The Bitten Word

Grilled Mussels with Herb Butter

Everyday Food (June 2011) 

Is there any better way to herald the arrival of summer than firing up the grill?

Typically, of course, that means burgers and hot dogs. Maybe chicken or ribs. And we looooove all those things.

But this Memorial Day, we tried something brand new on the backyard grill: mussels. We love ordering mussels at restaurants, where they're usually steamed in a creamy, aromatic broth. But it had never occurred to us that we might be able to grill them at home, until we saw this recipe in the latest issue of Everyday Food. 

We might never think of mussels -- or summer barbecues -- the same way again.

Beer-Baked White Beans

Everyday Food (April 2011)

A slow-simmered pot of white beans can make for the most satisfying meal. We're talking about that Southern trifecta of white beans, ham hock and a side of cornbread. And we've had beans on the brain lately. As a Mother's Day gift, we just gave the gift of beans to Zach's mom, and ever since we've been drooling from afar as she's described slowly cooking the beans for hours, to be eaten for dinner with just a simple salad as an accompaniment.

But we tend to think of a pot of simmered white beans as a fall and winter dish. If we have a pot of white beans going, it's cold out. If it's warm and we're making beans, they're more likely the maple/ketchup/brown sugar variety. (If you're looking for a more traditional baked beans recipe, the Barefoot Contessa has a very good recipe, though be warned that they require some planning, because they simmer for six to eight hours.) 

So that's what drew us to these Beer-Baked White Beans. How would they stand up to the summer potluck variety that we grew up eating? Or to the slow-braised winter dish we sometimes make? 

The answer can be summed in one sentence that was uttered after we sat down to eat these beans:

"These are the best beans we've ever made."

General Tso's Chicken Challenge: Delivery vs. Homemade

Food & Wine (May 2011)

Is there any dish out there that screams "Chinese take-out" more than General Tso's Chicken?

We don't think so. With its flash-fried pieces of chicken lacquered in a sticky spicy-sweet sauce, General Tso's Chicken is, to us, the quintessential dish of Chinese food in the United States. (It's also a dish that's almost completely unknown in China. For a really fascinating look at the history of General Tso's Chicken and several other standards of Chinese-American cuisine, check out Jennifer 8. Lee's excellent book, The Fortune-Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food, which we actually wrote about on the blog a while back.)

Anyway, General Tso's is so linked in our minds with Chinese restaurants that it hadn't really occurred to us that it's a dish you can make at home.

So when we saw a recipe for it in the May Food & Wine, we were more than a little intrigued. (Incidentally, it's part of a really great F&W feature, which we mentioned yesterday, in which food blogger Zach Brooks of Midtown Lunch recreates his favorite lunchtime ethnic dishes.)

But what if we made things a little more interesting?

What if we did a head-to-head comparison of this recipe with the General Tso's from our favorite Chinese delivery place?

In fact, what if we started cooking at the exact same time we called in our order, to see if we could cook the dish ourselves before the delivery guy rang the doorbell?

Who would win on speed? Who would win on cost? What about flavor?

Ladies and gentlemen: the General Tso's Chicken Challenge!

Giveaway Winner + Our Favorite May Magazine Features

Saveur was the runaway hit of this month's covers gallery. So many of you commented about how much you loved the crispy tacos on the cover. We loved them, too. The dish is from a beautiful piece called "Mexico Feeds Me," and the food looks outstanding, especially the Potatoes in Red Salsa and those Potato Tacos from the cover. We also love Saveur's feature called "Riga Revisited," which features Latvian food. Before reading the piece, we knew almost nothing about Latvian food, but we plan to make at least on of the dishes from the feature very soon. 

"Oh look, here's an article about Nathan Myhrvold," has come to stand as a joke in our house, since nearly every magazine we receive -- and not just the food magazines -- has done a feature about him over the last two months. Myhrvold is the Microsoft executive turned cooking enthusiast and the author of the massive, expensive Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking.  We haven't seen the book, but we love Food & Wine's feature on Myhrvold about smart ways to use a pressure cooker, like Pressure Cooker Pork Carnitas. We've been flirting with the idea of getting a pressure cooker and may just have to pull the trigger.

Food & Wine also has a "Great Takes on Midtown Lunch" feature, in which blogger Zach Brooks recreates his favorite lunchtime ethnic dishes. 

For what it's worth, the May Cook's Country has more recipes in it that we've tagged to consider making than any other issue this month. We're especially excited to try their Cream Cheese Biscuits, Patty Melts and Morning Glory Muffins.  

We also enjoyed Food Network's "The 100 Greatest Cooking Tips of All Time," which included some of our favorites, like "Take the time to actually read recipes through before you begin." 

