…and most likely decade, millennium, what have you.
Awhile back ES commenter erica mentioned that an Endless Simmer theme song actually comes into her head every time she navigates to the site. She wasn’t lying, and now she’s been awesome enough to go ahead and actually record it. Best holiday present ever.
Endless Simmer by gawkylu
If anyone wants to take the lead for 2012 commenter of the year, I would love to hear a death metal version of this jingle.
Each year, Endless Simmer asks our loyal readers to vote on which person deserves the coveted title Eater of the Year. Past winners include Anthony Bourdain, Hezbollah Tofu, This is Why You’re Fat and Ruth Bourdain. So who made the biggest splash in the food world in 2011? The nominees are…
Maybe it didn’t work out in the end, but you have to admit, there’s something admirable about a man who isn’t afraid to say that running the nation’s 36th best pizza chain qualifies you to run for president. In fact, there isn’t much at all Herman Cain is afraid to say. In a world where presidential politicians deep-throat corn dogs in public and then retreat to their campaign bus for lobster thermidor, it was refreshing to have an honest eater in the race, at least for awhile. Herman Cain wasn’t afraid to sing about his love for crappy fast food, or to declare that only sissy men put vegetables on their pizza. He wasn’t afraid to eat chicken wings win Michele Bachmann, or to propse that poor people don’t need food stamps because they can just buy used food. How is this man not already eater-in-chief? Just hope he never asks you to dinner. (Photo: Broward Palm Beach New Times)
We can all acknowledge that the Food Network is pure shite nowadays, and there hasn’t been a food show worth watching since Cookin’ with Coolio. What the teevee execs don’t seem to get is that Americans don’t want 30 minute meals or cutesy casserole recipes. We want WORLD RECORD BREAKING FOOD.
Enter Epic Meal Time, the web TV show that ate all of the other web TV shows and then burped them up. Fancy an 84-egg sandwich? Meatloaf made out of McDonald’s? A Christmas tree crafted from bacon? EMT’s outrageous creations make state fair food look like a tea party hosted by Gwyneth Paltrow, and we just can’t look away. The ultra-American eaters dirty little secret? They’re Canadian.
When Julia Child said she was going to use television to teach Americans how to cook French cuisine properly, people laughed at her, but she became a foodie legend. When Julie Powell said she was going to cook every recipe in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and record it all on something called a weblog, people just thought she was weird, but she became a blog-to-book-to-big-screen phenomenon. When college student Lawrence Dai decided he was going to watch Julie & Julia every day for a year, people immediately realized he was a genius. Yes, the Lawrence/Julie & Julia Project had all the hallmarks of a jokey web project that wouldn’t last more than 15 minutes, but Lawrence actually did it, watching J&J a full 365 times, and firmly proving that online journalism does indeed have a purpose.
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When I stayed in Copenhagen earlier this year, the hotel breakfast spread fucking rocked.
Soft boiled eggs (with adorable holders and spoons), 5 different dark, seed-crusted breads, cereals, granolas, 3 different types of yogurt-ish products (samoa, soured milk) DIY fresh-squeezed – and ultra pulpy – OJ and sliced (fancy!) meats.
But most of all, I couldn’t get enough of the cheese. It wasn’t just slices, or a wedge or shreds.
But cheese hooked into this almost torture-looking device that easily slices cheese fresh from the block. I had just as much fun using the contraption as trying the various types of wonderful cheeses available. So, someone either fly me back to Copenhagen’s Scandic Palace Hotel or find me one of these machines.
Demonstration below:
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Dreaming of snow this Christmas? Let coconut flakes stand in for the real stuff on top of your drink. If you get your guests boozed up enough, they may even think it’s snowing.
You could do this with pretty much any drink; Isaac Elbhar at Bryant Park Hotel Cellar Bar in New York offers it atop the Purple Snowflake Martini:
I recently took a new job that requires me to go to work every day. If you’ll remember, I started working from home over a year and a half ago. I was nervous about eating ice cream every 15 minutes with such easy access to my freezer.
I manged to work through it, loving the freedom from schedules and getting the opportunity to make my own lunch – fresh – every day. While I miss my pajamas, I adore my new gig and also found some new ways to deal with the distance from my own kitchen.
This is seriously no fucking joke. This thermos keeps things so fucking cold that I’m nervous this device is illegal. Ice cubes stay frozen for over 24 hours. It is legit and will keep you from constant runs to the water cooler. (It’s better just to IM your coworkers anyway.)
(Photo: Meijer)
I’m not gonna eat breakfast before I leave for work. I’m just not. Instead, I keep a big tub of yogurt in the office fridge and pour a few spoonfuls into my from-home bowl; I also brought in a spoon. The giant portion makes it easy to eat however much I’m hungry for and cuts down on all of packaging that comes with individual serving containers.
(Photo: Chobani)
Another year gone by, another chance to look back fondly at the thousands of things we stuffed our faces with in 2011. After much internal debate, we’ve narrowed it down to just 10 — the very best new things we shoved in our mouths in 2011.
Montreal’s greasiest, gravy-iest contribution to the food world, poutine officially became a trend back in 2010. It got even more amazing this year when chef Kyle Bailey of D.C.’s ChurchKey had the ingenious idea to replace the french fries with tater tots.
We first discovered this over-the-top traditional pastry, which is something like a croissant with twice as much butter and sugar, on a trip to Brittany, France this summer. Returning home, we were pleased to find it blowing up in the states. The best version we’ve tasted to far is the one above, from Starter Bakery in Oakland. It has also popped up at Dominique Ansel in New York and Bouchon Bakery in L.A.
Filipino food is among the most far-out in the world, so it was only a matter of time before it got a hipster update. From Adobo Hobo’s Filipino tacos in San Francisco to Maharlika’s spicy arroz caldo in New York (above), we’ll take all the creative Filipino cuisine we can get.
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Because of some concerned comments on our recent whiskey caramel marshmallow bacon bark, we figured it was time to roll our sleeves up and get down to basics with a homemade caramel sauce recipe. The method we used for this post is a wet vs. dry process (dry process being no water added to dissolve the sugar – this method is a bit trickier).
To begin, let’s talk safety. Wear an oven mitt if you can to protect yourself from any steam or splatters. To prevent anything from boiling over, make sure to use a pan that is at least 2 quarts in size. We also recommend that you keep a bowl filled with icy water nearby. Should any splatters hit your arm or hand, you can plunge it into the bowl. Resist the urge to put your mouth to any splatters that hit your skin or you will have a burnt tongue and lip as well.
If this is your first time making homemade caramel sauce and you biff it, no worries, we’re pretty sure most people do and did on their first run. Luckily, sugar is cheap and you’ll nail it on the second time.
