Funny thing, I was hunting for truffle oil, not pepper sauces.

But four pepper sauces were tucked in my box of truffle oil. They were a gift from the small business that makes both truffle oil (from Oregon white truffles) and now pepper sauces.

I contacted the company  – Oregon Truffle Oil, Inc. — and explained that I don’t ask for or generally accept free product. (In the interest of full disclosure, most, but not all, of the cookbooks Linda Avery reviews for Pen & Fork are sent to her from publishers.) I asked the company for a bill for the sauces I didn’t order. They countered with, how about we send you an invoice for the extra shipping? Fine.

So, these sauces were free (save the extra $5 shipping plus the original $51 order I placed for their truffle oils — more on those another time).

All four sauces ($8 each, or $25 for all four) are wheat free and contain no preservatives. The first ingredient is Pinot Noir wine, hence the name Pinot & ____. It makes sense. The company is based in Willamette Valley, Oregon, arguably home of the best American Pinot Noirs.

In fact, all four have a winey nose when you take a sniff. The wine taste, however, is lost in a myriad of other flavors, but it seems to be a good base for a sauce, just as tomato concentrate is.

All four sauces contain gluten-free soy sauce, and cornstarch as a thickener. From there, it’s lemon juice and/or distilled vinegar for tartness, some brown sugar to cut the acid, and salt and spices.

Sodium content ranges from 170 mg (7%) to 370 mg (15%) per tablespoon, which seems low to normal for sauces, but all taste salty straight from the bottle. Could be because soy sauce is the second ingredient and table salt is also listed in the ingredient list. For comparison, my beloved A-1 sauce has 280 mg (12%) of sodium per tablespoon. Once I cooked with the Pinot sauces, however, the saltiness mellowed, although it did impact how much additional salt I used.

The most intriguing of the bunch is the Pinot Szechuan. It has Chinese 5-Spice notes and a hefty heat kick. According to the ingredient list, it gets its kick from habanero chile, not Sichuan peppercorns (perhaps Sichuan peppercorns are included in the generic “spices” ingredient). No matter, it’s still an intriguing sauce.

The chipotle flavored sauce is appropriately smoky, and the habanero is appropriately fruity hot — make that HOT, but in a pleasant lip-numbing way – (it has a touch of orange peel, and even chipotle to add some smokiness). In fact, the habanero might be my favorite, and I’ll try it out in creamy coleslaw and even on a baked potato. (Why not? I have been known to load up a baked potato with A-1 sauce instead of butter. Try it.)

I used the Pinot & Pepper Sauce to make the Bloody Jack, a recipe included with the sauces. It wasn’t the best bloody Mary I’ve ever tasted (that would be this one) but then again, I never claimed to be a cocktail maven (smoothie savant, yes, cocktail savant, no).

Still, it was a fine bloody Mary (I garnished it with feta stuffed olives from Queen Creek Olive Mill) and it made reading the local newspaper all the more fun.

CZAR’S Bloody Jack

(adapted from CZAR’s Fine Foods)

Makes 1 small cocktail

Ingredients:

3 ounces tomato juice (I used low-sodium V-8)
1-1/2 ounces vodka
1 ounce Pinot-Pepper Sauce
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 ounce lemon juice (about 1/4 of a medium lemon)

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker (without ice). Shake and strain mixture over a small cocktail glass filled with ice. Garnish with celery stick, cucumber spear or olives.

UPDATE 1-22-2012: Just got word that these Lamb Roast dinners have been cancelled. Too bad, because we’d bought tickets and were looking forward to meeting this dynamic duo and eating local lamb. 

Former Phoenician Tamara Reynolds sings for fun (she studied to be an opera singer at ASU) but she cooks for a living (and fun, too) in New York City.

Reynolds’ underground supper club, The Sunday Night Dinner in Astoria, started innocently enough 10 years ago. She and friends started cooking dinner at home and inviting other friends who brought even more friends. Word spread and soon the table of friends of friends grew and she realized she had a business.

The supper club spawned a cookbook, Forking Fantastic: Put the Party Back in Dinner Party, as well as appearances in Jamie Oliver’s documentary Jamie’s American Road Trip, Unique Eats and Food(ography) on the Cooking Channel. Now she’s working on bringing her own show to the Cooking Channel, tentatively titled Married with Dishes. She blames all of this culinary windfall on inviting strangers into her home for dinner.

