Easy Apple-Pear Crisp

I love a good apple pie, but when you don’t feel like making the dough, apple crisp is a simpler, just as satisfying alternative. Peeling and chopping the fruit is the most work. The crumble top is easy to mix together and, for novice bakers, a lot easier to get right than pie crust. You really can’t mess this up.

The Washington Post Food section recommended this Easy Apple-Pear Crisp during a recent chat when I was looking for something easy to serve at a dinner party. The combination of pears and apples was great. The crumble top was perfect. No downside here.

Easy Apple-Pear Crisp
From The Washington Post courtesy of Nancy Baggett

Butter for the baking dish
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
¾ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
¾ cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional, I did not use them)
Scant ½ tsp. salt
¾ tsp. ground cinnamon
¾ cup (12 tbsp.) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 ½ cups peeled, cored and sliced (¼ inch) apples, about 4 or 5 medium apples (I used Granny Smith; the recipe suggests that or Stayman, Greening, Newton Pippin, York, or other tart, flavorful apples)
3 ½ cups peeled, cored and sliced (¼ inch) barely ripe Bartlett, Anjou or Bosc pears, about 3 medium peers (I used Bartlett)
½ tsp. finely grated lemon zest
2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp. peeled and finely minced ginger root (I substituted ½ tsp. ground ginger)

1. Preheat oven to 375 F with rack in middle position. Coat the inside of a 9-by-13-inch or similarly sized baking dish with butter.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, oats, nuts (if using), salt and cinnamon. Add the butter and stir until it is evenly incorporated and the mixture forms clumps. Set aside.

3. In a large nonreactive bowl, toss together the apples, pears, zest, lemon juice and ginger. Add 1 cup of the crumb mixture and toss to combine. Spread the apple-pear mixture evenly in the baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture evenly over the top, using your fingertips to break up any large clumps.

4. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the top is well browned and the fruit is bubbly. Transfer the dish to a wire rack to cool. I served the crisp in bowls topped with fresh whipped cream. The crisp will keep refrigerated for several days. Cover with foil and reheat slowly in a low oven just until warmed.

Food (Section) Fight! Week 51 - The Finale

Food (Section) Fight! is my weekly look at The Washington Post's Food section and The New York Times' Dining section with my verdict on which section had the better content for the week.

I wrote this final competitive installment of Food (Section) Fight! appropriately on a train from Washington, D.C. bound for New York City. Putting a laser focus on the food coverage of these two cornerstones of American journalism has been a fun, rewarding and even moving experience. 

While presented as a contest, my goal in writing this feature was really not to declare a one "winner" (although, for the sake of it, I will do so today). My real purpose was to highlight quality food journalism as a key component of my blog. 

My husband is a former journalist, and we have lots of friends in the industry. I'm concerned over the notion that people are reading fewer newspapers as they get their "news" from their Facebook feed, Twitter and blogs. 

I love writing about restaurants, but I'm not Tom Sietsema or Pete Wells. I also love creating new recipes, but I'm no Mark Bittman or David Hagedorn. I have my angle for sure, but what I and other food bloggers do should not come at the expense of journalists who can draw on their expertise and resources to dig deeper and report wider. It doesn't have to be one or the other--we can inspire and learn from each other. 

When the Post started scaling back its sections during the recession, I was scared the Food section would be a casualty, but thankfully it's been retained and appears to be flourishing. The Post, in particular, does not seem to be defensive about the world of food bloggers. In fact, they have prominently featured them, such as the recent story about the D.C. couple whose cooking blog, The Bitten Word, has become one of my favorites. And I'm very appreciative of the attention the Post Food staff--Bonnie Benwick in particular--has shown Food (Section) Fight! on Twitter. 

To find the real winner of Food (Section) Fight!, don't look at the score at the bottom of this post. We--the devoted readers--are the true champions of this enterprise. And now, on with the contest.

New York Times

1) "12 Triumphs of 2012," Restaurants by Pete Wells. Capping what must be a banner year for new restaurants in New York, Wells writes about his 12 favorites, a remarkable and varied list that includes the avante garde modernism of Atera, creative Asian cooking of Mission Chinese and Pok Pok Ny and Eleven Madison Park's casual younger sister, The Nomad.

2) "Buried Treasure That Is Filled With Mystery," by Eugenia Bone. This isn't the first article I've read this year about truffles, the mysteriously pungent tuber-like mushrooms that grow underground, are hunted by pigs and demand prices that rank them among the most exclusive of culinary ingredients. But it is the best. Bone does an excellent job discussing their background, varieties and uses, as well as revealing what "truffle" oil really is.

3) "Champagne's Fancy Tricks," by Robert Simonson. Cocktails made with sparkling wine rarely appeal to me. Of the dozens of cocktails I've featured this year, you won't find a single one among them. But that will change this week with the traditional summer drink I'm proposing could double for a New Year's toast. It opened my eyes to how delicious and refreshing these cocktails can be. So Simonson's piece that includes three Champagne cocktail recipes and descriptions of many others is perfectly timed with my new thirst for these fizzy drinks.

4) "Sense of Restraint About Zinfandels," Wines of the Times by Eric Asimov. My interest in zinfandel has been on the rise lately. As a big fan of the big reds (cab, merlot, syrah, etc.), I find it an interesting alternative that pairs well with my love of meaty pastas. Asimov argues in favor of subtler styles of zin with less alcohol and more restraint, finding quite a few California wines to like among those he and his panel sampled.

5) "Before the Clock Strikes 12, a Time to Indulge," City Kitchen by David Tanis. Although Tanis's recipe for Buckwheat Blinis sounds tasty, I found this article most interesting for its discussion on the current state of caviar. I'm not a big fan, not because I don't like it, but because it is very expensive. So I didn't realize that the sturgeon fish from which it is harvested has become endangered globally, to the point that some popular varieties, like beluga, are currently prohibited from being sold in the United States.

