NOLA wine tasting

Short notice, but if any of you are headed to New Orleans this weekend, there's a wine tasting sponsored by the Southern Food and Beverage Museum:

Saturday at SoFAB,
Pontchartrain Vineyards presents a special presentation and tasting...
Saturday, August 23
3 p.m.

Have you ever wondered what wine would best suit your Shrimp Po-boy? Pontchartrain Vineyards makes artisanal wines in the classic French tradition. This winery creates wines with the idea that a food-loving culture should have a wine specifically made with that food in mind.Learn what wines to pair with specific southern foods,experience Louisiana's wine, taste four delicious wines from Pontchartrain Vineyards...

La Trolley (light, crisp, dry white)

Roux Saint Louis (off-dry, fruity white)

Zydeco Risato (delicious dry rose)

Rouge Militaire (medium-bodied red)Space is limited.

To reserve a spot, email stephanie@southernfood.orgor call 504-569-0405

NOLA beer symposium this weekend

Apologies for the short notice (but we just got it ourselves), but the Southern Food and Beverage Museum has a symposium on beer this weekend. If you're braving New Orleans's heat and humidity the first weekend in August, then this might be worth catching:

This weekend at SoFab, Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company presents:

"The Southern Brewing Experience"

Saturday, Aug. 2, 3 p.m.

Leslie Henderson, of Lazy Magnolia, will speak about beer, its ingredients, and how to pair it with food. She will offer a tasting of their award-winning Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale.

National Seafood cookoff challenge

We are just days away from the smack-down of the century!

Sure, it’s only 2008, and there are 92 years to go. But, with the spectacular success of the past four years, we're quite certain that the Fifth Annual Great American Seafood Cook-Off is going to be a battle for the ages!

On Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4p.m., some of the country's top chefs will converge at the Louisiana Foodservice EXPO at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center.

On Monday, Aug. 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. is the Second Annual Louisiana Alligator Soirée. This fun and informal companion cook-off pits junior culinary teams from The Bayou State to compete against one another to find out whose alligator cuisine reigns supreme. These chefs-in-training and junior ACF members must prepare dishes featuring alligator meat as well as several mystery ingredients.

The opening ceremony will take place at 11:30 a.m. on day one, and there will be cooking demos and judging throughout the day. Day two, the challenge heats-up with mystery ingredientsbecoming apart of the mix by preparing a home-style dish practical for any cook!

Former Cook-Off winner (2004) and this year's culinary face for My Louisiana campaign and beloved New Orleans chef, John Besh will serve as Master of Ceremonies. Tickets are only available at the event for adults 18 years and older, so come with $10 (entry for Cook-Off and Alligator Soirée), a hungry appetite, and an open mind to discover diverse cuisine from across the nation.

Southern Food and Beverage Museum

One of my Causes (yes, it gets a capital C) is the idea of Southern food culture. I haven't been to the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans. Here's a missive from the director on how it's going down there since the museum's grand opening.


Dear Friends
We would like to thank everyone who has made the opening of this museum a success! We have been extremely busy since we officially opened our doors. One of the great joys of working on a project like this is that the busy activity is more like a good aperitif than something that leaves us fatigued. It only stimulates our appetites for the next great thing. We hope that you feel the same way.

On that note, there is a lot that we are excited about in the month of July. We have been, and continue to be, hosting a Culinary Camp for Kids, thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Emeril Lagasse Foundation. While making mayonnaise in camp, the children were surprised that one could make it out of something as simple, and real, as oil and eggs. And, they could not stop talking about how much better homemade root beer is than the store-bought variety. While we are constantly reminded that children have an increasingly small connection with the origins of their food, it is comforting to hear comments like these.

Along with the French Consulate, we hosted a dinner at the Ritz Carlton featuring Jacques Puisais of the Institut du Gout (translation: Institute for Taste) in Paris, France. Liz Williams, president of the SoFab, will have the opportunity to spend two weeks at the institute, which is "invested fully in taste education." We look forward to reading some her blogs during her visit.

The museum itself will continue to evolve during the month of July. We have just added a coffee and tea exhibit, thanks to Luzianne. You can sample chicory coffee and pure coffee, and vote for your favorite. You can also vote online. While chicory tea is mostly in New Orleans, what may be a bigger debate is the one surrounding iced tea that goes on throughout the South. Which way do you take yours, sweetened or unsweetened? Our oral history section of the museum will also open this month. And, the Museum of the American Cocktail will open its doors on July 21, at the conclusion of Tales of the Cocktail.

Around mid-August, look for our culinary book review in SoFab Eats!, a new online publication we are creating. It will include reviews of new food-related books, as well as old ones. It has been great fun cooking casseroles from a community cookbook from 1976. Some are delicious and some are, well, strange. Chinese Pie, anyone?

We look forward to seeing you at the Museum!! Cheers, Stephanie Carter Editorial Director email me at: Stephanie@southernfood.org

Oh, I wish I were a 27-foot hot dog....

The Wienermobile will be in the 'Ham this week.

A 27-foot-long hot dog is continuing a tradition started in 1936 (yes, the Wienermobile has been around since then) by Carl Mayer rolls on this summer.

The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile will be arriving on Saturday, June 28th to help hot dog lovers actually become an Oscar Mayer Wiener. The Wienermobile is celebrating Oscar Mayer’s 125th anniversary.

The celebration began in March with the unveiling of the Mini-Wienermobile and continued throughout June in Times Square when Oscar Mayer donated $100,000 to America’s Second Harvest, a food bank network aimed at supporting local communities. Oscar Mayer’s summer release of their beefier and juicier Premium Beef Franks has spiced up barbeques across the country, reminding Americans why hot dogs bring friends and families together around the grill.

