Cooking Tips: 10/05/09

Monday, October 5, 2009

Sad that Gourmet’s closing

October 5

“I can’t believe it!” everyone keeps saying when hearing the news that Condé Nast has decided to cease publication of Gourmet magazine.
But then they admit that they can, in fact, believe it, because these are awful times in the world of publishing. Gourmet is not the first big title to say good-bye, and I doubt that it will be the last.
But still, it’s a sad day in the food-writing world and it didn’t seem quite right to let it to go by without acknowledging it.
I had a couple of groups of visitors to the office today.
One group came from Lemaire, an old-school fine dining restaurant in Richmond, Va., that, like so many fine dining restaurants, has reconcepted itself to make it more accessible to a wider variety of guests and occasions, offering things like braised rabbit sliders on jalapeño cornbread and specialty cocktails using local herbs and such (restaurant director Ben Eubanks is trying to coin the term “farm to glass”).
They brought me a gift basket of Virginia ham and Virginia peanuts and some little chocolates and an alligator Christmas tree ornament (the alligator is an important symbol of Lemaire dating back to an earlier time, when it was fashionable for Virginia ladies to wear baby alligators on short chains, sort of as brooches — I couldn’t make this stuff up) and a trivet with a recipe for spoonbread on it.
They’d tried to drop off a similar basket to someone at Gourmet on the way to meet with someone at Bon Appétit, and were told the bad news and that they probably shouldn’t leave the basket.
I think they said they couldn’t believe it.
My other visitor was a representative from Sonic Drive-In, who came in just to touch base and talk about flavor trends. She said the mango drinks they sold as limited time offerings this summer did well — probably not well enough to be brought back full-time, but they got a lot of anecdotal feedback asking when it would come back.
She also said that cranberry Diet Dr. Pepper is delicious. So that’s good to know.
She said she was sad that Gourmet was closing, too.

I Killed Gourmet

Today's news of Gourmet's imminent closure makes me wonder whether I killed Gourmet magazine? Was my newly-minted, modest little blog the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back? Was I the flap of the butterfly wings that eventually caused the hurricane that closed Gourmet? Hardly, but one does wonder whether the thousands of people like me sharing our cooking thoughts online, and the millions of people like you and me reading about cooking online drove one more stake into the heart of old media. Do we live in a better world if Gourmet can no longer exist? Certainly, food and cooking blogs, cooking shows and celebrity chefs, even movies about all of the above have spread a love of cooking far beyond what Gourmet will ever do. It is the sad, but inevitable progress spurred by technology and mass appeal. I am thankful for my present and future, but I do desperately hope that food magazines continue. There is something special about curling up with those glossy photos and feeling the flip of the pages on the fingertips. Meanwhile, last week I cooked straight from a recipe on my laptop on the kitchen counter. Gourmet, rest in peace.

Marbled Cream Cheese Brownies

For someone who claims to be on a diet, I seem to spend a lot of time in the kitchen baking stuff I'm not allowed to eat. Brown sugar shortbread. Biscuits. Those chocolate chip cookies I baked for my son when I sent him the biscuits. Chocolate truffle squares. And now it's cream cheese brownies. WTF????

For the record, I will tell you that I am still sticking to my eating - or should I say "not eating"- plan. I have to go for the first official weigh-in on Friday so that's enough to keep me in line. At least for now. And it certainly kept me from eating those shortbread shards or consuming vast quantities of raw cookie dough. (In the old days, I probably scarfed down more dough than I actually baked). But of course, none of you have ever done that, right?

I didn't eat any of the cream cheese brownies I made last Friday, either. Not the first crumb! And yes, I made them for a very specific reason.

You already know that I bake mason jar cakes to send to our deployed troops in Iraq and Afghanistan every month. What you don't know is I also volunteer at the VA hospital in Atlanta. I think it is equally important to support our veterans (many of whom are forgotten) so I make it a point to go in and hang out with them. Mostly, they just want to talk. Sometimes we just get silly as you can see from the picture on the left. That's me with Mr. W, goofing around on Valentine's Day. It's little enough that I can do.

So did I make these brownies for our veterans in the VA nursing home? Well, no. Many of them are diabetic, so sugar is not an option. Since I have never eaten or made a dessert with artificial sweetener that I thought was edible, I guess I won't be baking for them anytime soon.

No, I made these brownies for the VAVS staff and volunteers who worked like crazy last weekend to organize, staff and run the annual Stand Down for Homeless Veterans. Approximately 500 of our homeless vets showed up on Saturday for medical care, hot showers, food, clothing and support. It was an all-day event and it was HUGE - in every sense of the word.

Believe me, these VAVS staff members deserve far more than just brownies. (People, you know who you are). They are the epitome of what every employee (government or otherwise) should be. No matter how many diets I am on, I would happily bake for them every day of the week.

Marbled Cream Cheese Brownies (adapted from Magnolia's, Charleston S.C.)

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate

4 oz. semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate

1/3 cup butter

Place chocolates and butter in a small, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until mixture is melted. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

16 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 extra large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth then gradually beat in sugar. Add eggs, one at a time and beat on medium speed until just blended. Add vanilla. Use a spatula to fold in flour and chocolate chips. Set aside.

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Using electric mixer, beat eggs until foamy. Gradually add sugar and beat on high speed until thick and fluffy. Add cooled chocolate mixture and vanilla and blend well. Using a spatula, fold in flour, baking powder and salt. Fold in chocolate chips.

Reserve 3 cups of the chocolate batter. Spread remaining batter into a 13 x 9-inch pan that has been lined with overhanging foil and greased well. Pour cream cheese batter over and smooth well. Drop remaining chocolate batter over cream cheese layer and swirl with a knife to marble.

