I'll Bite

Girl Scouts are smart cookies

2012-01-26T12:28:00.003-05:00

Who doesn't get a smile over Girl Scout cookies? Well, OK, I still remember the way the old cardboard handle of the cookie cartons cut into your fingers on a long afternoon of slugging cookies door to door back on Old Fort Drive in Ocala, Fla. And the way the crabby old guy three blocks up the street slammed the door in my face when he found out I had already sold out of Thin Mints.

But you know, those memories actually still make me smile.

So, as a former Girl Scout and a fan of all things lemon-flavored, I have to point out the news in the Girl Scout cookie season:
1. It's the 100th anniversary, for those of us who can still hum along to "Juliette, Juliette, Gordon Low/founded the Girl Scouts so long ago. . . ."
2. In honor of the anniversary, there's a new lemon-flavored cookie, Savannah Smiles. ("From Savannah Mrs. Low did roam/But she always called it home.") The cookie is half-moon shaped, sort of smile-like, and it's crunchy, with a light powdered-sugar coating and a bright lemon flavor.
3. Girl Scout booth sales (no one carries cartons door to door anymore) start Feb. 17, and now there's a Cookie Finder app. Dial **GSCOOKIES (**472665437) from your smart phone and you can use GPS to find the nearest cookie booth. (There is no app needed for finding the Girl Scout parent taking advance orders -- there's usually at least one in every office.)

Photo: Huffington Post

Is it where you eat it?

2012-01-25T15:47:00.004-05:00

In his column BA Foodist, Bon Appetit's Andrew Knowlton has an intriguing idea: There are some Southern foods that aren't the same unless you eat them in the South.

His list:
1. Pork rinds. Specifically Hickory Ridge brand from Bartlett, Tenn.
2. Sweet tea.
3. Fried seafood. With shoutouts to Hudson's on Hilton Head and the See Wee in Awendaw, S.C.
4. Okra. Specifically the fried okra at Farmburger in Atlanta.
5. Brunswick stew, particularly the stew at Harold's in Atlanta.
6. Waffle House. "If you don't love Waffle House, you don't belong in the South."

Here's Knowlton's full piece, with his reasoning on the above choices: BA Foodist.

After you read it, let me know: Is there a food - Southern or non-Southern - that isn't as good if it's removed from its place?

One Great . . . seafood chowder

2012-01-24T09:10:00.004-05:00

Gray, damp and drizzly. Is there a better time than January for a good bowl of chowder? After the holiday party-food sales, I still had a container of crab and a bag of shrimp in the freezer, just waiting for a night that begged for something cozy.

I found this very popular recipe on allrecipes.com and made a few changes, dropping the original servings from 10 to 4, and simplifying some of the ingredients. The seafood is adaptable too: Thaw and peel a handful of shrimp and skip the crab, use crab only, or replace both of them with a chunks of firm fish, such as mahi mahi or even frozen wild salmon.

Corn and Crab Chowder

Adapted from www.allrecipes.com.

2 slices bacon
2 teaspoons butter plus 1/4 cup butter, divided
1/2 onion, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons white wine
1/2 teaspoon each dried basil and thyme
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons Old Bay
2 cups frozen corn kernels
1 to 2 large potatoes, such as russets or Yukon Gold, peeled and diced
3 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup half-and-half
6 to 8 ounces peeled, deveined shrimp (rinsed to thaw if frozen)
6 ounces crabmeat, shell pieces removed

Place the bacon in a skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning, until browned. Remove to a paper towel, cool, crumble and set aside.

Heat butter in a large Dutch oven or deep pot over medium heat. Stir in onion and celery and cook about 10 minutes, until onion is softened and translucent. Add garlic for the last minute or two.

Pour in the wine and bring to a simmer. Season with the basil, thyme, cayenne, Worcestershire and Old Bay. Add the corn and potatoes, then pour in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 10 minutes.

Melt 1/4 cup butter in a small saucepan while soup is simmering. Stir in the 1/4 cup flour and cook, stirring constantly, until flour has turned the color of peanut butter (be careful not to let it burn). Stir into the soup and add the cream, half-and-half, crumbled bacon and shrimp. Simmer about 10 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through, the potatoes are tender and the soup has thickened. Stir in the crab meat. Taste and adjust seasoning and serve.

Yield: 4 servings.

Sandra Lee magazine bites the dust

2012-01-23T11:59:00.002-05:00

Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade magazine is ending publication with the January/February issue, according to Hoffman Media of Birmingham, Ala.

Editor Alice Head wasn't available for comment when I called Monday. A spokesperson said, "It was just a business decision, that's the only comment."

Paid subscribers will get transferred to Taste of the South magazine instead. If you're a subscriber and have questions, contact Hoffman's customer service department, 888-647-7304.

Who won?

2012-01-18T17:16:00.002-05:00

The copy of "Food Everyday Light," from the editors of Martha Stewart Living, is going to Faye Bennett. Congratulations, Faye, and thanks to everyone who sent in an entry.

One Great . . . lighter casserole

2012-01-17T11:52:00.002-05:00

Everyday Food, the magazine from Martha Stewart's kitchen staff, does a good job of quick, straight-forward recipes. Now the magazine's lighter recipes, with less than 500 calories, have been gathered in a cookbook. If you're still tackling a better eating plan in 2012, it's a handy book for getting dinner on the table.

So today, we're offering a two-fer: A lighter version of Chicken Enchiladas, suitable for a good weeknight meal, and I'll give away a copy of the book. To enter the drawing, send an email with Everyday Light in the subject line to me, at kpurvis@charlotteobserver.com. I'll announce the winner Wednesday afternoon.

And to get the recipe, just look here:

Lighter Chicken Enchiladas
I tried two changes when I made this. I added about 1/2 cup green tomatillo salsa just to increase the amount of sauce. And I used pepper jack instead of regular Monterey Jack. The first change was a good one, but watch out for the pepper jack. It was too hot even for me. I also saved time by microwaving frozen chicken breasts, rather than steaming them.

2 to 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 to 2 tablespoons minced canned chipotle en adobo (freeze the rest for later)
1 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth (or a 14.5-ounce container)
1/2 cup water
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas, wrapped in damp paper towels and microwaved briefly
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack

Bring 1 inch of water to boil in a large skillet. Add chicken, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat. Let chicken steam, covered, for 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. When cool enough to handle, shred with two forks and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat while chicken is steaming. Add garlic. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add flour, cumin and chipotles. (Chipotles may clump; they'll smooth out later.) Cook, whisking, about 1 minute. Whisk in the broth and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened, 5 to 8 minutes. (Stir in about 1/2 cup tomatillo salsa if needed.)

Transfer 1 cup sauce to the bowl with the chicken and toss to coat. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread 1/4 cup sauce in the bottom of an 8-inch-square baking dish. Fill each tortilla with chicken mixture; roll up and place snugly in baking dish with the seam down. Top with remaining sauce and cheese. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

One Great . . . lamb stew for a winter night

2012-01-13T09:54:00.003-05:00

The rest of you might be happy about our unusually warm winter, but not me. I love winter, the more bracing the better. Give me a couple of good snow storms, at least one ice event and enough cold Saturday nights to get through the whole canon of great cold-weather cooking.

We haven't had that many good, cold weekends to trot out the heavy-duty comfort food this year. So a burst of chill this weekend is a cooking excuse you don't want to miss.

Lamb, Fig & Olive Stew

From "EatingWell One-Pot Meals," from Jessie Price and EatingWell magazine (Countryman Press, 2011). If you can't find lean ground lamb, pick a lean cut, such as leg or loin, trim the fat, cut it into bite-size pieces and pulse it in a food processor just until ground but not turned into paste. Or ask the meat department to grind it for you - some stores will do it.

1 pound lean ground lamb
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons minced garlic, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons herbes de Provence (see note)
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 (14-ounce) cans reduced-sodium beef broth (3 1/2 cups if you have homemade beef broth)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 plum tomatoes, cored and diced
1/2 cup chopped dried figs
1/4 cup finely chopped pitted green olives
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add lamb and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a sieve set over a bowl to drain. Discard the fat.

Wipe out the pot. Add the oil and heat over medium-high. Add 1/4 cup garlic and herbs and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until slightly reduced, 1 to 2 minutes.

Combine broth and cornstarch in a small bowl. Add to the pot, increase the heat to high and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Add tomatoes, figs, olives and pepper. Return to simmer, stirring often. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the reserved lamb and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 2 minutes.
Combine the remaining 2 teaspoons garlic, parsley and lemon zest and sprinkle over servings of stew.

NOTE: It's not exactly the same, but if you don't have herbes de Provence, add 1/4 teaspoon each dried thyme, oregano, rosemary and marjoram.

Coffee News, Part II: BoCo to Go

2012-01-10T13:58:00.003-05:00

Can you call it a food truck if it only has drinks? Maybe we should call the new red BoCoffee a coffee-bar on wheels. It does have an gas-powered espresso maker and a few other nifty features, including a flat-screen TV on the side so you can watch the news while you grab a morning cup, and teas from TeaRex.

The truck is the mobile art of Boquete Mountain Coffee, the roastery owned by David Haddock, who used to be with Counter Culture. Haddock named it after a coffee-growing area of Panama, although not all of his lines come from there. (It's pronounced bo-KET-ah, although the guy behind the window told me, "If you want to get fancy, say it 'bo-ke-TAY.'")

The roastery is at 2113 N. Davidson St., between Amelie's and K-9. And while the truck can move around, including showing up at events, it's parked for now in the area of Stonewall and South Tryon. (It was in the parking lot next to the Harvey Gantt Center for the Arts, although Tuesday's traffic shutdown moved the truck to a spot on South Tryon right beside the Observer building. There was so much morning pedestrian traffic along there that Haddock said he might move there for a while.)

Coffee bar prices range from $1.60 for a small regular coffee up to $7.45 for an extra-large flavored latte. One nice touch: I got a hot caramel on a chilly lunch hour recently and found it topped with espresso-flavored whipped cream. Nice. Details on the coffee (although none on the truck yet): www.bocoffee.com.

Coffee News, Part I: Magnolia

2012-01-10T13:31:00.003-05:00

A question on my Q&A online led me to a conversation with Jay Gestwicki, owner of the small-batch coffee roastery Magnolia Coffee. Gestwicki previously worked for both Caribou and Dilworth before opening his own local roaster.

Gestwicki focuses on socially conscious coffees and also works with nonprofits. You've had his coffee if you had a cup of joe at Amelie's, Terrace Cafes and Julia's at Habitat ReStore on Wendover. He also has it the Common Market on Plaza-Midwood, with the SouthEnd Common Market coming soon.

Which led to the question posted last week: Where can you buy the stuff? All of the above, according to Gestwicki. Wherever his coffee is served, it also should be sold. It's available ground and whole-bean, in sizes ranging from 1/2 pound, 12 ounces and 1 pound. Prices generally range from $10 to $11.

Want more details? There is a website, www.magnoliacoffeeco.com, that links through to Julia's Cafe (although it's never bad to have a reason to remember Julia's).

One Great . . . dinner casserole

2012-01-10T09:33:00.004-05:00

Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery? Paula Deen's son Bobby has started his own form of imitation, with a new Cooking Channel show, "Not My Mama's Meals" - lighter, more healthful versions of his mother's down-home stuff.

Food Network Magazine kicked off the show with a "He Made She Made" feature this month contrasting the Deens' versions of that ol' crowd-pleaser, Baked Spaghetti. Paula's had more cheese and a pound and a half of ground beef. Bobby's used whole-wheat angel hair pasta, half as much cheese and 8 ounces of chicken sausage. I also discovered it was simple and fast to put together when I needed a quick family dinner in the week after the holidays.

I made a few changes: Instead of removing the sausage from the casings, I just sliced it into half-moons. I used shiitake mushrooms because I had some on hand. I skipped the basil because it's out of season. And instead of baking the whole thing in a big 13-by-9-inch baking dish, I divided it into two batches. I baked one in an 9-inch square baking dish and put the other in a foil-lined 9-inch baking pan and froze it for another night. The smaller serving still had 4 graciously large servings - more if one of your diners isn't a teenager.

Light Baked Spaghetti

From Food Network Magazine, January/February issue.

Kosher salt
6 ounces whole-wheat angel hair pasta (such as Barilla Plus)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, peeled and minced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 pound sweet Italian chicken sausage, casings removed (or left whole and cut into half-moon slices)
2 green bell peppers, cored and diced
1/2 pound button or cremini mushrooms, sliced (or shiitake caps, sliced)
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning (or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano)
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes (or 2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes)
1 cup torn fresh basil (optional)
Cooking spray
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded cheddar

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions; drain.

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat while pasta is boiling. Cook onion, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes or until soft. Stir in the garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up or stirring slices until browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the bell pepper, mushrooms, seasoned salt and Italian seasoning and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, 3/4 cup water and basil (if using) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until the sauce reduces a little, about 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray. Add the pasta to the skillet and toss to combine. Spoon half the pasta mixture into the prepared casserole dish. (If you have to, use tongs to lift the pasta and then spoon about half the sauce from the skillet on top.) Sprinkle with half the cheese. Spoon the remaining pasta mixture and sauce on top. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Spray a sheet of foil with cooking spray and place it loosely over the top (try not to let the foil touch the cheese.)

Bake until the cheese is melted and everything is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

looking for something different in cooking classes?

2012-01-09T13:02:00.002-05:00

First, how can we resist Hog Butchering the Old-Fashioned Way? They're holding a hog-butchering day Saturday at Historic Brattonsville, the living history plantation outside Rock Hill. From 10 a.m.-4 p.m., they'll have demonstrations of butchering, meat preservation and cooking. Local barbecuer (and former Observer writer) Dan Huntley will do a presentation on barbecue culture at history at 1 p.m., and a barbecue lunch by Gardner's Barbecue will be available starting at 11:30. Tickets are $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $3 for ages 4-17 and free for children younger than 3. And before you freak out, we checked: The hog will be killed in advance. The museum is at 1444 Brattonsville Road in McConnells. Details: 803-684-2327, or www.chmuseums.org.
McConnells, S.C., is quite the busy place for barbecue this winter: Carolina Outdoor Cooking will hold a barbecue class from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Feb. 11 at the McConnells Community Center. The class is $250 and covers Carolina-style pulled pork, Texas-style brisket, Memphis ribs and smoked chicken. Lunch and "all-day barbecue sampling" is included. Registration is required by Feb. 3. Details: www.carolinaoutdoorcooking.com.
Proffitt Family Cattle Co. of Kings Mountain will hold a cooking class, wine tasting and farm tour from 3-6 p.m. Jan. 28. The recipes will focus on Super Bowl appetizers made with their grass-fed beef. Cost is $65. Reservations: Email hlnc@carolina.rr.com or go to www.proffittfarms.com.

No good bakeries in Charlotte?

2012-01-06T11:47:00.003-05:00

When it comes to magazine and web sites doing "best of" Southern food lists, we in Charlotte are used to the dis. No, we can't hold a candle to Charleston on a "best food city in the South" list (subject of a poll in Southern Living that will be announced in April - go, Raleigh).

But Charlotte doesn't have a good BAKERY? Maybe 10 or 15 years ago that was true, but we've had an absolute rebirth of baking. We've got Amelie's. We've got Sunflour. We've got good ol' Suarez. We've got Great Harvest and Cloud Nine, Edible Art and Polka Dot, Nona's and Tizzerts and Down Home Baking in Waxhaw. Around here, bakeries are definitely on the rise.

So picture our sadness when we got the January issue of Southern Living, with a big article on Best Bakeries in the South. Atlanta food writer Bill Addison was sent in search of great places for cakes, pies, cookies and breads. And did Charlotte end up with a toe on the list? Nope.

Addison must have driven right by here, too: He went from Atlanta to Durham, for the justifiably wonderful Scratch. He managed to find Maxie B's in Greenboro, and two in Sugar Bakeshop and Wildflour in Charleston. But apparently, our reputation as the White Bread Capital of the South wasn't enough to justify a stop.

I'd have gladly bought him a twice-baked almond croissant at Amelie's. How about it, bakery fans? If Bill Addison had stopped in Charlotte, which bakery favorite would you offer him?

14 schools are growing their own pizza

2012-01-06T09:57:00.003-05:00

If you're going to teach gardening to kids, you better make it real. Pizza is real, so that's the focus of the Mecklenburg Health Department's Field to Fork Pizza Garden Program, using a grant from The 704 Project. Fuel Pizza, CMS and Charlotte Green are all partners in the program, which just awarded garden projects to 14 CMS schools.

Winning schools are:
Barringer Academic Center
Polo Ridge Elementary
Elizabeth Traditional Elementary
Allenbrook Elementary
J.H. Gunn Elementary
Winterfield Elementary
Providence Spring Elementary
Endhaven Elementary
Pinewood Elementary
Selwyn Elementary
Highland Mill Montessori
Sharon Elementary
Chantilly Montessori
Shamrock Gardens Elementary.

The schools get nutrition, gardening and cooking lessons and an end-of-the-year pizza party from Fuel. For details and pictures, go here.