Washington Post


1) "Three moments mattered more than any of it," Pig to Table Project part 3 of 3 by Tamar Haspel. The only time I usually shed tears over food is when chopping onions. But I became rather misty-eyed reading this moving final installment of Haspel's series about humanely raising a trio of pigs for slaughter. I've written before about why I found this series to be incredibly important for eaters whose terminus on the food chain is now so far from its beginning that many of us have no real notion of the origins of what we eat. Reading this series has not made me want to be vegetarian--nor Haspel it seems, despite the strong emotions the experience produced--but it will make me think twice about why the cost of an unused pork chop or pound of ground beef left too long in the fridge is different than a head of wilted kale that gets tossed.

2) "Reformers, gather 'round the remedy," Smarter Food by Jane Black. I don't know if the Post planned this, but Black's story dovetails nicely with Haspel's. She identifies food experts' one wish for 2013 to be the reduction of antibiotics in meat production. These are two parts of the same puzzle: how can our society raise and consume meat humanely, safely and economically? It's a difficult challenge for sure, but one that desperately needs tackling.

3) "Melty onions and gooey cheese: what could go wrong?," The Process by David Hagedorn. For those opposed to the smell of onions, I imagine being around Hagedorn while he was reporting this story was...pungent. I think it sounds heavenly though, for I've never met a roasted, caramelized or sauteed onion I didn't like. His recipe for French Onion Soup is particularly appealing.

4) "For a celebratory spread, try a vegetable pate," by Emily Horton. While the Times basks this week in the luxury of truffles and caviar, the Post satisfies its luxury food craving with pate. But not the sometimes ethically compromised meat variety, but creative vegetarian options. With recipes featuring mushrooms and lentils or roasted sweet potatoes, they sound perfect for a New Year's Eve party.

5) "Kasha Pilaf With Chicken, Mushrooms and Onions," Nourish by Stephanie Witt Sedgwick. Sedgwick describes kasha as "buckwheat groats." Hmmm...still not quite sure what that means. But I'll take her word for it that they're good. She adapts a favorite dish from her childhood by substituting chicken cutlets for pasta, creating what sounds like an ideal winter pilaf.

Verdict

The Washington Post. While the fitting conclusion of the Pig to Table Project alone would have clenched this victory, the Post truly shined this week with other great stories looking ahead to food policy changes needed in 2013 and delectable ways that onions and cheese can meld together to warm your winter heart.

Final Score

And the winner of Food (Section) Fight! 2012 is...

The Washington Post, with 27 points to The New York Times' 23. Congratulations!

Food (Section) Fight!: Week 50

Food (Section) Fight! is my weekly look at The Washington Post's Food section and The New York Times' Dining section with my verdict on which section had the better content for the week.

Washington Post

1) “The gift of goose,” by Cathy Barrow. There are just 6 days ‘til Christmas—“6 geese a layin’” as the song goes. But watch out! If Ms. Barrow gets too close to your flock, you may find yourself down to 5. Drawing on skills acquired from a recent cooking workshop in France, she talks about braising a whole broken down goose with root vegetables (recipe). Although a good butcher may be able to do it for you, she also describes how to “break it down.” I’ve never made a goose, and doubt I will soon, but it’s interesting to read about.

2) “It never hurts to have a plan for a single pan,” Cooking for One by Joe Yonan. Yonan tackles one of Spain’s best-known dishes, Paella. Although often served in a large pan, Yonan talks about how to cut the rice dish down to size for one person. He almost convinced me to buy a carbon steel paella pan until, during today’s Free Range on Food chat, he said using a stainless steel or cast iron pan would work too. He includes two recipes: Squash and Artichoke Paella and Spinach and Chickpea Paella.

3) “Why I chose the good bubbly stuff,” Wine by Dave McIntyre. Champagne, real Champagne, is expensive, at least $30 for a basic bottle and it goes way, way higher for the premium stuff (I’ll be doing my New Year’s toast with Prosecco, thank you). Despite a longstanding clampdown on vintners outside of France’s Champagne region marketing their sparkling wines as “Champagne,” there’s still some confusion about the drink. McIntyre does a nice job presenting the “101” on Champagne and what makes it special. 

4) “The highlights of 2012 were blasts from the past,” Spirits by Jason Wilson. Wilson looks at 2012 and sees…1912, at least judging from the rise in popularity of truly old school cocktail ingredients. This is among the trends Wilson ponders in this year-end Spirits capping column, which includes a recipe for a White Negroni.

5) “Grilled Chicken and Green Chili Soup,” Nourish by Stephanie Witt Sedgwick. This chicken soup is loaded with heat—jalapeño and poblano peppers—but the southwestern flavors of cilantro and lime make this spicy soup sound refreshing too.

New York Times


1) “Please, Mom and Dad: Just Have a Taste,” by Amy Chozick. I give my gold star today to this piece examining how family dynamics around food can change when children raised in a middle-American suburb (“land of chain restaurants, big-box grocery stores and drive-throughs”) grow up and move to culinary havens like New York or San Francisco. It’s a great story, touching on generational issues, urban elitism and how very differently Americans view what “good food” is. One of the nicest surprises in this article is that it quotes Grand Forks, N.D. restaurant critic Marilyn Hagerty in a manner that actually draws on her regional expertise (as opposed to mocking her, which became so common after her Olive Garden review went viral). 

