Food is Food

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon vegetable or rice bran oil 

1 cup sliced onion (half moons)

1 cup sliced fennel bulb 

4 cups thinly sliced red cabbage

1 cup cranberries

Pinch salt

2 Tablespoons packed brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth

1/2 cup red wine 

Instructions 

Heat a large skillet and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion and fennel and sauté for 5 minutes or until translucent but not brown. Add the cabbage and sauté for another 3 minutes or until glossy and beginning to reduce in volume. Add the cranberries, salt, brown sugar, broth and wine. Cover and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and cook until the liquid evaporates. Taste for seasoning and serve. 

Enjoy!

What we don’t know about Mexican cuisine could fill the pages of a massive book. And now it does. Margarita Carrillo Arronte, a chef, teacher, restaurateur, TV host and the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture's chef is the first Mexican author to have written a comprehensive book on Mexican food in English. Last week I had the great pleasure of meeting her and learning more about Mexican cuisine and her book, Mexico: The Cookbook.

It took two years, but a lifetime, starting with being raised in Mexico, eating and cooking there. I always wanted to write this book in English, because I saw a need. There are other books on Mexican food in English, but not written by someone from Mexico. 

The book is on the cuisines of Mexico, not the cuisine. Because there are eight regions and the weather, the culture and the people are different. The cuisine is completely different from one region to another. The Northern part of Mexico doesn’t have the range of ingredients you find in the South but all they have some great recipes. Some regions have indigenous people with very strong food traditions. We have influences from many different countries--France, Spain, the Philippines. We had trade relations with Asia going back hundreds of years ago. 

1. That it’s unhealthy, greasy and cheap

2. That it’s too spicy 

3. That it’s about quantity not quality

4. That Mexican food is served with rice and beans. That’s Tex Mex, not Mexican. 

5. That red rice! It’s often cooked badly. The rice is over toasted and it doesn’t taste good. 

A variety of food, such as the real burritos of Baja which are nothing like what you find in California, and different kinds of beans. Eat at the little places with local flavors. Eat what the locals eat, not just what’s served to tourists. 

1. Start with the easy recipes, ceviches and salsas. 

2. Learn the technique of dry toasting, we toast everything—chiles, tomatillos, onions, garlic, spices. 

3. Try some of the simpler soups 

4. We have lots of egg dishes, try one like Huevos Rabos de Mestiza, a Yucatecan dish of eggs with chiles, tomatoes and tomatillos. 

5. Make a dessert such as arroz con leche. 

Gracias Margarita! 

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.