Food

Eco-Friendly & Healthy Nonstick Pans

Written on March 10, 2010 at 10:46 am, by Khalil Hymore

I love to cook with my stainless steel All-Clad, but I’ll be honest, at home I mostly use my inexpensive nonstick pans. Why? Because clean-up is SO much easier. But am I damaging my health? Well, maybe.

While nonstick cookware touts an easy way to be healthy and cook with less fat, its biggest draw is that it’s a breeze to clean. But there have been some health concerns surrounding the chemicals used to produce PTFE (the material that gives nonstick it’s properties), such as Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). This and other chemicals are being linked to thyroid disease and infertility. Basically, if your traditional nonstick pans aren’t cared for properly, it can be hazardous to your health.

Many companies have responded to this new information by introducing a nonstick ceramic-based surface. They have none of the worrisome chemicals and can outlast traditional nonstick. An added bonus? They’re earth-friendly!

We tried out a bunch of the new ceramic nonstick varieties and found that our favorites were also among the most affordable: (1) Earthpan II Sandflow, $25; (2) Cuisinart Green Gourmet, $50; (3) Todd English GreenPan, $50; (4) Starfrit Alternative Eco-Pan, $34.

Are you in the market for new cookware? If your Teflon pans are all scratched up, you should be—seriously, go toss them right now!

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In Knead Of Daily Bread

Written on March 3, 2010 at 12:30 pm, by Tara Bench

Straight from the workbenches and ovens of Amy’s Bread bakery in New York, authors Amy Sherber and Toy Kim Dupree give us recipes and simple instructions in their book Amy’s Bread Updated and Revised (Wiley, February 2010). You can make your own artisan-style bread, in your home ovens, with the highly informative tips and techniques and beautiful pictures (a must for cookbooks in my opinion).

No doubt you’ve heard of, and probably tried the recipe for no-knead bread, a viral phenomenon. It’s quite tasty, but the no-knead bread lacks the true texture and taste of artesian, kneaded bread—the kind of bread you find in Europe or the great bakeries of New York and San Francisco.

I had the opportunity to attend a demonstration with the lovely ladies at the Chelsea Market bakery location. I learned to make their Rustic Italian Bread using their Wet Dough technique—which allows the dough to develop much of its strength and elasticity while proofing in a bowl after it is mixed.

Yes, it does require kneading (check out the video to see the dough in action!), but the trick is to not continue adding flour—the dough will be sticky and wet throughout the process—but oh, the results! Delicious!!

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Oscar-Worthy Cookies

Written on March 3, 2010 at 10:50 am, by Khalil Hymore

And the cookie goes to…me!

Wow, plain old sugar cookies just got WAY more glamorous. Check out these awesome Oscar cookies from Eleni’s—now an annual tradition for this haute New York bakery. They use edible ink and paper to create adorable (ahem, George Clooney and Colin Firth) caricatures of this year’s best actor, actress, and picture nominees. Order a set and then honestly admit to partying with film icons Sandra Bullock, Morgan Freeman, and Meryl Streep or newcomers Carey Mulligan and Gabourey Sidibe.

Hmm…now the only question is, who do I eat first? I’m looking at you, Helen Mirren.

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Host an Award-Worthy Oscar Party

Written on March 1, 2010 at 4:24 pm, by cdewet

Unless you are a big movie buff, you might have forgotten that the Academy Awards are on this Sunday! I usually tune in just to watch the disastrous red carpet interviews and then call it a night, but last year my friend Lisa (our entertainment guru here at the mag) urged me to throw a small gathering for the event. It was an absolute blast! Why not host your own little shindig this year? Read on for Entertaining Expert Mark Addison’s great suggestions on how to host a red-carpet worthy Oscar party.

• Have a Polaroid camera set up near the entrance to snap attendees as they enter. Encourage guests to come dressed to impress for the “paparazzi.”
• Serve Best Picture-themed snacks and beverages such as:
  • Pandora punch with blue Kool-Aid and a crazy straw.
  • Popcorn out of a football helmet for The Blind Side with iced “Gator” Aid.
  • Chocolate-covered dog biscuits for Up! (your furry friends can join in the fun too).