Drivers of the Wienermobile, also known as “Hotdoggers,” will help fans “relish” their experience by taking their pictures as an Oscar Mayer Wiener this weekend in Birmingham, McCalla and Moody (see schedule below).

Hotdogger John Woodbridge says, “It’s great to see everyone smile as they tell us about their first memory seeing the Wienermobile, or seeing that first memory being created.” In addition, everyone who sees the Wienermobile will receive a Wienerwhistle, which has been an Oscar Mayer tradition since 1951.

Weekend Schedule:
June 28th
10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Food World on Eastern Valley Road
3-6 p.m. at Bruno’s on Highway 150

June 29th
10 a.m.-1 p.m. at Bruno’s on Summit Boulevard
3 p.m.-6 p.m. at the Food World on Crossroads Plaza

The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile has been spreading miles of smiles across America since 1936 when Carl Mayer, Oscar Mayer’s nephew, first introduced the Wienermobile. Everyone who sees the Wienermobile up close receives a world famous Oscar Mayer Wienerwhistle, which have been around since 1951.

In 1963 Oscar Mayer created the “Oh I Wish” jingle which has been sprouting dreams of becoming an actual hot dog in the minds of consumers for more than 40 years. Now, in 2008 Oscar Mayer is celebrating their 125th anniversary.

Food Tasting in NOLA

A reminder, in case you're headed to The Big Easy this week:

The Consulate General of France and the Southern Food and Beverage Museum present The Art of Tasting, a gourmet dinner presented at the Mélange restaurant in The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New Orleans, Thursday June 19, 2008.

This culinary event features a specially paired menu with wines selected by Jacques Puisais, founder of the "Institut du Goût" (Taste Institute) in Paris, in collaboration with Mathew Murphy, Chef of The Ritz-Carlton.

The dinner, presented as a theater performance by Jacques Puisais, renowned as the James Beard of France, will explore the relationship between the senses and food. Mixing his scientific knowledge with his poetic sensibility, he has created a "philosophy of taste." Jacques Puisais has traveled the world, teaching his philosophy of appreciating the simple pleasures of taste.

The Art of tasting is Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Mélange Restaurant, the Ritz-Carlton 921 Canal Street, NOLAInformation and reservations: 504.524.1331

The dinner costs $125 and is given in support of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, the Riverwalk, New Orleans.

O'Charley's and kids dining

Keep those yeast rolls coming, and pass the mac 'n cheese.

Kids at 41 O’Charley’s Restaurant locations will be rewarded with special prizes when they dine at the restaurants today through Aug. 31.

“Kids are valued guests at O'Charley's,” said Jeff Warne, O’Charley’s concept president and father of two. “We offer special programs for adults who are regular guests, so offering a special program for kids is a natural extension of that. Plus, as kids are quick to note, not including them, is ‘not fair!’”

Kids who eat at one of the designated O’Charley’s restaurants in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia during the three-month period will receive a bookmark/frequency card with their first meal.

The bookmark recommends summertime reading ideas for kids ages five through 10. The frequency card is pre-stamped with one stamp so the kids only need to collect three additional stamps to receive a book. At each subsequent meal they eat at O’Charley’s, a team member will stamp the bookmark.

After three meals, the kids will receive a free kids meal coupon and they can mail in their stamped frequency card to receive their choice of one of five of the highly popular Everything Kids books, including: Everything Kids Cookbook, Everything Kids Baseball Book, Everything Kids Princess Book, Everything Kids Science Experiment Book and Everything Kids Mazes Book.

Guests who mail in their completed frequency card will receive a coupon for a free kids Chicken O’Tenders meal with their book and are automatically entered in a sweepstakes that will award one Grand Prize of an Orlando Theme Park Vacation for four and a $50 O’Charley’s gift card.

“These books are as much fun as they are educational,” Warne noted. “When we looked for a program to reward our younger guests, we wanted to offer something that they would really enjoy. The stories, activities and games in these books are bound to entertain and hold their interest for hours.”

Kids have a choice of nine meals on their menu. Entrees range from macaroni & cheese & a side item for $2.99 to a 5-oz. steak & a side item for $5.99. Side items range from fruit cup to smashed potatoes.

Slow Food Nation ... chow you can live with

If you left your heart in San Francisco, and will be going back for it Labor Day weekend, then you'll be in time for a kumbayah food event.

Slow Food Nation, the largest celebration of American food in history, will take place in San Francisco over Labor Day weekend (Aug. 29-Sept. 1). Slow Food Nation will bring together tens of thousands to experience an extraordinary range of activities highlighting the connection between plate and planet. The majority of Slow Food Nation’s events will be free and open to the public; certain events are ticketed.

Tickets went on sale Wednesday.

At the peak of harvest season, and on the eve of a Presidential election, Slow Food Nation will bring together local citizens and visitors, farmers and food artisans, political leaders, environmental advocates and health-care experts, community educators and artists.

Participants will savor food from across the U.S. at Taste, a 50,000 square foot pavilion; meet farmers and producers at a marketplace surrounding a 10,000 square foot newly-planted urban garden in the heart of the City; learn from speakers; and engage in political discourse to shape a more sustainable food system. Only in California would the words "discourse" and "food" play in the same sentence.

Slow Food Nation will also feature a music festival, workshops, films, dinners, hikes and journeys.

"Slow Food Nation will catalyze a huge shift in how Americans perceive and prioritize food. Through the four-day event, we hope to build momentum and demand for an American food system that is safer, healthier and more socially just," said Anya Fernald, executive director of Slow Food Nation. "Our founder, Alice Waters, has set the stage for a delicious revolution through decades of leadership and advocacy and our parent organization, Slow Food U.S.A., has built a wide membership base across America. By creating a framework for a deeper environmental and community-based connection to our food and farmers, Slow Food Nation will help participants learn how everyday choices affect our well-being, our culture and the health of the planet."

Highlights:

Taste
Saturday, Aug. 30; 11 am – 3 pm; 5 pm – 9 pm
Sunday, Aug. 31, 11 am – 3 pm; 6 pm – 9 pm
Fort Mason/Festival Pavilion
Tickets: $45 – $65

Taste is Slow Food Nation’s grand celebration of good, clean and fair food from across the United States. In-depth taste workshops and hands-on experiences with quality, process and distinguishing flavor factors will connect visitors with the origins and true value of our food. Each of the 15 uniquely designed pavilions showcases a different food through on-site demonstrations and tastes. Featured foods include: Beer, Bread, Charcuterie, Cheese, Chocolate, Coffee, Fish, Honey & Preserves, Ice Cream, Native Foods, Olive Oil, Pickles & Chutney, Spirits, Tea and Wine. The Green Kitchen takes place here, where acclaimed chefs will demonstrate techniques for making simple, everyday dishes sustainable.

Food for Thought Speaker Series
Friday, Aug. 29, 9 am – 4:30 pm and Saturday, Aug. 30, 11:30 am – 10 pm
Civic Center/Herbst Theater and Milton Marks Auditorium
Tickets: $5 - $25

Featuring leading thinkers, community organizers, journalists and activists discussing current food issues, from policy and planning to education and climate change. Speakers include: Wendell Berry, Marion Nestle, Carlo Petrini, Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, Vandana Shiva and Alice Waters.

Marketplace
Friday, Aug. 29 - Sunday, Aug. 31; 9 am – 4 pm
Civic Center Plaza
Tickets: Free

The Market showcases 60 California farmers and artisans growing and producing good, clean and fair food. Visitors can purchase directly from the producer and learn the significance of regionality, diversity and artisanality in the Bay Area’s food system. Next to the Market, “Slow on the Go” demonstrates how “fast” slow food can be. Visitors can purchase affordable street food from San Francisco’s diverse ethnic community, prepared with fully sustainable, source-verified ingredients.

Slow Food Nation Victory Garden
Friday, Aug. 29 – Sunday, Aug. 31; 9 am – 4 pm
Civic Center Plaza
Tickets: Free

In collaboration with Victory Gardens 2008, Slow Food Nation will herald the era of self-sufficiency through the creation of an ornamental edible garden in the heart of San Francisco’s Civic Center. Planted on the same site as 60 years ago during World War II, the Slow Food Nation Victory Garden demonstrates the potential of a truly local agriculture practice and brings together and promotes Bay Area urban gardening organizations, while producing high quality food for those in need. The Slow Food Nation Victory Garden will be introduced to the public on Saturday, July 12 in a ceremony with Mayor Gavin Newsom and Slow Food Nation Founder Alice Waters.

Slow Food Rocks
Saturday, Aug. 30; 11 am – 7 pm and Sunday, Aug. 31; 11 am – 5:30 pm
Fort Mason/Great Meadow
Tickets on sale June 10

Featuring: Gnarls Barkley; G Love & Special Sauce; the John Butler Trio; Medeski Martin & Wood; New Pornographers and Ozomatli. Additional major headliners to be announced soon. A two-day outdoor music festival featuring the biggest names in rock, folk, hip-hop, soul, jazz and world music. Produced by the Festival Network, this is one of only three public events permitted on the Great Meadow the entire year.

Petition Launch for a New Vision for Agriculture and Food Policy for the 21st Century
Thursday, Aug. 28; 4 – 5 pm
Civic Center/Slow Food Nation Victory Garden
Tickets: Free

Hosted in conjunction with Roots of Change (ROC), Slow Food Nation will introduce a Vision Statement for Agricultural and Food Policy for the 21st Century drafted by notable activists, practitioners, producers and eaters across the country. The Vision Statement will be a call to action to frame future food and agricultural policies, including the next Farm Bill, to benefit all Americans.

In case you're wondering who's behind this event:
Slow Food Nation is sponsored by Whole Foods Market, Rodale Inc., Saveur magazine, Sunset magazine, Anolon cookware, Medlock Ames winery, Organic Valley Farms, Jack London Market, Urban Village Farmers’ Market Association, Bon Appétit Management Company, Cain Vineyard and Winery. Media sponsors include 7 X 7 magazine, Chow.com, Culinate.com, Edible Communities magazines, Mother Jones magazine, Wine & Spirits magazine, Yelp.com, Meatpaper magazine and many more partners to be announced. Slow Food Nation is presented by arrangement with the Fort Mason Foundation and thanks to the generous support of the City and County of San Francisco and the office of Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Slow Food Nation is a subsidiary non-profit of Slow Food USA and part of the international Slow Food movement. It was created to organize the first-ever American collaborative gathering to unite the growing sustainable food movement and introduce thousands of people to food that is good, clean and fair through enjoyable, accessible and educational activities. Slow Food Nation is dedicated to creating a framework for deeper environmental connection to our food and aims to inspire and empower Americans to build a food system that is sustainable, healthy and delicious.

The Slow Food movement was founded in Rome in 1989 and flourishes in 131 countries around the globe. Currently supported by 83,000 members worldwide (16,000 members in the U.S.), Slow Food’s ethos (another great word) is defined by the belief that food is a common language and a universal right, and an appreciation for slowing down and savoring the convivial traditions of the table.

Established in 2000, non-profit Slow Food USA has grown to 200 local chapters in 47 states. Its members include culinary professionals and food enthusiasts, farmers and food producers, educators and students. Slow Food USA envisions a world in which all people can eat delicious food that is good for them, good for the people who grow it and good for the planet.

