I spotted this unusual beauty at the fruit stand yesterday afternoon. It was sliced in half and wrapped in plastic film but the little sticker attached only offered the weight and price. "What is this? A prickly pear maybe? I asked Tom to wait with the baby while I ran up to the salesperson and asked. "It's a fruit, kind of tastes like a Kiwi" was the answer. Well, this I had to try. When we returned to the apt. later that evening Tom looked it up online and found this description:
This climbing cactus is one of the most beautiful and wide spread members of the Cactaceae family. The magnificent night blooming white flowers can be up to14 inches in diameter. The fruit is most often eaten chilled and cut in half so the flesh may be spooned out. The juice is used in frozen drinks and it is in a new Tropicana Twister flavor. The red fruit are high in lycopene which is a natural antioxidant that is known to fight cancer and heart disease. source: Pine Island Nursery
A little further searching online on my part resulted in a site on how to grow them from seed and from the same Pine Island Nursery site I quoted above, a page on all the different varieties. Who knew!
So what did I think? I'm sorry to report that I was a little disappointed. The fruit I bought must have been a little under ripe because it really didn't have much of a taste at all. It certainly tasted nothing like kiwi to me. The texture and consistency of the flesh reminded me of kiwi and also of prickly pear but that's about it. I could just barely detect a sweetness to the fruit and I wonder if had it been riper would it have been sweeter. One thing I did like was the seeds. They were crunchy and each spoonful of flesh yeided a mouthful of seeds for me to pop and crunch between my teeth. FUN! I'd love to try this fruit again. I always like to give something three chances before I completely write it off. I'll be on the lookout for another.
Vietnamese Cinnamon: It was love at first bite.
Cinnamon [SIH-nuh-muhn] Once used in love potions and to perfume wealthy Romans, this age-old spice comes in two varieties — Cinnamomum zeylanicum (Ceylon cinnamon) and Cinnamomum cassia (cassia). Cinnamon is the inner bark of a tropical evergreen tree. The bark is harvested during the rainy season when it's more pliable. When dried, it curls into long quills, which are either cut into lengths and sold as cinnamon sticks, or ground into powder. Ceylon (or tree) cinnamon is buff-colored and mildly sweet in flavor; cassia cinnamon is a dark, reddish brown color and has a more pungent, slightly bittersweet flavor. Cassia cinnamon is used and sold simply as "cinnamon" in many countries (including the United States). Cinnamon is widely used in sweet dishes, but also makes an intriguing addition to savory dishes such as stews and curries. Oil of cinnamon comes from the pods of the cinnamon tree and is used as a flavoring, as well as a medicinal. Source: Food Dictionary
I have fallen head over heals for this spice. I didn’t want to, skeptic that I am I wanted it to disappoint me, but instead, it charmed me right from the beginning almost knocking me over by its intense aroma and lovely sweet taste. Stupid Vietnamese cinnamon, why did you have to be so alluring, so damn pungent and flavorful, so dark and pretty, so damn sexy!
I recently purchased some of this manna after (reluctantly) giving in to the hype I've read and heard about it over the years. It was an impulse purchase because the last thing I need in my spice cabinet is another jar of cinnamon, but I wanted to see for my self if this was in fact "The Best." I have to confess that I often disregard blanket statements like that, especially when it comes to food. I find that all too often whatever is considered "the best" on whatever "it" list is hot at the moment is often way off the mark with what I would consider the best to be. So, in the interest of keeping it real I decided to try it out and draw my own conclusions. The first recipe I used it in was a loaf of Cinnamon Raisin bread (which I will blog about in the next day or two) the way the cinnamon performed in that recipe alone was enough to hook me in. I hope to get a few more chances in the next few weeks to try a few other recipes that feature this cinnamon, you know, to see how it holds with my new higher expectations of it. Has anyone else used it and if so in what dish and what were some of your thoughts?
Online retailers that sell Vietnamese Cinnamon:
One of the things that I groove on about living in NYC is the 24 hour supermarket in my neighborhood. It is conveniently located right on the very path I walk home from work on and so if there is any little item that I may have forgotten to pick up during my daily shopping with She Who Must Be Obeyed or if I just wish to buy myself a little snacky treat I can do it after I get out of work at midnight. You would be surprised at how many people are shopping at midnight, you would be even more surprised at how many people are shopping at midnight and talking on cell phones. You would be even MORE surprised at how boring these conversations are. Who are they talking to at midnight while grocery shopping and why aren't they talking about more interesting things, don't they know I'm listening? Anyway, this isn't about shoppers on cell phones at midnight but about some recent purchases that I thought were interesting enough to blog about, so here we go.
