Raw Spice Bar

Though I live in the hometown of one of the biggest spice producers in the world, I find myself buying spices online far more often than I buy them in the supermarket. It's not that I don't trust the supermarket brands--I have never had an issue with any of them--it's that I really have no idea how long those spices have been hanging around the store. Especially more exotic items, like star anise or garam masala. How often does the average Giant/Safeway/ShopRite/Wegman's shopper buy something like that, and how often does the store replenish its stock?

There are several really good spice shops online, and I've tried them all. Each has products not available at the others. Some shops have really wide ranges of seasonings, while other shops carry what might be considered more specialty items. RawSpiceBar is in the latter category. While they do sell things that just about everyone has in their spice rack--granulated garlic, cumin, ginger, peppercorns--they also have the more esoteric grains of paradise (a member of the ginger family that's like a citrusy black pepper), sansho peppers (a Japanese cousin of Sichuan peppercorns), and asafoetida (a stinky resin used as a substitute for garlic and onions in some Indian dishes). RawSpiceBar specializes in spice blends, and as with the individual spices, they have both the familiar (poultry seasoning, herbes de Provence, taco seasoning) and the exotic (Ethiopian berbere, Turkish baharat, Indian chaat masala). Rather than use larger jars, RawSpiceBar sells their freshly toasted and ground spices in 1-ounce containers (about 2 tablespoons). With their subscription service, customers can choose to have their supply replenished in 1, 3, or 6 month intervals, so they never really run out, yet the spices are fresh every time.

When RawSpiceBar approached me with samples in exchange for writing about them, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try another source for seasonings. I was especially interested in the more oddball spice blends, but was happy to take whatever they sent. To be honest, I was a little disappointed to receive a package of apple pie spices. I mean, how interesting is cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice? Not very. But RawSpiceBar's version of this blend also contains green cardamom, ginger, star anise, grains of paradise, and rosemary. It's a blend that definitely kicks the milquetoast ass of supermarket apple pie spices. It's bold. It's spicy. And it goes fabulously with apple, as I found when I used it in a simple apple tart. But it also works with pumpkin. I made a quick pumpkin butter with leftover canned pumpkin, brown sugar, and a big pinch of RawSpiceBar apple pie spices and pretty much ate the butter straight from the jar with a big spoon.

Thanks to RawSpiceBar for introducing themselves to my pantry. I have a couple more samples that I will be playing with in the future, and then I'm going to order myself some fancy stuff like French vadouvan, Persian advieh, and Japanese curry powder. Yum.

Spicy Apple Tart

4 large apples (I have found that Cortland are especially tasty in tarts, but use your favorite)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon Raw Spice Bar apple pie spices
1/4 cup sugar
1 refrigerated pie crust
Apricot jam

Peel the apples and cut them into quarters. Slice off the core bit and cut each quarter into 4-5 slices. Put in a large bowl and toss with lemon juice, spices, and sugar.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Place the crust into a 10" or 11" tart pan with removable bottom, gently pushing the dough to fill the corrugated sides. Trim excess pastry flush with the top of the pan. Arrange the apple slices in concentric circles within the pastry, making sure to fill in all the gaps with other apple slices. It doesn't have to look neat or perfect; it will still be beautiful.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the apples have started to brown and the crust is a nice golden brown. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and allow the tart to cool for at least 30 minutes.

Warm a few tablespoons of apricot jam in the microwave until it's more liquidy. Brush a thin coating of it over the cooled tart.

Serve warm, room temperature, or slightly chilled. Whipped cream, creme fraiche, or ice cream are fine accompaniments.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

The 7th Annual National Harbor Wine & Food Festival

A great summer tradition will return to the National Harbor Waterfront on the Potomac with the much anticipated 7th Annual National Harbor Wine & Food Festival on Saturday, May 3rd and Sunday, May 4th from 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm each day.

The event is totally tent-covered in a beautiful outdoor setting on the banks of the Potomac River and surrounded by the National Harbor hotels, restaurants and shops, and continues to be a true destination event. More than just a tasting, the Festival brings together award winning celebrity chefs, artisanal craftsmen, culinary pioneers, smooth jazz, family fun as well as wine and spirits from around the world.

This year’s festival will include over 150 International wines, spirits and beers featured along with local and regional favorites. Guests will be able to sample all of the varieties as well as purchase them by the glass and the bottle, on-site at special event only low prices. Beyond the drink tastings there are many other highlights which include: a Cinco De Mayo Pavilion, Special craft beer tasting Bier Garten experience, Whiskey and Bourbon Tasting Experience, three stages of live music and smooth jazz, and so much more. It is the largest award winning wine festival of its kind in the Metro DC market.

This year’s organizers have turned up the heat on the Cooking Stage and brought in some award winning super star chef talent. Special appearances on the Cooking Stage include, Saturday: Chef Mike Isabella of Graffiato, Chef Rahman “Rock” Harper winner of Fox Reality television series Hell’s Kitchen, Chef Bryan Voltaggio of Volt/Range Restaurant, and Sunday with Chef Scott Drewno of The Source by Wolfgang Puck, Chef Mike Schlow and Chef Victor Albisu of Del Campo and Taco Bambo. All of these local, regional and nationally recognized chefs will offer meet and greets and cooking demonstrations.