Cultural encounters of a culinary kind

The splendors of a Himalayan market can do wonders for a child's imagination. Last night, the Travel Channel was alternating episodes of "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern" and "No Reservations" with Anthony Bourdain. The emphasis was on China -- not the one gussying up for the Olympics, but the one that has existed in lore and legend for two millennia.

As the tours unfolded, there was certainly the unusual and odd -- ingredients even I wouldn't eat. But the dominant them of both shows was the role food plays in society and the home. From the street food, which is a veritable sidewalk buffet, to an open-air restaurant run by monks, the experience of a people unfolded through the nourishment of their bodies.

My husband and I have tried to raise adventurous eaters. Not because we don't want to have picky children, but simply because one day, if they're lucky enough to see this big world, we don't want them locked down if they can't find an American meat-n-three in the middle of a village halfway 'round the world.

Some of the dishes we could never make. I mean, our access to yak meat is nil. But the flavors and inspiration took hold. As did the curiosity of what something tastes like and the desire to know how other people live.

That goes on the menu any day.

The art of tasting in NOLA

Need a reason to brave the swelter of New Orleans in June? This sounds fun, elegant and like a cool opportunity if you happen to be passing through the Big Easy near the middle of the month.

The Consulate General of France and the Southern Food and Beverage Museum present The Art of Tasting, a gourmet dinner at Mélange restaurant in The Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans, on Thursday, June 19. The Ritz is on the border of the French Quarter on Canal Street. Tres chic.

This culinary event features a specially paired menu with wines selected by Jacques Puisais, founder of the "Institut du Goût" (Taste Institute) in Paris, in collaboration with Mathew Murphy, chef of The Ritz-Carlton. The dinner, presented as a theater performance by Jacques Puisais, renowned as the James Beard of France, will explore the relationship between the senses and food. Mixing his scientific knowledge with his poetic sensibility, he has created a "philosophy of taste."

Only a Frenchman could pull this off.

"The Art of tasting" is Thursday June 19, 2008, 6-9 p.m., Mélange Restaurant, the Ritz-Carlton 921 Canal Street. NOLAInformation and reservations: 504-670-2828

The dinner costs $125 and is given in support of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, the Riverwalk, New Orleans.

If that's too steep, but you still want to hear him, Puisais will also speak at the new Southern Food and Beverage Museum on Saturday, June 14, at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum at the Riverwalk at 2 p.m. He will discuss gastronomy and educating children's palates.

Something green for your sweet tooth

Hillside Candy, a manufacturer of confections, announced today that it will introduce new stand-up gusseted bag packaging and two new flavors for its hand made GoNaturally organic candy line at the 2008 All Candy Expo in May.

Yes, a candy expo. Fez from "That '70s Show" would be in heaven.

The candy is currently available in 8-ounce tub and bulk formats in four flavors: Ginger, Honey Lemon, Cherry and Honey. The new look in its GoNaturally organic candy line will feature a 3.5-ounce, stand-up bag. Six flavors, instead of four, and the bags are recyclable.

The two new flavors:Pomegranate and Apple. The new bags are scheduled to begin shipping in mid-May at the suggested retail price of $2.79 to $2.99.

GoNaturally is hand made, gluten free, kosher, and USDA certified organic candy. Using organic evaporated cane juice and organic brown rice syrup for sweetness, the line is flavorful and refreshing. GoNaturally contains no trans fats, no preservatives, no corn syrup, no FD&C colors, and no hydrogenated oils.

In keeping with the environmentally friendly concept, the GoNaturally packaging and twist wraps are all recyclable.

Based in Hillside, N.J., Hillside Candy was established in 1945, and is the corporate umbrella and home of three brands of candy: Golightly, one of the niche brands in the sugar-free market; Hillside Sweets, a line of sugar-based hard candy; and GoNaturally.

The brands will be among the sweet fix at the the 2008 All Candy Expo, from May 20-22 in Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center. Held annually in Chicago, the All Candy Expo is the largest confectionery and snack trade show in the United States and has 500 exhibitors. The list of exhibitors includes multi-national companies as well as small niche gourmet and specialty companies. The All Candy Expo draws visitors from nearly 70 countries.

Chicken on the cheap

Tightening the family food budget means relying on some unsung heroes of the kitchen. Specifically, ingredients that have been seen as the poor relations of their flashier cousins: chicken thighs and legs.

While the U.S. has been eating chicken breasts at an amazing rate in the past 10 years, consumers haven't figured out the other part of that equation. To get the breasts off a chicken, two thighs and two legs must come off, too. Ergo, the "scraps" from that walking chicken breast -- the thighs and legs -- are sold at a much, much lower cost than the coveted breast meat.

Check out your poultry section at the grocery. Breasts are far more expensive than thighs and legs, which are far more expensive than buying a whole chicken and cutting it up yourself at home (that's another story, though).

Many recipes are better when cooking with thighs and legs. The bones add flavor. The darker meat is less apt to dry out.

And did we mention that they're way cheaper?

Several years ago, a friend and I took a class (maybe two?) at the New Orleans School of Cooking in the French Quarter. It was fun, and the school sent along some recipes this week that use the other parts of the chicken.

Even those who have never had the privilege of visiting New Orleans likely know – and have enjoyed – two of the region’s most celebrated dishes: gumbo and jambalaya. These classic New Orleans dishes are steeped in history, a culmination of a variety of cultures that converged in Louisiana beginning in the 18th century.

While gumbo and jambalaya are distinguishable in their cultural origin – one is Creole, the other Cajun – both are thick, one-pot meals meant to serve a crowd. Gumbo and jambalaya make use of the classic Louisiana cuisine “holy trinity” – a combination of chopped onions, green peppers and celery – that forms the backbone of flavor that distinguishes many traditional New Orleans dishes.

