Hummus

Hummus is a house staple. I make it often to snack on and for meals served to friends. It takes minutes and is very open to improvisation.

1 15.5 ounce can of chickpeas
1 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of Tahini
8 cloves of raw garlic
Juice of two lemons
1 tablespoon Turmeric
1 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. Coriander
1/2 tsp. white pepper

Put the whole mess in a food processor and mix until it has the texture you like. Use as a dip, a sandwich spread, or for the hardcore, eat with a spoon.

Fancy Food Show Hall of Fame!

I put the link to the developers of the two top Hall of fame products in the title. These products are not currently on their web site (Hey, they are new) but the deliciousness factor so trumps much of what was at the food show I rate them number one.


1. Aux Delices mini sausages and truffle butter. A tie between these two products. The truffle butter is an excellent quality butter with the perfect balance of truffle and salt. It is so good it could be melted and tossed with pasta and no more sauce would be needed. Sure, you could finish with cream or top with Romano but I am not sure I would want to interfere with the truffle goodness in any way. Spread on bread and have a salad for dinner and you would feel like Royalty. I should mention that it won a best of show award, so it seems I am not the only one impressed by this delicacy. I spoke with Zabars this morning and for those of you in NY it is already in stock.

They have also JUST developed mini sausages. With just the right toothy chewiness and spice balance I can honestly say they match their french counterparts in flavor and texture. They are too good to mass produce so you will never see them in the local Piggly Wiggly but check when you are in New York, some smart retailer like Zabars is sure to grab them up. They will be one of the most popular snackable delicious products ever sold. Note to food stores...STOP RELYING ON D'ARTGAN, they are just not that good. They don't belong in the Hall of Shame (for business practices they do, but that's another article) but small purveyors beat them all to Hell when it comes to flavor.











2. Cherry and Pomegranate reduction from http://www.clubsauce.com/both of these reductions are so beyond words amazing that my mouth waters at the thought. No sugar is added so they have a pure fruit taste that is astonishing. The man behind these creations is working on a chocolate tart cherry sauce that when it is ready I will be first in line for. From vegetable dressings to meat glazes to dessert my mind reels with the possible uses.

3. Better than "Better than Bouillon" are Savory creations broths. Rachel Ray (lazy slag that she is in the kitchen, I know she runs an empire but please...stock from a can ALL the time) needs to discover these and throw away the crap she uses. The Turkey actually tastes like Turkey and being that modern turkey can have so little flavor they would make an ideal gravy base. Not salty, no canned taste. They are what they claim to be...broth. What a concept.


4.The Beharry group imports a lot of crap but their Indi line of spices is excellent. The Star in the Indi family is the curry powder. Just add to oil sizzle and add in your onion and garlic (I threw in a touch of hot pepper) and whatever you like. I chose lamb and cauliflower and put the mass in a crock pot to slow roast. My gosh, Can I tell you how good my dinner was tonight. Granted there are as many curries as there are grandmothers but if you don't want to hand blend the spices and you want something MILES ahead of the grocery store curry powder this is worth seeking out.

5. Epicurean butter makes our list for the Tomato Chipotle Butter. They make several good ones but this tops the list for creativity and flavor. This is strongly infused with flavor without being too salty. Tasty and creative puts this little company on the list.



6. Chocolate Grove For the Raspberries and Cherries in Dark Chocolate. The fruit is freeze dried, not sugared or oiled and the candy is among the simplest and best. Pure fruit deliciousness wrapped in a good dark chocolate, so simple so good.

7. Salsa, from New Jersey and it takes best in show. Don't be afraid to get the hot, it is not hot which could be a strike against it, but the flavor makes up for it. Nicely seasoned with a good cilantro kick and get this; NO SUGAR. While this may seem to make sense I gotta tell you that to find salsas that did not taste like dessert was a challenge. They are using every form of sugar known to man to hide the fact on the label, but when you taste them and they seem like a dessert topping you KNOW it is not Salsa. This stuff is wonderful and they are local so for me, when I don't make my own there will be no other choice.

8. Fabrique Delices for their duck gizzard confit. If you don't live in New York and have connections you may have to order it. Order it. Hall of Fame all the way...crisp them up and serve with salad and bread and try to tell me you are not bliss filled.

9. Domingo Caffe for their espresso. Nothing like those burned Starbucks excuse for coffee. This is the real deal, rich, sweet, frothy espresso. It needs no sugar, just sip and be in coffee bliss.

10. IzzeEsque for the low calorie sparkling Limon drink. Yes I have a soda on my list. I am not a soda drinker, but I tasted a number of them, many promising to be organic and natural and they tasted like fruit flavored syrup from Mrs. Butterworth. Nasty, vile. S.O. can tell you I spit some of them out and insulted the creators by pronouncing the products as vile before leaving the tasting table. Izzeesque is light, both lemon and limey and not overly sweet. They do what the others promise and earn their place in the hall of fame.

I may or may not have time to put the Hall of Shame together before I leave town for a bit, so check these products out and soon I will out the worst of the worst, yes Emeril I am talking about you.

Questions from E-Mail

I get a lot of questions from you folks via e-mail and today I am going to provide some answers to some of those I get repeatedly. I will again encourage you to use the comments section. I appreciate some of the recipes and tips you send but feel free to share them with others.

1.Which jarred tomato sauce is best? I usually cook for one and am not going to make some huge pot of sauce that takes forever to cook. None of them. Most add sugar or corn syrup and they are more ketchup than pommodoro. In the time it takes you to boil water and cook pasta you can make a sauce superior to the crap in jars.

1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic minced
Olive oil
2 Ripe Roma tomatoes chopped
Salt
Pepper
Basil if you have it, parsley is nice too
A little cheese if you like that

Chop the onion, put your water on to boil, salt the water. Use a large skillet and at a high heat push the onion around in some olive oil til it is soft and a little caramelized. Toss in the chopped garlic and just let it soften, not toast. Toss in the chopped tomato, turn to simmer. If you are drinking wine you can throw in a splash. Salt, pepper, your water is boiling now. Put the pasta in. I happen to love spaghetti and tiny penne with tomato, but you cook whatever you like. You now have about 7 minutes of simmer, if the tomatoes are chunky you can mush with a spoon, or you can leave chunky. Taste it. If it needs more salt add it, a touch more oil, go for it. Add a touch of cayenne if you want some spice. If the sauce thickens too much throw a little more wine in, or some water from the cooking pasta.

If you have basil or parsley chop 'em now. Check the pasta and drain a moment before it is done.

Toss pasta in sauce on high heat and throw in the basil/parsley/cheese til it just wilts or melts.

Eat and don't tell me it's not better than Ragu.

2. Why don't you print more recipes from your catering jobs? Because the quantities tend to be so large. Do you really want the recipe for beef stew that serves 50? White chili for 20? I have and will continue to downsize some of them and share them. Parties are not much different than the way I cook for myself and my friends. Last week I did roast suckling pig for 6 and when I get the photos I will post the prep.

3. Are you the same guy who used to write the fitness column? Yes, I had a syndicated column for 6 years called Fitness Guru. It was fun, but when giving nutrition advise I also often included recipes and as a result of that ended up as the 'Dude Food' columnist for Gym magazine. Gym ceased publication around the same time my syndicate was bought out by a large company. I ended up leaving that world for a few years and now do some nutritional counseling just to keep my hand in.

4. Are you going to write more about the new products at the Fancy Food Show? Am I ever. Watch for the Hall of FAME and the Hall of SHAME the best and the WORST. There are several makers of what we refer to as food who really ought to be ashamed of themselves.