2) “Wrapped in Tradition” by Fernanda Santos. I go to Mexican restaurants all the time, but never order tamales, the corn-dough and meat filling dish roasted inside a corn husk. Santos profiles a home cook who makes loads of them around the holidays, a time when they are most popular. Not sure if I’m ready to try the recipe (where does one buy dried corn husks?), but I’m certainly ready to try one now. 

3) “Dessert With Our Readers,” A Good Appetite by Melissa Clark. A few weeks ago, Clark asked for readers to submit their favorite holiday recipes. She made 13 of them and selected a top 3 to feature in this article, including Grandma Dorie’s Italian Ricotta Cookies, which I wish I was eating right now. The lemony cookies sound remarkably good.

4) “Cranberry Conserve: Tart Option To the Can,” by Cathy Barrow. In another good argument for homemade cranberry sauce (which I fully support), Barrow offers a recipe for Cranberry, Raspberry, Pecan Conserve. Conserve is basically cranberry sauce with nuts (pecans in this case). Notice the byline on this? Yes, this is the same Cathy Barrow who wrote the goose story that appeared in the Post today. How cool! You can read more about her on her blog, Mrs. Wheelbarrow's Kitchen.

5) “Elevating Champagne’s ‘Unacknowledged Grape’,” The Pour by Eric Asimov. According to Asimov, the Champagne trinity is comprised of chardonnay, pinot noir and...the third lesser-known member...pinot meunier. Huh? After the Post’s 101 on Champagne, this narrower piece offers nice depth on an often overlooked grape for good bubbly.

Verdict

The New York Times. Post, your goose is cooked! The Times has the upper hand this week with an interesting look at generational and geographical food differences, tamales and those ricotta cookies that my coworkers were all abuzz about today.

Score

The Washington Post: 26

The New York Times: 23

Next week: The 2012 Food (Section) Fight! finale. 

Food (Section) Fight!: Week 49

Food (Section) Fight! is my weekly look at The Washington Post's Food section and The New York Times' Dining section with my verdict on which section had the better content for the week.


New York Times

1) “A Regional Oddball, Resurrected for Chilliest of Days,” by Robert Simonson. It may not be official, but judging from the front cover, it’s booze week for the Dining section. This isn’t a cover story, but it was my favorite thing, since it resurrected memories of my childhood Christmases. The Tom and Jerry was always served by my father’s family at Christmas. A thick eggnog-like drink made with a spiced batter, brandy and rum, it’s not something I ever partake. I tried it once, and was pretty repulsed actually, but maybe I’d like it better as an adult. Despite that, I enjoyed this trip down memory lane, as I haven’t thought about this drink in over a decade. Interesting that Simonson says that drink has fallen out of fashion everywhere but in Wisconsin, since my Oregon-based family was pretty taken with it.

2)  “Holiday Nostalgia, Served Warm,” by Rosie Schaap. Sing with me: “Here we come a wassailing among the leaves of green..” Everyone knows at least that refrain of the most popular Christmas drinking carol. She looks at the English drink’s historical heritage, lists some New York spots for sampling various versions and offers a recipe.

3) “Bubbles That Speak English,” Wines of the Times by Eric Asimov. True Champagne is expensive, at least $35 for a decent bottle, according to Asimov. So here, he samples other less expensive sparkling wines from California and New York still suitable for a holiday toast.

4) “Sweet or Savory, a Bit at a Time,” City Kitchen by David Tanis. Tanis shares how he learned to make pate à choux during his first stint as restaurant cook. It’s the basis for cream puffs and éclairs and, by following his recipe, it doesn’t sound all that complicated.

5) “Harvesting A Wintry Conucopia in Wales,” How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. Bittman shares how he tackled cooking a bag of mixed greenhouse produce from friends-of-a-friend’s farm in Wales. The Leek and Tomato Gratin sounds wholesome, healthy and delicious.

Washington Post

1) “Cookies,” by Food section staff. Just in time for my Cookie Week, the Food section has theirs too! And this year, they really outdid themselves, designing their 26 recipes around an international theme, including Fiola Chef Fabio Trabocchi’s Almond Cookies, Peanut Butter Chocolate Whirligigs and Nanaimo Truffle Bars (named after a little town on Vancouver Island my family has passed through a few times while on vacation). But the one I really want to make is the Oaxacan Chocolate Cookies made with Mexican cinnamon, Mexican dark chocolate and smoky mezcal.

2) “Step 1 in fixing the family gingerbread recipe: Include ginger,” by Tim Carman. This story is really quite a bit of fun. Carman writes about his family’s gingerbread cookie recipe, which has been passed down through the generations. However, apparently those doing the “passing” took some liberties that, over time, adulterated the recipe to include too much flour and, gasp, no ginger. Carman set out to get the recipe back to its original delicious roots, offering up some dish on his big sis along the way: as custodian of the family recipe, he describes as “in this regard, and in this regard only, she is more Betty Draper than Betty Crocker.” Zing!

3) “Buffalo Wing Burgers,” Dinner in Minutes by Bonnie S. Benwick. These burgers, inspired by Buffalo wings, sound really delicious. They come with hot-sauce-enlivened mayo, although I’m surprised they contain no blue cheese. 

4) “Cant find a gift for a wine lover? Join the club.” Wine by Dave McIntyre. This week’s win column  offers ideas for what to give the wine lover in your life. McIntyre advises against wine gadgets in favor of wine (of course) and stemware.

Verdict

The Washington Post. Although I enjoyed the Times' Tom-and-Jerry trip down Christmas memory lane, the Post’s cookie coverage was, as usual, as sweet as they come.

Score

The Washington Post: 26
The New York Times: 22

Food (Section) Fight!: Week 48

Food (Section) Fight! is my weekly look at The Washington Post's Food section and The New York Times' Dining section with my verdict on which section had the better content for the week.

