News Feed: April 8

by jbfauthor on April 08, 2010

The organic movement reaches Mumbai. [NYT] Warm temperatures have arrived, but that doesn't mean you have to shelve dumplings until the next big freeze. [LAT] A cupcake backlash is brewing in Europe. [Salon] Currants are an easy project for the baking-phobic. [Chicago Tribune]

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Recipe: Kyoto Matcha Custard

by jbfauthor on April 07, 2010

Last month at the Beard House, John J. Shirley, executive chef at the New York Athletic Club, designed and served a menu that showcased the versatility of tea in cooking. We loved his simple but elegant custard perfumed with matcha, a fine green tea that's central to Japanese tea ceremonies. Consider it for an unexpected, luxurious dessert course at your next dinner party. (Chef Shirley uses matcha from Kyoto, but any matcha will do.)

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Tastebud: Chowchow Down

by JBF Editors on April 07, 2010

A pickled, relish-like spread that’s served cold, chowchow is popular in Pennsylvania, Appalachia, the American Southwest, and the South—and with gardeners who have leftover vegetables from summer’s harvest on their hands. The indiscriminate condiment employs almost anything from the ground, from tomatoes and onions to peas and cabbage, and is slathered on biscuits, beans, and burgers or eaten alone. Whatever its contents and purposes, chowchow is almost always flavored with mustard seed and vinegar. The origins of chowchow are disputed: some argue that chou, the French word for cabbage, is the root of the American name. (Other historians trace chowchow to reported sightings of the chow chow breed of dog listed on 19th-century restaurant menus in China; word got back to America, and when China began shipping pickles to the West Coast, the name stuck.)

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News Feed: April 6

by jbfauthor on April 06, 2010

Strawberry lovers rejoice: prices hit an unusual low. [Seattle Times] How to use that leftover pickle juice. [Food 2] Buno: Ethiopian coffee brewed with coffee husks, not beans. [Atlantic]

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