And you can read our thoughts about the May issue of Bon Appétit in our previous post on the subject. 

So now, what about the giveaway?  

As usual, we selected two comments at random for the giveaway. The first was from Melissa, who wrote: "Food and Wine. This time of year, everything that gets cooked must be cooked on the grill. And I mean everything."

The second winning commenter is Tiffani, who said: "Saveur for sure. We're traveling through Texas now and have more access to some of the more authentic ingredients. Bring on the tortillas!"

One of them will receive Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef and the other will get a copy of Michael's Genuine Food: Down-to-Earth Cooking for People Who Love to Eat. 

Congratulations, Melissa and Tiffani!

What May features did we miss?  Anything that stuck out to you this month? Let us know in the comments. 

 

 

 

May Covers Gallery + Book Giveaways!

It's May, and the covers of this month's food magazines have a serious travel itch. Bon Appétit (yes, that Bon Appétit) wants to take you to Italy, while Saveur highlights the cuisine of Mexico and Food & Wine features a grilled chicken yakitori from Japan. Cook's Country, Everyday Food and Food Network Magazine stay closer to home with comfort-food classics. And Martha Stewart Living features some big ol' purty poppies.

What's your poison -- foods from far-off lands? Or comfy classics? Or do you like Martha's colorful flowers?

Let us know your favorite, and you could win one of the two books we're giving away this month. The first is Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef. It's a terrific memoir from Gabrielle Hamilton, the chef at New York's Prune (which we've actually mentioned on the blog before). We're also giving away Michael's Genuine Food: Down-to-Earth Cooking for People Who Love to Eat. It's a cookbook from Michael Schwartz of Michael's Genuine Food in Miami. We haven't had the chance to eat there, but the cookbook is filled with gorgeous photos.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below, you'll find all of the May magazine covers. Tell us which is your favorite -- and why -- by leaving a comment at the end of the post. (By the way, we love when readers send us an email about their favorite covers, but to be considered for the drawing, you need to actually leave a comment at the bottom of the post itself.)

Asparagus Ravioli with Brown Butter Sauce

Fine Cooking (April/May 2011)

Though we've tackled lots of culinary challenges here on The Bitten Word, we've never successfully made fresh pasta. The few times we've done it, it has turned out fine, but it's never knocked our socks off. We want to learn to do it well, but it just requires us making the time to practice. We haven't done that yet, so making fresh pasta perpetually remains on our list of culinary beasts to slay. But this is not a story about learning that skill.

When we first saw the photo for Asparagus Ravioli with Brown Butter Sauce in Fine Cooking, our first thought was, "That looks so good but we're not sure we're up for making fresh pasta."

The good news about this recipe:  You don't have to make fresh pasta. And it's awesome.

Thank You!

We are absolutely thrilled to have just found out that The Bitten Word was named one of the winners of Saveur's Best Food Blog Awards! We won in the category of Best Cook-Through Blog!

Many, many thanks to those of you who nominated and voted for us. We are so honored to be nominated with so many great blogs that we love to read. (You can see all the other finalists in our category, as well as all the other category winners, on the Saveur site.)

People sometimes ask what we like best about writing this blog. We always tell them that one of the reasons we've loved writing here so much is the people who read our blog. The comments, notes and often hilarious stories are such a bright, positive spot in both of our lives.

So thank you! Thank you for reading and for contributing -- and for tolerating our constant pushing of beets and Brussels sprouts. Thanks!

(Oh, and a word about that photo:  We were so excited about the Saveur win that Zach dashed over to Clay's office and we snapped the pic above. Our first attempts at the photo didn't turn out quite as well.)

Dark Chocolate Banana Matzo Brei

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living (April 2011)

It probably goes without saying, but neither of us ate much matzo growing up in Protestant Southern families. It was foreign to both of us, though we do each remember tasting it at the occasional Passover-themed dinner.

And we've never cooked with it here on the blog. Several recipes we've made have offered it as a substitute for bread crumbs, though we've never made the substitution.

But we've always seen it at the supermarket and have been intrigued. What do you do with those crackers? Are they like kosher saltines?

So we were intrigued when an April Martha Stewart Living feature presented ideas for using leftover matzo. We didn't have any leftover matzo in our house, so we picked some up at the grocery store.

And now matzo has suddenly become the go-to dessert ingredient in our kitchen.

The Leftovers | Magazines From Other Lands, Salsa Lizano, 97 Orchard and More

Here are a few items that sparked our interests over the last month.