The box of salt cod pictured above (sans fish) was a lovely find. I'll admit that what attracted me was the box; I'm such a sucker for cute packaging. A box like this, once the fish has been eaten and long forgotten can be re-used for any number of useful things. I could store buttons in it, or loose change, or even house my bottle cap collection (yeah, like I have one) the possibilities are just endless! I have to keep the box hidden though because there is a certain little someone who has her eye on it, but she can't have it cause its mine! Anyway, I was glad to get some salt cod because I am a big fan of Portuguese Cod Cakes (be sure to read this helpful note although I'm pretty grateful that my cod was pre-boned), but then I found a recipe for salt cod hash that I wanted to try, so the Portuguese cod cakes didn't happen, BUT, I will be buying more salt fish to make the cod cakes real soon. joy!
This is the salt cod hash I made from the Saveur recipe. It was very tasty, but because I adjusted the recipe to use up a pound of salt cod I had a lot of hash. A LOT of hash. After eating it for a third day in a row, for both breakfast and lunch, I can safely say that I am done with salt cod hash for a little while now.
Here is the girl pretending to act casual, trying to distract me with her cuteness so she can steal my fish box, but I'm onto her.
Oh boy. You know this ended up my grocery basket without my even blinking an eye. I HAD to try it. The website is interesting and informative and it offers a lot more choices of flavors than were available to me at my market but for me my choices were, vanilla, raspberry, blueberry and chai. CHAI! I just had to try chai yogurt. My first reaction was wow! This stuff was really thick, so thick my spoon stood up, and that for me was a plus because I am a lover of thick tangy yogurt. The chai flavor was subtle at first but as I continued to eat it became less subtle and a little too overpowering and I started to get grossed out. What with the really thick yogurt and the perfumy smell and taste of the chai I suddenly felt like I was eating cold cream and had to stop. Ellie loved the stuff, and ended up finishing what I couldn't, so it just goes to show, one person's yuck is another person’s yum. To be fair, I'll try the other flavors just to make sure I really don’t like the yogurt before writing it off for myself, though I’ll keep buying it for the little girl as long as she’ll keep eating it!
I don't really need any more tea in my house but I am a tea buying addict. I buy it, try it, then forget about it, but this tea had to come home with me because this tea came in a WOODEN BOX, I needed this tea! I am generally not a fan of fruit teas, I prefer my cup of tea to be strong and I like it with milk and sugar, or if its Chinese tea, then piping hot and with no sugar. Sadly, the tea that came in this box wasn't very special, it wasn't awful, but it wasn't terrific either. I didn't really taste the apple although it smelled faintly of apples and as for the cinnamon smell and flavor, well; I'll take their word for it. It is a lovely box though, and that alone made this a worthy purchase.
I am such a sucker for packaging, especially if the product comes in a jar. I guess I might even have a bit of a jar obsession. I collect the more interesting ones (with the idea that I'll reuse them for something else), and among the many things I do with them, besides moving them from one dark kitchen corner cabinet to another or schlepping them around in my backpack (even I wonder about that) is to use them to drink out of. I love a big ole mason jar full of coffee, what can I say. If you say jar too many times it begins to sound weird, say it with me, jar...jar...jar...jar...it just sounds wrong! I fear Ellina (who by the way is becoming quite the lovely little pork chop) will grow up ashamed of her crazy jar hording mother, which makes me sad...
Anyway, yesterday Ellie spent the day with her Dad so that I could have a much needed break from this new role I've taken on as mother, (as much as I love my girl, I have come to realize I occasionally need some me time too). At one point I found myself on the upper East-side and so, as I do whenever I'm in that neighborhood, I stopped into Grace's Marketplace and browsed around a bit.Its been a while since I was at Grace's Marketplace and so I spent quite some time wandering the aisles taking in all the sights and smells. At one point, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a flurry of activity near the cheese section. A fabulously dressed twenty-something was chatting away on her cell phone and furiously loading her cart with cute little jars. I was too far away to tell what delightful treat might be in those jars so I threw on my cap and nonchalantly walked over to the produce section and staked her out. I found that if I stood just slightly at an angle, I could position myself in such a way that I could see her but she couldn't see me. I opened up a newspaper and feigned interest, just biding my time until she was done. Occasionally I would glance over the top of the newspaper to see if she had gone, and when she hadn’t yet cleared the area, I snapped the pages of the newspaper a bit and continued with my stakeout. When she finally left, I made a mad dash back over to the cheese section and grabbed one of the five jars the girl had so graciously left behind. YOGURT! (or is it yoghurt?). She had been filling her cart with two different brands of artisanal yogurt! Well, you know I had to try some of this! I grabbed two of the prune, (don't laugh, it was all that was left of the Ferme de Peupliers brand) and one each of the French Yoplait. The French Yoplait came in these terrific little terra cotta jars that, I reasoned, if the yogurt sucked, at least I'd have these cute little jars as souvenirs.