New York Times

1) “It’s On!” by Kim Severson and Julia Moskin. This is a really cute idea: pit a former and current Dining writer against each other to see who comes up with the best slate of three recipes for holiday food gifts. There was a lot I really liked about this article, most notably that Moskin is laugh-out-loud funny in describing her competitive urge to beat Severson (“...when my colleague Kim Severson claimed that she had an irresistible formula for hot fudge sauce and a sweet-and-spicy pecan recipe, I rubbed my hands with glee. It seemed to me that...the last thing people want at this time of year is the fixings for a hot fudge sundae, and the first thing they want is real food”). Real food?! Ouch! It’s on indeed! Sadly, and this is the hard part (since I really liked the idea and the writing), this feature is marred by some editorial issues. First, the jump for this story says it’s continued on “Page 1,” which can’t be the case, since I’m on page 1. The second and more frustrating problem is that this is an article about six recipes, but the Times only printed four of them. Where are the other two? Presumably online, but they don’t say. If they’d worked at it, I bet they could have laid out the story to include them all or if not, at least noted whether the other two recipes are on the website (something the Post does regularly).

2) “Hanukkah’s New Tastes, Still Rooted in Tradition,” A Good Appetite by Melissa Clark. It was interesting to learn that “Ashkenazi Brooklyn hipster” and “cross-cultural, vegetable-based Israel” are two current trends in Jewish cooking. Clark uses the distinction to differentiate the two latke recipes she shares, each of which is pulled from a different new cookbook: The Mile End Cookbook by Noah and Rae Bernamoff and Jerusalem by Toam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. The Celery Root-Parsnip Latkes is more appealing looking than the Swiss Chard Fritters, but both sound interesting. (Ugh, this story also jumps to “Page 1.”)

3) “The Moguls Arrive, Bearing Butter,” Restaurants by Pete Wells. Upper East Side Indian restaurant Moti Mahal Delux gets two stars and a nice write-up by Wells, who seems particularly smitten with anything from its tandoor oven and how the restaurant uses butter to coax heavenly flavors from its lentils.

4) “From Kitchen to Table, Gifts to Tempt,” Dining staff. Dining writers share a list of 24 holiday gift ideas for food enthusiasts, like the Art in the Age spirit Sage, the Yes, Chef memoir by Marcus Samuelson and a garlic slicer. Consider them added to my wish list.

 Washington Post

1) “The high cost of Modernist’ living,” Book Report by Tim Carman. I was so excited when I saw Tim Carman had reviewed Modernist Cuisine at Home, the 1-volume home cook’s sister publication to the professional-minded 5-volume Modernist Cuisine, Nathan Myhrvold’s towering achievement of molecular gastronomy modernist culinary writing that set the publishing world on fire last year (and set back their wallets to the tune of $625). Carman acknowledges that the recipes in Modernist Cuisine at Home aren't for everyone, but nonetheless finds a lot to like in the volume, including recipes for Modernist Low-Temp Oven Steak and Modernist Creamed Spinach. I really want this book.

2) “Dare to add dairy when mixing up holiday cheer,” Spirits by Jason Wilson. Normally dairy doesn’t find its way into drinks unless it’s a dessert cocktail, except this time of year, when all bets are off. Recognizing that eggnog--perhaps the most popular dairy-based cocktail--is often awful, Wilson helps steer home mixologists towards something more pleasing with the Baltimore Egg Nog. Also on offer are the Victoria Milk Punch and Agave Con Leche, which call for using citrus to separate the milk’s curds and whey (discarding the curds). All these drinks sound really great.

3) “No neon nuggets,” by Jane Touzalin. Fruitcake is the joke of holiday desserts. Literally--the Post charts its demise as heavily influenced by comedian Johnny Carson making fun of it back in the ‘70s. Possibly with good reason--many fruitcakes are dry, weighty things so soaked with booze they represent a fire hazard. But it doesn’t have to be that way, and Touzalin offers a generous seven recipes for cakes she thinks rise above the cliches, such as White Fruitcake and Arkansas Fig Fruitcake. I’ll admit, I haven’t really had much fruitcake in my life (please, no off-color jokes), but I do have a recipe for a really awesome apple cake, which really is a form of fruitcake. So, I can get behind the idea that fruitcake deserves a second chance.

4) “Cumin Lamb Stir-Fry,” Dinner in Minutes by Bonnie S. Benwick. Another great quick weekday recipe from Benwick. Lamb isn’t the meat I’d usually think of for stir-fry, but I bet this is really good. It uses pearled couscous, the larger pebble-size couscous, which Benwick told me in today’s Free Range chat is better when first skillet-toasted before boiling in broth.

5) “Cook the best books of 2012,” by Jane Touzalin and Bonnie S. Benwick. The Food section editors share their picks for the top 30 cookbooks of the year just in time for holiday gift-giving. Making the cut: Modernist Cuisine at Home (see above), blogger Deb Perelman’s The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, local Top Chefs Mike Isabella’s Crazy Good Italian and Carla Hall's Cooking with Love, famed chef Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery, and former Washington Post contributor Kim O’Donnel’s The Meat Lover’s Meatless Celebrations. It’s a great list, although I wish they'd found room for America’s Test Kitchen’s The Science of Good Cooking.

Verdict

The Washington Post. I really loved the Times’ Severson vs. Moskin holiday food gift smackdown, but even if it weren’t for the presentation problems I pointed out, I would still give it to the Post this week for their coverage of Modernist Cooking at Home, dairy-based holiday cocktails and an argument for restoring the fruitcake.

Score

The Washington Post: 25
The New York Times: 22

Food (Section) Fight!: Week 44

Food (Section) Fight! is my weekly look at The Washington Post's Food section and The New York Times' Dining section with my verdict on which section had the better content for the week.


