Join the Food Gal and Lisa Murphy of Sosu Sauces For A Macy’s Demo

Posted on by 3 comments

MacysSosuSauces

You’re in for a spicy, scrumptious time at Macy’s Valley Fair in Santa Clara when Lisa Murphy, founder of the Bay Area’s Sosu Sauces joins me for a cooking demo at 6 p.m. Nov. 19.

Sosu Sauces makes my favorite sriracha sauce. The artisan sauce is hand-made in small batches, then aged in whiskey barrels to give it great complexity and a hint of smokiness.

Learn how Murphy gave up a career in banking and high-tech to spread the gospel of sriracha and Srirachup (that’s her mashup of her sriracha with ketchup).

Read more

White Lily Introduces Its First New Flours In Over A Century

Posted on by 5 comments
Individual cakes made with dessert wine, whole grapes, and a new red grapeseed flour blend.

Individual cakes made with dessert wine, whole grapes, and a new red grapeseed flour blend.

 

You probably know the name White Lily as the go-to flour Southerners swear by for the most tender biscuits.

Now that Southern institution has introduced its first new flours in 130 years.

Partnering with Shepherd’s Grain, a group of wheat growers in the Pacific Northwest, White Lily has created three new flours: Wheat and Red Grapeseed Flour Blend, Wheat and White Grape Seed Flour Blend, and All-Purpose Wheat.

The non-GMO wheat is grown sustainably. You can even plug in a code printed on each bag of flour into the Web site to find out information about the farmers who grew the wheat for your specific bag of flour. For instance, I tried a sample of the Wheat and Red Grapeseed Flour Blend, which was made with wheat grown by Cherry Creek Ranch in Washington, Spokane Hutterian Brethren Inc. in Washington, and RattleSnake Ranches in Idaho., all of whom have operated for generations.

Grapeseed flour is gluten-free, but of course not when it’s mixed with all-purpose flour, as is the case with these blends. But what’s great about the blends is that they have been formulated so that you can use them 1:1 in place of regular all-purpose flour in any recipe. Grapeseed flour also is purported to be high in antioxidants.

I was most eager to try out the Wheat and Red Grapeseed Flour Blend because of its subtle purple color.

Read more


Jacques Pepin’s Poulet A La Creme

Posted on by 30 comments
Chicken with mushrooms and cream in a fabulous dish by Jacques Pepin.

Chicken with mushrooms and cream in a fabulous dish by Jacques Pepin.

 

This dish is the equivalent of a big cashmere blanket wrapped around your shoulders.

It’s warm, comforting, and makes you feel well taken care of.

And of course, it’s by Jacques Pepin.

“Poulet A La Creme” is from his newest cookbook, “Jacques Pepin Heart & Soul In the Kitchen” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).

JacquesPepinHeartandSoul

It’s also his last cookbook — well, at least the last one associated with his own television cooking show. That’s because his current KQED series of the same name is the last one he will film. He’ll turn 80 in December, and after 14 series, 24 cookbooks, and 32 years on television, he’s finally taking a break.

Read more

Salivating for Artisan Sopressata

Posted on by 4 comments
Take a taste of Sopressata Calabrese.

Take a taste of Sopressata Calabrese.

 

Brothers Steven and Eric are the fourth generation of Bavas to hand-craft a spicy Italian dry salami specialty known as sopressata Calabrese.

Their grandfather brought the recipe to America after immigrating to Chicago from the small mountain town of Simbario in Calabria, Italy. Every winter following Christmas, the whole family gathered to whip up a batch, which would then be served at every special family occasion throughout the year.

Now, the brothers are making that same cured sausage in small batches in Los Angeles and selling it via a small select group of retail stores.

Recently, I had a chance to try Bavas Brothers Sopressata Calabrese.

Deep ruby red, the squat sausage is firm and chewy. It’s full of sweet porkiness, along with a good jolt of peppery spice that builds the more you chew.

Read more

The Wisdom of Pumpkin, Sage, and Browned Butter Cake

Posted on by 9 comments
Fresh sage adds a flavor profile twist to this pumpkin bread.

Fresh sage adds a flavor profile twist to this pumpkin bread.

 

When it comes to sage, I immediately think of Thanksgiving stuffing or browned butter sauces for tender raviolis.

But cake?

Not at all.

Until I spied Martha Stewart’s recipe for “Pumpkin, Sage, and Browned Butter Cake.”

It’s not a new recipe. In fact, it appears in her 2013 book, “Martha Stewart’s Cakes” (Clarkson Potter), of which I received a review copy when it was first published.

The cookbook is stored in a prominent place on my bookshelf, because I find myself reaching for it again and again. The 150-plus recipes — for everything from Bundts to cheesecakes to cakes with fruit to layer cakes — are unfussy. They’re cakes you don’t have to think twice about attempting.

I had bookmarked this one long ago, but just never found time to try it. Until now.

It’s a simple pumpkin loaf cake that’s just so right at this time of year.

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »