Cacao Crackdown: The New York Chocolate Show | Endless Simmer

My recent trip toBelgiumunleashed my inner chocoholic, so when I got tipped off about the13th Annual New York Chocolate Show, you can be sure that I was first in line to storm the barricades in search of what would melt my heart. Here were my favorites:

NibMor
Heather Kenzie and Jennifer Love met while taking classes at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. Possessing a drive-off-the-cliff spirit in line withThelma and Louise(without the actual cliff), the two developed and launched a line of all-natural organic chocolate bars. There were lots of vendors touting the whole“organic, raw, eat-me-I’m-good-for-you” thing, but in my book, theirs took top honors for that perfect combination of bittersweet and mouthfeel. Or maybe that was my last relationship.

Kallari
Amazon organic cacao producers and artists combined forces to form the Kallari Association, a self-governed coalition created to support sustainable income for the Kichwa people. The 850-plus families now produce, market and sell fair-trade chocolate from one of the most stunning locales on earth while preserving their rain forests and land. The community retains 100 percent of wholesale profits to support education, health, and community viability initiatives.

Rogue Confections
Former set designer for NBC’sLate Night With Conan O’Brien, Sherry Adler chose to remain in New York when the show headed west (not a bad move considering the late night shakedown that ensued). She capitalized on her collection of vintage fabrics, wallpapers and postcards through a unique applique process on edible parchment paper. The result is a stunning collection of edible disks and postcards worthy of the Cooper-Hewitt.

Gnosis Chocolate
You may mistake a Gnosis cacao bar for that of a 19th century bar of soap, with its over-the-top proclamations, package design and 17 varieties.  In spite of its projectile popularity, Gnosis chocolates are still made by hand using 100% recycled packaging and exotic  ingredients like Ayurvedic herbs, Horny Goat Weed, Shizandra Berry and Gotu Kola.  Since Founder& Owner Vanessa produced her first bar, ten percent of profits have been donated toThe Fruit Tea Planting Foundation.

Tina Cocolina: Queen of the Cupcakes
With stockpiles of the latest confectionary cookbooks on display, I couldn’t resist a cupcake in search of her perfect topping. Co-authored by award-winning pastry chef Martin Howard and Pablo Cartaya and illustrated by Kirsten Richards, this charming children’s book sparkles with sweet-toothed delight and includes recipes for some of Chef Howard’s signature cupcakecreations.

Note: Overconsumption of chocolate at the New York Chocolate Show may result in hours of aimless wandering throughout lower Manhattan jacked up on cacao, flavonoids and antioxidants.

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What The Hell Is A Damson? | Endless Simmer

I sometimes buy things because I don’t know what the hell they are. It’s palate education. My friend Julia Child says you should always be educating. Never let your palate go slack. Don’t get comfortable with peanut butter& jelly and Cheerios. From Julia’s Menu Cookbook:

Eat out. Drink good wine. It doesn’t have to be often, but your palate becomes dulled if you go too long without stimulus or without quality. That’s when an otherwise excellent cook will begin to overseason.

Thanks, Julia. Overseasoning, bad. Tasting lots of shit, good.

Enter damson. No, notdaaaamn son!butdamson: a purple oval fruit; a subspecies of the plum tree. It can also be used as a descriptor for red wines. OK, I like it even more. And given my Czech heritage, at some point I would love to get my hands on this fermented damson they speak of called slivovitzfor an evening ofdrunken shenaniganspalate education.

I ran into this ($7 jar) of damson jam at a small specialty grocery. For today’s lesson, we will spread this lovely damson on some strong, soft cheese as the label suggests. Damson + Brie = ahhmazing. Try it.

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If Women Ruled the Kitchen | Endless Simmer

I don’t know why Eve was blamed for the sins of the world. I don’t know why Mary couldn’t fuck to create her own son. And I don’t know why the Japanese wouldn’t allow women to brew sake.

I do know, however, that when a woman is granted permission to make sake it can taste light and sweet and refreshing.

Thank youZentan, for inviting me to dinner and showing off theIchishima Family (circa 1790) sake, Karen“Coy.”

photo credit:Niigata Sake Selections

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Did the New York Times Exaggerate the Government’s Involvement in Cheese Promotions? | Endless Simmer

The New York Times smacked down the USDA this past weekend. In While Warning About Fat, U.S. Pushes Cheese Sales, Michael Moss insinuates that while the Department of Agriculture urges Americans to choose healthier foods, another arm of the department, Dairy Management, pushes consumption of cheese, aka saturated fat, into Americans’ stomachs.

Food news junkies ran with the story, includingbar food expert Scott Reitz, on Young& Hungry, declaring he wanted less cheese on his bacon cheeseburger.

But not so fast! (Although, yes, one slice of cheese should be enough for a burger.)

