Neo Soul Food Cookbook


TAMMIE SMITH of the Richmond Times Dispatch (Virginia) reports that there’s a new cookbook out called, “Neo Soul, Taking Soul Food to a Whole ‘Nutha Level,” by Lindsey Williams.

What a title…

what a title…

what a title.

The cover design is actually quite well done. If we can get a copy we might review it on TasteTV.

I’m actually a little hungry now.

Tammie says it

“offers healthier versions of traditional Southern favorites, such as macaroni and cheese, apple cobbler, corn bread and fried chicken. The Joy Program celebration dinner included recipes from Williams’ cookbook prepared by a local catering firm.”

According to Amazon.com, it might be worth reading:

From the grandson of Harlem’s queen of soul food, Sylvia Woods, comes a revolution in cooking down-home foods that taste as good as you remember but with less fat, salt, and calories. Lindsey Williams knows soul food. He grew up in the kitchen of his grandmother’s restaurant, Sylvia’s, where he mastered the art of soul-food cooking. But a lifetime of biscuits, coleslaw, corn bread, and fried chicken took its toll. When the scale tipped 400 pounds, Lindsey knew it was time to make some changes. The result is Neo Soul, a new kind of cooking that brings all the flavors to the plate but slashes the fat and calories.

Now, this paperback edition contains even more delicious soul-food recipes, alongside favorites like Grandma’s Roasted Turkey, Lenzo’s Trout Stuffed with Collard Greens, Okra Gumbo, Neo Sweet Potato Pie, and Blueberry Buckle. With food this tasty, no one will miss the fat.

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TasteTV at TasteTV.com

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Candlelit restaurant with linen napkins and fried chicken

Have you ever gone to a candlelit restaurant with linen napkins and ordered fried chicken? I have. And it was good. Real good.

The restaurant was Maverick, a posh little haunt in San Francisco’s Mission district where 12 friends and I gathered last week to celebrate a birthday. The menu is upscale American cuisine, with a focus on Southern fare, a concept that’s not commonly used in finer dining restaurants. In fact, the restaurant is named for Samuel Maverick, a renegade cattle rancher who refused to brand his herd. Hence, it’s easy to make the correlation between the unique cuisine and the restaurant’s namesake.

I was definitely in the minority at my table, where everyone but myself ordered the pan-fried snapper. Albeit, it was served with tempting little hushpuppies, but I wanted to keep it real with the Southern theme. When I saw the appetizers that were coming to our table: fried green tomatoes and barbecued baby back ribs, the fried chicken sung out to me as the entrée of choice.

Although fried chicken is considered a comfort food, it’s not as simple to make as you may think. Like anything cooked up in the kitchen, there are bad, good and exceptional ways to make fried chicken. I didn’t quite realized the nuances of frying chicken until a friend of mine was creating the menu for her new restaurant and fried copious amounts of chicken to develop her signature version.

There are many things to consider when frying chicken. Crunchy skin or crispy? Thick or thin? Spicy or mild? Cornflakes, cornmeal or flour? Buttermilk marinade or plain? Egg dip or plain flour dredge? Shortening or oil? Paper towel or rack drain? To the connoisseurs, it’s a very serious undertaking.

The fried chicken at Maverick turned out to be some of the best I’ve had. Not only was it cooked to its full juicy potential, the deep golden skin had a shatter so crisp it compelled me to pluck off pieces of the skin and munch them down before I even cut into the meat. In fact, even after I was full and couldn’t eat another piece of chicken, I managed to polish off the seasoned skin before my plate was taken from the table.

Never let the décor of a restaurant dictate your entrée choice. Even when you’re being treated by top-rate service and presented with a cork before enjoying the vintage of the evening, don’t second-guess what you’re palate is craving. Especially if it’s fried chicken.


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TasteTV at TasteTV.com

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Melting Chocolate at GetFondant.com?


I like fondant, you like fondant, we all like fondant, especially if it’s chocolate.

The writers at GetFondant.com realllllly likes fondant (and food, and politics, and all kinds of Phoenix based topics)

This blog from the contributors, producers and culinary correspondents at
TasteTV at TasteTV.com

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How do You Judge if It’s Healthy?

This blog from the contributors, producers and culinary correspondents at
TasteTV at TasteTV.com

I find many, many people don’t only want to eat really great food, they want to know that it’s healthy. Problem is they’re not sure how to define healthy any longer. The debate about appropriate diet versus junk has left them confused.

It’s the same with wine, and wine will become more problematic to judge as climates get warmer (undue warmth is actually the enemy of wine).

With food we know, for example, that complex ingredients have a habit of fooling the senses into eating more – no one signal gets up and says: stop eating! And we know a meal biased towards the meat element as the crown jewel is putting easy cooking ahead of healthy cooking.

So what can you say to provide an easily acquired instinct for healthy food? You can ask what a chef’s doing to create balance. Balance between meat and non-meat, balance between sweet and sour, balance between green vegetables and red, and purple and yellow, balance between using the frypan and using the oven or steam, balance between cooked and raw.

