Pure Dessert

I've said it before, but I'm in awe of Alice Medrich. She was an early chocolate evangelist in the Bay Area, who brought us luscious desserts and truffles, inspired by what she had tasted and learned in France. Over the past few years she has written several terrific and award-winning books on chocolate including Bittersweet, Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts, and Chocolate Holidays.

Her latest book is a bit of a departure, it's not just about chocolate, but an exploration into the world of high quality ingredients. The chapters in Pure Dessert are focused on the flavors of Milk, Grain, Nuts and Seeds, Fruit, Chocolate, Honey and Sugar, Herbs and Spices, Flowers and Herbs, and Wine, Beer and Spirits. Intriguing, don't you think?

In each chapter is a discussion of the ingredients, the flavors and where they can take you. Best of all are the recipes, which are very simple, in part to highlight flavors and not confuse your palate. It's a celebration of the nuances that contribute to the flavors we love. Medrich is a true perfectionist with an almost scientific like approach, so you are unlikely to ever have trouble with one of her recipes. In this season of too much frosting, sprinkles and fluff, this book is refreshing. Recipes include, Cardamom Roasted Figs, Corn Tuiles with Salt and Pepper, Blackberry Buttermilk Sherbet, Hazelnut Whole Wheat Sables, White Chocolate Souffle Cakes with Chocolate Orange Sauce, and Guinness Ice Cream.

Today meet Alice Medrich at a book signing and dessert tasting(!) from noon until 2 at Fog City News

Fog City News
455 Market Street @ Fremont St
San Francisco
415.543.7400

Whole Wheat Mini Pizza: Recipe

In an attempt to eat more whole grain this year, I've switched to whole wheat versions of products I used to buy in more refined form. I buy whole wheat pasta, whole wheat tortillas and whole wheat bread. It's important to make sure wheat bread is whole wheat or you can look for the Whole Grains stamp introduced by the Whole Grains Council (an excellent source of whole grain information), otherwise you may not be getting all the benefits. If you didn't already know, whole grains help reduce the risk of heart disease, certain types of cancer, stroke, diabetes and help with better weight maintenance. Three servings a day is considered optimal and switching to whole wheat is a good way to do that.

Whole wheat bread is a no-brainer but when it comes to using whole wheat pasta and tortillas I've had to rethink how I cook. Whole wheat pasta has a rougher, rustic style that works particularly well with chunky or nutty sauces and not as well with cream-based or smooth sauces. I like it with broccoli, tomatoes, olives, with a sesame or peanut sauce or a sauce that has bread crumbs or toasted nuts and olive oil.

Whole wheat tortillas are best when crispy, not soft. Both quesadillas or mini pizzas are a fantastic way to use whole wheat tortillas. Lately I have developed a couple of recipes using little rounds of whole wheat tortillas as a crust. I punch out rounds using a biscuit cutter but you could even cut them in quarters if you like. Toasting them in a 400 degree oven on a baking sheet works great. Top them with whatever you like for a thin, crispy crust mini-pizza snack. They are quick to make, tasty, healthy and absolutely delicious. They even look pretty good, don't you think?

Whole Wheat Mini Pizza
serves 2

2 whole wheat tortillas
1/2 cup grated cheese (whatever you like that melts)
1/4 cup vegetables such as olives, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms or a combination
2 Tablespoons meat (crumbled sausage, bacon, cooked chicken, etc.) optional

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut 4 rounds from each tortilla. Place them on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes or until slightly crisp. Top each round with cheese, a sprinkling of vegetables and meat if desired. Return to the oven until cheese has melted, about 3 - 4 minutes.

Enjoy!

What is Natural poultry anyway?

Last week there was a flurry of comments about a post in which my Thanksgiving expert Rick Rodgers mentioned "natural" in regard to poultry. Coincidentally while shopping for chicken I had someone ask me if natural was the same as organic. I gave her the short answer, which was "no". But there's a lot more to it than that. Even reading the labels can be confusing.

Natural, according to the dictionary, means functioning or occurring in a normal way or existing in or produced by nature; not artificial or imitation. But when it comes to chicken and for that matter turkey, natural isn't what you might think. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture the label "natural" means the food contains no hormones, antibiotics or artificial ingredients and is "minimally" processed. But that doesn't prohibit processors from adding sodium, carrageenan and broth or water to the bird. Perhaps those aren't artificial ingredients, but neither are they naturally occurring in poultry at least not in the quantities that end up in the bird.

