Photo by Al_HikesAZ

Mmm…do you prefer an elegant rabbit with hot apple jelly from one of the best restaurants in the world, or a mouth-watering burrito from the hole-in-the-wall place down the street?

If you picked the rabbit, you should know that Restaurant Magazine will announce the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants on Monday, April 26. Each year, the list is compiled by famous chefs, renowned food critics, and leading restaurateurs, and is certain to cause debate. Makes sense that everyone’s experience at a restaurant is different. So as we wait patiently for this year’s list, go ahead and take a look at what made last year’s list of World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

If you picked the burrito, there’s no award for the mom-and-pop place, but we’re sure the great food and reasonable prices are good enough. Hole-in-the-wall restaurants tend to be unique and can be a hidden secret from the rest of the world. So let the community and the team in on the secret! What’s your favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant or café? What makes it different?

Photo by elana

As the leaves on the trees transition from green and gold to bright oranges and reds, my cravings shift from ice cream and cold sandwiches to soups and baked goodies. It’s time to fire up the oven instead of the barbecue, and to bake with reckless abandon. Along with the perk of fresh baked bread, cookies, and pumpkin muffins, the house smells delicious and the heat from the oven cozily warms up the place.  I especially like to add cloves to my autumn dishes, for that slightly warmer, spicier flavor. Fall cooking combines the delicious with the necessary. Our house isn’t all sugar and carbohydrates, however–I’m also a soup fiend.

There’s nothing that warms the body and soul like a bowl of soup on a chilly day, and I’m a fan of soups from around the world. I make borscht with fresh beets from our community-supported agriculture (CSA) box, which is enough to convert any beet-averse person to come to the purple side. I have my own version of chicken soup, where the secret ingredient isn’t just love, but also liberal amounts of ginger, a jalapeno pepper, and garlic. It comforts the soul, soothes the stomach, and is just what the doctor ordered whether or not you’re feeling under the weather. Just this last weekend, I was at the New York State Sheep and Wool festival, and had the most amazing lamb and barley soup, which I’m hoping to replicate at home.

I’m also experimenting with a recipe for Pho, the Vietnamese beef and noodle soup, but I haven’t quite perfected it yet. I love experimenting with recipes, because when they work out well, it’s amazing, and when my experiments in gastronomy end up to be disasters, they make for great stories.  We have a fully stocked take-out menu drawer for just these types of occasions.

What are you cooking this fall season?

Photo by Carey Tilden

I have a secret addiction, and it’s something I used to harbor a lot of guilt about. Recently, however, I decided that I will no longer feel ashamed. I will confess loudly and proudly for the whole world to hear that I am a 37-year-old man who eats peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I indulge at least two or three times a week — which seems excessive for anyone over the age of 9, I admit — but there you have it.

The lowly PB&J has always been a fixture in my diet. I’m a purist and still appreciate it in its basic form, although the components have evolved slightly with age. Gone is the classic Wonder Bread of my youth: now it’s got to be double-fiber wheat bread serving as the platform for the gooey insides. Where I used to insist on crunchy Skippy or Jif peanut butter (or worse yet, sugar-laden Goober), these days it’s the all-natural peanut or almond butter that I enjoy, straight from the refrigerator of course. Lately, I’ve been opting for the low-sugar fruit spread instead of jelly, but one thing remains the same: strawberry always has been the only flavor for me.

I wonder how PB&J became saddled with a “for kids only” reputation. I’m sure I can’t be the only adult out there who defies the stereotype and relishes a well-made peanut butter and jelly sandwich now and again. And the truth is, I’m not. It seems that lots of adults are in on the peanut butter and jelly craze. With dozens of different variations to experiment with, the advent of peanut butter-themed sandwich shops, and even an Internet song phenomenon, PB&J is doing OK for itself. No need to be ashamed — enjoy! Just don’t get caught with a milk mustache.

How many other adults out there still indulge in the sinful goodness of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? And what’s your favorite variation on the original?

Photo by jelene

I recently read an article that truly disturbed me.  Now, before I tell you what it is, let me confess that I am no health nut.  I suffer from a mild cheeseburger addiction, I can’t say no to a slice of pizza, and I’ve been known to put away more than my fair share of tacos al pastor.  I especially love anything fried –well, almost anything, which leads me into that disturbing article.  It was a feature from a Dallas/Fort Worth news site talking about the finalists for the Big Tex Choice Award at this year’s State Fair of Texas.  Topping the list, and I kid you not, was deep-fried butter.  Yes, take a moment if you need one.  Deep-fried butter.  Here’s the “tantalizing” description:

“100 percent pure butter is whipped ’til light and fluffy, then specially sweetened with a choice of several flavors. It is then surrounded by a ‘special dough’ and quick-fried.”

