texasmesquite

Source:www.clarionledger.com

New Orleans food writer Fitzmorris a culinary icon, too

New Orleans has many culinary icons. In the beginning there were Jean
Galatoire, Arnaud Cazenave and Antoine Alciatore. By mid-century the
Brennan family began to set up shop in North America's Creole
capital. In the 1970s Warren LeRuth was on top; he passed the torch
to Paul Prudhomme who began his reign in the early 1980s. Emeril
Lagasse opened his first restaurant in 1990, and John Besh brought us
into the new millennium. All have left their mark on the Crescent
City's culinary scene.

Nationally known icons aside, the most knowledgeable culinary
personality in New Orleans is not a chef or a restaurateur.

Tom Fitzmorris, born on Mardi Gras, wrote his first restaurant review
in 1972, and has written at least one per week ever since.

The senior statesman of New Orleans' food writers, this Creolized
version of Craig Claiborne has written for several national
publications and served as editor of quite a few local publications.
But the strongest witness to his prolific journalistic output is the
daily Internet newsletter, The New Orleans Menu.

I began subscribing to The New Orleans Menu, www.nomenu.com, more
than eight years ago. Each free issue includes a recipe, a restaurant
review, a top 10 list and various musings on New Orleans food and
restaurants.

Whether you dine in New Orleans once a week or once a year, The New
Orleans Menu is a great reference guide for the food, restaurant
scene, and culture of New Orleans.

In addition to producing the newsletter, Fitzmorris has hosted a
daily radio show since 1975. The Food Show airs live on WSMB 1350 AM
between 2 and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

As if all of this wasn't enough to fill his day, Tom Fitzmorris's New
Orleans Food, a cookbook that encompasses his life in the kitchen and
at the table, was released last year.

Many New Orleans cookbooks are written by restaurant chefs who have
converted their recipes for home use.

Often, the original intent gets lost in the translation. Fitzmorris,
not a classically trained chef but certainly an exceptional cook in
his own right, developed each of the book's 225 recipes in his home
kitchen for use in home kitchens. They are spot on.

During the Katrina evacuation, Fitzmorris spent the longest period he
had ever spent away from his native city. During his temporary
relocation, however, he continued to write about the city and the
losses incurred during the aftermath.

Within a matter of weeks the daily newsletter returned, and once
again Fitzmorris, certainly an icon in his own right, was keeping
track of the city's restaurant rebirth.

Today, Fitzmorris is the writer of record for connecting New Orleans'
culinary past to its future. In a time when longstanding family
heirloom recipes were lost to the levees, Fitzmorris' writings,
recipes and recollections carry the torch.

Most of the population living outside of the immediate New Orleans
trade area knows the names Lagasse and Prudhomme, yet history might
show that one of the most important culinary icons in the Crescent
City is not a chef but a chronicler.

texasmesquite

Source:www.marinij.com

Cuisine Scene: New cookbooks are stylin'
Leslie Harlib
Marin Independent Journal
Article Launched:08/21/2007 10:32:24 PM PDT

COOKBOOKS ARE changing. The classic format of an over sized glossy
photo-rich coffee-table tome or weighty hard-bound collection of
recipes is still going strong. But a new trend toward imaginatively
styled, simply produced, easy-to-read and work-with books may be the wave of the future.

Grace Ann Walden, a Novato resident, longtime Bay Area cooking expert and leader of San Francisco culinary walking tours, edited "86 San Francisco: Recipes From Top Restaurants for the Home Kitchen"
($29.95). Released two months ago, it's box-shaped like a brick (but
higher and lighter) that's packed with 86 recipe cards. Each card
shows a picture of San Francisco restaurant (a few are from other Bay Area regions) and features a signature recipe from that eatery that's been retooled for the home kitchen.

"I think of it both as a restaurant guide and a recipe book," says
Walden, who for 16 years wrote a food news column for the San
Francisco Chronicle.

Walden says she had no problem getting recipes from restaurants as
upscale as Michael Mina to eateries as simple as Yuet Lee, because "I
knew everybody. The hard part was getting all the chefs to rewrite
the recipes to serve four to six."

Hard or simple, how to make each dish is nicely presented and packed
with good information, including who's the chef, how long it takes to
make and cook, a list of ingredients and what wines to serve color-
coded on one card. Looking at these makes me want to not only cook up the dishes, but race into the city to try the restaurants.

texasmesquite

Cheese aficionados Lenny Rice and Brigid Callinan, both Petaluma
residents, just celebrated the release of their 7-by-7-inch square
book "Fondue" (Ten Speed Press, $9.95) on Monday.