New York Times

1) “Stuffing, Set Free From Turkey,” by Julia Moskin. Stuffing is a delicious and versatile food, and I’m a big fan. I plan to feature two versions for my Thanksgiving coverage this year. It’s often my favorite part of the holiday meal. Moskin does a nice job detailing the history of the dish and how it used to be standard fare for many home cooks, but has lately been relegated almost exclusively to Thanksgiving. I particularly liked that her article mentioned the late film producer Ismael Merchant (of Merchant-Ivory fame), who was apparently a big fan of stuffing. She even shared his recipe for Spicy Lemon-Ginger Bread Stuffing.

2) “Sandy Offers Lessons to Restaurateurs,” by Glenn Collins. Last week, I gave the Times credit for putting out a great section the day after the hurricane. This week, the hurricane is all over the section. Collins’ article takes a look at how last week’s disaster is pushing restaurants to rethink disaster planning, install drainage devices and perhaps even alter their architecture to move basement kitchen and refrigeration space upstairs.

3) “Why Downtown Needs Diners Now,” Restaurants column by Pete Wells. No review this week, as Wells states it would be unfair to judge a restaurant under the irregular operating conditions of the past week. Fair enough. Instead, Wells has written an essay on how hard hurricane Sandy has been on many of Downtown’s small restaurants. It reads at times like a love letter: “Nowhere in the United States is so much culinary tradition and innovation crammed into so few square miles as in the southern end of Manhattan.” Championing restaurants in this manner may seem an unusual for a food critic, but when you consider it is his role to steer us eaters to where he thinks we should spend our time and dollars, I don’t think it’s unreasonable for him to make such a plea. I’ve certainly had my share of memorable meals below 23rd Street.

4) “The Wine List Comes With a Friend, Not a Foe,” The Pour column by Eric Asimov. This week, Asimov focuses on the role of the sommelier, the restaurant wine steward who is supposed to help diners find a match for their food and their wallet. This is great story about how many people feel intimidated by sommliers but shouldn’t be; they are there to help you. He offers useful tips for how to make the most of the relationship.

5) “Making Sure Kale Gets a Raw Deal,” A Good Appetite column by Melissa Clark. Kale salad has been a hot trend of late, one I jumped on early this year and then again more recently. Clark uses Kale in place of parsley to make Kale Tabbouleh, a great idea for the hardy greens.

Washington Post

1) “Complement or insult?” by Victorino Matus. For people, like me, who like to think about food in interesting ways, this article is exactly the kind of thing I enjoy reading about. Matus dissects the old adage about steak sauce: that it’s there to cover up bad cuts and isn’t needed for good ones. Of course, this isn’t universally accepted, as he writes about good steak restaurants that have added sauces to please consumers’ demand for them. And maybe that’s not a bad thing, as he writes about the “delicious” steak sauce from Craft by Tom Colicchio—one of three big name chefs interviewed for the article who also contributed their sauce recipes, including Colicchio’s Craft Steak Sauce and Michel Richard’s Green Peppercorn Sauce. I don’t remember seeing Matus’s byline in the Post before, but I hope to see more from him. [And speaking of Tom Colicchio, new Top Chef season starts tonight on Bravo. Yay!]

2) “The best lessons in cocktails come from papa,” Spirits column by Jason Wilson. The creativity continues with Wilson’s spirits column, which this week looks at the drinks written about in the novels of Ernest Hemingway, the subject of a new book “To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion” by D.C.-based author Philip Greene. I like that the accompanying cocktail recipe for “A Farewell to Hemingway” finds a use for kirschwasser other than cheese fondue.

3) “The foods trucks with a built-in audience,” by Amanda Abrams. There’s a fleet of mobile food trucks now serving D.C.’s daytime downtown crowd (count me among their well-fed fans), but there’s another division of that industry that gets little attention: the fleet of mobile caterers that serve construction workers. Abrams does a great job writing about how competitive it is to serve that niche.

4) “A room full of drawing boards to go back to,” First Bite column by Tom Sietsema. A recent weekend I walked by the about-to-open Logan Circle restaurant Drawing Board and thought it looked like a place I might want to try. After reading this week’s First Bite, I’m having second thoughts. Sietsema was entirely unimpressed by their burger (which is probably what I’d order) and finds the bartenders’ skills to be subpar (they apparently couldn’t mix a gimlet, a rather basic choice). Thanks for the heads up, Tom.

5) “Ginger-Glazed Baby-Cut Carrots with Cranberries,” Nourish recipe by Stephanie Witt Sedgwick. The Post will begin its two-part Thanksgiving coverage next week, but this Nourish recipe might be considered a preview. I happen to really like ginger-glazed carrots as a Thanksgiving side (I’ll be sharing my recipe soon). The notion to dried cranberries into the dish is a great idea.

Verdict

The Washington Post. It’s a tough call this week, as I found a lot of good stories in both sections to enjoy. Credit Matus’ steak sauce story as the tie-breaker, since it was my single favorite food story of the week.

Score

The Washington Post: 23
The New York Times: 20

Food (Section) Fight!: Week 43

Food (Section) Fight! is my weekly look at The Washington Post's Food section and The New York Times' Dining section with my verdict on which section had the better content for the week.


Washington Post

1) “Pick Up Artist,” by Bonnie S. Benwick. Rotisserie chicken is big business for grocery stores these days. Benwick and team took an America’s Test Kitchen approach to sampling 14 local examples of the roasted bird, noting their taste, the store’s policy for how long unsold birds are left on the shelf and also how stores may reuse the chicken they don’t sell. Not into rotisserie chicken myself, but I enjoyed the article. Sounds like Costco might be the bird to beat. Includes a nice sidebar with pictures and descriptions of all chickens sampled.