Additional events include a live taping Saturday, May 1 at 1:00 p.m. of radio show Foodie and Beast with hosts Nycci and David Nellis. During the taping, guests will be included in a blind wine tasting with several of the area’s best wine experts. The show will air on Sunday, May 2 at 11:00 a.m. on Federal News Network.

The Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center will hold its annual Wine Dinner at the resort’s signature restaurant, Old Hickory Steakhouse, on Friday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m. Guests can enjoy a five-course meal paired with local Virginia wines from Barboursville Vineyards. The dinner costs $125 per person.

The resort also will be offering a Wine and Cheese by Sunset event at Pose Rooftop Lounge on Saturday, May 3 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Guests can enjoy New World wines paired with gourmet cheeses, while enjoying views of the Potomac River and surrounding region from the resort’s 18th floor. The event costs $25 per person.

Gaylord National Resort will be one of the many featured culinary participants within the Food and Wine Festival, as well as offer two overnight packages for Saturday, May 3 that include one or two day access to the event.

The VIP Pier will offer wonderful food tastings for foodies to indulge their inner passions such as: Eleven Courses Private Chefs, International Cheeses, Fresh Pasta & Italian Specialties, The All American Slider and Brooklyn Hot Dog, Vegetable Crudités, Nando’s Peri Peri Chicken Wings, Olives, and Nuts, specialties from the District Restaurant Group, and more.

Tickets are on sale now and range from a Grand Cru Two-Day All Access Pass at $199 per person, VIP Saturday $99 or Sunday $79 a General Admission One Day Pass for $39 in advance/$49 onsite. $30 designated driver ticket in advance.

To purchase tickets and view schedule, visit www.wineandfoodnh.com or call (800) 830-3976.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - September 21, 2012

This post was originally published on October 17, 2009.
------------------
I Killed Gourmet

Christopher Kimball apparently thinks bloggers contributed to the demise of Gourmet Magazine: "The shuttering of Gourmet reminds us that in a click-or-die advertising marketplace, one ruled by a million instant pundits, where an anonymous Twitter comment might be seen to pack more resonance and useful content than an article that reflects a lifetime of experience, experts are not created from the top down but from the bottom up." That seems to give us far more power than we have. Perhaps it might be more useful to examine whether or not Gourmet was providing content that appealed to its designated demographic. Were the articles interesting enough to attract a sufficiently large audience? Was its editorial approach valid for today's readers? Plenty of long-running magazines have folded because they lost touch with their audience, and this has been going on well before the Internet.

On the other hand, maybe Mr Kimball is giving us our due. Bloggers represent the people, and our opinions matter. We're the ones who buy the products, patronize the restaurants, and read the magazines. Why should we not be allowed to say our piece? Why should it be that an elite group of food professionals has all of the authority?

I didn't stop reading Gourmet because I started blogging, or even because I started reading blogs. I stopped reading Gourmet because I don't have the leisure time to sit on the sofa, feet up, and enjoy a food magazine. I do, however, spend many long hours in front of a computer. As you may have noticed, the Internet is a treasure trove of foodie information. Not only are there food blogs by non-food-professionals such as myself, but there are also plenty of sites that are run by legitimate media outlets. Mr Kimball's own Cook's Illustrated site, for example. I also glean a lot of interesting information on the New York Times site as well as that of New York Magazine, including their...blogs. Foodie information also abounds on television. Not so much on the Food Network anymore, but in the early days of Emeril, Molto Mario, and David Rosengarten, I learned a lot. Now better foodie TV can be found by watching the interesting and creative competitors on Top Chef, and learning good home-cook technique on Christopher Kimball's America's Test Kitchen.

Back to blogs. I will admit that there are lots of them that are poorly-written and have nothing to say, ones that contribute no expertise or even opinion in some cases. The people who are their fans would never read Gourmet in the first place, so while I sneer at them and their lack of quality content, they are not to blame for the demise of the hallowed food magazine. As far as Twitter comments are concerned, many of the people I follow are food professionals. Should they keep their interesting information to themselves or save it up for an article rather than sharing spontaneously?

Media is changing and some venerable publications are losing their audience - this includes magazines and local newspapers. As other media become more popular - and more engaging - we'll continue to see the demise of print publication. It's a form of growing pains. I don't feel it's right to point fingers at things - like blogs - and make them villains.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Black BBQ Sauce and Pork

In the same issue of Gourmet that introduced me to sauerkraut soup, I found "black barbecue sauce," a recipe with huge list of random ingredients, most of which I had in my pantry. Including the Korean black bean paste, which we picked up to make Jajangmyun, a Korean noodle dish. I tell you, there's far too many weird things in my pantry...except the required raisins. However, an equal amount of prunes made a fine substitution.

The resulting amount of sauce was fairly small, so I used my immersion blender rather than dirtying up the big blender, resulting in a slightly chunky sauce. But wow - this black bbq sauce has a smoky depth of flavor that is really nice. It's not particularly sweet, nor is it tangy. I do prefer my sauce on the sweet side, so I added about 1/4 cup of brown sugar. And salt - it definitely needed salt to bring out all of the flavors. The end result was so good, I found myself eating it cold with a spoon, like a savory jam.