Reynolds is coming home to Phoenix, bringing a little bit of her supper club with her. For three nights only starting January 29, Reynolds and her friend Chef Millicent Souris of Resto in NYC and author of the upcoming Let Them Eat Pie: How To Build A Better Pie will host pop up lamb roast dinners at the downtown Phoenix Public Market.

The duo is sourcing local Arizona lamb and gathering vegetables from Crooked Sky Farms, as well as seeking out other locally made products to incorporate in the dinners. The menu is mouthwatering:

Golden & Chiogga Beet Pickle Slices with Honey Whipped Goat Cheese & Biscuits

Greens with Fennel, Radish & Grapefruit

Spit-Roasted Lamb with Pomegranate Glaze

Lebanese Slow-Cooked Beans & Chickpeas with Cumin & Smoked Paprika

Grilled Endive, Chicory & Oranges with Miso Butter

Caramelized Date Upside-Down Cake

If you go, ask Reynolds to serenade you. We hear her voice is angelic.

Details:
Pop Up Lamb Roast with Tamara Reynolds and Millicent Souris
Phoenix Public Market, January 29 at 5 p.m. and January 30 and 31 at 6 p.m.
$55 per person, wine is included
Purchase tickets: http://popuplambroastinphx.eventbrite.com/

photo courtesy of Tamara Reynolds

We think you’d really like to have this book, so we bought you one. We’re thoughtful that way. And, we also had the chef sign it!

(Fess-up time — actually, we only bought one of you a copy (we’re thoughtful but we’re not rich).  However, YOU might win the book. All you have to do is leave a comment telling us what your favorite BBQ dish is.)

Maybe you like ribs. Bryan’s BBQ ribs were featured in Grub Street’s Big-City Barbecue: 101 Places to Satisfy Your Urban ‘Cue Craving.

Or maybe you love brisket or pulled pork or who knows what you like? Tell us and we’ll put your name in the drawing for the signed copy of the book. If you entry is the random number winner, we’ll mail you a copy of Bryan’s book. It’ that simple.

Fine print: Only one entry per person. Deadline to enter is Friday, January 20th, 2012, at midnight (EST). Winner will be notified via email on Saturday, January 21, 2012. USA addresses only for shipping.

Cook This Now

by Melissa Clark
photos by Andrew Scrivani

Facts: Hyperion, 416 pages, $29.99 (or Amazon at $19.79)
Photos: 21
Recipes: 137 (see Note)
Give To: cooks looking for seasonal inspiration

Cook This Now by Melissa Clark topped Epicurious’ Best Books of 2011 and Clark is all about seasonal cooking.

She sets the stage from the start with content pages listing recipes by month, when their main ingredients can be optimally obtained. Of course, there are plenty of crossovers and nothing will stop you from having November’s Carroty Mac and Cheese if you have a hankering in March.

Each recipe has an addendum, which I really like, dubbed “What Else?” This is where she notes suggestions for substitutions and other information such as buying Atlantic or Spanish mackerel rather than the larger king mackerel with a higher mercury content, or substituting a combination of a lemon and a tangerine for a similar flavor if you don’t happen to have Meyer lemons on hand.

Note: The dustcover of this book announces 120 recipes but that doesn’t include the 17 bonus recipes from Melissa Clark’s cookbook In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite

Also, for space considerations, we cut Ms. Clark’s engaging headnote down a bit. (Sorry, you’ll just have to buy the book to read every delicious word.)

Grilled Sausages with Celery Root Salad with Hazelnuts and Arugula

photo © by Andrew Scrivani

During my junior year abroad in Paris, in between gobbling warm croissants, raw milk cheeses, and countless macaroons, I ate an awful lot of celery root rémoulade.

I never bothered making celery root rémoulade when I was in Paris because it was ubiquitous and cheap. But once I got back to New York, if I wanted any more of the silky, savory salad, I’d have to tackle the homely root and whip some up myself.