2) “Frightening heat, at a farmers market near you,” by Tim Carman. Another thing I’m not into is super hot chili peppers. Really, who is? Apparently a select few, who approach eating such peppers like a sport. Carman, bless his heart, dives in with the best of them and artfully describes sampling a ghost pepper, which is about 200 times spicier than a jalapeño. If you’ve ever eaten something too hot—or watched someone else do it—you’ll appreciate this a lot.

3) “Roasted Butternut Squash and Chickpeas,” Nourish recipe by Stephanie Witt Sedgwick. Doesn’t that sound like an interesting combination? I’d really like to try this. I particularly like how Sedgwick describes the roasted chickpeas as becoming toasty and slightly dried like snack food. Yummy.

4) “Citra, hop of the moment,” Beer column by Daniel Fromson. We’re really big fans of hoppy beer in our house, so I appreciated Fromson’s column on how different hops come into fashion, with the Citra, the hop of-the-moment, appearing in some local brews.

5) “Barefoot and (almost) foolproof," Book Report by Bonnie S. Benwick. You might be surprised to learn that I don't really watch cooking shows. Apart from Top Chef, I don't make a point of watching them, although I do occasionally tune it to see what America's Test Kitchen or Jacques Pepin are up to (and years ago I was a Rachael Ray devotee, but not these days). So I'm not a Barefoot Contessa fan, but her new cookbook sounds interesting. I'm intrigued by Benwick's description of her recipes being written in a minimal style but usually with an important detail. Sounds like good food writing.

New York Times

1) “The Once and Future Spago,” by Adam Nagourney. The Times’ lead story is a thoughtful profile of Wolfgang Puck, the California-centric chef who resides at the helm of a major food empire that includes restaurants all over the country (including D.C.’s The Source), fast food outlets in major airports and even a grocery brand. Wolfgang Puck was one of the first chefs I knew by name whose food I really wanted to try. I remember how excited I was when I got to eat at Spago in 2000. I'm pleased to read that Puck, who just completed a redesign of Spago Beverly Hills, is still going strong.

2) “A Different Shade of Risotto,” How to Cook Everything column by Mark Bittman. Just about every recipe I’ve seen for risotto calls for Arborio rice, so it was refreshing to see Bittman experiment successfully with using brown rice. His Brown Rice Risotto with Winter Squash sounds like a healthy take on the dish, which omits much of the butter and cheese that make risotto heavy. 

3) “Carrots Develop a Meatier Reputation,” by Florence Fabricant. After learning that Eleven Madison Avenue now serves a carrot tartare, clearly carrots place on the culinary landscape is evolving. Fabricant examines how chefs are gaining a new appreciation for the common root vegetable. 

4) “They’re Eating Out of the Palm of His Hand,” by Adam Nagourey. I’ve been wondering about this and got my answer: Jose Andres does indeed have a presence in Las Vegas. Two in fact: a fourth branch of his Spanish tapas concept, Jaleo, and a super-secret cousin of Minibar called é. Nagourey describes it as being like a speakeasy, and that sounds pretty accurate. The restaurant does not appear on Andres’ Think Food Group website. It serves dishes inspired by Spain and molecular gastronomy; Andres describes it as being like Minibar but easier for people to understand. And of course its eight seats are sold out every night.

5) “Neighbors Won’t Give Candy Like This,” A Good Appetite column by Melissa Clark. Halloween candy isn’t just for kids, especially in the hands of Clark, who whips up a slate of adult-oriented candy, including Almond and Goat Cheese Candy Bars and Black Pepper and Bourbon Caramel Chews.

Verdict

The New York Times. It’s really close this week—lots of great stories in both publications. I’m giving the Times a slight edge for their Puck profile, brown rice risotto and carrots. Plus, I think they should get some credit for putting out such a great section during the week Sandy ravaged the city, which was hit far worse than D.C.

Score

The Washington Post: 22
The New York Times: 20

Food (Section) Fight!: Week 42

Food (Section) Fight! is my weekly look at The Washington Post's Food section and The New York Times' Dining section with my verdict on which section had the better content for the week.

Apologies for the lack of links today. I had to write this one fast, as I'm headed to a cooking event tonight. All the stories and recipes are available and easy to find from the main Food and Dining section links that appear above.

Washington Post

(1) "Bowl o' red, take three," The Process column by David Hagedorn. Everyone has their chili recipe, even me. Hagedorn discusses the evolution of his own chili-making, including three mouth-watering recipes: a Dark Pot Roast Chili flavored with cocoa and espresso powder, a Korean-inspired Kim Chili and the Indian-inspired Paneer and Butternut Squash Kashmiri Chili. I love that he says onions and garlic are "non-negotiable" for any chili; some cooks would say they are non-negotiable for any good dish! And I totally agree with putting black beans in chili, irate Texans can just deal.

(2) "Linguine with Cauliflower Pesto," Dinner in Minutes column by Bonnie S. Benwick. Raw cauliflower pesto either sounds intriguing or off-putting, depending upon your view of the somewhat pungent vegetable. I'll trust Benwick's assessment though. The pesto is made with almonds, sun-dried tomatos, pecorino-romano, garlic, capers and parsley. How can that not be good?

(3) "It costs more to use the good stuff, but it pays," Spirits column by Jason Wilson. In this week's column, Wilson tackles two pieces of conventional wisdom about spirits: 1) that the "good stuff" shouldn't be used in cocktails, and 2) that older spirits are better. He disagrees with both adages and provides a good explanation as to why.