Listen, I know that state fairs aren’t exactly a bastion of healthy eating.  I know very few people, myself included, who would be satisfied to wander the midway gnawing on a celery stick and handful of goji berries, but this seems ridiculous to me:  gluttonous simply for gluttony’s sake.  Is this the dietary path we’re on?  Have we reached the point where we’re so beyond caring about what goes into our bodies that we’re ingesting the most decadent, non-nutritional, artery clogging thing we can think of?  I find it somewhat unconscionable that something so grotesque and unquestionably destructive could be considered for any award (other than, perhaps, “The Best Foods You Should Never Put into Your Body” award), especially in a state (not to mention an entire country) facing a huge obesity problem.

In the interest of balancing out the scales, so to speak, I’ve scouted out some delicious suggestions from Answers users on alternative methods for preparing some of our favorite fried foods, including chicken, fish, French fries, and falafel.  Here’s hoping that next year’s entries are a little more creative and a little less deadly.

What is your opinion of the latest food fad–deep-fried butter?  And what healthier alternatives can you suggest for preparing your favorite fried concoctions?

Photo by danieljean

Chocolate is more than just delectable. It’s the confection of affection. It’s delicious (in moderation), it’s nutritious, and wow — the way it releases endorphins is unparalleled. To be honest, I’ve had chocolate that’s so good, it should be illegal. Since I am, deep in my heart, a method writer, I’m eating chocolate as I write this. I’m not a chocolate purist — my personal preference is milk chocolate. But my absolute favorite are chocolate “turtles” (caramel, cashews, and milk chocolate). Chocolate-covered marzipan comes in a very close second place. (I told you, I’m not a purist.)

Historically, chocolate has been used as currency, and when you think of the social surroundings of chocolate, the right type and timing can still buy a little forgiveness for small oversights. It’s no coincidence that chocolate — which releases endorphins — is used for apologies. (Just try staying angry while you’re eating sinfully rich chocolate. It’s nearly impossible.) In my circle of friends, I know that if I’m having a rough day, one of them is bound to have some chocolate ready to share. It’s usually the really good stuff, one of the perks of being an adult. We all have our favorites, the one that we’ve declared The One.

Finding the perfect chocolate — the type that tickles your taste buds and makes your heart sing the hallelujah chorus — is a task for those of us who are willing to suffer the arduous task of locating different brands and varieties, and slowly analyzing them for flavor, texture, and that certain je ne sais quoi that makes it a favorite. In my own search, I have tried chocolates from all over the world, including blends with tea leaves and chocolate with chili. If, like me, you lack the time and resources to travel the world in search of the ultimate chocolate, I recommend a visit to an importer like Cost Plus World Market or Trader Joe’s for a global selection, including eco-friendly and fair-trade brands.

What’s your favorite kind of chocolate? How did it become your favorite?

It’s not complicated to add ingredients to food. For example, a bag of potato chips with “50% more salt” won’t cause much astonishment. On the other hand, foods and beverages that remove naturally occurring ingredients amaze me. Take decaffeinated coffee — how in the world do they do it? I downed a double espresso with a twist of lemon and set out to find out.

The short answer: Hot water and lots of it. A column from LBC.co.uk explains that when coffee is soaked or steamed, the caffeine goes into the hot water. However, a lot of the flavors also get removed. To get the flavors back, “the water is then returned to the beans for reabsorption of flavors and oils.” The caffeine stays out, but the flavor comes back. Weird.

The site GoAskAlice goes into more detail, but keeps it easy to understand. Apparently, there are several methods for removing the caffeine from coffee. Some are more chemical than others, but all end with the same results — a pleasantly bitter beverage that won’t you keep awake at night.

Interestingly, just because a cup of coffee is classified as “decaf,” that doesn’t mean it’s 100% caffeine free. In order to be called decaffeinated, the coffee has to have caffeine levels of 2.5% or less. Anything more, and the coffee can’t legally be classified as decaf.

Wikipedia details all the various methods one can use to get the caffeine out of coffee, and also notes that “the first commercially successful decaffeination process” was invented by Ludwig Roselius and Karl Wimmer in 1903.” The pair used brine and benzene to remove the caffeine. According to About.com, the process may have been discovered by accident. Kind of like Post-It Notes and penicillin.

Personally, while I love coffee, I’m hardly a connoisseur. Do you guys know how to tell the good stuff from the bad? Is it like wine tasting or do you think all coffee tastes the same? Please leave a comment with your advice below.

Thanks for reading,

Mike