And that’s the thing about celery root rémoulade. It starts with celery roots, which, with their hairy skins and muddy crevices, are never going to be the most inviting vegetable in the bin. But once those roots are peeled and grated, a quick toss with lemony, mustard-imbued mayonnaise will make the most of their inner beauty.

These days, my celery root salad of choice is a lighter take on a rémoulade. Instead a mayonnaise, I use a zippy mustard vinaigrette, and serve the salad on a bed of tangy arugula topped with hazelnuts for crunch. It’s marvelous as a first course on its own. Or to make it mealworthy, grill up your favorite sausages-lamb sausages are particularly good-and serve them alongside the salad, letting the mustard from the vinaigrette sauce the sausages and the sausage grease flavor the salad.

Serves 4

Ingredients
For the mustard vinaigrette
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt plus 1 small pinch
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 1/4 pounds sausages, whatever kind you like

For the salad
1 medium celery root, trimmed and peeled (see What Else? below)
5 cups arugula or other salad green, torn into bite-size pieces
1/4 cups finely chopped toasted hazelnuts

Method
Make the mustard vinaigrette
1. With a mortar and pestle or using the flat side of a knife, smash the garlic and tiny pinch of salt to make a paste. Whisk it in a small bowl with the mustard, vinegar, and remaining salt. Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in the oil until fully incorporated. Season with pepper.

2. Preheat the broiler. Prick the sausages all over with a fork, then lay them on a baking sheet. Broil them about 3 inches from the heat until browned on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side (exactly how long will depend on your oven and the thickness of your sausage).

Make the salad
1. Fit a food processor with a large grating blade; grate the celery root. You can also use a box grater, though beware your knuckles. Transfer to a large bowl and add the salad greens and hazelnuts. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss well. season with more salt, lemon juice, and/or olive oil if needed before serving.

What Else?

• This recipe calls for a medium celery root, which is about the same size as a large navel orange (4 or 5 inches in diameter). If you can only get one of the giant, grapefruit-size roots, use about three-quarters of it. Or use it all; just make a little extra vinaigrette to make sure it’s well seasoned.
• Trimming the celery root is probably the hardest and most annoying thing about this recipe. You can use a sharp vegetable peeler, but a sharp paring knife is more efficient.  Either way, be prepared to go deep. You will likely need to hack off about a quarter inch of the surface to get past the divots of dirt.
• This goes really well with mashed Yukon Gold potatoes. To make them, try this: boil the potatoes (unpeeled) in plenty of water until very soft. Drain, let cool, then slip them off the skins. In the same pot you used to boil the potatoes, heat some milk or chicken stock seasoned with salt until simmering. Add the potatoes and a lump of butter (use as much as you can bear; my tolerance is high), and mash with a potato masher or fork over very low heat until as smooth as you like it. We like lumps. Sometimes I leave the skin on the potatoes. Serve all at once.

Tis the season for resolutions, to-do lists, and various other self-rebooting nudges. For those who include “lose weight”, I suggest start by trying to eat healthier and, perhaps more importantly, everything in moderation.

To this end, I have two cookbooks worth consideration: Ancient Grains for Modern Meals and Cook This Now.

Here is the first. I’ll be back later this week with a look at the second.

Ancient Grains for Modern Meals

by Maria Speck
photos by Sara Remington

Facts: Ten Speed Press, 240 pages, $29.99 (or Amazon at $19.70)
Photos: 44
Recipes: 96
Give To: curious cooks who want to explore whole grain cooking

Ancient Grains for Modern Meals by Maria Speck was named in The Washington Post’s 2011 top ten list of cookbooks and on the New York Times 2011 notable cook books for holiday giving.

The first words of Speck’s introduction are “Whole grains have cast a spell on me…” and if she can’t cast the same spell on you, then she’ll sell the benefits and lure you with old world recipes she drew from her Greek and German heritage.

She defines each grain from barley, buckwheat and kamut to quinoa, millet and everything in between. The recipes are enticing: Barley Salad with Figs and Tarragon-Lemon Dressing, Mediterranean Mussels with Farro and White Wine, Lamb Stew with Wheat Berries in Red Wine Sauce and Wheat Berry Fools with Grand Marnier Figs!

With everyone from Mayo Clinic to the Harvard School of Public Health touting the benefits of whole grains, let’s jump on the good carbs bus. Speck makes it easy with recipes that focus first on taste, grain-goodness second.

