Forbidden Rice
While dining at the Veritable Quandary in Portland, Oregon last month, Wild Grilled Salmon over Forbidden Rice was served for dinner and I couldn’t decide which was better – the medium rare grilled salmon or the dark moist flavorful rice that was underneath the fish. Rice is normally a bland food that requires butter, salt, or spices to enhance the flavor but Forbidden Rice is different. A delicious rice with a a nutty taste , Forbidden Rice looks like a black rice but is in reality, a deep dark purple color when cooked and although the expectation is for the rice to be hard and nutty like a wild rice, Forbidden Rice is soft and nutty. Folklore has it this rice was reserved for the emperors of China and therefore forbidden to all others; hence its name.
“May We Be Forgiven”
There are paths, forks in the road, journeys we must take. Sometimes it’s not a choice, but about what we do with what we are given.
May We Be Forgiven was written by Amy M. Homes, an American writer who teaches creative writing at Princeton University and who goes by the pen name: A.M. Homes. Published in September, 2012, May We Be Forgiven is a fast paced novel that starts with a bang (literally) and gives new meaning to “The Big Bang Theory” of how a family is formed. Although many people think a family is created by a marriage or the birth of a child, a family is formed by people uniting or expanding in many different ways, both conventional and non-conventional. And, when a family implodes, what are the survivors to do? Run and escape or come together? This is the dilemma faced by the major characters in May We Be Forgiven. Read more 
Daisy Flours
There is a difference in flours, just as there is a difference in types of milk, yogurt, apples, cheese, spices, and all ingredients. All too often, consumers think flours are the same or too similar to notice a difference but the reality is quite different. An all-purpose flour generally works well in most recipes but there are two factors about flour that are important to remember: (1) high-quality, unbleached and less processed flours taste better in recipes; and (2) flours vary greatly in protein content so the flour chosen should be based on the recipe: a low protein flour for pastry, a medium protein flour for cakes, cookies, pancakes, and most baked goods, and a high protein flour for breadsthat need to rise. Read more
Crystallized Ginger
Crystallized ginger is an ingredient most bakers are very familiar with because the flavor and texture can add so much to a recipe, especially cakes and muffins. When people speak or write of ginger, they are usually referring to the ginger root – a spicy hot and fragrant spice used predominantly in Indian and Asian cuisine. The younger roots -“baby ginger” – are milder and juicer and are often used to make crystallized ginger or candied baby ginger by simply cooking the root in sugar until it becomes soft and chewy. The sugar forms a protective coating around the ginger root thus acting as a natural preservative. Read more
The Yoku Moku Holiday Tins
Every year, famed Japanese cookie maker Yoku Moku commissions an artist to design a holiday cookie tin to be filled with the company’s light crispy buttery minimalist cookies. The essence of a Yoku Moku cookie is in its simplicity – both in ingredients, design, and taste – so the exterior design of the annual holiday tin is louder, more colorful and meant to draw attention to a cookie that doesn’t rely on adornment for attention. Read more
Fregula
Fregula is a type of pasta from Sardinia that resembles toasted pearls. Some people think fregula is like couscous but this unique pasta is bigger, thicker, and more flavorful than couscous. Fregula or the “pearl of pastas” is made with coarse semolina flour blended with water and formed into little balls. The pasta is then dried and toasted to impart a nutty flavor when cooked. Ideal for soups or with cooked vegetables, fregula is a firm chewy pasta with a deep toasted flavor, unlike any other pasta. Read more
“Foreign Affairs”
…. it is taken for granted that people over fifty are as set in their ways as elderly apple trees, and as permanently shaped and scarred by the years they have weathered. The literary convention is that nothing major can happen to them except through subtraction. They may be struck by lightning or pruned by the hand of man; they may grow weak or hollow; their sparse fruit may become misshapen, spotted, or sourly crabbed. They may endure these changes nobly or meanly. But, they cannot, even under the best of conditions, put out new growth or burst into lush and unexpected bloom. Read more
Nate the Great and 538
Nate Silver, the quant jock who created the website: www.fivethirtyeight.com (538) has proved his detractors wrong once again and accurately predicted the outcome of the presidential election (Obama). Despite the conservatives claiming the presidential election was too close to call and trying to spin Romney as the front-runner (especially after the first debate), the race had never been that close, according to Silver. Obama always had a strong chance of winning: ranging from a low of 63% on Oct. 9th to a high of 91% the day before the election. In terms of electoral votes, Silver predicted (on election day) Obama would obtain 313 electoral votes while Romney would obtain 225. The actual outcome was 303 electoral votes for Obama and 206 for Romney, with Florida too close to call. And yet numerous news stations, talk shows, radio programs, and newspapers predicted the 2012 presidential election too close to call. Why is that? Read more
CiCi’s Handmade Italian Butterhorns
When I was in high school, I would often go to my friend Amy’s house over the holidays where her extended family would celebrate the end of a meal with a table full of Italian pastries and cookies. At my house, most cookies came in a bag so the sight of a whole table piled high with every conceivable type of handmade Italian cookie was a dream come true. Amy’s Aunt Cookie was primarily responsible for that dedicated table and she was infamous among her relatives (and friends) for her homemade cookies: Italian Wedding, Wandi, Pignoli, Struffoli, and more. Read more
Pret A Manger
What do you get when you cross a good restaurant, a top quality grocer, a European style coffee bar, and the speed of light? Pret A Manger: a British-based fresh food provider that makes healthy and delicious food as fast as it flies off the shelves. Read more
Paddock Post 