Happy National Nougat Day!

Every March 26th it's the same thing, yes, it's National Nougat Day. While that may not sound all that important nougat history is important and it's very international.  Here you thought nougat was just the filling on your 3 Musketeer or Milky Way bars. Why not take a gander over here at the Honey Traveler blog for more history on nougats through time, and in different geography.

Candy bar with nougat from The
How Stuff Works Website.
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/nougat2.htm

True Grits

If you need proof that Southern food is rising again, take a look at the region’s most iconic dish, grits. Not only has its menu penetration doubled in the last decade, grits have busted out of their cozy breakfast nook right on through to dinner hour, growing a phenomenal 84% since just 2011. To channel waitress Flo from the ‘70s hit TV show Alice, it may well be time to not just “kiss my grits” but give them the full Southern-fried treatment…grits sticks?  You betcha!

           

Before you take grits from breakfast bowl to appetizer plate, start with the basics and learn how to cook grits like a Southerner. We’re taking a leaf from the pages of the Heritage cookbook by legendary Southern chef Sean Brock, who advises soaking the grits for at least six hours, preferably overnight, skimming off any chaff and hulls, and then cooking in a big pot (grits expand) as quickly as possible for maximum corn flavor. Use the soaking water, not milk to cook, and stir like crazy to keep the grits moving until the water comes to a boil. Take off the heat for 10 minutes after boiling, put a lid on top to hold in the steam, and the flavor, and then cook for an hour over low heat. “Stir, stir, stir… the rule in my kitchen is if you walk past grits cooking, give them a stir,” says Brock, who also cautions chefs to make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot and keep the sides of the pot clean so the uncooked grits that will stick there don’t find their way into the finished product. When the grits are soft and tender, they’re done and ready to be eaten as is with a little salt, hot sauce, lemon juice and butter…or use as the base for a variety of dishes from classic shrimp and grits to post-modern grits and bits pancakes.  Grits sticks, dubbed “Georgia French fries” by author Diane Pfeifer in her Gone with the Grits gourmet cookbook, were simple but trendsetting, made by putting firm slices of cooked grits in the deep fryer.

As Southern Living recognized back in 2012, “this favorite Southern food isn't just for breakfast.” Their popular recipe for Pepper Jack Poppers proves the point, using cooked grits, freshly shredded pepper Jack cheese and Parmesan cheese, chopped fresh cilantro, a garlic clove and sweet mini bell peppers broiled to a golden crisp to create a distinctly different appetizer for the happy hour crowd. Deep South also noted grits’ higher profile among the region’s innovative chefs, with stone-ground the new go-to grit at upscale restaurants all along the “Grit Belt.” From Charleston, SC to Birmingham, Ala to Savannah, GA, the new face of grits is evident, with dishes like skillet-seared yellow grits with gravy, smothered crawfish on fried grits, grits and fried chicken combos, fried salmon, leek and grits appetizers, stuffed and rolled grits and spinach canapés. The movement of grits from quirky Southern breakfast to gourmet delight couldn’t have happened without Bill Neal’s 1982 game-changing recipe for shrimp and grits at Crook’s Corner restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. His grits fused with cheddar and parmesan and topped off with jumbo shrimp, mushrooms and bacon so pleased NY Times food critic Craig Claiborne that he published the recipe in 1985, elevating the humble dish to fine dining status.

           

Nowhere, however, are more grits eaten than in the small town of St. George, SC, home to the Worlds Grits Festival since 1986. Along with fried fish and grits dinners, grits-filled balloon tosses and the choosing of the Grits Queen, the Grits Cook-Off yields a never-ending array of innovation each year. We leave you with a winning recipe from the Food Network at the 2007 Festival:

Hush Puppy Grits

1-beaten egg

½-cup buttermilk

1-cup grits

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2-teaspoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Shortening or cooking oil for frying

Freshly ground black pepper

In a bowl stir together the egg and buttermilk. In another bowl combine the grits, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt. Add the egg mixture to the grits mixture. Stir just until moist. Heat the shortening to 375 degrees F. Drop the batter by tablespoon into the deep hot fat. Fry about 3 minutes or until golden brown, turning once. Drain the hush puppies on paper towels and season with pepper to taste.

A Little Bite of History. Chef’s Line Grit Stix -- Pimento Cheese and Grits; two Southern favorites. 

Metro Deli All Natural Fire Smoked Ham -Sooo.... gooood!

The Beer Necessities

Stunning in its simple pleasure, beer battered foods hold us in their thrall with their golden shell of tangy, yeasty bliss. Cod and onion rings, chicken strips and calamari, fish tacos and mushrooms, are irresistibly coated with equal finesse. Why has this timeless classic evolved into hot new trendsetter? And even more important, can you really get drunk from eating beer-battered fish?  Pour a nice cold one, and we’ll tell all.