In fact, up to 15 percent of the weight of the chicken can be an injected solution of those aforementioned ingredients. The salt and broth may make the bird taste better, but it's not great for those on a low-sodium diet. According to the Truthful Labeling Coalition, the sodium added is up to 822% greater than the amount that exists in natural chicken and one single serving can contain over 25% of the recommended daily allowance of sodium for a healthy adult. Plus you pay extra for a salt and broth injected bird.

I don't know about you, but I don't want "enhanced" chicken. I want to buy the minimally processed bird that Rick Rodgers recommended and I'll enhance it myself. It just turns out it might not be the one labeled "natural". I also think everyone should know just what has been added to the bird before they buy it. Last month quite a few members of congress agreed and sent a letter to United States Department of Agriculture, asking for better labeling and that the label "natural" not be used on these injected birds. You can add your voice to the cause, here.

Dear Readers,

On this Thanksgiving Day I am thankful for all the usual stuff--family, friends, health, enough to eat, and work that I love--but I am also thankful for you. You, my dear readers have stuck around even when I have been missing in action. Last night I created some buttons so you can read some other things I've written. Writing for other folks has kept me pretty busy recently.

The good new is, I've turned in the manuscript for the book, and now I can get back to blogging again. But for today I'm going to take a break and just enjoy the day, the friends, the family and of course the food. I hope you do too.

cheers,

Amy

Thanksgiving Stories

Here are my three favorite reader-posted Thanksgiving disasters--congratulations to the winners, and do check out the rest of the stories in the comments section from this post. Winners will receive a copy of Thanksgiving 101.

"When my mother was first married, she naturally wanted to cook a nice thanksgiving dinner for my father. My grandmother (who is a terrible cook) suggested that she put a towel soaked in chicken broth on top of the turkey as it cooked. The towel, a circa 1973 synthetic polyester avocado-green pseudo-fiber, melted into the turkey before catching on fire and driving my parents from their apartment with the smell of melting chemicals.

My father was a grad student at the time and a fellow grad student from Eastern Europe took pity and invited them over for an "American Meal" of spaghetti with ketchup sauce. To cap the day off when they returned home their dog had eaten most of the smelly, green, burned turkey which naturally made him sick for the rest of the week. My mother stopped getting cooking advice from my grandmother and now she is a wonderful cook."

___________________

"When I was little we would always have Thanksgiving at my Grandparents old Victorian house. Their old fashioned oven wouldn't fit a large turkey so once a year they would use the old oven in their Mother-In-Law apartment. In 1986, Grandpa did the usual routine and "cooked" the turkey for hours, basting and waiting. After the usual amount of cooking time he brought the turkey upstairs and began carving. To our horror the turkey was still bright, bright pink inside. Turns out, the seldom used oven was broken.

My very stubborn Grandpa insisted that it had cooked for the correct amount of time and was therefore "done". As my uncle chased down his 6 year-old sons who had been given the almost raw drumsticks we were all microwaving the turkey every time Grandpa turned his back. Needless to say, this was the last time we allowed Grandpa to cook the turkey."

___________________

"The worst Thankgiving disaster I've had was the year my husband and I were hosting a dinner with friends and co-workers who had to work that day and couldn't attend dinners with family. One friend offered to bring suppies to make frozen daiquiris and try out my new blender. What none of us realized until too late was that he was using 150 proof rum instead of regular and before we knew it we were all feeling pretty woozy.

By the time dinner got to the table none of us was in shape to pass the dishes around and wound up eating whatever was on the table in front of us. If you were sitting with the cauliflower with cheese sauce, that's what you had for dinner!!!"

READ MORE Over at SF Station is my review of Sotto Mare a funky little seafood bar in North Beach.

Thanksgiving Disasters--And How to Avoid Them

Back before Katie Holmes became famous for being the wife of Tom Cruise she gave a very memorable performance in the movie, Pieces of April. With any luck it will join the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as a TV classic. In the film the black sheep April attempts to make a Thanksgiving dinner for her very suburban family in her Lower East Side gritty apartment. Lots of her neighbors make cameo appearances as April struggles to get dinner on the table. It's a funny and touching film with a bit of of an indy edge to it. You can see the movie trailer here.

