Trends - - Page 37

by Bliz

A Very Uniq Salad

I want you guys to meet my new friend Uniq. Say hi Uniq. Aww, he’s a bit shy. But in fairness if you were the ugly duckling in the family, you may not always warm to strangers either. Give Uniq a break next time you see him on the produce isle, he kinda looks like shit, but this little guy has some really excellent goodies inside.

The Uniq fruit hails all the way from the island of Jamaica where someone that had very recently smoked a dubie had an epiphany about marrying a grapefruit with a tangerine. Amazingly, this idea lasted past the munchies phase and Jamaica began harvesting and exporting the fruit by branding it with the tragically fitting name, the Ugli fruit. Shockingly, the orders for the exotic ugli fruit were not overwhelming. Fortunately for us, some marketing exec (also probably after smoking a dubie) pushed to have the fruit rebranded as the Uniq fruit. That’s right Uniq, you’re not fat, you’re just big-boned.

Still suspect? Maybe a little jump will change your mind..

by Maids

Why Do I Love the ‘Hungry Girl’ But Hate the ‘Bitches’?

vs.

First, My Rant

I have to admit that I harbored a certain prejudice against the Skinny Bitches before I ever cracked the binding of their book, (which I did look through about a month back as I was killing time during a long airport lay-over). I didn’t like the idea behind their book, I didn’t like the title, and I haven’t liked the people I’ve met who rave about the book and how it’s changed their lives. My worst fears were confirmed when I read the first few pages and browsed the index and chapter headings. The book capitalizes on the worst of body-loathing and self-loathing that permeates our culture, but the ‘Bitches’ insist that their book is dedicated to changing the world by converting people to a vegan diet that will get them to eat better. But they aren’t just meat haters (a loathing which I can understand…. as I’m just not that into the harvesting and consumption of flesh myself). They hate on caffeine, sugar, wine, fun, and all human bodies that don’t live up to the painstakingly emaciated “ideal.”

The Bitches initiate their readers into their bitchy crew with heavy doses of castigation (they inform their readers that they are suffering from “bloated fat pig syndrome.” Ouch…. please miss, may I have another?), followed by model-body idolatry (“healthy = skinny”) , topped with a whole slew of rules we should all follow more closely than the ten commandments (like “sugar is the devil” and drinking alcohol “equals fat-pig syndrome” and “coffee is for pussies”). They also have a whole chapter dedicated to Pooping. Hmmm… do I smell former laxative abusers therein….?

More on the “Bitches” I hate, the “Hungry Girl” I love, and a chance to voice your views after the jump…

in Featured / Rants & Raves / Trends 49 comments

by gansie

Artsy Photo of the Day

What happens in DC when Corporate America tries to cash in on the prez – snarky vandalism.

Via New Columbia Heights

in Photos / Trends 1 comments

by Maids

Bean-a-holic

I’m going to let you all in on an open secret: I’ve been told I have a way with beans. I know, what a glorious claim to fame. But I have to admit that I LOVE beans. I NEED beans. All kinds of beans, prepared in all sorts of ways (as long as they aren’t refried…. I don’t do refried). I’m a particularly big fan of chick peas/garbanzos, black and red beans. I cook some kind of bean dish about once a week. My Romeo complains on occasion. He claims his at-times, ahem, flatulent tendencies are a result of my overuse of beans as a staple food in our diet. Whatever, my stomach is not affected thusly and beans are good for your heart, right? Romeo should be thanking me! I know, I overshare! But, the cabal of smarty-pants USDA scientists do recommend that American adults consume at least 3 cups of beans a week to promote health and reduce the risk of colon cancer, etc. My friends, I’m totally beating the curve!

Another secret: if you soak beans overnight and then rinse them, cook them for a while, and then rinse them again you can eliminate most of the sugars that promote gas formation. In the wise words of one of Bart Simpson’s chalkboard etchings: “Beans are neither fruit nor musical.” (BTW- shouldn’t the Simpsons creators convert the chalkboard to the much maligned, but now ubiquitous, dry-erase board in the newer episodes? Who’s with me?)

Now, I prefer to make some bean dishes from canned beans (especially when I’m making a bean-based puree like hummus). When I have time, however, I like to cook the thin-skinned beans (navy beans, black beans, red beans) the long way. The difference in taste and texture between dry black beans and canned beans is really worth the planning and work that goes into cooking them. But, ladies and gentleworms, cooking dry beans does require time. So do feel free to take the following recipe and use it with canned black beans instead of dry black beans.

My Amazing Black Bean Recipe after the jump

in Recipe / Trends / Veggie 10 comments

by ML

Kids Are People Too

Someone, somewhere, started the philosophy that children are unable to eat the same food as adults. The “kid friendly” slogan attached itself to many restaurants and prepared food brands which successfully enticed parents to let their children eat crap. But really, what makes food kid friendly?

The fact that these offerings are (normally) junk food?
The fact that kids are happier when they’re eating fat?
The fact that their choices are all delicious deep fried?

I know some kids truly don’t care for certain foods, the same way I don’t like fruit flavored yogurt or squid sashimi. However, it’s impossible for a child to dislike everything but fried potatoes.

Adults have a variety of choices, yet the kids menu normally consists of only a few options: chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese or hot dogs. Why can’t a lobster or fettuccine alfredo be kid friendly? Does picky really mean they can’t be at least offered a variety?

in Rants & Raves / Trends 33 comments

by tvff

Screw You, “Ingredient Three Ways”

I have serious issues with dishes that offer the same ingredient “three ways.”

Maybe you like it. Perhaps you think it’s a snazzy way to highlight the good things about an ingredient by using three different preparations. I’m sure that some of you regard it as a fantastic way to turn one course into three unique tastes. That’s one way of looking at it.

Another way to look at it would be that preparing an ingredient three ways is a gimmicky and increasingly overdone preparation that sounds better in theory. Really, is this necessary? I’m not one to try and stifle culinary creativity. I appreciate it when a chef tries to dazzle the customer with a wide variety of ideas and tricks that challenge and expand upon the flavor of an ingredient. But any time I see that tuna or duck or shrimp is being offered “three ways” on the menu, I just have to roll my eyes. It’s a bit much, isn’t it?

I feel quite strongly about this and I know that I have logic on my side, so I present to you a five-point argument explaining why this scourge of the menu must be eradicated:

in Rants & Raves / Trends 12 comments

by BS

Lard: So Hot Right Now?

Every cook has been there. You find a much-wanted recipe — usually for something with an international flair, like tamales, arepas, or dumplings — you read through it thinking, “yeah, I can totally make this at home,” but then the recipe gets to the point: Lard. Oh right, that’s why it tastes so frigging good.

I always flip past a recipe once I realize it calls for lard, and I think many Americans are the same way. We’ll drown our dishes in pounds of butter, cover them in gallons of EVOO, and of course we’ll batter and deep-fry anything. But lard is just beyond the pale. So I was rather intrigued by this line in today’s NYT piece about Chilean-style empanadas:

The dough is made with lard.

“Though we’ve started producing very good olive oil in Chile, and it’s used more and more, dough or pastry is never made with it,” Ms. Hamilton said. She added that she finds it a little odd that United States cooks are reluctant to use lard, because it has less saturated and more unsaturated fat than butter.

Wait a minute, does this mean lard is OK now? Better than butter, even? We can use it without feeling like we’re pushing every dinner guest a big step close to a certain early death? This could open up a whole new world of cooking possibilities. But of course I have to check with ES-ers first. What do you think? To lard or not to lard?

(Photo: Another Pint Please)

in Trends 12 comments