Bon Appétit, December 2008

Tasty looking recipes from the December 2008 issue of Bon Appétit:

• Warm Chanterelle Salad with Speck and Poached Eggs - Speck and poached eggs? Yes, please.
• Chile Roasted Almonds - Chile roasted anything is good in my book.
• Eggnog Flan on Cinnamon Crust - This looks like one of those delicious fiddly recipes that I'd be cursing at the whole time, but would end up loving.
• Spicy Cauliflower Latkes with Za'atar Aioli - I don't think you can really call a cauliflower patty a latke, but the recipe sounds good, za'atar is a beautiful thing.

If you try any of the above, let me know how it turned out!

Foodbuzz Publisher Community Launches

Hey everyone - did you hear about the official launch of the Foodbuzz Publisher Community? They had 1100 publishers already, and growing. Foodbuzz is like Facebook for food bloggers (as a matter of fact, they have a group on Facebook, find it here). Check out their press release:

LAUNCH OF GLOBAL FOODBUZZ BLOGGER COMMUNITY

LEVERAGES REAL-PEOPLE, REAL-TIME POWER OF FOOD PUBLISHING

San Francisco – October 13, 2008: Foodbuzz, Inc., officially inaugurates its food blogger community with more than 1,000 blog partners, a global food blogging event and an online platform that captures the real-people, real-time power of food publishing in every corner of the world. At launch, the Foodbuzz community ranks as one of the top-10 Internet destinations for food and dining (Quantcast), with bloggers based in 45 countries and 863 cities serving up daily food content.

“Food bloggers are at the forefront of reality publishing and the dramatic growth of new media has redefined how food enthusiasts access tasty content,” said Doug Collister, Executive Vice President of Foodbuzz, Inc. “Food bloggers are the new breed of local food experts and at any minute of the day, Foodbuzz is there to help capture the immediacy of their hands-on experiences, be it a memorable restaurant meal, a trip to the farmers market, or a special home-cooked meal.”

Foodbuzz is the only online community with content created exclusively by food bloggers and rated by foodies. The site offers more than 20,000 pieces of new food and dining content weekly, including recipes, photos, blog posts, videos and restaurant reviews. Members decide the “tastiness” of each piece of content by voting and “buzz” the most popular posts to the top of the daily menu of submissions. Foodbuzz currently logs over 13 million monthly page views and over three million monthly unique visitors.

“Our goal is to be the number-one online source of quality food and dining content by promoting the talent, enthusiasm and knowledge of food bloggers around the globe,” said Ben Dehan, founder and CEO of Foodbuzz, Inc.

The Foodbuzz blogger community is growing at a rate of 40 percent per month driven by strong growth in existing partner blogs and the addition of over 100 new blogs per month. “The Foodbuzz.com Web site is like the stock of a great soup. The Web site provides the base or backbone for bloggers to interact as a community, contribute content, and have that content buzzed by their peers,” said Mr. Dehan.

Global Blogging Event

Demonstrating the talent and scope of the Foodbuzz community, 24 Meals, 24 Hours, 24 Blogs offered online food enthusiasts an international, virtual street festival of food and diversity. The new feature showcased blog posts from 24 Foodbuzz partner bloggers chronicling events occurring around the globe during a 24 hour period and included:

• Mid-Autumn Festival Banquest (New York, NY)
• The "Found on Foodbuzz" 24-Item Tasting Menu (San Francisco, CA)
• Aussie BBQ Bonanza – Celebrating Diversity (Sydney, Australia)
• The Four Corners of Carolina BBQ Road Trip (Charleston, SC)
• Criminal Tastes – An Illegal Supper (Crested Butte, CO)
• From Matambre to Empanadas: An Argentine Dinner (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
• A Sweet Trompe l’oeil (Seattle, WA)

“24 Meals, 24 Hours, 24 Blogs” captures the quality and unique local perspective of our food bloggers and shared it with the world,” said Ryan Stern, Director of the Foodbuzz Publisher Community. “It illustrates exactly what the future of food publishing is all about – real food, experienced by real people, shared real-time.”