The meals are often thickened with a roux, a combination of a fat and flour cooked to a varying degree of brownness, depending on the dish. However, Cajun and Creole dishes may also be thickened with file powder, made from ground sassafras leaves, or okra, a vegetable of African origin used throughout the South.

Gumbo, a stew or soup made with chicken and/or shellfish, is often classified as a Creole dish, a distinctive cuisine developed in New Orleans with European and African roots. The French cooking techniques are strongest in Creole cooking, but the flavors of the dishes are often an indiscernible mix of cultural influences from Africa and Native and Latin America. Creole food stands out for its rich sauces, use of local herbs, tomatoes and other indigenous ingredients. The cuisine also uses butter and cream – giving it the reputation of being more elegant and served in City restaurants and hotels.

By contrast, jambalaya is often classified as Cajun (while there is a Creole-style version that makes use of tomatoes and offered as an option in this version). Cajun cuisine is often distinguished by its robust and hearty one-pot meals that are often served over rice. Cajun food is a combination of French and Southern cuisines and is a more “down-home” or “country-style” of cooking.

Cajuns are the descendents of French-speaking inhabitants who came to Louisiana from Acadia – what we now call Nova Scotia. These immigrants absorbed the culture of Native and African Americans combining them with their own – creating a distinctive Cajun culture. Jambalaya is, essentially, a New World version of paella.

A combination of chicken parts is browned in oil with sausage. Then the classic “holy trinity” of vegetables, also used to make gumbo and many other New Orleans dishes, is sautéed until tender and full of flavor. Unlike gumbo, rice and liquid are added directly to the pot and cooked much like Spanish paella. The dish is finished with chopped tomatoes and green onions, if desired.

In New Orleans, it is tradition to welcome friends with good food and drink. Add these classic Creole and Cajun dishes to your repertoire, and you’ll have two great meals for an intimate gathering or for a crowd. For more information, contact:

New Orleans School of Cooking
524 St. Louis Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
(800) 237-4841

Chicken Gumbo

Serves 4

2 pounds chicken parts, cut up

4 TBLS vegetable oil for sautéing
6 ounces Andouille sausage
Roux:
4 TBLS vegetable oil
4 TBLS flour
Trinity:
1 cup diced onion
½ cup diced celery
½ cup diced green pepper
1 tsp chopped garlic
2 cups chicken stock
1 TBS each fresh thyme, parsley

½ tsp salt, or to taste
½ tsp fresh ground pepper, or to taste
½ cup chopped green onions
For Serving:
File**
4-6 cups cooked rice

Warm oil in a large shallow pan or Dutch oven. Add chicken and brown over medium heat. Add sausage to pot and sauté with chicken. Remove both from pot and reserve.

In same pan, heat oil for roux. Add flour and cook over medium low heat until flour is desired color – the darker the roux, the darker the sauce. Add onions, celery, and green pepper. Add garlic to the mixture; stir continuously. When vegetables reach desired tenderness, about 7-8 minutes, return chicken and sausage to pot and cook with vegetables, continuing to stir frequently. Gradually stir in liquid and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for an hour or more. Season with Cajun seasoning, adding 1 teaspoon at a time to taste. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Approximately 10 minutes before serving, add green onions. Serve gumbo over rice or without rice, accompanied by French bread.

Chicken Jambalaya

Serves 4-6

1 – 1 1/2 pounds chicken parts, cut up
2 TBSP vegetable oil
¾ pound sweet Italian link sausage, sliced in ¼ inch rounds
Trinity:
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped green pepper
2 tsps chopped garlic
2 ½ cups chicken stock

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 TBS each fresh thyme and parsley

2 cups long grain rice
½ tsp salt, or to taste
½ tsp fresh ground pepper, or to taste
1 cup chopped green onions and/or tomatoes (optional)

In large Dutch oven, warm oil. Add chicken and sauté over medium high heat until browned. Add sausage to pot; sauté with chicken. Remove both from pot.

Add onions, celery, green pepper and garlic; sauté until tender, about 9-10 minutes. If making red jambalaya, add paprika. Return chicken and sausage to pot. Add stock (or stock and tomato juice, or Bloody Mary mix if making red jambalaya) and Cajun seasoning and bring to a boil.

Add rice and return to boil. Cover and reduce heat to simmer. Cook 25 minutes. After 10 minutes of cooking, remove cover and quickly turn rice from top to bottom completely. Continue cooking for remaining time. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add green onions and chopped tomatoes, if desired.

Recipe may be adjusted depending on how many you plan on serving. But, keep these points in mind:

1 cup raw long grain rice will feed three people
1 cup rice to 1 cup of onion, ½ cup celery and ½ cup green pepper
1 cup raw rice to 1¼ cups liquid
Be sure to over season to compensate for the rice
Cook for a total of 25 minutes, turning completely after 10 minutes. However, if using an electric stove, reduce cooking time by 3-4 minutes

***For Red Jambalaya (see instructions in recipe body): add 1 TBSP paprika and substitute tomato juice, a good Bloody Mary mix, or vegetable juice for ½ of stock.

Need an ice cream sojourn?

Just an hour on the other side of Chattanooga, the folks in Athens, Tenn., are getting ready for their first run at a National Dairy Festival.

MooFest will be May 31 and is an all-day event (11 a.m. to 7 p.m.) set to glorify ice cream (oddly enough, Mayfield Dairy is a prime, prime sponsor).

In additon to food, music and standard Southern festival happenings, there are recipe contests (go online for entry information) ice cream scoop stacking contests, tours of the ice cream plant and a slew of other things. Not to be missed is the chance to be named the best milker of MooFest.

