New Year, New Food Trends

By Chef Judi Gallagher - Happy New Year, everyone! Here’s to a 2012 that’s filled with family, friends and food. While I certainly have a reserve of favorite recipes and restaurant dishes that I make and order time and time again, I also find that there’s nothing more exciting than plotting out new culinary trends. So here are the items that I and other food experts are predicting will be big in 2012. Share your own...

Menus Go Minimalist

By Marsha Fottler - There’s a new trend in restaurant menus and it’s one that will have you reading less but perhaps pondering more. Menus are going minimalist. In the months ahead when you eat out, expect to see less description about each dish and more single words spaced far apart often all in lower case letters. The words on the menu will be the primary ingredients in the dish. This will be followed by more white...

Food Buzz: Discover Parsnips

By Chef Judi Gallagher - For some reason, chefs are more comfortable with the root vegetable parsnips than most modern home cooks. There’s no good reason for that; more people should be enjoying this sweet and flavorful vegetable that had it’s cultural roots in ancient Rome. In that land the parsnip was considered an aphrodisiac as well as a tasty side dish. As the Roman Empire spread so did the parsnip. It was British...

AGWA Puts the Coca Back in Cocktail

By Herb Gardener - A journey into the spirit world — of alcoholic beverages, that is — can be bewildering to the uninitiated. High-end bars have come to resemble apothecaries where Red Bull (energy drink) runs with Hpnotiq (exotic fruit juices/vodka/cognac blend) and liquor wells sport more infused vodka flavors than my wife Flora has pairs of shoes in her closet. What young customers in particular seem to want from their...

Food Buzz: Ancient Sauce is New Again

By Chef Judi Gallagher - A good Romesco sauce is nothing new to professional chefs; we all learned to make it and it’s a staple in our repertoire. The reason is that this sauce is easy to make, looks pretty on a plate and is highly versatile. Toss it with a little pasta for lunch or a side dish. Use it with shellfish, meats, poultry, or fish. It works every time to add zing and color to your food. You can even use Romesco...