November 19, 2013 at 9:54 am
· Filed under Meat & Poultry
Foie gras, ready to go from freezer to plate in two minutes. Photo courtesy D’Artagnan.
Here’s a luxurious gift for the foie gras lover: flash-frozen foie gras slices from D’Artagnan. They go from freezer to pan for a quick sear: There’s no need to thaw them. That’s our kind of fast food!
Foie gras lovers can decide at the drop of a hat to indulge in some foie gras—and hopefully, they’ll invite you.
Premium quality, Grade A foie gras lobes are laser cut into a perfect single-serving size, then are immediately frozen at extremely low temperatures. This high-tech process helps retains the texture and integrity of the delicate foie gras.
The slices are ready to cook, without all the fuss and bother of cleaning and slicing a whole lobe of foie gras. They go from freezer to plate in two minutes.
Talk about fast food!
The shipment averages 4.6 pounds of foie fras (30 slices), $257.99. Get yours at DArtagnan.com.
Do you know what this is? Chances are, you’ve consumed it (and some people consume it a lot!). Photo by Bob Walker | Wikimedia.
Today is National Carbonated Beverage With Caffeine Day. Yes, some of these official food holidays are quirky. But each one offers a teaching moment.
There are only six plants on earth that contain caffeine. Quick: close your eyes and try to name them.
They are:
Cacao: the cacao bean (the seeds of a tree fruit) is used to make chocolate and cocoa.
Coffee: the leaves, cherries and seeds all contain caffeine; the seeds are roasted to become coffee beans.
Kola: the nut of the tree is used to make cola drinks (that’s it in the photo).
Guaraná: the seed is extracted as a beverage ingredient; it’s present in just about every energy drink.
Tea: the leaf of the plant is an herb that has become a culinary mainstay throughout the world.
Yerba maté: the leaf of a tree that’s a member of the holly family, it is brewed like tea and drunk in parts of South America the way some Americans drink coffee: continuously, for vitality and mental clarity (more about yerba maté).
What do all of these foods with caffeine have in common?
They’re all leaves, nuts or seeds of trees.
They’re all used to make beverages.
As you sip your caffeinated beverage, think of how much you’ve learned!
Make your food look more beautiful this holiday season.
Sometimes, exciting food isn’t about complex cooking skills, but in an artistic outlook. The difference between your presentation and that at a fine restaurant may simply be a colorful and imaginative garnish.
This red snapper from Aureole in New York City uses two chef techniques:
Plating the protein atop the vegetables or starch
Scattering bits of fruits, vegetables, flowers, nuts and/or drops of purée from a squeeze bottle or piping bag
In this dish, red snapper was placed upon a molded circle of pea puree. The edible garnish includes corn kernels,sprouts, tomato (you can use red bell pepper) and zucchini.
The result: edible art.
Food presentation counts in this dish of red snapper with artistic garnish. Photo courtesy Aureole | NYC.
Fine restaurants buy much of their equipment at J.B. Prince. Serious cooks (and serious eaters) will enjoy perusing the website. We’d like Santa to bring us:
What can you give someone who adores cake but can’t have sugar?
Sugar-free brownies and lemon bars from Silverland Bakery.
The bakery’s sugar-free line was years in development, trying alternative noncaloric sweeteners and settling on the world’s finest, maltitol (see the different sugar substitutes).
Current choices include:
Sugar-Free Lemon Bar: Same great look and flavor as the original Lemon Bar without the sugar. Great for those with dietary restrictions who cannot consume sugar.
Sugar Free Double Chocolate Brownie: Flavorful, chocolaty, and moist, this is the sugar-free brownie with mini sugar-free chocolate morsels.
You can order individual flavors or a sampler tray that includes both.
A 12-piece gift tray is $32.95 at SilverlandBakery.com. The bars are two-inch squares.
Nutritional Information
For the Sugar-Free Double Chocolate Brownie/Sugar-Free Lemon Bar
Calories: 160/120
Calories From Fat: 100/40
Total fat (g): 11/4.5
Sugars (g): 0/0
Protein (g): 2g/4g
Complete nutritional information is on the website (scroll down to the bottom of the page; the link is at the end of the first column of information).
Delicious and sugar-free. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.
