Eat Arkansas: July 2008 Archives

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Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 19:16:40

Not Just for Toast

I’m not even sure if I should even say this but… I don’t really care for peaches. I can hear the collective gasp from all of the Eat Arkansas readers. I know. I know. I’m a freak of nature. I’m not even really sure why I don’t like them. Maybe the peach fuzz weirded me out when I was kid and that made me steer clear of them ever since. I’m really not sure. However, if I am anything, it’s open minded—especially when it comes to food. I am always willing to give something a second (and even a third and sometimes a forth) chance. So, at the urging of the clerk at BJ’s Produce I bought a peach spread made by House of Webster in Rogers, Arkansas. You know what I learned? You don’t necessarily have to have to like peaches to like this peach spread. (Or maybe I learned that I’ve actually liked peaches all along but I just didn’t know it. Who knows? ) Whatever the case, the spread was really good and it got my culinary wheels turning. After trying it on toast, I tried mixing it with yogurt and wheat germ for breakfast. That was really good. I have since used it to make a glaze for grilled chicken and now I am trying to incorporate it into everything. Just for the sake of conversation, what would you use it for?

House of Webster makes a whole slew of products right here in Arkansas. I hope to feature more of them in the future, once I’ve exhausted my new peach fascination.

Posted by Jessica Kokinos-Havel at 07:16 PM | Permalink | Comments [6]

Meet Your Waiter

Obviously, if you are reading this blog, you love food. You think about it, you read about it, you probably even dream about it. As foodies, we care deeply about our food and where it comes from. We wonder about the farms that produce what we eat. We wonder about the chefs that can create dishes that we only wish we could make ourselves. But how often do we wonder about who is serving our food? Well, Meet Your Waiter hopes to change all that. Here, we will highlight those unsung heroes of the restaurant biz, without which your food would never get from that brilliant chef in the kitchen all the way to your table. Some things you learn about them may surprise you. Other things you may have had pegged the minute you laid on eyes on them. Either way, meet your waiter this week:

Name: Mitch Smith

Age: 26

Where he works: Ferneau, In Hillcrest

Favorite dish he serves: The Sake-Grilled Tuna. Pan seared tuna with lime-ginger ponzu, sticky rice, and spicy mustard micro-greens.

Best part about waiting tables: "Bartending is like throwing a big party", Mitch says. "All I have to do is make sure everyone’s having a good time."

What you may not know: Mitch grew up in Santa Barbara California on a 600 acre ranch. He moved to Arkansas to be closer to his sister.

His future plans: "I just want a simple life. Maybe I’ll move back home to the family ranch where everything is relaxed and simple."

If you want your favorite waiter profiled here, leave a comment and let me know where they work and why they are awesome.

**And don't worry! I have a list of all your suggestions and I am working on them. I look forward to meeting all your favorites!

Posted by Jessica Kokinos-Havel at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments [21]

Woo pork III

John DiPippa completes his pork loin trilogy:

The series of pork loin breakdowns continues, this time with a heaping load of veggies! This started with a classic Italian recipe with one onion sliced and softened in a pan. While the onion was softening, I took the time to practice my knife skills on a few pounds of zucchinis. The zucchinis were added to the pan and given a quick pinch of salt and pepper. About a pound of the pork loin was then cut into medium sized cubes and placed in a second pan to brown.

As the zucchini began to brown and soften to the appropriate level, I added a little bit of tomato paste and vinegar to the pork cubes. This put a really nice flavor and color on the pork before being placed over the steaming hot zucchini and onions.

Posted by Max Brantley at 08:24 AM | Permalink | Comments [6]

Tuesday, July 29, 2008 - 08:06:32

Saucy

Joel DiPippa provides instructions for that sauce surroundin his shrimp.

Every Italian cook will tell you to have an all purpose tomato sauce recipe ready at the drop of the hat. This sauce has been in development for over 10 years derived from my parents' instruction, my friends' feedback, and knowledge gleaned from reading various cookbooks and watching much food TV. As requested from Bopbamboom, I share mine after the jump.

Posted by Max Brantley at 08:06 AM | Permalink | Comments [4]

Monday, July 28, 2008 - 13:30:29

Cupcake time

Debbie Morgan provides the photo of a vanilla-mango cupcake and this note:

My friends and I have been bitten by the cupcake bug here in the northeastern part of the state.

It all started back in April with the release of the book, "Hello, Cupcake!" Since that time, we've experimented with decorated cupcakes in the form of wolves, sunflowers, butterflies, cats and owls.

Now, we've moved on to exploring new flavors. This weekend, I concocted a vanilla pound cake cupcake with a mango-lime butter cream, which is pictured. They received rave reviews at work today, so I'm including this photo.

Has anyone else been bitten by the cupcake bug? Have you been consumed by reading cupcake blogs? If so, which are your favorites?

Posted by Max Brantley at 01:30 PM | Permalink | Comments [1]

Thursday, July 24, 2008 - 13:51:05

Woo, pork II

Joel DiPippa is back at the stove.

Continuing on the ways to break down a pork loin for home consumption by a single guy, we now move to a makeshift calzone!

The red sauce from the previous entry was sitting in the fridge calling my name. I took about a pound of the pork loin and made a quick fake-sausage by means of a 30-minute marinade with pepper, red pepper flakes, fennel, some salt, garlic, and vinegar. After mincing the pork by hand (I actually have no food processor or grinder), I browned the "sausage" while preparing the rest of the calzone. I had picked up a tube of bake-at-home french bread (impulse buy ... I wanted to try this improvised calzone idea), and rolled it out a bit thinner than it wanted to be before piling in a respectable amount of sausage, red sauce, and cheese on the oil brushed interior. After baking nicely, I threw some more cheese on top ...

Next in the Woo, Pork series, the veggies return with a vengeance!

Posted by Max Brantley at 01:51 PM | Permalink | Comments [11]

Wednesday, July 23, 2008 - 10:08:20

A View, Perhaps? Part One.

Welcome to the end of the world. Or, at least, one of many. I will try, in vain, again, to get some one other than my Mom pumped up about Alaska. This mean you, less-than-thrilled Eat AR blog readers. Tough crowd. Jeeze.

I mean, okay, I get it. It's not Arkansas. However, I will shamelessly whine, "but... it's Alaska." ALASKA. And it ranks right up there with New Zealand, in terms of beauty. Wouldn't you enjoy a paper in a steamy hot tub with a view for which there are no words?

Posted by Jennie at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments [12]