Food Favorite

I read food magazines. Or I should say, I read a lot of food magazines. Here's a round up of what's on my stack and what's worth checking out.

For Reading and Reflecting
Sept 3 & 10, 2007
New Yorker--The Food Issue

The food issue is always a treat and this one is no exception. There are no recipes, but plenty of "good reads". There is a funny little piece from David Sedaris, Adam Gopnik writes about eating food grown only from the five boroughs of New York. Calvin Trillin writes about the food in Singapore and Jane Kramer writes about one of my favorite cookbook authors, Claudia Roden. As you might expect there are plenty of cartoons with food themes.

For Eating Healthy
September 2007
Cooking Light--20th Anniversary Issue

Even if you never read Cooking Light, you owe it to yourself to check out this edition. The editors chose their favorite recipes from the past 20 years such as Beef Daube Provencal, Creamed Corn with Bacon and Leeks, Baked Potato Soup and Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze. There are readers best recipes like Ginger Cookies, Angel Biscuits and Cambodian Summer Rolls.

Also three of the vegetarian columnists pick their best recipes including Deborah Madison's Pancake Souffle with Caramelized Apples, Steven Petuvesky's Pasta with White Beans, Greens and Lemon and Peter Berley's Spinach and Shiitake Mushroom Phyllo Turnovers. The recipe I know I'll try is the Walnut Fennel Dip!

For Learning the Basics
September 2007
Everyday Food No--Fuss Family Fare

This issue is perfect for someone who wants to learn how to cook. It's filled with really solid staples like Macaroni and Three Cheeses, Lamb Chops with Garlic-Parsley Crust, Rice Pilaf with Vermicelli, Peas and Carrot Ribbons, Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce, Pasta with Turkey Meatballs and Bocconcini, Cream of Broccoli Soup, and fun stuff like Blondies with Chocolate Chips and Walnuts, Cupcakes Three Ways, Apple-Cinnamon Upside-Down Cake and even Healthy Oatmeal Cookies. There are also articles about non-dairy milks, high fructose corn syrup and Omega-3 Fatty Acids. Buy it for yourself or give it to that friend who always says "I wish I knew how to cook".

For La Dolce Vita
September 2007
Food & Wine--Italy's Best Recipes

This issue doesn't just focus on Italian recipes, it has features on Italian cooking schools, a primer on Italian ingredients, an A-Z guide to Italian wines, guides to Italy, Italian restaurants and more. Mamma mia!

For Todos Deliciosos
September 2007
Gourmet Magazine--Latino America

This is really cool and I agree, it is a collectors item. This issue focuses on Latino food, in the United States. There's a guide to Mexican places in Chicago, stories on Salvadorans, Cubans, Dominicans and more. There's even a special on taco trucks, though I'm seriously bummed they included Seattle, Portland and New York, but skipped the Bay Area....maybe next year?

FOOD

Looking at the recipe index on this site, I realize I have only written one lamb recipe. That's a shame. I like lamb a lot. I think it's a well-kept secret that lamb is actually very easy to cook. I used to have a friend who made leg of lamb every time she threw a dinner party. People thought she was a fabulous cook, but really, leg of lamb was ALL she knew how to cook!

When the American Lamb Board offered to send me some local lamb I was more than happy to accept. When it arrived I was a bit overwhelmed. It was boneless leg of lamb, but over seven pounds. Fortunately I had a good friend to help guide me, master of all things meaty, Biggles over at Meathenge. His suggestion was as follows:

Why don't you try a meat puzzle? Take a look and see if you can get 2 little roasts and some kebob action out of it? 2-2 pound roasts and the rest for kebobs?

This turned out to be great advice. Indeed, it was easy to trim the fat, find the membranes and natural points at which to divide up the meat. Small roasts take a bit longer to cook than kebabs, but the marinade or spice rub you use can be exactly the same. The expert's suggestion:

Something Mediterranean. Cilantro, toasted coriander seeds, garlic, onion, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Maybe something with some heat to it? Curry? If you did that on Friday, Saturday cooking would be divine. Wine poured over as a baste? We're set.

The lamb roast of just under two pounds was marinated, then grilled slowly until the internal temperature reached just under 140 degrees. 145 degrees is rare, but if you take it off the heat before that, the carryover heat brings it up to temperature. It was a great addition to the party this past weekend

Last night, I used some of the trimmings to make lamb kebabs which cook under the broiler in minutes flat. I used a rub of dried herbs--mint, rosemary, oregano, some garlic and mustard seeds. A little oil helps the meat to brown nicely. Delicious and easy peasy. Best of all, local lamb is likely to be fresher, and fresher is tastier. Ok, I like it fresher, some like it aged and gamey. No recipes are really necessary, use a marinade or rub you like and use a thermometer to check the temperature. You can marinate overnight or just sprinkle on the herbs or spices right before cooking. Lamb is good rare, medium and well-done. It's also less common than pork or beef which makes it something special to savor at a party or for a weeknight dinner at home.

FOOD

At an "early 60's tacky tiki" theme party this weekend, it occured to me how sometimes the most retro recipes can also be very of-the-moment. At this particular party there were modern takes on all sorts of things. In each case very high quality ingredients were used and, you know the saying, "quality in, quality out." There was a cucumber gelatin mold salad, only the cucumbers were fresh from the farm, agar-agar was used to gel it and fresh dill and citrus flavors punctuated the dish. It was so good I took some home!

Another dish that hasn't been popular in a while was the cheese ball, though at this party there were three of them. When made with the best cheeses, fresh roasted red peppers and rolled in nuts, it was positively delicious. The dish I had the hardest keeping my paws out of was nothing more than a premium "seven layer dip". Seven layer dip is made from refried beans, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, cheese, olives and green onions or some similar combination. But imagine a version where each layer was made from scratch or with the best products available. It was a far cry from the versions I've had that were made mostly from mundane canned ingredients.

I admit, I only made potato chip cookies out a sense of nostalgia. Potato chip cookies are one of the few 60's foods I can remember eating, but for all I know it might have even been the 70's. Though my contribution was only intended as a novelty item, after the second person asked me for the recipe, I figured I'd share it here. While the ingredients are nothing spectacular, the combination of salty and sweet in dessert is very common these days, especially on restaurant menus. The recipe is very similar to the one from Frito-Lay, but I use more nuts and less sugar.

Potato Chip Cookies
3 dozen cookies

2 1/2 cups crushed potato chips* (measure after crushing)
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup chopped pecans or roasted peanuts

Combine the sugars, egg, milk and vanilla and whisk together to combine in a medium mixing bowl. In a small bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder to combine. Add dry ingredients to batter then mix in the potato chips and nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet (or parchment lined sheet) allowing space for the cookies to spread. Bake at 375° for 10 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.

* I use Lay's potato chips because they are thin, crispy and very salty. Other chips may work well too, but I've always used Lay's. You can now get Lay's with no trans-fat and while I couldn't work out exactly how much fat and calories are in 2 1/2 cups of potato chip crumbles, there is no addition added fat in the recipe (other than what is in the egg and milk).

Enjoy!

Looking for more party posts? Here they are:
Anita's dip recipe
Sam's party round up
Biggles' meaty report from the grill

FOOD