(4) "Labeling meals with at-a-glance analysis," Smarter Food column by Jane Black. Black examines the Bon Appetit food service company's new simplified system for helping diners identify healthy foods. Sure sounds a lot simpler, and ultimately more informative, than other methods.

(5) "Where the Bison graze in style," by Tim Carman. I'm not a football fan, so I've never been to a tailgate party. I had a coworker explain it to me recently and was surprised to find out that it's much more elaborate than the name suggests. Although a tradition at many schools, Howard University has only allowed it in recent years, but that hasn't stopped the event from becoming a pretty big deal, serving up some interesting southern cuisine like Keith Benn's Seafood Boil and Ice Tea-Brined Chicken.

New York Times

(1) "Peanut Butter Takes On An Unlikely Best Friend," De Gustibus Column by Dwight Garner. When I was a kid, I ate a lot of peanut butter and honey sandwiches (I wouldn't eat jam or jelly), but on occasion, the honey was replaced with pickles, an interesting and better-than-you'd-think combination. So I was surprised to read in Garner's story that this combo, which he also likes, is apparently rather rare and unheard of by a lot of people. Of course Peanut Butter & Co. in Greenwich Village makes one they call the "Pregnant Lady," developed as the name implies to satisfy a particular customer's craving. As an aside, I'm curous what this "De Gustibus" column is, as I've not seen it before.

(2) "Helping Quiche Find Its Savory Roots," City Kitchen column by David Tanis. Tanis makes a good argument for the return of the quiche, which gets little attention these days. I'll admit, I've never made one, and I'm not sure why. I love pie, and the Classic Quiche Aux Lardons made with bacon and gruyere sounds delicious.

(3) "Good Things, Small Package," by Jeff Gordinier. A generation ago, dumplings were called "pot stickers"; they've come a long way since then. Gordinier looks at continuing evolution of the popular Asian-inspired dish, which now includes a pretzel-like version at Talde in Brooklyn's Park Slope.

(4) "Add Some Twists and Turns to a Familiar Route," A Good Appetite column by Melissa Clark. Clarks discusses how to take a simple dinner--roasted chicken thighs with squash--and make it livelier. She added coriander seeds and lemon to the chicken and glazed the squash with maple syrup. Shame whoever did the photography for this story used acorn squash instead of delicata as the recipe calls for.

(5) "A Public Display of Affection," Restaurant review by Pete Wells. Wells begins this week's review of "21" (21 West 52nd Street) with a disclaimer of sorts. He rates the restaurant "satisfactory," i.e. no stars, and seems to find the food rather boring, but yet he likes the place as a sort of throwback to a bygone era of New York dining. Frankly, I'm a little surprised to see such nostalgia from a restaurant critic for a place with a dress code and mediocre food.

Verdict

The Washington Post. It's a pretty close call this week. Some interesting recipes in both publications, but the clincher is the really great chili story by David Hagedorn.

Score

The Washington Post: 22

The New York Times: 19

Posted with Blogsy

Food (Section) Fight!: Week 41

Food (Section) Fight! is my weekly look at The Washington Post's Food section and The New York Times' Dining section with my verdict on which section had the better content for the week.

New York Times

1) "The Snail Wrangler," by Jeff Gordinier. If the thought of eating snails turns you off, read Gordinier's story anyway, for it's an interesting look at California snail farmer Mary Stewart, whose product is prized by chefs like Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller. 

2) "In Myanmar, True Comfort in the Food," by Julia Moskin. Burmese food plays like fifth or sixth fiddle when it comes to the popularity of eastern Asian cuisine in the U.S., dominated as it is by, in this order: Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese and Korean. I wager most major cities have restaurants that serve all of those, but there probably aren't a lot of places serving Burmese cuisine, which sounds like an intriguing mix of Chinese, southeast Asian and Indian flavors. 

3) "A Gratifying Adventure in Group Cooking," How to Cook Everything column by Mark Bittman. Bittman apparently was recently auctioned off, and the winners received an afternoon of cooking with him at their home. Not a bad prize at all. Bittman details his afternoon cooking in someone else's apartment. Although he seems to chide them a bit for lack of equipment (no blender, for example), he nonetheless seemed to have enjoyed whipping up a really great meal (I looked up the recipe for his Chocolate-Tofu Pudding, which I'd like to try).

4) "From the White House, Beer We Can Believe In," Beers of the Times column by Eric Asimov. The Washington Post wrote about this a long time ago, but nonetheless, I enjoyed Asimov's column exploring the infamous White House honey ale, which included getting Brooklyn Brewery to recreate it. Sounds really good.

5) "A Pasta Salad That Keeps Its Cool," A Good Appetite column by Melissa Clark. Clark astutely points out that there are two schools of pasta salad in the U.S.: the good kind with olive oil and fresh vegetables and the bad kind with too much mayo. She gives a nice example of the former: Penne with Roasted Eggplant, Chile and Mint.

6) "A New Best Friend for Pad Thai," Hungry City column by Ligaya Mishan. Portland, Ore.-based Thai chef Andy Ricker, known on the east coast for his Brooklyn outpost Pok Pok Ny, has converted his former Manhattan joint, Pok Pok Wing to Pok Pok Phat Thai, which specializes in authentic pad Thai.

Washington Post

1) "We have our parts to play," part 2 of 3 of Pig to Table Project by Tamar Haspel. Thirteen weeks ago, The Washington Post began a three-part series about the experience of a writer raising her own pigs for slaughter. I swooned for the story then and found today's second installment just as interesting. Haspel highlights a lot of important ethical and cultural considerations with regard to how we eat. Judging from the comments in today's Free Range on Food chat, it's generating a lot of strong opinions--both for and against what she's doing--which is great. My personal opinion is that to live as omnivores in some sort of ignorant bliss about where our meat comes from is misguided. Because we can get butchered, bled and packaged cuts of meat at the store that already resemble food more than an animal means that we've become very disconnected from the food chain we are part of. Haspel's story is an important reminder of what we're really eating, something we shouldn't take for granted.