Thanksgiving disaster stories are nothing new so it's no wonder it ended up as the theme of a movie. I once heard a story about someone who was invited to spend Thanksgiving with some new friends. All year they looked forward to a big turkey dinner but their friends served only baked ham! Everyone has probably heard the story about someone who forget to defrost the turkey and ended up having to order Chinese food.

So what's your Thanksgiving nightmare? Forgetting to remove the bag of giblets? Leaving the sugar out of the pie? Tell me your worst or funniest Thanksgiving story in the comments and on Thursday I'll choose three winners who will receive a copy of Rick Rodger's book Thanksgiving 101.You must include your email with your comment to win (it won't be published). Only one entry per person. If you have won a book on this site in the last six months you will not be eligible to win.

READ MORE Over at Bay Area Bites are my reviews of both Thanksgiving 101 and How to Cook a Turkey

Thanksgiving Tips & Techniques

I have a confession to make. I've never made a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I always cook something for the feast at my parent's house, but not the whole meal and certainly not the turkey. I'm not sure I could take the pressure! Thanksgiving is one of the most traditional of meals and most of us have very specific expectations about what that dinner should be.

Here to help make yours a success, whether you are cooking one dish or ten, is cooking teacher and cookbook author extraordinaire, Rick Rodgers. His book Thanksgiving 101, is out in paperback and in stores now. Rick is answering questions about Thanksgiving and sharing his advice over on the Epicurious blog but I snagged him for a few questions of my own...

What kind of turkey do you recommend for Thanksgiving--organic, heritage, wild, fresh, frozen?
 
Look for a fresh bird from a local source.  Where I live, organic Eberly from Pennsylvania is my bird of choice, but when I teach in Northern California, I am happy with Foster Farms. There are a lot of very good supermarket birds out there at a reasonable price.  Look for the words "all natural, minimally processed" on the label, and your bird won't have been shot up with lots of gunk.  If you want to splurge, get an organic bird.  Heritage birds are very pricey, and frankly, their rich flavor isn't to everyone's taste, and you won't get a lot of meat--they are much more compact than mass-produced birds. 
 
I teach my Thanksgiving cooking class all over the country, and almost always roast standard, local fresh turkeys, and as long as the turkey comes out moist, I hear "This is the best turkey I ever had" a lot.  the secret to a juicy breast isn't brining (which only adds salty water to the flesh), but protecting the breast from the oven heat.  Simply wrap aluminum foil over the breast area (not the wings or legs) and roast as usual.  This slows down the cooking in this area and keeps it moist.  Remove the foil during the last hour of roasting.  That's all there is to it. 


What's the biggest mistake home cooks make on Thanksgiving?

Making too much food.  The typical Thanksgiving menu can be pretty tyrannical--turkey, gravy, stuffing, potatoes, yams, green vegetable (you are very lucky to get something fresh and not green bean casserole), often turnips, cranberry sauce, rolls...and who knows how many desserts?  The first thing that goes on my menu is mashed potatoes because it is ridiculous to have so many starches on the menu.  I will make extra gravy and serve mashed potatoes on Friday or Saturday, but not at my holiday meal. Make a sensible meal that is balanced in flavors and portion sizes.  If you and your guests are so full that you can't truly enjoy and savor the meal, what's the point? 


What's your favorite thing to do with leftover turkey?
 
Hot turkey sandwich with gravy and cranberry sauce on Friday lunch.  After that, I usually make Mexican food with the turkey.  It's great in enchiladas, tostadas, and tacos. 


What do you recommend for vegetarians on Thanksgiving?

I will make a wonderful vegetarian main course (roasted portobello mushrooms in a Gruyere sauce was a hit one year) that doubles as a side dish. Of course, you have to be sure that the vegetarians get their larger portion before any teenagers dig in!  I have also purchased individual main courses at the best natural food store in town.  And, my favorite scenario was when a vegan friend called and said: "You are already making dinner for twenty other people, and I am not going to make you create something special for me.  I am perfectly happy to bring my own main course.  Frankly, because I cook vegan all the time, I know that it will be good--nonvegetarians don't "get it," as hard as they try.  I'll bring enough so you can serve it as a side dish, too." 


How would you feel about making Thanksgiving a two day event with a second holiday meal devoted to eating leftovers?