Saffron Waffles with Orange Cream

Becoming a reasonably mature adult has not diminished the intense pleasure I get from making crisp waffles on a lazy morning. After my Iranian friend Golnaz brought me what I soon declared to be the best saffron ever, I started adding a pinch of the strands to everything, including this waffle batter. Don’t pass up the scrumptious cream topping which will kiss awake any prince out of The Thousand and One Nights. Still, it is barely sweet—so everyone can add a drizzle of maple syrup. Double the amount of topping if  you have very hungry royalty descending upon you.

These waffles have a gentle toothiness, which you can lighten if you like; for a smoother texture, use 1 cup (4 1/2 ounces) white whole wheat and 1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat pastry flour. You will need to adjust the preheating and cooking times as well as the amount of batter needed according to manufacturer’s instructions for your waffle iron.

Makes about 4 (7-inch) Belgian-style waffles,  to serve 6

Ingredients
For the orange cream topping
1 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt
1 large orange
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, chilled
1 to 2 tablespoons honey

For the waffles
2 cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
2 cups white whole wheat flour (8 1/2 ounces)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Maple syrup, for drizzling

Method
Make the orange cream topping
1. Beat the yogurt in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon until smooth. Finely grate the orange until you have 1 tablespoon zest. Set the zest aside.

2. Peel the fruit, cut the segments into 1/2-inch pieces, removing as much of the pith as you like, and gently stir into the yogurt. In a second medium bowl, using a hand mixer, whip the cream, honey, and zest until firm peaks form. Using a spatula, scrape the cream into the bowl with the yogurt-orange mixture, and fold until just combined. Chill, covered, until ready to use.

Make the waffles
1. Place a wire rack on a baking sheet and transfer the sheet to the center shelf of the oven. The wire rack will keep the waffles from getting soggy. Preheat the oven to 200°F.

2. Place 1/4 cup of the milk and the saffron in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until steaming. (Or combine the milk and saffron in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high until steaming, 15 to 20 seconds). Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the remaining 1 1/4 cups milk, saffron milk, and oil until blended. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and whisk together with a few swift strokes. Do not overmix; the batter should have a pebbled look, with many lumps. Allow the batter to sit for 5 minutes while preheating the waffle iron (or chill the batter for up to 1 hour).

4. Lightly grease the waffle iron with oil or coat it with cooking spray. When a drop of water sizzles and briskly evaporates on the surface, add 1 scant cup batter to the center and level with a spatula to distribute (or as specified in the manufacturer’s instructions). Close the lid and cook until the waffles are golden and can be removed easily using tongs, 3 1/2 to 4 minutes. Transfer the waffles to the baking sheet until ready to serve. Do not stack them, as the waffles will become soggy. Continue until all the batter is used, lightly greasing the waffle iron in between as necessary.

To get a head start: The orange cream topping can be prepared 1 day ahead. Chill, covered.

To light it up: You can use lowfat or nonfat Greek yogurt in the topping. Or omit the heavy cream, double the amount of yogurt, and add a bit more honey to taste. In the batter, 1 percent or 2 percent milk will work fine.

It’s that time of year again, when everyone and Bob’s uncle crank out a trends list.

We maintain a running list of food and beverage finds throughout the year. The ones with multiple entries are considered for our year-end Food Fads or Trends? list.

In 2009 and 2010, we easily identified Sweet 16 Trends (or Fads). This year it wasn’t so easy — we settled on 10.

Are they trends or fads, or just really good at bubbling to the top via marketing and mentions?

You decide…

Ingredients:

1. Rabbit

We joked in April about rabbit belly becoming the next hot trend. (Could “Beyond Pork Belly” be a trend? A good writer friend says lamb belly is the latest rage).

Back to the bunny, it turns out we weren’t too far off, but it wasn’t just the belly… it was the hindquarters and loin, too. Home cooks got in on the act, too, with more access to fresh rabbit through high-end butcher shops, grocery stores and sites such as Gilt Taste.

2. Harissa

We’re talking about the hot red chile condiment originating in Tunisia, not the Arab soupy lamb and wheat dish that goes by the same name. Restaurants, such as FnB in Scottsdale paired the spicy relish with vegetables for a kick, and others were marinating meats with harissa, such as Barley Swine in Austin.