"It's a great stocking -stuffer size," says Lenny Rice, a trained
chef who for more than three years has been the cheese buyer for
Cowgirl Creamery's Artisan Cheese shops based in Point Reyes Station
and the Ferry Plaza Marketplace in San Francisco. Her co-author and
longtime friend Callinan is also a trained chef as well as culinary
instructor.

Rice says she got the idea when she and Callinan conducted a cheese-tasting course at Copia in Napa and ended up with piles of scraps from assorted cheeses.

"We thought a really fun way to use them up would be to get out
everybody's old fondue pots and make fondue," says Rice.

"Lenny thought it was the best party we'd ever had," Callinan
continues. "Fondue encourages everyone to interact over the food,
because you basically make your own food."

The two decided to collaborate on a cookbook and "Fondue" was born.
It contains 50 recipes for savory and sweet fondues, and plenty of
pictures that are as tempting as they are informative. Two of its
most attractive features - simple recipes that can be put together in
10 minutes and reworked to use local ingredients, and a cheap cover
price.

"Fondue" is available in most bookstores.

texasmesquite

For those who love cornbread, I just wanted to alert you that there is a
new cornbread book coming out in a couple of weeks by Crescent
Dragonwagon called the Cornbread Gospels, which you can preorder on
amazon. She's the one who wrote the Passionate Vegetarian - do any of
you have that? - and if she is as passionate about cornbread as she is
about everything vegetarian, it promises to be a winner.

Judy Bart Kancigor
author, Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family
(Workman, September 2007)
www.cookingjewish.com
Preorder now at www.amazon.com

texasmesquite

From www.earthtimes.org

Author Writes Unique Cookbook for Boaters

Author : Mary Maskal

ST. PETE BEACH, Fla., Aug. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The Yachting Gourmet cookbook
is designed specifically for the casual boater and provides an efficient and
boat-friendly method for preparing nearly 400 recipes.

After researching the available cookbooks for yacht owners, author Mary
Maskal found there was nothing written specifically for the casual boater
going out for a day, a long weekend or a week.

The Yachting Gourmet is the result of spending time on boats and wanting to
eat more than bologna and cheese sandwiches," Maskal says. Anyone confined
to a small cooking space can appreciate the simple and effective tips to
enjoy delicious meals.

Maskal was thrilled and surprised to find that almost half of the orders for
her first printing were casual cooks in the non-boating world who
appreciated the layout and distinctive recipes. All recipes were created
with the size and limitations of any size galley.

Small spaces and big flavor are served up with The Yachting Gourmet's simple
two step process for at-home and on board preparation. A variety of recipes
create a book that is distinctive, enjoyable and will cater to a diverse
palate. Recipes include refreshing cocktails, hearty and light soups, and
array of meat and seafood main dishes and sweet treats.

Maskal has created distinctive recipes for a floating feast. Included are
dishes such as Chicken and Blueberry-Chipotle Wrap , Sea Bass Crusted with
Potato and Green Onion, Veal Scallops with Hazelnut Sauce, Grilled Pork
Tenderloin. Kid and adult friendly Peanut Butter and Banana Split Sandwich
to Potato Salad with Prosciutto and Truffle Oil. Maskal says the most
requested item she is asked to make in the cookbook is her Tomato and
Cantaloupe Salad which draws rave reviews.

All recipes in The Yachting Gourmet are selected and adapted to have a
common thread of ingredients for easy provisioning, require minimal on-board
preparation, and provide a wide variety of main courses, side items, deserts
and cocktails. Dine, entertain and enjoy your time on board with The
Yachting Gourmet. For more information or to order The Yachting Gourmet
visit http://www.theyachtinggourment.com/

texasmesquite

From www.gulflive.com [Alabama]

Two Mississippi cookbooks feature inspiring recipes
Sunday, September 02, 2007

TO READ

"500 Five Star 5 Ingredient Recipes" $16.95 - Quail Ridge Press, Brandon, Miss.
www.quailridge.com
(800) 343-1583

TO READ

"Best of the Best from Bell's Best Cookbook" $16.95 - Quail Ridge Press
Brandon, Miss.
www.quailridge.com
(800) 343-1583

Back-to-school means back to cooking for most of us. To keep meals from
getting monotonous, try these some new tried and true recipes from two
cookbooks published by Mississippi's own Quail Ridge Press.

