November 2005 Archives

We all know the heartbreak of slicing through hard butter. Finally, finally, help is here:

A UK-based company has launched a portable, temperature-controlled butter dish, ButterWizard, which keeps butter at what it says is the optimal spreadable temperature of 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

It has a built-in fan and a chip which together control the temperature, adjustable for different textures, be it super-soft bread, crusty toast or delicate biscuits.

Sheesh. As far as the sarcasm on my part, do you think I was spreading it on too thick?

The last day of the road trip continues, home late tonight or tomorrow sometime. Last night's dining experience was terrific sushi at Niko Sushi in Tarzana, CA. Big slabs of really fresh fish with a few cold Sapporos. Life was good.

Interesting article via Specialty Foods News. Frankly, I know next to nothing about Paw Paws, but apparently they're worth bringing back!:

The pawpaw's official name is Asimina triloba but it also goes by false banana, custard apple, Michigan or Kentucky banana, and sometimes -- mistakenly -- papaya.

It is the largest North American edible tree fruit and is native from southern New York and southern Ontario in Canada as far west as eastern Kansas and Texas. The pulp is high in vitamin C, minerals and anti-oxidants.

Interesting stuff, I thought.

Ever had Paw Paw?

We had a killer burger bar setup for football last night- choice ground round with Survival Spice on a killer sesame roll- roasted peppers, carmelized onions, and sauteed portabellos in a beurre blanc sauce with a variety of cheeses and all the trimmings. Sorry, no pictures but you can just imagine the greasy goodness, can't you?

It just goes to show that even a simple burger can kick butt if you do it right. And this stuff was right. Life was good, even if the Steelers went down whining...

Back in the office Thursday.

What's your dream burger?

I'll be traveling until late Wednesday night, so blogging will be a bit light.

Amuse yourselves! I'll give you a topic:

"My Gawd, why did I eat so much on Thanksgiving?"

Discuss...

Here's our cool 2005 Desert Island Foods™ apron. We're using a high quality, all cotton, Teflon® protected apron that has an adjustable strap, which a lot of aprons we researched didn't have, which also makes it comfortable to wear. It also has 2 pockets, for your essentials. Our Desert Island Foods™.com logo is printed in four colors. Great for the kitchen and the grill!

Do you like the red? What other colors would you like to see it in?

Happy Thanksgiving from Desert Island Foods! May your holiday be filled with great food, loved ones and gratitude. And great food.

Did I say 'great food' twice? Yep.

(Photo: Mary)

What are you cooking for Thanksgiving this year? I'm making a few side dishes, a special sausage, Bosc pear and pine nut dressing, a killer fresh cranberry/apple/orange sauce, some green beans almondine with crispy bacon, and the corn risotto I've posted before.

I think I'm getting off easy this year, I might have to come up with something else...

Okay, make us all drool! What's on your menu?

The latest edition of the Desert Island Foods™ newsletter, Island Currents, is now online!

We've got some great gifts to make your holiday shopping easier, a great Survival Gift Box, a cool DIF Apron, and a bitchin' kitchen gadget called an E-Z Hook®. Our Scovie Award winning Survival Spice™ Gift tin ships until the end of the year with a free mini-booklet containing ideas and tips on how to use Survival Spice™.

For a list of all our products, click here. Thanks for reading and supporting Desert Island Foods™.com!

(Photo: Dr. Biggles' Tomatillo Chile with Pork

Okay, bibs on, everyone! I've done a bad job staying in touch with my blog homies lately, so here's what some of my favorite food bloggers have been up to:

Dr. Biggles at Meathenge keeps cranking out the good stuff. This Tomatillo Chile with Pork he's torturing us with looks good enough to eat. And eat. And eat...

Meg has been out on the town, eating up Seattle one dish at a time, only this time she was a bit disappointed. Oh well, win some and dim sum...

Shauna, most likely still hopping around on a broken foot, continues to keep my stomach growling with eye catching photos and descriptions to match. Check out her Chicken Thighs with Pomegranate Molasses. I'm a thigh man myself.