Way to grow, guys.

Toast yourself, Charlotte - Zane is buying

2012-01-05T15:16:00.008-05:00

Does Charlotte have a thriving bar scene? Of course it does. And the world will get to see that at 8 p.m. Jan. 25 on HDNet's "Drinking Made Easy." Consider it a warmup for all those DNC delegates next fall.

"Drinking" host Zane Lamprey (above), also known for an earlier travel-and-drinking show called "Three Sheets, crawled through our bars with his heavily bearded sidekick Steve and a costumed sock monkey mascot. Silliness ensues. Also much drinking.

Venues that get star time: Loft 1523 (many cocktails made with bacon-flavored things, including a Wakin' Bacon breakfast cocktail and something involving chocolate, cherries, bacon and bourbon), VBGB (beer and a beer cheese dip made with bacon fat), Dixie's Tavern (no bacon, just Hurricanes), Prohibition (moonshine but no bacon), Crave (hookahs and fondue), Philosopher's Stone (all beer, I think, but watching all of this in the middle of the afternoon was making me woozy) and the U.S. Whitewater Center, where rolling a raft looks like more fun after you get fried on bacon.

Bearded sidekick Silent Steve got his sticker likeness added to the refrigerator at Philosopher's Stone. Drop by and let me know if it's still there. If you need details on the show, where they went and the recipes they collected, find them on drinkingmadeeasy.com. Check listings for the show channel. It's available on DirecTV, Dish and AT&T U-Verse.

Say whoa to worries about horsemeat

2012-01-04T08:59:00.002-05:00

You know 2012 is going to be an interesting year when one of the first question I fielded this week was on horsemeat. In this case, I couldn't tell if the person was for or against: The questioner wanted to know if it would be available soon in Charlotte meat markets or if I knew any Charlotte chefs who were preparing it.

I'm not the only person getting horsemeat queries, apparently. Interest was triggered in November, when Congress passed a federal spending bill that included a provision lifting a five-year ban on inspecting facilities that slaughter horses.

Before horse fans get in a lather, bear a couple of things in mind: First, while lifting the ban allows the USDA to inspect a facility if one were opened, it provided no money for the USDA to do inspections. The agency's budget is so tight, that's not considered likely. Second, while there has been no U.S. facility to process horsemeat since 2007, it is allowed in Canada and Mexico and has been allowed the whole time the U.S. ban has been in effect. Most horsemeat for human consumption is exported to Europe. And finally, the ban was only in effect for five or six years. Prior to 2005, there wasn't exactly a booming market for horsemeat in the U.S. and allowing inspections probably won't create a big market.

So, where is North Carolina in all that? Nowhere new, apparently. According to a spokesman for the NCDA, there are no slaughtering facilities in North Carolina. If there were an attempt to open such a facility, it wouldn't be inspected by the NCDA, it would have to be federally inspected. And the federal office in Raleigh has no knowledge of any plans to open a facility. If a new facility opened, it would be more likely to happen in the West, where there is a higher population of horses.

One Great . . . side dish

2012-01-03T09:06:00.004-05:00

January is named for the god with two faces, Janus. I'll take that as a cue to take a second look at collards. Last week, I offered an easy version of the traditional Southern good-luck foods - collards, black-eyed peas and ham hocks - cooked into a simple soup.

Collards are still piled on tables at farmer's markets and in supermarkets. That's a good reason to remember that you don't have to cook collards for hours with lots of pork seasoning. They can take a faster, more healthful treatment, too. One of the new cookbooks that landed on my desk over the holiday break is "Everyday Food Light," from the editors of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. All the recipes have less than 500 calories a serving. I found this in the section on winter side dishes. It's fast, flavorful and affordable - definitely worth making more than once.

Sauteed Collards With Almonds and Raisins

From "Everyday Food Light."

1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/4 pounds collard greens (about 2 bunches), stalks removed, leaves sliced crosswise
1/2 cup raisins
2 teaspoons white-wine vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until golden, about 8 minutes, tossing halfway through. Watch carefully to keep them from burning.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat while almonds are toasting. Add collards and raisins. Cook, tossing occasionally, until collards are tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from ehat and stir in vinegar. Sprinkle with almonds and serve.

Yield: 4 servings. Per serving: 168 calories, 4.4g protein, 22.7g carbohydrates, 8.1g fat (0.8g saturated), 4.5g fiber.

Grits With Attitude: The Times says we're cooking a revolution

2012-01-02T10:10:00.003-05:00

The New York Times sent Julia Moskin to South Carolina in search of the latest proof of a Southern cooking revolution. While Moskin focused almost entirely on South Carolina (mostly Charleston, actually), she sussed out some interesting thinking from the new crop of Southern-centric young chefs and farmers (mostly Emile De Felice of Caw Caw Creek Farm).

De Felice is the heirloom-pig farmer who inspired people like Natalie Veres and Cassie Parsons of Grateful Growers and Sammy Koenigsberg of New Town Farms to try growing better pork chops.

Two interesting bits from Moskin's article: "Like California in the 1970s — when Alice Waters collaborated with farmers, foragers and cheesemakers on the food at Chez Panisse — the South today has just the right combination of climate, culinary skill, regional chic and receptive audience."

And this:

"Today, purists believe, Southern cooking is too often represented by its worst elements: feedlot hams, cheap fried chicken and chains like Cracker Barrel. 'My mother didn’t cook like that, and my grandmother didn’t cook like that,' Mr. DeFelice said. 'And if you want to come down here and talk about shrimp and grits, well, we’re tired of that, too. Southern cooking is a lot more interesting than people think.'"

The link is here, although remember that the Times has a paywall: If you're a member, you can only get a limited number of articles in a month.

One Great . . . New Year's Day soup

2011-12-23T12:57:00.002-05:00

Yes, I'm superstitious: I would never consider passing the first day of the year without eating collards, black-eyed peas and a little hog jowl. Some people say the peas represent coins and the collards represent money. My Georgia-born parents used to tease us that if you're eating poor people's food by choice, it's a sign that you're doing pretty good.

Whatever. Given the current economy, I don't intend to take a chance.

I was looking around through this year's crop of new cookbooks when I spotted this in "A New Turn in the South," by Hugh Acheson. Acheson is the chef of the restaurants Five and Ten and The National in Athens, Ga., and Empire State South in Atlanta. But these days, he's probably more famous as the chef with the unibrow on "Top Chef Masters" and a regular judge on "Top Chef."

If you want to adhere strictly to tradition, you could swap the mustard greens for collards, but you'll need to add them earlier, probably when you add the peas. The recipe is a little longer than we usually use for One Great, but you can simplify things and use a mix for the cornbread.

Field Pea, Ham Hock & Mustard Green Soup
From "A New Turn in the South," by Hugh Acheson (Clarkson Potter, $35).

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup minced sweet onion
1/2 cup diced carrot
1 stalk celery, minced
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup dried black-eyed peas
6 cups chicken stock (low-sodium if canned)
1 smoked ham hock, about 1 pound
1 batch of cornbread, baked and cooled
2 tablespoons bacon fat
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 cups chopped mustard greens
1 cup chopped tomato
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
Extra-virgin olive oil

Place a 4- to 6-quart pot over medium heat and melt the butter. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the garlic, black-eyed peas, chicken stock and ham hock. Cook until the peas are tender, about 1 hour. Skim occasionally to remove any white bean matter that rises to the top.

Cut the cornbread into 1/2-inch-by-1/2-inch cubes while the soup is cooking. Heat the bacon fat in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add the cubes and toast until crisp, cooking in batches if needed. Cool on a large plate.

Remove the ham hock and let stand until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bone, coarsely chop and return to the pot. Add the thyme, mustard greens, tomato and salt to the soup. Cook 10 minutes longer. Drizzle each serving with a few drops of vinegar and a dash of olive oil, and garnish with a few cornbread croutons.

Yield: Serves 6 with leftovers.

Polka Dot's Sweet Potato Chips get kudos

2011-12-23T10:44:00.003-05:00

Cupcakes aren't the only thing cooking at Polka Dot Bake Shop in Charlotte. The bakery's Sweet Potato Crackers have been picked as Paula's Hidden Gem for the January/February issue of the magazine Cooking With Paula Deen.

The crackers are made with real sweet potatoes (N.C.-grown, of course). They're available in five flavors (yes, they're all sweet potato, but some have spices too) and are Star-K kosher-certified, as well as dairy- and nut-free. The black-pepper flavor is gluten-free, too.

The suggested retail price is $5.99 for a 5-ounce package. They're available at the bakery, 1730 E. Woodlawn Road in the Park Towne Village (the shopping center at the top of the steep hill), and also at Reid's Fine Foods, Earth Fare and Fresh Market stores.

Photo: coolhunting.com

Check out our new Food Facebook page

2011-12-23T08:45:00.003-05:00

Ah, the last days of the year, when the bosses stay home and you can actually get a few things done.

One of the things on my to-do list was fixing up a new Facebook page for The Observer's food coverage. It seems like every time I try to figure out the best way to use Facebook, Mr. Zuckerberg changes the whole darn thing. Since Mr. Zuckerberg is apparently on kicked back on a Bermuda beach with my bosses, maybe the coast is clear.

So now we have Observer Food, with links to our coverage but also links to any other good food stories I see out there. Click on over to Facebook.com/ObserverFood and "like" us if you like. I'll try to keep Mr. Zuckerberg busy.

Charlotte-Douglas improves in healthy airports list

2011-12-22T12:50:00.003-05:00

If you're taking wing for the holidays, you might have a better chance of getting a healthful bite to eat before you leave Charlotte-Douglas. According to study released today by Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Charlotte's airport had made the most improvement since last year, with a 9 point increase in the number of restaurants offering a healthful option.

Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport improved 8 points, so its now one place up from the bottom. Denver International Airport fell six points.

Best and worst? The airport with the most options for healthful is Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. And the worst: Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson, the world’s busiest airport, gained a point but still landed in last place.

Check out the full list of 15 airports and how they rank here.

What's the best cooking videos? Think Epic

2011-12-22T10:53:00.005-05:00

My college-age son introduced me to EpicMealTime, the head-achingly manic YouTube cooking series. Basically, a bunch of guys make things with over-the-top fat and calorie counts. This involves harsh language, yelling and uses of Baconators that nature never intended.

So which five cooking/food-related videos were viewed the most often on YouTube in 2011?

1. EpicMealTime. 12.6 million views for "TurBaconEpic Thanksgiving," in which our boys make a turducken wrapped in bacon, cook it, then roll it in a suckling pig and wrap it in more bacon and smoke it. And eat it.
2. EpicMealTime, "Showdown at Awesome," 1.9 million views. The boys have a run-in with the Barely Political comedy team on the streets of New York for Super Bowl Sunday and force them to eat an Epic-designed sandwich.
4. An EpicMealTime parody called Healthy Mealtime, viewed 1.85 million times.
5. The Vegan Black Metal Chef's Pad Thai episode, viewed 1.7 million times. (I'm still envious that a food editor I know in Florida got to interview the real Vegan Black Metal Chef.)

No, I didn't skip No. 3. That was the only actual cooking video, an oddity in which someone makes gummy marshmallow candies from the Popin' Cookin' Gummy Land Kit.

Here are the links, courtesy of YouTube. Watch/listen at your own risk, and try not to picture Julia Child hooting with disgust. (If I had to pick a favorite, I'd go with 2, which actually does have funny moments.)

1. EpicMealTime: http://youtu.be/7Xc5wIpUenQ
2. EpicMealTime Vs. Awesome: http://youtu.be/3lF_w3im90M
3. Gummy Candy: http://youtu.be/z_krRs7vsOI
4. Healthy Meal Time: http://youtu.be/Pvz5w7Dofaw
5. Vegan Black Metal Chef Pad Thai: http://youtu.be/CeZlih4DDNg

Food fans, can you spare some love for Raleigh?

2011-12-21T08:26:00.002-05:00

It pains us to acknowledge that Charlotte isn't on Southern Living's list of the 10 Tastiest Towns in the South. Although we are in good company, because the magazine from Birmingham managed to put their own town on the list while dissing a lot of candidates. (No Asheville? No Durham? No Oxford, Miss., for heavens sake?)

But Raleigh, our own state capitol, is on the list. And as much as it pains us to direct gustatory fame toward the only city in Eastern N.C. without a legitimate claim to great barbecue, we can help a sister city out. So . . .

On Friday, you can vote for Raleigh out of 10 candidates for tastiest city in the South. Far be it from us to suggest that Charleston, S.C., probably has a better claim on the title. The 10 cities in the running: Baltimore, Houston, Birmingham, Lafayette, La. (good candidate there), Charleston, Louisville, Charlottesville, Va., New Orleans (OK, they might have a good bite of food or two), Decatur, Ga., and Raleigh.

Go here to read the details and get ready to vote: Vote Raleigh. May the best home of the Roast Grill win.

One Great . . . slow cooker stew

2011-12-19T16:15:00.002-05:00

The title "The French Slow Cooker" almost sounds redundant. After all, French country cooking brought us things like boeuf bourginon and coq au vin, long before Crock Pot thought about sticking a plug in a Dutch oven.

But that just makes Michele Scicolone's new book even more useful: A slow cooker is a natural combined with recipes like Soupe au Pistou and Bourride.

On a recent winter night, I went the bargain route, grabbing a package of country-style pork ribs and putting together dinner before leaving for work in the morning. We served it over creamy polenta (cornmeal whisked into half water and half milk), but mashed potatoes would do just as well.

Pork Ribs Hunter-Style
"The French Slow Cooker," by Michele Sciolone (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012).

3 pounds country pork ribs, cut into individual ribs
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 medium onions, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
1 (8-ounce) can tomato puree
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon herbes de Provence (it's not exactly the same, but if you don't have them, use a sprinkle of dried thyme, rosemary, marjoram and sage)
Pinch of ground allspice
8 to 10 ounces white button mushrooms, halved or quartered (I added some shiitake caps because I had them)

Pat the ribs dry with paper towels. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add as many ribs as will fit in the pan without touching. Cook them in batches, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 20 minutes total. Place in a large slow cooker. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat. Add the onions and cook 10 minutes, or until tender. Stir in the tomato puree, garlic, tomato paste, herbs and allspice. Bring to a simmer, stirring well.

Scrape into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hours, until meat is fall-off-the-bone tender. About 30 minutes before serving, stir in the mushrooms, re-cover and continue cooking. Discard any loose bones and skim off the fat.

What's Christmas dinner for you?

2011-12-16T14:12:00.002-05:00

Vote in our poll on Facebook:

Christmas dinner poll

Charlotte food news: What's coming up

2011-12-16T14:01:00.004-05:00

What's coming up, going on or taking off in Charlotte food in the next few days:

Get your farmer's market food shopping done this Saturday: Several markets, including Atherton in Southend, the Matthews Community Farmer's Market and the Davidson Market, are closed Dec. 24 for Christmas Eve. UPDATE: The Charlotte Regional Farmers Market, 1801 Yorkmont Road, will be open Dec. 24 until 2 p.m., although some farmers have already announced they won't be there that day. Manager Frank Suddreth says the market also will be open Dec. 31, although it might close early.
Get your latkes on, Saturday at the Atherton Market, 2104 South Blvd. Bill Averbach of the popular Pickleville stand, will do a command demonstration of last year's latke cooking demonstration, at 10 a.m. and noon. Get your food shopping done: The market will be closed next Saturday for Christmas Eve.
If you're looking for food gifts with a local flavor, the Harvest Moon Grille at the Dunhill, 237 N. Tryon St., is running a mini-holiday market from noon to 6:30 p.m. weekdays until Dec. 23. Look for things like bacon brittle, biscotti, pepper or raspberry jam, sausage, molasses-brined smoked ham and more.

Gotta, wanna, needa Bojangles app?

2011-12-16T09:47:00.005-05:00

Yes, the advance of technology has brought us to this: Bojangles has a free app for iPhone and iPad. "It's BO Time" includes BO time alerts, a restaurant locator and most importantly: Digital cornhole. You can find it at the App Store online.

Now, the Bo Alerts sound kind of interesting. Apparently, you can set them to send invitations to your friends to meet you at a specific Bojangles, and when it goes off, it makes the sound of a stomach growling. I could see that having its uses.

But what really captured my imagination is the idea of digital cornhole. Wouldn't it be cool if you could combine a game of Bo 'Hole with Angry Birds? If you win, you could get the birds plucked and fried. Who's angry now, Tweetie?

For that, I might actually buy an iPhone.

Meryl/Julia/Margaret: The Iron Lady Chef

2011-12-15T09:05:00.004-05:00

Start your Thursday off on a cheery note. Thanks to Eater.com for pointing out this video mashup, a trailer for an imaginary movie that asks the question: What if Meryl Streep played Julia Child and Margaret Thatcher in the same movie? Yes, it's "The Iron Chef."

If nothing else, I have a new rallying cry for 2012: "Where there is discord, may we bring BUTTER."

