Dancing Spoon

Osso Bucco with Rigatoni

Irishman The Healthy

by Chef Gavan Murphy
Osso Bucco with Rigatoni With the end of holidays approaching I find myself focusing on getting back to my healthy ways. Mind you, I didn’t go crazy but you could say my pants are a bit tight—some would even guess I’m a rodeo star! So back to the straight and narrow I go for the New Year and I’m starting off with something very rustic and hearty. Perfect for warming the cockles of your heart (as we say at home). 
Osso Bucco: An Italian dish made of veal shank containing marrowbone, stewed with wine, vegetables and seasonings. Origin: Italian, literally meaning Marrowbone.

ArtJava Latte Artists: Coffee Art 3

by J. Michael Wheeler
In 2005 Caffé ArtJava opened in Montreal whose skilled baristas amaze with their creative Latte Art. Check out their Gallery. 

---

Find the special, the unique, and the how did I ever get along without that at the Foodie's Emporium. Click here.

---

Shop Foodie's Emporium

Newsletter

---

Pan-Searing Steaks

Favorites '08 Readers

by J. Michael Wheeler
Every year we like to showcase our reader's favorite articles. Here's an all-time winner!

One of the pleasures of many restaurants is an open kitchen design. The diner can both enjoy a meal and be a spectator. Watching the kitchen at the peak of its dinner rush can be like watching a professional sports team in action: it’s physical, it’s coordinated, each “player” has a specific function that the rest of the “team” relies upon, and when the team scores, you, the diner, win.

One of the key “moves” in that professional kitchen is “finishing” a dish in the oven. A pan is used to sauté or sear on the stove top and then its popped into the oven for finishing.

Here’s one of my favorite ways to prepare a thick steak that uses this technique:

Sage Green Beans

Irishman The Healthy

by Chef Gavan Murphy
Green Beans with Mushrooms and Sage With the holiday season in full swing and Christmas around the corner I decided to focus on side dishes for your holiday gathering. I thought of this recipe back in November as a healthy alternative for the green bean casserole with that canned mushroom muck, but decided to keep it in the vault for December: it has such a lovely organic earthy flavor. The taste is comforting and rustic--a perfect side for a roast or turkey.

This recipe is simple and quick and you can even start it a day in advance. Stress free cooking—my gift to you! 

From Russia with Latte: Coffee Art 2

by J. Michael Wheeler
First, we taste with our eyes. And what a canvas a cappuccino or a latte presents to baristas! Latte art is becoming increasingly popular worldwide. Here's a clip from Russia Today, a 24/7 English-language news channel highlighting a champion barista in Moscow. 

---

Find the special, the unique, and the how did I ever get along without that at the Foodie's Emporium. Click here.

---

Shop Foodie's Emporium

Newsletter

---

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Irishman The Healthy

by Chef Gavan Murphy
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries Brussels Sprouts are a good Irish staple. I don’t remember a Christmas dinner across the pond without them. Now the cranberries mixed with them is a new one, but I had left over dried cranberries from the Salmon recipe so I decided to play around with it. The outcome is great if I say so myself.  There’s a bit of sweetness from the cranberries & caramelized balsamic. Not only is it healthy and damn tasty it also looks lovely, which should get you timid Brussels sprouts eaters asking for seconds.

Cheese: Rogue River Blue

Cheese About

by Dana A. Romero

Love cheese? Need a cheese guide? Dana A. Romero runs the Cheese Group at Dancing Spoon. This is where you can learn and discuss everything having to do with cheese. Every week we will highlight one cheese.

Rogue River Blue from Rogue Creamery

Rogue Creamery uses its flagship Oregon Blue recipe as a base for Rogue River Blue, but the Rogue River Blue is something special. The cheese is made only during a short window in the fall, when the milk is higher in butterfat and solids than during other times of the year. The cheese ages between eight and 12 months, developing a natural rind in the process, and when the cheese reaches its peak, Rogue Creamery’s team mobilizes again to hand-wrap each cheese, a delicate task of placing about eight fragile leaves gently around each wheel and tying the parcel with raffia. Handcrafted cheese indeed.

Read more...

Every week here at the Cheese group on dancingspoon.com we will highlight one cheese. The goal is to have you find this cheese in your area and then buy, taste and comment on it. Provide information like what type of wine you think goes well with the selection, what cheese you prefer instead of this selection, how much per lb. you paid for the cheese and any other information you would like to provide for the group.

---

Find the special, the unique, and the how did I ever get along without that at the Foodie's Emporium. Click here.

---

Shop Foodie's Emporium

Newsletter

---

Coffee Art Gallery 1

by J. Michael Wheeler
First, we taste with our eyes. And what a canvas a cappuccino or a latte presents to baristas! Latte art is becoming increasingly popular worldwide. Sample this gallery of coffee art...

---

Find the special, the unique, and the how did I ever get along without that at the Foodie's Emporium. Click here.

---

Shop Foodie's Emporium

Newsletter

---

Cranberry Crusted Salmon

Irishman The Healthy

by Chef Gavan Murphy
Cranberries run a plenty this time of year. Not only do they make a festive addition in recipes with their brilliant red color, they are also packed with antioxidant vitamins and flavonoids.

You probably know cranberries best as a compote or sauce, traditionally served with roast turkey during Thanksgiving. For the Irish and English it’s a staple at Christmas dinners. I’ve always loved the taste and beautiful color of these strangely harvested plants so in keeping with December’s holiday theme I decided to give it a go in a non-traditional way.

Dried cranberries, dubbed Craisins, work great in this recipe because they’re not as tart as raw cranberries due to a little added sugar. I suppose a little won’t kill us especially when the end result is delicious and nutritious. 

Wine Tips: Aerating Wine

by Andrew Lazorchak

Aerating Wine
Well grandma was on to something when she always said, you have to let the wine breathe; and no one ever really questioned why it needed to breathe or what that meant. So what is the fuss, why wait?

Simply put, when wine is purchased it is in a coma. Wine is hermetically sealed and is devoid of oxygen, so it can not spoil. But, when you get around to serving the wine, it needs time to wake up. When wine gets oxygen into it, the wine is brought back to life.

If you decide to use a decanter, there are 100’s of them in all shapes from ducks to the classic carafe to even The Wine Waterfall. The Wine Waterfall is something for a special occasion and special people. These guys did to wine what the chocolate fountain did to chocolate, except you can not dip your glass in the fall. But I bet you’ll have more fun just pouring the wine down the shoot, then drinking it, and probably wonder what else can be poured into it.