Owen over at Tomatillo, made a great looking South-East Asian Lamb Braise with Orange-Basil Rice dish for the latest Paper Chef. If you haven't checked out his book, Digital Dish, click on the link in his left margin. It's a really interesting compilation of posts from food bloggers around the world. Lots of great stories and some really great looking recipes.

That should give you something to do! Sorry I've light on the postings this week, but a lot going on getting Desert Island Foods™.com ready for the holiday season.

As a kid I hated bananas, so my Mom got me to eat her banana bread by calling it 'grape' bread. Okay, it was really deceptive, but that's what love is all about, I guess...

Sorry, got caught up in a bit of a daydream, where were we? Ah, yes, banana bread. I continue to love it in adulthood, though a banana fan I'm not, still. Fried plantains? Dig 'em, but a banana in the morning doesn't cut it for me.

Here's my version of banana bread. It's moist, thanks to a stick of butter and two eggs in each loaf. With 3 bananas, it has lots of banana flavor. I use a combination of brown and regular sugar, which gives it a bit more depth that you find in a lot of recipes. To top it off I use a butter/honey glaze to give it a beautiful shine and richness.

It's easy to make, too, no mixer required really, just make sure your butter is soft when you start. I recommend taking the time to cream the sugars well, to give that great texture a good start. Don't overmix once the flour's in, you don't need to develop gluten here.

So, without further reverie, here's my Banana Pecan Nut Bread:

(Photo: Mary. Please Note: Shrubbery not included...)

Here's the 2005 DIF Survival Gift Box! It comes in this cool white window box and features:

• Quality, all cotton, red Desert Island Foods™ apron with 2 pockets and an adjustable strap.
• A Gift tin of our Scovie Award winning Survival Spice™, along with a companion booklet with tips and uses for novice and experts alike.
• A 10" E-Z Hook®, which is a really versatile barbecue utensil I've been evaluating for a while. It's easy to use and takes up very little room. Great for grilling, turning bacon or picking olives or pickles out of a jar!
• A DIF Refrigerator Magnet, with room to jot down important phone numbers for quick access when you need them.

The whole thing ships assembled in a sturdy cardboard mailer.

It's a great gift for the cook in your life (or yourself, why not?) at just $39.99. You'll be able to pre-order next week, and they'll go fast, so please let us know if you're interested in a quantity of them at our contact page so we can accomodate everyone. Gift boxes will begin shipping December 1st.

I'd love to get your initial reaction. What do you think?

Today's Friday Funny comes to us from Jim in L.A., the man who brought Survival Seeds to the world.

Do you have a good joke for the Friday Funny? Email me.

Have a great weekend!

From the "Why do they do it?" files:

Jones Soda has unleashed introduced a new "Smoked Salmon Paté" soda special version of their 2005 Regional Holiday Packs. Why? Because it tastes great? No. It's so schlubs like me will write about it. Okay, there's also a very good reason, from a Jones Soda press release:

The goal of this regional Jones Holiday Pack is to raise $50,000 for Toys for Tots, which is one of the nation's most visible Holiday Season charitable causes with local Toys for Tots campaigns conducted from October through December each year, in 456 communities nationwide. Jones has asked that these proceeds be focused toward Katrina Hurricane victims.

A pretty darn good cause. Still, does this mean that it tastes good? Ask the CEO:

Wait. I asked if he liked it:

So, I'm dying for a review. Any takers in the Pacific Northwest? Meg? Shauna? MC? Anyone else? I've got a tin of award-winning Survival Spice™ and a DIF T-shirt for the first review, accompanied by a picture of you drinking it.

C'mon, it's for a good cause! Take one for the team!

Here's the Scovie Award winning Survival Spice™ Special Edition Gift Tin for this holiday season! Every tin will ship with a cool 4 page booklet that gives some information and tips on how to use Survival Spice™ until the end of the year. A great stocking stuffer or office gift!

We're just about ready to show you the DIF Lover's gift box, which features a high quality DIF apron, a tin of Survival Spice, a really cool BBQ cooking gadget, and a DIF refrigerator magnet, all in a snazzy white window box. Hopefully we can have it ready to show you before the end of the week.

The inmates of the Hillsborough County, Florida jail have a new gig- making hot sauce:

The sauce is made from a mixture of several varieties of herbs and hot peppers, all grown on more than 6 acres behind the jail. Among the peppers are habaneros, scotch bonnets and jalapenos.

