All posts filed under: Food Musings

Southeast Asian Soiree

Published by Kathy Hunt

I adore theme parties. Since I also love to travel and do it quite a bit, one of my recurrent themes is the cuisine and culture of foreign lands. What can you anticipate from one of these events? On a night of Southeast Asian delights there will be loads of fresh produce including mango, papaya, pineapple, coconut, ginger, lemongrass, mint and lotus root. You can count on an interplay between spicy and sweet with coconut milk partnering with chili peppers and ginger with pineapple. You can also expect some salt with your heat as soy and fish sauces are commonplace condiments in Southeast Asia. Since seafood and poultry are the primary animal proteins in countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, India and Malaysia shrimp and chicken show up on the buffet table. I feature the two in steamed dumplings, fried egg rolls, curries and spicy sautes. A staple of Southeast Asian cuisine, rice also plays a prominent role on SEA night. It may accompany 12 quarts of curry chicken. Dressed with soy sauce or the hot …

The Beauty of Brioche

Published by Kathy Hunt

The past few Saturdays my morning ritual has been to throw on some clothes and hustle over to our neighborhood farmers’ market. My mission? To get there before someone else buys all of St. Peter’s Bakery’s brioche sticky buns. Thanks to their rich yet light dough, these brioche-based buns are the most divine that I’ve ever eaten. Rumored to have originated in Normandy, France in the Middle Ages, brioche is a light yeast bread or cake made from flour, butter, eggs and, of course, yeast. Its name comes from the verb broyer, meaning to break up. The breaking up refers to the dough’s need for repeated and prolonged kneading. In addition to increased kneading, brioche usually requires three, rather than just two, rising periods. In France this extra time and effort has prompted most to buy, rather than bake their own, brioche. Shops devoted to brioche, known as viennoiseries, have sprung up to serve this need. In the 19th century it became the custom to bake this dough in a deep, fluted pan. The resulting …

Peekytoe!

Published by Kathy Hunt

The name sounds almost too cute to be legit but peekytoe is, in fact, a type of crab found on the East Coast. Also known as rock or spider crab, this spindly legged crustacean originally was discarded by fishermen who found it in their lobster pots. They stopped pitching it out in the late 1990’s after the owner of Portland, Maine’s Browne Trading Company, Rod Mitchell, dubbed the unloved crab “peekytoe.” This new, perky moniker won over chefs and consumers, who started buying up and eating the bycatch. Peekytoe lives among rocks and in waters up to 40-feet deep. An eco-friendly seafood, it’s caught live in traps with no bycatch. After removing the crab from the trap, the fisherman will snap off one large claw. He then returns the crab to the ocean where it regenerates its missing appendage. When on land, a peekytoe crab will cover itself with algae, grass and other natural debris. This tendency has given the crustacean yet another name, the decorator crab. Adorable nom de plumes aside, peekytoe is prized …

Chicken!

Published by Kathy Hunt

At dinner with friends last night the subject of easy chicken meals arose. Although I don’t cook chicken very often, I do have a surplus of good poultry recipes. While these dishes do require more than three ingredients and take longer than 30 minutes to prepare, they’re definitely worth the extra effort to make. As for cooking tips, I would advise using local, humanely raised, truly free-range chicken. Chances are that, if you buy locally, you can see how your chicken lived, what it ate and, ultimately, what you’re eating. Plus, you’ll find that chickens allowed to roam about freely in grass pastures taste better and are more healthful for you. Needless to say, it’s more healthful for them, too. Jumping off my soapbox, I’ll add that you should always cook chicken to a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Insert a digital meat thermometer in the thickest part of the chicken to determine if it’s done. VINEGARY CHICKEN Note: If you don’t have white wine on hand, substitute 1/3 cup water and 3 …

Fish – Asbury Park, NJ

Published by Kathy Hunt

I’ve had the amazing fortune of getting good grub around the globe. Anywhere my travels have taken me, I’ve found extraordinary places to eat. Some have been casual and inexpensive. Others have been upscale and costly. Yet, they all have served creative, flavorful, good quality food. Since I do encounter so many great dining spots, l feel as though I should pass along some favorites. To kick off these periodic, brief reviews, I’ll share a bit about a restaurant at which I recently ate, Fish in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Located in the home of Asbury Park’s first post office and outfitted in wood and earth tones, Fish possesses a clean, contemporary atmosphere and an inspired but pricey menu. As the name would suggest, Fish specializes in seafood. Clams, cockles, mussels, black cod, octopus, fluke and bronzini all make their way to the tables. Likewise, more familiar names such as shrimp, scallops, salmon, tuna, halibut, lobster and crab turn up in appetizers, pastas and entrees. Among the delicious seafood dishes tried by my friends and …

