Cooking Corner from Creators Syndicate

Summertime Calls for Burgers on the Grill for 07/03/2009

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

By Caroline Dipping

During the summer grilling season, you need only follow one simple edict.

Do not play with your food.

This is vital, especially if you are planning on a burger bonanza for your weekend cookouts.

"Generally speaking, I think people actually fiddle with the food too much," said Jamie Purviance, author of five Weber grilling cookbooks, incl ...

Updated: Fri Jul 03, 2009

Berries: Summertime Memories Are Made of Them for 07/10/2009

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

By Ven Griva

Summer is so evocative, conjuring up magical childhood memories of trees climbed, fireflies caught and endless games of hide-and-seek played in lingering twilight.

Then, too, there are summertime's cool deserts. Enjoyed on porch swings and doorsteps, these treats almost always included the season's fresh produce, such as strawberries, blueberries and blackberries.

...

Updated: Fri Jul 10, 2009

A Saucy Solution for 07/24/2009

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

By Valerie Lemke

If you planted tomatoes this past spring, you're probably awash in ripe fruit right about now.

While the abundance from your tomato garden is delicious in salads, or just sliced with salt and pepper, there's an easy way to transform any excess harvest into future meals. Marinara sauce frozen in family-size servings is the secret, said Sheryl Lozier, who with husba ...

Updated: Fri Jul 24, 2009

Summer Produce Offers Healthy Additions to Your Diet for 07/31/2009

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

By Caroline Dipping

If you know you need to get more fruit into your diet, there's no better time than summer. The bounty of fresh choices — many unavailable the rest of the year — are at their peak, and, beyond eating out of hand, are ripe for recipes.

Typically, two servings of fruit are all a person needs to get in the minimum daily recommended allowance, according ...

Updated: Fri Jul 31, 2009

Can-Do Spirits! for 08/07/2009

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

By Peter Rowe

Stacy Slagor had never entered a cooking contest in her life, but she couldn't resist the San Diego County Fair's SPAM recipe competition this summer.

"I like SPAM and I like the fair, so why not?" she said.

But when the awards were presented, Slagor, 40, learned that her rivals had included Roberta Dunbar. Yes, that Roberta Dunbar, owner of a kitche ...

Updated: Fri Aug 07, 2009

Save Your Dough for 08/14/2009

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

By Lori Weisberg

For all you aspiring pizzaioli, let's get one thing out of the way right now. Try as you might, you're going to have a tough time replicating the pies produced by your favorite pizza-maker.

But you can come pretty darn close.

While the standard home oven can't hold a flame to the high radiant heat of the professional brick or wood-burning variety, by follow ...

Updated: Fri Aug 14, 2009

Slush Fun for 08/21/2009

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

By Derrik Chinn

Slushies inarguably rank as a timeless childhood antidote against the summer heat.

So it's odd that at most bars and restaurants, in terms of blended cocktails — nothing more than the grown-up version of the slushy, really — the buck stops at margaritas, daiquiris and pina coladas.

"You'd think they'd be more popular in Southern California,& ...

Updated: Fri Aug 21, 2009

Give-and-Take Is on the Menu When Chefs Gather to Eat, Drink for 08/28/2009

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

By Peter Rowe

Defining "Cooks Confab" is like trying to scoop up a mouthful of smoked prune pork sausage with a cleaver. You can do it, but only if you are careful.

It began simply enough three years ago, when some of San Diego County's finest chefs gathered for gossip, food and drink.

"We were all cooking at each other's restaurants just for fun," said ...

Updated: Fri Aug 28, 2009

Skewer Like a Pro for 09/04/2009

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Satay. Kebab. Shashlik. Yakatori.

It doesn't matter what you call it or what culture it hails from. Glorious, non-laborious kebabs can bring a lot to Labor Day, the second-biggest cookout day of the year behind July 4.

Food on a stick is appealing, warm-weather fare for its ease of prep and extraordinary flavor that is only enhanced by outdoor grilling. It's as primal as fire itse ...

Updated: Fri Sep 04, 2009

No Bones About It for 09/11/2009

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

By Caroline Dipping

More than 180 restaurants have signed on for the fifth annual San Diego Restaurant Week, which kicks off Sunday. By all accounts, it could just as easily be called San Diego Short Ribs Week.

Dozens of eateries are putting their braising imprint on the quintessential comfort food. Preparations range from simple to sublime, with an array of wines used as part of ...

