New Directions in the Fruit World

Do you remember as a kid being quite impressed when your parents brought home a watermelon from the store that stretched 2 feet or even longer? Well, according to the New York Times' Kim Severson, it's getting harder and harder to find those traditional, oversized melons.

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The idea of making upside-down cake sounds appealing, but I've never been a huge fan of pineapple. So this twist on the traditional dessert caught my eye. The L.A. Times offers alternative recipes for upside-down cake using apricots, spiced cherries and peaches, among other fruits.

Wonderful Clafoutis, But So Many Versions

Over at the food portal Serious Eats, Robin Bellinger writes that she took her second stab at making clafoutis, a custardy French dessert that is usually made with cherries. She wasn't sure at first how this version would turn out, but

. . . in the evening my husband pronounced it irresistible. I was truly sold the next day when I had a sliver of clafoutis straight out of the refrigerator; the flavor and texture of the clafoutis were best when it was cold.

She even pitted her own cherries. Impressive. I have a clafoutis recipe, and I'm pretty happy with it. But what I find curious is that no two clafoutis recipes are identical. There seems to be some distinction from one to the next. I noticed that this recipe contains more than a cup of milk, while this recipe calls for exactly 1 cup of milk, and this one contains only 3/4 cup.

One thing that probably trips up amateur cooks who try their hand at clafoutis is the fact that the batter is so runny. I'm willing to bet that many people try to "fix" that runniness, and what results is a custardy texture that is denser than it should be.

Second Helpings in France

If you're a guest for dinner at someone's home in the U.S., it's not unusual to be asked if you would like "a second helping." If you do, you simply ask for "more pot roast" or "more asparagus" or more of something else.

Interestingly, this blogger informs us that in la belle France, the custom is quite different. She's married to a Frenchman and has lived in France, so she should know a thing or two about the country's customs. In any case, she writes:

If you ever attend a (French) dinner party and plan to take seconds, you must take seconds of all the dishes. For example, if the meal consists of a meat, potatoes and a vegetable, you cannot just take a second serving of the potatoes; you must take a second helping of all three, otherwise you will insult the host.

It makes them feel like you only liked the potatoes so that is all you want to have again.

Or, if they weren't so hyper-sensitive, they could conclude that you simply liked the potatoes the best. Which raises the question: what if you did only like the potatoes? So what?

I love dining in France, but this custom seems more like something that overfed, overweight Americans would have devised.

Frozen French Food

I guess one weird food-related story (see my last post) deserves another. Police in the French city of Lyon have discovered the body of renowned chef Jean-Francois Poinard -- in an apartment freezer. The body may have been in the freezer for two years.

Poinard represented the fourth generation of a cooking dynasty, and a French newspaper hailed him as one of the "great names" in gastronomy. He was 71 years old when he disappeared. A former girlfriend has been taken into custody.

When I-90 Became the Cheddar Parkway

On July 8 of this year, a crash involving a semi-trailer rig dumped more than eight tons of cheese onto Interstate 90 in South Dakota. The Utah man who was driving that vehicle was supposed to appear in court this week, but he was a no-show.

Crab Cakes in Annapolis

My brother and his wife were in the D.C. area this weekend, and we decided to take them to Annapolis, Md. There I sought crab cakes, and was quite pleased with the ones served at Carrol's Creek Cafe.

Their crab cakes are broiled, but they must use enough mayonnaise to keep them from drying out (unlike the broiled crab cakes at some other restaurants). The crab cakes at Carrol's Creek were very moist and flavorful. The cream of crab soup was good too. The restaurant is moderately expensive, and they have a large deck that looks out over the docked boats with views of the Naval Academy's chapel and other historic buildings.

A Marriage for the Melon-Obsessed

I saw this item (below), which announced the approaching marriage of Emery Gullickson and Neal Richards, in the Washington Post's Express tabloid:

FIRST DATE: A few years after meeting, they reconnected at Emery's dad's birthday party. When her dad offered them some leftover watermelon, Emery suggested she and Neal boil it to see what would happen. The week after, they made a watermelon pie. "We became quite fond of each other while our distaste for watermelon flavoring grew," Emery says.

MMM, CAKE: The groom's cake is watermelon-shaped.