The first book contains five-star recipes specifically selected and
perfected by cookbook authors and editors Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley as the "500 Best of the Best 5-ingredient" recipes to be found anywhere.

The recipes in this book will make you realize how tasty and easy
five-ingredient recipes can be. Big flavor with few ingredients include
Ten-Minute Santa Fe Soup, Creamy Sherbet Margaritas, Shrimp Scampi Pasta in a Flash and the Best Baby Backs Evah!

The authors say you can prepare a gorgeous chocolate trifle in only five
minutes. The 500 outstanding recipes in this book will help jump-start your
meal planning.

Below are two recipes from "500 Best of the Best 5-ingredient" cookbook:

Shrimp Scampi Pasta in a Flash

1 (8-ounce) package spaghetti
1 stick butter
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
2 pounds shrimp, peeled, deveined
1 tsp. dried basil

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook 8 to 10
minutes; drain. In a large saucepan or skillet over medium heat, melt
butter, then add white wine, shrimp and basil. Cook until shrimp are pink, 3
to 5 minutes. Serve over pasta. Serves 6 to 8.

Chocolate Truffles

1/2 store-bought chocolate cake
1/2 cup Kailua (or strong coffee)
2 to 3 (4 pack) packages snack-size chocolate pudding
1 (12 ounce) carton frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/2 (8 ounce) package Heath toffee bits

Break cake into chunks, and layer 1/2 into trifle dish. Pour 1/2 of the
coffee over this, then 1/2 of the pudding cups, 1/2 the whipped topping, the 1/2 of the toffee bits. Layer again.

Bell"s Best cookbook series, with more than 6,000 outstanding recipes, have
been condensed into one cookbook, titled "Best of the Best from Bell's Best Cookbook," that now contains 429 of the most exceptional recipes to be found anywhere.

Included among the recipes are facts and illustrations that show the
development of the telephone, which is more interesting than you might
think. Remember the community box phone like on "The Andy Griffith" show?
Remember when party lines went to private lines? Remember when push button seemed high-tech? (They were introduced in 1964.)

From soups to dips, this cookbook has 12 different sections that leave no
appetite unturned.

As with other Bell's Best cookbooks, proceeds from "Best of the Best from
Bell's Best Cookbook" will provide revenue for Pioneer projects that assist
and enrich communities throughout Mississippi.

"Best of the Best from Bell's Best" is on its fourth printing and has sold
35,000 to date.

Below are two recipes from the cookbook:

Corn Dip

1 cup mayonnaise
2 (11-ounce) cans Mexicorn
1 pint sour cream
2 bunches green onions, chopped
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
2 cups grated mild Cheddar cheese
2 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1 tsp. Cajun seasoning
Chopped black olives (optional)

Mix all ingredients well. Chill. Serve with chips or crackers

-- from Irene S. Willard, Oxford

Mississippi Irish Stew

2 pounds cubed meat
1/2 cup butter or margarine
salt and pepper to taste
2 large potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 (17 ounce) can whole-kernel corn
1 (17 ounce) can English peas
3 medium carrots, pilled and thinly sliced
1 (4 ounce) can sliced mushrooms
1 large onion, chopped
1 (15 ounce) can tomatoes

Brown beef in butter; season with salt and pepper. Layer vegetables in
crackpot, then add browned meat. Cook for 3 to 4 hours on low.

-- from Zula Collins, Greenwood

texasmesquite

From www.nintendoplayers.com

Cooking Mama: Cook Off
This game cooks.

September 1, 2007 by Ashley Jefcoat

In keeping with the Wii's love for quirky minigame compilations, Cooking
Mama: Cook Off! gives fans of the genre one more opportunity for themed
party fun, this time under the watchful eyes of Mama. Though she s quick to
disown you if you do badly, she praises you with "wunderfur!" when you do
things correctly. That seems pretty straightforward until you try your hand
at it, when suddenly the line between "bad" and "good" gets very thin.

There isn't much of a story to Cooking Mama. You play through a recipe,
receive a score at the end, and then proceed on to another recipe. As you
progress through the cookbook, the recipes increase in difficulty and
length, starting with simple saut ing and eventually asking you to roll
dough, time cook, and fry shrimp (far more difficult than it sounds). Cook
Off! differs from its predecessor in its multiplayer mode, giving you the
opportunity to cook against a friend or the computer (which always has a
very unfair advantage, it's worth adding).

