by Camille on July 12, 2010
My birthday is this week, and as you clever readers probably know, calories don’t count on your birthday. I love frosting and have a serious weakness for cupcakes–but this year, I think I might whip up a batch of brownies in lieu of a proper birthday cake. I got this idea from Nigella Lawson’s “How to Be a Domestic Goddess,” and to this day, her brownies are the best I’ve come across. (My daughter and I made some last month, and as you can tell from the photos above, she agrees!)
Here’s my go-to recipe. Do you have an amazing brownie recipe? If so, please share!
Nigella’s Brownies
1 2/3 cup soft unsalted butter
13 ounces of good bittersweet chocolate Read more…
This morning, I came across an interesting bit of reporting from The L.A. Times: Come fall, the USDA is going to start rolling out standards to help make sure consumers are really getting the olive oil they think they’re paying for–100% olive oil. The measure comes from the fact that in recent years, a number of brands have been caught watering down their product with cheaper canola, safflower, or peanut oils.
The story described a recent incident in Connecticut, where residents were calling in reporting feeling sick, only to learn that their extra virgin olive oil had been mixed with peanut oil. The callers, of course, had been allergic. To thicken the stew, I remember reading a great article in The New Yorker about this exact sort of thing (at the time, 2007, established brands like Bertolli were even called into question). Read more…
by Camille on July 8, 2010
If you’re like me, you probably don’t think twice about turning on the faucet and pouring yourself a glass of cold H20. But after reading
Sara’s excellent post on food safety yesterday, I remembered that I had a quick piece in this month’s issue of Women’s Health about how to remove some of the scary stuff that can end up in tap water (chlorine! Bacteria! Chemical byproducts! Eek!).
The short version: While U.S. drinking water is some of the safest in the world, recent reports from the Environmental Working Group and others have shown that there are literally hundreds of chemicals and other contaminants that end up in it. Luckily, it’s relatively easy to remove the bad ones by making simple changes to your life, like using a water filter (after writing this story, I ran out and bought a new Brita). Read about the easy steps you’ll want to take here.
Why bother making the effort? Read more…
Eating outside–be it a picnic, a BBQ, or just taking plates outdoors to watch the sun set–is something I absolutely live for in summertime. But I have to admit, all the food contamination scares of the past year (from beef to lettuce and tomatoes) had me feeling a little cautious about the whole process. Especially since, while bacteria can multiply at any temperature between 40 and 140 degrees F, the process really takes off between 90 and 110 degrees. Add to that, the fact that when you’re cooking or eating outside, surfaces and tools are tougher to keep clean and, well, yikes. Luckily, I’ve since discovered that there are a whole lot of incredibly easy, hassle-free things you can do to protect yourself. Here, a basic checklist.
Produce smarts: Crazy fact: Leafy greens are now responsible for nearly 1/4 of non-meat related food poisonings, according to the CDC. That said, washing produce and drying it with a clean cloth or paper towel is actually a great way to get rid of bacteria. What I learned that was really new here, is that you want to wash fruits and vegetables even when you’re not planning on eating the peels or rinds–otherwise you can transfer bacteria to the flesh when you hold or peel something. Read more…
by Camille on July 6, 2010
Ice cream, watermelon, burgers and strawberries: all excellent summer foods. But to me, nothing says summer like a serrano sandwich, which you’ll often find me eating for lunch on steamy weekends.
I have my husband to thank for this culinary tradition: a few summers ago, he stopped by Stinky, a fantastic cheese shop in our neighborhood, for sandwich fixings and stumbled out with what happened to be the perfect combination.
To make a serrano sandwich, use a few slices of Jamón serrano (dry-cured Spanish ham; prosciutto works, too), a little Mahón (a salty, sharp Spanish cheese), tomato slices and the tiniest drizzle of olive oil tucked between slices of ciabatta bread (you can sub French or any fresh baked white bread). Serve with chilled rosé and you’re looking at the ideal meal for a hot and lazy afternoon. (It doesn’t hurt that it takes all of two minutes to throw this together). Read more…
Napa Valley, not too long ago...
