Eat Hot to Be Cool...and much more - chefshop.com/enews
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In this issue:
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Hot!!
Hot & Spicy
Ketjap Manis
Back in Stock
Recipes of the Week
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Reed Avocados
Nothing like a smooth buttery Avocado like the Reed from Peter and Bonnie's Herman Ranch! Though it's still weeks away, plan on cool grapefruit and avocado salads. Buttery describes this wonderful fruit. In the heat, this fruit holds together and adds a cool feel to any dish. Or scoop it out with a giant spoon and skip the dish! This definitely qualifies as a "spoon-ready" food!
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 Eat Hot to Stay Cool
Why is it that hot places always eat hot foods, and not cool foods to refresh? And why is it that fruit is often a refreshing treat and not cold things, like ice cream? I expect that the answer is much more complex than just temperature.
First, you don't have ice cream, or even ice for that matter, where energy is in short supply - and I don't mean human energy, I mean electricity. Second, where it is really hot everything melts long before it arrives at the table. Third, the only good a sweating glass delivers is when you rub your hands on the back of your neck after you take a gulp!
No, the answer must lie in the composition of the fruit and how your body processes it.
The fat from fatty items, like ice cream, takes significantly more energy to digest, thus raising your core temperature, and thus the benefits of cooling your mouth and inner being, such as your stomach, can only last for a short period of time. Then, your body will attack the cold invader and, in the process, burn (the key word, burn,) up calories to digest it. I suppose this would mean ice cream is a diet food?
The fruit must have natural cooling properties, as in nature's way, to grow and thrive and reproduce in warm environments, so much so, that we must benefit from the fruit's ability to cool us naturally. Think watermelon or cherries or bananas or, of course, a juicy peach. These are all super refreshing fruits, full of liquid that helps keep us cool on a hot day.
It must be nature's way of cooling the plant and as fruitavores we should, in fact, reap the benefits of the fruits of knowledge. Imagine our digestinal track, tired from the heat, just letting the fruit and its juices slip on past without so much as a desire to move, and thus no heat is created.
It's hard to imagine it's hotter in Memphis than Morocco!
Hot and Spicy - the theories. There is the perspiration theory; hot foods make you sweat and that this release cools your body. It's the receptors in the mouth that curries and chilies stimulate to accelerate circulation and cause sweating. Thus, a natural cooling process takes place with the help of some 2.6 million sweat glands. Humid weather feels hotter at the same temperature because the evaporation process is slowed.
There is a belief that spiciness has nothing to do with a cool desire, but everything to do with preserving foods, like meat and other cooked foods, in hot climates. When there is heat and no heat to cook with, the added spices will help in the preservation of the "local" dishes.
Shop now for cool hot stuff!
Shop now for Mama Lil's Sweet and Hot Peppas! Think sandwich from Hungary.
Shop now for Chipotle Chili Powder! From Mexico.
Shop now for hot Swamp Scum! Where else but from Louisiana.
Shop now for ChowChow! From the hot and muggy Bayou.
Shop now for Piment Fort! Think of the French Legions and spicy heat from Morocco.
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Sweet, Thick Soy Sauce, Perfect for Summer Marinades
This Indonesian-style Soy Sauce is so thick, sweet, and full of soy sauciness, that it's my go-to-ingredient to any marinade I make.
Like my marinade for flank steak. I use it as a basis then add more ginger or more garlic. An apple cider vinegar, or a Agro Dolce vinegar, and soy sauce are a great combination.
When you have a wonderfully simple, complex, thick sauce like this one, use it as your base or as an addition; it makes any marinade shine! Literally, add other ingredients to your hearts content, and compliments abound. It's not just for protein either. Think squeezed over grilled vegetables, or as a side dipping sauce. Once you have it you will keep a bottle on your table like it's ketchup!
Shop now for Sweet Soy Sauce - Ketjap Manis!
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Bitters are Better
Think cocktails. Think cooking. Bitters can add snap!
Chocolate Brownies with bitters, or lime sorbet with bitters, or just added to a cocktail of your own creation. It all helps cool down the summer. Think Bourbon Whiskey and orange bitters!
Bitters spawns images from the speakeasy days like The Sazerac, a Lime Rickey, The Manhattan or a Mint Julep. Its origins are as a health drink to calm the stomach ills of the time. Whether it was a way to hide alcohol legally or, with all the herbs and roots involved, to bitterly chase away the bad, it is a great ingredient to add to your cupboard.
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| Just-in-Updates |
Fresh, Washington Cherries NOW!!!
The Early Robins, Rainiers and the Bings have shipped. Now we move onto the sweet dark red cherries. At press time the Lapins are expected to be shipping. Time to order Sweethearts! Keep Checking on Facebook for updates.
Order your hardneck Garlic now!
Garlic can be sweet, hot, mild and easy to peel. There is an amazing difference between "store bought" and garlic grown from passion.
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| Cooking Ingredient Class Updates |
Simple Spanish Tapas Class
Learn to prepare a variety of classic Spanish Tapas using a few classic Spanish ingredients. Simple, quick, easy, fun and amazingly delicious.
Grilling
Does your grilling repertoire begin and end with steak and the occasional veggie? Take your outdoor cooking one step further by putting all that good heat to work for you. We will make an entire dinner on our outdoor grill, even dessert! Get your rain hat on - and come cook in our parking lot!
Cooking the French Countryside
Learn how to make unfussy, soul-satisfying but classic French dishes, like Ratatouille and Tarte Tatin and Creme Fraiche. Just a few spots left.
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| This Weeks Recipes |
Sweet Pea and Feta Dip
Michael Symon prepared this dip at the 2011 Aspen Food & Wine Classic.
Arugula, Watermelon and Feta Salad
From the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. A wonderfully refreshing salad with a perfect hot summer balance.
Sweet Cherry Clafouti
A classic but easy French dessert. A perfect and perfectly simple way to use up all those sweet cherries that are less than perfect.
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DESIGN: JODI LUBY & COMPANY, INC. NEW YORK CITY, NY; EMAIL STRATEGY: CRM Group USA, SEATTLE, WA
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