I've heard of a couple bonding over a food each one of them loved, but this is the first time I've heard of a couple bonding over a flavor they disliked.

The Cheez Doodler Dies

The news that Morrie Yohai died last week may mean nothing to you. Morrie who? Well, if you've ever enjoyed Cheez Doodles, you should observe a moment of silence in his honor because he was the snack's creator.

In the post-World War II years, Yohai took over his father's snack-food business at a factory in the Bronx, N.Y. In a 2005 interview with a New York newspaper, Yohai explained how he stumbled on the idea for Cheez Doodles:

"We were looking for another snack item. We were fooling around and found out there was a machine that extruded cornmeal and it almost popped like popcorn."

From there, it didn't take long for someone to suggest coating the cornmeal with cheese. And the rest is (snack) history.

Blame It on Red's Eats

There's that old saying -- if you "build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door." I guess the same is true if you make a better lobster roll. I got a kick out of this N.Y. Times article about Red's Eats, a seafood shack in Wiscasset, Maine that is known for serving fantastic lobster rolls. The traffic leading into the town during the summer slows to a snail's pace, and many locals say the popularity of Red's is the reason why.

According to RoadFood.com, the best time to avoid long lines when visiting Red's is 3 p.m. on a Thursday. So, now you know.

A Few of My Fave Food Blogs

Even if I didn't enjoy reading it, the blog 101 Cookbooks would be worth checking out if only for the photos, which are just gorgeous. Plus, I really like the fact that 101 Cookbooks allows you to search posts by ingredient -- see the left side of the screen. Now that's cool.

For any resident of the Washington, D.C. area who wants to keep on top of the ever-changing dining scene, the blog Capital Cooking is a "must read." Its author, Lauren DeSantis, provides savvy and helpful reviews of what's cookin' around the city. Lauren is a very busy woman. She has written a cookbook, and she hosts a TV show that appears regularly on public-access television. Lauren and I happen to share a love for deviled eggs.

Blue Kitchen, a blog based in Chicago, is another of my faves. This blog posts interesting -- but not overly complex -- recipes that will appeal to those who like to good, hassle-free meals. This recipe (balsamic vinegar chicken) is a good example. If you like wine, you'll appreciate the helpful "Wine and Drink" links that are positioned in a lefthand sidebar on Blue Kitchen.

The final favorite food blog that I'll cite here is Smitten Kitten. The photos are fabulous, and the recipes are (like those at Blue Kitchen) ones that can be prepared by ordinary people who keep cheesecloth in their kitchen at all times. Consider this recently posted recipe for Peach-Creme Fraiche Pie. If looking at those photos doesn't make you want to grab a pie pan and some Freestone peaches, I don't know what will.

A Peach Repertoire

I bought more than a half-dozen peaches at a farmers market last weekend, and I've been enjoying them ever since. I rarely buy peaches at the grocery store any more -- just too risky. I just noticed this web page at the N.Y. Times' food pages that lists a number of recipes featuring peaches.

The recipes range from fried peach pies with bourbon and cinnamon to peach puree vinaigrette. There's even a recipe for peach ice cream, which looks mighty good.

Starting Your Day in Chicago?

My last post was about one of my food stops during a recent visit to Chicago. Here's another food recommendation, courtesy of radio station WBEZ. It's a list of the top 5 breakfasts in the Windy City.

Meli Cafe heads the list, a Greek diner with "organic produce, eggs, fresh-squeezed juices and homemade jams." Sounds good to me.

Manny's, the Marvelous Deli in Chicago

I want to send a very warm thank-you to the owners of Manny's Cafeteria and Deli in Chicago for hosting my brother Mark and me last weekend for an event to promote our new book, What the Great Ate.

Once our interview was concluded, we both had an early lunch. I chose the pastrami sandwich. God, was that a good sandwich. I also had a cup of matzo ball soup. It had been several years since my first visit to Manny's, but it was as authentic, wonderful and unpretentious as I had remembered it. If you find yourself in Chicago, it's a worthwhile pit stop for breakfast or lunch.

Soon after he won the presidential election in 2008, president-elect Barack Obama had lunch at Manny's with Mayor Richard Daley as he planned his transition to the White House. That photo above shows Obama and the mayor enjoying their meals.