Inmates say they prefer their own version of Jailhouse Fire, which is considerably hotter than what they sell for mass consumption.

What's up with that? Keeping the good stuff for themselves? It oughta be a crime.

I was going to pepper this post with more spicy language, but I decided to just plant a few seeds...

(Photo: Mary, of TPC's version of Matt and Jerry's Mississippi gumbo)

This is intended as a companion post to the Gumbo with chicken, sausage and shrimp I made for the last Food Fight. I made another pot this weekend, and had the time to snap a few pictures as I went, so hopefully you'll find them helpful if you ever want to try making one.

(Photo: Mary, of TPC's Easy Orange Survival Glaze)

I've been working on this for a while now, and I think it's ready to share. This is a simple glaze that gives both a beautiful appearance and a nice hit of flavor to ham, turkey, chicken and duck. It's well balanced, with lots of orange flavor, a nice sweetness, lots of depth from the dijon mustard, and a subtle bit of heat from the Survival Spice™.

It would be easy to add lots of interesting stuff to this, if you wanted to customize it- garlic, tarragon, use a different citrus component, the list is as long as your imagination.

Try it this year! Please let me know if you do, and if you experiment with variations! Pictures are a plus. It was a huge hit at the photo shoot this weekend, after eating a pot of gumbo we weren't even hungry, but couldn't stop nibbling at it. I HAVE to try this on duck...

(Photo: Ana's Harvest Moon Grilled Cheese, link below.)

I got a great email from Ana recently. Man, she can cook! Her Food Fight entries, killer falafel with pita bread and her Harvest Moon Grilled Cheese, actually made me glad to be alive. She's found a new use for Survival Spice™, using it on popcorn, which we hadn't heard of until now:

The Survival Spice came in the mail today. It's all that and a bag of chips. Hits all the tastebuds. That and I think it's organizing the other spices and teaching them how to walk in formation--like a little marching band. Sprinkle liberally on buttered popcorn, scrambled eggs, soup, dip. Mmmmmmmmmm.

Thanks, Ana, you rock. Though I just noticed you're not on our Frappr map yet, along with a few regulars... ;-)

We love to get reactions to our products! Please email me if you have one.

Our Friday Funny has a North of the Border theme, from Diana, who as you remember gave us the Everyman's Edible Slider and her version of Paul's Puffy Corn Omelet in the last Food Fight. A sad (and utterly groanable) tale of some Canadians who have flown the coop...

Do you have a joke or cool picture suitable for the Friday Funny? Email me, please. We can all use a laugh!!! Have a great weekend, everyone.

Update: This post will remain on top for a few days, so please scroll down for the latest. Thanks! And hey, have you put yourself on our Frappr map yet? It's easy, and we love to see everyone that hangs out here.

Update 11/10: Okay, I'm waiting for clarification on this now. I think our Scovie is for "Best Packaging", and we were a runner-up in "Best Rub", but we'll take it!

Desert Island Foods™ is thrilled to announce that we've won a 2006 Scovie Award! Survival Spice™, our all natural, gluten free barbecue rub, has won third prize in the"Best Rub" category from Fiery Foods Magazine. We're proud and grateful to have received this recognition in our first year of business in a tough shoot-out, a blind tasting among numerous professional chefs, writers and foodies.

I'll have more about the competition in the next newsletter, Island Currents, along with information on our new gift box, stay tuned. Please remember, our gift tin of Survival Spice™ makes a great stocking stuffer!

Would you like to spend a year in a fancy culinary school learning to make great sauces, but reality pulls the plug? This is a good article that I read in the AZ Republic this morning that should help make a saucier out of you. It originally appeared in the Orange County Register:

It seems that many home cooks feel stymied when it comes to sauces to pair with meat or fish, poultry or vegetables. They assure me that they know all the basics of grilling, broiling and roasting. But when the subject turns to toppings, their voices take on the dreamy tone of an out-of-shape hiker talking about tackling Mount Everest.

Check it out for a quick take on beurre blanc, wild mushroom sauce, aioli, ponzu and salsa verde- five great and simple sauces to add to your repertoire.