About Foodbuzz, Inc.

Based in San Francisco, Foodbuzz, Inc., launched its beta Web site, foodbuzz.com, in 2007. In less than a year, Fooduzz.com and its community of over 1,000 exclusive partner food blogs have grown into an extended online property that reaches more than three million users.

100 must-eat American foods

I'm sure you've seen numerous posts of the Omnivore's 100 started by Very Good Taste. But did you see Slashfood's 100 must-eat American foods? I have a feeling that lists of 100 food items may be the new Tastespotting / Food Gawker / Recipe Muncher / Photograzing. Hmm...is there a Vegetarian's 100 yet? Celiac's 100? 100 must-eat Australian foods? Just wait, there probably will be.

Update 9/3/08: I ran across Helen's The British One Hundred today...I think I like this game, I now have 300 instead of just 100 items to try :-)

Update 9/4/08: Check out Tigers & Strawberries The Vegetarian Hundred.

Update 9/6/08: And now there's The Traveling Omnivore's 20...

Update 9/11/08: And 2 more, I knew this would take off...100 Chinese Foods to Try Before You Die from Appetite for China and 100 Japanese foods to try from Just Hungry.

Update 9/12/08: Oh, screw it. There's more. Go to The House of Annie's post for the links.

Update 9/18/08: I thought I was done updating, but Wandering Chopsticks just published her list of 100 Vietnamese Foods to Try. I think I've eaten maybe 5 of the 100...time to get eating.

Since I'm an American, here's my 100 must-eat American foods list:

1. New York pizza
2. Hoppin' John
3. New Mexico green chile
4. Homemade buttermilk biscuits
5. Tasso (I wish!)
6. Whoe Maine lobster (Ditto, I wish.)
7. Calabash-style shrimp and hushpuppies (will someone tell me what Calabash style is?)
   
8. Kansas City barbecue ribs
9. Hot glazed Krispy Kreme
10. San Diego fish tacos
11. Cheese curds (but I keep meaning to)
12. Key lime pie
13. Philly cheese steak
14. Memphis pork barbecue sandwich
15. Lowcountry boil
16. Huckleberry pie
17. New England clam chowder
18. Boiled peanuts (love)
19. Buffalo burger
20. Eggs Benedict
21. Pastrami on rye
22. Corned beef and cabbage
23. Pancakes with maple syrup
24. Everything bagel with cream cheese and tomato (and sprouts)
25. Thin Mints (preferably frozen)
26. Frito pie
27. Potato knish with mustard
28. Silver Queen corn on the cob (never heard of Silver Queen until today, and I grew up in corn-country)
29. Soft pretzel from a street cart
30. Fresh-picked blueberries
31. Sourwood honey (clover, eucalyptus, alfalfa, tupelo, but not sourwood)
    
32. State fair funnel cake (no strawberries or whipped cream, just plain, please)
33. Chesapeake crab cakes
34. Candied yams
35. Oyster dressing
36. Snow cone or snowball
37. Wild Alaskan salmon
38. Sautéed morels
39. Persimmon pudding
40. General Tso's Chicken
41. Frozen custard (Want!)
42. Italian sausage with peppers and onions on a hoagie bun
43. Chili dog
44. Buffalo wings with blue cheese
45. Spam musubi (made my own, it was surprisingly good)
46. Saltwater taffy
47. Fluffernutter sandwich on Wonder Bread
48. Black and white cookie (maybe I'll bake my own soon)
49. Frybread
50. BLT with thick-cut applewood bacon
51. Baked beans
52. Pumpkin pie
53. Collards with vinegar and Tabasco
54. Tex-Mex fajitas with skirt steak and sautéed peppers
55. Fried green tomatoes
56. Succotash
57. Shrimp and grits
58. Hot water cornbread
59. Barbecue chicken pizza with red onions
60. Chicken fried steak
61. Carnitas burrito
62. Apple butter
63. Geoduck (sounds scarily delicious)
64. Soft-serve ice cream cone dipped in chocolate shell (especially Dairy Queen)
65. Pecan pie
66. Catfish supper at a church or fire station
67. Oysters Rockefeller
68. Homemade cranberry sauce
69. Pimiento cheese
70. MoonPie washed down with R.C. Cola (no, thanks)
71. Pickled watermelon rind (again, think I'll make my own sometime soon)
    