• Play a compilation of music from the soundtracks for the Best Picture nominees. During commercials, encourage guests to dance or play “Name That Movie” for each song.

Read more

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Wonka’s Back! And So Is The Golden Ticket

Written on February 23, 2010 at 4:57 pm, by Rachel Shippy

Remember Wonka candy from back in the day? Well they never really went away… but now the sweetmakers once known for such classics as Bottle Caps and Laffy Taffy are all grown up and rolling out their new line of premium candies called ‘Wonka Exceptionals’ – what a makeover! We caught up with the folks from Wonka at New York’s own candy wonderland, Dylan’s Candy Bar (fittingly) to try some of their new creations. Although we loved sampling while we were at Dylan’s (who doesn’t want to try new candy while sitting at a table made of gumballs?), our real field testing was conducted back at the office—do you think this means the Editors of LHJ might have a candy problem? The real fruit juice taste and sour finish made the Pomegranate Fruit Marvels my personal pick (the snozzberries taste like snozzberries!) but based on how quickly they disappeared from my desk, I think the Scrumdiddlyumptious Chocolate Bar (pictured) won the fan favorite thanks to its toffee, peanut, and cookie pieces scattered throughout.

With Wonka’s new ‘Feed Your Imagination’ approach, you can’t NOT feel like Charlie as you bite into a big bar wrapped in iridescent, zainy paper (the packaging is as much fun as the candy!)… plus there’s a chance of finding 1 of 10 golden tickets that Wonka is distributing behind the wrappers of their new ‘Exceptionals’ chocolate tablet bars and bags of minis. Rather than a trip to a chocolate factory, golden ticket finders win a trip around the world with their loved ones while thousands of secondary prizes are being awarded to those who find a purple ticket. If you want to start your hunt for a ticket now, ‘Wonka Exceptionals’ are available at Dylan’s Candy Bar, and will begin hitting stores nationwide on March 1st. Prizes or not, we had a great time trying Wonka’s new premium candies because they stay true to what we all love about the original story—it’s  fun with a dash of fantasy.

Photos Courtesy of: Wonka / Debra Rothenberg

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Meet a Dove Chocolate Discoveries Chocolatier

Written on February 22, 2010 at 6:08 pm, by Ron Kelly

Do recipes with names like Milk Chocolate Chai Mousse, Molten Cupcakes and Coconut Chocolate Granita (pictured) grab your attention? Have you drooled on your computer yet? If so, you’re my kind of people.

As someone who considers chocolate a major food group, I was intrigued by the concept of the Dove Chocolate Discoveries direct selling program, which enables women to become professional chocolatiers. They prepare, share and sell Dove chocolate treats, candy-making ingredients and kits, adult and family-friendly beverages, and more, all while gathering and entertaining with others who go cuckoo for all things cocoa. We at LHJ were even treated to a sample party last month, and I must come clean that I have just today kicked my Sea-Salted Caramel Collection habit that started that night. (Although I do have Dr. Drew on speed dial, just in case.)

What intrigued a lot of us here, though, was the lifestyle of a chocolatier. I mean, next to “rock star,” it’s possibly one of the coolest-sounding job titles around. So we followed up with one of our hostesses, Lisa Pagano, to get the inside scoop.

Read more

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Guest Blog: Testing a Retro LHJ Cookie Recipe

Written on February 19, 2010 at 12:00 pm, by Amanda Wolfe

Meet Judy and Joy, the lovely ladies of the Twice Baked Twins, who are our fabulous guest video bloggers today. They have an annual cookie recipe contest, and this year one of their readers submitted a recipe from LHJ—in the 1930s! They whipped up a batch and found that our original sugar cookies really do stand the test of time. Yum!

Thanks Judy and Joy! Make sure you visit their site to get more twice-baked fun, and if you want to DIY, get the recipe after the jump. Read more

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