While there is a connection between the USDA and Dairy Management, it may not be as sinister as NYT claims. Bloggers are continually bashed for being uninformed, unscrupulous non-writers, however, there’s been some deep digging on this side of the internet.

Jon Eick(who used to work on Domino’s social media campaigns; Domino’s cheesy pizza is a key player in the story) takes a step back to debunk the media’s outrage.
On Cheese, the USDA and Domino’s Pizza{So Good}

Craig Goodwinactually makes some phone calls to Dairy Management (which he reports NYT did not) and finds out the weak link between the USDA and the dairy promotions organization.
Newsflash: Dairy Industry Wants You to Eat More Dairy– What’s So Controversial About That{Year of Plenty}

Do you have any insight into this cheese controversy? Do you blindly trust the New York Times? Do you brush off bloggers’ stories? Does the US government secretly want us fat? Are diary farmers to blame for the decline of Americans’ health? How gross is Domino’s? Is cheese the most delicious food on earth and so it doesn’t matter how fattening it is? How many more questions can I ask?

Bloggers, New York Times writers and cheese lovers are all welcome to weigh in.

photo:flickr user turtlemom4bacon

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Top Chef Just Desserts Exit Interview: Episode 9 | Endless Simmer

In the second-to-final episode of Top Chef Just Desserts we were met with the delightful Sylvia Weinstock. We saw Sylvia earlier in the season, but this time she had her husband, Ben, by her side. The chef’testants were tasked with making a cake for Sylvia and Ben’s 61st anniversary, a rather triumphant milestone.

Keep reading to see which chef’testant didn’t just cut it.

ES: When did you first start using glitter and disco dust in your desserts?
Zac Young:Haha, my love of glitter and disco dust has been a lifelong affair! It {started} with my days at the Radio City Music Spectacular. There are just hundreds of pairs of rhinestone tights and thousands of pounds of rhinestones and glitter everywhere. I left there with stars in my eyes.

It wasn’t until Top Chef that I started putting it on the actual desserts. I always put them on the garnishes. The first episode I thought, why not, why don’t I just put the glitter right on it? Now it’s my signature, kind of like my lucky charm.

Danielle Kyrillos said that her favorite Zac-ism of yours was“Just a little bit of butter. Just a little butter”, what is your favorite Zac-ism?
The first episode I said to Gail, “I can’t do anything without a deep fryer and some glitter,”which is true. My food is glamorized comfort food. A chef friend of mine said eating my food is like getting a big hug.  It’s warm and comforting but there is a little razzle-dazzle on it.

For Ben& Sylvia’s cake you were very focused on the beach aspect of their story. Do you think there was enough of the other elements from what they wanted?
I knew I was going home when we started it. I couldn’t wrap my head around the challenge. I couldn’t think of what I wanted to do. I was distracted by the fact we were making it for Sylvia–such a beautiful love story between her and Ben. There became a point about two hours into the cook time that I just looked at it and was like, I had no clue what I was doing. Just because I can make chocolate waves doesn’t mean I should make chocolate waves. It was my time.

Did you learn and incorporate any of Sylvia’s suggestions and recommendations from when you first met her in episode three?
We all did. It was funny because we were all saying after the wedding cake Quickfire we all felt really embarrassed that we had made these cakes for Sylvia. They were all so sloppy and we all said we wanted a second chance to do this. And we got it.

At judges’ table, you went off a little on Morgan with him being ungrateful of his winning streak. Where did that come from?
Morgan is an alpha male bully, he continually said:“I want to go home, I miss my son, screw this, I don’t want to deal with this. I don’t want to do this.”

Having that negative attitude really made it hard to persevere and go through these challenges, coupled with the fact that he has won so many times and he is still complaining that he wants to go home. It’s really frustrating as someone who actually enjoys the competition and enjoys the challenges.

Knowing I was going home I just wanted to get it off my chest. His comments really offend me. There are some comments that are on the show that we all laugh off and let it blow over. You look at Morgan and he is bigoted and he’s a bully. That’s hard to watch. I continually watch the show and see how genuinely mean he is.

He’s a wonderful pastry chef.

For Halloween youdressed as Gail, care to explain that choice?
They just don’t get better than Gail Simmons. She is so smart, she is so incredible, so warm and so lovely. She really made this experience awesome. When we’re at judges’ table you always felt her criticism was honest and valid, so that was my homage to her.

What is served in the Zac household for Thanksgiving?
Deep fried pumpkin pie. As if there is any doubt. I’m a skinny, short, gay Paula Deen. I just love big flavor and I like fun, and what’s more fun than deep frying?

Johnny mentioned that he expects you to be one of thepremiere pastrychefs in the country. What is next from you?
What’s next is a doughnut shop. I’m still getting offers and deciding what I want to do. Because I have my own style and I really do my own thing it’s hard to match that in a restaurant .To really execute what I want I have to do my own thing. Right now I’m starting with the doughnuts: I’m saving the world one doughnut at a time.

