Food, Fun … And A Little Spice
Five years after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg banished smoke-filled barrooms, smoke is coming back.
Only this time the smoke isn’t in the air … It’s in the drinks.
Smoked ingredients — be they spirits, mixers, syrups or garnishes — are increasingly wafting into cocktail recipes, as bartenders inject an ever-expanding range of flavors into their drinks.
Frozen food maker Bird’s Eye has tips on how to whether or not those frozen tinfoil bricks (Yes, I know you’re out there) you have in your freezer are any good:
1. There is no time limit to how long food can be safely frozen for – as long as it is kept frozen at -18 degrees Celsius/Zero degrees Fahrenheit or below and remains properly frozen, it will not become unsafe.
2. Food bought ready frozen keeps its taste and texture better and for much longer than food frozen at home because it has been frozen very quickly and deeply, and when the food was fresher.
3. The optimum freezer temperature for preserving food quality is -18°C/-0°F. This is cold enough to ensure food stays properly frozen and avoids ice crystals forming, which can reduce food quality.
4. Fresh food can be frozen at any point up to the use by date and remain safe. If chilled food is approaching its use by date and might not be eaten, move it from the fridge to the freezer so that it doesn’t end up going to waste. When defrosted, use it within 24 hours.
5. It’s easy to keep a record of what’s in your freezer and avoid buying the same items twice. Stick a list on the door so you can record and date each item you put in. Once you run out of an item, simply add it to your shopping list.
Earlier this year, 26-year-old L.A. food blogger Noah Galuten devised a challenge for himself: eat the cuisine of a different country every single day.
The catch? He’s committed to not cooking any of the food himself (That said, he eats at a LOT of restaurants.)
As much as I applaud his efforts to expand his palate (Lord knows I’m trying to expand mine), eating at restaurants almost every day seems like an expensive way to go about it.
Furthermore, he’s truly missing out on something by not attempting any of these recipes himself (Is there a better way to truly appreciate a culture than to COOK as they do? It’s the difference between being a tourist in a foreign country and actually living among the people day-to-day, experiencing the culture directly.)
The people who have cooked for Mr. Galuten — do they buy their ingredients online, straight from the homeland? What grounds does Mr. Galuten have for turning up his nose to cooking these recipes himself in a favor of a more quote-endquote “authentic” experience?
In my opinion, people like Mr. Galuten are culinary dilettantes (gastronomic tourists, if you will) possessing only a superficial knowledge of the culture, the history, of a people. Lunch in an Afghani restaurant will not bring you any closer to the people of Afghanistan than will watching a documentary on TV about Afghanistan.
There’s something to be said for having a close, personal, intimate relationship with the food of a particular culture. Going out to lunch at a Chinese, Afghani, or Jamaican restaurant gives one a superficial knowledge, at best.
That said, there’s nothing wrong with occasionally being a culinary tourist (Here in Florida, I personally have eaten tapas, arroz con pollo, ropa vieja, and Bahamian conch chowder in the Florida Keys.) The mistake lies in pretending to be more intimate with a particular culture than you actually are (I’m humble enough to know for a fact that munching on a plate of ropa vieja is not going to suddenly make me an authority on Cuban culture.)
It’s your turn to cook Thanksgiving dinner.
The gravy is lumpy. The turkey is bone-dry. Your brother is supposed to bring the dinner rolls, but he’s fighting with his girlfriend and will probably sit home and sulk. Aunt Bertha promised to bring the pumpkin pie, but she has been forgetful lately and is just as likely to show up with a jug of cheap burgundy.
Oh, and it’s an hour till dinner time … and you forgot to thaw the turkey.
Fear not! Enclosed are some tips for correcting Turkey Day disasters:
1. You forgot to thaw the turkey.
Unwrap the frozen bird, place it in a pan and roast as usual, increasing time by about 50 percent. Use a thermometer to check doneness (165 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh). Bake the stuffing in a casserole dish — and discreetly remove those telltale giblets from the turkey cavity before serving.
2. Your gravy is lumpy.
Thicken it with quick-dissolving flour (Wondra), and you won’t have lumps. If it’s too late for that, purée the gravy in a blender and reheat. If all else fails, stir turkey pan juices into jarred gravy and call it your own. (Boston Market Roasted Turkey Gravy won a Rachael Ray magazine taste test.)
3. The turkey is bone-dry.
Step one in dealing with dry turkey is to take a fill a spray bottle filled with warm chicken stock and spray it over the meat as you carve it (its best to keep this secret). The meat won’t be more moist because of this, but it will have moisture on it and the spray will prevent further drying.
Next is the ultimate trick: Gravy. From barbecue sauce to beurre blanc, sauces (of which gravy is one) where invented for one reason and one reason only: to add moisture and flavor to dried out, flavorless meat. Be prepared to make up a lot of good gravy. Also be prepared to do it without the benefit of turkey drippings. Just be ready to make gravy and the second you put down the platter of turkey start offering everyone extra gravy. A good gravy can do a lot to make a bad turkey much better.
You can prevent a dry turkey altogether by rubbing the outside of the bird with either olive oil or unsalted butter prior to cooking (This helps to retain moisture. Make sure you cover the drumsticks, too.)
For an extra-moist bird, lift up the skin near the cavity and rub olive oil/butter underneath the skin, working your way across the breast area and back towards the tail (For safety’s sake, wash your hands thoroughly before handling raw meat.)
bonappetit.com Recipe of the Day