2) "Cook quinoa a little longer, and it's swell," Cooking for One column by Joe Yonan. Yonan tackles the über-trendy grain, which he admits he doesn't really like that much (frankly, I've found it a bit dull myself). Teaming up with quinoa-cooking specialist Wendy Polisi, he explores ways to make the grain (really a seed) shine, including a delicious-sounding recipe for Black Bean, Quinoa and Spinach Stew.

3) "If only they sold this jerky at 7-Eleven," The Immigrant's Table column by Tim Carman. I'm not a big beef jerky fan, but after reading Carman's latest column on foreign foods in America, I was hungry for some. He takes a look at Vietnamese-style beef jerky, which sounds way more interesting and tasty than a Slim Jim. He even includes a few recipes.

4) "An artist's design, but interpretation disappoints," First Bite column by Tom Sietsema. Has anyone else noticed that Sietsema seems particularly disappointed in where he eats these days? That trend continues with his look at The National Gallery's Garden Cafe, which now features a buffet created by Restaurant Eve Chef Cathal Armstrong as a tie-in to a new exhibit on furniture (Sietsema, like me, seems to be scratching his head on how they made that connection).

Verdict

The Washington Post. I did find more stories of interest in the New York Times, even breaking my 5-story limit because I really wanted to include Ricker's new Pad Thai joint. But more often than not, quality wins over quantity, and I really enjoyed all of the Post's front-page stories, particularly the second installment of the pig-raising series, which I think is really impressive food journalism.

Score

The Washington Post: 21
The New York Times: 19

Food (Section) Fight!: Week 40

Food (Section) Fight! is my weekly look at The Washington Post's Food section and The New York Times' Dining section with my verdict on which section had the better content for the week.

Both The Washington Post and The New York Times led today with features examining major restaurant trends: self-grown ingredients and tasting menus. Let's see who came out on top this week:

Washington Post

1) "Microgreens, 100 feet away," by Martha Miller. Miller's cover story looks at how chefs are increasingly growing their own ingredients, moving the farm even closer to the table. This story gives a nice insight into one of the Washington area's most acclaimed restaurants, The Inn at Little Washington, profiling the restaurant's full-time farmer, Joneve Murphy, who works the restaurant's half-acre garden plot and orchard to grow ingredients that save money and improve quality over those that might be shipped in. A generous number of recipes accompany the story, including the Inn's recipes for Brussels Sprout Petals with Coriander Vinaigrette and Pickled Cranberries and Parsnip Soup. The recipe from Chef Bonnie Moore for Chicken Braised with Fall Vegetables, Bacon and Apple Cider also sounds amazing.

2) "All signs point to a hit in San Francisco," by Anna Mindess. I enjoyed this portrait of Mozzeria, a truly unique restaurant in San Francisco that combines Chinese and Italian flavors for its pizza and small plates. Additionally, it's one of the nation's few restaurants that cater to deaf customers, not surprising when you learn it is owned by Galludet University alumni Russell and Melody Stein, who met at the D.C. university for deaf students in the mid '90s.

3) "Norwegian Salmon in Foil," Dinner in Minutes by Bonnie S. Benwick. We eat salmon a lot, so I'm often up for trying something new. At first, the idea of cooking salmon in foil seemed kind of boring, until I began reading the ingredients list, which includes peanut butter (how interesting!). Its Norwegian pedigree is also intriguing, given the current interest in Scandinavian cuisine (credit that, in part, to Noma, the Danish restaurant often heralded as the world's greatest, at least at present).

4) "Soon, wine could be coming from Amazon," Wine column by Dave McIntyre. Yes, it is true. According to the Post, Amazon.com may soon offer wine sales, leveling another blow to the traditional three-tier system with distributors as the middle men between producers and retailers. Sounds like a great idea to me. Amazon has tried unsuccessfully in 2000 and 2009 to offer wine for sale.

5) "Refreshed cocktails overcome sour memories," Spirits column by Jason Wilson. Wilson looks at the sour cocktail, which has earned a bad name ever since the introduction of sour mix. But made with fresh citrus juice, it sounds great. He offers recipes for two seasonally appropriate sours made with apple brandy.

New York Times

1) "Nibbled to Death," Critic's Notebook column by Pete Wells. Hot on the heels of my analysis of the cost of tasting menus at some of America's most prestigious restaurants, Wells takes an insightful look at the growing trend of high-end restaurants offering nothing but (very expensive) tasting menus. When they work well, it can be a magical experience, but when it doesn't, the diner can feel captive to a long meal with a big check at the end. Love the dish-by-dish photos of a 28-course dinner at New York's Atera.

2) "No Apologies Necessary," A Good Appetite column by Melissa Clark. Appealing to the perfectionist home cook in many of us, Clark writes a good column about what to do when your elaborate dinner falls short of your expectations--specifically how to save it and play it off as something else as long as it's still tasty, even it if it's not what you meant to make.

3) "A Taste of Fall In a Bottle of Hard Cider," City Kitchen column by David Tanis. Following last week's Washington Post story about cider, The Times' Tanis has a nice piece about the subject, complete with a rather delicious sounding recipe for Pork Chops with Apples and Cider.

Verdict

The Washington Post. While I liked the lead stories in both publications about equally this week, I thought the rest of the Post's content was overall stronger with a nice variety of stories.

Score

The Post pulls ahead!

The Washington Post: 20
The New York Times: 19