Happy almost-Independence Day, everyone! Through the holiday, Camille and I are both hitting the road–to Michigan and Sweden, respectively–to soak up summer and family in megadoses. We’ll be back writing on Tuesday July 6th. Which we’re already excited for (I actually know what Camille’s next post is going to be, and it sounds beyond delicious). This blog has been such an incredible and fun project for us–we owe you guys a big thank you for making every day so invigorating. Here’s to all the best for your 4th of July. We hope you get to relax, eat, laugh, and enjoy every second. And if you’re looking for some outdoor side dish inspiration, I’ve included recipes from three of my favorite dishes from Saveur’s first annual summer BBQ… Read more…
by Camille on June 24, 2010
When I heard that my colleague Jeanette Hurt had a new book out, The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Food and Wine Pairings (written with sommelier Jaclyn Stuart), I couldn’t help but be intrigued … if only if I’m a bit of an idiot myself when it comes to figuring out what wine to match with my snacks and meals (and vice versa). As Jeanette explained to me, getting the right flavors paired up isn’t nearly as tricky as it seems. Here, she shares four super simple guidelines that will radically–and deliciously–alter the way you approach food and wine:
1. Don’t be a purist; many pairing rules are just begging to be broken.
Case in point: “Serve white wine with fish”. One of my favorite pairings is actually Pinot Noir with salmon. I first experienced that pairing at a restaurant, and the dish, “virtually smoked salmon” (sushi salmon, but served with a bowl of hickory smoke, overturned at serving so it would waft over the dish) was perfectly paired with a Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley.
What’s most important is to match weight or intensity of food with weight or intensity of wine. A big, heavy steak, for example, is not going to go with a light Pinot Grigio–but you could pair a steak with a really rich Chardonnay, especially if it was served with a buttery cream sauce.
2. Use your nose before you use your tongue.
One rule of thumb that does work: try and match aromas of wine with flavors of food. A wine with aromas of poached pear and apricots would likely pair quite nicely with a dish that has poached pears and/or apricots.
3. Low-brow food can be the perfect match for high-brow wine. Read more…
This past week or so, I’ve been working on some articles about how environment affects our weight. Social cues, it turns out, have a huge impact on how much we eat. If, for example, we see skinny people going for huge portions, we’re more likely to do the same. This makes a certain amount of sense–we learn by mimicking. If a person who’s thin is eating a lot of, say, quiche, there’s an implied cue that quiche is probably not so fattening. The conclusion is so quick to reach, it’s easy to ignore the fact that you’ve been eating and doing different things up until this point.
Flawed thinking? Yes. Relatable? Absolutely. Now, scientists have uncovered some similar logic that can be just as hazardous to our health–but in a much more subtle way. Read more…
by Camille on June 21, 2010
I’m a coffee addict; Sara loves tea. Even though our beverage choices differ, we both come out ahead when it comes to our health, according to new Dutch research.
Researchers at University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands studied more than 37,000 people for 13 years and found that tea and coffee drinkers both reaped major benefits: those who consumed three to six cups of tea a day had a 36 percent reduction in their risk of heart disease, while those who sipped two to four cups of coffee a day reduced their risk of heart disease by 20 percent.
Equally great? Read more…
Photo by Romeroby Stavropoulis
Not too long ago, my friend Katie (a bit of a vegan expert) sent me this new cookbook: Viva Vegan: 200 Authentic and Fabulous Recipes for Latin Food Lovers. I love Latin food (my best friend growing up was half Mexican; we ate well), and flipping through this book was both fun and jaw-dropping. Not only was it beautifully written, I also don’t think I’d have predicted that so many classic Latin dishes would lend themselves so well to going meat and cheese-less. The recipes were compelling–and all looked fresh and perfect for summer. I tracked down author Terry Hope Romero, a Queens-based chef who’s already co-penned a few vegan bestsellers, to talk about why vegan and Latin go so well together, what Latin supplies to keep in your pantry, and more. She has also passed along two recipes from the book–a simple, savory tomato sauce and a mango and guava bread pudin (complete with how to peel a mango properly and deliciously). Read more…
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