Chefs and restaurants with an eye on health will pay some dues to this principle not only within a meal but also across the menu. And it’s a good guide for healthy eating. Can I tick off some of those balancing elements as I scan down the menu? If I can I can construct a healthy meal from it.

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Spice Up Your Life!

As a young cook I was never one to follow recipes. The first cook book that I bought was an old worn out copy of Martin Yan’s “The Joy Of Woking”, I was seven at the time and got the book for a quarter at a garage sale. I enjoyed watching Chef Yan on TV cut up a chicken in 10 seconds and loved his goofy antics behind the stove. I got inspiration for a recipe of crispy glazed chicken in sesames. I read the recipe, but then changed it a bit. I added orange juice and red pepper flakes, now I made something else, something with my own twist. I had a chance to meet Chef Yan a few years ago, and I had him autograph my copy of “The Joy Of Woking”. He was so touched that as a young child I was influenced by his cooking and now as a working cook I still admired his talents.

When I was a kid in my mother’s kitchen I did not witness her opening books or pulling cards from a recipe caddy. She cooked from instinct and practice, and so I first learned from her. When I started working in kitchens as a prep cook, and while attending culinary school that all changed. Recipes were an integral part of my cooking experience in the kitchen. It took me a while to change to this. Now today some, 20 some odd years from the purchase of my first cook book, I am starting to create my own catalog of recipes. I have gained knowledge as a recipe writer from my jobs at Williams-Sonoma and as a private chef.

I have spent the last week working on new recipes for Hands on Gourmet’s Fall/Winter 2006 menu rotation. Warm flatbreads, earthy spices, and seasonal produce will be given The Food Diva treatment. Get ready for flavor overload! As the weather gets cool I will be turning up the heat with spicy and bold flavors!
I find pleasure in creating something that is appealing to the eye, inviting to the senses and sensual on the palate. Rolling dough, roasting peppers, pulling cheese, toasting nuts, all of these activities make me giddy like a school girl fixing an afterschool snack. As a cooking instructor it is important to give my students a basic understanding of ingredients and culinary techniques. I don’t want to bore them so I make all of my classes unique, interactive and together we create a memorable meal full of flavor and pizzaz!

For this season’s recipes I sat and had a chat with Stephen, my boss and the Executive Chef of Hands On Gourmet, about incorporating seasonal items and bringing more ethnic cuisine to our clients. I love the smokiness of dried chiles and charred onions as well as the robust flavors of cinnamon, cumin, corriander, and saffron. Pair that with plump figs, juicy pears and dried apricots, earthy mushrooms, hearty grains, spicy chiles and winter root vegetables and we got the beggining of something spectacular! Along with Roger Feely, my fellow Sous Chef, we each created two menus to submit to Stephen. My task was to create a Mexican and Moroccan menu. And I tell you what, I think I did a kick ass job! However, I can’t take all the credit. Most of the recipes for the Mexican menu are my mom’s old classics. One Sunday afternoon we spent nearly an hour chatting about old family favorites. I can’t wait for her to visit in the spring and help me teach a class. Two Latin Food Divas in the kitchen…watch out!
I am working on the recipes that will go along with the menu this weekend.I am happy to share these new menus with you, and I will be posting recipes and pictures as soon as I start cookin’! In the meantime read on and start salivating. ‘Til next time get in the kitchen, raid the cabinets and create something new! Happy Cooking! The Food Diva~

Kasbah

Bastilla~ Fragrant saffron chicken with ground almonds and ginger in crispy pastry bundles
dusted with cinnamon.

Fez FrittersA Moroccan twist on a Middle Eastern falafel with harissa yogurt sauce.

Assorted Flatbreads with Charmoulla and Apricot-Currant ChutneyBeef Tagine, Preserved Lemons and Olives served

with Marrakesh Market Couscous

Lemon-Ginger Cakes, Honey-Yogurt and Cherry-Pomegranate Preserves

Hacienda
Gorditas filled with Wild Mushrooms, Epazote and Melted Oaxacan Cheese. Served with a zesty fire

roasted Salsa Borracha

Crispy Zucchini-Potato Pancakes, Jicama-Cucumber Relish and Scallion Drizzle

Aztec Corn Flan with Avocado-Poblano Sauce and Radish-Orange Ensalada

Turkey in Pipian Sauce, Buttery Rice Pilaf and Harvest Vegetable Escabeche

Mayan Chocolate Cakes,Kahlua Cream and Sesame Brittle

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TasteTV at TasteTV.com

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Chef Idol: American Idol meets Iron Chef

Jackie on Myspace talks about some skits and sketches they did for WATCH TV (WTV), ending with something call “Chef Idol.” Not sure where we can see it, but if it’s good, it should be on TasteTV!

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TasteTV at TasteTV.com

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