gourmet file: a cook's guide to the web

I love wine, and have always wanted to learn more about it. But often when I pick up a wine book, my eyes glaze over at the all those numeric scores, vintages and pretentious descriptions. Recently, however, I read a wine book that was thoroughly entertaining and also informative. The book is Red, White, and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass by wine writer, Natalie MacLean. It's a beautifully written, and often funny, behind-the-scenes tour of the world of wine - the wine makers, marketers, retailers, critics, restaurateurs and other players in the wine industry.

Natalie MacLean also has an excellent website featuring a food and wine matching tool with more than 364,000 food and wine combinations. In addition, she publishes a free e-newsletter with wine reviews and tips for pairing wine with food.

Other helpful wine and food resources on the web include this article by Ray Isle from Food and Wine Magazine which explains the basics of food and wine pairings. Also, Robin Garr's Wine Lovers Page has a food and wine matching section which includes pairing suggestions for foods we don't usually associate with wine, such as Chinese food and barbecue.

If you are looking for advice on beer and food pairings, there is Real Beer which offers a guide to pairing food with various styles of beer. Also, the Splendid Table radio program's website features a beer and food pairing guide.

And finally, another book recommendation: What to Drink with What You Eat: The Definitive Guide to Pairing Food with Wine, Beer, Spirits, Coffee, Tea - Even Water - Based on Expert Advice from America's Best Sommeliers by by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page. This is the ultimate reference book for matching food and beverages. It features two indexes so that you can look up pairing suggestions according to food or drink.

Halloween Treats for Grownups

With Halloween approaching, many cooking websites are featuring homemade candy recipes inspired by old-time American sweets. Obviously you can't give these candies out to trick-or-treaters since they aren't sealed in packages, but they would be great for parties or for adults who want to indulge in a gourmet version of their favorite childhood treats. The food website, Chow, is featuring homemade versions of Snickers Bars, Almond Joys, Peanut Butter Cups and Twix. The blog, 101 Cookbooks, has a recipe for Espresso Caramels. And finally the cooking site, Leite's Culinaria has this recipe for Whoopie Pies.

Recent Site Additions:

susan to the rescue - A daily video blog, hosted by Good Housekeeping Magazine's Susan Westmoreland, offers answers to the perpetual question, "What's for dinner tonight?"

good housekeeping recipe finder - The Good Housekeeping Recipe Finder allows you to search thousands of tested recipes from Good Housekeeping Magazine by keyword or category

real simple - The Real Simple Magazine website offers a recipe search tool to find easy to make recipes.

pastry chef central - A professional baking and pastry supply company with a large selection of specialty tools and ingredients.

pastry scoop - A free online resource dedicated to the art of pastry. Published by the French Culinary Institute in NYC, this site features ingredient substitution suggestions, techniques, ingredient sources, industry events, and articles about leading pastry chefs.

chow - The expanded version of the original Chowhound food forum website, with recipes, food articles, blogs, and lively forums on a variety of food-related topics.

taste tv - Taste TV is a bit like YouTube crossed with the Food Network, with a mix of chef demonstrations, viewer uploaded videos, restaurants visits and interviews.

Seasonal Recipe Roundup

And finally, the October Seasonal Recipe Roundup - a collection of recipes from reputable online sources that make use of fruits and vegetables of the season.

fruit

Apples - Spiced and Glazed Apple Cake, Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Apples & Onions
Pears - Pear Crisp with Polenta Pecan Topping, Caramelized Pears

vegetables

Bok Choy - Sauteed Baby Bok Choy
Cabbage - Cabbage & Sausage Casserole, Cabbage Salad with Garlic & Anchovy Vinaigrette, Cabbage Gratin
Carrots - Carrot & Walnut Salad
Cauliflower - Roasted Cauliflower with Indian Barbeque Sauce, Easy Aloo Gobi (Indian Cauliflower & Potatoes)
Celery Root- Celery Root Gratin, Braised Celery Root
Escarole - Escarole Torta with Sweet Potato Hash Brown Crust
Fennel - Roasted Fennel and Carrots with Pecorino
Mixed Vegetable Dishes - Richard Olney's Soupe au Pistou, Polenta with Pinto Beans and Roasted Vegetables, Roasted Fall Vegetable and Ricotta Pizza, Cranberry Bean Salad With Butternut Squash and Broccoli Rabe, Potato Fennel Pear and Fourme d'Ambert Timbales, Savory Spinach and Sweet Potato Cake, Warm Potato, Onion and Caper Salad
Parsnips - Apple and Parsnip Soup with Coriander, Mashed Parsnips and Scallions
Potatoes - Herb Topped Sweet Potato Biscuits
Winter Squash & Pumpkin - Kabocha Squash Cake with Brown Sugar Cream, Spicy Squash Pasta

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