Hmmm.  There's nothing celebratory about leftovers.  I vote for what more and more of my friends are doing: Having a second holiday dinner with their chosen family members in addition to the "be there or die" edict put out by their blood relatives.  My friends Heather and Alexis always have a big turkey dinner one Saturday in November with friends, neighbors, and co-workers, leaving them free to have a family-only dinner on the fourth Thursday. 

If you are looking for a twist on the classic dessert choices, check out Rick's Pumpkin Sticky Toffee Pudding 

Cute Food, Japanese Style

The only thing I can say in my defense, is that after two weeks of being bombarded with that special type of Japanese cuteness known as "kawaii" I had a momentary lapse.

It was during a trip through the temple of all things adorable, the toy store Kiddy Land, in the trendy shopping area of Ometosando in Harajuku, Tokyo, that I purchased not one, but two little sets of plastic food that would best fit in a dollhouse. Sigh. Yes, even food is cute in Japan. Can you blame me for wanting to go back?

Japanese Hot Stuff

I came back from Japan with numerous delectable food purchases. The first thing I brought was "yuzukosho". I was served this green paste as a condiment with nabe, a dish where you cook what you like in a pot on the table. It's a combination of the peel of the citrus fruit yuzu and kosho, a kind of chile pepper. I also had it with sashimi. Imagine the taste of limes and chiles with just a pinch of salt. Irresistible, right? So is yuzukosho! It is very common in the South of Japan, but a more recent addition to the table in places like Tokyo.

Another purchase I made was wasabi in a tube, not the pasty fake wasabi that is really just dry mustard colored to look like wasabi, but real wasabi. Real wasabi actually tastes like horseradish, not mustard. It's bright and hot but has plenty of flavor, not just heat. If you can find the fresh stuff, keep in mind the Japanese rhizome will taste a bit different from the American rhizome. It also needs to be grated on a sharkskin grater which results in a characteristically creamy texture. Even in Japan fresh wasabi was expensive. I usually request it at sushi bars and don't mind paying a little extra for it.

The other "hot stuff" I received at the Rise of Asia Worlds of Flavor conference last week. It's sansyo pepper. The light green powder is made from the ground up leaves of the prickly ash tree, the same tree that produces Szechuan peppercorns. It's a funny pepper, at first it just tastes herbal and slightly lemony, but after a few moments you get a tingly sensation in your mouth. It's not really hot, but kind of prickling; I can't think of another pepper with this effect.

Hot spices, herbs and pastes, are used in Japan, as are citrus flavors, to balance out greasiness or fat. Try using them on steak, fatty tuna or anywhere you'd like some heat. They each have tremendous flavor beyond the kick and are not that hot if used in moderation.

Ice Cream City

When I read about the food theme parks and museums of Japan I was determined to check them out on my next trip. In Tokyo I made a side trip out to a pretty goofy amusement park because it also was also the home of Gyoza Stadium and Ice Cream City. After having my fill at the first two stops, I had no room for trying anything at the Dessert Forest.

Ice Cream City is pretty much heaven for an ice cream lover. Although, it can be a bit frustrating in some ways because the number of choices are completely overwhelming. There are a series of rooms and kiosks, each featuring a different style of ice cream with lots of flavors to choose from. I spent the most of my time in a gallery called "Cup Ice Museum" where the wall-to-wall freezer cases were filed with individual cups of ice cream from all over Japan. Here I was completely frustrated with my lack of Japanese because I could only read a fraction of the labels. Dracula, deep sea water, Nikka whisky and Hokkaido salty ice cream were just a few of the intriguing labels I could read. I also saw labels with what looked like cheese, bell peppers, a chicken, chestnuts and melons.

All over Japan I found soft ice cream, sometimes called "soft cream" to be particularly popular. I enjoyed it because like so many Japanese sweets it wasn't very sweet and the flavors shined through. At the Soft Cream Bar, you couldn't get two flavors swirled together, but you could get four flavors in one dish. Heaven for the indecisive! I chose pumpkin, green tea, salty vanilla and custard which I think was really butterscotch. It was the first time in a long time that I could not finish my ice cream. The green tea was fabulous but my favorite was actually the salty vanilla. Please. Someone open up an Ice Cream City theme park near me. I promise I will go very often. I will even order four flavors again, really. I will.

READ MORE Over at Bay Area Bites is my post on Gyoza Stadium