Cookbook giveaway: Party time

2011-12-13T13:41:00.002-05:00

Remember the giveaway for "The Happy Table of Eugene Walter"? We asked for recipes for very simple appetizers for party season in exchange for entering you in the giveaway.

The party appetizers run tomorrow in the Food section, so that means it's time to give away Mr. Walter. For those who aren't familiar with the late Eugene Walter, he was as much raconteur as writer. A food writer who was born and later returned to Mobile, Ala., he spent the time in between in Italy and in New York, where he became known for his love of and writing about Southern food. If you know the Time-Life American cooking series, Walter wrote the Southern food entry.

"The Happy Table" is a rescued manuscript of all alcohol-related recipes that was printed this year by UNC Press in Chapel Hill.

So who wins it? That would be Catherine Carlisle of Pinehurst, who shared a very simple stuffed mushroom recipe that's in tomorrow's party story. Congratulations, Catherine. Go celebrate.

One Great . . . classic winter vegetable

2011-12-13T09:01:00.003-05:00

A big pile of very fresh, very leafy Swiss chard grabbed my attention at a farmers market recently. It's already far enough into winter that green is starting to stand out.

The great thing about Swiss chard is that you get so much out of it: The meaty, crunchy stems and the big, ruffled leaves can be cooked separately and then combined into one dish. Of course, the downside is a hint of beet flavor, which someone people aren't crazy about. So the French have the right idea: Mix it all up with an easy bechamel, so the focus is on green and cream.

Swiss Chard Gratin
Adapted from "The Art of Simple Food," by Alice Waters.

1 1/2 bunches chard
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
About 2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 onion, peeled and diced
Salt
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk (nonfat will work)
Freshly grated nutmeg

Wash the chard and cut away the thick stems. Trim the stems, then cut into thin slices. Set aside the leaves separately. Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add the stems and cook about 2 minutes. Stir in the leaves and cook about 3 minutes. Drain, then let stand a few minutes until cool enough to handle. Squeeze out any excess liquid and chop everything coarsely.

Melt about 2 teaspoons of butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and stir to coat, then cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly brown. Set aside.

Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons butter over over medium heat in a heavy saucepan. Add the onion and cook about 5 minutes, until transluscent. Stir in the chard and a little salt and cook several minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir well. Stir in the milk and a little freshly grated nutmeg. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick. Taste and add more salt and nutmeg if needed.

Butter a small baking dish and spread the chard mixture in. Dot with 2 teaspoons butter. Sprinkle evenly with breadcrumbs. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until bubbling.

Yield: 4 servings.

Kringle want a Pringle? Yes, it's a potato chip cookie

2011-12-12T13:16:00.003-05:00

Some people watch for Santa. Some people watch for the Great Pumpkin. Every year between Halloween and Christmas, I watch for "most desperate product pitch."

The all-time winner was the year a maker of canned black olives sent a Thanksgiving recipe for mixing sliced black olives into your mashed potatoes. Mmmmm. A big bowl of mashed potatoes with black circles at the one meal that brings all of your pickiest family members together. Bet that's a hit.

There's still time to get a worse contender, but the winner so far this year is Kringle-Spiced Pringle Cookies. It's a spiced cookie made from crushed Pringles and then sandwiched with a jam and ginger filling.

Salty, sweet and spicy. Who knows? It might be good. If you try it, let me know.

Kringle-Spiced Pringles Cookies 1 can Pringles "The Original"
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fruit preserves (raspberry or mixed berry)
1/3 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped (or 2 teaspoons powdered ginger)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place Pringles, flour, baking soda and spices in a food processor and pulse until the consistency of corn meal. Set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar until slightly fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for 30 seconds. Pour in the Pringles spice mixture and mix for 1 minute. Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.

Drop by rounded teaspoonsful onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

Combine fruit preserves and ginger in a small bowl. Spread 1 teaspoon on a cookie and top with another cookie.

Photo: Hill and Knowlton

Confessions of a dangerous mind: Sean Brock's cookbook collection

2011-12-12T09:08:00.003-05:00

If you know anything about Sean Brock, of McCrady's and Husk in Charleston, you know he's one of the most talented chefs working in the South these days. He's also got a demented way with discovering things that taste crazy-good, like fried chicken skin dipped in Tabasco and honey.

In a fascinating interview on Eater.com, Brock goes into depth about his obsession with cookbook collecting. Sure, he likes the modern, cutting-edge stuff - cheffy books like French Laundy and Eleven Madison Park and edgy Thai cookbooks. But what he really goes for are the very old Southern cookbooks, and books written long before he was born.

This is Brock on the Time-Life "Foods of the World" series: "Going back, looking at these books, people weren't afraid to cook then. You go to the Good Cook pork book and they're like deboning whole pigs and stuffing them and sewing them back up and cooking them and why are we scared to do that in books now? Because we want to sell books and we're afraid people aren't going to do that now. You look back on these books, though, and there's really complex stuff in there intended for home cooks. So I just love those books to death. Those are really inspiring and the photography is so cool in them."

Read about here. It's good thinking from a young man who is turning out seriously good food in a city not very far from our own. (One warning: Like a lot of young chefs, he doesn't always edit his language. C'est la vie.)

Photo: Husk.com.

Gadget gifts: Yes, bubbles, I like our Soda Stream

2011-12-09T08:41:00.006-05:00

I've gone on the record about my resistance to most kitchen gadgets. I'm a "single knife and one good pan" kind of girl. But I have spent a year getting to know one trendy gadget, and I'll share my experience for those considering Christmas gifts.

Last year, I was casting around for a gift for my husband, otherwise known as The World's Toughest Giftee. The man is even more basic in his needs than I am. This would be endearing if every year didn't include at least two gift-giving occasions.

When I saw the new Soda Stream at Sur La Table, for one giddy moment, I thought I'd found an instant winner. Then he opened it on Christmas and gave me one of those sideways looks that says your husband thinks you have the brains of a Kardashian with less fashion sense.

Still, he's a good sport. We found a spot in the kitchen for the Soda Stream, slid in the carbonation canister . . . and proceeded to fall in love with the darn thing.

It's easy to use: You fill one of the special heavy-plastic bottles with water, screw it in and press the button several times until it makes a load noise that drives the dog crazy (bonus!). When you unscrew it, it makes a "pfssst!" like when they opened Ripley's pod in the second "Aliens" (2nd bonus!). And then you have all the fizzy, bubbly water you want.

There were a few learning curves. First, while the instructions are easy, never add syrup before you fizz up the water. I learned that in a terrible few seconds right after we came home from a New Year's Eve party. I welcomed 2011 while scrubbing down every lemon-lime speckled surface in my kitchen.

Next, the flavor syrups that come with the thing are awful. Truly. They're too expensive and even the non-diet ones taste like fake sugar. The best syrups are Torani. After a brief but pricey fling with ordering them online, we discovered the best source is Cost Plus World Market.

Finally, no cola syrup actually tastes like Coca-Cola. If your soda be-all and end-all is Coke, stick with actual Coke. But if you're willing to like fruit flavors, you can have fun. Our house favorite is a hint of Torani Cherry Mint. Better yet, if you like just plain ol' fizzy water over ice, you always have something fresh and bubbly.

There are environmental advantages: The gas cartridges usually last for several months, and you get a price break when you turn them in at several stores for recharging. And since you have to use the hard plastic bottles (get an extra), you cut down on the plastic in your recycling bin. Finally, if you pay attention to the syrups, you can cut a lot of high-fructose corn syrup out of your life.

So: is a $100 soda maker something you need? Up to you. But our fling has lasted longer than a Kardashian marriage.

One Great . . . shrimp dish

2011-12-05T16:24:00.002-05:00

It was the last quiet Saturday night before the holiday party onslaught begins. Just two of us at home, primed for a peaceful weekend. We wanted something that would be as indulgent as a restaurant meal with no more work than a frozen dinner.

Solution: A half-bag of frozen shrimp, a handful of dried fettucine, some garlic, butter and lemon juice. Thanks to "The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper," I found Lynne Rossetto Kasper's recipe for North Shore Shrimp Scampi, based on a version she found in Hawaii.

It called for marinating the shrimp for 24 hours, but I didn't have that kind of time. Instead, we thawed them for an hour in the powerfully flavorful marinade. It was so easy, I had time to make a classic French chard gratin with Swiss chard I found at the farmer's market Saturday morning.

Thanks, Lynne.

North Shore Shrimp Scampi
Serves 2 or 3 or can be doubled

1/3 cup good olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
6 or 7 fat garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1/4 teaspoon each salt and freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1 pound raw extra-large or jumbo shrimp, fresh or frozen, shelled
3 tablespoons butter, divided
1/4 cup dry white wine
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves (I skipped it and used minced green onion tops instead)
Combine the olive oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper and the shrimp. (If they're frozen, rinse them under cold running water to break them apart, then let them thaw in the marinade. If they have shells, you can shell them before cooking.) Refrigerate overnight (or about an hour, if you're short on time).

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. About 15 minutes before serving, place a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook 11 to 12 minutes or according to directions. In the skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter with a little salt and pepper. Add the shrimp with the marinade. Stir once or twice, reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook 3 to 4 minutes, until shrimp are just cooked through. Use a slotted spoon to move them to a bowl.

Turn the heat under the skillet to medium-high. Stir the wine into the pan juices and boil for 1 minute, or until the juices are reduced. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Drain the pasta and add to the skillet. Add the shrimp and toss to coat everything with the sauce. Drizzle with half a lemon and parsley (or green onions). Serve immediately, with warm bread for sopping up the juices.

Pigs do fly in Charlotte

2011-12-02T09:02:00.002-05:00

Last summer, food writer John T Edge came through working on a story about Charlotte for Garden & Gun magazine. I took him around several places to get a taste of what's happening around here these days.

We started his trip with a quick lunch meetup at the Diamond, where I remember tucking into the hot pimento cheese dip. And a plate of . . . "hey, John T -- does that menu really say 'pig wings?'"

Indeed it did. They turned out to be little bones with a nub of tender white meat on one end. And we enjoyed them very much. Later in his trip, he alerted me to another pig wing sighting at Mac Speedshop.

Edge does get around. And apparently, he has since found pig wings in a lot of other places around the country. He also found a story in this week's New York Times food section, about the pig wing phenomenon (remember the Times only gives you limited downloads for free). It includes Mac's, although not the Diamond.

I'd love to play with cooking pig's wings, but I haven't seen them for sale in supermarkets. If you have a source for them, let me know.

Photo: Culinate.com

Cookbook shopping? Try one of these

2011-11-29T11:57:00.004-05:00

Looking for a cookbook or food book (or drinking book!) to give as a gift? Here are 13 new books I'll suggest:

1. Essential Pepin

By Jacques Pepin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 704 pages, $40)

Jacques Pepin’s career has spanned France to New York, and World War II to digital. With 700 recipes, almost all classic and French, this is a masterwork. With a searchable DVD of techniques.

2. Cooking Light: The Complete Quick Cook

By Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough (Oxmoor House, 352 pages, $29.95)

For the person who wants to eat better and cook better but is overwhelmed by the task. With two experienced authors behind it, this magazine-based project is one of the best home-cooking guides I’ve seen in a while, with pictures, tips, smart thinking and solid recipes.

3. Serious Eats: A Comprehensive Guide to Making & Eating Delicious Food Wherever You Are

By Ed Levine and the editors of seriouseats.com (Clarkson Potter, 368 pages, $27.99)

Give this to a young and eager diner. New York food writer Levine pulled together a smart bunch of young editors to build a great food-obsessed website. Their first book is a guide to obsessive eating from coast to coast (including North Carolina).

4. The Art of Eating Cookbook

By Edward Behr (University of California Press, 296 pages, $39.95)

Edward Behr’s newsletter/magazine The Art of Eating has been a source of smart, sophisticated food writing with a focus on classic cooking for 25 years. Now he’s gone back through all those recipes to put together a collection of essays and recipes that will pull armchair cooks out of their chairs.

5. The PDT Cocktail Book
By Jim Meehan and Chris Gall (Sterling Epicure, 368 pages, $24.95)

Shake it up, baby: The people behind New York’s almost-hidden cocktail bar, PDT (for Please Don’t Tell) have found the middle ground between retro-cool and contemporary in this fun guide to all things alcohol.

6. Basic to Brilliant, Y’All

By Virginia Willis (Ten Speed Press, $35).

I love this concept by Atlanta author Willis: Every recipe includes a variation or a way to dress it up. And thanks to her solid training at La Varenne in France, her recipes bring fresh perspective to basic Southern cooking.

7. Cooking in the Moment

By Andrea Reusing (Clarkson Potter, $35).

Reusing, the chef of Lantern in Chapel Hill, racked up honors this year, including a James Beard medal as Best Chef: Southeast. But there’s no pretension in her book, aimed at home cooks trying to make the best use of locally grown, heirloom foods. She’s not cooking with special chef food – this is the same stuff we get in our own farmers markets.

8. The Homesick Texan Cookbook

By Lisa Fain (Hyperion, $29.99).

Homesick Texan, Fain’s blog about re-creating Texas food when she moved to New York, found a huge following online. A book was the next step. You don’t have to be from Texas to appreciate her sincere, down-home recipes.

9. Paula Deen’s Southern Cooking Bible

By Paula Deen with Melissa Clark (Simon & Schuster, $29.99).

Has anyone since Martha Stewart evoked so much love and venom? But this is a solid book, without too many corny gimmicks. It’s a reminder that at heart, Deen is still a cook from Savannah who knows how to turn out crowd-pleasing food.

10. Cook This Now

By Melissa Clark (Hyperion, $29.99).

Between exploring ingredients in her New York Times column and co-authoring with Paula Deen, Clark was writing her own inventive cookbook, geared to home cooks who aren’t afraid of frisee, quinoa – or good recipes.

11. The Food 52 Cookbook

By Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs (Morrow, $35).

It’s a little high-concept: The website Food52.com aims to create a “food community” by letting members post weekly recipes while other members vote on them. Skip all that and you end up with a solid collection of sophisticated home cooking. That’s much simpler.

12. The Italian Baker

By Carol Field (Ten Speed Press, $35).

After it came out in 1985, “Italian Baker” became a classic, a serious yet approachable guide to bread, pizza, focaccia and sweets. The revision is even better – and ready for a new generation to discover it.

13. Momofuku Milk Bar

By Christina Tosi (Clarkson Potter, $35).

While David Chang’s Momofuku restaurants were taking over New York, his pastry chef, Tosi, was staging her own revolution with desserts so sweet, they verged on sugar obsession. Now Tosi shares the recipes for things like Cereal Milk and the crazy good Crack Pie.

Eating on the fly at Charlotte-Douglas?

2011-11-29T08:53:00.003-05:00

If you're traveling during the holidays, the web site Serious Eats has a fun little slide show up, "Airport Food That Doesn't Suck."

It doesn't offer anything really unusual and certainly nothing high-end - One Flew South at Atlanta's Hartsfield didn't make the cut. But the focus here is on fast, cheap and reasonably satisfying, which is usually what most of us need in an airport. And they found picks at both Charlotte-Douglas International Airport and Raleigh-Durham International Airport, which is a nice perk for those flight-delayed days.

Go here to click through their picks. And yes, it's one of those slide shows you have to click through. Which does kind of suck.

One great recipe: Cranberry thighs

2011-11-28T16:41:00.003-05:00

It sounds like something you'd call someone the week after Thanksgiving. But cranberry thighs were my solution last week when I needed a pre-holiday meal for a big group. I wanted something that felt like the season but didn't steal the thunder from Thanksgiving the next night.

Since I was feeding a crowd, I stretched the sauce over two big pans of 14 chicken thighs. If you need to cut it down to 8, you'll have some sauce left over. But you can stick it in the freezer and have a head-start for another night. With fresh cranberries making their brief appearance in stores through Christmas, this will be tasty and festive anytime.

Cranberry-Glazed Chicken Thighs

Figure on two chicken thigh per serving.

8 to 12 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 (12-ounce) bag fresh cranberries, rinsed and soft ones discarded
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon dry mustard

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Choose a 13-by-9-inch baking dish or roasting pan large enough to hold the thighs in a single layer with a little space between each one. Spray it with nonstick cooking spray.

Sprinkle chicken thighs with salt and pepper and arrange them in the prepared pan or dish. Place in the oven and roast for 25 minutes.

While chicken is roasting, combine the cranberries, sugar and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes, or until the berries start to pop. Remove from heat and stir in the ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar and dry mustard.

Remove chicken thighs from the oven and spoon some of the sauce over each one. Return to oven and roast 20 minutes longer. Spoon a little more sauce over each and turn oven to broil. Broil about 5 minutes, until brown in spots, watching carefully to make sure they don't burn.

Why should you salute the late Jeno Paulucci?

2011-11-28T14:08:00.002-05:00

The New York Times had a tribute today to a man who certainly had an influence on American food: Jeno Paulucci, 93, of Duluth, Minn. It seems weirdly appropriate that Mr. Paulucci died on Thanksgiving.

