Sometimes you come across something that just touches you in all the right places.  For me the combination of technology, function, and a good narrating voice made this video I stumbled across too good to pass up.  While some may pass it off as just the national anthem of the Netherlands, this “The William” is [...]]]>

Sometimes you come across something that just touches you in all the right places.  For me the combination of technology, function, and a good narrating voice made this video I stumbled across too good to pass up.  While some may pass it off as just the national anthem of the Netherlands, this “The William” is so much more.  This reminds me of what the Microsoft surface would be if used for cooking.  It’s part cook-top and part touch screen computer, hell it even has a built-in timer.  If you can’t imagine having a cook-top that allows you to deal with every item that’s placed on it individually, don’t worry, just give your imagination a rest and watch the video after the jump.

Wow, what a year!  So many things have happened since last we posted here at Flavourgasmic.  In the coming weeks and months Flavourgasmic is coming back!  We are going to bring you cheese making, bread baking, new kitchen gadgets, more restaurant reviews, more foods in cans, wedding planning, and hopefully some good times and better [...]]]>

Wow, what a year!  So many things have happened since last we posted here at Flavourgasmic.  In the coming weeks and months Flavourgasmic is coming back!  We are going to bring you cheese making, bread baking, new kitchen gadgets, more restaurant reviews, more foods in cans, wedding planning, and hopefully some good times and better food!  I am also planning a new weekly column on how I learned to stop worrying and love scary ingreidents.  Thanks for keeping up and I can’t wait to share what we are cooking.  Look forward to hearing from you all soon.

If you don’t know the name Mauricio (Tony) Harion, you soon will.  He is the brilliant mind behind what has to be one of the best drinking games I have ever seen.  As a product design student hailing from Belo Horizonte, Brazil he created the ultimate mash-up with the Enigma – Battleship Bar Game.  I [...]]]>

If you don’t know the name Mauricio (Tony) Harion, you soon will.  He is the brilliant mind behind what has to be one of the best drinking games I have ever seen.  As a product design student hailing from Belo Horizonte, Brazil he created the ultimate mash-up with the Enigma – Battleship Bar Game.  I think we all get he concept here.  When one of your “ships” is hit you have to take a shot, what better way to fight for control of the seas.  Hit the link to see more pictures.

<via Coroflot>

[Show as slideshow]

It’s no secret that I grew up in South Carolina, okay, yes my parents were yankees, but there are just some things that come with growing up in the southeast. One of those things is that I eat grits, I love them, anytime of the day. However they can’t just be those 15 minute instant [...]]]>

It’s no secret that I grew up in South Carolina, okay, yes my parents were yankees, but there are just some things that come with growing up in the southeast. One of those things is that I eat grits, I love them, anytime of the day. However they can’t just be those 15 minute instant kind of grits (truth be told I’m not sure that this is not the true start of the civil war), but real grits, the kind that take time, love, and when done right, just melt in your mouth.  Hit the link for more on grits.

Grits are a course ground, corn-based, Native American food that are traditionally stone milled. Grits are a by-product of the production of corn meal, they are the coarser bits of corn that are left after being passed through screens to make the meal. Similar to Polenta, a boiled porridge made from the corn meal, the grit was originally a peasant food that has recently become a main stay in some of the countries most prestigious tables. Your modern store bought dried polenta can be substituted in almost any recipe when grits are called for, they will be closest to yellow grits, not the white grits that come to mind with you think of woman named Flo slopping them on your plate at six o’clock in the morning at a truck stop diner.

Having lived in Charleston, SC, for many years I’ve learned that the Holy City is also effectionatly called the buckle of the grit belt, an area that spans from Texas to Virginia. In Charleston people do take their grits very seriously to say the least. Currently, I’m using the yellow and the white stone ground grits by Charleston Favorites, available at Foodforthesouthernsoul.com, these are a course ground grit from Rockland Plantation. They have a wonderful speckled colouring due to the natural process by which they are milled. The stone-burr milling provides more texture to the grit creating both small and larger pieces, than your mega mart variety, this texture also gives you a rather complex taste in your final dish.

Now I must be honest here, after a few trials I’ve discovered that the recipe for Charleston grits on the back of the Charleston Favorites bag is better than the one I had grown up with.  It even works with other lesser brands of grits, but buyer beware, there is nothing like a good quality grit. So, here is their recipe, its wonderful…

Charleston Creamy Grits:

Combine 1 1/4 cups of rinsed grits with 3 cups of boiling water, 2 cups of cream, and 2 cups of milk.  Continue to simmer and stir frequently for 20-30 minutes while adding 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 teaspoon pepper and 1/4 lb. butter. Enjoy!