The recipe called for pork chops, but I wanted to make pulled pork. I find country style ribs to have just the right balance of fat to meat, so I braised some in a bit of stock until they were extremely tender, then broke up the meat with two forks.

Because the sauce had some Korean flavors, and because I'm experimenting with recipes that involve glutinous rice flour for a recipe contest, I decided to serve the 'cue on a variation of a crispy/chewy Southeast Asian-style pancake made with rice flour and coconut milk.

Can I tell you how amazing it was? The pork was luscious, the sauce was rich, and the pancake was just enough starch. With the scallion topping, the flavor profile was reminiscent of Peking duck, but with a lot more user-friendly protein.

This would make a fabulous appetizer for my imaginary restaurant.

Choice Bites 10.28.09

The New York Times spent a weekend in Baltimore and says good things about Petit Louis, Carma Cafe, Woodberry Kitchen, Bonaparte Bakery, and The Brewer's Art. It also says to call Fells Point, "Fell's." I lived in FP for the first 19 years of my life and never did I hear another resident of the area call it "Fell's." It's probably the people who pronounce "Thames" as "Tems" who do that. (On that note, this isn't England, people! Otherwise we'd be saying "leftenant" instead of "lieutenant" and calling Ralph Kramden "Rafe.")

What are 10 things that Tony Bourdain and David Chang hate? Besides Guy Fieri? Read here.

Speaking of Bourdain, check out his new animated series! (Thanks Dara!)

Rachael Ray takes her pets to school.

For Gourmet fans - the November issue is out, complete with turkey recipes! This is the final issue, so make sure to pick up a copy for posterity.

I Killed Gourmet

Christopher Kimball apparently thinks bloggers contributed to the demise of Gourmet Magazine: "The shuttering of Gourmet reminds us that in a click-or-die advertising marketplace, one ruled by a million instant pundits, where an anonymous Twitter comment might be seen to pack more resonance and useful content than an article that reflects a lifetime of experience, experts are not created from the top down but from the bottom up." That seems to give us far more power than we have. Perhaps it might be more useful to examine whether or not Gourmet was providing content that appealed to its designated demographic. Were the articles interesting enough to attract a sufficiently large audience? Was its editorial approach valid for today's readers? Plenty of long-running magazines have folded because they lost touch with their audience, and this has been going on well before the Internet.

On the other hand, maybe Mr Kimball is giving us our due. Bloggers represent the people, and our opinions matter. We're the ones who buy the products, patronize the restaurants, and read the magazines. Why should we not be allowed to say our piece? Why should it be that an elite group of food professionals has all of the authority?

I didn't stop reading Gourmet because I started blogging, or even because I started reading blogs. I stopped reading Gourmet because I don't have the leisure time to sit on the sofa, feet up, and enjoy a food magazine. I do, however, spend many long hours in front of a computer. As you may have noticed, the Internet is a treasure trove of foodie information. Not only are there food blogs by non-food-professionals such as myself, but there are also plenty of sites that are run by legitimate media outlets. Mr Kimball's own Cook's Illustrated site, for example. I also glean a lot of interesting information on the New York Times site as well as that of New York Magazine, including their...blogs. Foodie information also abounds on television. Not so much on the Food Network anymore, but in the early days of Emeril, Molto Mario, and David Rosengarten, I learned a lot. Now better foodie TV can be found by watching the interesting and creative competitors on Top Chef, and learning good home-cook technique on Christopher Kimball's America's Test Kitchen.

Back to blogs. I will admit that there are lots of them that are poorly-written and have nothing to say, ones that contribute no expertise or even opinion in some cases. The people who are their fans would never read Gourmet in the first place, so while I sneer at them and their lack of quality content, they are not to blame for the demise of the hallowed food magazine. As far as Twitter comments are concerned, many of the people I follow are food professionals. Should they keep their interesting information to themselves or save it up for an article rather than sharing spontaneously?

Media is changing and some venerable publications are losing their audience - this includes magazines and local newspapers. As other media become more popular - and more engaging - we'll continue to see the demise of print publication. It's a form of growing pains. I don't feel it's right to point fingers at things - like blogs - and make them villains.

RIP Gourmet Magazine

After 68 years, Gourmet Magazine is no more. A memo from Condé Nast CEO Chuck Townsend states:

From: Townsend, Chuck
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 10:17 AM
Subject: Announcing Changes within Condé Nast

Gourmet magazine will cease monthly publication, but we will remain committed to the brand, retaining Gourmet’s book publishing and television programming, and Gourmet recipes on Epicurious.com. We will concentrate our publishing activities in the epicurean category on Bon Appétit.

The Gourmet.com Web site will remain up until the end of the year, at least.

One might have thought Bon Appétit would be the title to go, rather than Gourmet, eh? Because I can't keep up with my magazine subscriptions, I canceled Gourmet a while back, but I did purchase the above issue because I had heard about the potential shut down.

How do you feel about this?