Food is Food

True to its name, Cooking Light Global Kitchen shares recipes from around the world. There are 150 recipes, 120 of which came from the magazine and another 30 that “fill in the gaps.” They all fit within the magazine’s guidelines for nutrition, ease and speed.

The author/editor David Joachim tapped many chefs to help with the recipes and the results are impressive. The recipes may not be the most authentic but they are certainly user friendly. There are recipes from East Asia and India, Southeast Asia and Australia, The Middle East and Africa, Europe and Eurasia, South America, North and Central America. 

Many of the recipes take classics in a new direction like tabbouleh salad with chicken or a salad nicoise with seared tuna. And frankly many seems like improvements on the original such as lobster rolls freshened up with shaved fennel and citrus. I like that there are photographs on every page, for every recipe. I’ve bookmarked Quinoa Pudding, Cape Malay Curry (with warm spices, buttermilk, beef, peppers and apricots)  Quick Lamb Kofta with Harissa Yogurt Sauce, Champagne Browned Butter Chicken and Fennel Cured Halibut Gravlax. 

Bottom line? KEEPER especially if you're looking for healthier international recipes. You could find most of these recipes online or in the magazine, but this it is convenient to have them curated this way.

I was very excited to hear about Cooking Light Mad Delicious:The Science of Making Healthy Food Taste Amazing, but I’m rather disappointed with it.

My issues with the book, I’m going to just give you just a few, start with Culinary School Chicken. It’s a basic roast chicken recipe. But one of the very first instructions says “Rinse your chicken under cold running water. Allow to air dry or pat dry with good quality paper towels. Use the cheap ones and eat paper.” Uh I have a better idea. DON’T EVER RINSE RAW CHICKEN! Sorry for shouting but the author really should have known better. This is just bad advice. Rinsing does nothing but spread bacteria and is widely discouraged.

Next in the Lower East Side Brisket recipe there is a visual tutorial called Step by Step: Creating a crusty exterior. Basically it says season the meat with spices, heat the oil until hot and brown the meat. Really? That seems pretty obvious.

The author uses potentially hard to find ingredients like sorghum syrup, espelette pepper and Turkish red pepper paste, all without suggestions for substitutions. The book also has instructions for making your own sriracha sauce which will keep for a week to 10 days in the fridge. I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to use 2 cups of sriracha in 10 days. 

Sadly I just didn't find the recipes all that compelling. All in all the book was a good idea, but it misses the mark.  

Bottom line? SKIP IT Science geeks will be disappointed and newbies will be overwhelmed.

I love a bargain, the thrill of finding something at a great price. Of course, when it comes to picking a wine, it can be tricky. But when the Grocery Outlet wine sale rolls around it’s worth the gamble. All the wines are an additional 20% off their usual discounted price. So why are the wines at Grocery Outlet? It’s because Grocery Outlet buys "opportunistically." What does that mean? It means some of the wines did not fit well with the rest of a wineries portfolio or the company went out of business. Or the label changed. Or they needed to move the wine to make room for something else in the warehouse. Their loss, your gain! 

To help you find your own bargains I'm going to give you the inside scoop from Cameron Wilson, the Director of Wine, Beer & Spirits as well as my picks for speciality food...

Little Rascals Sauvignon Blanc $3.99

This is my favorite of the wines I tried. It’s a current vintage. There’s lots grapefruit and some grassy notes. A lovely Napa Sauvignon Blanc you’d normally pay at least $12 if not more.

Hill Wine Co Pinot Noir $7.99

This is not a Pinot for Cab lovers. It’s true to style, light and elegant with notes of strawberries and raspberries. The alcohol is a bit high at 14.5% but I liked it. It would be great with salmon and lamb.

Reserve Lot 11 Zinfandel  2011 $6.99

Ok I’m not a big fan of Zinfandel, but this is a Dry Creek Zin, and according to Wilson it’s not terribly high in alcohol or heavy handed. it’s true to the varietal not too big. Great for drinking right now. 