Well, I'm glad to report that neither brand of yogurt/yoghurt sucked. I preferred the Ferme de Peupliers brand. It was much nicer in texture and taste, tangier and thicker than the French Yoplait, but, where the French Yoplait really shined was with the fruit on the bottom. It was sweet but not too sweet, syrupy yet not smooth, with bits and pieces of fruit and seeds throughout. Lovely. Both yogurts/yoghurts were smaller in portion size than what we're used to with American yogurt and that was just fine by me. I was quite happy with the portion size and I felt quite satisfied after having such a thick and creamy full fat treat. I'll be going back for more. I need more jars.
Sausage is one of my favorite foods. I like almost any kind of sausage, including vegetarian versions made with meat substitutes. There is one kind I don't like and that’s blood sausage, but that has nothing to do with what it is, and everything to do with the texture of the stuff. I don't like the "mouth feel," it's too grainy and floury and that's something that really puts me off. Anyway, I love sausage and I try to sample new kinds and new brands all the time. I've had my eye on this brand for a while, but have avoided buying it because it is a little pricey. Last week, I was feeling like a splurge, (which was pretty nervy of me considering the book purchase I just made), I decided it was time to just go ahead and throw caution (and dollars) to the wind and finally try D'artagnan Sausages.
It was a near miss. I fried them up in a pan and when they had begun to sizzle and sputter I burst the skins open with a fork to release some of the juices. When the sausages had formed a nice crust on the bottom, I turned them over and let a crust form on the other side before taking them off the heat. I let the sausages rest on a cutting board for 15 minutes so that the juices had time to settle, mind you, this was chicken sausage so there was very little juice to settle but I waited 15 minutes anyway. they smelled pretty good I sliced one into bite-size pieces and took a bite...hmm, rubbery in texture and surprisingly bland! I swirled the sausage in my mouth trying to taste the truffles. I could hardly detect anything and was beginning to wonder if I WOULD be able to detect any truffle flavor, then it hit, sort of strong, a little gamey… a definite truffle taste. So, the truffle flavor was there, just not overpowering and not on the front of the palate. The rubbery feel of the sausage was a big downer and so was the blandness. I was feeling a little bad because it looked like I was going to throw away the other 3 and 1/2 links but then I thought to slice it up and put it into the asparagus rice soup I made the day before. That was the best thing I could have done. The rubbery texture disappeared, the sausage became tenderer, absorbing a lot of the flavors of the soup and the soup brought out the truffle flavor a little more. Would I buy them again? Probably not. Would I try some of the other kinds…sure, just not anytime soon.
In this mad mad mad world, while everyone is "low-carbing", I am eating more potatoes. What is not to love about a potato, and because there are more potatoes around due to this latest trend in eating, have no fear my friends, I shall bravely eat my share and yours I can't think of a better time to experiment with them because of all the varieties that are currently available.
Actually, the reason behind my latest insanity is that eventually, I'd like to grow potatoes in my garden, not too many varieties, just two or maybe three, but to grow them, I thought it would be good to "know" them, you know, sort of get inside the potato first. Eat it, feel it, smell it, touch it, be it. I'm thinking this will help me decide which varieties I'd like to grow. Anyway, that was my thinking when I was at the mega Price Chopper on Saturday and I found myself gaping at the HUGE display of potatoes they had. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by the amount of choice that is available to us, would it be better if we had less choices, sometimes I think so. All the pretty colors, shapes and sizes were quite appealing, if not a bit daunting because there was nothing to explain what each type tasted like or about which ones were better for mashing, baking, boiling etc. So many potatoes, so little information, but then I spotted a cute little bag of a fingerling assortment by a company called Culinary Specialty Produce, Inc. and my troubled mind was put at ease.
I liked the little bag the potatoes were packaged in, there were recipes on it, and most importantly there was a little description about each of the three potatoes contained in the bag and that brought me closer to knowing what the flavor differences were supposed to be between a Yellow Russian Banana and a Red Thumb. I suppose a simple search on the internet could have told me these things but the price on the bag was right and what better way to experience something first hand than to put it in your mouth, right? I know Ellie would agree with me on that.