His contributions: First, in 1955, he noticed the burgeoning interest in Chinese food. So he borrowed $2500 from a friend, came up with a formula for canned chow mein, and ended up creating the Chun King brand. He also came up with the Divider-Pak, packaging that kept the crunchy noodles separate from the sauce. He sold it to R.J. Reynolds (yes, here in North Carolina) for $63 million in 1966.

But he wasn't finished yet. Next, he founded Jeno's Inc., making frozen pizzas and snacks. He combined the two to create the pizza roll. After selling it to Pillsbury in in 1985 in $135 million, Jeno's Pizza Rolls were renamed Totino's Pizza Rolls.

And finally? He founded Michelina's, which makes ready-made pasta and Mexican dishes, in the early 1990s. He was still the head of that company when he died.

Read more about Mr. Paulucci's story here in the Times.

Sink your teeth into Thanksgiving

2011-11-18T17:32:00.003-05:00

A couple of last developments before I head home to my own range for Thanksgiving:

Harvest Moon Grille is running a special Thanksgiving market in front of the restaurant at the Dunhill Hotel, 237 N. Tryon St. You can buy bread from locally grown and milled wheat, locally grown vegetables. Days and hours: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 19), and noon-7 p.m. Monday-Wednesday next week.
The Ritz-Carlton's Giant Green Gingerbread House goes on display on Thanksgiving in the lobby of the hotel and will stay up until Dec. 28. It's green because it has all organic and natural components, its own LED lights and a green moss roof. If you go by, you can visit the new Bar Cocoa dessert area with Norman Love chocolates.
Also at the Ritz-Carlton: Holiday teas on Dec. 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17 and 18. Details and reservations: 704-547-2244.

Get your party food ready

2011-11-18T14:15:00.004-05:00

Last year, I wrote a column about "Little Black Dresses," those simple recipes for holiday party appetizers that you can always depend on. Some of you were kind enough to send me yours, as well.

This year, I'd love to get even like to run more of them. If you send me an appetizer recipe with no more than 6 ingredients, I'll enter you in a drawing for the cookbook “The Happy Table of Eugene Walter: Southern Spirits in Food and Drink” (UNC Press, $30). The deadline is Dec. 2; send your recipes to kpurvis@charlotteobserver.com.

Photo: Little Black Dress magazine

The best turkey video ever

2011-11-17T14:42:00.001-05:00

O Captain, my Captain - you are such a turkey. And I love you for it.

Seriously, William Shatner teams up with State Farm and does his best attempt at the Alton Brown School of Cooking Demos. All to show you the danger of "fire, metal, oil and turkey."

Top Chef: Gone too soon

2011-11-17T09:42:00.005-05:00

So we don't post a spoiler on the Food page, let's make a change: Humming.

Hum. Humhum. Humhumhum. Wonder if there was news from "Top Chef" last night that might be of interest to people in North Carolina?

I wonder. Hmmm. Have I pushed the spoiler down far enough?

OK, let's return to today's blog post, already in progress:

Keith, we hardly knew you. But when you bought those already-cooked shrimp, I knew you were cooked.

If you haven't been watching the new season of "Top Chef" on Bravo, you may have missed North Carolina's Keith Rhodes, chef of Catch in Wilmington. It's hard to miss him anywhere, actually: Rhodes is a big guy. (The blogosphere nicknamed him Rick Ross, after the rapper).

When Rhodes made it through that interminable sorting-hat of hundreds of contestants (OK, it was just under 50, but I stand by "interminable") to make the final 16, I was delighted. I'm a fan of Catch, which is on my current list of favorite NC restaurants. I've eaten there twice, once when it was still a tiny counter-service place in downtown Wilmington and once in the newer, larger place on Market Street. Both times, the food was fun and impressive.

Rhodes has a way with clever seafood dishes, and he definitely handles fish with respect. The last time we ate there, the waitress not only told us how and where the softshell crabs were raised, she volunteered the name of the fish farmer and told us exactly when that night's catch had shed their shells. It was obvious Rhodes makes sure his staff knows what
s what.

So I was mystified when Rhodes made the rookie error Wednesday night of buying pre-cooked shrimp for a challenge. It was like watching a train wreck: I was waving my arms, yelling, "No, chef! No! Step away from the seafood case, baby!"

Yes, Rhodes also got bounced for using flour tortillas instead of corn in enchiladas in Texas. But that one is easier to understand. Texans might think it's obvious, but the rest of the country doesn't cut its teeth on the "which tortilla when" code.

But pre-cooked shrimp when your restaurant is called "Catch"? So sad. And Keith Rhodes is so much better than that.

Speculation this morning is that Rhodes isn't really gone. He's doing an online Bravo.com bit, and "Top Chef" is wily about bringing promising chefs back. Even if he doesn't return, we can drive to Wilmington for more of Keith Rhodes. And we should.

Photo: Bravo.com.

One more time for the make-ahead potatoes

2011-11-16T08:28:00.002-05:00

Of all the recipes I've run through the years, which one do readers request the most? The Make-Ahead Potato Casserole. It's been a mainstay of our Thanksgiving recipes many times.

What's so great about it? You can make it in advance and it feeds a crowd. But most importantly to me, it doesn't get that yucky old-potato taste when you reheat it. I can't explain why, but I've always figured it has something to do with the sour cream and cream cheese. It also works with reduced-fat sour cream and Neufchatel cheese, trimming a little fat from a day when we tend to get too much.

Since I know someone will ask for it between now and next Thursday, here it is again, to add to your collection:

Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes

Serves 8 to 12.

5 pounds russet, Idaho or Yukon Gold potatoes

Salt

1 (8-ounce) package reduced-fat cream cheese

1 (8-ounce) container reduced-fat sour cream

1 to 1 1/2 cups skim milk

Freshly ground black or white pepper

2 to 3 tablespoons butter, cut in pieces

Paprika

PEEL potatoes and cut into chunks, dropping into a pot of cold salted water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat slightly and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Drain well.

BEAT in cream cheese with electric mixer. (Work in batches if necessary, using half the potatoes and cream cheese, then combine.) Beat in sour cream and milk until potatoes are fluffy. Season to taste with salt and ground pepper or ground white pepper.

SPRAY a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Spread potatoes evenly in dish. Dot with butter and sprinkle with paprika. If making in advance, cool completely, cover tightly and refrigerate up to 24 hours.

PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees. Uncover potatoes and bake 30 to 40 minutes, until heated through and brown in spots.

Parade magazine wants your pie recipe

2011-11-15T09:32:00.003-05:00

I was looking for it Sunday and I missed it, so I figured you might not have spotted this either: Parade Magazine is holding a national pie contest, The All-American Pie-Off. The winners in seven categories (apple, cherry, Derby, Key Lime, pecan, pumpkin and sweet potato) will get $50 American Express gift cards, will be featured on parade.com and dashrecipes.com, and will have the chance to be featured in Parade.

The reason I was looking for it Sunday: I'm one of the judges. Parade apparently saw my article on sweet potato pie (yes, it should be North Carolina's state pie!), and asked if I'd judge the sweet potato category.

Other judges: Michele Stuart of Michele's Pies in Connecticut and author of "Perfect Pies"; Debbie Macomber, author of "The Christmas Cookbook"; Rosemary Black, author of a bunch of cookbooks (and mother of Kidcook columnist Molly Lopez, for those who remember her) and editor of Dash and Parade's Sunday Dinner column; Sharon Thompson, food writer for the Lexington Herald Leader; Janet Keller, food editor of the St. Pete Times; and Linda Odette of the Grand Rapids Press.

The deadline for entries is Nov. 19. Go here for details on how to enter. Make sure you send a good sweet potato entry - I'm looking forward to it.

Photo: Todd Sumlin, The Charlotte Observer.

What are you doing New Year's?

2011-11-14T13:06:00.004-05:00

I was flipping through the James Beard Foundation's December events guide when I spotted a familiar face: Tony Coturri, the maker of organic wines in California who's been a favorite at farm-to-fork dinners around here for several years.

Then I spotted another familiar face on the same page: Joe Bonaparte, at the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Charlotte.

It turns out Bonaparte is leading a lineup of AI instructors (Walter Leible of Phoenix, Larry Maston of Dallas and Michael Nenes of Texas) to cook dinner at the James Beard House for New Year's Eve.

It isn't cheap: $200 for foundation members, $250 for nonmembers. But the menu is luxe, including foie gras, rabbit, lobster, caviar, scallops, pork belly and duck breast. What really amused me was the toast at midnight: Shelton Vineyards Blanc de Blanc with a truffle from the Secret Chocolatier here in Charlotte. Nice to see attention for local food makers.

If you're planning to be in New York and that's your kind of price and experience, go to www.jamesbeard.org for details and tickets.

Weekend cooking project: The Christmas spirits

2011-11-11T09:43:00.005-05:00

Here's a thought that will drive you to drink: You have 44 days until Christmas. Which is just enough time to start a batch of 44 Cordial, a tasty winter liqueur that's great for giving to consenting adults on your Christmas list.

And since I ran the 44 Cordial a couple of years ago, I have a second libation you can start this weekend, too. When I was in Charleston last month for the Association of Journalists conference, mixologist John Aquino of Coast Bar & Grill was serving a dandy twist on an old-fashioned, made from Firefly Sweet Tea Bourbon.

He was kind enough to share the recipe, which I immediately put to good use. It only takes 5 days to make a batch, and it makes a tasty libation to have on hand for entertaining season. It's a little richer and spicier that a regular Old-Fashioned, making it a good winter cocktail.

Two tricks: Aquino uses Fee Brothers Orange Bitters, which I happened to have on hand. If you don't, good ol' Angostura works fine. And tart-cherry extract can be a bit tricky to find. I found cherry extract in the juice aisle at the Cotswold Harris Teeter. Unfortunately, it's $15 a bottle, but it is a concentrate, so you just need a drizzle. You might be able to find it cheaper at a health-focused supermarket such as Earth Fare, now that tart cherry juice is so popular as a treatment for joint pain.

OK, both recipes:

44 Cordial
Saveur magazine ran a short item on this West Indies liqueur in 2008. It's become a regular winter project at my house and a favorite with some of my friends. You need a jar with a tight lid and a mouth wide enough for the orange.

1 large orange, such as a navel
44 coffee beans
44 teaspoons sugar (1 scant cup)
1 liter white run (about 1 quart)
Poke 44 (1-inch) slits all over the orange with the tip of a paring knife. Stuff a coffee bean into each slit. (I usually work one row at a time so the slits don't close up or the orange doesn't lose too much juice.)
Put the orange, sugar and rum in a wide-mouthed jar with a tight lid. Place in a cool, dark spot, swirling the jar occasionally, for 44 days.
Remove the discard the orange. Strain the liqueur through a cheesecloth-lined strainer into a clean bottle. Refrigerate or freeze. Serve neat or over ice.

Bourbon Ice Tea Old Fashioned
From John Aquino, Coast Bar and Grill, Charleston.
1 (750ml) bottle Firefly Sweet Tea Bourbon
Zest of 1 orange, peeled in strips
About 1/2 tablespoon tart cherry concentrate
Bitters (such as Angostura, or Fee Brothers Orange or Old-Fashioned Bitters)
Sparkling water

Place sweet tea bourbon in a jar with a tight lid. Add orange zest strips. Let stand 5 days, swirling bottle occasionally. Drain back into the bottle, then add tart cherry concentrate. (If you have tart cherries and want to use them, add them for the final two days.)

To use, place about 2 ounces in a rocks glass and add a dash of bitters. Add ice and top with sparkling water, such as plain seltzer or club soda.

Photo: Liquor Digest

Gifts from our readers

2011-11-07T13:57:00.002-05:00

This is what I get for checking my email on a Saturday night. The subject line was "Haiku":

Let fish thaw on counter
Should have listened to Kathleen
Threw it all up.

Yes, the count is technically off (6/7/4 instead of 5/7/5). But given that I couldn't spell my own name in the same condition, much less make a food editor laugh that hard, the judges will accept it.

Farmers market season: It ain't over yet

2011-11-04T09:00:00.002-04:00

A well-meaning person posted a comment on my story about the 7th Street Public Market project claiming the growing season here is over.

Sorry, but it triggered my inner Bluto Blutarski: Over? Over? Go to a local farmers market on a Saturday morning and it's far from over. Greens, winter squash, carrots, apples, eggs. If the growing season is over, why are my bags so full? And they stay full right on through January, February and March.

Between cold hoops, greenhouses and our own temperate climate, nothing is over until we say it is. Who's with me? Let's go!

This Saturday's market news roundup:

The Davidson Farmers Market kicks off it's every-other-week winter market with the First Ever Winter Market Chef Challenge, from 9 a.m.-noon. Five local chefs -- Vera Samuels, Wes Choplin, Joe Kindred, Andres Arboleda and Adam Spears -- will compete using what's available at the market. And shoppers get to be the judges. Details on the market schedule and offerings: www.davidsonfarmersmarket.org.
The Matthews Community Farmers Market no longer has winter market hours: It's open all year on Saturday mornings. Hours are 7:15 a.m.-noon through November, then 8-10 a.m. Saturdays from December through March. Starting this week: The Cookbook Swap, which continues through Nov. 19. Bring cookbooks you don't want and swap them for a cookbook you do, or buy a used cookbook for $2; money raised goes to fill The Harvest Donation coolers, which are used for local feeding programs. Details and vendor lists: www.matthewsfarmersmarket.com.
Simply Local at the Atherton Market has added egg nog made from local milk. For details on the Atherton Market, go to their Facebook page here.
The Charlotte Regional Farmers Market is still up and running, too, with lots of local farms and food makers. If you spot me there tomorrow, say hello. Just don't wear a toga. It's chilly out there.

Yes, Cincy fans, Graeter's ice cream is here

2011-11-03T15:26:00.004-04:00

I sit next to three people with ties to Cincinnati, but that's not the only reason I know about Graeter's ice cream: Every publication from Saveur to Gourmet to Oprah includes it on the lists of the country's best ice creams.

Made by the French-pot method, it's known for being exceptionally creamy, and for having really rich flavors, particularly the popular black raspberry chocolate chip.

Still, I didn't expect to ever try it. It's pricey to mail-order it and I don't have many chances to visit Cincinnati.

So how great is this? Fresh Market and Kroger stores started carrying Graeter's ice cream in October.

It's not cheap, at $5.49 a pint, but that's actually in line with other premium ice creams. And Graeter's is definitely premium: After a taste-test at my desk, two Cincinnati co-workers, Tim Funk and Karen Garloch (she's not from Cincinnati, but she's married to a native), they declared it has all the richness and creaminess they expect.

We had black raspberry chip and peppermint, which is available for the holidays. Fresh Market at Strawberry Hill, at Providence and Fairview, also had mocha chip and vanilla chocolate chip.

Since frozen Skyline Chili has been the area for years, that means Cincinnati transplants at least are happy. All they need now are Montgomery Inn ribs.

Web Tricks: Did we open a wine bottle with a shoe?

2011-11-03T13:19:00.003-04:00

Do those crazy food tricks floating around the Web work? I'll offer occasional reports on the ones I try.

But I can't say we're off to a flying start. Restaurant reviewer Helen Schwab and I tried Opening A Wine Bottle With a Shoe, which has been all over the Internet for a couple of years. It even turned up in an episode of "Modern Family."

There are a couple of dozen versions out there, ranging from people doing it while speaking French to 20somethings doing it while stumbling around a city street.

Basically, the trick involves: A) A shoe. Preferably a hard-soled men's shoe, although some videos shoe an athletic shoe. B) A bottle of wine, with the capsule removed. And C) A wall. One with paint you don't care about chipping.

We procured all of the above and went to work. We tried a couple of different shoes -- a woman's shoe with a wide, 2-inch heel, and a man's basic brown lace-up oxford. The man's shoe was slightly easier, because the heel area was wide enough to hold the bottle easily.

We tried a couple of angles, higher and lower. We tried different people beating the wall with the shoe and the bottle.

Result: Nada. Zippo. After a good 50 whacks, there were lots of bubbles visible in the bottle, but no movement at all from the cork.

So, if you get the wine-shoe trick to work and have proof - preferably time-elapsed video - send it to me at kpurvis@charlotteobserver.com. I'll be glad to try again if it actually works.

Next up: Can you trust Mary Ann to peel a potato without a peeler?

"Top Chef": Is it time to pack their knives and go?

2011-11-02T09:58:00.005-04:00

Two things about me and "Top Chef": I'm not a fan of reality TV (isn't part of the idea of TV-watching to escape reality?) and it seems a little weird to watch a TV show about cooking where you never get to taste the food and you don't learn anything useful about cooking.

Those prejudices aside, I have been a fan of "Top Chef." I got caught up in the whole Volt Bros drama, and spent way too much time quietly cheering for Carla. But as the saga and the spinoffs continue, I've found myself cooling on it, in the same way you love a food until that moment when you take one bite too much. I liked the first season of "Top Chef Masters" but erased the last season without watching more than an episode or two -- and I knew people competing. I watched one episode of "Top Chef Desserts" and wasn't interested enough to go on.

