♦ CatChat – Misty’s preview of this week ♦
♦ Pinot celebration in Oregon {M – can you turn some into water please}
♦ Rick Bayless interview ♦ Top winners in World Spirits Competition
♦ America the Great Cookbook/No Kid Hungry {M – another chance to help this cause}
♦ Tips for new/nervous cooks {M – there’s a surprising note here} ♦ More about the royals
♦ Elderberry cordial {M – wine, spirits, cordial – think I’m getting tipsy just doing my preview}
♦ Barbara’s week: Reese’s to the rescue, the burrito mission, tacos retrofitted for breakfast {M – do you think on occasion she could use just a little less spice???}
Misty’s History ♦ Misty’s Gallery
Tidbits
Newsy, schmoozy stuff for cooks
♦ Attention pinot-philes. It’s almost that time again, for the International Pinot Noir Celebration, U.S., in Willamette Valley. In addition to vineyard visits and seminars, this “mecca for lovers of Pinot noir and northwest cuisine {will feature} world-renowned winemakers, northwest chefs, esteemed media, epicures, and wine lovers” will pour on the fun at Linfield College McMinnville, Oregon, July 27-29. IPNC
♦ Thank you “Daily Beast” for this unique and personal glimpse of Rick Bayless, his inpiration, his tequila/mezcal take, his favorite things, and more. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of dining at one of his restaurants, you know this is Mexican food at its finest. Interview Bayless cookbooks
♦ Want to have some award winners at your cocktail party? No, not the people. Talking here about the spirits. The results have now been announced in all categories in the 2018 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. This stuff must be good to have risen to the top of almost 2500 entries. Award-winning spirits
CS Marketplace Spotlight
Held over! – Tap into the favorite recipes of 100 food pros
This is a quite a find. “America the Great Cookbook/the food we make for the people we love from 100 of our finest chefs and food heros.”
The recipes come “from our top chefs, artisan producers, and fascinating food heroes.” And since they’re from all across the country, we’re also treated to any number of regional specialties.
And this warms the heart. The cookbook also supports “Share Our Strength’s incredible No Kid Hungry initiative {that} connect kids with at least 200,000 meals.”
“America the Great Cookbook” ♦ No Kid Hungry ♦ CS Marketplace
Featured Recipe
Do dessert like the royals
Leave it to Food & Wine magazine to bring us the recipe – and a bit of backstory – for the “sponge cake with elderflower and lemon and cream cheese frosting” served at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Ummm, may want to cut down the quantities somewhat.
If you can’t find the exact brand of elderberry cordial and for that matter any brand you can, not too surprisingly, find several on Amazon. In checking on this libation I found several references to how pleasant it is just on its own {and duh guess that is the original purpose}.
The image here is from the Royal Family’s facebook page {yes, they have one!}. From the comments posted and given that the context was the wedding, it would seem this is indeed the trio of royal cakes. Aha, Forbes just showed this as the genuine article {thanks}.
That cake description above is from another article in the F&W newsletter, an interesting peek at some other royal food facts including some preferences of the newly titled Duke and Duchess of Sussex. It’s linked below.
Royal Wedding Cake Recipe ♦ Royal food
Elderberry Wine on Amazon ♦ Food & Wine magazine
Tip
Nervous cook? Our tip this week comes from the Food52 online newsletter and it fits right in with this: I was watching “Barefoot Contessa” Ina Garten’s show, and after asking her guest, an accomplished chef, about a step she was about to take, added something like, I always think I might be doing something wrong.
As I regard her as an accomplished chef herself I found this at first surprising, and then oddly reassuring. Guessing any cook, pro or no, who stretches the culinary boundaries, tries this preparation and that, adds tweaks and refinements, will likely feel trepidation on a regular basis. And, good for you who do! Meanwhile here’s Food52’s advice for the new or nervous. Calm cookin’ Ina’s cookbooks
A Peek at My Week
♦ Dieting? Look away, nothing to see here. For everybody else – I wanted a sweet finish for Sunday brunch but no help from the fridge or freezer. Hello pantry and that bag of little Reese’s peanut butter cups, and at the same time into my head came MFK Fisher’s admonition to never have chocolate without bread {hmmm,
didn’t say peanut butter couldn’t join in}.
So, halved them, lined them up on French bread slices and into the toaster oven on Warm for just a few minutes. Do I even need to tell you? Btw, for a little crisper version can lightly toast the bread first.
♦ Well some dear friends and I tried Food & Wine magazine’s selection for best burrito in town, at a Korean/Mexican restaurant. And while it’s probably not my top fave locally it was pretty good – but here’s what made it interesting. Whichever meat you chose, beef/chicken/pork, it had been prepared bulgogi style, thinly sliced and marinated in soy, garlic, sesame, green onion and sometimes other Asian flavors. Some fusions can get quite crazy but this one worked and may inspire some experiments in my own kitchen – and maybe yours?
♦ Love tacos, but after using leftovers once in their original form, wanted to do something with the rest that would be a bit un-taco-y. Ha! Fried up a lot of onion, seasoned with garlic salt and pepper, chopped up the tacos and added to the pan, tossed till hot then slid onto a plate, dotted with hot sauce and covered with pepperjack cheese and nuked
till all melty. Meanwhile fried some eggs, plopped on top, and ringed with avocado slices. Oh yeah good!
♦ Posted “A Higher Loyalty” on Nice Life Books – Thursdays
♦ Posted Yorkie Shirts Hats Mugs on DoggieShirtz – Thursdays
Cook with passion and a party spirit, whether for a crew, or for two, or just for you
Among those with a recipe for this kind of cookery is Nigella Lawson, English cookbook author and broadcast personality. Her well seasoned “Chicken and Pea Traybake” linked here is featured on the Food 52 site.
Proclaim it in your own kitchen or in the “klatch.”
This irresistible combo of flavors and textures comes together as not only alternate takes on the original {think, Black Forest} but as well in breakfast fare {oatmeal even}, cakes and cookies, pies and tarts, cheesecake and bread pudding, many other baked desserts, frozen treats, plus hot and cold beverages {oh Lord, a S’More-tini}.
Ree Drummond, bless her heart, has created a cookbook where for every single recipe she shows step by step photos. The helpfulness also shows in sharing her go-to staples, 12 for the freezer, 15 for the fridge, 20 for the pantry.
go away, right? I had read an article making the case for recapturing calm by “reaching for a handful of walnuts instead of a martini.” So recently when I started feeling some of the symptoms of stress I did indeed head for the walnuts. And you know what, woohoo! it actually lived up to its billing and will be a go-to from now on. But I do have a question: anything wrong with both???