While I know this is not the typical subject matter for Flavourgasmic I feel it deserves a mention.  Katt was recently honoured with an article in the College of Charleston Magazinediscussing her career as a special effects make-up artist in L.A.  The article features several alumni who have succeeded in the world of Film and TV.  [...]]]>

While I know this is not the typical subject matter for Flavourgasmic I feel it deserves a mention.  Katt was recently honoured with an article in the College of Charleston Magazinediscussing her career as a special effects make-up artist in L.A.  The article features several alumni who have succeeded in the world of Film and TV.  By far the most famous of which is obviously Katt.  Hit the link to read the article (I’m the Zombie in the background).

 <College of Charleston Magazine :: Starmakers>

Recently Brian and I tried Vegemite and several popular concoctions using this B-vitamin packed yeast based spread.  Well there is good news for those of us that loved the Vegemite and cream cheese blend, at least that is if you’re an Aussie, or planning a trip to Sydney.  Thats right!  The makers of Vegemite have planned [...]]]>

Recently Brian and I tried Vegemite and several popular concoctions using this B-vitamin packed yeast based spread.  Well there is good news for those of us that loved the Vegemite and cream cheese blend, at least that is if you’re an Aussie, or planning a trip to Sydney.  Thats right!  The makers of Vegemite have planned to make a new spread containing the flavors of Vegemite and cream cheese with the addition of a new “secret ingredient”.  Even better it will be available premixed.  Kraft Australia  has devised a naming contest to give this new yummy its title.  Check out their site, enter a name, and you might just be the lucky salt that gets to name what is sure to be one of the hottest selling new food items in Australia!

You know how in movies someone always comes home and opens up a carton of milk, smells it, and then says to their significant other, “Does this smell bad to you?”  I can’t handle it.  I’m completely paranoid about that sort of thing.  If it’s in my power to determine if the food is bad, [...]]]>

You know how in movies someone always comes home and opens up a carton of milk, smells it, and then says to their significant other, “Does this smell bad to you?”  I can’t handle it.  I’m completely paranoid about that sort of thing.  If it’s in my power to determine if the food is bad, it’s bad by default.  If the milk is past its date, don’t even bother to smell it.  Just dump it out.  If the meat is over a week old, throw it out.  The sell by date is equivalent to the use by date.  And because of this I’ve become a great fan of canned and frozen food.  The date is stamped right on there.  All this fresh and local food that celebrity chefs on TV keep blathering on about is not for me.  If I pick the fruit right off the tree, then I’ll eat it.  If not, it better be in a can.  This is the first of hopefully many articles I write for Flavourgasmic about canned and frozen food.

For my first article I’ve chosen to write about King Oscar sardines.  I chose King Oscar sardines for a few reasons.  The company has a semi-long history that goes on for over 100 years.  Also, I have a bizarre fascination with European royalty.  And the most important reason of all is that fairly recently I’ve gotten into seafood.  For most of my life, I haven’t really eaten fish, and I still don’t eat it in abundance (unless you count being lied to by my parents and their “chicken fish”, but that’s another story).  But one of the first for me was King Oscar sardines.  Hit the link for more.

First we’ll cover some information about the company itself.  The present company (Norway Foods) is an amalgamation of several companies, the first being the Stavanger Canning Company which started in 1873.  But they didn’t start canning sardines until 1880.  So right there you know that there’s a long history to this product.  In 1893, they introduced their sardines to the US at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago = Awesome!  In 1902, King Oscar II of Norway and Sweden granted the Christian Bjelland Company (another one) permission to use his name and portrait on their sardines.  In 1920 the portrait of the king was finalized and is still being used today.  And in 1950 the company was declared Kosher, which I wouldn’t mention but their website makes such a deal out of it.  Another thing their website goes on and on about is that sardines are supposedly the greatest food on the planet.  No mercury and lots of Omega-3.  They won’t shut up about it.

Next I’d like to say a little about King Oscar himself.  He lived from 1829 to 1907.  He became king of Norway and Sweden after the death of his brother in 1872.  According to Wikipedia (so it must be true), he seemed like a nice guy.  When the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden split, it went pretty peacefully because he went along with it.  After that he was no longer the king of Norway but only King of Sweden (only the King of Sweden = hilarious).  His great-great grandson is Carl XVI Gustaf, current King of Sweden.  And Carl16′s daughter is Crown Princess Victoria, who would look much better on the current cans of sardines.  Let’s see what that would look like, using my elite photoshop skills.