Magazines From Other Lands:  Donna Hay

We were so glad to hear from an employee at Donna Hay Magazine, a popular food magazine based in Australia, who reached out earlier this year and asked if we would be interested in checking out their February/March summer issue. 

It arrived in the mail while it was still cold here, and we nearly fainted from jealousy while looking at the beautiful popsicles they featured on their summer cover. 

We had never before read an issue of the magazine, though we have seen it occasionally in bookstores. We love what we've seen so far in this first issue. The photography is bright and the food looks like it's incredibly fresh.

If you aren't familiar with Donna Hay, she's like the Australian Martha Stewart. As you can see at the bottom of this cover image, Donna hosted and directed the welcome party for Oprah when she visited Australia this past winter.

Since the issue we read was a summer issue, the recipes are focused on grilling, salads and warm-weather produce. Many of the recipes in this issue also seem to have an Asian bent, like a Peppered Lamb with Ginger and Chili Noodles. (Or maybe Australian cuisine just tilts a little more Asian, given the proximity?)

We haven't yet cooked anything from the magazine. But now that it's grilling weather, we definitely will soon. If you want to check out Donna Hay for yourself, you can generally find it at larger bookstores with the other food magazines. You can also subscribe, but be warned, it's pricey for U.S. residents.

 

97 Orchard

One of the coolest museums (and maybe the least well-known) that we've seen in New York City is the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side. In a former immigrant tenement house, the museum painstakingly and accurately recreates the apartments of three of the different immigrant families who lived there over the course of several decades. Focusing on just a single address -- 97 Orchard Street -- it's an amazing window on the rapidly changing face of New York in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

If you're in New York, definitely add the Tenement Museum to your itinerary.

In the meantime, though, you have got to read this book, called 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement. It was published in June 2010, Zach's mom and stepdad gave it to us for Christmas, and Zach finally picked it up last month.

Author Jane Zeigelman uses Census records, diary notes, newspaper accounts and even some interviews with family descendents to describe the foodways of these different families -- German Protestant, Italian, Irish, and two Jewish families, one from Russia and one from Germany. It is a fascinating account of the ingredients and recipes these families relied on, where and how they shopped for food, and the role that cuisine played in their cultures.

What's even more intriguing are the ways American cuisine at large was shaped by these different waves of immigrant cuisine. You'll find out why we owe our restaurant culture to the Germans, why we can thank Jewish immigrants for our sandwich meats, and just how much Irish immigrants relied on potatoes (seriously, they ate a lot of potatoes).

It's a wonderful read!

 

Salsa Lizano

Salsa Lizano was featured in the April Fine Cooking and we were excited to see it there. Several years ago, when our friends Regi and Kate travelled to Costa Rica, they brought us back a bottle of this "brown vegetable-based sauce" (worst description ever?). Never fear, it's sweet and spicy and smoky -- and we loved using it in our kitchen!

If you can find a bottle at your supermarket in the International aisle, it's worth picking up and trying. (We have yet to find it in our nation's capital.) You can also order it online.

Dorie Greenspan's "Visitandine," or Your New Favorite Strawberry Shortcake

Adapted From Around My French Table

Here's a tip: Before you start cooking any recipe -- or really, before you even go shopping for the components of a recipe -- read the full instructions all the way through.

Not that we're good about following that advice ourselves. Time and again, we find ourselves barreling toward the end of a dish, and suddenly -- ohhhhh, cripes! -- "Let rest for 90 minutes before proceeding to next step." 

We were glad to see this tip, submitted by Chef John Besh, included in Food Network Magazine's terrific May feature, "The 100 Greatest Cooking Tips of All Time." It bears repeating: "Take the time to actually read recipes through before you begin."

Of course, sometimes things turn out okay. In fact, not heeding that advice led us to make this strawberry shortcake. More on that in a moment.

But first: strawberries. 

Strawberry season is upon us, at least in our neck of the woods. If you're south of our nation's capital, you no doubt already have them by the bushels. Folks up north: Hold tight! They're coming. Our CSA kicked off this week, with a small quantity of strawberries, but it sounds like a bunch more are on their way to Chez Bitten Word. 

We have some favorite recipes we'll revisit, like Strawberry Dumplings, or maybe this Strawberry-Citrus Salad. We also love making Freezer Jams, so that we have all that deliciousness on hand year-round (or at least as long as we can ration it). 

And then there's shortcake. 

We've made a handful of strawberry shortcakes here on the blog, our favorite being these Balsamic and Brown Sugar Strawberry Shortcakes. The compote was our own, but the shortcake itself was from Everyday Food, and it was very good.  

But it looks as if we may have found a new favorite shortcake recipe.