3. Kimchi

This fermented cabbage dish is the first thing we think of when thinking about Korean food. We spotted kimchi (also spelled kimchee) at farmers’ markets and on restaurant menus and in cookbooks. And of course, the Kimchi Chronicles launched on PBS this year, featuring Marja Vongerichten.

4. Black foods

Rice? Check…Forbidden rice. Lentils? Check…black beluga. Pasta? Check..squid ink. Garlic? Check…fermented black garlic. Crackers? Check… blackened with charcoal powder. We did a round-up of black foods earlier this year.

Beverages:

5. Bitters

A common theme from planet cocktail was the rise of bitters, from the classic standards Angostura and Peychaud’s, to small batch bitters made by individual bartenders. The book Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All pushed the fever for bitters even higher. Home “pharmacists” are experimenting, too, including a Phoenix-based engineer-turned-weekend bitters warrior, who documents his experiments on Facebook at AZ Bitters Lab.

 Media:

6. Online food magazines

Print Gourmet magazine may have kicked the bucket but it lives on (sort of) online as Gourmet Live. Other print magazines moved from paper to internet, including Culinary Thymes, while others began media life online, such as Organic Connections. We expect to see more food magazines with online only issues.

7. Culinary apps

Sure, there were culinary apps before 2011, but this year the floodgates opened as everyone got in on the “there’s an app” for that. Want to know where (and what) chefs eat? There’s an app for that. It’s called Chefs Feed. Martha Stewart’s Whole Living smoothies, Baking with Dorie Greenspan, and The Professional Chef from the Culinary Institute of America are just a few that launched this year.

8. Cookbooks

Printed cookbooks had a banner year, and two themes that seemed prolific were chefs cooking at home (Jean-George Vongerichten, Ferran Adriá, and John Besh) and bloggers-turned cookbook authors (Lisa Fain of the Homesick Texan, Matt Armendariz of Matt Bites and Jessie Oleson of CakeSpy.)

Desserts:

Photo courtesy of Our Feeding Frenzy Blog

9. Popsicles & Paletas

The Zoku pop machine hit home kitchens and entrepreneurs like Fru Fru Pops hit the farmers’ market, cooling us down in the process. Mexican popsicles (paletas) were big, too, as Chandler, AZ based Paletas Betty opened a second location in Tempe, AZ. Our Feeding Frenzy blog spent a good bit of the summer tempting us with very grown-up cocktail ice pops, ensuring everyone got sweet relief from the summer heat wave.

Other:

10. German Pub Grub

We don’t have solid data on this one, but we feel it. Maybe it’s because of the fabulous alpine cuisine at Grüner in Portland. Or maybe it’s the continuing rise in “gastropub” popularity (Meddlesome Moth in Dallas, Citizen Public House in Scottsdale). For whatever reason, we think there’s room for gastropubs who focus on updated German classics (charcuterie, terrines, potatoes, sausages, pickled vegetables, etc.)

Bonus round: Things we can’t seem to get enough of

Burgers

Oh, America, will you ever tire of burgers? Apparently not, especially if said burger is piled high with fried things and there’s a big honking knife stuck in it.

Southern food

Bon Appetit magazine anointed Husk, a Southern restaurant in Charleston, the best in the land. Countless cookbooks on Southern food emerged, including Basic to Brilliant by Virginia Willis. Grits, cornbread, and fried okra spread from sea to shining sea.

Small plates

Few restaurants can survive serving only small plates, but it’s rare for a modern American restaurant to not have a least a smattering of small plates. A few of those doing it well include FnB in Scottsdale, Ned Ludd in Portland, and Barley Swine in Austin.

Related:

2010 Sweet 16 Food Fads or Trends?

2009 Sweet 16 Food Fads or Trends?

Sometimes the best laid plans get up and walk away — and I’m not talking about when these Pernod-soaked figs self-flambéed as I turned off the heat. (Note to self: use a taller pan next time.)

I’m talking about my BIG plans for my 200th gourmet smoothie — the one where I’d finally stop the smoothie madness.

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you know I’ve got a little love affair going on with smoothies.