Athens is on I-75, exits 49 and 52, about an hour on the other side of Chattanooga, making it a three-hour tour, a three-hour tour (sorry), from Calhoun County.

Southern Food and Beverage Gala

A reminder for those heading to New Orleans the first week of June:

The Southern Food and Beverage Museum has its grand opening gala Thursday, June 5, to celebrate its new home at Riverwalk Marketplace, at the foot of Julia Street.

For the first time, a permanent institution will be dedicated to the discovery, understanding and celebration of the culture of food and drink in the South.

Schedule:
6:00 - 7:00 p.m. Sponsor private preview of exhibits and private audience with special guests
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Supporter party

Sponsor Tickets $125 per personSupporter Tickets $60 per personPurchase tickets

Ribbon Cutting - June 7 at 10:00 am.

Big Bob Gibson's BBQ

I feel older today. Not so much because of aging or anything like that, but yesterday felt like a birthday for me. I went with my wife, brother, and a friend to the Huntsville Stars minor league baseball game and we stopped at the legendary Big Bob Gibson's Barbecue in Decatur on the way home (sort of). What a perfect day. It felt like we were celebrating.

I had high hopes for every thing I had heard about Bob's. I had gotten an email last week hailing Bob's at the best in the state or world or universe or something. I had read about it in my BBQ USA book by Steve Raichlen, where he hailed Bob's white sauce. I had seen it featured on a barbecue show on either PBS, Travel or Food.

The white sauce was different, but good. It had a strong, pickle/mustard taste to me, and my group decided it was best on chicken. I got the sampler plate with smoked turkey, pulled pork and chopped beef brisket. The turkey was good with a nice spicy rub on the outside, but it was light on smoke and a long way from the turkey at Sconyers in Augusta, Ga. The brisket was the best thing on my plate and it was flavorful, but dry. The pork was just there. Not very smoky, no real taste to it until I poured on the red sauce, which was a spicy and not overpowering, but nothing unique.

Overall I was disappointed big time. Maybe we caught them on a bad day or maybe it isn't what it used to be. At least I can say I've been.

California (seafood) dreamin'

All the leaves are green,
and the sky is blue
(And the sky is blue-ooh)

OK, no more.

But if you're going to San Fransisco -- or anywhere else on the West Coast -- here are some wines to check out for Oysters and Wine, par excellence. To wit, the winners of the 2008 Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition's 12 best West Cost wines for Oysters. The restaurants that hosted the judging sessions probably are pretty good, too.

In final judgings at the Water Grill in Los Angeles, Sutro’s at the Cliff House in San Francisco and Anthony’s HomePort in Seattle, 40 food and wine writers and restaurateurs selected 12 winners of the prestigious “Oyster Award” as the conclusion to the month-long, 14th Annual Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition, the annual dating service to find the best West Coast matches for oysters.

Seven California, three Oregon and two Washington wines, including nine crisp Sauvignon Blancs, two bright, refreshing Pinot Gris and one Pinot Blanc, prevailed over a record 200 entries in the first competition to judge a wine by how it goes with a food. All wines are blind tasted with Kumamoto oysters in the four-tier judging process.

Taylor Shellfish Farms of Shelton, WA., sponsor of the competition, announced the winners:

Amity Vineyards 06 Pinot Blanc (OR)
Chateau Ste. Michelle 06 Columbia Valley Sauvignon Blanc (WA)
Clayhouse Vineyard 06 Sauvignon Blanc (CA)
Clos du Bois Winery 06 Sauvignon Blanc (CA)
Covey Run Winery 06 Fume Blanc (WA)
Dry Creek Vineyard 06 Sonoma County Fume Blanc (CA)
Girard Winery 06 Sauvignon Blanc (CA)
Kathryn Kennedy Winery07 Sauvignon Blanc (CA)
Robledo Family Winery 06 Sauvignon Blanc (CA)
Simi 06 Sauvignon Blanc (CA)
Van Duzer Vineyards 07 Pinot Gris (OR)
Willamette Valley Vineyards 07 Pinot Gris (OR)


Few wines go with oysters, a vibrant combination of minerals, sweetness and the sea. That is why the competition identifies, on an annual basis, a group of great “oyster wines” that restaurants can offer with oysters on the half shell, an increasingly popular menu item. The competition is organized by its founder, Jon Rowley.

Taylor Shellfish Farms invited British Columbia, California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington wineries to submit their best “oyster wines,” typically dry, crisp, clean-finishing white wines. Each wine is blind tasted with a Kumamoto oyster. The judge first smells and then chews the oyster well, then smells and tastes the wine, then rates the “bliss factor,” the wine’s affinity with the oyster.

In the eight-day preliminary judging at Anthony’s HomePort at Shilsole Bay in Seattle, five veteran Preliminary Judges ate 1,200 Kumamoto oysters in narrowing the contenders to 44 semi-finalists and then to 20 finalists. (So, how do you get to be a judge for this thing?)

The finalists were judged, again with oysters, by 12-14 judge panels in the three cities. Because of the number of wines that impressed the judges, two additionl “Oyster Awards” were awarded this year for a total of 12.

Some of the competition judges claim they have the best job in all of food and wine. “I wait all year for this,” says longtime Los Angeles judge, LA Weekly restaurant critic and 2007 Pulitzer winner, Jonathan Gold.

“The search for wines to go with oysters adds to culture and excitement of oysters,” says Bill Taylor, president of Taylor Shellfish Farms. “The acclaim by the wine and restaurant industries as well as the media makes it fun for everyone.”

Taylor Shellfish Farms, based in Shelton, Wash., is a fourth-generation, family-owned company producing manila clams, Mediterranean mussels, geoduck and oysters for national and international markets.