So, with the regular season of "Top Chef" starting Wednesday night on Bravo (they're in Texas this time, which is probably not a surprise anymore), I'm curious how you feel about it.

Do you love it and hang on Padma's costume change?
Are you bored enough to stick your head in a stockpot?
Does the whole thing just make you want to yank out Tom's soul patch?

One Great . . . Mashed Potato Version

2011-10-31T09:32:00.003-04:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mashed potatoes again. They're easy, almost everybody likes them, they don't take much thought. There's just not much to get excited about though, is there?

Then again . . .

Atlanta chef/author Virginia Willis has this crazy ability to think like a chef about simple things. Her newest book, "Basic to Brilliant, Y'all" (Ten Speed Press, $35) is really sort of brilliant in itself: She has all these great recipes, most Southern in inspiration. For each one, she gives the recipe, then she gives you something else with it - a way to dress it up, or use it another way, or add something to it. For instance, she has a recipe for Seafood Jambalaya, and with it she gives you an idea for grinding your basic bag of fried pork skins into a powder in a food processor and sprinkling it over things like jambalaya. Yes, she thinks like that.

Her mustard-flavored mashed potatoes really grabbed my lapels and shouted "cook me!" And when I did, it shouted with flavor. Seriously, mustard whisked into mashed potatoes: Sounds strange. Tastes delicious. I haven't made the second recipe, but it might be just the thing for ramping up your Thanksgiving potatoes.

Virginia Willis, I bow to your cooking talent. Well-played, missy.

Yukon Gold Mash With Coarse-Grain Mustard From "Basic to Brilliant, Y'all," by Virginia Willis.

2 pounds (4 to 6) Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut in large chunks
Coarse salt
1 1/3 cups low-fat or whole milk (I used skim, which worked fine)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup coarse-grain Dijon mustard
Freshly ground white pepper (I used black pepper, and it didn't blow up)

Place potatoes in a large, heavy saucepan and cover with cold water. Season with salt, bring to a boil over high heat, then decrease heat to low. Gently simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender, about 25 minutes.

Combine milk, butter and mustard in a small saucepan over low heat while the potatoes are cooking. Cook until the butter is melted; cover and keep warm.

Drain the potatoes in a colander and return to the saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until a floury film forms on the bottom of the pan, 1 to 2 minutes. (You're just drying the potatoes so they mash well without being watery.) Remove from heat. Pass the potatoes through a ricer or food mill, or mash with a potato masher. Add the warm milk mixture, stirring vigorously until well-combined. (I added it by additions, so it didn't get too loose.) Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and white pepper. Serve immediately.

Pommes Mont d'Or Yes, it means "Golden Potato Mountain." Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a gratin dish with 1 tablespoon unsalted butter. Let the potato mixture cool slightly in the saucepan, then add 3 lightly beaten eggs and 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme. Stir to combine. Pour into the prepared gratin dish and spread gently with a spatula. Sprinkle 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated Gruyere on top and bake until a rich, golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool slightly, then serve. Serves 4 to 6.

Did you win the biscuit book?

2011-10-28T10:24:00.003-04:00

Judging from the response to our giveaway of Nathalie Dupree's new book "Southern Biscuits," an awful lot of you wish you had the knack for making biscuits.

Besides getting a slew of entries for the drawing, I've also gotten a kick out of the comments, tales and jokes about biscuits people sent along with their entries:

"I'm 28 now, but when I was 5, I made a book for a kindergarten project that showed how to make biscuits."

"Earlier this year I had the great misfortune of, at the same time, breaking, both my femurs. During my arduous recovery and rehab, I had a great desire for biscuits. Isn't that what your grandmother always cooked for you when she wanted to make you feel special?
"Since I've recovered to the point of now being able to stand long enough to cook, I'd love to be able to make biscuits for myself. What better teacher than the great Southern cook, Natalie Dupree. I enjoyed nothing better then watching her on PBS. She always made me laugh at least once during the show. I remember one time in particular, she set an oven mitt on fire. She handled it with the grace of a true Southern lady."

"I am still trying to achieve the same kind of biscuits my grandmother made each morning on the farm using a wood stove. She used lard from our pigs and mixed the biscuits in an enamel pan the size of a dishpan. These were not dainty little creations! The family and hired hands would have been tended the animals for two hours before they came in for breakfast at 7 am. The biscuits were light and full of buttermilk flavor. My, how I wish I could make them."

"After more than 30 years in Charlotte, I still haven’t made biscuits that rate better than 'hockey pucks' from my family! I’m going to try again with your tips in today’s Charlotte Observer. Success AND the book would be wonderful!"

"I have failed at making biscuits and can never get them right like my Southern friends do. Not that I am a Northerner, just Asian, and haven't developed the technique for Southern cooking."

"You are right on, girl, about making biscuits. As a retired home economics teacher I had great fun and laughs helping my students learn how to make biscuits. One might ask why in this day and age. They requested it, along with making sausage gravy...a real southern dish. In fact, I saw a student I had in the late 1990's who said she still uses the same recipe on Sunday mornings. Excuse me while I go set out my ingredients."

"As my husband says, 'my wife can cook anything, except biscuits!' Of course, he was spoiled by his next-door neighbor who made wonderful, light-as-air biscuits for him throughout his childhood. I tend to blame it on the fact that since I was born in Buffalo, NY, I missed getting the 'biscuit gene.'"

"Here is a totally tongue-in-cheek answer to serving perfect biscuits EVERY time at brunch:Before anyone else gets up, drive to Bojangles and buy a dozen plain biscuits. When home, arrange them on a baking sheet and just before everyone comes to the table, pop them in a preheated 400 degree oven for 5 minutes. Splash flour on your shirt and a smidgen on your cheek, take the perfect biscuits out of the oven and VOILA!!! cheers from all. Perfect every time!"

I wish I could send copies of the book to every one of you. But there's only one winner, and that is .. . .

Debbie Agerton. Congratulations, Debbie. And thanks to everyone for their interest and their entry.

Trader Joe's latest: Crispy seaweed snacks

2011-10-27T10:07:00.005-04:00

Consider your basic sushi roll, the kind with the dark green wrapper. Take away the rice and the fish and what you're left with is that dark green wrapper.

That clever Trader Joe has now dusted that wrapper with salt and wasabi and packaged it for 99 cents as a virtuous snack.

You know the name of the blog, people: I'll Bite. And I will.

This morning, I opened a package of Trader Joe's Wasabi Roasted Seaweed Snack. The first thing to get past is the texture: It's sort of plastic, shiny and very green, like freeze-dried Astroturf. It's also a bit fishy. But it is crisp, and it delivers a dose of salt and a nose-clearing hit of wasabi. It's weirdly addictive if you're trying to avoid potato chips. You also can crumble a few sheets for a salad topping.

Half of a package, or about 10 to 15 palm-size rectangles, has 30 calories, 2 grams of fat (none trans or saturated) and 60 milligrams of sodium, with 20 percent of your RDA of Vitamin C, a little vitamin A and tiny bit of iron.

Barbecue time, and more

2011-10-26T12:33:00.003-04:00

What's up in Charlotte's food world:

Thursday is the annual Mallard Creek Presbyterian Church Barbecue, my favorite excuse to sit at a trestle table and consider the role of white bread as a pork-pusher. Yes, there are politicians. But remember, it's really a fundraiser for the church. If you're keeping track, this is the 82nd. Get the directions and details here.
Johnson & Wales chef Peter Reinhart will read from his book, "Mastering Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Baking," at 7 p.m. next Wednesday, Nov. 2, at the House of Olives, 16620 Cranlyn Road in Huntersville. It's free, but you need to register. Call 704-895-6950.
"Tiny Chef" Susanne Dillingham will teach a fall cooking class using produce and meats from local farms, from 1-4 p.m. Saturday at Reid's Fine Foods, 2823 Selwyn Ave. Cost: $75; register online at www.reids.com.
The Davidson Farmers Market starts its winter schedule Nov.5 (9 a.m.-noon, every other week), with the market's first Winter Market Chef Challenge. Chefs will be given four mystery-basket items and will get 10 minutes to shop for a fifth, then will get 45 minutes to prepare a dish for judging. The competing chefs are personal chef Vera Samuels, Wes Choplin of Choplin's, Joe Kindred of Rooster's, Andres Arboleda of Flatiron and Adam Spears of Chef Charles Catering. Details and market schedule: www.davidsonfarmersmarket.org.
Tastings:

Total Wine & More stores will hold tastings of Halloween-theme and fall-appropriate wines and beers on Saturday, from noon-6 p.m.
Fresh Market stores will hold tastings of holiday foods, including appetizers, desserts and standing rib roast, noon-6 p.m. Nov. 4 and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 5.

One Great . . . Biscuit Book Giveaway

2011-10-25T16:14:00.003-04:00

Charleston's Nathalie Dupree is one of the South's great cookbook writers, so her book "Southern Biscuits" has been on my list since it came out in May. When I was in Charleston a few weeks ago for the Association of Food Journalists conference, Dupree and Lauren Vinciguerra of Callie's Charleston Biscuits made dueling biscuit batches to show a few tricks.

If you don't want to tackle your own biscuits, Callie's are available frozen at several local stores, including Reid's Fine Foods, Dean & Deluca and Fresh Market, or by mail order from www.calliesbiscuits.com. They're not a cheap luxury though, at $16.99 for a dozen at Reid's.

Making your own is cheaper, and eventually more fulfilling. Once you get a feel for it, you'll always be able to do it. Here's a simple refrigerated dough called Angel Biscuits, handy to keep around for up to a week so you can pat out a batch whenever you need fresh biscuits.

And I have a copy of Dupree's book to give away. Send an email to me at kpurvis@charlotteobserver.com and put "biscuits" in the subject line. I'll announce a winner by random drawing. Deadline: 9 a.m. Friday.

Angel Biscuits

From “Southern Biscuits,” by Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart (Gibbs Smith, $21.99).

1 package active dry yeast

1/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons warm water (110 to 115 degrees)

5 to 6 cups self-rising flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening, room temperature

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

2 cups buttermilk, room temperature

Melted butter, for finishing

DISSOLVE the yeast and sugar in the warm water in a small bowl. Set aside.

FORK-SIFT or whisk 5 cups of the flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl, preferably wider than it is deep. Break the shortening and butter into pieces and scatter over the flour. Work in by rubbing your fingers with the fat and flour as if you’re snapping your thumb and fingers until the mixture looks like well-crumbled feta cheese.

MAKE a deep hollow in the center with the back of one hand. Stir the yeast mixture into the buttermilk and pour this mixture into the hollow, stirring with a long wooden spoon. Add flour as needed to make a very damp, shaggy dough.

FLOUR a clean work surface and turn out the dough out. With floured hands, knead the dough by folding in half, pushing out, refolding and turning dough until the dough is tender, about 10 minutes. Add flour as necessary. Refrigerate up to one week.

WHEN READY to use, take out some of the dough and roll into a 1/3 to 1/2-inch-thick round. Fold in half and roll or pat out again until about 1 inch thick. Cut into rounds with a 2-inch biscuit cutter dipped in flour. Place on a greased baking sheet and let rise at room temperature until doubled, about 30 minutes.

BAKE at 400 degrees on the middle rack for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the pan after 6 minutes. (If the bottoms are browning too quickly, slide a second sheet underneath.) Brush the tops with melted butter.

Yield: 30 to 40 (2-inch) biscuits.

Sushi that is dreamy

2011-10-25T10:34:00.003-04:00

In New York a couple of weeks ago, at the end of a two-day James Beard Foundation conference on sustainability, I had the chance to view a new documentary, "Jiro Dreams of Sushi." It won't be released until March.

Since I was poised to leap in a cab and head to the airport, I perched at the very back of the auditorium, where I ended up sitting next to the filmmaker, a so-young man named David Gelb. I didn't expect to get so caught up in the story and found myself pushing off my departure, wanting just a few more minutes of it.

Gelb borrowed money from everyone in his life to realize his dream of making a movie about Jiro Ono, the 82-year-old owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo. It's the tiniest of restaurants, only 10 seats and no bathroom, yet it has 3 Michelin stars and its owner is recognized as the world's master of sushi. Gelb's film is so beautiful, it's hallucinatory and revelatory: A life aimed at a perfection that the master himself believes is unattainable.

Here's the trailer, a very brief 50-second experience. Like a single piece of perfect sushi, it might whet your appetite to watch for an unusual film.

Who gets to celebrate like a Culinista?

2011-10-21T10:06:00.002-04:00

That would be Mark Roman, who won the random drawing for the cookbook "Party Like a Culinista," by Jill Donenfeld and Josetth Gordon. Congratulations, Mark! Let us know if you use one of the menus for a party.

One Great . . . Cookbook giveaway

2011-10-18T14:15:00.004-04:00

Fans of roasted cauliflower, here's a new way to use it: Toss it with herbs, olives and capers to make a salad. We got the recipe from the new cookbook-with-attitude, "Party Like a Culinista," by Jill Donenfeld and Josetth Gordon (Lake Isle Press, $21.95).

Donenfeld and Gordon are caterers and party experts who are into easy entertaining with whole foods and simple recipes.

Want to win a copy of the book? Email me your name with "Culinista" in the subject line. We'll pick a winner by random drawing and post it here. Deadline: 9 a.m. Friday.

Party on, kids.

Roasted Cauliflower Salad

From “Party Like a Culinista,” by Jill Donenfeld and Josetth Gordon (Lake Isle Press, $21.95).

2 heads cauliflower, chopped into florets

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt

3/4 cup crushed walnuts

1/2 cup chpped flat-leaf parsley

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

2 tablespopons chopped fresh oregano

3/4 cup pitted kalamata olives

2 tablespoons juice from the olive jar

2 tablespoons capers packed in brine, crushed

2 teaspoons caper brine

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees. Toss the cauliflower with the olive oil and salt. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet and roast 20 to 30 minutes or until the edges of the cauliflower are starting to brown. Cool.

SPREAD the walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven until browned and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Cool.

Toss together the cauliflower, nuts, herbs and olives in a large bowl. Blend the olive juice, capers, caper brine, lemon juice, zest and pepper in a small bowl. Drizzle over the cauliflower and toss again. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Who's leading American food?

2011-10-18T12:32:00.004-04:00

Put aside the news about food-safety outbreaks and obesity numbers for a minute and think about something positive: The people doing incredible work to improve sustainability and fairness in America's food policy.

I got to play a small part in that last week. Two years ago, I was stepping down after 10 years on the committee that oversees the James Beard Foundation's book awards. I was literally at my last meeting in New York when the committee that oversees all of the foundation's awards started talking seriously about finding a way to honor American food beyond the glitz and glamour of the yearly restaurant and chef awards.

The foundation was starting a yearly conference that would bring together the best minds to highlight great work being done. In addition, the foundation wanted to include some kind of an award. What kind, they didn't know. They just knew there was a lot of important work being done in areas of food availability, sustainable agriculture and food policy.

That's where I came in: Since I knew how to write bylaws and set up committee procedures from my work with the book awards, the foundation asked if I would stay on as a volunteer to figure out how to make a new set of awards. We wanted to honor a long list of criteria, everything from hunger relief to school gardens.

The result was the James Beard Foundation Leadership Awards: A list of honorees who will be named every year for the work they're doing right now. The first honorees were named last week in New York, at the second JBF Food Conference: Sustainability on the Table.

As a journalist, I can't vote on things that I might need to cover. So the Leadership Awards were arranged so I don't have to: We have a prestigious advisory committee that picks the nominees and votes.

The initial advisory committee: chefs Dan Barber and Rick Bayless, Scott Cullen of the GRACE Communication Foundation, Hal Hamilton of the Sustainable Food Lab, culinary historian Jessica Harris, Robert Lawrence of the Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins, nutrition and public health professor Marion Nestle, Eric Rimm of Harvard, Gus Schumacher of the Wholesome Wave Foundation, Debbie Shore of Share Our Strength, Naomi Starkman of Civil Eats, and Arlin Wasserman of Sodexo.

My role is gatekeeper -- I make the train run on time. I helped to write the award definition and criteria, ran the conference calls and set up the schedule. But the work that was honored last week is so important, I'm proud to play even that small role.

Here are the first honorees, and a little about them. Yes, there are some names on this list you may not expect, like Unilever and Costco. But it takes all kinds of work to make a sustainable food supply. It's not all Saturday morning farmers markets, folks:

Will Allen, (below) founder of Rainbow Farmer's Cooperative, the last remaining farm within the Milwaukee city limits, and founder of Growing Power, a 2-acre urban agriculture model that works with children and adults to grow food in inner cities.

Fedele Bauccio, Bon Appetit Management Company, an innovative food-service company that pioneers things like a Low Carbon Diet program. Bon Appetit also works with the United Farm Workers and Oxfam to support social-justice in the harvesting of food.

Debra Eschmeyer, (left, with her husband Jeff) co-founder of Food Corps, which works with AmeriCorps to match young adults with school-based food organizations in high-obesity, low-resource communities.

Sheri Flies, assistant general merchandise manager for Costco. Yes, Costco: Flies oversees the sourcing of limited-resource commodities for the Kirkland Signature label, making sure the products are environmentally sustainable and making sure workers get fair treatment and health care.

