Because some food thoughts are too long to tweet…
* My sister gave me several bottles of Zico coconut water to take home with me the last time I visited. Tastes good, is all-natural, and each bottle contains 569mg potassium, 160mg sodium, and 13g carbohydrate. Pretty great stuff if you do any kind of endurance sports.
* Looking to expand your culinary horizons? Check out Westchester Community College’s Continuing Education Taste of Westchester cooking demonstrations. Each class is held at a different Westchester restaurant and led by the restaurant’s chef. Click down to page 46 of the brochure.
* CIA Director Leon Panetta came off ten times less wax museum-ish than Nancy Pelosi on last night’s Top Chef, but I couldn’t help thinking how bizarre his day must have been:
9am: Meet with top CIA staff to discuss Iran’s nuclear capability.
10am: Brief President on counterintelligence efforts in Afghanistan.
11am: Serve as tasting judge for Alex’s nasty veal parmesan.
* Speaking of Alex, has Chris Hansen of Dateline NBC ever strolled into his kitchen? Cause it wouldn’t surprise me. Dude is uber-creepy.
* You know you’re too into food when you hear “CIA” and immediately think, Culinary Institute of America.
* I hard boil an egg exactly the same way every time, so how come sometimes the shell peels right off, and other times it sticks?
* I like how chefs have turned the word “confit” into a verb, as in, “I confit’d it.”
* Who funded this beer goggle study, the National Academy of Fraternity Sciences?
* Anthony Bourdain crushes the dreams of every aspiring culinary student, riiight at about page 50 of his new book, Medium Raw.
* Two recipes I’ve liked recently:
Peas and Broccoli Rabe Risotto
Panzanella (Bread and Tomato Salad)
* It’s been such a hot summer that I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have almond jello and cut-up melons in the refrigerator.
* If you’re buying almond extract, don’t buy the McCormick brand. Buy generic at Stop & Shop or ShopRite — it’s half the price.
* After spending quite a bit of time in professional kitchens these past few weeks, I’ve made a few observations: 1) The chefs are fastidiously clean (they’re constantly wiping down their cutting surface), 2) The way they dice vegetables into such small, uniform pieces always impresses me, and 3) A proper mise en place can make all the difference in the timing and efficiency of cooking.
* Grimaldi’s, Grimaldi’s… with all that pizza you’re selling, how do you manage to be $44,000 behind in rent? And what does paying rent on time “for the most part” mean?
* The new indie film Soul Kitchen starts playing at Jacob Burns Film Center on Sept. 3rd. The description says it’s “a delicious, free spirited story of food, friends, and rock & roll.” Sounds intriguing.
5 Comments
I’ve read many times that a hard-boiled fresh egg is difficult to peel, but if you use old eggs, they’re much easier to peel. I’ve never understood why, but the following article gives at least a partial explanation:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/eggs-hard-to-peel/
That is a great article — interesting! Never would have known that about fresh vs. old eggs. Explains a lot though. Guess I’ll have to do hard-boiled with old eggs.
Thanks Doug. We are pretty excited about this semesters line up of great Westchester restaurants cooking demonstrations. The chefs are terrific and you can try a new spot.
http://www.sunywcc.edu/continuing_ed/welcome/cont_ed_welcome.htm
Here is the link to the class schedule for easy access. Hope you will join us for a few.
Love this post. Obsessed with coconut water. And totally preoccupied with the idea I need to quit my job(s) and work in a kitchen a la Bill Buford in Heat so I can learn how to uniformly cut carrots. And finally, am totally going to Soul Kitchen, thanks for the heads-up!