday Food

The magazine's "How to Cut Up a Chicken" feature is among the best and simplest diagrams we've ever seen for a simple step-by-step guide into this process.  It's especially good for the novice cook, who may need more instructions and visuals that the typical recipe or cookbook provides.  Luckily, Everyday Food has made the feature available online.

Gourmet

Gourmet's "Obsessions" column -- which outlines 5 or 6 products each month that the staff likes -- features one of our favorite products: Dale's Steak Seasoning.  Zach's mom uses it religiously back in Tennessee; Clay had never heard of it until Zach brought home a bottle and now we use it occasionally when making steaks.  Dale's is an intensively flavored marinade that is popular in the South and sold in supermarkets throughout the Southeast. The flavors are intense (chiefly soy sauce, onion, garlic, sugar, ginger and paprika) and the label says it can be used on almost anything ("Delicious on all meats, fish, fowl and vegetables"). If it's not available in your area, you can also order it through Amazon.

Cook's Illustrated

We love the rating features in Cook's, where they test out a bunch of brands of the same product and then give you their recommended brands.  There are two of these excellent features in the May issue: Testing Cookware Sets and Tasting Chocolate Chips.  The intros to both features are available on their website, but the results are only available to subscribers. Pick up a copy or try their two week site trial and check it out!

And Now For Some Funny Videos

And finally, we leave with you with Posh Nosh -- a parody online cooking series that our friend Todd recommended.  Watch and enjoy!

Rice Pudding with Poached Rhubarb

Food & Wine (May 2009)

You've read the title of the post and it sounds nice, right?  Rice Pudding with Poached Rhubarb. It's springy, sounds kind of elegant (poached fruit? ooh la la!) and is no doubt sweet. 

But then you looked at the photo and think to yourself, "Oh these poor dumb Bitten Word boys -- they've done gone and used unripe rhubarb." (For some reason, you've said this to yourself in a thick Southern accent.)

When our CSA included rhubarb in our first share, that's what we thought. It was green all over, with a few hints of "rhubarb red" on the stem. Surely if we let it sit out, it would ripen.  

But we didn't.  Instead we went online and discovered that we had something new on our hands:  green rhubarb.

Could we sub it in for the traditional red rhubarb?

Sazerac

Bon Appétit (May 2009)

We have a bottle of absinthe in our liquor cabinet that has become sort of joke. 

Zach had smuggled said bottle into the country almost nine years ago -- back when the sale of absinthe in the U.S. was still forbidden -- and it has since languished in the backs of cabinets, the tops of closets, and for the past three years, in our liquor cabinet.

We pull it out on occasion, make some joke about drinking it, or about wormwood hallucinations, or green fairies. And then we deposit it back in its place.

But it was the inclusion of absinthe in this classic Sazerac cocktail that piqued our interest. 

Finally, our absinthe was going to be put to use!

Asiago-Stuffed Dates with Bacon and Smoked Paprika

Bon Appétit (May 2009)

We just love the idea of rumaki, the appetizer of water chestnuts and chicken livers soaked in soy sauce and wrapped in bacon. 

They're wonderfully outdated and faux-exotic and mock-Asian.  There's just something so kicky and 1963-Christmas-party-in-the-suburbs about them.

And we just love the notion of putting a new spin on rumaki! This recipe comes from Bon Appétit's May 2009 feature on "New American Classics," which offers updated versions of iconic dishes.  There are twelve categories of dishes -- everything from the "new beef stew" (Zinfandel-Braised Beef Short Ribs with Rosemary-Parsnip Mashed Potatoes) to the "new mac and cheese" (Double-Dutch Mac and Cheese with Chard).

Anyway, when we decided to throw a small get-together last weekend, we decided these Asiago-Stuffed Dates with Bacon and Smoked Paprika would be a delicious accompaniment to our Arugula and Fava Bean Crostini.

Come on: Delicious dates, stuffed with cheese AND wrapped with bacon?  Yes, please!

Arugula and Fava-Bean Crostini

Gourmet (May 2009)

Before we get to these crostini, a little digression: So Zach sings in a choir. Well, he sang in a choir. The Master Chorale of Washington, a 42-year-old choral group, ceased operations at the end of this season, after the faltering economy decimated the choir's finances. (If you're interested, you can read more about the choir's dissolution and the group's final concert this past Sunday.) Zach sang in the choir for six seasons, so the final concert was a poignant and emotional event.