When I started the Gourmet Smoothie Project in the summer of 2010, I didn’t have a plan.

It was hot… I was thirsty… and there was a gorgeous melon on my counter… so I made a Melon + Peach + Chai smoothie.

The next day, I made another one: Strawberry + Basil + Lime.

Before I knew it, I’d made 199 gourmet smoothies.

(You can see a good chunk of them in my Flickr Smoothie Set.)

I had big plans for a fantastic, final smoothie. Number 200.

It was going to be epic.

It was going to be boozy. (Why not? It’s the holidays.)

To make my gourmet smoothies, I pilfer my packed pantry, experimenting with ingredients such as pink peppercorns, lavender buds, juniper berries, and rose water.

I study my chef comrades, stealing their ideas, such as a Honeydew + Hatch Green Chile + Lime smoothie, based on a chilled soup I slurped at Chef Joshua Hebert’s Posh restaurant in Scottsdale.

Recently, had a dessert with Sambuca macerated figs and a bit of orange, draped over a ricotta cheesecake. The cheesecake was so-so, but the figs were outrageous. I didn’t have Sambuca, but I had Pernod, the French substitute for absinthe that tastes of licorice.

Perfect! So I set about to make (and document) my final smoothie. But I forgot the crucial element one should consider in a final anything.

Does it blow me away and scream “That’s IT!” ?

This one? Eh, not so much. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s very tasty.

Thick and boozy, figgy and orangey.

On a scale of 1 to 10, it’s a solid 8.

In my head, though, this one was a 10. It sounded like a 10, but as it turns out, it tastes like an 8.

There’s nothing wrong with that. I have had plenty of 8′s I’ve been thrilled with and still make because they are really delicious, for example, the Pineapple + Black Pepper + Saffron and the Papaya + Coconut + Curry.

But I can’t quit on an 8.

So, I’ve decided this will not be my last smoothie. No way. Ain’t gonna happen.

Smoothie # 200: Fig + Pernod + Orange

Here it is — #200 — a very good smoothie — just not the final one.

Makes 2-1/2 cups: enough for 2 large or 4 small servings

Ingredients:
2-1/2 ounces (1/2 cup) dried Mission figs, stems removed and halved
1/3 cup Pernod

Method:
Bring figs and Pernod to a vigorous simmer in a tall saucepan over medium-high heat. Simmer 1 minute and then turn off the heat. Set aside to cool. Figs will soak up some of the liquor, but not all of it. Chill figs (with liquid) until ready to use.

Ingredients:
1-1/4 cups low fat vanilla yogurt
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 cup orange juice
Figs from above (with liquid)
Leaves from 2 (4-inch) sprigs of tarragon
1 tablespoon Pernod

Method:
Place all ingredients (in the order listed) and puree until smooth. Serve immediately.

Note: If you substitute Sambuca for the Pernod, use slightly less (1/4 cup with the figs, and 1 teaspoon at the end), as it is a much stronger tasting licorice flavor and much sweeter liquor than Pernod.

]]> http://penandfork.com/recipes/200th-gourmet-smoothie/feed/ 10 http://penandfork.com/news-nibbles/pen-fork-wins-best-food-blog-in-phoenix/ http://penandfork.com/news-nibbles/pen-fork-wins-best-food-blog-in-phoenix/#comments Sun, 18 Dec 2011 22:08:40 +0000 Gwen Ashley Walters http://penandfork.com/?p=11082

We were floored when the Phoenix New Times awarded Pen & Fork with the Best Food Blog in Phoenix for 2011.

Apropos to this interconnected world we live in now, we found out through a congratulatory tweet on Twitter.

We didn’t believe it until we read it with our own eyes.

You can read it here, with your own eyes but here’s a taste:

“Her food blog is always ripe with juicy descriptions of local grub, penned by Walters or such notable foodie contributors as James Beard Award-winning editor Linda Avery.”

It’s a huge honor, and we are so grateful to New Times and to all of you who keep coming back to devour our recipes, cooking tips, cookbook reviews and restaurant and travel eats journals.

Gracious thanks to New Times for recognizing us, and special thanks to our loyal readers who make what we do such a delicious task.

Please let us know if there are other food related things you’d like us to cover. We always love hearing from you.

