Tip of the Week: Use good-quality wine for cooking

Wine labeled for “cooking” should be avoided. It has added salt and often is inferior wine that cannot be sold to drink.

Instead, only cook with wine that you would drink. Make sure the wine is complementary to the food you are cooking, such as a red wine with beef and red sauces and a white with seafood and poultry.

-- The Repository

Easy recipe: Fruit Pound Cake

½ pound flour
½ pound butter
½ pound eggs (4 eggs)
½ pound sugar
½ pound assorted dried fruit (currants, sultanas, raisins, cherries)

Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.

Beat in the eggs.

Gradually sift in the dry ingredients.

Transfer to a greased and floured baking pan.

Bake at 350 °F until a skewer inserted shows no moist crumbs when removed.

Critic's Cupboard: Absorb Ease

Some products are so far out there, it’s hard to imagine how they got thought up in the first place. Case in point: Absorb Ease.

Picture this. You’ve just browned hamburger for tacos and there is about 1/2 cup of residual grease left in the pan. You:

A) Remove the meat and pour the oil into a jelly jar kept in the fridge for such purposes.

B) Spoon off the oil and toss it down the garbage disposal.

C) Plop in an Absorb Ease, an expensive white pad made from compressed paper that soaks up the oil while possibly depositing tiny bits of fibrous material in your food.

Please tell me you picked A or B. If not, don’t invite me over for dinner.

-- Jennifer Mastroianni / The Repository
 
Food Quiz

What country is the largest producer of olives?

A. Syria
B. Spain
C. Australia
D. Malta

(www.funtrivia.com)

Answer is at bottom of column

Wise to the Word: Valencia oranges

Now in season, Valencia oranges (vuh-LEHN-she-uh), are worth their peeling problems. The oranges from the Southwest and Florida offer thin skins that are difficult to remove. Once inside, you’ll find few seeds and sweet, juicy fruit.

-- The Repository

Number to Know: 110

Calories in 1 cup of General Mills’ Cheerios without milk.

-– calorielab.com

The Dish On …

“Eat, Memory: Great Writers at the Table,” edited by Amanda Hesser

New York Times Magazine food editor Amanda Hesser has showcased the food-inspired recollections of some of America's leading writers — playwrights, screenwriters, novelists, poets, journalists. “Eat, Memory” collects the 26 best stories, plus recipes to accompany them.

Ann Patchett confronts her stubbornness in a heated argument she once had with her then-boyfriend, now husband, over dinner at the famed Paris restaurant Taillevent. Tom Perrotta explains how his long list of food aversions almost landed him in an East German prison.

Also included are stories by Chang-rae Lee, Patricia Marx, John Burnham Schwartz, George Saunders, Colson Whitehead, Kiran Desai, Pico Iyer, and Heidi Julavits, among others.

From the Beer Nut’s Blog

The Brewer’s Association has put together a nice new Web site that allows you to see what new seasonal beers will be released in your area.

The site, at www.beertown.org/seasonal/index.html, allows you to pick which season you want to look at and which state.

The site then lists the beer, followed by which states it is distributed in, what style it is, suggested food pairings and a description of the beer.

This is a cool little tool to use if you’re wondering if your favorite seasonal is out.

To read more from the Beer Nut, visit http://blogs.townonline.com/beernut/

Food Quiz Answer

B. Spain

GateHouse News Service