Grapefruit Fluff

Always one for an "era gone by story" that hales from New York City, this NYT article on a recipe from the Park Lane (twitter.com/nytimesdining actually featured recipes 1940 and 2010) struck me as the next experience in the kitchen. A bit daunting to try a panna cotta, but why shy away from a challenge. That's the beauty of cooking you can always do it over to get it right (as many times as necessary or as long as you have the chutzpah to face failure with hope).

For the vanilla-bean panna cotta:

2½ teaspoons powdered gelatin

2 cups heavy cream

½ cup sugar

½ vanilla bean

For the meringue:

4 egg whites, at room temperature

¾ cup sugar

1 tablespoon grapefruit zest

For the brandied caramel sauce:

¾ cup heavy cream

¼ cup corn syrup

1¼ cups sugar

¼ cup unsalted butter

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup brandy

For serving:

2 pink grapefruits.

Israeli Couscous (Salad)

A unique Mediterranean toasted pasta. Found several cold serving recipes that will make this food product a great picnic item to share with the girls at the beach. I love this pasta served hot with sauteed onions, chopped parsley and spices so shifting the experience to cold might not be such a stretch.

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked couscous
1 tablespoon butter
1 red onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup toasted sliced almonds
1/2 cup canned chick peas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup creamy salad dressing
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Place 1 teaspoon butter in a saucepan and melt over medium-low heat. Add 1/2 cup couscous and stir until coated in butter. Add 1 cup water. Bring to boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until all water is absorbed. Season with salt and pepper, set aside to cool.

In a salad bowl, combine the couscous, red onion, bell pepper, parsley, raisins, almonds and chick peas. Stir and mix well. Whisk together the salad dressing, yogurt, cumin, salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over salad; stir until well blended, chill and serve.

Recipe Location: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/978/Couscous-Salad115332.shtml

Autumnal Birthday Cake

Stay tuned, Sunday's kitchen experience is my personal birthday cake and true to my love of Nigella everything I'm going to attempt her Autumnal Birthday Cake found on her website nigella.com, which is perfect for my approaching birthday week. First, however, I have to figure out what golden caster sugar is, totally clueless as I write this but will have that resolved by Sunday. "-)

FOR THE CAKE:

• 175g butter, softened
• 100g golden caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 350ml maple syrup
• 500g self-raising flour
• 175ml hot water
• 2 x 21cm sandwich tins, buttered and lined

FOR THE ICING:

• 2 large egg whites
• 125ml maple syrup
• 125g golden caster sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon maple extract, optional
• 125g pecans

Top Beers voted by Public @ HHI Seafood Jazz & Brew

Though we all know the public vote in any endeavor provides a great barometer on the heartbeat of a market, at times we like to caution that they sometimes reflect a trendy intent and I enjoyed each of the craft beer selections that found fondness from the public point of view. However, I will initially mention a few selections that were new or inspiring to my palate and suggest they be included in your next craft beer purchase....(no particular order here, just recall out of sequence)

Bell's Oberon
Breckenridge's Vanilla Porter
Full Sail's Session Black
Dogfish Head's Punkin
Bison Brewery's Honey Basil
Charleston Brewings's Half Moon Hefe (another 2009 fav)
Terrapin's Big Hoppy Monster

September 18, 2010 Seafood Jazz & Brew Festival "Brews on the Harbour"
1 RJ Rockers Rock Hopper
2 Woodchuck Pear Cider
3 Southern Tier Creme Brulee
4 (tied) Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale and New Belgium Hoptober and New Belgium Fat Tire
5 Hilton Head Brewing Raspberry Wheat

The Sunset Rotary Club annually hosts the Oyster Shucking contest in conjunction with this festival and the following amateurs rocked the crowds with their skillfulness:
Doug Hoover
Jacqueliine Barbour (a visitor from PA that comes to the festival every year)
Andy Cook