We loved the fresh butter we churned in our
kitchen. Photo by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.
We had so much fun churning our own butter that we made room in our kitchen cupboard for this nifty butter churn, imported from France.
Here’s a nice surprise: churning butter is quick and easy using only heavy cream. It can cost less than buying the same amount of butter. And fresh out of the churn, it tastes better!
A by-product of churning your own butter in this manually-operated device is a delicious half pint of half-and-half. (Amazingly, the instructions tell you to “throw out the liquid”—perhaps the French enjoy only heavy cream.)
Adults and kids alike will enjoy watching cream magically turn into butter.
The imported butter churn is $109.95 at BroadwayPanhandler.com, and worth it. (Or phone 1.866.266.5927, as quantities are limited.)
See more of our favorite kitchen gifts for Holiday 2010.
Check out all the different types of butter in our Butter Glossary.
The National Restaurant Association surveyed more than 1,500 chef members of the American Culinary Federation for the bead on what we can expect at restaurants in 2011.
Things haven’t changed much since last year. Locally sourced ingredients and sustainability top the restaurant trends projections for 2011, and the rest of the Top 20 trends have been around as well. Now, let’s hope they go from “around” to mainstream.
The Top 20 Restaurant Trends for 2011
1. Locally sourced meats and seafood
2. Locally grown produce
3. Sustainability
4. Nutritionally balanced children’s dishes
Trend: Avoid out-of-season foods that burn a
lot of fuel to get to you (and don’t taste
as good as in-season foods). Photo by Alaina Cherup | SXC.
5. “Hyper local,” such as restaurants with their own gardens and chefs who do their own butchering
6. Children’s nutrition
7. Sustainable seafood
8. Gluten-free food and being food allergy conscious
9. Simplicity/back to basics
10. Farm/estate-branded ingredients
11. Micro-distilled/artisan liquor
12. Locally produced wine and beer
13. Smaller portions for smaller prices
14. Organic produce
15. Nutrition/health
16. “Culinary” cocktails, for example ones that have savory or fresh ingredients
17. Newly fabricated cuts of meat such as the pork flat iron and the beef petit tender
18. Fruit and vegetables as children’s side items
19. Ethnic-inspired breakfast items, such as Asian-flavored syrups, chorizo scrambled eggs and coconut milk pancakes
20. Artisan cheeses
Thirty percent of chefs said mobile food trucks and pop-up restaurants would be the hottest operational trend in 2011.
Egg nog French toast. Photo courtesy
The Blackberry Patch.
You’ve had egg nog and egg nog ice cream, but how about egg nog French Toast?
As long as there are bread, egg nog and eggs in the house, whip up a batch of seasonal French Toast. It’s an even richer version of one of our favorite breakfast and brunch foods.
Just substitute egg nog for the milk in your recipe. Here’s a variation of the recipe we published recently.
1. In a shallow bowl, beat 4 eggs with 1 cup of egg nog and optional spices: 1 teaspoon of cinnamon or nutmeg, or a combination of both. The egg nog should have a bit of rum extract flavor, but you can add another half teaspoon.
2. Soak slices of bread 30 seconds on each side in the mixture.
3. Fry in butter on both sides. Additionally, you can caramelize the toast with extra butter and sugar in a hot pan.
4. Serve immediately, garnished with berries, bananas or almonds.
There are cocktails that are not good for you—ones that include heavy cream, simple syrup and other syrups, carbonated soft drinks and even butter.
Now, we’re promised a good-for-you solution: a cherry cocktail not only packed with antioxidants, but with anti-hangover properties.
According to nutritionist Dr. Christine Greene, tart cherry juice “contains a special class of antioxidants called anthocyanins, which happen to function in the body as an anti-inflammatory, similar to ibuprofen.” Thus, a cocktail made with cherry juice is “less likely to cause headaches associated with hangovers.”
Find out more and get the recipe for a delicious Cherry Martini.
Pump up your cherry knowledge with these cherry facts.
White chocolate snowmen filled with
dark chocolate ganache. Photo courtesy
L.A. Burdick.
There is simply no better combination of adorable and delicious this Christmas, than this nonet (that’s a group of nine) of chocolate snowmen from L.A. Burdick.
We’ve been in love with Larry Burdick’s handmade chocolate mice and penguins for years. With centers of the finest chocolate ganache, they are a special little gems that melt in your mouth.
In the case of the snowmen, the ganache has the added seasonal flavor of clementines. Each snowman’s head contains a roasted hazelnut.
The keepsake wood box is stamped with a silver snowflake wax seal and tied with a beautiful ribbon. This gift is a memorable chocolate treasure for adults who appreciate the finest, and for lucky kids (if they get their own box, that is—we wouldn’t part with a single snowman).
Nine snowmen in a keepsake wood box are $33.00 at BurdickChocolate.com. Penguins and mice are also available.