(Photos: Bravo)

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Gridiron Grub: Say it ain’t Samosa | Endless Simmer

If you have been following this series you know it is for those of us that are just slightly snobby when it comes to food but still love the flavors and feel of tailgating. I must apologize though, because we are in week 10 of the NFL season and I have not suggested a single dish for the large population ofvegetarianswho read ES. To be fair, football is pretty carnivore-centric: stadiums and tailgaters produce and consume huge amounts of all  sorts of grilled meats;football termslike pigskin, alligator arms, wing formation, wishbone andmeatheadabound, and yet I felt bad for my oversight and thought I would make amends this week to all of our vegetarian friends.

Every culture has their own way of making a pocket of bread and filling it with all sorts of tasty goodness, whether vegan, pescatarian, freegan, flexitarian or unitarian. Asamosais a stuffed pastry popular in parts of Asia and Africa. I have had delicious versions with peas, lentils, ground chicken/beef and a whole lot more, but it is a dish most peopledo not tackle( I was shocked to see that even ES hadn’t touched on the subject before). So here’s my take on one of the originalhot pockets:

Dough

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 tablespoons cold water

Prep

1. Sift flour in a mixing bowl then add oil until nice and crumbly
2. Add H20 and mix until you have a soft, pliable dough that you’ll work for 5-10 minutes
3. Form a doughball and after a quick coating of vegetable oil place it in plastic bag and set aside for about 30 minutes while you make your filling(s).
4. Knead again and divide into 8 portioned dough balls
5. Roll each ball out and cut in half with a sharp knife so you get a nice clean cut without pulling
6. Make a cone.  Seal the edge with a little water on your fingers. Press the edges to seal.
7. Stuff the cone— like the Eagles D stuffed the Colts last week— and close the cone by the same method, with water
8. Bake the samosa until golden brown.

Fillings

Since these were my first homemade samosas, I cheated and used curry paste for one of the fillings:

3 tbspGreen Curry Paste,1/4 cupcoconut milk, 1 cupbutton mushrooms, 1/2 cupgreen peas, 1 cup choppedcauliflower, 1 cup dicedpaneer cubes, 1 tspsugar. I quickly sauteed the vegetables in some oil before adding the curry paste, sugar and coconut milk and then let that mixture reduce to a consistency I thought I could stuff into my dough, then added the paneer cubes

Once you bake these bad boys, they are ready to be munched. Typically samosas are served with chutney or other spicy/savory mixes but I just used a little sriracha and was happy as can be.

Feel free to share your suggestions as to other fillings. The beauty of such simple and time-tested dishes is that the variations are endless.

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Burns My Bacon: Locawashing | Endless Simmer

I don’t have to tell any of you that local food is hip. Duh. From coast to coast, andeven in between, grocery stores, restaurants and bars are going out of their way to broadcast their locavore credentials. We’re certainly fans of the trend here at ES, although I’m not one of those zealots who has sworn never to eat abananaagain. But I do like going to a restaurant and knowing they’re not going to serve me a tomato that’s been shipped across the country. However, the veggie gf recently pointed out the flaws in a phrase we see printed on so many menus nowadays:

Local ingredients are used whenever possible.

On first glance, that sounds great, right? But when you think about it, it doesn’t actually mean anything, because everyone’s definition of“whenever possible” is different. Does it mean 80 percent of your ingredients are local? 90? 50? 20? Does it mean you use all local foods except for in those rare instances when there’s something crucial that’s not available in your region? Or does it mean you use local foods when it’s easy but not when it’s difficult?

I’ve seen this printed on menus where the restaurant seems almost 100-percent local, but wants to acknowledge that there are a few things they have to ship in, but also on menus that feature seafood from all over the world and are just throwing a bone to the locavores by printing this phrase on the menu. I can’t tell you how many press releases I’ve gotten from restaurant touting local credentials. Half the time when I follow up and ask which of their menu items are actually local, the press flack has absolutely no idea.

You’ve heard ofgreenwashing? (Pretending something is eco-friendly when it’s really not.) Welcome to locawashing.

Now, I’m not saying that every restaurant has to be local. I’m just saying that if you’re gonna make that claim, back it up. You can’t just say“we’re local” and expect us to take you at your word.

Which brings me to the menu above, fromFarmers Dinerin Vermont, which I think finds the perfect way to address this. Instead of vaguely claiming to be local, they list all the local items on their menu in red, and all other ones in black. So you know exactly what they mean when they say“we’re local.” You know this means they use local eggs and cheese, locally-made bread and sausage, but no, that tortilla’s not from Vermont, and they’re not pretending it is.

(Photo:Guerrilla Futures) (Phase Coinage: Google revealsHypenoticbeat me to it)

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