Cinzano Asti Spumante $5.99
This is usually around $10-15 and honestly it has the prettiest Italian label! It’s a good sweet sparkling wine with melon and peach and would make a fine hostess gift.

And here are my grocery picks, all things I found in the Geary St store in San Francisco: 

This luscious very soft and creamy feta is divine! Great on bread or vegetables or tossed with pasta. I've never seen it for less than about $7

$7.99 for a 500 ml bottle

This is from late season Arbequina olives, harvested this year! California Olive Ranch is already a very reasonably priced olive oil for the quality so this is a steal.  It’s $12.59 on their website. 

Please leave no more than one comment telling me your best discovery at Grocery Outlet or what you would buy with the gift card. You must have a US mailing address to win. Enter your email address as directed in the comment form, it will not be visible to anyone but me. I will choose 2 winners on Wednesday November 5th at 10PM PST. 

80 g Nutella or similar

50 g powdered sugar

50 g coconut flakes

180 g oatmeal

2 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp espresso 

1 tbsp golden syrup

1 tsp vanilla powder

Pinch of salt

Beat together butter, nutella and powdered sugar. Stir in the sugar, coconut flakes, oatmeal, cocoa, espresso, syrup, vanilla and salt and mix to a firm batter.

Shape into small balls, and roll in either more coconut flakes, finely chopped hazelnuts, or pearl sugar. Chill and serve cold.

Karen Solomon has done it again. She has written yet another very informative and useful book in her inimitable personable and upbeat style. She balances solid information with a down-to-earth sometimes playful approach. Her books are always fun. In this book she offers up recipes for Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Indian and Southeast Asian pickles. There are very traditional recipes for things like Miso Pickles or Green Mango Pickle as well as her own creative “inspired” pickles like Five Spiced Pickled Carrots and Sichuan Cucumbers with Orange and Almonds. You’ll also find chutneys and sauces. 

Bottom line? KEEPER unless you really don't like anything pickled. 

The subtitle to this book is krauts, kimchis, brined pickles, chutneys, relishes and pastes. Interspersed in the book are visual guides and profiles of people who make pickles and the like. It’s a wonderful resource and filled with both the usual as well as the unexpected. If you have a subscription to a CSA or a bountiful garden you will particularly enjoy how this book provides recipes to use your overabundance of everything from basil leaves to winter squash. There are even some wacky dessert recipes like Sauerkraut Coconut Macaroons. I particularly like the suggestions for how you can create your own recipes using the ones in the book as a guide. 

Bottom line? KEEPER especially if you are adventurous. 

If you’re looking for something a little less exotic, Pickles & Preserves, a slim volume from the Savor the South series might be just the thing. It has recipes for classic Southern style pickles, relishes and chutneys. Dilly Beans, Pickled Okra, Watermelon Rind Pickles and Chow Chow. The recipes are easy to follow and well written. It's a short book, and narrowly focused. 

Bottom line? MAYBE KEEP only if you’re a Southern pickle fan

What is kombucha? It’s a fermented tea with sugar and bacteria from a starter culture. This book, one of the first of its kind, not only shows you how to make kombucha but also what to do with it. There are recipes for kombucha based juices and smoothies, cocktails, dressing and even both savory and sweet dishes that use it as an ingredient. The recipes such as Long Kombucha Iced Tea and Vegan Kombucha Chèvre Spread are creative and appealing—so long as you like kombucha! 

Bottom line? MAYBE KEEP only if you are an avid kombucha fan (even though I love sour flavors, I'm not)

Recipes for tofu fall into two camps, those that highlight it versus those that hide it. While I do sometimes add tofu to recipes to increase moisture and tenderness, I don’t need it to be camouflaged to enjoy it. I like both the soft and firm textures and I appreciate how it plays well with others. While we are used to it in Asian dishes, the truth is it gets along with lots of other flavors too. I’ve been playing around with some products from Pulmuone, a company that makes quite a few soy products and this is one of my favorite creations. I used Wildwood sprouted tofu, which is made from sprouted organic soy beans. It has more calcium, iron and protein than conventional tofu and is a pleasantly firm. Anything but the softest tofu should work fine in this recipe. 

