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Doro Wett: A Flavorful, Unique Ethiopian Stew

iteach — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 03:04:59 +0000

The latest installment in our Around the World in 80 Dishes series is doro wett, an Ethiopian chicken stew with a thick, spiced sauce. When I was working on this story, I was struck by a quote in chef Marcus Samuelsson’s book New American Table, which focuses on immigrant cooking in America. “I’ve always thought that in America?where you have access to the highest-quality ingredients and great cooking supplies?you can often make ethnic food that actually tastes better than it does in its native country,” writes Samuelsson. This is a bold statement, but it makes sense: These days, in most parts of the country, we can buy not only top-notch, fresh-from-the-farm produce, meat, and dairy, but also all the once-obscure seasonings required to produce authentic dishes from around the world. Case in point: berbere, the pungent spice mix that’s a required element in many Ethiopian recipes, including doro wett. Our recipe (from Samuelsson) explains how to make it at home, but you can also easily order it from kalustyans.com, an indispensable source for many ethnic ingredients. (We often find ourselves linking to Kalustyans from Around the World in 80 Dishes articles.) Do you like to cook less-known ethnic dishes? Do you agree with Samuelsson’s statement?do you find it easy to get top-quality ethnic ingredients?[...]

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Doro Wett: A Flavorful, Unique Ethiopian Stew

Creamy Peanut Butter Taste Test Results Revealed!

iteach — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:05:02 +0000

The peanut butter taste test results are in! We blind-tasted 21 creamy peanut butters, and found three that we loved. But, we will admit that many of us were surprised to find that the jars we stash in our own kitchen cupboards weren’t necessarily the ones we favored in the tasting. Do you have a favorite creamy peanut butter brand that you swear by?[...]

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Creamy Peanut Butter Taste Test Results Revealed!

15 Food and Drink Events to Enjoy

iteach — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:05:00 +0000

Food and drink festivals offer a fun, tasty destination for a summer road trip. Do you travel to festivals? Here, 15 good choices this week. New York: Northeast Jazz & Wine Festival (July 29-31) Indiana: Frankfort Hot Dog Festival (July 30-31) Ohio: Columbus Wine Festival (July 30-31) Wisconsin: 2nd Annual Taste of Wisconsin (July 30-August 1) Mississippi: Natchez Food & Wine Festival (July 30-August 1) Florida: Key Largo Food & Wine Festival (July 30-August Vermont: 3rd Annual Deerfield Valley Blueberry Festival (July 30-August California: 8th Annual Mendocino Herb Fair (July 31) Illinois: Taste of the Region (July 31) Maine: Artisan Bread Fair (July 31) New Jersey: Wine Art Music Poetry Project Festival (July 31) Oklahoma: Watermelon Festival & Craft Show (July 31) South Dakota: Clark Potato Day (July 31) California: Watsonville Strawberry Festival (July 31-August 1) Colorado: 14th Annual Bluegrass and Beer Festival (July 31-August 1)…[...]

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15 Food and Drink Events to Enjoy

Chicago Suggestions for Tanya: Haute and Honky-Tonk

iteach — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:05:03 +0000

Two additional restaurant suggestions for Tanya’s week in Chicago, and for anyone deciding what’s worth eating now in one of the country’s great dining destinations: First suggestion: The new Elysian hotel, a few blocks off North Michigan, is partly owned by Alice Waters’ nephew and the pedigree shows. The hotel is modeled after a twenties Parisian grand dame hotel and the result is actual adult boutique hotel, the kind that doesn’t confuse itself for a party lounge, so you don’t have to run the gauntlet of drunk kids in the lobby. But that doesn’t mean the hotel is clueless when it comes to offering a good time, or better food. In fact drawing as many locals as hotel guests, always an encouraging sign, the Elysian’s two restaurants, both overseen by chef Jason McLeod and chef de cuisine Danny Grant in a double tour de force, offer a contrasting sample of contemporary cooking. My favorite of the two dining rooms is the more casual Balsan, a buzzy, reasonably priced (small plates hover around $12.00; large average $25) bistro punctuated by a long bar and marble tables. It’s a little reminiscent of the always superb Avec and the menu wanders all over the place. If you’re freely wandering get one of the thin crust pizzas pulled from the wood-fired oven (the Goffredo is crowned with proscuitto, arugula, and a sweet, fruity tomato suace). The now obligatory charcuterie is, well, meaty, but I prefer two other small plates: the knockout cured sardine and fennel laid over grilled sou…[...]

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Chicago Suggestions for Tanya: Haute and Honky-Tonk

Thinking About How Foods Are Marketed to Children

iteach — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:05:02 +0000

Being well aware of the dismal state of the American diet, I’m not usually shocked when I read some new, negative piece of news on this subject. But a recent article about how foods are marketed to children caught my eye, partially because it shed light on the enormous power of the food industry and the problems even the federal government encounters when it tries to confront this power. Apparently, three years ago, the Better Business Bureau launched a program called the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, in which a number of large companies voluntarily agreed not to market products to children under the age of 12 unless they met certain nutritional guidelines. The big problem with the program: The companies each set their own health guidelines. This allowed Kellogg’s, for instance, to continue advertising Fruit Loops (and, indeed, even mark boxes with a “Smart Choices” symbol), even though they’re 41 percent sugar, because they contain fiber and (added) Vitamins A and C. McDonald’s also continued advertising its Happy Meals during Saturday morning cartoons, arguing that the actual meals pictured (though often briefly) in the commercials are the lower-calorie versions, for instance with apple slices subbed for fries. To address this problem, last year Congress ordered several federal agencies, including the FTC and the FDA, to work together on creating a proposal for revised nutritional standards. But apparently the government doesn’t actually have a lot of…[...]

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Thinking About How Foods Are Marketed to Children