July 2009 Archives

Around my office Lindt is the #1 chocolate.  My favorite is the dark chocolate sea salt bar.  My boss' is the dark chocolate hazelnut bar.  Their pistachio milk chocolate bar is also amazing, as are the Intense Orange and Intense Pear... (yikes, I'm craving a sweet now)

Lindt has announced a brand new bar.

The Lindt Master Chocolatiers have perfected a timeless recipe with the addition of the new Lindt Classic Recipe Raisin & Nuts bar to its premium chocolate collection. The new bar, which combines creamy, smooth milk chocolate with raisins, gently roasted almonds and hazelnuts, is now available at Lindt Chocolate Shops and wholesale locations nationwide.

"The Lindt Classic Raisin & Nuts bar is the perfect balance of the highest-quality premium chocolate, raisins and nuts and provides a delicious taste that all chocolate lovers will enjoy," said Thomas Linemayr, chief executive officer and president of Lindt USA. "This new creation is chewy, crunchy, chocolate perfection."

Yum, sounds delicious!

On October 26, 2009, the National Pasta Association (NPA) and the International Pasta Organization (IPO) will present "World Pasta Day 2009," a conference of the world's leading pasta manufacturers to present the latest nutritional and scientific research on pasta to the industry at large. Since 1995, World Pasta Day has been an international celebration of pasta -- a food consumed all over the world in varying cuisines. World Pasta Day 2009's focus will be "Pasta Meals on Every Family Table."

Conference presentations organized by the Oldways Preservation Trust, a nonprofit education organization, will include a scientific update on nutritional aspects of pasta for families, research on the effect of the Mediterranean Diet on Alzheimer's, and a summary of recent research on carbohydrates. The annual event, set this year in New York City, will also include demonstrations from world-class chefs on preparing appetizing and healthy pasta recipes. World Pasta Day 2009 will take place at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in Times Square from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM.

"We are extremely proud to host World Pasta Day in the U.S. this year," said Mark Vermylen, chairman of the National Pasta Association. "We look forward to showcasing the increasingly wide range of pasta's health and economic benefits for today's families around the globe--it is a winning component of any meal."

World Pasta Day 2009 Program Topics Include:

• Scientific Update: An expert panel will summarize the scientific evidence to support why pasta is recommended to regularly appear on family and restaurant tables. The panel will also present brief summaries of new carbohydrate and Mediterranean Diet research reports.
• Pasta, The Mediterranean Diet and Alzheimer's: Feeding Your Brain: New studies find those who closely follow the Mediterranean Diet, which includes pasta, have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's and cognitive decline.
• The State of Research on Carbohydrates: A summary will be presented highlighting the most note-worthy published studies on carbohydrates over the past five years.
• Culinary Panel Discussion: Pasta Memories and Pasta Cook-Off: Food writers and cookbook authors will recount their most memorable family pasta meals. Culinary stars will create 10-minute pasta meals for a live audience. Members of the audience will vote for their favorite recipe and preparation.
  

Confirmed Speakers Include:

• Dr. Nikos Scarmeas: Speaker, The Mediterranean Diet and Alzheimer's
  

PhD, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Columbia Medical Center

• Dr. Joanne Slavin: Speaker, The State of Research on Carbohydrates
  

PhD, Professor, Food Sciences and Nutrition, University of Minnesota; Chair, Carbohydrate Committee, 2010 U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee

• Melissa Clark: Moderator, Culinary Panel and Pasta Cook-Off
  

Award-winning author and food writer. Books include, "Chef Interrupted: Delicious Chefs Recipes You Can Actually Make at Home"

• K. Dun Gifford: Moderator, Scientific Update Panel
  

President and founder, Oldways Preservation Trust

World Pasta Day 2009 is an industry event closed to the general public. Media interested in attending should please contact Stephanie Fraiman at 212-297-2129. For more information on World Pasta Day 2009 please visit www.worldpastaday.org.

World Pasta Day 2009 is generously sponsored by: American Italian Pasta, Barilla, New World Pasta, A. Zerega's Sons, Buhler, Canadian Wheat Board, Dakota Growers Pasta, Fava, Horizon Milling, International Pasta Organization, IPACK-IMA, Italgrani USA, Landucci, Maldari & Sons, Miller Milling, North Dakota Wheat Commission, Pavan, Philadelphia Macaroni, Rembrandt Foods, ST Specialty Foods and Strom Products

I was taking a look at Crate & Barrel's "best buys" catalog and noticed they have some really fabulous, made in Europe wine glasses for only $3.95 each, amazing!  They're really attractive and look much more expensive.