Jan Kees Vis, global director of sustainable sourcing for Unilever. A big company like Unilever makes a lot of products that use palm oil. Vis changed the way palm oil is grown and harvested to make it sustainable.

Fred Kirschenmann, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University of president of the board of the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture. Fred has a farming background and a visionary's imagination.

Michelle Obama, for her work on childhood obesity and the Let's Move campaign. The first lady doesn't officially accept awards, but the White House sent advisor Sam Kass in her place.

Janet Poppendieck, sociology professor at Hunter College and author of "Sweet Charity," an examination of food relief programs, and "Free for All: Fixing School Food in America."

Alice Waters, for her advocacy of sustainable agriculture and her work with the Edible Schoolyard program.

Craig Watson, vice president of Agriculture Sustainability for food-service giant Sysco Corp. Sysco's Integrated Pest Management program includes 921,000 acres and 30 local food programs.

You can find more on the Leadership Awards, including video from the conference sessions, at www.jamesbeard.org.

Chew Over: What does "ethnic" food mean?

2011-10-17T14:20:00.002-04:00

Is it a harmless euphemism for "foreign," or a more loaded word that means "suspicious?" A debate broke out at the London Restaurant Festival over the use of the term "ethnic food."

British food critic A. A. Gill called it "a pejorative, judgmental and unnecessary term invented by the French to describe food in the Michelin Guide that isn't French or Italian." Comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli countered, "Food defines who we are. People from different parts of the world eat differently—that's hardly headline news."

So is the term "ethnic food" insulting? And if it is, is there a better phrase to use to mean "food from other places"? Here's Bruce Palling's description of the debate in the Wall Street Journal.

Almost the best food picture ever

2011-10-04T16:45:00.007-04:00

Last week, I posted that great naked chicken picture from The New York Times. So how do I follow that act? Meet Ellie Mae.

I'll be on the road for the next week and half, first at the Association of Food Journalists conference in Charleston, then on vacation in Charlotte and New York. I'll be sort of in touch and generally checking e-mail. And I'll be active on Twitter, @kathleenpurvis.

Before I left, I wanted to leave you with something. So I'm leaving you with Ellie Mae. When photographer and photo editor Wendy Yang was shooting the pictures for Wednesday's story on bologna, she took a stack of mortadella home to work on it. She was shooting a detail when Ellie Mae got into the act. Yang actually has three dogs, but only Ellie managed to reach the food.

No, we couldn't run that picture in the Food section -- some people get all squeamish about the idea of food and dogs. But it was such a cute shot, I couldn't resist sharing it for dog lovers everywhere.

See you soon, and remember: Ellie Mae says, "Wag more. Bark less."

One Great . . . Cookie Book

2011-10-04T14:23:00.004-04:00

If you saw my column a couple of months ago on Gretchen Holt-Witt and Cookies For Kids' Cancer, you know Charlotte is a big player in the group. We give better bake sales than just about any place to raise money for pediatric cancer research.

Now Holt-Witt's cookie cookbook is out, with all author proceeds going to the group. It's a sweet book and a sweet story, and yes, there are Charlotte people pictured in there. Holt-Witt, whose son Liam died last year, is working on arranging a book-signing here. But in the meantime, "Cookies For Kids' Cancer Best Bake Sale Cookbook" is $19.99 from Wiley and has 70 recipes for bake-sale worthy cookies, brownies, cupcakes, scones and candies.

Dried Cranberry and Chocolate Cookies From "Cookies For Kids' Cancer Best Bake Sale Cookbook," by Gretchen Holt-Witt (Wiley, $19.99).

2 1/2 sticks (10 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, either semisweet or white chocolate
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

PREHEAT oven to 325 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

PLACE the butter and sugars in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle and beat until smooth and creamy. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla, one at a time, beating well between additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Place the flour oats, baking powder, baking soda and sal tin a separate bowl and mix well. Add to the butter mixture and beat until everything is well-incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the chocolate chips and cranberries and beat again.

DROP the dough by heaping teaspoons about 2 inches apeart on the prepared cookie sheet. Transfer to the oven and bake until the cookies begin to brown at the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheet. Transfer to a wire rack and repeat with remaining ingredients.

Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies.

Is this the origin of Red Velvet Cake?

2011-10-03T14:16:00.005-04:00

Maybe it's not as big a mystery as the location of the Grail or what happens when you dial an 800 number, but the Origin of the Red Velvet Cake has raged among culinary history buffs for years.

Despite Southern affinity for Red Velvet Cake, there has never been compelling evidence that the cake's origins are Southern. Most sources trace it back to the Waldorf Astoria Cake, which was the urban-legend forerunner to the Neiman-Marcus Cookie.

Now food writer and baker Stella Parks has an article on Gilt Taste, Ruth Reichl's new food writing/food buying hybrid site, that traces Red Velvet history farther back. It's a shame that Parks apparently hates Red Velvet so much, and I wish she had included a little more on the source of her 1910 copy of The Oxford-University Methodist Church Community Cookbook (is that Oxford, Miss.?) and more on the provenance of Alvin Wood Chase's receipt book from 1873.

Still, it's interesting history on the terms "velvet" and "red" as they pertain to cake baking.

On Tuesday, Parks and Gilt Taste promise to continue the tale with a Red Velvet recipe. Happy reading. Here's the link to Parks' article: redvelvetcake.

Photo: thebeautybridal.com.

One Great Chicken Dish

2011-10-03T09:06:00.004-04:00

A little spicy, a little sweet. These made a simple early-fall Sunday supper, with grits and a Waldorf salad with apples and pears.

The original recipe called for skinless, boneless chicken thighs. And you can certainly go that way. But whole chicken thighs taste so much better.

Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken Thighs
Adapted from Cooking Light, September 2010 issue

2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 chicken thighs (see note)
Cooking spray
6 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Preheat the broiler. (To really get a burst of heat in an electric oven, I usually preheat the oven to 500 degrees, then switch to the broiler setting when the food is ready to go in.)

Combine the garlic powder, chili powder, salt, cumin, paprika and red pepper in a large bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat well. Spray a broiler pan with cooking spray. Place the chicken in the pan skin-down. Broil 6 to 7 minutes. Turn with tongs and broil 6 to 7 minutes longer.

Combine honey and vinegar in a small bowl while thighs are broiling. Remove chicken from oven and turn chicken skin-down. Brush with about half the honey mixture. Return to oven and broil 2 minutes. Remove chicken from oven, turn pieces skin up and brush with the remaining honey mixture. Return to oven and broil 1 to 2 minutes, until browned but not burned.

Yield: 4 servings.

NOTE: If you use skinless, boneless chicken thighs, broil 5 minutes per side and 1 minute per side after brushing with honey glaze.

Garden & Gun gets taste of Charlotte

2011-09-30T15:08:00.004-04:00

If you haven't encountered the excellent Charleston-based magazine Garden & Gun (yes, Trad, that's the name), you might want to make a point of tracking down the October/November issue:

Not only does it focus on great food finds all over the South, but Southern food expert John T Edge took a close look at food here in the Queen City. Edge came through for several days earlier in the summer and I was one of his guides for a couple of mealtimes. The boy moves fast. It took several of us, including Tom Hanchett, to keep up with his dining schedule. The article includes King's Kitchen, Brook's Sandwich House, Halcyon, Reids, Harvest Moon and a bunch of other places.

The final article is a thoughtful picture of cuisine as it exists right here, right now. And speaking of pictures, yes, that's me, in my kitchen with the red cabinets. Photographer Squire Fox (yes, Trad, that's his real name) was very kind and only used the flattering lens, as promised.

They keep most of the current issue off the web site until the print issue has been out for a while, so you'll need to look for it on news stands for the time being. Otherwise, the web site is www.gardenandgun.com.

Cool cooking video of the week: Garlic

2011-09-29T14:13:00.002-04:00

OK, this trick for how to peel garlic in less than 10 seconds in the Saveur test kitchen left me with a few questions:

How strong do you have to be to whack apart an entire head of what looks like elephant garlic with one hand? Are all the cloves in the bowl really peeled? It's hard to tell. And does it really work better with giant steel bowls?

On the other hand, even if it doesn't work, it certainly makes a very cool sound. If we all try it tonight, maybe we'll make beautiful music together. I'll give it a try this weekend and report back.

Best food picture ever

2011-09-28T17:27:00.006-04:00

I'm not ashamed to give praise where it's due: Food staff at the New York Times, that's just a classic.

The picture is the work of photographer Tony Cenicola. The story it illustrates isn't a slouch in the interesting department, either: Sarah DiGregorio's article on chefs who are cooking chicken skin, including Sean Brock at Husk and McCardy's in Charleston. (I'll be in Charleston next week, and already had Brock's buttermilk-marinated, deep-fried chicken skin on my list.)

You can read the Times chicken skin story here. You can read some of the background on how Cenicola got the picture here. Or you can just admire that picture. Up there.

Bravo, Times People. Nicely played.

We have a cookbook winner

2011-09-26T12:58:00.000-04:00

Robin W. Williams is the winner of "From Our Grandmothers' Kitchens: A Treasury of Lost Recipes Too Good to Forget," from the editors of Cook's Country magazine.

Thanks, everyone.

Do you know your food trends?

2011-09-20T16:34:00.003-04:00

For the Southern Women's Show last week, I came up with a 20-question quiz about what's in the food trends (and what isn't). Want to play along? Don't take it too seriously - trends are really anyone's guess.

And to make it more fun, here's the prize: A copy of the new book "From Our Grandmother's Kitchen," from the editors of Cook's Country magazine. It's the perfect trend anecdote, a collection of recipes "too good to forget." To enter the random drawing, send your name and mailing address to me at kpurvis@charlotteobserver.com. Deadline: Monday morning.

OK, here's the quiz, based on a variety of sources predicting the 2011 food trends.

1. True or false: Oprah Winfrey, Mario Batali and Rachael Ray celebrate Meatless Friday.

(False: They celebrate Meatless Monday. Meatless Friday has been a tradition in the Catholic church for hundreds of years.)

2. True or false: All the buzz is about Urban Bee Keeping as the latest trend.

(True. There are hives on the roof at the Ritz Carlton and the Dunhill uptown, and in yards in Myers Park.)

3. To save calories, people are getting dessert plates with with several forks for celebrate the trend of Dessert Sharing.

(False: Germophobia and foodborne illness outbreaks have made people cautious about sharing.)

4. The latest spin in cocktail culture is Smoking Your Drink.

(True: Smoked mint juleps and smoked bourbon have both made appearances this year.)

5. How about drinking your smoke?

(True: Hookah bars are catching on.)

6. What trend does this describe: Handing over $12 to $15 on a plate of food from the back of moving van.

(FOOD TRUCK CULTURE.)

7. Is chocolate-covered bacon a trend?

(Nope. In the food-trend world, chocolate bacon is considered over.)

8. Cupcakes are the hottest thing in bite-size desserts.

(False. In 2011, Amazon.com listed eight books on macarons, the little French pastries, and only four on cupcakes. )

9. The hottest thing in fried chicken is Korean fried chicken.

(True. It's part of a trend toward ethnic comfort food.)

10. Moonshine is the latest thing in artisan liquors.

(Crazy, but true.)

11. Really tall wedding cakes are in fashion.

(False: Wedding cakes are getting simpler or they’re getting replaced with interactive things like cheesecake bars, pie spreads or, yes, candy tables.)

12. Which is not a trend: Artisan hot dogs, artisan grits or artisan tofu.

(It's a trick question: They’re all trends.)

13. Canning is back.

(True. As part of the movement toward local food, it's been big for the last several summers. )

14. The latest hot candy flavor is jalapeno M&Ms.

(False. We hope. But doesn't it sound real?)

15. The trend in baking is sweet and savory versions of . . .

(Pie. Pie is very big this year.)

16. "Hyper-local" is the new phrase for very excited small children growing their own food.

(False. Hyper-local actually means food with no middleman between the food and the plate, such as chef-owned farms or restaurants with gardens.)

17. When pigs fly: The latest thing on appetizer menus is pig wings.

(True. They're a specialty cut, and you can get them at places like The Diamond in Charlotte.)

18. Vegetarians don’t eat meat, pesco-ovo vegetarians eat fish and eggs, and flexitarians eat what?

(Anything: Flexitarians mix up vegan, vegetarian and carnivore eating styles, depending on the time of day, the day of the week or how they feel.)

19. It’s the latest thing in getting really close to the table: Chefs are weaving their own tablecloths.

(False. Although I have seen this once, that's not enough to declare it a trend.)

20. As a backlash against cyber space and technology that is changing too quickly, people are subscribing to print newspapers.

(True. But only in my dreams.)

Wilco wants you to help with local food

2011-09-20T12:49:00.004-04:00

Chicago band Wilco is supporting the latest Farmer Foodshare Challenge. Farmer Foodshare is a program that started in the Triangle to get donations of money or fresh food to use for community efforts to feed the hungry.

Starting Sept. 24, Wilco will challenge shoppers at 10 markets, including the Atherton Mill and Market in Charlotte, 2104 South Blvd., to donate money to support Farmer Foodshare.

Unfortunately, Wilco won't actually be at the market in Charlotte: They're playing the Raleigh Amphitheatre on Sept. 27, the same day they're releasing a new album, "The Whole Love." But if you donate to Farmer Foodshare at Atherton on Sept. 24, you get a free Wilco tote bag. The market organizers are hoping you'll fill the bag with food and drop it off at the Farmer Foodshare Donation Station at the front of the market. Wilco will donate proceeds from the sale of show posters to Farmer Food Share.

So far, the Atherton Market has 500 pounds of fresh food for Friendship Trays and the Dilworth Soup Kitchen. With the Wilco promotion, the market hopes to double that.

In other Atherton market news, Savory Spice Shop, a franchise based in the Denver, Colo., area, plans to open in the market in November. Savory Spice Shop, which also has a location in Raleigh, carries more than 400 freshly ground herbs and spices, 140 hand-blended seasonings, organic selections and gift sets.

The Atherton Mill and Market, in the former Charlotte Trolley Barn in the Historic South End, near South Boulevard and Tremont, is open 3-7 p.m. Tuesdays, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays.

One Great Tailgate Salad

2011-09-19T14:15:00.002-04:00

The weather cools off, the Panthers heat up. And tailgate food starts to feel like something worth getting excited about.

I was flipping through Fine Cooking magazine's special issue on tailgate recipes while the Panthers were playing (early in the game, when it looked like it was going to be a much better season) when I noticed an interesting salad. It mixes snow peas, baby peas, green onions and a big pile of shiitake mushrooms with a little bit of pasta.

No, it's not a traditional mayonnaisey pasta salad. But maybe the Panthers will shake things up this year, too.

Sesame, Snow Pea and Shiitake Pasta Salad

From Fine Cooking magazine. Serves 8.

1/2 pound (8 ounces) dried rolled, tubular pasta, such as cavatelli or strozzapreti
1/2 cup frozen baby peas
40 fresh snow peas (4 to 5 ounces), trimmed
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 cup thinly sliced yellow onion
1/2 pound (about 3 cups) fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and cut in 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
Freshly ground black pepper
4 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions (white and green parts)
2 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds (optional)

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat and place a colander in the sink. Add the pasta and cook until barely done, about 1 minute less than the time on the package. Add the green peas and cook 30 seconds. Add the snow peas, stir and immediately drain the vegetables and pasta in the colander. Rinse with cool water. Drain well, toss with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, shiitake slices, garlic, ginger, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are opaque and the mushrooms have released their juice, 3 to 4 minutes. (Don't let the vegetables brown.)

Remove the pan from the heat, transfer the vegetables and juices to a small bowl and cool to room temperature.

In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil with the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and sugar. Combine the cooled pasta and vegetables, green onions and 1 tablespoon sesame seeds (if using). Toss with the dressing and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve at room temperature, sprinkled with remaining sesame seeds (if using).

Cooking Light picks best supermarket, artisan products

2011-09-15T16:39:00.003-04:00

So many products, so many choices. Here's some tips: Cooking Light magazine has announced its pick in two lineups for the 2nd annual Taste Test Awards, due out in the October issue.

First, they made picks in 18 categories of the best-tasting supermarket products, including things like reduced-fat ranch dressing (Hidden Valley Light), applesauce (Musselman's Unsweetened Natural) and balsamic vinegar (Whole Foods 365, Pompeian and Progresso all got nods).

There are more than 18 winners, because they gave grand prize and test-taste prize in most categories. It's posted as one of those annoying slide shows, but give them points: You can go here to get an overview of all the products. (Thanks, CL techs.)

Next, CL editors picked the best small-batch artisan products from around the country.

The Carolinas did very well: Johnson County Ham Curemasters Reserve, Cardinal Gin from Kings Mountain, Kerala Curry Curried Lemon from Pittsboro, Looking Glass Creamery Ellington (huh, didn't I just put something about them in the blog last week?) and of course, Blenheim's Hot Ginger Ale.