Oysters are a favorite shellfish, but you do have to admire the first person to try one. However, once people fall in love with their fresh, briny goodness, few things compare. As Papa put it,

As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.”

“A Good Café on the Place St. Michel”

from A Moveable Feast

Ernest Hemingway

2008 FINALS JUDGES

Los Angeles
Lou Amdur, Proprietor, Lou’s Wine Bar
Anthony Dias Blue, Blue Lifestyle
Bob Blumer, aka The Surreal Gourmet
Michael Cimarusti, Co-owner/Exec Chef, Providence
Patrick Comiskey, Senior Correspondent, Wine & Spirits
Traci Des Jardins, Chef/Owner Jardinière (San Francisco)
Jerry Garbus, Beverage Director, King's Seafood
Jonathan Gold, Restaurant Critic, LA Weekly; 2007 Pulitzer for Criticism
Christopher Hopgood, General Manager, Ocean Ave Seafood
Stacie Hunt, NPR, Wine Journalist
Mary Sue Milliken, Chef/Owner, Border Grill and Ciudad restaurants
Russ Parsons, Food Writer, Los Angeles Times; Author
Robert Small, Professor, Cal Poly Pomona and Chairman, Los Angeles International
Wine & Spirits Competition

San Francisco
Jon Bonné, Wine Editor, SF Chronicle
Bronwen Clark, Manager and Wine Director, Rodney's Oyster House (Toronto)
Narsai David, Food & Wine Editor, KCBS Radio
Jerry DiVecchio, Writer, food-wine-life
Mark Dommen, Chef/Partner One Market Restaurant
Michael Dunne, Food Editor, Wine Columnist, Restaurant Critic, Sacramento Bee
Greg Hinds, Hog Island Oyster Bar
Millie Howie, Wine Writer
Jan Newberry, Senior Editor, SF Magazine
Harvey Steiman, Editor at Large, Wine Spectator
Tim Teichgraeber, Wine Writer; SF Chronicle; Minneapolis Star-Tribune; Cooking Pleasures
Robert Thompson, Wine Writer

Seattle
Tom Arthur, Senior Manager, Elliott's Oyster House
Jessica Skye Bolt, Assistant General Manager abd Wine Director, Steelhead Diner
Shannon Borg, Wine and Food Writer
Renee Erickson, Chef/Owner, Boat Street Café
Adriana Grant, Editor "Food Files", Seattle Weekly
Chuck Hill, Wine Writer; Author; Publisher, "Joy of Oysters"
Lane Hoss, Marketing Director, Anthony's Restaurants
Blair King, Executive Chef, The Brooklyn Seafood, Steak & Oyster House
Doug King, Wine Steward, Metropolitan Market-Sand Point
Richard Kinssies, Proprietor, Wine Outlet; Wine Columnist, Seattle P.I.
Nancy Leson, Food Columnist, Seattle Times
Dan McCarthy, Proprietor, McCarthy & Schiering Wine Merchants
Craig Miller, "Wine Guy," Top Foods
Cynthia Nims, writer
Gerry Warren, Enological Society Pacific Northwest; Slow Food
Nels Webber, Server, Elliott's Oyster House

'Experience' wining and dining in NOLA

The New Orleans Wine & Food Experience marks its 17th year with a five-day extravaganza, May 20- 25.

The 2008 event brings together world-renowned winemakers, celebrated chefs and industry insiders in a showcase of signature events and one-of-a-kind seminars designed to entertain, educate and inspire.

It “explores some of the most innovative and exciting trends in the culinary world,” says Howard Brown, 2008 NOWFE president. “This year we intend to bring some new elements to the event, such as a Louisiana Chef Cook-Off, and expand on the recent addition of VINOLA, by adding more upscale events and premium wines.”

The event kicks off with wine maker dinners in some of New Orleans’ most celebrated restaurants, followed by the traditional Royal Street Stroll on Thursday, and culminating with Grand Tastings in the Superdome on Friday and Saturday.

All Saturday Grand Tasting attendees will have the opportunity to watch and cheer for their favorite Louisiana Chef while the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board hosts The Louisiana Seafood Cook-Off. Louisiana’s top chefs will compete for the chance to represent Louisiana in the Great American Seafood Cook-Off against America's most notable chefs.

Additional festival highlights will include a live auction and an expanded VINOLA! VINOLA, NOWFE’s 2007 premium tasting event, was so popular it has been expanded to include two upscale wine seminars; a VINOLA dinner with outstanding wines and a surprise guest, sponsored by Viking; as well as the exclusive Tasting with up to 120 elite wines. Attendees of the VINOLA events will enjoy a rare opportunity to mingle with notable winemakers, while sampling exceptional wines from around the world.

Seminars and events include:

• Going, Going, Gone! Don't miss your chance to bid on once-in-a-lifetime experiences at NOWFE's first Live-Auction. Auction lots will include all-inclusive trips, and VIP perks you can't buy anywhere else. This event takes place on Thursday, May 22 from 4:30-5:30pm at the Ritz-Carlton. Vinola ticket or advance reservation required.


• VINOLA! Exclusive tasting event. Thursday, May 22 from 2-4 pm at the Ritz-Carlton.


• Krewe of Cork While strolling down Royal Street you are invited to join in the revelry as the Krewe of Cork parades through the French Quarter donning wine and grape related costumes, while throwing beads, and corks, of course! Krewe of Cork is the Official Parade of NOWFE.


• 14 Steve Reynolds will take your palette on a tour of Napa Valley, with a Meritage blend that captures the essence of Napa…made with one barrel from a vineyard in each of Napa's 14 sub-appellations.


