Slashfood

Marisa McClellan, Saying Goodbye

Marisa McClellan — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST

In the last year and a half, Slashfood has been an integral part of my life. Over that time, I've written nearly half a million words, posted countless recipes and taken so many pictures of my food that I had to get a larger harddrive installed in my computer in order to store them all. It has been a delight to have the opportunity to write for and interact with the amazing community of readers and writers that come to this space everyday. However, the time has come for me to move on and so today is my last day as a Slashfoodie.

Thank you to all of you who came here, read my posts, cooked my recipes and kept me on the grammatical straight and narrow. You made it all so worthwhile. I also want to thank the amazing team of writers with whom I had the opportunity to work with, I feel so fortunate to have worked with so many talented, passionate foodies.

For those of you who are interested in what's next for me, I will continue to make noise on these here interwebs. I'm going to be blogging about local foods, canning, pickling, jam making, food preservation and the occasional cookbook at Food in Jars. Scott and I will continue to make food in front of a camera for your amusement on Fork You. I'm still writing Apartment 2024, the blog that started it all. And finally, if that's not enough, you're welcome to follow me on Twitter.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

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A Dried Bean Lesson

Marisa McClellan — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:03:00 EST

Filed under: Vegetables

Last week, I decided to make a batch of turkey chili. My younger sister and a friend of hers were staying with us and I figured chili was a easy way to cover at least one dinner and lunch the next day. I put a pound of beans in to soak overnight and then the next morning, popped them into a slow cooker. At lunchtime, I ran home to get the rest of the chili ready, browning ground turkey with some chopped onions and breaking up a can of whole peeled tomatoes.

I poured the meat and veggies into a different slow cooker and added the partially cooked beans and their cooking liquid, figuring that they would soften the rest of the way over the course of the afternoon (experienced dried been cookers may have already spotted my mistake). Except that when I got home later that night, the beans were still crunchy. We waited an hour more, and but they never got soft. We ended up picking every bean out of the chili by hand and then adding in a couple of cans of beans, in order to create a dinner we could eat.

Later that night, as I beat myself up for ruining dinner, I flipped through the Rancho Gordo Cookbook, trying to figure out where I had gone wrong. Suddenly, I found the illuminating passage. It explained that you should never add high acid foods to beans before they are fully cooked, as the acids will arrest the cooking process and so you'll end up with crunchy, undercooked beans. Just my problem. I still felt bad about having screwed up dinner, but I also felt grateful to have figured out why my beans has been so terrible. It's one mistake I won't make again.

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Black Bean Soup - Feast Your Eyes

Marisa McClellan — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Feast Your Eyes

I think that black bean soup, especially when served with rice and topped with chopped onion, sour cream and a squirt of lemon juice, is one of the most perfect meals on earth. Savory and flavorful, low in fat and totally filling, it's just delicious. The picture you see above is actually one of mine, and I eat it just as you see it, out of my little orange pot, perched on a cutting board to protect the table from the heat. If the picture makes you hungry, you can find the recipe over at Super Eco.

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Tasty Nibbles From YumSugar

Marisa McClellan — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:59:00 EST

Filed under: YumSugar

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week.

Kellogg's has responded to the Michael Phelps marijuana scandal by donating all the boxes of cereal with his mug on them to food pantries.
Looking for ways to keep the food budget in check? Check out these helpful tips that celebrity chefs shared with Oprah.
Robert Irvine is back on Dinner: Impossible and the new season kicks off soon.
When you go to a restaurant, do you socialize and chat with your servers.
Have you ever been curious whether the restaurants on Kitchen Nightmares prosper and thrive?
Who's to blame for the peanut salmonella scandal?

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Taste Test - Starbuck VIA

Marisa McClellan — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:05:00 EST

Filed under: Raves & Reviews, New Products

Recently, Starbucks wowed the world when they announced that they were releasing a line of gourmet instant coffees, in the hopes of capturing an untapped market. The coffee-loving world was immediately agitated, how could an instant coffee qualify as gourmet and was it possible for Starbucks to create something palatable? (Most instant coffee is unmitigated swill, at least in the eyes of the coffee snob.)

I got my hands on a couple of VIA samples late last week and have spent the last few days trying it out, often subbing it in for my regular morning cup. So far, I've been pleasantly surprised by the taste. It's got a fairly full and rich flavor and isn't plagued by the thin, bitter taste that accompanies so many other traditional instant coffees. I did find that it was missing some of the finishing notes that freshly ground and brewed coffee has, but it was far better than some of the brewed coffee I've consumed on airplanes and at diners over the years.

