Croutons

Making croutons is a great way to use up stale or almost-stale bread. Once you've made your own, you will never even consider buying them again! Plus, they last a while on the shelf, which is always a bonus for anything homemade. The basic technique is to cube four or five slices of bread, cutting down and across to form about one-inch square cubes. Then, put about a tablespoon of olive oil in the bottom of a mixing bowl, add the bread cubes, and toss to cover with the olive oil. After the cubes are relatively evenly covered with the oil, you can add seasoning as well. Most often, I just add some kosher salt (about 1/8 tsp.) and a little freshly ground black pepper, but you can add whatever you'd like to make them fun and interesting. I sprinkled in a little bit of fresh thyme when I was making the croutons in the picture, and it worked quite nicely. After the bread is fully oiled and seasoned, spread the cubes out flat onto a baking sheet and slide them into a preheated oven to toast at 375 degrees until nicely browned, about 10-15 minutes. I've made croutons with all kinds of bread and seasoning, and each combination brings its own unique flavor to the crouton. It's great to know exactly what has gone into making them (how much oil, what kind of seasoning, etc.) as well, so I am not shy about stretching their use way beyond salads to other things that may need a little crunch - like the cauliflower soup! Try this technique before your next loaf goes bad.

Food Read: Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter

After last reviewing Anthony Bourdain's back-of-the-house Kitchen Confidential, I thought it would be most appropriate to review a front-of-the-house book next (no it's not Waiter Rant). Phoebe Damrosch's Service Included was published in 2007, and I picked up my copy after hearing an interview with her on The Splendid Table in February 2008. The book (Damrosch's first) chronicles her experiences moving up the ranks at Thomas Keller's acclaimed Per Se in New York, where she is hired as a backserver for the restaurant's opening and eventually attains the status of captain (not an easy feat for a woman). The book is quite captivating from the start. Any food devotee will understand the chapter "food porn", and will know exactly what Damrosch means when she says she, "had a crush on the French Laundry Cookbook for ages". Those who are not familiar with the inner workings of very fine dining will be enthralled by her listing of The Rules ("When asked, guide guests to the bathroom instead of pointing"), by her description of VIP canapes (soup, savory sorbets, caviar, etc.), and by her explanation of the elaborate and specific intricacies of coordinating service at a restaurant like Per Se. Like Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, Service Included is studded with tips , which, for obvious reasons, are actually called out as such, and include items like "There's no need to say that you are allergic when you don't like something." And the recounts of serving food critic Frank Bruni, or any guests really, are delightfully executed. I wish I had marked the spot in the book where I began to realize it was losing me, so I could tell you exactly where that was. There is no doubt that Damrosch got extraordinary lucky (whether or not she made that luck herself is beside the point). Not only did she receive a free culinary education, compliments of weeks of Per Se training, but she was a frustrated writer who stumbled on a gold mine of book-ready experience! So it is a bit disconcerting that she seems to have lost her way a bit about two-thirds of the way through the book, when it becomes decidedly more about her romance than about the restaurant. Not that the romance isn't interesting, but let's face it, anyone who is picking up a book called Service Included is interested in the food! But all of that aside, there are more than enough well-written food facts in here to make Service Included worth the reading. Just be sure to savor the beginning, instead of holding out for the dessert!

Wine of the Week: Sacred Stone Master's Red Blend ~ Cask #004

This week's Wine of the Week was another recommendation from my favorite "old-neighborhood" wine shop. Sacred Stone is an affordable label from the Pietra Santa Winery in California's Central Coast, and this Proprietor's Red Blend is a great $10 pick! The blend includes Merlot, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, and Dolcetto grapes, which have been oaked for 24 months in both French and American Oak. This wine is not shy! Upon opening the bottle, I was immediately hit with chocolately, musky, earthy, minty aromas, followed by rich plum. The color is a deep, deep purple. Interestingly, the flavor was not what I expected, given the nose. It is earthy, with stone fruit, but also carries some cherry flavors and spice. It is lighter-bodied than I expected as well, but with good balance and lingering flavors on the finish. The tannins give it a soft, velvety mouth-feel. This wine is wonderfully drinkable, particularly at this price point! Have it on a weeknight with a good meal.

Francesco Clemente's Amazing Hot Sauce (Chipotle & Date Chutney)

The four years I spent in the apartment I shared just prior to getting married and moving in with Kevin have the distinction of being the longest time I have lived in one place since leaving my childhood home. In the final year before I moved out, a strange phenomenon began to occur by which my roommate and I would find the refrigerator oddly devoid of the makings of any type of discernible meal, despite appearing to be absolutely stuffed to the gills. Pondering this situation, we would alternately accuse each other (in good fun, of course) of taking up more than our fair share of space in the over-filled appliance. It was not until we took the time to actually consider the contents of the refrigerator that the truth became clear - I have a particular affinity for condiments, and the myriad bottles and jars of the well-keeping stuff were taking over! I will admit that it is a bit of a problem, but the fact that just a little bit of the right condiment can add so much flavor, often without the addition of many "undesirable" nutritional side effects (fat, calories, etc.), is just unresistably alluring to me. So imagine my excitement when I heard an interview with Top Chef's Padma Lakshmi and found out that she, too, is a fan of condiments - so much so, in fact, that she devoted an entire chapter of her 2007 book Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet to Pickles and Chutneys! Haunted by her description of the Chipotle & Date Chutney included within, I had to buy the book. Let me just say that the chutney is everything I had dreamed of - smoky, sweet, and fiery hot (the rest of the book is great too, incidentally). It is amazing and very, very easy to make, so if you like hot and sweet, you would be remiss not to whip up a batch. I promise, it won't last long enough to take over your 'fridge!

Francesco Clemente's Amazing Hot Sauce (Chipotle & Date Chutney)
-from Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet by Padma Lakshmi
(Recipe also available from Good Food)

Naturally Flavored Water

Choosing everyday beverages sometimes seems a little tricky to me. Though I'll admit that I might love to, I can't drink wine, coffee, or tea all of the time. Because of the sugar, I try to make fruit juice an occasional, and preferably freshly-squeezed, indulgence. Soda's triple-whammy of sugar, caffeine, and chemicals severely limits its appearances in my diet. Even drinks like Crystal Light make me stop and consider how much Red 40 I would really like to be consuming. But let's face it, there is only so much water one can drink before it starts to get, well, a bit boring. When I start to feel bored with my water, I use a trick that my friend Amy taught me to add just a bit of subtle and interesting flavor, naturally and without the addition of a load of extra calories. It's really a variation of the ubiquitous lemon in the water, and is a great way to use up fresh herbs from the package you bought for the recipe and that called for one sprig! The idea is to pair a fruit (or vegetable) and an herb to flavor your water. The water quickly takes on not only the taste of the fruit, but also that of the herb, in a delicate and pleasing way. My favorite combination is orange and rosemary, which I made a whole pitcher of today, but many other pairings work just as well. For a medium-sized water bottle, I usually use just two or three slices of the fruit, and one or two sprigs of the herb; That's really all you need. Bruising the herb a bit will bring out more of the flavor, but is not required. Definitely try the orange rosemary version. For more variety, though, here are some other versions that I like too:

Lemon/Basil

Lime/Cilantro

Cucumber/Mint