• From Spain to Dumaine For 37 years, Louisiana was under Spanish rul...Just long enough for Spain to influence the architecture, culture and culinary history of New Orleans. Local food critic, Tom Fitzmorris, will be joined by four of New Orleans' most acclaimed chefs, who will explore these “tradiciones culinarias españolas!”


• Cocoa Vin Chocophiles and Oenophiles alike will experience euphoria during this heavenly tasting of wine with its most sensual companion.


• Red, White & Fin Join Chef John Besh (right), a former winner of the Great American Seafood Cook-off, & Ziggy “The Wine Gal” Eschliman, as they team up at The Besh Steakhouse to pair each of three seafood dishes with a red and a white wine. You will fall hook, line and sinker for Louisiana Seafood!


• Chef + Sommelier = Perfect Pairings! Tap into the ultimate harmony that transpires between an exceptional chef and an expert sommelier, when they collaborate to create the perfect balance of flavors on some of New Orleans' best menus.


• Wild About Game & Wine! Hunting for the proper wine to pair with game? Join Chef John Folse, author of After the Hunt: Louisiana's Authoritative Collection of Wild Game & Game Fish Cookery, for a cooking demonstration and lesson on properly pairing wine with wild game.

A writer who's gone corny

The author of the cookbook “The Cornbread Gospels,” Crescent Dragonwagon, will be signing copies of the book on 2nd Street next to the Lodge Product Tent during the National Cornbread Festival, April 26-27.

"The Cornbread Gospels" will be available for purchase for $14.95 in the Lodge Product Tent and then taken to Dragonwagon for signing. Dragonwagon will also provide the history of cornbread from the competition stage on 2nd Street several times during the festival.

The author of numerous children’s books and the cookbook “Passionate Vegetarian," Dragonwagon traveled to family reunions, stone-grinding mills and the National Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburgh, Tenn., hearing stories, tasting breads and learning the secrets of America’s favorite bread. Her research produced over 200 irresistible recipes for cornbreads, muffins, fritters and pancakes. The book includes a local favorite, Cornbread Salad!

“The Cornbread Gospels” is also available at the South Pittsburg Lodge Factory Store, at 503 South Cedar Avenue. (For more details on the Cornbread Festival, click Traveling Diners under the Labels heading to the left.)

And to balance all the 'health' posts.....

Those of you heading to Sin City this year -- or with a computer handy -- can tap into a mix of literature and, gulp, cheesecake.

Billed as the country's first bookstore/cheesecake joint that delivers nationwide, Cheesecake and Crime opened its doors in Las Vegas this year and serves cheesecake and suspense novels.

The store is the brainchild of Lendall and Pam Mains. She loves murder mysteries. He's an architect who loves to bake and put himself through college by selling cheesecakes

The store has a variety of flavors and sizes -- the cakes, not the books. For drop-in customers, there is cheesecake by the slice and cheesecake clues (square sections equal to about 1/2 a slice.)

Flavors on hand vary, but typically are Plain, Cookies n' cream, Nutella, strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, cherry, lemon, chocolate and German chocolate. Sizes: a 6-inch (feeds 6-10), an 8-inch (feeds 10-14), a 10-inch (feeds 12-18), or a 12-inch.

The store's Web site is a little cantankerous, so be patient in trying to scan the galleries or ordering information.

How they pick the best coffee

The rise of national coffeeshop chains has increased the American awareness and appreciation of coffee. Just last night on Iron Chef America, the secret ingredient for the battle was coffee of varying origins and roasts.

There's a science behind this stuff. Who determines what's good?

In celebration of the art of roasting specialty coffee, the Specialty Coffee Association of America's(SCAA) Roasters Guild will present the 2008 Roasters Choice Tasting Competition at SCAA's 20th Annual Conference & Exhibition, May 2 - 5 in Minneapolis, Minn. The competition will feature coffees from some of the finest coffee roasters throughout the country.

"From seed to cup, a lot of activity takes place before consumers enjoy their cup of specialty coffee," said Ric Rhinehart, SCAA executive director. "A vital link in this process is the professional coffee roaster who takes his craft very seriously in roasting green coffee beans based on a roast profile to enhance or highlight certain flavor characteristics. At this year's Roasters Choice Tasting Competition, some of the country's top roasters will offer their finest brews during an exciting competition and demonstration of the profession."

All Roasters Guild members - about 370 - are invited to participate in the competition by submitting 30 pounds of coffee, which they will have roasted just prior to the event, ensuring freshness.

To determine a winner, each conference attendee in Minneapolis will get one chance to vote for the best of the 10 finalists. The tasting will be blind with the first three finishers earning Gold, Silver and Bronze awards. While a winner will be announced, the chief aim of the event is to recognize the craft of roasting while conference delegates taste some superb coffees.

The theme of this year's Roasters Choice Tasting Competition is "Single Origin Coffees."

The Roasters Guild is one of two trade guilds within the SCAA. One guild is for coffee roasters and the other for baristas. These groups are designed to bring together those professionals whose crafts most profoundly affect the taste of specialty coffee.

The 2008 Roasters Choice Tasting Competition is a highlight at the SCAA 2008 Conference & Exhibition. The conference features educational sessions covering a variety of specialty coffee topics, hundreds of exhibit booths, a presentation from Michael Shuman, author of "The Small-Mart Revolution," the United States Barista Championship and the Coffee of the Year Competition.

In accord with SCAA's mission of promoting sustainability in the specialty coffee industry, the association has created a carbon neutrality program to help offset emissions related to conference travel, lodging and energy consumption. All conference attendees are required to participate in the program. The money will be donated to non-profit organization, Trees for the Future, for the purchasing and planting of new trees.

For a copy of the conference brochure, call 562-624-4100 or click here.