Whoo-hoos are well-deserved all around.

"Splendid Table" giveaway: We have a winner

2011-09-14T10:40:00.002-04:00

Julie Ruble, who challenges bakers with her own blog, Willow Bird Baking, has won my challenge to post a convenience food shortcut for an entry into our drawing for a copy of "The Splendid Table's How to Eat Weekends," the new book by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift.

To pick a winner, I count the entries in the order they come in and then enter the final tally into the Random Generator at www.random.org.

Take a look at Monday's post for the new ideas people sent in. And Julie, email me at kpurvis@charlotteobserver.com with your mailing address and I'll get the book on its way. Thanks, all, for playing.

"Top Chef" product line goes cold

2011-09-14T10:28:00.003-04:00

Maybe the ad slogan will be "Pack your knives and microwave":

ConAgra has announced a deal to produce a line of "Top Chef" frozen entrees, according to the publication Broadcast & Cable. The report by reporter Jon Lafayette says the line will be a part of the Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers brand. The marketing includes a Web series, Top Chef Healthy Showdown, which appears on bravotv.com. The products are expected to start showing up in supermarkets later in September.

What's the worst food in America?

2011-09-13T14:30:00.003-04:00

The book series "Eat This Not That" uses pictures and catchy graphics to compare which foods and food products have the best and worst nutrition lineups. The results are heavily focused on chain and fast-food restaurants and prepared foods. But it always makes fascinating reading.

The 2012 edition just landed on my desk, giving author David Zinczenko's picks for the 20 worst restaurant dishes. Are you sure you're ready? OK, here goes:

1. Worst Food in America: The Cheesecake Factory Bistro Shrimp Pasta. 2,730 calories, 78 grams of saturated fat, and 919 mg sodium. (Cheesecake Factory has won their title for Worst Restaurant in America 4 years in a row.)
2. Worst Chicken Entree: Cheesecake Factory Chicken and Biscuits. 2,580 calories, 68g saturated fat, 2,621mg sodium.
3. Worst Ribs: TGI Friday's Caribbean Rockin' Reggae Ribs. 2,450 calories, 52g saturated fat, 3,810mg sodium.
4. Worst Breakfast: IHOP Big Country Breakfast with Country Fried Steak and Country Gravy. 2,440 calories, 145g fat (56g saturated), 5,520mg sodium.
5. Worst Appetizer: Applebee's Appetizer Sampler. 2,430 calories, 166g fat (48g saturated), 6,070mg sodium.
6. Worst Pizza: Uno Chicago Grill Individual Chicago Classic Deep Dish Pizza. 2,310 calories, 165g fat (54g saturated), 4,650mg sodium.
7. Worst Burger: Chili's Jalapeno Smokehouse Bacon Burger With Ranch. 2,210 calories, 144g fat (46g saturated), 6,600mg sodium.
8. Worst Fish Meal: Culver's North Atlantic Cod Filet Meal. 2,156 calories, 140g fat (21g saturated, 2g transfats), 2,378mg sodium.
9. Worst Mexican Meal: On the Border Dos XX Fish Tacos. 2,150 calories, 144g fat (31g saturated), 3,740mg sodium.
10. Worst Fries: Chili's Texas Cheese Fries With Chili and Ranch. 2,120 calories, 144g fat (69g saturated), 5,920mg sodium.
11. Worst Dessert: Baskin-Robbins Fudge Brownie 31-Degree Below (large). 1,900 calories, 80g fat (39g saturated, 1.5g transfat), 1,350mg sodum, 225g sugars.
12. Worst Sandwich: The Cheesecake Factory Grilled Shrimp & Bacon Club. 1,890 calories, 24g saturated fat, 2,964mg sodium.
13. Worst Chinese Entree: PF Chang's Double Pan-Fried Noodles Combo. 1,820 calories, 84g fat (8g saturated), 7.692mg sodium.
14. Worst Fast-Food Burger: Sonic Ring Leader Loaded Burger Double Patty. 1,660 calories, 120g fat (44g saturated, 4g transfat), 1,450mg sodium.
15. Worst Salad: California Pizza Kitchen Waldorf Chicken Salad With Blue Cheese Dressing. 1,561 calories, 31g saturated fat, 1,821mg sodium.
16. Worst Frankenfood: Friendly's Grilled-Cheese Burger. 1,540 calories, 92g fat (35g saturated), 2,490mg sodium.
17. Worst Fast-Food Breakfast: Burger King BK Ultimate Breakfast Platter. 1,310 calories, 72g fat (26f saturated, 1g transfat), 2,490mg sodium.
18. Worst "Healthy" Sandwich: Quiznos Veggie, large. 1,090 calories, 61g fat (19g saturated), 2,540mg sodium.
19. Worst Supermarket Food: Hungry-Man Pub Favorites Classic Fried Chicken. 1,030 calories, 62g fat (14g saturated -- transfat isn't listed on the package), 1,610mg sodium.
20. Worst Side Dish: TGI Friday's Loaded Mashed Potatoes. 930 calories (no other nutrition provided).

One Great . . . Late Summer Pasta Dish

2011-09-13T09:05:00.004-04:00

With the good-tomato season running out faster than a kid who's missing the bus, I can't resist buying as many as I can at the farmers market. Which means that I look up late in the week and realize I have several fat tomatoes that are crossing the border from ripe to too-ripe.

Casting around for a way to turn a few juicy specimens into dinner, I spied the new book "Cook This Now," from New York Times food columnist Melissa Clark. Organized by seasons, it was easy to find the dish "Pasta With Bacon, Rosemary, and Very Ripe Tomatoes." It was fast and easy, and piled next to a piece of wild salmon, it made a tasty summer supper.

Pasta With Bacon, Rosemary, and Very Ripe Tomatoes

Serves 2 (4 at my house, thanks to the salmon)

8 ounces pasta shape of choice (she suggests farro spaghetti; I used farfelle)
3 ounces bacon, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces (I used a little home-cured slab bacon from the freezer)
1 large, bushy rosemary sprig (I pulled the leaves off the sprig and minced them)
2 cloves garlic, minced
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 very large or 3 medium tomatoes, cored and chopped
Balsamic vinegar (optional)
Soft herbs, such as minced thyme, if you want (very optional)
Grated Pecorino Romano (optional)

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta according to package directions (11 minutes for farfelle).

Place a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer bacon to a paper towel, leaving the fat in the pan; if it looks really greasy, spoon some out to just leave a thin layer. (Since I was using thicker slab bacon, I just left it in the pan and cooked it into the sauce.)

Add the rosemary, garlic, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste to the skillet and cook until the garlic is lightly browned but not burned, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and let the sauce simmer until the pasta is cooked. Season aggressively with more salt and pepper. If it tastes flat, add a few drops of vinegar.

Drain the pasta and add to the sauce, tossing to mix. Sprinkle with the bacon and herbs if you're using them. Grate some Pecorino Romano over the top if desired.

A win for Mooresville's Race City Sauce Works

2011-09-12T16:04:00.002-04:00

My colleague, Raleigh food writer Debbie Moose, is an annual judge for the N.C. Hot Sauce Contest in Oxford, N.C. Tough duty, but good news for a local saucer: The winner of Critics' Choice this year is El Verde Sucio -- The Dirty Green, from Race City Sauce Works in Charlotte.

Winner of hottest sauce was Bhut Jolokia, made by Bailey Farms, while Most Unusual went to Smoking J's Jamaican Ginger.

Read about the contest and the painful duty of Hot Sauce Judge at Debbie's blog.

Who won the barbecue contest?

2011-09-12T14:23:00.003-04:00

I was on the road this weekend and had to miss BBQ & Blues on Sept. 10 at the N.C. Music Factory.
But I got the winners bright and early this morning.

The big prize was kind of a double header: The Grand Champion crown went to a team from Jack's Old South BBQ. But since Old South already has a berth at Memphis in May, Charlotte will be represented by Rannucci's Big Butt BBQ of Belmont. Here are the remaining winners.

Pork shoulder:
1st - Jack's Old South.
2nd - Smoke Shack.
3rd - Black Jack Barbecue.
4th - Rannucci's Big Butt.
5th - Muck's.

Whole hog:
1st - Jack's Old South
2nd - Yazoo's Delta Q's.
3rd - Black Jack
4th - Uncle Mac's BBQ Crue.
5th - Rannucci's.

Ribs:
1st - Rannucci's.
2nd - Doc & Dicie's BBQ.
3rd - Uncle Mac's.
4th - Mountain Grillas.
5th - Smoke Shack.

In the Backyard Grillers category . . .

Boston Butt:
1st - Rocky Top Smokies.
2nd - QCQ.
3rd - Pork Busters.

Ribs:
1st - Moonswine Racers.
2nd - Fast Eddie's Lo & Slo.
3rd - Mad About Que.

A "Splendid" Cookbook Giveaway

2011-09-12T11:06:00.002-04:00

I was away from my office with no online contact last week, so I didn't realize that our giveaway for "The Splendid Table How to Eat Weekends" didn't get posted. So let's give it another try:

The always fabulous radio host Lynne Rossetto Kasper was kind enough to give me a great tip for my story on convenience-food shortcuts (read it here if you missed it). In her honor, I wanted to get your favorite convenience-food shortcut. Post your idea here (a great convenience product, how you use it and what, if anything, you do to improve it). Include a unique name (not just Anonymous) and I'll include you in a drawing for the new book by Lynne and her co-author, Sally Swift.

Don't forget to check back and find out if you won. I'll announce the winner at 9 a.m. Wednesday, so the deadline is 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Carolina food travel: Go, do, be

2011-09-02T17:48:00.003-04:00

I'm on the road myself for the next week. In the meantime, keep these in mind:

The Asian Moon Festival, one of the two biggest Asian festivals, is Sept. 12. If you've ever wondered about Moon Cakes, those puffy cakes with elaborate writing, there's an Asian Culture Meetup at 4 p.m. Sept. 12 at Grand Asia, 4400 Potters Road in Matthews. You'll learn the significance of the food, learn how mooncakes are made, and get a sample (and probably eat a little). It's $5. Sign up here.

Greenville, S.C., has been a food-focused city with a small but dedicated restaurant scene. For $39, you can join a culinary tour every Tuesday at 6 p.m. or Saturdays at 1:30 p.m. You visit five restaurants, getting something to eat and drink at each stop. The stops: The Loft at Soby's, chef Rodney Freidank; the kitchen at Soby's on the Side; The Lazy Goat, chef Victoria Moore; Soby's New South Cuisine, chef Shaun Garcia; and Devereaux's, chef Spencer Thompson. Details and tickets: www.greenvillecvb.com. That's also the place to find details on the big food weekend, Euphoria, Sept. 22.

It's getting to be the best time of year to hit the wine country. If you need an excuse, here's one: Raffaldini Vineyards in Ronda is celebrating its 6th annual Festa Italiana from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 17. Admission is $15 and includes a wine tasting, live music and food vendors (and a gorgeous view, from their Italian-style villa, one of the prettiest winery locations around). Details, including directions (it's an easy drive, 75 miles north of uptown Charlotte on I-77): www.raffaldini.com.

Too much zucchini? Keep your cool

2011-09-02T08:42:00.003-04:00

File this under "the most interesting recipe I saw before 9 a.m. today":

On Seriouseats.com, Max Falkowitz has a post on a novel way to take your revenge on all those zucchini: Zucchini Bread Ice Cream.

"When you've reached the point of zucchinipocalypse where even baking won't save you from the overrun, there's one last dramatic course of action to take. I'm talking about ice cream. Specifically, zucchini bread ice cream. It's a novelty to bust you out of zucchini malaise, and it's so good you may finally have the weapon you need to repel the invasion of the summer squash."

Falkowitz does not merely make zucchini bread and crumble it into ice cream. His method involves browning grated zucchini in butter, pureeing it with cream and spices and adding a glug of beer - yes, beer - to add that essential baked breadiness.

Sounds to me like the perfect thing to scoop on top of that other great zucchini-hider, the Mock Apple Pie.

Here's a link. And if you make it, please let me know if this idea is a keeper.

Look, it's Looking Glass

2011-09-01T11:17:00.003-04:00

As a local-cheeses fan, I'm always happy to see Carolinas cheesemakers get attention:

Asheville's Looking Glass Creamery's Ellington Cheese is included in the October issue of Cooking Light magazine, in a roundup of great artisanal and small-batch foods from around the kitchen. Ellington is a goat's milk pyramid-form cheese with black ash under the rind.

Looking Glass is a family-owned operation owned by Jennifer and Andy Perkins in Fairview, near Asheville. They opened in January 2009.

Looking Glass has popped up in a few locations in Charlotte. It was recently on the cheese plate at Harvest Moon Grille at the Dunhill Hotel, although it's not on the chalkboard at the moment. It's also available all around Asheville and Hendersonville. For more details and sightings, go to www.ashevillecheese.com.

One Great . . . Shortcut Soup

2011-08-29T14:47:00.002-04:00

This idea popped up in the September issue of Everyday Food magazine: Use salsa as the base for a very fast soup.

1 corn tortilla
1 (16-ounce) jar salsa
1 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Diced avocado and fresh cilantro (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut tortilla into thin strips, spread on a baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 8 minutes.

Combine salsa and chicken broth in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil.

Transfer to a blender with the heavy cream. Blend until smooth. (Be careful and vent the top of the blender so it doesn't splash.) Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide between two bowls and top with the tortilla strips, avocado and cilantro.

Makes 2 servings. Per serving: 227 calories, 13g fat (5g saturated), 2g protein, 25g carbohydrate, 4g fiber.

Cameras on at JWU Charlotte

2011-08-29T09:39:00.002-04:00

Four students at Johnson & Wales University's Charlotte campus will be the focus of "Cooking School Confidential."

The show follows the students through a semester at culinary school.

The students are:

Amber Brewer, a mother of three with a full-time job;

Paul Walls, an Army vet who's hoping to win an internship at the Alain Ducasse Culinary School in France;

Kay Taylor, a 40-something who is chasing her passion for food; and

Graham Foster, a professional cyclist who is juggling racing and food.

The documentary airs at 8 p.m. Sept. 4 on The Cooking Channel, the Food Network spinoff that airs on 354 on Time Warner Cable.

Hot ticket for some hot barbecue

2011-08-26T14:17:00.002-04:00

Tickets go on sale Saturday for a fun food event, the annual Matthews Community Farmers Market Barbecue. The actual barbecue is $5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 27.

The barbecue part is Grateful Growers pork cooked by Alex Ranucci of Ranucci's Big Butt Barbecue. That's served with sides by several Charlotte chefs. $12 gets you barbecue, sides, dessert and a drink; $10 gets you a pound of 'cue. Proceeds go to support the market and its upkeep.

You have to buy tickets in advance. Get them at the market, 188 N. Trade St. in Matthews, during market hours (7:15 a.m.-noon Saturdays) or at Renfrow's Hardware right up the street.

In other Matthews market news: The market hours will be short on Labor Day Saturday, because of the annual Matthews Alive festival. The market will only be open from 7:15 to 9 a.m., and the only parking will be in the open lot behind the market.

What he said: Bruni, Bourdain and Paula

2011-08-25T16:48:00.005-04:00

Interesting reading from the New York Times: Former restaurant reviewer (and now op-ed columnist) Frank Bruni joins in on the brouhaha over Tony Bourdain dissing Paula Deen.

Background: In a recent interview, Bourdain - who has been on a tear for the last few months, railing against everything from the James Beard Foundation to newspaper food writers - came out swinging against Paula Deen, calling her "the worst, most dangerous person in America" for the fat level of her food. Deen returned by noting that not everybody can afford the kind of high-art cuisine that Bourdain might prefer we all eat.

Bruni stepped up with some interesting thoughts on the elitist elements in the debate:

"When (Paula) Deen fries a chicken, many of us balk. When the Manhattan chefs David Chang or Andrew Carmellini do, we grovel for reservations and swoon over the homey exhilaration of it all. Her strips of bacon, skirting pancakes, represent heedless gluttony. Chang’s dominoes of pork belly, swaddled in an Asian bun, signify high art."

Want to read the rest? Here's the link.

What will you do for Food Day?

2011-08-25T10:19:00.002-04:00

They're calling it "Earth Day for food." The idea is that on Oct. 24, people all over the country will gather to celebrate their local food systems, wherever they are.

A brainchild of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Food Day will be celebrated in Mecklenburg County two days earlier, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 22 at Bette Rae Thomas Center, 2921 Tuckaseegee Road. The Charlotte event will include cooking demos with students and staff from Johnson & Wales University, showings and discussions of the films "Food, Inc." (at 10 a.m.) and "Fast Food Nation" (at 1 p.m.), gardening workshops at 10 a.,m. and 1 p.m., fitness workshops, kids' activities, a farm stand (including EBT access) featuring Sow Much Good of Huntersville, and health and wellness vendors.

You can find out more about the national Food Day at foodday.org , or search Mecklenburg National Food Day Celebration on facebook.

"The Southern-Latino Table": Who won?

2011-08-25T09:13:00.002-04:00

It seems fitting for the first day of school to give a book to a teacher.

