Posts from April 2014

Stone Age Hottie Wants to Spend Long Night with You, Berlin Long Night of Museums 2014, May 17

Stone age hottie wants to spend long night with you...

Humor has it that this allosaurus will be waiting for you if you take part in Berlin Long Night of Museums 2014 on Saturday, May 17.

"Museums, from late into the night until the early morning — this is the Long Night of Museums. Founded 17 years ago, the Long Night invites visitors this year, for the first time in May, to discover, to stroll, to exchange ideas and to experience. 80 doors stand open on May 17, 2014 from 6 p.m. until 2 a.m. — they lead to world-famous collections, Berliner originals, unknown cultures or (once) beloved objects. 

Punkinberlin

And that's not all that's new: Guests, who at 2 a.m. have not yet had enough, can continue the expedition on Sunday during International Museum Day in almost all of the participating museums. The Long-Night-Ticket from Saturday applies to all museums open on Sunday, May 18th, that participated in the Long Night.."

Line up also includes a Trabant and a look at Berlin's Punk scene via a photo exhibit at Ramones Museum)

(* No Sleep Til' Kant Kino poster from Lange Nacht der Museum Facebook Page)


First Ever Brussels Food Truck Festival during Fete de l'Iris 2014, May 9 to May 11

While European countries celebrate Labor Day on May 1st, there are a number of other holidays and celebrations that vary depending on the country.

They give people a chance to take long week ends (Ponts de Mai in France, Early May and Spring Bank Holidays in the UK...).

In Brussels, a May highlight is Fete de l'Iris (Iris Festival), event is Free.

BFTF-14-POSTER-V4

2014 edition includes first ever Brussels Food Truck Festival (May 9 through May 11) taking place in Parc Royal.

(* Please note that websites for Fete de l'Iris and Brussels Food Truck Festival are in French or Dutch, no English version...some details in English on Fete de l'Iris via Visit Brussels)


Hare Fur and Liquorice Nose of Nielluccio, Crisp Sciaccarello, Wines of Corsica, My Next Tasting

Crisp Sciaccarello, hare fur and liquorice nose of Nielluccio, these grapes power some of the best red wines from Corsica.

Aleatico, Barbarossa, Codivarta, Biancu Gentile, Genovese, Riminese, Vermentino...

These are other grape varietals that are the backbone of Wines of Corsica.

I will have a chance to discover new favorites at Wines of Corsica (Vins de Corse) tasting 2 days from now (April 30, 2014).

Vinsdecorse

With warm days almost upon us, some Rosés will surely be offered.

(* Photo above is from Vins de Corse Facebook page)


Mouthfull of Burrata with Roasted Cherries from 'A Mouthful of Stars' by Kim Sunee

Miss traveling, grab a copy of A Mouthful of Stars (Andrews McMeel, May 2014) by Kim Sunee.

Kim takes us on a whirlwind tour of her favorite recipes from her favorite places around the world.

Salad of Roasted Cherries with Burrata

Serves 4

I TASTED BURRATA—A FRAGILE, DELICIOUSLY creamy cheese from Puglia made with leftover mozzarella scraps and filled with fresh cream—years ago while traveling in Italy and never thought much about it, probably because almost everything I ate there was singular in its own way. Now, I dream of burrata and eat it whenever I can. Thankfully, it is now widely available in the United States, both in specialty markets and online.

I came across this pairing at Tom Douglas’s Serious Pie restaurant in Seattle, and it reminded me of the creamy cheeses that I gorged on when back in Italy. If burrata is not available, substitute a fresh chevre, fresh ricotta, or the creamiest, freshest mozzarella. If you find yourself wanting this outside of cherry season, substitute thawed frozen cherries. And you can omit the greens, if you wish.

For color and flavor, toss in a few saffron threads that have soaked in warm water. I make this in a heavy-bottomed nonstick 10-inch skillet to make turning out the rice easier.

1 pound cherries, pitted
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for optional greens and drizzling
8 ounces burrata
2 cups baby kale or arugula (optional)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (optional)
Fleur de sel, Maldon sea salt, or other finishing salt
Fresh mint leaves, for garnish

180SaladofRoastedCherries

1. Preheat the oven to 400ÅãF and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Toss the cherries with the olive oil and place on the prepared baking sheet. Roast for about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly.

3. Place 2 ounces of burrata per person on each serving plate and place the cherries and juice around the cheese.

4. Toss the baby kale, if using, with 1 to 2 teaspoons of the roasted cherry juice, the balsamic vinegar, if using, and 2 tablespoons olive oil, and mix to combine; serve alongside the cherries and cheese. Sprinkle with fleur de sel, drizzle with olive oil, and garnish with fresh mint

NOTE: If you find yourself with leftover whole cherry pits (do not use even slightly crushed pits since they are toxic), soak them in red wine or white vinegar overnight, strain, and discard the pits. The resulting vinegar adds both color and a wonderful light fruit flavor to salads, pickles, and more.