One thing I discovered when making this coffee is that you've got to take care while pouring out your hot water. Each little packet has enough coffee crystals to make an eight ounce cup of coffee, and so if you add more than that, you'll end up with a watery cup. I find this a little disappointing, as I typically drink a cup of coffee that's closer to 12 ounces each morning. If I were to become a VIA regular, I'd end up measuring out half packets all the time, I practice that would get really frustrating. It would be nice if this coffee came in a larger, multi-serving package, so that I could measure out the amount of coffee I wanted, without the constraints of the packet.

Gallery: Starbucks Via

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White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups - Feast Your Eyes

Marisa McClellan — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Feast Your Eyes

I have always had something of a weakness for white chocolate. I know that the chocolate purists out there argue that white chocolate isn't chocolate at all, but nonetheless, I enjoy the stuff (particularly when combined with macadamia nuts and cookie batter). Recently, Erin of Erin Cooks made a batch of White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups that set my heart aflutter and my sweet tooth tingling. Delicious!

Thanks Erin!

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Taste Test: Kashi Bakes

Marisa McClellan — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:03:00 EST

Filed under: Raves & Reviews, New Products

When I was in college, I lived on toast and frozen food. I wasn't particularly interested in food or writing back then (my two primary passions these days) and I so I paid as little mind to breakfast, lunch and dinner as was possible while getting through school. My roommates and I would often trek over to Walla Walla's Grocery Outlet and stock up on whatever cheap, frozen meals were available.

As I got older and became more concerned about the foods I ate, I've trended to the opposite end of the spectrum, filling my freezer with local, grass fed beef, free range chickens and home frozen summer fruit. Currently, I'm searching for a more happy medium (life is busy and having a few frozen meals that someone else prepared saves me sometimes) and so I've fallen in love with these new meals from Kashi.

They come in two flavors, Tuscan Veggie Bake and Mayan Harvest Bake. The Tuscan variety is a lasagna, made from Kashi's whole grain noodles, yellow squash, roasted eggplant, red onion, sweet potato and tomato sauce. It's quite delicious, although I'm not a fan of yellow squash (I find the skin to be bitter). The Mayan themed bake starts with a layer of amaranth polenta (seriously delicious, it makes me want to play with amaranth more) and then has plantains, black beans, roasted sweet potatoes, kale and some Kashi whole grain pilaf. I really loved this variety. The amaranth and plantains are wonderful together and the sauce they've concocted for this dish, which reminds me of really good enchilada sauce, sets the whole thing off perfectly.

The other wonderful thing about these Kashi Bakes is that they are vegan. While I'm no meat-hater, I've been trying to reduce my meat intake and grabbing one of these for a quick lunch makes that goal a whole lot easier on busy days.

Bottom line: These are tasty, easy and fast meals that you can grab, microwave and feel good about. The only problem with them is that they are a bit pricy, retailing around $4. I'd recommend keeping an eye out for coupons or sales, and stocking up when the price is low.

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Michael Pollan Wants Your Food Motto

Marisa McClellan — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:29:00 EST

Filed under: Newspapers

My sister has gone through a number of different diet schemes over the years. First she was a vegetarian. Then she shifted to vegan (but missed cheese too much to go on). Then for a while, during some really lean times, she was a freegan, eating anything that she didn't have to pay for. These days, she distills her eating principle down to the basic phrase, "I don't eat things where the female of the species carries its young in a uterus." This means beef is out, but poultry is in.

I'm sure that there are lots of you out there who have equally quirky and specific dietary guiding principles and Michael Pollan, the man who coined the phrase "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." wants to know what they are. On Monday, he put a call out on New York Time's Well blog, soliciting these food mottos from readers. He's looking for something that is both poetic and appropriate.

So what's yours?

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Cherry Dum Dum - Feast Your Eyes

Marisa McClellan — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Feast Your Eyes

Oh my, did I love Dum Dums when I was a kid. In the hierarchy of lollipops, they were better than Blow-Pops (the candy was fake tasting and the gum lost its flavor in seconds) and not quite as good as Tootsie-Pops (I will always love the chocolate ones). I was a particular fan of the root beer and cream soda varieties, because they reminded me of my grandmother. But I'd take just about anyone in a pinch.

What was your favorite childhood lollipop?

Thanks Angela, for the lovely picture and the fun trip through the candy memories.