And as a former English major who once took a master's level course in Medieval English -- I still have my copy of "Piers Plowman" (can't translate it anymore, but by goodness, I have it) -- I'm happy to send "The New Southern-Latino Table" by Sandra A. Gutierrez to Jo Koster, professor of English, director of English grad studies and coordinator of Medieval Studies at Winthrop University in Rock Hill.

Even better: Dr. Koster wrote that she had "Southern-Latino" on her Amazon wish list. Now she can take it off and make room for another copy of the Confessio Amantis.

Thanks, all, for playing. We'll do another giveaway soon.

One Great Late-Summer Salad

2011-08-23T10:15:00.003-04:00

What does a summer with lots of heat and plenty of rain bring us? From what I've seen at the farmers' markets lately, it's definitely tomatoes and watermelon. Meanwhile, in my herb bed, the basil is waist-high and the mint is out of control. In the spirit of the old culinary rule "what grows together, goes together," here's a way to put them all together.

This recipe was adapted from the new book "Sara Foster's Southern Kitchen," in the summer 2011 issue of Edible Piedmont, which just turned up in my mailbox.

Watermelon-Tomato Salad With Shaved Feta and Handfuls of Mint

Serves 6 to 8

3 large heirloom-type tomatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), cored and cut into chunks
4 cups cubed, seeded watermelon
1/2 cup fresh mint, roughly chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
Juice of 1 lime
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) feta, shaved or thinly sliced
1 lime, cut in wedges

Combine the tomatoes, watermelon, mint, basil, olive oil, vinegar, lime juice, salt and pepper in a large bowl and toss to mix. Cover and refrigerate several hours.

Just before serving, sprinkle with the feta and serve with lime wedges and sea salt for squeezing and sprinkling on top.

Photo: examiner.com

Welcome back cookbook giveaway

2011-08-22T11:52:00.003-04:00

It feels like everything is starting over this week: Kids are back to school, and I'm back at work after a late-summer week off.

Let's celebrate by celebrating a new N.C. author. I interviewed Sandra A. Gutierrez of Cary back when I wrote about putting an international spin on potato salad for the Fourth of July.

Gutierrez' first book has just been released by UNC Press: "The New Southern-Latino Table" is a lovely, hardcover book with lots of color photos and recipes that celebrate the overlaps between Latin American and Southern food. Looking through it, I noticed her interesting take on pimento cheese, Pimento and Cheese Chilaquiles, a simple tortilla casserole made with a pimento-cheese inspired sauce. It would be a great recipe to keep on hand during the school year. You can assemble the casserole in advance, refrigerate it and back it when you get home.

Here's the recipe, and your chance to win a copy of "The New Southern-Latino Table." Email me at kpurvis@charlotteobserver.com and put "Southern Latino" in the message line. We'll hold a drawing to give away a copy on Thursday.

Pimento and Cheese Chilaquiles

From "The New Southern-Latino Table," by Sandra A. Gutierrez (UNC Press, $30). You can double or triple the recipe, and add cooked, shredded chicken or cooked ground beef.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

12 corn tortillas, each cut in eight wedges
Vegetable oil for frying
Salt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 (14-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pimento Sauce (see below)
1 1/2 cups shredded queso fresco or Monterey Jack
1 1/4 cups sour cream
2 avocadoes
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro

Line two baking sheets with cooling racked. Heat 3 to 3 inches of oil to 350 degrees in a large skillet with deep sides. Working in batches, carefully add the tortilla wedges and fry, stirring constantly, for 3 to 4 minutes or until crispy. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to the cooling racks and immediately sprinkle with salt.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper; bring to a simmer, cover and cook 10 minutes. Stir in the pimento sauce and remove from heat.
Spread a third of the sauce in the bottom of a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Top with half of the fried chips. Spread half of the remaining sauce over the chips, then spread with half of the cheese. Repeat layering, ending with the cheese. Press down on the tortillas with a wooden spoon (don't worry if some bread). Drop the sour cream by dollops over the top. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil.

Halve, pit and peel the avocadoes and slice them thinly. Place the slices decoratively over the top of the casserole. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Pimento Sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups roughly chopped yellow onion
1 cup peeled, seeded and chopped plum tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 (7-ounce) jars diced pimentos
1 teaspoon aji panca paste or hot sauce such as Tabasco
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the onions and saute 3 to 4 minutes, or until they begin to soften. Add the tomatoes and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the pimentos, aji panca or hot sauce, water, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool. slightly. Transfer to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Return to saucepan and keep warm until ready to serve. Makes 2 cups.

One great potluck dish

2011-08-12T15:58:00.006-04:00

What do you make to take? I found this in the premiere issue of Recipe.com, a new magazine (yes, a printed magazine with the name "dot.com") from Meredith that brings together budget-focused recipes from their other magazines, such as Better Homes and Gardens, Midwest Living and Eating Well. This one originally ran in BHG.

24-Hour Chicken Fiesta Salad

4 cups torn lettuce (iceberg, bibb or Boston)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded pepper-Jack cheese
1 cup (or 1/2 of a 15-ounce can) of black beans, pinto beans or garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
8 ounces chopped cooked chicken or turkey (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 small tomatoes, cut into thin wedges
1 cup jicama (about 4 ounces) cut in bite-size strips, or 1 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup sliced, pitted ripe olives
Chile dressing (see below)
3/4 cup crushed tortilla chips

Place lettuce in a large (2-quart) salad bowl. Layer ingredients in the following order: Cheese, beans, chicken, tomatoes, jicama and olives. Spread Chile Dressing evenly over the salad, sealing to the edge of the bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Chill for 4 to 24 hours. To serve, toss lightly to coat evenly. Sprinkle with crushed tortilla chips.
Chile dressing: Stir together 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder and 1 minced clove garlic.

Makes 4 servings.

Per serving: 444 calories, 26g protein, 17g carbohydrates, 32g fat (7g saturated), 73mg cholesterol, 460mg sodium, 5g fiber.

WFAE is raking you over the coals

2011-08-12T09:56:00.004-04:00

I've always said Mike Collins is smokin' hot: Out of all the subjects "Charlotte Talks" has covered, the 30th anniversary show, which airs Aug. 22, is on grilling and smoking. They're looking for grilling stories and techniques to read during the show and post online afterward. The show also will be taped during a special open house Aug. 19. Get a link to submitting your questions and stories and get a chance at a ticket to the open house on their food blog, WFAEATS.

Friday food news roundup

2011-08-12T08:34:00.003-04:00

Tickets are on sale for the ninth season of Taste of the World, the East Charlotte food tour of international restaurants in the area around Central Avenue. If you've never gone, the tour starts at the Van Landingham Estate on The Plaza, circles around to three restaurants and ends back at Van Landingham with a dessert reception. This year's event is on Oct. 6. Tickets are $30 at www.charlotteeast.com. Yes, it's early, but the event is popular and sells out.

Another event is coming up closer: The next Chow Down Uptown food truck festival is next Thursday, Aug. 18, from 5-9 p.m., in the parking lot on 7th Street across from the former Reids (soon to be known as 7Venth Market). This time, the event will include A Taste of the Market, with samples from some of the vendors who will be at 7Venth Market when it opens, a promotion for "The Addams Family Musical" and a screening of the movie, and the debut of Hamilton, the inflatable mascot for BBQ And Blues. After my visit to last month's rally, I'd suggest a few things: Bring cash - tasting a bunch of stuff can run up a tab. Bring a shade umbrella. Bring hand wipes. And bring an appetite.

Harvest Moon Grille at the Dunhill has two local-foods events next week: On Sunday from 2-4 p.m., you can take a class in Korean cooking, featuring bulgogi, pork belly and kimchi. Tickets are $20. On Monday, the restaurant hosts its second guest-chef night with Charles Taft, vice president of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. The dinner showcases rare and endangered livestock breeds and heirloom vegetables. (OK, he's not exactly the same as having Joe Kwon of the Avett Brothers, but ALBC does important stuff in keeping livestock diversified.) Dinner is $55 with a portion of proceeds going to ALBC. Reservations for dinner or the class: 704-332-4141.

(Speaking of food trucks, has anyone noticed that we've now had two food trucks stolen, the Harvest Moon Grill orange cart and the Lakeview Dairy mooing dairy truck?)

What's on your ideal food reading list?

2011-08-10T12:38:00.004-04:00

While writing today's column about the new food-book reading club at Park Road Books, I was pondering the differences in food book styles.

There are cookbooks, and there are food books. Now, it is true that sometimes cookbooks can be food books. And sometimes food books have recipes. But there's an essential difference between the two. It seems to me that cookbooks are focused on how to make things. And food books are focused on . . . everything else.

Food memoirs. Food politics. Food novels. To me, Julia Child wrote cookbooks, and M.F.K. Fisher wrote food books.

I've offered plenty of cookbook lists through the years. Now I'm wondering: What five food books would be essential reading to you?

I'll start it off with two lists, mine and one sent to me by loyal and active food reader Ken Allen. My list:
A.J. Liebling, "Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris." One of the great -- and most humorous -- journalists writes about moving to Paris and learning to appreciate food in the 1920s. It's as much about learning how to eat as learning what to eat.
M.F.K. Fisher. Pretty much anything she wrote, although "The Art of Eating" is a good start.
John Thorne, "Simple Cooking." Erudite, curmudgeonly, comforting. Before any food blogger sets fingers on the keys, they ought to read the man who came before.
Laurie Colwin, "Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen" (and I'll cheat and add "More Home Cooking: A Writer Returns to the Kitchen.") I wake up every morning knowing that the best food writing essays ever written have already been written. And yet I get up anyway.
Anthony Bourdain, "Kitchen Confidential." Before the show, before the wars on everyone from newspaper food editors to Esquire writer John Mariani and the James Beard Foundation, before the attitude became a schtick, Tony Bourdain was a writer. A good writer.

And from Ken Allen: I'm thinking of Cross Creek Cookery, Pat Conroy's cookbook, Dan Huntley's barbecue book, among others. If I'm making a recipe from one of those, I have to double the amount of time it takes to actually fix the food due to getting distracted by the stories.

Anyone else have picks they'd share?

Keeping your diet on track

2011-08-05T08:58:00.003-04:00

Holy cow! If you go to a farmers market this weekend, keep in mind the scene from this market in Thailand.

My thanks to Dean Mullis of Laughing Owl and cozy market locations at the Charlotte Regional Market, the Matthews Community Market and the Atherton Market, who shared this in his farm newsletter. (Hey, Dean, do you reckon Donnie is skinny enough to fit next to the tracks?)

Report: Farmers markets boost economies

2011-08-04T08:53:00.001-04:00

Here's an interesting report on the economic impact of farmers markets (and by extension, the local food movement) just released by the Union of Concerned Scientists:

WASHINGTON (August 4, 2011) – Over the last several decades, thousands of farmers markets have been popping up in cities and towns across the country, benefiting local farmers, consumers and economies, but they could be doing a lot better, according to a report released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). What’s holding farmers markets back? Federal policies that favor industrial agriculture at their expense.

“On the whole, farmers markets have seen exceptional growth, providing local communities with fresh food direct from the farm,” said Jeffrey O’Hara, the author of the report and an economist with UCS’s Food and Environment Program. “But our federal food policies are working against them. If the U.S. government diverted just a small amount of the massive subsidies it lavishes on industrial agriculture to support these markets and small local farmers, it would not only improve American diets, it would generate tens of thousands of new jobs.”

UCS released the report just a few days before the 12th annual U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Farmers Market Week, which starts on Sunday, August 7. According to the report, “Market Forces: Creating Jobs through Public Investment in Local and Regional Food Systems,” the number of farmers markets nationwide more than doubled between 2000 and 2010 jumping from 2,863 to 6,132, and now more than 100,000 farms sell food directly to local consumers.

All that growth happened with relatively little help. Last year, for example, the USDA spent $13.725 billion in commodity, crop insurance, and supplemental disaster assistance payments mostly to support large industrial farms, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The amount the agency spent that year to support local and regional food system farmers? Less than $100 million, according to USDA data.

In 2007, the most recent USDA figure, direct agricultural product sales amounted to a $1.2 billion-a-year business, and most of that money recirculates locally. “The fact that farmers are selling directly to the people who live nearby means that sales revenue stays local,” O’Hara said. “That helps stabilize local economies.”

Keeping revenues local also can mean more job opportunities. Last summer, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asked Congress to set a goal in the 2012 Farm Bill of helping at least 100,000 Americans to become farmers by, among other things, providing entrepreneurial training and support for farmers markets. O’Hara’s report takes up Vilsack’s challenge and argues that supporting local and regional food system expansion is central to meeting that goal.

In the report, O’Hara identified a number of initiatives the federal government could take to encourage new farmers and the growth of farmers markets in the upcoming Farm Bill. For example, the report called on Congress to:

• support the development of local food markets, including farmers markets and farm-to-school programs, which can stabilize community-supported markets and create permanent jobs. For example, the report found that the Farmers Market Promotion Program could create as many as 13,500 jobs nationally over a five-year period, if reauthorized, by providing modest funding for 100 to 500 farmers markets per year.

• level the playing field for farmers in rural regions by investing in infrastructure, such as meat-processing or dairy-bottling facilities, which would help meat, dairy and other farmers produce and market their products to consumers more efficiently. These investments could foster competition in food markets, increase product choice for consumers, and generate jobs in the community.

• allow low-income residents to redeem food nutrition subsidies at local food markets to help them afford fresh fruits and vegetables. Currently, not all markets are able to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

“Farmers at local markets are a new variety of innovative entrepreneurs, and we need to nurture them,” said O’Hara. “Supporting these farmers should be a Farm Bill priority.”

"Foodie" needs your help

2011-08-03T08:43:00.003-04:00

Three guys from Durham (sounds like a great name for a coffee shop) are trying to finish their film "Foodie" by raising money at www.kickerstarter.com. Take a look and see what you think. FYI: It gets better after the first scene, actually. At the least, I'm hoping they span a new catchphrase: "Oh! Bread pudding!"

Keep your cool, cooks

2011-08-02T17:39:00.003-04:00

My colleague Andrea Weigl had more tips and recipes than she could share in her story on cool summer suppers on today's Food front. Here are more:

Nanette Truelove of Fuquay-Varina compiled a cookbook of vegetable recipes to help her daughter's customers who shop at her daughter's Apex farmstand. Truelove's Sicilian background, of course, produced this quick-and-easy recipe:

Sicilian Raw Sauce

Nanette Truelove notes: Use only deep red vine ripened tomatoes to make the sweetest sauce. A quick and easy way to remove the skin is to place the tomatoes in a dishpan and pour boiling water on top of them. Let them stand 3 minutes, pour off the hot water and replace with cold water. Cut off the end of the tomato and slip the skins off.

¼ cup of olive oil
1 teaspoon of salt
1 hand full of fresh basil leaves
1 garlic clove, crushed and peeled
Enough peeled ripe Roma tomatoes to fill a quart blender
1 pound of angel hair pasta
Romano cheese, optional
Crushed red pepper, optional

PLACE olive oil, salt, pepper, basil , garlic and tomatoes in a quart-size blender. Mash tomatoes down to eliminate air. Blend to liquefy. Let stand for at least 30 minutes before using the sauce.

COOK pasta as directed on package. Strain the pasta and place it in a serving bowl and stir in all of the sauce. Cover the serving bowl with a lid and let the pasta sit no longer than three minutes before serving. The sauce is a bit watery but the pasta will quickly take the extra liquid. Serve the pasta in soup dishes. Garnish this dish with Romano cheese and crushed red pepper.

Yield: 6 servings

Susan Reda does cooking demonstrations at a Chapel Hill area farmers market. Below is her recipe for Cool as a Cucumber Salad, but here are links to other recipes from Reda that require little or no cooking on hot summer days:

http://www.chapelboro.com/Simple-Spring-Sides/9715427?pid=48755

http://www.chapelboro.com/Create-Your-Own-Herb-Vinegars/9715427?pid=47970

Cool as a Cucumber Salad

Susan Reda suggests serving this salad with grilled meats. You also could add a spoonful of yogurt to the dressing.

4 (5 ½-inch to 6 ½-inch) cucumbers, thinly sliced on the diagonal
¼ to ½ onion, thinly sliced
¼ cup rough chopped dill, loosely packed
1 teaspoon sea or kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil

COMBINE cucumbers, onion, dill, salt, pepper, vinegar and olive oil in a glass or non-reactive bowl. Refrigerate for at least an hour to let flavors marry. Serve.

Yield: About 3 cups.

Mary Jo Lassiter of North Raleigh offered this basic outline of a recipe for a Summer Squash Casserole made in the microwave: Cook squash and onions in the microwave, then mash or chop both squash and onions. (Chopping is easier than mashing.) Add a tablespoon each of sour cream and undiluted cream of chicken soup and the 1/4 to 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese. (You can add more to match the amount of vegetables.) Cook on power level 5 or 6 until is is hot. When it is getting about done, sprinkle bread crumbs or ritz cracker crumbs on top and finish cooking.