The Food of Morocco

by Paula Wolfert
photos by Quentin Bacon
drawings by Mark Marthaler

Facts: Ecco, an imprint of Harper Collins, 528 pages, $45.00 (or Amazon at $22.50)
Photos: More than the number of recipes (and that’s saying a lot!)
Recipes: 192
Give To: friends who belong to a cookbook club, anyone wanting to explore Moroccan cuisine

Decades ago I did a brief touch-and-go in Tangier. I’ve wanted to return to Morocco but never so much as now, after reading The Food of Morocco. Although a few have complained that this book has many recipes found in Paula Wolfert’s Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco (originally published in 1973 and inducted into the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame in 2008), I find this is yet another cookbook with a travelogue dimension.

Within the book’s introduction lies a fascinating map of Morocco listing notable dishes and ingredients indigenous to various areas e.g. Marrakech: rabbit tagine; Casablanca: camel meat; Tangier: Kalinté, a chickpea flan; Fes: the famous preserved lemons, etc.  Paula Wolfert has no doubt personally experienced each and every dish noted.

Wolfert then lays a foundation for the recipes by explaining the curious eathenware tagine, the Moroccan larder, the most used spices and secondary spices, and how to make basics like preserved lemons. The recipes in the ten following chapters would paint bright mental images even if there weren’t fabulous photos. Colorful salads with oranges, dates and raisins; green and red peppers complement fish, poultry, meats and vegetables. Fruits are plentiful in this diet, including dessert couscous with pomegranates and poached pears with prunes.

There is no doubt that in addition to a love of complex and unique flavors, Moroccan people don’t mind spending time achieving those results. The recipes in this book require a commitment whether in terms of time, learning or both. This is particularly true if you decide to tackle bastila (AKA pastila, bisteeya, or bestela) making your own warqa, their pastry akin to phyllo dough. It would take me most of the day and I’d only have a first course completed!

This would be a fun book for a supper club whether the club cooks all dishes together or divvies up recipes among your membership and comes together for the dinner. BTW, if you have a recipe calling for a tagine and are without one, Wolfert says a deep straight-sided large skillet with a tight fitting cover and a sheet of parchment paper placed directly on the food will give you good results. And SHE is indisputably the queen of Mediterranean food.

Chicken Smothered with Tomato Jam

photo © by Quentin Bacon

Recently I asked my daughter, Leila, to test this recipe, since she remembered it from her girlhood in Tangier. She was thrilled with the results, telling me that two of her friends liked it so much “they actually licked the bottom of the tagine pot.”

Please remember to transfer a hot tagine to a wooden surface or a folded kitchen towel on a serving tray to prevent cracking.

Serves 6

Ingredients
For the Tomato Magic
(Makes about 1 1/2 cups)
One 6- to 8-ounce jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
One 28-ounce can organic tomatoes, preferably Muir Glen fire-toasted tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
Extra virgin olive oil

For the chicken
6 large fat chicken thighs (about 3 pounds), preferably organic and air-chilled
2 large garlic cloves
Coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons saffron water (see note)
1/3 cup grated red onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon ground Ceylon cinnamon
2 1/2 pounds red-ripe tomatoes, peeled, halved, seeded, and chopped
1 tablespoon Tomato Magic or tomato paste
2 tablespoons thyme or floral honey
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

Method
Make the tomato jam
1. Combine the sun-dried tomatoes, with their packing oil from the jar; the canned tomatoes, with their juices: the salt; and 2 tablespoons water in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.

2. Scrape the puree into a wide heavy-bottomed saucepan, set over medium-low heat, and cook, stirring often, until reduced to a thick jam, about 30 minutes.

3. Scrape some of the tomato paste into a clean, dry jar for more immediate use. Cover with 1/4 inch of olive oil, close the jar, and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. For longer storage time, divide the remaining paste into 1- or 2-tablespoon balls and place them side by side on a flat tray. Set in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes, until firm, then place in a freezer bag and store in the freezer.

Make the chicken
1. The day before: Rinse the chicken thighs and pat dry; trim away excess fat. Slide your fingers under the skin to loosen it from the flesh. Crush the garlic and 2 teaspoons salt to a paste in a mortar. Mix with the pepper, ginger, olive oil, and saffron water, and rub under and over the skin of the chicken. Let stand, covered, in the refrigerator overnight.