So, this cute little bag contained three varieties, Yellow Russian Banana, Red Thumb, and Ruby Crescent. I started with the Red Thumb, (the ones in the very front of the photo) which are supposed to have a rich and nutty flavor. I boiled them up and mashed them with some buttermilk, a dab of butter and some salt and pepper. YIKES, big mistake, the buttermilk was too tangy and overpowering, it distracted completely from the taste of the potato. I'll have to go back and purchase some more Red Thumb so that I can try this variety again. I can see now, that the best way to tackle this project is to just boil the potatoes up and eat them plain, with maybe just the slightest pinch of salt.
So, back to square one with the Red Thumb and onto the next variety, which I think will be the Yellow Russian Banana (far right in the photo). The Ruby Crescent remind me of red new potatoes so I'm not in a great rush to try those. After this batch is gone I'll be getting some other types and I'll be back to write about what I thought once I try each variety out. heh, so exciting!
In baby news, Ellina hailed her first cab today...(sniff) I'm so proud.
I love fresh garlic, I especially love the smell of garlic when it's sizzling away in a frying pan, AND, I even like the faint lingering smell of it on my fingers after I've cooked with it. I use a lot of garlic in my cooking and I almost always use more garlic than a recipe calls for because I like it so much. Garlic is a natural antibiotic, it's been attributed to lowering blood pressure and ldl cholesterol, and contains a wide range of trace minerals including copper, iron, zinc, magnesium, and selenium. Most importantly though, garlic, be-yoo-ti-ful garlic has the ability to ward off vampires and werewolves... so worry no more. See, what's not to love?
Well, for one thing, I didn't love this jar of pre-chopped garlic I picked up at the supermarket yesterday. I had spent a good chunk of my afternoon at the Dr's office, fetal monitoring, sonogram, blood pressure, and all the other good stuff that goes with a 38 week checkup and making sure that the toxemia is under control. I was exhausted by the time I left, but I needed to stop by the market to pick up fixings for dinner. Dinner, was going to be linguini with clam sauce. Linguini with clam sauce is one of those pasta dishes that is so easy to make that once you have it down, it's a great satisfying meal for just throwing together when you're tired or not in the mood to cook. The recipe I use calls for 8 cloves of garlic to be chopped and yesterday, while at the market, the prospect of going home in my exhausted state and chopping garlic was too much for me and I found myself reaching out and grabbing a jar of the pre-chopped stuff.
Back at home, I opened the jar and took a long deep sniff. OMG! It was acrid and bitter smelling, just that alone should have tipped me off and changed my mind but I chose, for research purposes, to use the garlic anyway. I poured some olive oil into a pan, added a tablespoon of butter, after they were good and hot, I added about 4 heaping teaspoons of the pre-chopped garlic and left it to sauté until it just started to turn brown. The weird thing…all that bitter smelling raw garlic never gave off a smell while it was cooking. I was robbed of that wonderful aroma, that aroma that I love that comes with cooking garlic and that, made me sad. The third strike came when we ate dinner, I couldn't taste any of the garlic at all and that was the bitterest of all the disappointments. To me, linguini with clam sauce is just as much about the garlic as the parsley and clams and I was inconsolable (well, maybe not THAT dramatic but you know what I mean). I've heard folks praise the beauty and wonders of pre-chopped garlic, how they are never going back to using fresh, how the pre-chopped stuff is a great time-saver and keeps your fingers from getting smelly and all that, and you know, if it works for other folks then that's great, but this is one item I've decided is NOT for me.
I'm so excited...and I just can't hide it....LA LA LA LA LA!
I love the New York Cake and Baking Distributer Store (New York Cake & Baking Distributors 56 W. 22nd St. at Sixth Ave. 800-942-2539) I found edible wafer paper there the other day! Not that I doubted that they would have it mind you, it's just that I didn't expect it to be as easy as simply asking the floor staff for it. I had visions of myself, 9 months pregnant, speed waddling like a duck all over Manhattan trying to find edible paper...my brow firmly set, the sweat running down my back as I pushed people out of my way, "get out of my way pedestrians, for I, am on a mission... so when I walked in and asked, and the nice man said "yes, 10 sheets for $4.98" I was thrilled. (There were actually 11 sheets in the bag but don't tell on me, ok) I could spend days in that store and never grow tired of all the wonderful and mysterious things they sell. There's ready made gum paste, rolled fondant, meringue powder, look there's tylose, and so much more that if I were to even begin to list it here my fingers would bleed from typing.
So, what can I make with edible wafer paper, eggs, sugar, almonds, honey and a few other ingredients not shown here?
