The Taste Lab | ideas that taste good

A salad which might pickpocket expectations

June 29, 2014 by antdina

She comes in the room without an invitation. Her face warming, bright and punctuated with sparkling green eyes. Decked in a flower dress and curly auburn hair. Her gaze changes the party. Guests shed jackets and formalities. Lips no longer hold back smiles. The icy wind leaves. And the promise of clinking glasses signal the start to a season of laughter. Her name is Summer. She does not wait for the longest day of the year. She joins when she damn […]

Categories: The Taste Lab • Tags: cucumber, mint, nectarine, salad

A taste for ambiguity

June 8, 2014 by antdina

The human mind favors twists. It admires obscurity. It delights in the denaturing of categories. It is the gasoline which ignites the imagination. Artists know how to sing this song. They bust classifications as fervently as the mainstream endures to preserve them. Doubt this fact? Consider Rockabilly. Ask Lyle Lovett for his rationale of both a brass section and a steel guitar. Talk to Bo Jackson. Will he be remembered for the 1987 record breaking rushing or the 1989 MVP in the Allstars? Is he a football […]

Categories: Food Finds, The Taste Lab • Tags: ambiguity, cajeta, Cheddar cheese ice cream, David Bowie, Elvis, ice cream sandwich, Mario Batali, olive oil ice cream, peanut butter, Pizza, Qui, Thai food, William Shakespeare

Sometimes being scrappy is better than being prepared

June 1, 2014 by antdina

Heat dulls the mind. As fast as it activates growth in plants and insects, it slows the pulse of man and beast. As the barometer rises, blood drains from creativity. This can be a problem as hunger mounts his horse through the valley of our beings. Because what should be a simple question, “what’s for dinner,” comes back with no answer. Suddenly that delicious recipe loses it’s charm. The menu from down the street pales. And spark of culinary inspiration is […]

Categories: The Taste Lab • Tags: Cypress Grove, goat cheese, parmesan, pecorino, roast, Summer, zucchini

Spring is here. Let it roll.

May 25, 2014 by antdina

Winter is yielding. The sarcasm of icy winds fades. And new sprouts shoot towards the warming sun. It is time to celebrate. Today we present a favorite that shares the essence of the season: spring rolls. The world over interprets spring rolls differently. Some are soft and others kissed by hot oil. Many have wrappers made with wheat flour. Others with with rice flour. Filled with ground pork and cabbage. Or maybe seafood and herbs. The sauce might be salty and […]

Categories: The Taste Lab • Tags: Asian food, fish sauce, fried food, rice paper, shrimp, spring rolls, Vietnamese food

Even the greats cover songs

May 18, 2014 by antdina

Texas is a magical place. It’s where nerds and hippies become international stars. Doubt this? Ask Lyle Lovett or Willie Nelson. Two imaginative storytellers who string metaphors on melodies like Christmas lights on a noble fir. Their songs cross musical genres in a way that few others can. Patsy Cline suspends people’s breathing for two minutes and fort- five seconds with her rendition of Crazy. Her voice slices the air with surgical precision. Its what makes the piece electric. Taken alone, […]

Categories: The Taste Lab • Tags: Crazy, dinner party, Lyle Lovett, roast, salmon, Willie Nelson

It’s 1967 all over again

April 27, 2014 by antdina

That oak which sits in your front yard. Or at the top of the street. Or in the city plaza. Began as a seedling. Through many miracles it found water and light and grew to the sky. And while we admire the giant it has become, the seedling never went away. Instead, that young green shoot expanded out as much as it shot up. Elementary school explains this truth to the open minds of children. The cross cut of an old tree reveals […]

Categories: The Taste Lab • Tags: Chicken Surprise, easy recipe, Florence Hanford, food, home, Philadelphia Electric Company, puff pastry, salad

For tonights menu, make it jacks or better

April 13, 2014 by antdina

The boy leaves his mother alone in the house. While she grips her shall tightly across worn shoulders, he leads the family cow down a midnight trail. It was their only possession outside of the shack they called home. It was their only linkage to income. A paltry fee for pale of milk is how they kept their bellies half empty. If he did not act quickly they would slowly fade under the blanket of winter. An hour into the journey, a hermit […]

Categories: The Taste Lab • Tags: arugula, desert topping and floor wax, jacks or better, olive oil, Pizza, plum seed oil, proscuitto, Vom Fass

Yes, buy that $6 vegetable

February 23, 2014 by antdina

Some people have the beach. Others have a mountain trail. A place to collect their thoughts. A place to walk away from everyday hassles and senseless chatter. In this place the mind quiets, the senses open and peace enters the soul. Foodies have similar places. Gourmet grocery stores. Out of the way shops which feature the local and the inventive. Or hole-in-the-wall restaurants with no street sign. These are places of safety and comfort. And they are also places to […]

Categories: The Taste Lab • Tags: Castel Franco lettuce, Castel Franco radicchio, Castelfranco, Central Market, Chuck Close, Fibonacci, radicchio

Use the ingredient that no one can steal

January 5, 2014 by antdina

Cooks treat the year-end holidays like recess. Time slows and rules evaporate. Experimentation increase. Role play moves creativity like water in a waterwheel. Family recipes are brought to life once more as recipe cards emerge from their tin coffins. Home-made lasagna can take minutes to prepare and decades to perfect. Food companies like Progresso or Barillo sell miles of pasta and oceans of sauce. The time laden steps of stewing meaty tomato sauce is replaced with a brightly decorated jar. […]

Categories: The Taste Lab • Tags: cooking, holiday, Italian, lasagna, lasagna bolognese, Mario Batali, meat sauce, pasta, ragu, ricotta, sauce, spinach pasta

Introducing the edible portrait

November 10, 2013 by antdina

“After a while I murmured to Picasso that I liked his portrait of Gertrude Stein. Yes, he said, everybody says that she does not look like it but that does not make any difference, she will, he said.” ― Gertrude Stein, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas Picasso’s paintings strike with an unforgiving savageness. He paints raw truth in sharp relief. And sometimes his words carry that same poison tip. The quote about Ms. Stein opens the door for artists to decouple […]

Categories: Storytelling, The Taste Lab • Tags: bacon, bourbon, bourbon gruel, caciacavallo, celebration, duck bacon, food, gruel, jalapeno, mozzarella, peaches, Picasso, Pizza, portrait, smoked cheese, The Whittington, walnuts, Whittington

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