Don't get me wrong, I love pulling out my $50/stem Christofle wine glasses often, but certain occasions call for less special glasses.  These are a great compromise because they still look great... and no one needs to feel bad if one gets broken.

Viv Stemware: 9 oz flute, 8 oz martini glass, 20 oz wine and 13 oz wine

Cheers!

Lapostolle is proud to announce that it has just achieved CarbonNeutral(R) status as part of its wider efforts to be sustainable and positively affect climate change. The CarbonNeutral Company is the world's pre-eminent company in providing solutions for tackling climate change, to reduce CO2 in a way that has inspired personal, commercial, and environmental benefit. Since Lapostolle's inception in 1994, its founder, Alexandra Marnier Lapostolle (whose great grand father founded Grand Marnier), has been committed to the goal of crafting world-class wines using sustainable practices. Today, all of Lapostolle's vineyards are organically managed and biodynamic, meaning they use no pesticides and work in tandem with the land's inhabitants to fertilize and cultivate crops.

Lapostolle's commitment to sustainable practices has led the winery to target their product exports for carbon emission reduction as these emissions are third party and non-reducible. This means that with CarbonNeutral(R) certification, Lapostolle is now able to offset some of the CO2 emissions produced from storing and shipping. Lapostolle wines have been measured and balanced to reach net zero through high quality Energy Saving and Green House Emission reduction projects. To offset their carbon emissions, Lapostolle is contributing to the Guizhou Hydro Power Project, helping to displace fossil fueled electricity by introducing renewable energy and to help develop a system of roads and infrastructure in this remote, mountainous region of China.

The philosophy behind the winery emphasizes the complicity between man and nature, reflecting Alexandra Marnier Lapostolle's belief in respecting the environment and having a reciprocal creative relationship with the land. Lapostolle has always been interested in sustainable winemaking, from building a five-floor gravity fed winery (three of which are based deep underground in the granite of the Chilean coastal Cordillera foothills) to never using pesticides. Additionally, grape harvesting is done almost entirely at night eliminating the need for cooling tanks. The grapes are also 100% de-stemmed by hand to conserve energy and ensure that only the best fruit is selected. The bottles use 60%-70% recycled glass and each case of wine is made from wood cut from sustainable Chilean forests.

In its short history Lapostolle has ranked in Wine Spectator's top 10 wines three times. In 2008, the brand received two of the industry's highest awards as its top cuvee Clos Apalta 2005 was recognized as the #1 wine in the world by Wine Spectator in a blind tasting of over 20,000 wines, and Wine Enthusiast named Lapostolle the New World Winery of the Year.

Source: Lapostolle

Love seafood but need help selecting what's right for you? FreshDirect is here to help with its Daily Seafood Rating System. Introduced this week, the Daily Seafood Rating System takes the guess work out of choosing high-quality seafood and eliminates the need to speak with a fishmonger to find out what's best that day.

Utilizing a star system similar to that used in its Daily Produce Rating System, FreshDirect's in-house experts inspect its seafood stock each morning to provide customers with recommendations that are accurate for deliveries on the day following the ranking. If soft shell crabs scored a 4-star rating on the Web site Tuesday, they are one of FreshDirect's top selections -- guaranteed to be great for next-day deliveries on Wednesday.

Judging by smell, look and feel, the way experts at the fish docks and neighborhood fish vendors do, FreshDirect can now advise customers on a broader range of seafood items that are the best choice for their dinner tables. This is particularly useful during the summer months when customers can take advantage of FreshDirect's local fish catch including wild black sea bass, wild swordfish and wild mahi mahi. The Daily Seafood Rating System also helps identify first-of-season catches on short seasonal fish like wild Alaskan salmon and shad.

The seafood will be rated with stars, based on the following chart:

Five Stars: Never Better - Simply outstanding; the best of its kind

Four Stars: Great - A don't-miss, peak-season product

Three Stars: Good - A dependable product, sure to please

"Knowing that not all seafood lovers are seafood experts, FreshDirect's Daily Seafood Rating System lets our customers know which items are the catch of the day and the best seasonal picks," said Marc Sirois, seafood expert, FreshDirect. "Customers can be confident that we are offering them knowledgeable recommendations on all seafood items, allowing them to safely venture out and try exotic fishes as well as enjoy seasonal favorites."