It was going to be my New Year's Eve cooking project since this year, for the first time in very many years we are going to be home and not at a party. We figured since I can't drink and we're so close to baby time anyway, it would be best to stay close to home and the hospital. I went to the Dr. yesterday, my test results from last week came in and from the looks of things I might not get a chance to make the candy after all because I'm now on bed rest. I've got pregnancy toxemia, which is elevated blood pressure, swelling of ankles and hands, and high protein levels in the urine, among other things. Not a very good condition to have with the baby, we might even have to induce at some point, but we'll see, the Dr. has ordered me to rest, and so I shall. The torrone might have to wait, but you can bet that I WILL be making it soon, after all, I need to use up this edible wafer paper I seem to have lying around. heh
Have a Happy and safe New Year Everyone. Go on now, and have one on me. Cheers!
One of my favorite ways to eat pasta is also one of the simplest. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil; throw in your favorite type of pasta, in my case that would be Linguini. Let it boil until the noodle is just how you like it, for me, that would be al dente, drain, do not rinse throw back into the pot with a tablespoon of butter or three, some salt and pepper to taste, and a healthy grating of Pecorino Romano or whatever type of cheese you prefer. This is perfection, it's filling, it's tasty, and uses the minimum amount of pots and dishes, how can you go wrong?
Well, I'm sad to report that my attempts to like the Burro di Bufala are still unsuccessful. I really want to like this butter. If I were to go by smell alone, then this butter promises so much more than it has delivered thus far. At room temperature the aroma intensifies and you find yourself thinking how good this will taste slathered on a hunk of bread and yet this butter tastes so much like...nothing. I used it when I made pasta on Friday night and was pretty irritated by its failure to deliver; there was no taste, just this great aroma but no flavor! In order to salvage the pasta I had to add more salt and cheese than I normally do. I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. I wanted to slurp up forkfuls of pasta and have some slap up against my chin, leaving greasy butter glistening on my skin and a strong butter aftertaste in my mouth... I wanted to rip off hunks of bread with my hands and bite into blocks of cheese, drink wine from a bottle wrapped in twine and throw my glass into the fire... AHEM! Maybe another time.
I'm determined to find a way to unlock the secret to releasing the flavor of this butter. It can't smell this good and just simply taste like nothing.
I'll be back.
Once upon a time, in a land far far away (just over the Brooklyn Bridge) there lived a Beautiful Princess and a Handsome Prince who decided that if they were ever going to live together in peaceful harmony then they should never go food shopping together...EVER!
The Handsome Prince's approach to food shopping was always methodical and efficient. Make a list, go to store, go straight to aisle where listed items can be found, place in cart, head to register, check out, go home, unpack, put away, done. The Beautiful Princess's approach to food shopping always started out methodical and efficient but somehow... forces so dark and evil, whose names should only ever be whispered in polite company always conspired against our brave young Lass. Things never happened quite as they had been planned. Lists that had taken days to write would get left behind. Items, which had no immediate use or need, were thrown into the cart, as if our young Princess were possessed. Meals, which had been planned with ease of ingredients and efficiency of preparation in mind suddenly became elaborate concoctions with difficult and often death defying technique requiring many many many new ingredients. The Princess would wander the aisles for days...(ok hours), marveling at all there was for the taking. It was too much for such a blossoming young cook. Every trip to the market almost always ended with the purchase of some exotic item, some temptation that our young Heroine (brave and strong willed as she is) could not resist.
Fast forward to the present ...
And that is how I ended up with the above in my grocery bag the other day. I saw it on the shelf in the butter section of the market and of course I could not resist buying and trying it out. (Hey, I'm strong but the evil forces are strong too). Doing my best to translate, basically it says: " butter from the cream deriving from the working of the mozzarella of milk of bufala"
What I was expecting was a yellow or gold looking butter with a creamy texture and a strong slightly salty taste of bufala mozzarella. I was thinking it would taste similar to KerryGold or Plugra, which are yummy European style butters that I like to occasionally use when I want the butter to play a larger part in imparting its flavors in a dish.
What I got was a block of white butter that reminded me a LOT of Crisco. That is by no means a snarky comment about Crisco, I like Crisco and use it for piecrusts and other baking and I think very highly of it. I just didn't expect this new butter to look and well...sort of taste like Crisco too. I detected the slightest hint of bufala mozzarella in the after-taste and when I smell the butter its just slighly noticeable. Overall, my first and second impression of it was just... ennh. To be fair, I didn't try using it with cooking, and maybe that's where it will shine, perhaps in a pie crust or a veggie sauté, but as a butter to just spread on a hunk of bread and eat...well, no. I'll have to further test it out in some cooking before I can give an honest and fair final opinion. So far it hasn't won me over.
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