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Naturally Nora's Cake Mixes - Easy and Delicious

Marisa McClellan — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:35:00 EST

Filed under: Raves & Reviews, New Products

I have a confession to make. This year, I did not bake Scott's birthday cake from scratch. It's the fourth birthday confection I've baked for him in the years we've known each other, and it's the first time I didn't start with raw ingredients and a recipe. Instead, I used two boxes of Naturally Nora's cake mix and saved myself a whole lot of prep time. No one at his party had any idea that I hadn't slaved over the cake, measuring flour, beating egg whites and creaming butter. I got a million compliments and as I received each one, I just smiled and said thanks (as I write this, I'm beginning to feel like a 1950's housewife), mentally forwarding them to Nora herself.

The thing is, I don't feel bad about passing off that cake as my own. I did bake it up in the big aluminum pan I inherited from my great-aunt and I sweated over the frosting. It's just not always possible to bake a cake from scratch, and it's awfully nice to know that there's a dependable, natural cake mix out there among all those chemical-laden ones that is just as easy and tastes really good.

So next time you have to make cupcakes for a school party and you find yourself running short on time, grab one of Nora's mixes (they come in five flavors) and let yourself off the hook.

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Olive Oil, Slow Food and Corned Beef - The Oregonian in 60 Seconds

Marisa McClellan — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: In Sixty Seconds

Have you ever found yourself in the grocery store, staring at all the bottles of olive oil, trying to determine which will give you the most flavor for your buck? The FoodDay staff sampled their way through 15 different varieties, in the hopes of finding the best of the lot.
The Slow Food Movement is descending from its lofty perch to lobby in support of farm workers.
For those of you lucky enough to live in the Rogue Valley, make sure to head to the Rogue Creamery this Saturday for the 5th annual Oregon Cheese Festival.
Corn chowder made with Green Giant's 'Mexicorn,' shredded chicken and cumin is a quick, satisfying dinner.
Confused by wine availability? Click here to learn more about wine's three-tiered distribution system.
Tis the season for corned beef! Check your local grocery store for great deals and consider baking your beef instead of boiling it.
Ivy Manning's three-cheese pizza with kale is a meatless meal that won't leave anyone hungry.

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Irish Carbomb Cupcake - Feast Your Eyes

Marisa McClellan — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:06:00 EST

Filed under: Feast Your Eyes

For those of you not in the know, an Irish Carbomb is a drink that combines Guinness, Irish cream (typically Bailey's) and Irish whiskey (often Jameson). Food blogger Sassy Radish has transformed that bar special into a boozy, chocolate-y cupcake and has made them look deliciously cute with a frenzy of frosting flowers. She doesn't have a blog post up yet to match up with these 'cakes, but I'm certain that when she does, the corresponding recipe will be a winner.

Thanks Sassy Radish!

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Eating Down the Fridge

Marisa McClellan — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:01:00 EST

Filed under: On the Blogs

I have found that the more storage space I have for the food, the more food I'll keep socked away. For example, we got a new refrigerator last summer. I was giddy with excitement when we bought it, thrilled that I would finally have a fridge that wasn't stuff to the gills. However, in very short order, it was just as packed with food as the previous fridge had been despite being a full 1/3 bigger.

Recently, I've been trying to be more diligent about using up the things we have instead of purchasing food on a whim, and this week, there are a number of home cooks and food bloggers specifically endeavoring to do the same thing. A Mighty Appetite's Kim O'Donnell is keeping things organized and she has more than 100 households across five countries participating in the Eat Down the Fridge Challenge (there's even a honor roll and a Facebook group devoted to the effort).

If you've got a number of things tucked away in your fridge, freezer and pantry, consider playing along this week and see how many meals you can make from the food that you already have.

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Veggie-Egg Cups Make Quick Work of Breakfast

Marisa McClellan — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Breakfast, Recipes

Recently, Scott and I have been trying to eat a bit more healthfully and shed a few of those winter pounds that crept on over the last few months. We've found that doing Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet helps us both get our eating habits in check and forces us to think a bit more carefully about the food we eat. While I'm looking forward to switching back to oatmeal and other whole grains for my morning meal once this very limited carb phase is over, I've also been enjoying making egg cups for our breakfasts.

These muffin-sized egg bakes (even when not following South Beach, I've made similar recipes in a larger baking dish for brunch potlucks and holiday morning buffets) are essentially portable omelettes that, once cooked, make breakfast prep a snap in the morning. Just grab one and reheat it for a morning meal that contains lots of protein and one healthy serving of vegetables.

The recipe I'm following this week is after the jump.

