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Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Food News A tax on soda ... its barbaric!
Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 10:00 AM
I love soda. The sugary carbonation tickling my throat, the gentle burp that slyly erupts after a good gulp of Coke ... it's so lovely.
So why are these people proposing a penny-per-ounce excise tax on "sugared beverages"?
Because this tax, unlike the petty junk-food taxes of yesteryear, is designed to hurt. Its purpose is to discourage you from buying soda, on the grounds that soda, like smoking, is bad for you.
They're haters. They're waging a war on junk food, and I don't like it. I don't like it one bit.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Food News Food News: April 13
Posted By Tricia Childress on Mon, Apr 13, 2009 at 11:41 AM
* In compliance with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Bremner Food Group is recalling Harris Teeter Natural Roasted & Salted Pistachios. Further investigation of Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Inc. in California has led to an expansion of recalled products. Bremner Food Group products were not part of the initial recall. The company has now been informed that the items are subject to the recall because of potential contamination with the salmonella organism. This recall affects Harris Teeter Natural Roasted & Salted Pistachios, UPC #007203653117, Package Size 12 ounces, all dates. Harris Teeter has removed these items from its stores until further notice and has asked this item be returned for a full refund. Consumer inquires: 800-445-8339.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Recipe RECIPE: Mocha-Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Fri, Apr 10, 2009 at 3:14 PM
Dorie Greenspan is so badass. I bought her baking cookbook Baking: From My Home to Yours a year ago, and so far everything I've made from it is amazing. This Dorie lady even has her own cult following in the blogosphere! Her Mocha-Walnut cake is one of my favorites. It looks like nothing fancy -- no layers, frosting, sprinkles, roses, or glaze. But don't be fooled. This cake has sophisticated flavors of walnut and chocolate and a beautiful ginko-pattern marbling. Slice yourself of hunk of this cake and you'll see why it's so good.
Before you start, a couple tips: Make sure to butter and flour your bundt pan REALLY well. If you don't, the cake won't come out of the pan pretty. Also, when marbling the batter, go easy with the knife swirls and zig-zags. If you mix the batters too much, you won't get the pretty black and white look. Ok, that's it. Get baking.
Mocha-Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake
* 2 1/4 c flour
* 1/2 c ground walnuts (I used a food processor)
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1 tsp salt
* 2 sticks plus 2 T unsalted butter
* 3 oz (a scant half cup) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (chocolate chips work fine)
* 1/4 c coffee, hot or cold
* 1 tsp finely ground instant coffee
* 1 3/4 c sugar
* 4 large eggs
* 2 tsp vanilla
* 1 c whole milk
1. Butter and flour your bundt pan, or any 12-cup cake pan (you could also use 2 loaf pans, or other pans). Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour, walnuts, baking powder and salt.
2. In a double boiler, put the 2 T butter (cut up into pieces), chocolate, and two kinds of coffee. Heat on low and stir to combine. Remove from heat.
3. Beat butter in mixer. Add sugar and blend. Then add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla. Mix well.
4. Add the dry ingredients and the milk alternately, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and with 3 total portions of dry and 2 of milk. Think: dry, milk, dry, milk, dry. Mix.
5. Scrape a little less than half the batter into the chocolate mixture. Mix to combine.
6. Scrape all of the white batter into the bottom of the bundt. Top with the chocolate batter. Run a table knife SPARINGLY in a zig-zag pattern through the bundt for a chocolate-in vanilla pattern. Alternatively, for a real marbled effect, alternate large spoonfuls of white and chocolate batter in the pan, then swirl with knife.
7. Bake for 65-70 minutes (mine took just 60 minutes, so go easy here; don't overbake!). Transfer to rack to cook for ten minutes. Then unmold the cake and cool completely on the rack.
Smorgasbord Pancakes in a can?
Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Fri, Apr 10, 2009 at 10:29 AM
Not a Campbell's Soup can either ... a whipped cream can.
"Would you like me to spray you some more pancakes?" Just doesn't sound right.
Lost cast member Jorge Garcia blogs about his discovery of organic pancakes in a can at a Whole Foods. Read about it here.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Mouthful Today's lunch: Korean
Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 3:17 PM
All this food for lil ol' me?
Today I went to the Korean Restaurant & Sushi Bar, located at 6404-A Albermarle Road (in the Bi-Lo shopping center). If you think there's something missing in the name I gave, nope. Koreans are simple people. They call it as it is.
I ordered the mando dukk gooksu — loosely translated as dumpling ricecake soup. This gooksu consists of beef dumplings, oval-shaped rice cakes, thin clear noodles, egg, chunks of beef and green onions. Yum.