The game also doesn't rely too heavily on graphics; things are mostly cell
shaded, with a few objects that just have a picture overlaid to make them
look more like a shrimp or a cut of pork. The details on the objects aren't
important - it's what you do with them that matters.

So the crux of the game lies in the gameplay which, for the most part, is a
great deal of unpredictable fun. Grinding meat is elbow-pain-inducing, and
quick-chopping vegetables often turns into a "see who can shake the
controller out of their hands the quickest" contest. However, as recipes
increase in difficult and the tasks become more complex, some underlying
issues with motion recognition come into play, as well as lacking
instructions. Motions are either smaller than you think they need to be or
more exaggerated, depending on the action. Tasks such as cracking eggs can
get annoying quickly as it takes a lot of practice to get the motion down.
The instructions often don't clue you in to certain aspects of the task, so
while you may think you're doing something correctly, you find yourself with
a horrible score at the end and no explanation as to why.

The biggest detriment to the game, then, is the learning curve. While in
single-player, throwing yourself time and time again at the practice rounds
to figure out how to roll dough is acceptable, multi-player mode doesn't
give much time or opportunity to figure out what, exactly, needs to be done.
While WarioWare thrived on the lack of direction, Cooking Mama's
half-directions can confuse the objectives. Even the slightest bit of
practice can give a player an unfair advantage against newcomers, making
this game not the best choice for parties which makes you wonder when else
you might want to play a minigame compilation.

That said, Cooking Mama is a lot of fun, especially if you're playing with
other people who own the game. Bringing in new people can be frustrating (on
their part), and sometimes the requests Mama makes can be vague, but the
gameplay is mostly solid. It's also worth noting that the recipes are
cookable off the Wii, so the game doubles as an interactive cookbook...if
you're so inclined.

Gameplay The most important part of Cooking Mama, and also the most
glitchy. Instructions are vague and the motions aren t as easily recognized
as they should be.
6.0

Presentation Simple and to the point, the game is presented as the
cookbook it really is, just with a more interactive bent.
7.0

Graphics Boring but not ugly, the graphics don t really add or take
away from the game.
6.0

Audio Background music is definitely background music; only a few songs
scatter the soundtrack and it's nothing to jump through hoops over. The
voice acting is sparse but hilarious in its heavy accent.
6.0

Replay Value If just to copy the recipes down, you'll continually pick up
this game. Learning curve is important, so replay is also important.
8.0

Overall Not a bad game by any means, but glitchy enough around the edges
that it shows.
6.8

Nintendo Players - Cooking Mama: Cook Off

Cooking Mama: Cook Off
Publisher: Majesco
Developer: Office Create
Genres: Simulation, Cooking
Date: March 20, 2007
Players: 1-2 simultaneous
ESRB Rating: Everyone (Alcohol Reference)