(Photo: John, in Chicago. TPC logo is only to thwart dastardly image robbers...)

Gawd, the stuff I find in my inbox at 5:00 in the morning! Today's "drool til you're satisfied" moment is brought to once again by John, in Chicago. John's offering/torture is a flourless chocolate cake, with butter toasted walnuts and a kona bittersweet chocolate sauce. It was a sin to crop this picture, just seeing the full shot of this chunk o' heaven brought chocolatey tears to my eyes.

BTW, John has a really cool photography website called Open Tune.org. I'm begging him- post some of your food pictures, too!

Email me your food pics and recipes, I'm going to arbitrarily start awarding an occasional tin of Scovie Award winning Survival Spice™, especially to those submitting for the first time. Remember, simple or elaborate, I don't care, the only criteria I ever use revolves around "Does it taste good?"

Now you can get on the Desert Island Foods™.com community map so we can all see where all the cool people who hang out here are located!

It's easy, go to the map and enter your name, zip code (I'd enter one in you town and not your exact zip code, personally), and a "shout out". If you want to give a Survival Spice™ testimonial, that would be great, or just have fun with it. Attach a picture if you care to, why not?

Mmmmmm, a great Sunday supper. As I was frying some thinly sliced potatoes and onions in bacon fat over medium heat in a cast iron skillet, I prepped the pork chops. Standard stuff here, first a bit of flour, then equal parts of flour, corn meal and Survival Spice™. Classically, you would use some liquid between the first flour dredging and the final crust like buttermilk or egg, but I've found that with flat items like pork chops and fish, as long as there's a bit of moisture there and you have a few minutes to let it sit, you often don't need it.

Once the potatoes and onions were done, I took them out of the skillet and kept them warm. In went the pork chops with some more bacon grease. You do save bacon grease, don't you? Not too high of a heat or you'll burn the corn meal, plus the breading will stay on the chops much better if the meat doesn't shrink too quickly. Okay, turn the chops once, that's it. Off they go to keep warm with the potatoes.

Survival Country gravy? Easy. A bit of flour in the skillet to soak up the fat, then about 2 parts milk to 1 part cream. I know, it's not traditional country gravy, but the French culinary school training is never far away, I'm afraid. A bit more Survival Spice™ for a nice peppery freshness, then it's time to plate it up with some steamed broccoli. BTW, this is also wonderful with sausage and biscuits. If you don't have cream, just use extra milk and reduce it well.

I just wish I would have had some apple sauce. Next time, a rustic apple compote with it. I will be making this again.

(Photos: Dr. Biggles), M.A.L. (Meaticologist At Large)

The master of Meathenge keeps tormenting me with pictures like this, and the only way I can ease my pain is by sharing it with you. Survival Spice™ and lemon is a potent potion for chicken. Email me your food pics! We love to see them.

Sadistic, ain't he? Here's his Halloween treat, which because we can't taste it, is more like a cruel trick:

The early November edition of the Desert Island Foods newsletter, Island Currents, is now online. Just click on the November 1, 2005 link to see the latest edition.

Check it out, lots of great holiday gift ideas that don't involve a masochistic time-sucking, gas-guzzling trip to the mall! Desert Island Foods™.com is offering a cool gift box this year for the first time, and tins of Survival Spice™ are an awesome stocking stuffer and casual gift for foodies, family, friends and co-workers alike! Such an simple way to buy some great gifts.

Email me, or just go to the Desert Island Foods™.com home page and sign up, if you want to get on the newsletter list. No spam, no evil mailing lists, just pure foodie goodness.

Okay, done with the plug. That didn't hurt, did it?

The Friday Funny comes to us from Barbara this week, thanks! It's a quiz, which I know is a cruel thing to do on a Friday, but try to muster the energy. If all you can manage to do is drool uncontrollably at all the pretty food pictures, I understand, I've got a bib on at this point, too.

Do you have an even vaguely food-related joke, picture or story? Please email me! Make sure you take the spam words out of my email address.

Interesting:

Sauerkraut sales are going through the roof, with some Midwest stores reporting an 850% spike just last week on a recent report that scientists at Seoul National University successfully used Kimchi Sauerkraut to treat chickens infected with Avian Flu. Both Kimchi and traditional Sauerkraut are made by fermenting sliced cabbage, producing a high level of lactic acid, which may be the critical element in preventing Avian Flu.