I got the idea to use tofu and feta together because they have a similar texture, then I found a member submitted recipe for Baked Tofu with Feta and Spicy Greens in the Epicurious database and decided to take it in a slightly different direction. Basically I used the ingredients I had in my fridge at the time, and hoped for the best. I was not disappointed. Sometimes cooking works like that, other times, well, it turns out ok, but nothing you’d necessarily bother repeating. I try to take good notes of what I’m doing and measure as I go, just in case I hit upon a winner. 

I would now like to implore you DO NOT FOLLOW THIS RECIPE. Change something or everything. The amounts and the kinds of green herbs would be a good place to start. Throw in some caper or olives if you like them. Use sundried tomatoes instead of fresh ones. Use white onions instead of green onions. Omit the cilantro or add parsley instead. Skip the feta altogether and make this your very own vegan masterpiece. This recipe is as forgiving as they come. It would be really hard to mess up. 

Serves 2-4 

10 ounces firm tofu, preferably sprouted 

Salt and freshly ground pepper 

1/3 cup chopped green onions

1/3 cup basil chiffonade (thin slices)

1/3 cup roughly chopped cilantro 

2 teaspoons minced serrano chile, optional 

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 

3/4 cup diced fresh tomatoes 

1 cup crumbled feta cheese 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Slice the tofu in pieces to fit in a one quart casserole. Sprinkle the tofu generously with salt and pepper. Add the greens and drizzle with olive oil. Top the tofu with the diced tomatoes and finally with feta cheese. Transfer casserole to the oven and bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until feta begins to turn brown and gets crusty. 

Enjoy! 

Barrel aged gin has been gaining popularity the past couple of years. It started perhaps with Seagram’s Distillers’s Reserve and then a handful of craft distillers got in on the act and more recently Beefeater began producing one. Some distillers use charred new American or French oak barrels, others use barrels that once held red wine, whisky or bourbon, and even Lillet, but I have to admit, on the surface barrel aging gin seems like an odd move. 

I like gin, especially London dry gin, and the reason I do is because of the botanicals. I like a touch of clean bracing juniper, the freshness of the citrus, the brightness of coriander combined with delicate floral aromas. Barrel aging adds richness and roundness to spirits, not something I necessarily look for in gin. But Timo and Ashby Marshall proprietors of Spirit Works Distillery in Sebastapol are fans of gin too, and in fact, Timo told me his favorite gin was the same as mine, so I was particularly curious to try their barrel gin. 

Spirit Works is a family affair, run by Timo and Ashby Marshall with their little bundle of energy, Bandit, a Boston terrier who runs circles around the place. Ashby is the head distiller and she makes a base gin using organic California Red Winter wheat and a proprietary blend of botanicals. She uses classic spices like cardamom and coriander plus painstakingly hand peeled lemon and orange zest, as well as angelica, orris root and hibiscus. The gin is aged for several months in new American oak.  

The result is really lovely. There is a slight mellowness to the gin, but the freshness is still intact. The barrel aging emphasizes those baking spices plus it layers on some vanillin and caramel. It’s a gin so smooth you can actually sip it, but try it in either a gin or a whisky cocktail such as a Negroni or a Manhattan, or use a splash of it in eggnog.

I highly recommend a visit to Spirit Works Distillery, not only because you are sure to be charmed by the adorable Bandit on a tour, but because you'll get a chance to see some of the very interesting things they are doing, like hooking up headphones to barrels to see how the musical vibrations of say the Nutcracker versus Metallica affect the spirits (personally I’m rooting for the Nutcracker). You can even sign up to help with bottling if you like. And even if you only visit the tasting room you can pretty much see the entire operation from large picture windows.