Now to the food (finally).  I did a taste test on 8 different flavours of King Oscar sardines.  I’m pretty sure I had tried about half the flavours before I did the test.  I went through and ate 2 or 3 from each flavour writing down my thoughts, and then went back a second time and had around 2 more from each.  I’ve rated each flavour on 3 important scales, each with a 1 to 5 rating. 

1. The flavour itself.  This is very important.
2. How fishy-gross it tastes.  Remember, I don’t exactly like fish.
3. The chance that I’ll pour fish juice on the floor or furniture and piss off my wife.  Because that smell never comes out.

I’ve also included a description of the look & taste.  I ordered the flavours in what I perceived (before trying them) as blandest to most intense flavour.  I thought that this way the flavour from a previous one wouldn’t screw up the next one.  And I used water to “wash out” the taste between tastings.  And of course I ate them right out of the can.  The King Oscar website has many suggestions for eating them, but as with most things, right out of the can is the best.

Pure Spring Water:  Flavour(1)/Pour(4)/Fishy(4)  It was sort of boring as one would expect since it’s simply in spring water.  There’s really no flavour here other than a boring fish.  It needs more salt.  I like salt.  To be honest, the first one I tasted was perfect – fresh and everything.  But the second…blech.

Soybean Oil:  Flavour(2)/Pour(4)/Fishy(2)  This one’s better than the Spring Water, if only because it tastes fattier and therefore slightly better.  But it’s still pretty boring, but less fishy though.

Olive Oil:  Flavour(5)/Pour(4)/Fishy(1)  Even better.  Damn near perfect.

Balsamic Vinaigrette:  Flavour(3)/Pour(4)/Fishy(1)  This ones almost exactly like the Olive Oil except with a little vinegar taste.  And if you check the ingredients, that’s exactly what it says.  At first I was going to say that this was the way to go, but when I returned for round two, this one tasted rotten while the Olive Oil still tasted great.

Tomato:  Flavour(5)/Pour(2)/Fishy(1)  Wow!  This one’s awesome.  The sardines are like smothered in tomato sauce.  I totally wasn’t expecting that.  It goes very well with the fish.  I like them.

Mediterranean:  Flavour(4)/Pour(5)Fishy(1)  There’s like a couple of slices of black olives in there as well as some ground up stuff on top.  The ingredients say that it’s spices, garlic, and red bell pepper.  All in all, it’s very good.  I feel like I’m sitting in a boat in Venice – oh wait not really.  I thought it would be similar to Olive Oil, but after going back and forth between the two, they don’t seem too close.

Gourmet Chipotle Sauce:  Flavour(2)/Pour(2)Fishy(3)  This one looks exactly like the tomato one, but with a darker color.  In the past this one had been my favourite, but now it might be one of my least favourites.  It’s sort of bland.  It’s supposed to be a BBQ sauce, but now it just seems semi-gross.  I checked the ingredients and it’s the only one with a tiny font and a long list of chemicals I’ve never heard of.  I’m pretty surprised but it’s also their newest flavour.  Maybe it’s not here to stay.

Dijon Mustard:  Flavour(3)/Pour(3)Fishy(4)  The fish are like encased in a block of mustard.  You almost can’t even see them.  The mustard itself tasted pretty good.  I’m not quite sure that the fish go perfectly with them.  They taste kinda fishy gross.  But I guess that’s why they pack them in the mustard – even more so than the tomato or chipotle.

So I liked the Tomato the best, but that’s because I’m pretty partial to very strong flavours like that.  For the general population, I’d go with my number two which is the Olive Oil.  Now I’m going to go throw up.

So remember, if the date isn’t stamped right on the can, you can’t really know if it’s still good.

Sometimes your friends bring you food, sometimes its good, other times not so much… When my friend Liza brought her zucchini bread into work, this was a case were it was excellent!  I had to have the recipe, and with a few minor tweaks I give it to you… The Ultimate Zucchini Bread after the jump.

Zucchini Bread: 3 [...]]]>

Sometimes your friends bring you food, sometimes its good, other times not so much… When my friend Liza brought her zucchini bread into work, this was a case were it was excellent!  I had to have the recipe, and with a few minor tweaks I give it to you… The Ultimate Zucchini Bread after the jump.

Zucchini Bread:
3 cups AP Flour (I like King Arthur unbleached)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon (fresh ground if possible)
2 cups sugar
1 cup olive oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven for 350F. Combine flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Then add oil, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla, mix well.  Add zucchini and nuts last. Bake in 2 greased 9×5 pans for 1 hour 20 min.  You can make this in mini pans or muffin tins if you like, you just have to adjust the cooking time accordingly.  Serve with whipped honey and butter… YUM!