(* Recipe from A Mouthful of Stars: A Constellation of Favorite Recipes from My World Travels by Kim Sunee -published by Andrews McMeel, May 2014- photographs by Leela Cyd...all rights reserved)


We were not sleeping this past week, Typepad was just wobbly

Apologies to those of you who tried to pay a visit to'Serge the Concierge' between Thursday, April 17 and early Wednesday, April 23... TypePad, the publishing platform we have used since March 2005, was the victim of repeated denial of service attacks....From what I gathered some internet bandits use that kind of tactic to extract a ransom from companies by attacking them. Not sure if that was the case in this instance. Bottom line, because of these attacks, we were mostly inaccessible for readers for 6 days. We will try to make up for lost time. In coming days, we should pay a visit to Food Book Fair in Brooklyn on Saturday and a tasting of Wines from Corsica is on our calendar for Wednesday next week. In the meantime, there is plenty to explore in hundreds of pieces already published...

Juice your Roots, Carrots, Beets, Kale, Celery, Green Juice Recipe Card from 'Organic Avenue' by Denise Mari

Juice your Roots, Carrots, Beets, Kale, Celery, and a few more things...

Perfect-love-green-juice-card

Green Juice Recipe Card from Organic Avenue (William Morrow, April 2014) by Denise Mari 

(* Recipe from 'Organic Avenue by Denise Mari- William Morrow, April 2014- reproduced with permission)


Food and the Midwest, Cookbooks and Art, 3rd Annual Food Book Fair, Brooklyn, April 25-27

3rd Annual Food Book Fair comes to Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn, April 25-27, 2014

If I was free at that time, I would love to attend Food and the Midwest panel discussion on April 25 (Noon-1 PM) featuring Amy Thielen, Author, The New Midwestern Table, David Tamarkin, Editor, Middlewest Magazine, Jeni Britton Bauer, Founder, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, Emily Elsen, Co-founder, Four & Twenty Blackbirds...

The Food Book Slam sessions from 10 AM to 12:30 PM on Saturday (April 26) sound great...Second session (11:30-12:30) includes Rawia Bishara, Olives, Lemons & Za’atar whose recipes i shared, Ava Chin, Eating Wildly, Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, Under the Table, Tom Mylan, The Meat Hook Meat Book,Warren Bobrow, Apothecary Cocktails.

Foodbookfair

Also of interest Cookbooks + Chefs + Art presented by Phaidon "Are cookbooks meant for beauty, function or both? Our kitchen reading might provide inspiration, though it doesn’t always lead us to traditional forms of cooking" on Saturday, April 26 (12:30 to 1:30 PM). 

The French Guy from New Jersey would definitely like to chat with Jody Williams, author of Buvette: The Pleasure of Good Food (Grand Central, April 22, 2014) and chef-owner of Buvette in West Village...

The pairing of Buvette and gastroteque conflicts with childhood memories of my paternal grandfather and fellow blue collar workers going to la buvette to play cards and down a chopine of wine, a place frequented only by men.

I have not read yet either The New Midwestern Table or Buvette...


Jus de Passion, Passion Fruit Juice with Dash of Carrot, from Vietnam Exquis by Linh Le

There is no English language edition yet of Vietnam Exquis, une cuisine entre Ciel et Terre" (Editions de la Martinière- April 3, 2014) by Linh Le with photographs by Isabelle Rozenbaum, yet I could not resist asking Linh to share a couple of recipes from the book.
 
A drink first, with my English adaptation of French recipe:
 
Passion Fruit Juice with a Dash of Carrots:
 
Ingredients:
 
Makes 1 Liter (1.05 quart)
 
2.2 pounds of passion fruits (around 12 pieces)
 
1 carrot (for color)
 
Sugar according to taste (around 3.5 ounces)
 
1.05 Quart of Water
 
Jus-passion
 
Directions:
 
Scoop out passion fruit, put into the shaker

Shred the carrot and add it to the mix

Add sugar and water

Mix

Filter

Serve chilled

For more visit Vietnam Exquis companion website...

(* Recipe reproduced with permission from "Vietnam Exquis, une cuisine entre Ciel et Terre" -Editions de la Martinière- April 3, 2014- by Linh Le with photographs by Isabelle Rozenbaum)


Message in the Music 'DC Emancipation Day' Free Concert, April 16, 4 PM Kickoff, Freedom Plaza

Things to do in D.C the day after Tax Day

After a parade and talks and workshops, DC Emancipation Day (April 16, 2014) concludes with 'Message in the Music', a free concert at Freedom Park...kick off was at 4 pm.

Unnamed

"The official DC Emancipation Day Concert, “Message in the Music” will begin at4pm at Freedom Plaza and feature Brian Lenair (4pm to 5pm), followed by performances by Talib Kweli, Raheem DeVaughn, Arrested Development, MC LyteDoug E Fresh and more..."

Concert will be followed by fireworks at 8:30 pm.