It was a bittersweet day. Bitter, for the obvious reasons. But sweet, too, because so many of Zach's family members and our friends gathered at the Kennedy Center for the final concert.

In fact, so many of our friends ended up coming that we had decided to invite everyone back to our apartment after the concert for a glass of wine and some snacks.

It was a semi-last minute decision, and with family in town and not a lot of time to cook, we wanted some simple party food that could come together in advance but still impress guests.

What to make?

Strawberry-Citrus Salad

Bon Appétit (May 2009)

 

It's true that we just wrote about strawberries, and here we are again.

But when they're this bountiful and delicious -- and this affordable -- why not?

In this incarnation, the strawberries found their way into a delicious and simple salad that made for a light, tasty finish to a great Sunday brunch.

Balsamic and Brown Sugar Strawberry Shortcakes

Everyday Food (May 2009)

Fresh strawberries are one of spring's great treats. We happened to be in Chattanooga, Tennessee, last weekend and went with friends to The Chattanooga Market, a terrific indoor-outdoor market that is held each Sunday in an old foundry on the south side of town.

It was strawberry central in Chattanooga -- overflowing pints and gallons of plump berries -- and Chattanoogans were snatching them up. We desperately wanted to buy some, but were afraid they wouldn't let us on the plane with them. 

We weren't too upset.  We've started to see the first hints of strawberries in our nation's capital and expect they'll be booming soon.  Although they're not yet available at the farmer's market, they have been plentiful (and deeply discounted) at the supermarket, so we've purchased our fare share.

What to do with them?

Asparagus with Poached Egg

Martha Stewart Living (May 2009)

Some recipes look so simple and so delicious that you just have to try them, even though they may be out of your culinary comfort zone.

Such was the case with Asparagus with Poached Egg. 

As regular readers of the blog well know, we eat our fair share of meat. 

And though we're trying to eat more vegetarian meals, a delicate-looking dish like this is still not the sort of fare we typically eat on for dinner.

But asparagus is plentiful right now and we've been buying a few bundles each week, so it was hard to pass up trying this dish.

Is this four-ingredient dish worth your time?

Pork Chops with Leeks in Mustard Sauce

Bon Appétit (May 2009)

The May issue of Bon Appétit has a great, extensive feature on heritage pork -- smaller, varied breeds of pig that get ignored by large-scale commercial pork producers. The piece outlines some of the heritage breeds, which have lovely, enticing names like the Duroc, the Red Wattle, the Tamworth and the Ossabaw.

Each breed has a distinct flavor and texture. They all really sound intriguing, and so much more complex and tasty than bland, factory-farmed pork. We're eager to experiment. (Anyone up for a pork-tasting??)

The BA heritage pork feature includes several great recipes, but this one called out to us in particular.  We're huge fans of leeks, and the combo of the chops, leeks and mustard sounded too good to resist. (Although those aspects are almost moot, given that this dish has pork chops and bacon. We're huge suckers for pork-on-pork.)

Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until another day to try this recipe with actual heritage pork. There are a couple really terrific pork producers at our Sunday farmers market. But we didn't come across this recipe until mid-week, and we wanted to make it for dinner. So we instead opted for commerical pork chops from our local Harris Teeter and -- SPOILER ALERT! -- this recipe works just great for them too!

Ultimate Mac and Cheese Guide

Quick!  Name three comfort foods! 

We bet you can't do it without mentioning macaroni and cheese. And for good reason. Gooey, creamy, hot, rich and satisfying, mac and cheese is the very definition of classic comfort food.

After our recent disappointing experience with Carrot Macaroni and Cheese, we were inundated by comments and emails from people sending us their absolute favorite mac and cheese recipes.

Because of all your terrific responses, we decided to publish all the recipes here as a sort of go-to guide for mac and cheese. Sorry in advance, but we haven't taken the time to cook and sample each of these recipes ourselves. Our appetites -- and waistlines -- couldn't handle it.

But we wanted to share our readers' favorite recipes. So just think of this as a roadmap for gooey, cheesy deliciousness.