Bake in oven preheated to 350-degrees for 40 - 45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Do not overbake.

When cool, remove from pan and cut into squares. These are good alone, but you can gild the lily and top them with vanilla ice cream and drizzle with warm caramel (or chocolate) sauce.

Yield: 12 - 18 brownies, depending upon how generous you are when you cut them!

But every monday morning comes...

I simply love that song from Suede; they're one of my favourite bands ever... Brett Anderson's voice is so perfect...

Hi there everyone! Yes, two actualizations on a day! But as I felt something run down to the previous post, which was quite melancholy; I decided to write this one explaining my weekend and to show you a cute thing or two...

Friday was spent at home, the truth is that I have a little cold and my nose now looks like a faucet, it is not pleasant, but not the least my throat hurts. However, on Saturday invited Rose, Jose and Miguel for dinner, I cooked my curry and drank fantastic Oporto ... then, of course, we went dancing!

Jose, rose, me and Miguel making the dumb, of course.

On the other hand, have not I taught my new shoes ... "They are monkeys? I found them by accident walking around Granada, they were looking at me timidly from the window ... I entered, I asked the price, and my luck was lowered, initially cost 70 € but I bought for 30 € is a bargain, right?

My look on saturday evening:

Shirt - Zara

Skirt - green coas customized

Tights - Calzedonia

Shoes - Red Girl

And this beautiful blue skirt is one of my favorites, but stopped long ago put it on because the waist was too high and not entirely convinced me how I was looking... so my friend Rocío has managed it, and with the leftover fabric I made this little purse to match! The skirt is very old, from the seventies, I bought second hand at the market of Sabinillas.

One more thing, I have stolen affectionately Maria from Lulu Letty, this charming button.

Sharon, of My Passport to Style and Lauren, of Lauren Loves are hosting the exciting Dear Diary 5 Day blogging event in hope of raising awareness of the importance of regular cervical smear testing. Maria made this lovely button, so please, visit her bolg and the blog of Lauren and Sharon, and comment about it!

And one more thing yet! Today I found this surprise:

Yes, I was on the cover of Modepass! I was not expecting what was funny! It make my day, hehehe!

And congratulations from sweet Laia from Let Me Feel Like a Doll, she's at Must! Magazine! this month!!

Live blogging from MUFSO

October 5,

I’m not attending our big annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference, because someone has to man the fort here in New York, feeding the hungry beasts that are a weekly magazine, live web site etc., so I'm doing the next best thing and reading the blog of my colleagues who are there. I think you should, too.

Goat Cheese and Squash Fettuccine...and Waldorf Salad

We tried 2 new recipes last night and both were WONDERFUL! After my post requesting squash recipes, our friend Katie emailed over one of she and her husband's favorites. After preparing the recipe and photographing the recipe, I was expecting mediocre taste-test results, at best. Man, I was wrong! The combination of flavors in this recipe is beyond rich and flavorful -- a new fall recipe must-make in this household! Katie said the source of the recipe was Cooking Light. I used whole wheat linguine and added about 2 Tbsp of Smart Balance to pot once the pasta was drained and the garlic, salt, and pepper were added. I also read the recipe wrong and only bought 4 ounces of goat cheese (oops!). Next time, I will definitely purchase the correct amount of goat cheese...I mean, can one ever get TOO much goat cheese? Psh! I mashed up the squash and goat cheese to combine well over the fettuccine so that I got all the flavors in every bite. Mmm! Husband loved it, too! Thanks, Katie!

Baked Goat Cheese and Roasted Winter Squash over Garlicky Fettuccine

6 cups (1-in) cubed peeled kabocha or butternut squash (about 2 ¼ pounds)

1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 ½ Tbsp olive oil, divided

1 tsp salt, divided

1 tsp chopped fresh (or ¼ tsp dried) rosemary

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 (4-oz) packages goat cheese

½ cup dry breadcrumbs

1 pound uncooked fettuccine

¼ tsp crushed red pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF.

2. Place squash and bell pepper in a large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon oil; toss well. Arrange vegetables in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt, rosemary and black pepper. Bake at 425ºF for 40 mins, stirring once.

3. Place goat cheese in freezer for 10 minutes. Cut cheese crosswise into 8 equal rounds. Place breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl. Dredge each round in breadcrumbs; place on baking sheet. Bake at 425ºF for 6 minutes.

4. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain, reserving ½ cup pasta cooking water. Return pasta to pan; add reserved pasta cooking water, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, red pepper, and garlic, tossing to coat. Place 1 ¼ cups past in each of 8 shallow bowls; top each serving with about ½ cup squash mixture and 1 goat cheese round. Garnish with rosemary sprigs, if desired. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutrition Information:

Calories 423 (30% from fat); Total Fat 14.1g (Saturated Fat 7.4g, mono 4.2g, poly 0.7g); Cholesterol 30mg; Sodium 439mg; Total Carbohydrate 54.7g (Dietary Fiber 2.7g, Sugars ncg); Protein 17.8g; Calcium 290 mg; Iron 2.1 mg.

And dessert last night was a new Waldorf Salad from Weight Watchers. This was a wonderful, refreshing, healthy dessert option. Again, I was pleasantly surprised how rich the flavors were when combined. I upped the celery to about 1 1/2 cups, for added crunch. Added bonus: this salad combines all macro-nutrients very nicely -- carbohydrates (fruit and brown sugar), protein (nuts and yogurt), and fat (mayonnaise)...plus, it's a good source of fiber!