Archives for March 2009

Chicken Piccata

March 30, 2009 by Charles 2 Comments

“We have not an hour of life In which our pleasures relish not some pain, Our sours some sweetness.” — Philip Massinger.

Why does sour get such a bad name? The word is practically synonymous with misfortune and unpleasantness. A business deal goes sour. A friend develops sour grapes. A neighbor becomes a sour puss. You can’t help but develop a sour disposition. In fact, under these conditions, your whole outlook on life may turn sour.

These expressions are hardly novel or recent. Sour has held its pejorative crown for centuries. The expression “sour grapes” dates back …

Homemade Bread Crumbs

March 29, 2009 by Charles 1 Comment

Bread crumbs are one of those indispensable ingredients. They give gratins and casseroles their attractive topping, they give meatloaf its consistent texture, and they give fried chicken its trademark crunch. To accommodate these various roles, bread crumbs come in two styles: fresh (soft) or dried.

As the name implies, fresh, or soft, bread crumbs are fluffier and softer than their dried counterparts. Because of their consistency, they are frequently used as a binder in meatloaf and dumplings, or as a topping for gratins and casseroles. Dried bread crumbs, on the other hand, are finer and crisper than the fresh variety. Their crisp texture makes them perfect for breading meat and seafood. With the addition of herbs and spices, each variety can be transformed into seasoned bread crumbs.

Any good bread can serve as the raw material …

Sauteed Broccolini

March 23, 2009 by Charles Leave a Comment

Like the Camry, the Walkman, and the Wii, broccolini is one more Japanese product making its way into the American household. And like its predecessors, the vegetable is one part engineering and one part marketing.

Broccolini was developed in 1993, when the Sakata Seed Corporation crossed broccoli with gai lan, or Chinese broccoli. Sakata originally marketed the green as “aspiration,” perhaps a not so subtle allusion to its hopes for the product. The name may have also been designed to suggest a connection to asparagus. Indeed, Sakata also tried calling it asprobroc and asprospeer – never mind its misleading nature. Crossing broccoli with asparagus, one article noted, would be like breeding a chipmunk with a tree: it can’t be done.

Ultimately, the more accurate broccolini prevailed, though brocoletti was in the running for some time.

Broccolini is basically …

The Grim Peeper

March 16, 2009 by Charles 8 Comments

For the past three years, the Washington Post has invited its readers to participate in its Peeps Diorama Contest. The rules for the contest are simple – create a scene, concept, or event, in which the characters in the diorama are played by Peeps, “those marshmallowy chicks and rabbits plaguing checkout lines in every convenience store this season.” Throw a clever pun into the mix, and the Post promises the possibility of extra-credit.

Our first thought was an ode to Obama – “The Peeple’s Choice” – in which a throng of marshmallow figures crowded the Washington Mall in witness of an historic Inauguration. But, we worried, the Obama idea would hardly be original. Indeed, even the paper warned that it was “tired of the campaigns.”

The other major theme of this year, of course, has been the economic crises. And the more we thought about it – industries collapsing, banks failing, unemployment rising, stocks plummeting, and savings disappearing – we knew that some larger force had to be lurking behind the nation’s financial calamities. Our diorama, submitted last night, reveals …

Hamantashen

March 10, 2009 by Charles 4 Comments

According to an old Jewish joke, if you put three Jews on a committee, you’ll get four different opinions. . .which is exactly the number of different explanations I found detailing the origins of Hamantashen.

Hamantashen are triangular cookies that are served during the Jewish holiday, Purim. Purim tells the story of how the Jewish people in Persia avoided persecution at the hands of the King’s vizier, Haman. The three-cornered confections, commonly filled with jam or a poppy-seed concoction, owe their shape to Haman’s ear, clipped with shame. Or maybe to his triangular hat, which was the style at the time. Or maybe to his pockets weighted with bribe money. Or maybe to the three Jewish patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In other words, no one really knows.

Even the origins of the word are disputed. One explanation says Hamantashen derives from the Hebrew word “tash” for weakened, so that the word refers to Haman’s defeat. A second source …