Is this for the birds? Who knows, but I like to drain canned sauerkraut well, add diced apples, chicken stock, crispy bacon, sauteéd onions, a touch of allspice, cinammon, and a splash of lemon juice or white wine vinegar to mine, and let it cook down. Mmmmmm....

The Tuna industry has begun its' defense in the Proposition 65 trial over warning labels underway in San Francisco. In a press release by the U.S. Tuna Foundation:

Beyond the underlying conflict with Federal law, the Attorney General [Bill Lockyer} admits that the science used in his case bears only a tenuous connection to tuna.

Lockyer's science is based on studies of people in Denmark who ate pilot whale meat and blubber, which are both very high in naturally occurring mercury, in addition to chemicals like PCBs. The level of mercury in both pilot whale meat and blubber are exponentially higher than that found in tuna.

"What we've learned from the first full week in this trial is that Lockyer's case would be much more appropriate for whale meat than canned tuna," said David Burney, Executive Director of the U.S. Tuna Foundation. "Warning labels would cause real harm as people would be discouraged from eating a food that science has time and again shown to have overwhelming benefits for people of all ages. The Attorney General has one study underpinning his entire case, and it involves whales, not tuna."

I find this stuff interesting, as I've been exploring the possibliity of carrying a line of low-mercury canned fish products at Desert Island Foods™.com. While this press release is obviously pro-business, I found some articles at the Tuna Facts.com worth reading. If anyone has a link that more fairly outlines the AG's case, email me, please.

What do you think of this?

(Photo: N.O. School of Cooking)

A good article at the NYT on the status of the restaurants of New Orleans. H/T John:

All the panelists expressed optimism of some sort that eventually New Orleans and its food culture could be rebuilt. But they also aired their concern that it would be rebuilt as a kind of Disneyland, rather than what Mr. Elie called "a good facsimile of the old New Orleans, with all the things we loved about it."

He and others bemoaned what they termed a lack of leadership - not only in the political sphere, at the federal, state and local levels, but also within their industry. Many voiced disappointment with Emeril Lagasse, the city's most famous chef, who has three restaurants here and two daily television shows on the Food Network. Mr. Lagasse has returned to the city only briefly since the storms, his restaurants remain shuttered, and his colleagues said he had not spoken out vigorously enough on the problems they all face.

But Mimi Rice, Mr. Lagasse's spokeswoman, said he has worked on several hurricane relief events. Two of his New Orleans restaurants will reopen soon, she reported, Emeril's on Dec. 8, NOLA on Dec. 13. Emeril's Delmonico, heavily battered, will reopen next year.

If anyone in Oxford had lost sight of what was at stake - what was so worth preserving - they were reminded at a smack-up New Orleans lunch cooked by Ms. Clevenger's chef, Ken Smith. It began with a duck étouffée, served with cornbread enlivened by a smear of pepper jelly. Then came a salad of bitter greens with feta cheese and sugared pecans, and sautéed Cane River country shrimp, sauced with shrimp bisque, with wedge-shaped deep-fried grits cakes. Crunchy on the outside, moist inside, the cakes made a big hit, as did a miraculously light version of that often gluelike Southern favorite, banana pudding, made by Dana Logsdon of La Spiga Bakery in New Orleans. One of the exiles, she is camping out in Baton Rouge.

Lots of updates. I can understand the frustration expressed by the attendees, but restaurants are businesses too, and the supply of restaurants will have to keep pace with the demand for them, as visitors and conventions gradually return. The available labor in the area is sorely lacking at this point, too.

Can you see yourself visiting New Orleans anytime soon?

(Photos: Dr. Biggles)

Dr. Biggles, M.A.L. (Meaticologist At Large) over at Meathenge, sent this in recently. It's a simple weekday dinner, done ala Biggles. He bought a really great looking beef roast that had been marinated in teriyaki sauce, added some onions, topped it off with Survival Spice™, and threw it in the oven. The onion gravy came together quickly, and I'm seriously bummed I didn't get a chance to taste it.

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