Updated: Fri Sep 11, 2009

The Elusive, Delicious Torta Ahogada Is Finally Captured for 09/18/2009

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

By Tovin Lapan

When I graduated from the University of Michigan, I packed up my U-Haul and never looked back.

I fled the melancholy gray skies of Ann Arbor and bolted for the best bet for some steady sun, Mexico. A planned one-year stay in Guadalajara quickly became two. When I finally moved back across the Rio Grande, what I thought I'd miss most was the girlfriend I was leaving ...

Updated: Fri Sep 18, 2009

Heaping Helpings for 09/25/2009

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

By Peter Rowe

A little knowledge can be a painful thing. One August night, April McCafferty stopped at McDonald's for a favorite snack, French fries dipped in Ranch dressing.

Unless you live in a cave — and McCafferty lives above ground in Southern California — you know that fries aren't health food. This night, though, she learned a horrifying fact. That ranch packet? ...

Updated: Fri Sep 25, 2009

Words to the Wise: Canning Is as Much About Safety as It Is About Preservation for 10/02/2009

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Karen Ward has been teaching canning and preserving classes at Great News! cooking school in Pacific Beach, Calif., since 1999. What is the most frequent question she is asked?

"They all want to learn how to not kill people," said Ward, who, in addition to teaching, penned "Canning & Preserving for Dummies" in 2003. "A major concern in home canning is safety ...

Updated: Fri Oct 02, 2009

Culture Club for 10/09/2009

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

By Caroline Dipping

One traveled 17 miles. Another, nearly 9,000 miles. Two others, the globe.

Four local chefs have recently penned cookbooks about their cultures and the cultures of others. Each says their book represents years of research and meticulous crafting of recipes to be accessible to the foodies of San Diego.

Whether it is Khmer Salad Yum Khmer from Cambodia, Li ...

Updated: Fri Oct 09, 2009

In the Lima Light for 10/16/2009

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

By Caroline Dipping

Lima beans don't get no respect. Routinely, they crop up on Top 10 lists of the most loathed foods in America, right next to liver and Jell-O.

There is even a Facebook page called "Lima Beans Make Me Gag."

But Evelyn Weidner, owner of Weidner's Gardens in Encinitas, Calif., and a board member of the San Dieguito Heritage Museum, wasn't ...

Updated: Fri Oct 16, 2009

The Fifth Dimension for 10/23/2009

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

By Peter Rowe

There's a fifth taste? Absolutely — just as there was a fifth Beatle.

Most people know the John, Paul, George and Ringo of taste buds: sweet, salty, sour and bitter. But scientists insist there is a fifth, a gustatory Billy Preston: umami.

Preston, naturally, played keyboards for the "Let it Be" album and most of "Abbey Road."

...

Updated: Fri Oct 23, 2009

Tricks for Your Treats for 10/30/2009

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

By Caroline Dipping

Leftover Halloween candy. What's that?

It's when your overzealous trick-or-treater returns home after a successful night of marauding, his pillowcase bulging with Butterfingers and Necco Wafers.

Or, it's the vast remains of the ginormous mixed bag you bought at Costco when you were planning for hordes of trick-or-treaters invading your front stoop. And y ...

Updated: Fri Oct 30, 2009

New King of Corks? for 11/06/2009

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

By Peter Rowe

Ask a traditionalist about wine-and-food pairings, and be prepared for a lecture on the virtues of serving Rioja with rosemary grilled lamb chops or Champagne with oysters.

Let the fuddy-duddies harvest these low-hanging grapes. Gary Vaynerchuk has fresher, zanier ideas. In a September episode of his video blog, "Wine Library TV," he raved about how the 200 ...

Updated: Fri Nov 06, 2009

Potluck Sure Thing for 11/13/2009

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

By Caroline Dipping

With just a couple of weeks to the winter holiday season, it's time for people to dust off their covered dishes and start thinking of that hallowed tradition — the potluck.

Many a home cook have built their party prowess on a single dish, and professional chefs, cooking teachers and caterers are no different. They have their go-to dishes that guests expec ...

Updated: Fri Nov 13, 2009

Soup to Conquer for 11/20/2009

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

By Lori Weisberg

As the pre-eminent cooking day of the year approaches, thoughts — and high anxiety — inevitably turn to the star attraction, the turkey. But wait. Hold those thoughts, and focus instead on creating a stellar starter that could easily distinguish your Thanksgiving Day meal from the truly ordinary and mundane.

Sure, everyone expects the customary stuffin ...

Updated: Fri Nov 20, 2009