As with every meal at a Korean restaurant, the main entree comes with banjan, or side dishes. I'm not a big fan of shin kimchee (kimchee that's older — you can tell because it's sour), and two of my kimchee dishes were sour. The other dishes that I could identify were pa jun (Korean pancakes), kongnamul (spicy bean sprouts), pickled seaweed, ggakdugi (turnip kimchee) and some kind of cucumber dish. (The side dish pictured to the far upper left ... no idea what the name of that is, but it's pickled and tasted yummy with my soup.)
Monday through Thursday: 11 a.m.-10 p.m
Friday through Saturday: 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Sunday: 12 p.m.-10 p.m.
704-569-1954
Smorgasbord "Sponge Bob got back!" in this Burger King commercial
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 12:20 PM
Burger King has a hilarious new commercial for the new 99 cent kid’s meals with Spongebob Squarepants toys. The BK king mascot sings a Spongebob Squarepants version of Sir Mix-a-lot's Baby Got Back. Sir Mix-a-lot even appears in the ad!
Watch the video:
Lyrics:
I like square butts and I cannot lie
Squid and Sea Star can’t deny
When a sponge walks in, four corners and his pen
Like he got phone book implants, the crowd shouts
All the ladies stare
Dang those pants are square!
Swimming through the seaweed tangle
Is a butt with sharp right angles
Now Sponge Bob, I wanna get witch-ya
‘Cuz you’re making me rich-ah
Underwater, we keep it grungy
‘Cuz everybody knows that ‘He so spongey!’
Ooh, Rumplespongeskin
You dance, but your hips don’t bend
So groove it and move it
If you got caboose, then prove it
Sponge Bob is dancing
And Squidward is glancing
He’s hatin’… wet
He’s got Sponge Bob runnin’ his set
I’m tired of all these chairs
They don’t accommodate these squares
Take the average ???? tell him that
You gotta have square back
Mr. Krab! (yeah)
Patrick! (yeah)
Has Sponge Bob got the butt? (oh yeah)
Then shake it (shake it)
Shake it (shake it)
Shake that cubicle butt
Sponge Bob got back
(Naw, dude, I said cubicle, not booty-ful. Don’t trip. Yeah baby, when it comes to sea life, curves ain’t got nothin’ to do with Bob’s selection. 2 x 2 x 2 square trousers, working that black belt, looking like dotted lines. That’s how Sponge Bob like to rock them threads baby.)
A word to the DC sponges who wanna get wit it
And watch Sponge Bob kick it
I gotta be straight when I say you gotta scrub ’til the break of dawn
Bob got it goin’ on, been known to rock him a thong
Them round butts won’t admit it
But they’d wear that gear if they could fit it
You can draw his body on paper
His waistline really don’t taper
Your girlfriend wants to squeeze him
Wanna push his pores and tease him
But Sponge Bob ain’t gonna have too much of that squeezin’
You other sponges don’t want none unless you rock square buns!
To the new sponges in the magazines, you ain’t it Miss Thang
We rock them cubes, gals and dudes
Put it down at the goo lagoon
Some other box must get jealous
At the moves that come from square fellas
See Bob and they wanna get him
But Sandy Cheeks he won’t let ‘em
If you happen to wander on land
And you wanna be a square butt fan
And drive the crew right to Burger King
And give that sponge a ring
Sponge Bob got back!
Food News Restaurants where kids eat free
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 9:59 AM
Going out to eat can be pricey for families. Get in on these great deals from local restaurants where kids eat free, provided by MyKidsEatFree.com.
Bear Rock Cafe
306 South Sharon Amity
Charlotte, NC
704-442-1887
Sunday is Family Day. Kids Eat Free. Free Kids Meal with purchase of any sandwich or salad. Tuesday Night is Kids Night. Kids Eat Free. Free Kids Meal with purchase of any sandwich or salad after 4pm.
Nights: Tues | Sun
Denny's
4541 Sunset Road
Charlotte, NC
704-597-9224
kids eat free deal on Tues and Sat. They choose from the Kids menu obviously. 2 kids per paying adult.
Nights: Tues | Sat
Duckworth's Grill and Bar
560 River Highway
Mooresville, NC
704-799-2881
1 kid per paying adult. Sundays after 4 PM
Nights: Sun
Duckworth's Grill and Bar
1600 E. Woodlawn Rd
Charlotte, NC
704-527-5783
1 kid per paying adult. Sundays after 4 PM
Nights: Sat
Firehouse Subs
7712 Sossaman Lane Suite 100
Concord, NC
704.979.3737
Two free kids' meals with one adult sandwich meal on Sundays
Nights: Sun
Jersey Mike's Subs
9211 North Tryon St
Charlotte, NC
704 549 9003
Kids Eat Free on Sunday...with adult sub purchase. One per adult. Kids sub, cookie, and kids fountain drink FREE!!!