Sherry Lehmann's Unsung Heroes of Bordeaux are always tasty and inexpensive wines.  Each season they offer a sampler with 12 different unsung hero bottles.  The 2009 Summer Sampler features bottles all from the highly rated 2005 vintage.

The wines included are:

The case is $159.95.  And if you're in New York, you get free shipping too.

Dom Perignon received top accolades at the 29th annual San Francisco International Wine Competition, one of the most important and comprehensive wine and spirits competitions in the world. Dom Perignon OEnotheque 1995 was chosen Best in Show of all sparkling wines after the panel of judges agreed that it was the finest example of champagne or sparkling wine presented in the competition. Dom Perignon Vintage 2000 was awarded the Double Gold medal for unanimously pleasing the judges. Double gold is the second highest ranking a wine can achieve in competition, after Best in Show.

Of these honors, Chef de Cave Richard Geoffroy commented, "It is particularly gratifying to have the OEnotheque 1995 chosen as Best in Show. This wine is very personal to me, because my skills and creativity are tested and it is my task as chef de cave to know when the time has come to pronounce the wine ready. Vintage 2000 represents the essence of Dom Perignon, fresh yet mature, sparkling and seductive."

Since 1668, the goal of Dom Perignon has been to create the best wine in the world. Every step taken, from the selection of the best vines and the blending of the finest grapes to the declaration of the vintage is done with a single goal in mind: to reveal the promise of excellence inherent in each Dom Perignon vintage, and culminating in the fulfillment of the Dom Perignon style after a period of seven years.

Dom Perignon Vintage 2000

Dom Perignon Vintage 2000 is mysterious yet present, enigmatic and luminous, austere and opulent, elegant and sensual. This vintage could not possibly be a better expression of Dom Perignon's timeless style, nor more reflective of the 21st century which it opens. Dom Perignon Vintage 2000 has two faces. It is a paradoxical vintage: fresh yet mature, sparkling and serene, precise and caressing, austere and seductive. The paradoxes create aromatic, gustatory and tactile tensions that offer exceptional taste sensations.

Dom Perignon OEnotheque

Although every vintage of Dom Perignon evolves over a minimum of seven years in the cellar on the lees before being disgorged and released, a limited number of bottles are sometimes set aside to begin a second period of aging in order to join Dom Perignon OEnotheque. The secret of the OEnotheque lies in the additional duration of the wine's aging on the lees. This extra time allows each Dom Perignon vintage to surpass itself and metamorphose, becoming something that is not quite the same and not quite different. Dom Perignon OEnotheque is the ultimate expression of a wine whose style defies time.

Dom Perignon OEnotheque 1995 was aged for thirteen years in the Dom Perignon OEnotheque cellars, until the vintage acquired its maximum intensity and complexity.

Dom Perignon OEnotheque 1995 retains the imprint of the original Vintage 1995 which was released in 2002. Today, Dom Perignon OEnotheque 1995 has achieved a new peak of excellence, a second life, characterized by its intensity and exceptional complexity.

SOURCE Dom Perignon

For me, strawberry shortcake brings back memories of summers in Vermont where I grew up.  My mom would bake her delicious baking powder biscuits and we'd have fresh stawberries that we'd have picked ourselves (berry picking was a favorite activity!).  My mom would crush up some of the berries and add sugar, but I didn't like mine like that... I just used cut up fresh berries, and fresh homemade whipped cream with no sugar.  (I'd take my whipped cream out before the sugar was added for everyone else)  Oh SUBLIME......

It looks like there's a nice contender available on the Upper East Side at Flex Mussels.

Now that looks pretty darn good, doesn't it?  I doubt the biscuit is as good as my Mom's though...

Frank Bruni wrote up Flex Mussels a few weeks ago in the Times, here is the link.

This is a great dessert for the 4th of July if you just add a few blueberries!  Cheers and Happy Fourth!

Burger fans should check out the article in today's Dining Section of the New York Times, "The Perfect Burger and All Its Parts" by Jane Sigal.

The article explains the evolution of the haute burger and gives different chefs' takes on the ideal burger recipe.  Warning, reading this article will probably make you want a burger...

There's also a cool interactive feature, Elements of an Ideal Burger.

(picture source: New York Times)