72. Cracker Jacks at the ball game
73. Smithfield ham
74. Meatloaf and mashed potato blue plate special at diner
75. Chicken and waffles (Roscoe's!)
76. Po'Boy (I crave oyster po'boys even tho I've never had one)
77. Green bean casserole with French's fried onions (every year growing up)
78. Stuffed sopaipillas
79. Turducken
80. Shad roe on toast
81. Sweet potato casserole with or without marshmallows (without, please)
82. Cioppino
83. New York cheesecake
84. Pan-fried river trout
85. Jambalaya
86. North Carolina pig pickin' (sounds tasty)
87. California rolls
88. Burgoo
89. Penuche fudge
90. Fried peanut butter and banana sandwich (the Elvis)
91. Scrapple or livermush
92. Elk medallions in red wine reduction
93. Muscadine grapes
94. Cheeseburger at backyard barbecue
95. Open-face turkey sandwich
96. Chicago deep dish pizza (grew up there, so of course)
97. Cobb salad
98. Peach pie a la mode
99. Macaroni and cheese with Tillamook sharp cheddar
100. Root beer float

The Omnivore's 100

I found this through Jerry, who got it from Krista, who got it from Last Night's Dinner, who got it from Very Good Taste.

Here's the deal . . .

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three- Michelin -star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

I'm a bit confused by #63 Kaolin...from what I can find, it's a type of clay...and some people (mostly in Georgia, according to the interwebs) eat it...WTF?

Also, I've had rabbit (yum), but not hare, but I still think that's good enough to bold #86.

And, I've just spent about 30 minutes trying to get the HTML tags to print out to show how to cross out items (like I did for #75 Roadkill), but Blogger won't let me. So, I'm going to be daring and slightly rude, and modify VGT's instructions - if you wouldn't ever try something, make it red, or type a big NOOOO!!!!! after it. :-)

Do We Really Need Another One?

With the temporary shutdown of Tastespotting, 3 sites quickly filled the gap - Food Gawker, Food Porn Daily, and Recipe Muncher.

I personally prefer Food Porn Daily, because of Rachel's commentary.

Food Gawker is good, close to the old Tastespotting.

Recipe Muncher has some RSS feed problems, e.g. I got "New York Style Cheesecake - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" in my reader 27 times in 24 hours. Also, sometimes there are coding problems and you don't see the pic, just a bunch of HTML in your reader, and a 404 when you click thru, e.g. Singapore Style Mee Siam from this morning.

But now there's another one, Photograzing, run by Serious Eats.

And, as you probably know, Tastespotting is back.

I'm thoroughly overloaded. My reader now has 149 unread entries from FG, FPD, RM and TS, accumulated over only 18 hours.

Will I subscribe to Photograzing too? Probably not...

More Food Porn

In addition to Food Porn Daily run by Caviar and Codfish, there are now 2 more:

Food Porn Daily, run by Pinch My Salt and What We're Eating.
Food Gawker, run by Sunday Nite Dinner.

Looks like we won't have to suffer in a post-Tastespotting world.

Tastespotting is so 2 days ago

I admit it, I was a little confused when my reader didn't have any updates from Tastespotting. Then a little shocked when I saw the note. Shock quickly led to despair. Where would I get my daily dose of food porn?

But life took a turn for the better this morning, when I opened up the new post from Caviar and Codfish, and read that Robin was starting Food Porn Daily.

So everybody get your cyber-butts over there right now and delight in the deliciousness that is to come.

Post #50 - Foodie Blogroll

Check out my hundreds of new friends on the Foodie Blogroll!

Look just below my archives on the right. I'll wait... Took a while to scroll through, didn't it?

Thanks to the Leftover Queen. If you're interested in joining, click below.