texasmesquite

From www.lcsun-news.com Las Cruces Sun-News - Las Cruces,NM,USA Food, recipes and stories from a farmers' market By Lynn Nusom/For the Sun-News Article Launched: 09/04/2007 12:00:00 AM MDT Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse Restaurant and one of the founders of the natural food movement said, "When you cook food that is locally grown and in season, the importance of shopping at farmers' markets becomes crystal clear: That's where you'll find ripe, tasty ingredients." A mere decade ago at markets in much of the country, you were lucky to find anything more than green beans, mushrooms, broccoli and iceberg lettuce. How times have changed! Open-air farmers' markets are now everywhere, offering shoppers a cornucopia of locally harvested fresh fruits and vegetables. But with all these markets come a lot of questions. What is the difference between white and green zucchini? What are amaranth, sapote and ramps? How do you know when a fruit or vegetable is fully ripe? The answers to these and countless other questions can be found in "The Santa Monica farmers' Market Cookbook: Seasonal Food, Simple Recipes, and Stories from The Market and Farm," by Amelia Saltsman (Blenheim Press, 216 pages in soft cover $22.95). Using one market as a lens, this book tells the story of farmers' markets everywhere and gives the reader more than 100 recipes that home cooks around the country can use to create flavorful, uncomplicated dishes using the ingredients found at their local farmers' market. In the Los-Angeles-adjacent beachside city of Santa Monica, the Santa Monica Farmers' Market has long inspired renowned chefs and home cooks with its abundant array of year-round produce. And no one knows this market better than Santa Monica-based writer and cooking instructor Saltsman. Having shopped the market's stands, talked with its farmers and cooked its magnificent wares for more than 20 years, Saltsman now brings her vast knowledge and experience together in this book. "There are now more than 3,000 certified farmers' markets across the country. This remarkable increase reflects our growing desire for local ingredients," Saltsman said. "And as a result, the focus is shifting from recipe-driven dishes to meals where hours-old seasonal ingredients are the stars, both at home and in restaurants. In essence, farmers' markets have changed the way farmers grow and the way chefs and home cooks think about food, shop, cook and eat." The recipes in the book are organized into traditional sections — Starters, Soups, Salads, Sides, Mains and Desserts — and are clearly labeled with the seasons in which you are most likely to find their ingredients. In the back of the book, readers will find a cross-referenced index that categorizes the recipes by season, making it easy to find the perfect dish for any time of the year. Looking to remove the intimidation factor created by the often overwhelming variety of produce offered by local markets, Saltsman offers a seasonal guide to fruits and vegetables and countless tips on how to shop, select and store the freshest items. Readers will also find pages on useful terms, techniques, pantry items and kitchen tools.
FLAME-ROASTED EGGPLANT SPREAD WITH LEMON AND GARLIC
"From midsummer through early fall, eggplants of all shapes and sizes abound at the market, from psychedelic Neons to finger-sized Millionaires and Ichibans perfect for pickling. My favorite is the purple-and-white Rosa Bianca globe eggplant with creamy white flesh and few seeds that Scott Peacock and Alex Weiser bring to market. This spread can also be served as a salad." 2 large eggplants (about 1 pound each) * 4 to 6 tablespoons canola or other mild cooking oil 1 scant teaspoon minced garlic Juice of 1Ú2 lemon Kosher or sea salt Cucumber and tomato for garnish Bruschette, pita wedges, or crackers for serving Place the whole eggplants directly on the burners of a gas stove turned to medium-high or close to a medium-high fire on a grill. Roast, turning often, until the skins blacken and flake and the eggplants collapse and are meltingly tender, 10 to 15 minutes. As the eggplants start to char, the skins will tear and release steam and juices. If the skin burns before the flesh is tender, lower the flame slightly. Remove each eggplant to a plate (use two large spoons or spatulas to manage this). While still hot, split them open flat like a book. Scoop the pulp into a sieve set over a bowl, scraping as much as possible from the skin and leaving any juices behind. If there are a lot of seeds, remove some, and pick out any black bits of skin. Drain for 10 minutes, discard the juices and place the pulp in a bowl. Using a whisking motion, mash the pulp with a fork, adding the oil gradually until the mixture is light and fluffy. Stir in the garlic, lemon juice and salt to taste. The mixture will be a pale gold. It can be refrigerated for up to one day before serving. Serve at room temperature garnished with cucumber and tomato. Accompany with bruschette. Makes about 2 cups. * How to choose eggplants: Look for firm, shiny eggplants that are heavy for their size and free of soft spots. Store unwrapped in the refrigerator crisper.

texasmesquite

Source:www.ajc.com

Do You Trust Chefs Cookbooks More than Homecooks?
By Meridith Ford | Friday, September 7, 2007, 09:56 AM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Alice Waters, the grand dame of American cuisine and one of our
greatest visionaries, has a new cookbook coming out this
October, "The Art of Simple Food."

It's the most comprehensive of Waters' cookbooks by far, with a
section on setting up your pantry, what equipment to buy and menu-
planning lessons that even include picnics and packed lunches.

Waters also gives primers on breadmaking and her four essential
sauces (an interesting choice of vinaigrette, salsa verde, aioli and
compound butter, which she calls "herb butter").

Looking through it's pages, it dawned on me that the culinary world —
and subsequently cookbooks — has changed dramatically since our first
grand dame, Julia Child, burst onto the scene in 1961 with "Mastering
the Art of French Cooking."

Unlike Waters, Child was never a professional chef, though she
studied at Cordon Bleu in Paris. In Child's earliest days, she was an
icon for the American housewife, and changed the way home cooks
cooked forever.

Nowadays, it's almost unheard of for a chef with a successful
restaurant to not produce at least one cookbook. It's all part of the
package. Yet Child never owned a restaurant or — from a technical
standpoint anyway — cooked professionally. Should we trust chefs
cookbooks more than "homecooks?" Or does it really depend on the
person, not the profession?

Emerils

Emeril Lagasse and I have partnered up on the myspace website and he has agreed to take all my posts that I sent to him from the people who post on this board and he will read them as I send them. we are partners of www.myspace.com and will continue to be no matter what the situation is.