Green Options

Having spent a number of years working in and enjoying Atlanta, Georgia, I developed an affinity for southern hospitality. After moving away, I would call directory assistance for the 404 area code occasionally just hear that distinctive and luring southern twang again. I really fell in love with the South when a girl I was dating at the time took me to her family’s home for a New Year’s Day meal. I could taste the customs and flavors that have been passed down for generations.

Though the foods may vary, New Years day has a number of good luck food traditions throughout the world. Some foods are said to bring luck or money; others safety and a good life. And some are just tasty.

Many years ago I had the honor and privilege to both attend and actually “sous chef” for several master classes with the late, great Barbara Tropp. For those who don’t know, Barbara Tropp was the chef/owner of China Moon Cafe in San Francisco, a culinary teacher and the author of the best cookbook on Chinese cooking, The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking: Techniques and Recipes. However she was much, much more.

She passed in October 2001 from ovarian cancer far too soon at age 53. She was not only one of the most influential chefs in general and Chinese chef’s specifically, but she was also an inspiration, a role model to male and female cooks, and a teacher of life to anyone who every crossed her path. After her death, celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck said,

Barbara was so petite, but her influence, dedication and knowledge of food made her a giant.

What is the most important thing I learned for this legend? The simplest, tastiest and most used trick in my Chinese repertoire - Fried Rice.

The Portland Tribune reports that the city of Portland, Oregon plans to declare an “official city doughnut” this week. Mayor Tom Potter will introduce his official doughnut resolution, declaring Voodoo Doughnuts’ Portland Creme, a raised doughnut filled with cream and covered in chocolate with “two eyes”, during the City Council’s Christmas Eve day meeting.

Potter’s resolution, will express Portlanders’ deepest gratitude to Voodoo Doughnut management for its dedication in the face of these stringent economic times in providing employment opportunities . . . and above all, creating and naming a doughnut after our beloved city that leaves a lasting taste and fond memories on its customers near and far away.”

Now, this is a great sentiment, at least on the surface. Voodoo Doughnuts is a Portland institution and rightfully deserves every single accolade that has been bestowed upon them.

If one goes beyond the surface, this magnanimous gestures seems to conjure up be a few dilemmas.

All Champagne is sparkling wine made through the “Methode Champenoise.” But not all sparkling wine is Champagne.

Wine writer Alan Richman in the December 2005 issue of Bon Appetit magazine bombastically wrote:

Say what you will about California Sparklers - which are to French Champagne what paddlefish eggs are to beluga caviar - they will not transport you to a fantasy world, unless you are enthralled by the Napa Valley wine train. Sparkling wines that are not Champagne structurally lack finesse, enologically they lack bouquet, and sentimentally they lack ostentation.

I hate to disagree with a James Beard award winning writer, but Alan, YOU ARE WRONG.

Domestic bubbly has reached amazing heights and achieved complex flavors and textures. These wines are world-class while still somehow maintaining their own sense of terroir. Some are even fantastic values.

Here are my Top 9 sparkling wine suggestions for your 2009 New Year’s Eve celebration.

File this one in the you’ve got to be kidding me section.

Both The Orange County Register and the Boston Herald pointed out that Burger King, the nation’s No. 2 burger chain (NYSE:BKC), recently debuted “Flame,” a new men’s body spray that’s billed as “the scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat.” Yes, this is a legit item the chain is selling online via Ricky’s Halloween Costume Store, for $3.99.

Click on over to the Burger King Flame website, “FireMeetsDesire” and you will find a sexy soul track playing in the background and a Barry White like voice telling you to “come on baby give it a spray.”

The San Francisco Chronicle today reports that President-elect Barack Obama received a letter from Alice Waters of Chez Panisse;

volunteering her services - and those of Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl and New York Union Square restaurateur Danny Meyer - to be the first couple’s informal “kitchen cabinet” on all things culinary, from recommendations for a new White House chef to overseeing the creation of a sustainable, organic kitchen garden on the

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Fuyu Persimmon and Duck Salad with Hazelnut-Sherry Vinaigrette
What in the world is a Fuyu persimmon? The Fuyu (pictured at the right) is a non-astringent persimmon variety. It is sweet and delicious when it becomes orange to orange-red in color and is still firm. The Native American persimmon grown in the southern U.S. and the more common pointed Hachiya persimmon are astringent varieties that do not lose their bitterness until the fruit becomes soft.

Why do we care? Ripe Hachiya persimmons are great for making cooked dishes such as chutneys, relishes, steamed puddings or even pies. The Fuyu persimmon is perfect for this salad because its sweetness will cut through and balance the richness of the duck while maintaining its crisp texture.

Take a look at my post The Persimmon - More Than Pudding for additional persimmon information and recipes.

…[the persimmon's] bitter power of astringency is surprising, and seems capable of suspending for a time all the faculties of the lips, and binds up the risible muscles of the sufferer to the same extent that it excites those of a spectator.
- Charles Augustus Murray

Most Americans aren’t familiar with this delicious but misunderstood tree fruit. Not surprising, since it’s native to China and more prominent in the Far East, Middle East and Western Europe.

You’ll find persimmons in the market right now since they are usually available from late fall through the winter. There are over 500 varieties planted in the United States (originally introduced to California in the mid 1800’s) - each with a slightly different color, texture, shape and astringency. Persimmons can be classified into two general categories: those that bear astringent fruit until they are soft ripe and those that bear nonastringent fruits

December 5th is Repeal Day. That day back in 1933 that ended those dark days of “The Great Experiment” that failed. For those who where sleeping during American History class, the Volstead Act was repealed by the Amendment XXI to the US Constitution:

AMENDMENT XXIPassed by Congress February 20, 1933. Ratified December 5, 1933.

Section 1.
The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section 2.
The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

Section 3.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

What’s the best way to bring out the full flavor of meat? If you want to get those juices really flowing, you need to cook it long and slow, and with the temperature down low.
Love Me Tender by Heston Blumenthal, The Guardian newspaper, November 24, 2001

Trust me, your patience will be rewarded. Besides, isn’t that the point of cooking meat - to bring out its flavor and to render it tender enough to eat.

Long before cooks had ovens, they had braising. They would suspend a heavy, covered pot over a hearth fire or open grate in the kitchen and slowly cook, or braise, their food. Sometimes they stacked embers from the fire on the lid, to provide both upper and lower sources of heat. Inside, a little liquid formed a sauce, as meats and vegetables cooked. This method of cooking yields delicious dishes with considerable character.