Ever dream of raising a colony of nuclear powered mutant super bees?  You have to start somewhere, and why not with a Beginner Beekeeping Kit.  I am certainly no stranger to hobbies (I have several hundred, need chainmail, no problem) and I defiantly love honey, but the idea of having hundreds of swarming bees (ok beekeepers [...]]]>

Ever dream of raising a colony of nuclear powered mutant super bees?  You have to start somewhere, and why not with a Beginner Beekeeping Kit.  I am certainly no stranger to hobbies (I have several hundred, need chainmail, no problem) and I defiantly love honey, but the idea of having hundreds of swarming bees (ok beekeepers I know that bees are least likely to sting during a swarm but suspend disbelief) in my backyard is a little extreme even by my standards.  But wouldn’t it be nice to lure your enemies over with the offer of drinks only to trap them in your apiary of death?  Hit the link for info.

Being billed as a way to help boost the dwindling honey bee populations the beginner beekeeping kit includes everything necessary to get started as a beekeeper.  You get hive, wax, smoker and fuel, gloves, helmet, veil, brush, nails, assembly instructions and a book titled “First Lessons in Beekeeping” (seems fitting).  All of this for $299 keep in mind however that the bees are not included.  From a honey standpoint this would be awesome, there really is something wonderful about the idea of harvesting your own, but I just can’t get past the bee stings.  Am I the only one that thinks Blofeld would have been the perfect beekeeper?  Whether you are a member of SPECTRE or not check out the Beginner Beekeeping Kit at Real Goods and get a jump on evil plan season.

Israeli cuisine is extremely diverse being comprised of foods brought by Jewish immigrants from all parts of the world.  There are however two main avenues that Israeli food tends to follow, those of the Jews originating from the Middle East and those from the immigrants from Europe and the West.  It’s the food from the [...]]]>

Israeli cuisine is extremely diverse being comprised of foods brought by Jewish immigrants from all parts of the world.  There are however two main avenues that Israeli food tends to follow, those of the Jews originating from the Middle East and those from the immigrants from Europe and the West.  It’s the food from the first group, with its roots in the Arab world that have inspired the menu at a new eatery Naf Naf Grill in Naperville, Illinois.  Continue on for the review.

Snapshot:
Restaurant Type: Middle Eastern/Mediterranean
Dress Code: Casual
Alcohol: Nope
Price Range: Bargain (6-15)
Flavourgasmic Factor: Highly Recommended

Full Review:
Having just opened in January of this year the first thing you will notice about Naf Naf Grill is an unshakeable feeling that the building might have been at one point a Taco Bell.  However unlike any Taco Bell I have ever been to the food at Naf Naf is really good.  I can only hope that more Taco Bells are shut down to make way for chefs that truly want to share their culinary perspectives with the world.  Given the cramped confines of the layout however, things can get a little tight when they are busy, so plan accordingly and give yourself 15-20 minutes to order and get your food.

Focusing on fresh ingredients, just about every thing in this unassuming restaurant is made to order including their heavenly pita bread.  This is without question some of the best pita bread that I have ever tasted.  Perfectly golden brown and light as a feather it’s the perfect partner for one of their delicious pita sandwiches.  Choices include along with several Kababs, chicken shawarma, Falafel or Kifta.  Their chicken shawarma, think gyros meat with chicken instead of lamb, is a thinly sliced, perfectly seasoned, spit roasted chicken which matches perfectly with the subtle sweetness of their warm pita bread.  Their Falafel, a mixture of chick peas and herbs formed into balls and fried, proves to be another perfect filler for their pitas.  Perfectly seasoned and fried to perfection the Falafel strikes a great balance with a crisp outside and soft inside.  Either of these sandwiches can be had for just $6.59 which given the quality is a real food bargain.  All the meats that star in their sandwich selections are made available in entrée portions as well for just a few dollars more.  Included with the entrées are a pita, pickles, and your choice of Basmati Rice, Salad or home made fries, you will not be disappointed by any of their choices.

I have found that after eating at Naf Naf more then a dozen times I try to make the pitas the focus of my hunger lust.  One of the best ways to showcase the pitas is with their homemade hummus.  Available plain or topped with falafel or shawarma this blend of chick peas, sesame paste and spices is topped off with extra virgin olive oil to provide a silky texture that just begs to be scooped up with a warm pita.  At only $4.99 for their plain hummus and $.50 for a pita you can get yourself 6 pitas and some hummus for a cheap meal for 2 that will beat the pants out of any fast food in both price and quality.

If you have a sweet tooth then save some room for Baklava, while I have never tried them myself if their other food is any indication then for those with a passion for sugar should not be disappointed.