Blame it on the bubbles. One of the best plays beer brings to its batter partner is the leavening effect. Getting air into the batter via beer’s carbon dioxide bubbles makes the batter expand, giving it the light, crispy texture that’s caused many a craving.

An art in the motherland. No country has a deeper affection for the twin pleasures of deeply fried cod or Pollock and crispy fries than England, so we went to the country’s leading newspaper, The Guardian for some tips. Food writer Felicity Cloake embraces her proud heritage, writing: “Proper fried fish is a British art form and needs little in the way of embellishments. Beer and raising agents, and good hot fat are all you need for pure, unadulterated happiness. And a piece of fresh fish, of course.” She advises us to chill--refrigerate the beer and freeze the flour for 15 minutes before using to achieve an almost ethereally light result. The batter has to be “seriously cold so that when it hits the fat, the reaction happens.”

Jamie Oliver a friend of US. Foods goes traditional, seasoning the fish fillets on both sides to remove any excess water and make the fish really meaty, and for the batter, whisking flour, beer and baking powder together until shiny. Another leading British chef, Tony Fleming, lets his flour, yeast, beer, sugar and salt mixture stand for two hours in a warm environment to let the yeast ferment before whisking into a smooth batter. And if you’re going to be a true Anglophile, don’t forget the mushy peas!

A science in the States. Across the pond, the chemistry behind the taste has proven particularly intriguing to culinarians. ChefSteps, a high tech cooking company led by Chris Young, award-winning food writer and founding chef of Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck Experimental Kitchen, reveals the two secret ingredients that raise their beer batter above the pack: low-gluten cake flour for a lighter, more delicate crust and a small amount of vodka. Vodka too? It’s added, he explains, because alcohol evaporates far more easily than water, which helps the beer batter cook much faster in the fryer. “This means that you get a crisp batter-coating before the fish inside has been overcooked. If you try it side-by-side with non-vodka batter, there is no mistaking the difference,” assures Young. 

Meanwhile, Smithsonian Magazine was doing some deep dives into its own deep fryer, testing the difference between beer-battered fried foods and those fried in water-based batter with a team from USDA's Southern Regional Research Center. Armed with quantities of wheat flour, long-grain rice flour, pre-gelatinized rice flour, canola oil, Vidalia onions, tilapia filets and beer, they whipped up six equal batches of batter: three with beer and each of the flours, and three with water and each of the flours. With an article titled “beer batter is better, science says so,” you’d be correct in assuming that beer pounded the competition: a 9 to 18 percent greater oil uptake was recorded for beer batters, with softer, crispier tilapia and onion strips the happy result.

So it’s not surprising that Americans love to batter up, with deliciously crispy morsels in every possible permutation: fish fries, chicken strips, onion rings, jalapeno strips, pickles, mushrooms, avocados, tofu, grilled cheese sandwiches, even fritters and doughnuts. It’s even mainstreamed into the fast food world, with Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s February rollout of beer-battered fish sandwiches and tacos made with Redhook ESB (Extra Special Bitter) ale. Capitalizing on the popularity of craft beers and the observation of Lent was the impetus, but it still is an unusual move for a fast-food restaurant to serve alcohol-tinged foods. Not a problem, assures Brad Haley, chief marketing officer at Carl’s and Hardee’s. “There's no actual alcohol remaining in the sandwich or tacos after it's cooked, so anyone can eat or order it. But you can certainly taste the beer flavor in it,” he told USA Today. Taking a menu item that’s trending in casual and fine dining elevates the chains to beyond fast food, according to industry experts, and many sense a hit in the making.

Harbor Banks® Seafood aligned with Alaska’s long-term fishery management and sustainability practices are virtually unparalleled, and when you combine this wild-caught cod with a batter made with Alaskan-brewed white ale, you have a compelling story and a tremendous fish to go with chips, appetizers and more.

Happy Ravioli Day!

March 20th is National Ravioli Day.

Ravioli are a traditional type of Italian filled pasta, made up of a filling, sealed between two layers of thin egg pasta dough, and are usually served in either a broth or with a pasta sauce. The fillings can vary, per recipe, and may include meat, cheese, vegetables or seafood. Ravioli can be savory or sweet.

Five Food Finds about Ravioli

◦The first mentions of Ravioli was in the 14th century Venus.

◦The word ravioli is from an old Italian word riavvolgere (“to wrap”)

◦Canned ravioli was pioneered by Chef Boyardee in the 1930’s

◦“Fresh” packed ravioli lasts up for several week while fresh made lasts for just a few days.

◦ Italian tradition is to serve vegetarian ravioli, particularly on Fridays. Meats is served as a side or later in the meal.

Servings: 6

INGREDIENTS

1 c Roseli® Italian sausage

2 oz Hilltop Hearth® flour

36 oz Glenview Farms® milk

18 oz Chef's Line™ pumpkin ravioli

12 oz Roseli® Gorgonzola cheese

tt salt and pepper

PREPARATION
In a sauté pan, heat sausage until it starts to slightly brown. Add flour to soak up oil. Stir in milk and mix completely. Bring to a simmer.
Blanch ravioli in hot water for three minutes. Remove and add to sauce. Add cheese and fold until cheese is fully melted. Season to taste.