Eye-popping Purple Asparagus

Published by Kathy Hunt

They sat glistening in the sun like a display of amethysts at Tiffany’s. One look and I knew that I had to have them. No, they weren’t sparkly earrings, strappy sandals or the latest handbags from Elaine Arsenault. They were one of nature’s gems, purple asparagus. Unlike white asparagus, which is merely green asparagus that hasn’t seen the light of day, purple asparagus hails from the Albenga region of Italy. There farmers propagated seeds from hardy, opened female plants, producing a variety known as Violetto d’ Albenga. With this variety the stalks grow larger but there are fewer of them. Although its stems appear purple in color, its feathery leaves remain green. Similar to other asparagus, Its flesh ranges from pale green to white. Twenty percent higher in sugar than its green counterpart, purple asparagus possesses a mildly sweet taste. Due to its low fiber content it’s also tenderer than green and white asparagus. These differences in taste and texture make purple asparagus perfect for raw salads. When blanched alongside its green and white relations, …

Cool Foods for a Hot Season

Published by Kathy Hunt

Thanks to a recent and premature East Coast heatwave, I’ve already started thinking of ways to beat the summer heat. While I could always spend the day in a frigid Starbucks or hovering over our struggling window air conditioner, I do have a few other, less radical tricks for staying cool this summer. As you might expect, they involve food and plenty of it. You may have heard how in Morocco, India and other steamy or arid lands folks cool off with hot and spicy foods. Steaming hot teas are especially popular for they hydrate and make the consumers sweat. Keep on drinking and hydrating. Keep on sweating and cooling off. Truthfully, I’m not a fan of the ‘hot drinks and food in summer’ practice. Give me a icy glass of water, a little cold soup and I’m chillin’. That brings me to the first food trick, chilled soups. Sometimes referred to as “liquid salads,” cold vegetable soups do wonders for heat sufferers around the globe. In Spain and Portugal the overheated reach for red …

London Eats

Published by Kathy Hunt

No matter what detractors of British cuisine may say, I ate well in London. So well, in fact, that I’m now working off three extra pounds. Considering that in many countries I’ve lost weight, that’s pretty high praise for English cooking. Where I ate obviously influenced how well I ate. Armed with Time Out London, London Zagat, and tips from friends and local foodies, I sought out places that would please my finicky palate. For breakfast I went to cafes such as Gail’s Bread, Ottolenghi and The Tabernacle. Located in Notting Hill and close to the flat where I had stayed, these three served up consistently good food in warm, cheery atmospheres. Since lunch was always right around the corner, I never succumbed to the full English breakfast of poached eggs, bacon, sausage, fried tomatoes, fried mushrooms, beans, toast and tea. Yet, I did love many less filling, local specialties. Currant-studded Chelsea buns, jam-slathered scones and scrambled eggs on toast with sauteed mushrooms ranked high on the list of favorites. Often I grabbed lunch on-the-go. …

Small Dispatch from a Small Island

Published by Kathy Hunt

This week I’ve been working in England, a country much maligned for yet also quite obsessed with its cuisine. Mention that you write about food and suddenly everyone wants to have a discussion with you. Opinions vary on what constitutes good English food. For some it’s the infusion of other cultures and cuisines that has elevated British cooking. After all, the Indian-inspired chicken tikka masala has become the national dish of England. For others it’s a nostalgia for the past, for Sunday roasts and British sweets. For many it’s the local, seasonal movement. Daily farmers’ markets thrive in London. Cheese, bread and butcher shops showcasing English-produced goods abound in the city. Stores stocked with local honeys, preserves and condiments blossom. The country is even producing its own white wines. While I can’t attest to the quality of wine, I can vouch for the deliciousness of other homegrown goods. Ask what sparked this passion for good food and you’ll get a range of responses. The end of WII rationing, which really didn’t end until the 1950’s, …

Flashy Dragon Fruit

Published by Kathy Hunt

I try to live by the adage, “when in Rome . . ..” As a result, I’ve eaten a fair number of exotic and heavenly foods. I’ve also consumed more than a few odd or unpalatable things. Icelandic hakarl, or putrid shark, ranks high among these as does Vietnamese dragon fruit. Possessing hot pink skin, green spines and black-specked, white flesh, dragon fruit remains one of the flashiest edibles out there. It’s also one of the blandest that I’ve tried. Hence, seeing it touted in this week’s New York Times as the next hot food, I couldn’t help but wonder why. Granted, it’s stunning looking but . . .. A member of the cactus family, dragon fruit thrives in tropical climates. Although native to Central America, it’s cultivated throughout South America, parts of the West Indies, Southeast Asia and Florida. In Spanish it’s called pitaya. It’s also known as the strawberry pear. I can see the pear comparison. Similar to an unripe or winter pear, the whitish flesh is a tad gritty but juicy. Unlike …