2. The next day: Place the chicken with its marinade, in an 11- to 12-inch tagine set on a heat diffuser. Add the grated onion, cilantro, 3/4 teaspoon of the ground cinnamon, and 1/2 cup water and mix thoroughly with the chicken pieces. Cook, covered, over low heat, stirring once, for 20 minutes. Then begin to slowly raise the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes and the Tomato Magic or tomato paste to the tagine and continue to cook over medium heat, uncovered, turning the chicken pieces often in the sauce, until very tender, about 20 more minutes. Take the chicken out and wrap in foil to keep warm and moist. Allow the tomatoes to cook down until all the moisture evaporates, stirring occasionally to avoid scorching, about 1 hour. The tomatoes will begin to fry and the sauce will thicken considerably.

4. Add the honey and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon to the tomatoes and cook for several minutes to bring out their flavors. Reheat the chicken parts in the sauce, rolling them around to coat evenly.

5. Remove the cover, scatter the sesame seeds on top, and serve hot or warm.

Note: To prepare a small jar of saffron water, dry 1/2 teaspoon crumbled saffron strands in a warm (not hot) skillet. Crush again, then soak in 1 cup hot water and store in a small jar in the refrigerator. This will keep for up to a week.

You might want to save some of your holiday cash.

A new cookbook is arriving at the end of the month, and this one is worth bellying up to the bar for.

photo © by David B. Moore

Guitar-strumming chef Bryan Dooley of the award-winning Bryan’s Black Mountain Barbecue in Cave Creek, AZ, just penned a cookbook, along with Leslie V. Bay, with photos by David B. Moore.

We got a sneak peek at the roughly 112-page, soft-cover book that will be released on December 27.

Frankly, we’re shocked (in a happy, woo-hoo! way) that Dooley is spilling the beans about his smokin’ barbecue and off-the-hook side dishes.

Lest you think Dooley has revealed everything, he has not — at least not completely — but he does include recipes for his Bryan’s BBQ sauce and rub, aptly named “Almost” and “Nearly.” (Hey, the guy can’t give away all his secrets.)

He does give the whole enchilada away for some serious fan favorites, such as:

photo © by Gwen Ashley Walters

* Bryan’s pulled pork

* Brisket & black-eyed chili

* Sweet pickled jalapenos

* Pulled squash BBQ sandwich

* Watermelon with jalapeno & cardamom honey

* Root beer battered apples

And he’s included some new dishes, too:

* Beer & pickled jalapeño hush puppies

* Crawfish mac ‘n cheese

* Shrimp Evelyn (a nod to his grandmother’s shell-on shrimp appetizer)

* Chicken Brunswick stew

* Snickerdoodle cardamom ice cream sandwich

photo © by Gwen Ashley Walters

The book is not just a cookbook.

It’s a story book — you might even say it’s a love story.

Dooley and Bay document his journey from how he became a chef to his 13-years at the Scottsdale Princess Resort, to how an accident and an ultimatum from his wife Donna led the fine dining chef to open a casual barbecue joint.

Dooley’s right-hand man in the kitchen, Rob Olson, contributes to the cookbook, too, including a recipe for his renowned collard greens.

The narrative conveys how Dooley fell in love with the Old West, and how he puts his own spin on dishes that are more apt to resemble the New West, such as a smoked sausage hoagie with pickled watermelon chow-chow.

Along with 48 or so recipes, there is a whole section on smoking and another on how to stock a BBQ pantry.

Much like Dooley himself, the book is filled with character, including personal family photos. Dooley dabbles in poetry, too, and there’s a smidgen of his wordsmith wizardry tucked here and there.

For now, plans are to sell the book at the restaurant starting December 27 (note: the restaurant will be closed for the holidays from December 22-26).

photo © by David B. Moore

Details:
Stories & Recipes from Bryan’s Black Mountain Barbecue
by Bryan Dooley and Leslie V. Bay

Photos by David B. Moore
Designed & illustrated by Lori Cowherd of The Orange Gourd Design Studio

Available December 27.
$21.99
bryansbbq.com
6130 East Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek
480-575-7155