Nights: Sun
Lake Wylie Junction Grill & Pub
13105 South Tryon
Charlotte, NC
(704) 587-0494
Kids eat free on Wednesday night.
Nights: Wed
Shoney's
8531 North Tryon Street
Charlotte, NC
(704) 549-4397
Kid's under 4 Eat Free from Kid's menu at participating locations.
Nights: Mon | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Sat | Sun
Shoney's
355 Woodlawn Rd @ South Blvd.
Charlotte, NC
(704) 525-4395
Kid's under 4 Eat Free from Kid's menu at participating locations.
Nights: Mon | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Sat | Sun
Shoney's
2539 Little Rock Road
Charlotte, NC
(704) 392-0713
Kid's under 4 Eat Free from Kid's menu at participating locations.
Nights: Mon | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Sat | Sun
Tryon House Restaurant
215 E. Exmore St.
Charlotte, NC
(704) 527-6545
Wednesday nights kids eat free with purchase of adult entree.
Nights: Wed
Wolf Man Pizza
645 Brawley School RD
Mooresville, NC
(704) 662-9727
Kids eat free on Tuesday nights. Offer is buy one adult entree get one child entree free
Nights: Tues
Zapata's Mexican Cantina
8927 J M Keynes Dr
Charlotte, NC
(704) 503-1979
Kids 12 and under eat free from Kids menu with paying adult.
Nights: Sun
Zapata's Mexican Cantina
8927 J M Keynes Dr
Charlotte, NC
(704) 503-1979
Kids 12 and under eat free from Kids menu with paying adult.
Nights: Sun
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Mouthful Why you should go to Pie Town
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 12:32 PM
The artisan pizzas crafted by Peter Reinhart are the star attractions at Pie Town. The restaurant takes pride in their pie crusts, which Reinhart has developed scientifically:
For us at Pie Town, the crust is the most important part of the pizza experience (though we’re quite proud of our sauce and toppings too). Our goal is to create a crust that has balanced but complex flavors and a texture that contains both a crisp, smoky snap and a creamy texture inside the puffy edge (what the Italians call the cornicione). The smoky flavor comes from the oven flames and the texture is due to long fermentation as well as intense oven heat.
Taking advantage of their Tuesday drink special of 2 pints for $5, I headed to Pie Town last night. We ordered the #80 with extra caramelized garlic: Pie Town Margherita with Prosciutto and the Salumi Special: Sopressato, Vesuvio, & Milano Salumi, Cheese Blend, Caramelized Garlic, & Pine Nuts. The pizzas (and the crust) didn't disappoint. The pies were served with an oil made with paprika and chili pepper flakes to dip the crust in. Feast your eyes:
P.S. If you go tomorrow, you can get half off glasses of wine. (It's the Wednesday special.)
PieTown
710 W. Trade St
Charlotte, NC 28202
704.379.7555
Food News / Liquid Diet Kosher wines for Passover
Posted By Taylor Eason on Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 10:17 AM
There's good news for the approaching Jewish high holies. In the last 20 or so years, new kosher producers have emerged to take on the granddaddy of disgusting, syrupy kosher wine, Manischewitz, by expanding varietal choices and delivering juice even the nonreligious might deign to consume ... even enjoy.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Recipe Happy Peanut Butter and Jelly Day!
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Tue, Apr 7, 2009 at 5:27 PM
Today is National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day. PB & J are one of the best combos in the culinary world so celebrate with these Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars from Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten:
- Photo from www.cafemom.com
Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars
Ingredients
* 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
* 2 cups (18 ounces) creamy peanut butter (recommended: Skippy)
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
* 1 1/2 cups (18 ounces) raspberry jam or other jam
* 2/3 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch cake pan. Line it with parchment paper, then grease and flour the pan.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until all ingredients are combined.
In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.
Spread 2/3 of the dough into the prepared cake pan and spread over the bottom with a knife or offset spatula. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Don't worry if all the jam isn't covered; it will spread in the oven. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and cut into squares.
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Dish on this: Charlotte-based chefs join ACF Culinary Team USA 2016
As fall approaches, local chefs prepare for a culinary battle in Germany.
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Recipe: Roasted Vegetables with Dijon Béarnaise Sauce
Vegetables. Cheese. Béarnaise. These are things you're going to put in your mouth shortly after reading this.
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What's hoppening at Unknown?
I had to check out the brewery's inaugural Improper Glassware Night.