Pat LaFrieda on Hamburgerization

Taste the difference

In the meat business, Pat LaFrieda is legendary. Any New York carnivore will tell you that his company, Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors, supplies the best meat products hands down – cutting steaks for the most discriminating clients and creating custom beef blends for many of the best hotels and restaurants in Manhattan. Now, all of America can finally taste his exceptional beef – with the most flavorful, savory burgers that we have ever found.

Features/Benefits 

•Made with Distinction: USDA Choice Angus chopped beef from whole, boneless primal or subprimal cuts; whole muscle, not trim 

• Performance: chopped in small batches from the best and most flavorful meats to yield the finest burgers 

• Cost Savings: fresh-refrigerated burgers with a shelf life of 28 days 

• Labor Savings: preblended varieties of short rib and chuck save you hours of prep 

Pat LaFrieda Angus Beef Burger, only available from US Foods

Kohlrabi: Superfood’s New Best Seller

Fresh  Harvested Kohlrabi

It’s not a cabbage or a broccoli, or a radish or an onion, or for that matter, a bird or a plane (although some say it does resemble a hot air balloon), but kohlrabi is a true superfood, and now a super seller. What has pushed this odd-looking, knobby purple or green vegetable with the even odder name to the top of the culinary A-list, racking up a 200% increase in menu penetration last year? This week, a crash course in all things kohlrabi.

Part of the cabbage family (its name means ‘cabbage turnip’ in German), kohlrabi goes way back, first mentioned by Apicius in his oldest known cookbook from imperial Rome, and beloved by Charlemagne, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 800 AD, who ordered kohlrabi to be grown in the lands under his reign, according to Vegetarians in Paradise. Consistently grown in Europe by the 1500s and Northern India in the 1600s where the Hindus considered it an important staple, kohlrabi came to America in the 1800s, but never took on the mass appeal of other vegetables…until now.

Part of this not-so-newcomer’s appeal is what Martha Stewart Living food editor Sarah Carey calls “a delightful combination of familiar tastes…the texture of a radish and the sweetness of jicama, with a slight hint of broccoli. The edible leaves are like a milder version of collards."

It may not be easy on the eyes, but kohlrabi is easy on the prep. A vegetable peeler is all you need to eliminate the outermost layer of the bulb. “Be aggressive in your peeling,” advises Greens + Grains cookbook author Molly Watson, “for the skin is rough and heavy and forbidding, all the better to keep the only mildly curious away from the supremely crunchy, sweet and tender vegetable underneath.”  Now, it’s good to go in a variety of ways, according to kitchn.com:

Raw: Toss them in a salad (it absorbs the flavor of salad dressing well), grate for a super slaw, or eat them plain with just a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkling of sea salt.

Pureed: Make it up in a creamy pureed soup of its own with some savory spices, or add to cream of potato, mushroom or broccoli soups.

Fried: Kohlrabi fritters are easy, just shred, mix with an egg and a few tablespoons of flour or breadcrumbs, drop small mounts onto a greased skillet, flatten slightly with the back of a spatula, fry until both sides are crispy. Even the kids will eat it, as long as you don’t tell them what’s inside. 

Roasted: The outside caramelizes and the flavor sweetens, making a great addition to a roasted veggie platter or paired with potatoes or squash for a satisfying side. Or slice unpeeled kohlrabi very thinly, toss with olive oil and coarse salt, and bake for an hour until crisp and golden.

Barbecued: Slice or chop kohlrabi and toss with a little extra virgin olive oil, a dash of salt, wrap in aluminum foil and grill for 10 minutes.

Steamed: The versatile kohlrabi hits it stride steamed; use in frittatas, stir-fries, pasta dishes, empanadas, calzones…no limits here!

But don’t stop here, “Recipes for Health” columnist Martha Rose Shulman suggests spicy pickles a la kimchi, Kohlrabi and Celery Root Puree (like buttery mashed potatoes only healthier), Greek-Style Kohlrabi Pie (sub in for spinach), Vegetarian Spring Rolls with Shredded Kohlrabi, Kohlrabi Home Fries (cut into matchsticks, fry up with a little oil and some bold seasonings), and a completely outstanding Kohlrabi Risotto.

And of course, kohlrabi doesn’t wear its superfood designation lightly, but packs in the vitamins C, A and potassium, boasts antioxidants galore and is no slouch in the fiber department either…and does it all for 19 calories a half cup.  Kohlrabi, your time has come.

Cross Valley Farms® Superfood Slaw Only availabe from US Foods – Super foods are foods that are naturally full of nutrients, antioxidants and the things that are shown to improve well-being and longevity. So we packed six of them into this matchstick slaw. It’ll bring a fresh, crisp, colorful crunch to any dish, hot or cold.