Your balsamic vinegar can multitask as a dessert sauce: Strawberries drizzled with balsamic vinegar have been a classic Italian dessert for centuries. To go a step further, add cracked pepper and whipped cream or vanilla or chocolate ice cream (fig ice cream is great if you can find it or make it). Another balsamic dessert: Reduce fig balsamic vinegar by boiling it with some red wine to half its volume; drizzle it on pound cake and top with whipped cream or ice cream with a macedoine of fruits or a fruit compote on the side. It’s also delicious on ripe cantaloupe. These desserts are classic, yet fresh and modern.
Get a set of great kitchen knives and you’ll instantly be a better cook—everything you cut will look terrific. Dull blades don’t let you slice finely or crisply. They’re also dangerous—they require more force, which can lead to slips and cuts. (When was the last time you sharpened your knives? Look in your Yellow Pages directory or ask at your local hardware store for a blade-sharpening service.)
If you’re going to invest in a set of knives, don’t skimp: You may only buy them once in a lifetime, so get the best, even if that means starting with just the five basic blades. What are the best brands? There are old standards, and new ones come onto the market each year as technology improves.
The new ceramic blades win raves although they require more care. If you use knives a lot, consider ergonomic handles.
Gorgeous Shun knives, licensing a design by
master bladesmith Bob Kramer, are available
at Sur La Table and Williams Sonoma. They’re definitely not recession priced; if you have to
ask, you can’t afford them.
Read all the reviews you can, and ask chefs and caterers. Remember that people have different hand and arm strengths; a knife that feels good in one person’s hand may not be right for another.
Before investing in a entire set, purchase the knife you use most and see how you like it after a few weeks of use.
Look for an excellent warranty.
Don’t fall for celebrity endorsements; they don’t ensure top quality (although they don’t preclude it, either).
Unless you’re a fanatic about care, leave the high-maintenance carbon steel to the professionals.
Call a store that sells numerous brands, like Sur La Table, and ask to speak to the head of the knife department. Make an appointment when he or she will have the time discuss your needs in detail, and make recommendations.
Even if you’ve been cooking for years, consider taking a knife skills course. We took one at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, and learned a tremendous amount. Call your local cooking school; you’ll meet like-minded food enthusiasts. You can also take (or send) a friend as a special birthday or holiday gift.
Buckbean Beer, a Nevada craft brewer, uses
cans for its Black Noddy Logger and Orange
Blossom Ale. Photo courtesy of Buckbean
Beer.
Is canned beer making a comeback among those who enjoy the finest? More craft brewers are turning to canning their brews. In the past, canning lines weren’t made small enough to handle small craft beer lines, so brewers had to use glass; glass became associated with quality beer.
While canned beer comprises a fraction of craft brews, some companies have started canning their beer exclusively, for environmental reasons as well as for consumer convenience:
Cans are more easily recyclable than glass.
Cans don’t have to be washed when they arrive at the brewery, thereby saving water.
A delivery truck can only be stacked 2/3 full with bottles but can be filled 100% with cans, thereby saving on fuel expended.
Cans are lighter and don’t break: They’re safer and easier to transport.
Cans are better for storage: Light and air affect the quality of the beer (and all food products—including wine, olive oil, and spices). Clear beer bottles expose the beer to light; it’s possible for air to seep through caps and for carbonation to get out.
(Although note that beer should be drunk fresh and not stored longer than six months, so this should be a theoretical argument. Resist the temptation to buy more beer than you need in any given month.)
On October 23rd a competition of canned craft beers, CANFEST, will be held in Reno, Nevada. Beer seminars, beer and food pairings, tastings of the competing beers and a forum of brewers are planned; celebrities from the beer world will judge the beers. A sample of the entrants includes Big Sky Brewing Company, Buckbean Brewing Company, Maui Brewing Company, New Belgium Brewing Company, Oskar Blues, Rochester Mills Brewing Company, Surly Brewing Company, Ukiah Brewing Company and Uncommon Brewers. Ticket prices are $35 and room packages will be available. For more information, email Constance Aguilar, constance@abbipr.com or call 1.775.323.2977.
World Egg Day is the second Friday of October. Sorry that we’re two days late on this one, but egg lovers can celebrate any day of the year. Try some organic eggs and savor their flavor. They taste so much better than regular eggs, that one NIBBLE editor calls them “a different species entirely.” Use any eggs quickly: Regardless of the expiration date on the carton, the fresher the eggs, the better they taste (just buy fresh eggs from the farmers market to see the difference—in eating, cooking and baking). We celebrated World Egg Day with fresh organic eggs cooked in Plugrá European Style Butter, sprinkled with a touch of sea salt and fresh-ground pepper. We had a side of Wolferman’s English Muffins with strawberry preserves (choices from our article on The Best Strawberry Jam And Preserves). With food this good, it’s like being at a country inn!
Dried fruit and nut mixes have probably been popular since the dawn of man. It wouldn’t have taken much for a hunter-gatherer to combine some raisins from wild grapevines with crunchy nuts and deem the combination better than either food alone.
But it’s taken until recent times for fruit and nut mixes to be seasoned so deftly that the snack is better than ever. One practitioner of the art is Lambie Stout, a mom and cancer survivor from Toledo who gives 5% of the proceeds of Comfort Crunch to cancer research.
Comfort Crunch is available in four varieties including one vegan recipe (the Original). The mixes of fresh, crunchy nuts and moist dried fruits are enhanced with crystallized ginger and pepitas, chocolate-covered ginger or chocolate-covered toffee.
A healthy, indulgent snack, the chic minimalist packaging makes a yummy stocking stuffer. There’s also lovely holiday packaging that hold two bags (see the website, ComfortCrunch.com, for gift options). If you’re looking for corporate gifts, you can’t go wrong with this feel-good option.