Continue reading Veggie-Egg Cups Make Quick Work of Breakfast

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Beer-Braising for Philly Beer Week

Marisa McClellan — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:01:00 EST

Filed under: Beer, Vegetables, Recipes

It's Beer Week here in Philadelphia, and while I'm not a huge beer drinker, the city-wide brew celebration has got me thinking about ways to incorporate beer into my cooking (we've also got a surfeit of beer around the apartment, leftover from a recent birthday/engagement party, that needs to be used). One of the tastiest applications for beer I've found recently is in beer braised cabbage.

Before I made beer braised cabbage for the first time, I searched the internet a bit, looking for some inspiration as well as confirmation that the recipe I was forming in my head was on the right track. I found a post by Shauna, the Gluten-Free Girl, in which she braises cabbage with gluten-free beer, and determined that my internal recipe was just about on. A few tweaks and I started cooking. The resultant cabbage was delicious and was an excellent foil for some beer braised brisket (I'm on something of a beer braising kick at the moment). This cabbage would be great St. Patrick's Day side dish, served up with corned beef and boiled potatoes (as well as a nice bottle of Guinness).

Recipe after the jump.

Continue reading Beer-Braising for Philly Beer Week

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Strawberry Bundt Cake - Feast Your Eyes

Marisa McClellan — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Feast Your Eyes

Well hello, you gorgeous strawberry bundt cake! After a long, bone-chilling winter, I am more than ready to see confections such as this, made with wonderful springtime fruit, popping up in the Slashfood Flickr pool. This treat was baked up by Kate of the food blog A Dash of Sass. She adapted Paula Deen's recipe for Hummingbird Cake (replacing the bananas and pineapple with homemade strawberry puree) and, once she figured out the difference between cake flour and self-rising flour, turned out a beautiful, rosy-hued cake. Paired with a cream cheese frosting, it must have been quite tasty.

Thanks Kate!

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Milk and Cookies - Feast Your Eyes

Marisa McClellan — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Feast Your Eyes

Who doesn't like a nice tall glass of milk with a freshly baked cookie? This particular picture looks like it's straight out of an advertisement for this most tasty of afternoon snacks. Delicious!

Thanks Dov!

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Delicious Nibbles From YumSugar

Marisa McClellan — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: YumSugar

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week.

The growing trend of culinary kids is encountering a wee bit of backlash.
Do you rip recipes out of your magazines or save the whole issue if there's something you like?
The combination of turkey, manchego and pear butter sounds like a inspired sandwich with a nice sweet/savory attitude.
Food Network's Sandra Lee is getting another show on the channel. In this one, she'll be focusing on affordable edibles.
Skittles turns their homepage over to a feed of Twitter comments about the brand and the media goes crazy.
Hosea wins Top Chef and refuses to apologize for his victory.
Looking for a few good appetizer recipes? Here are five that go great with wine.

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Homemade Nutella - Feast Your Eyes

Marisa McClellan — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Feast Your Eyes

I have always had it in the back of my mind that I'd like to make nutella from scratch someday. Ever since I read someplace that the American version has all sorts of unsavory ingredients, I figured it would be a good idea to try to make a more natural batch (and besides, making your own chocolate hazelnut spread means that you get to lick the spoon when you're done).

Elana says it's a little labor intensive, but well worth the effort. Thanks for the delicious picture and the reminder to make this, Elana!

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Cube Steak and Beets with Walnut Sauce - The NY Times in 60 Seconds

Marisa McClellan — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:06:00 EST

Filed under: In Sixty Seconds

Cube steak, that tenderized cut of meat that so many of us ate during childhood, has been making a comeback.
Blog coverage of new restaurants, in some cases long prior to opening, is causing some concern that people will tire of the new spots, even before they can eat there.
The organic label on foods has long made people feel like they were making the more virtuous choice, but does it actually mean that those foods are safer?
Frank Bruni gives a sad, single star to L'Artusi, a new Italian restaurant, finding redemption only on the dessert menu.
Want a more soulful breakfast? Check out this list of NYC morning spots that will fill your belly and leave you satisfied.
California chardonnay has evolved since the early days and Eric Asimov rounds up some of the best from Santa Barbara.
The Queens County Farm Museum has gone from a spot for agrotainment to a full-on working farm.
Melissa Clark has found that there's nothing better than fish that has been gently poached in butter (or some other fat) for keeping it supple and delicious.
Stop pairing beets with goat cheese and give this walnut-garlic puree a try instead, says Minimalist Mark Bittman.
Elaine Loue introduces a new (albeit intentionally short-lived) column - The Temporary Vegetarian.

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