November 19, 2008
The Cookstr web site launched this week is the first recipe site to partner with cookbook publishers and includes celebrity chef recipes from cookbooks.
Last night I had the pleasure of attending the launch party for Cookstr, a new recipe web site that will feature selected content from actual published cookbooks, which includes the celebrity chefs you all know and love (Mario Batali, Jamie Oliver, Julia Child, etc) as well as non-celeb but hardcore cookbook authors such as Mark Bittman or Madhur Jaffrey, and famous four-star restaurant chefs such as Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Eric Ripert and Daniel Boulud. This differs significantly from other recipe-type sites such as Recipezaar, where the content isn’t vetted or even tested, or even recipe sites like Food Network’s where the recipes are limited to what their own specific celebrity chefs have cooked on TV. If you want Nigella’s actual cookbook recipes, you either have to buy her cookbooks — or go on Cookstr.
This recipe for Achiote Oil is the actual recipe from the Daisy Cooks! cookbook by PBS chef Daisy Martinez. Cookstr is adding an average of 1 new chef and 20 new recipes per day.
Who’s behind this new website gem? Well it turns out that the man behind the helm is William Schwalbe, who is a 10 year veteran and former Editor-in-Chief of Hyperion Books, a major cookbook publisher. Schwalbe is also co-author of a recently published book about how not to screw up when sending emails, so he’s also a fellow computer nerd like myself.
Prior to joining Hyperion Schwalbe was a Sr. VP and Editor-in-Chief at William Morrow and Company, which is now owned by HarperCollins. To launch Cookstr, Schwalbe made use of his long collected list of publishing industry contacts and negotiated with a number of other major cookbook publishers to secure the rights to re-publish selected recipes on the Internet — and in turn, use Cookstr as a vehicle for the publishers to drive additional cookbook sales.
It’s an interesting business model and there aren’t any ads on the site yet, so I’m obviously very curious as to how it’s going to be capitalized as far as revenue streams go. Having been down the content website road myself, I know how difficult it can be for a site like that to make money. Still, with the recession that we’re now knee deep in, cooking at home as opposed to restaurant dining is more popular than ever, and I suspect that Cookstr has come out at just the right time.
The key features of the “Beta” version of the site are:
- High-quality recipes from trusted cookbooks – partnerships with reputable cookbook publishers to provide thousands of vetted recipes by notable cookbook authors and chefs.
- Superior proprietary search – all recipes have been reviewed and meticulously tagged by a team of culinary professionals; guaranteed to find the recipes you are looking for.
- Chef page – features chefs with their recipes, interesting facts, a selection of their cookbooks, and even a list of their restaurants with links.
Right now, Cookstr is just doing recipes, but the site will be rolling out discussion forums and other community-based features such as the ability to comment on recipes in the near future. I’m really looking forward to seeing what these guys can do, and I’m very impressed with their initial beta product.
Oh and did I mention it doesn’t cost anything to use?
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Blogroll, Food, General, Links | Tagged: cooking, cookstr, recipes | 
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Posted by offthebroiler
November 17, 2008
When you think of Thanksgiving, what images come into your mind? If you’re a typical American and have visions of Norman Rockwell paintings engraved into your consciousness like the rest of us, it’s Roast Turkey, mom’s doctored Pepperidge Farm Stuffing (Just say no to Stove-Top!), cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, naturally. Which ends of course with the usual gut-busting feeling from over eating accompanied by the eventual belt-loosening and football watching on grandma’s couch. Aaaaaaaaaaah.
But this year, I’ve decided to switch gears. I’m going to be doing my turkey Puerto Rican style — Pavochon Ahumada rubbed with garlic adobo and smoked over hardwood for several hours on my Weber Bullet, ditching the stuffing for Arroz con Gandules, and am giving thanks to a different bird — the Penguin, and everyone who made him possible.
Click to read the rest of this article at Linux Magazine.
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General, Links, Media, Open Source, Technology | Tagged: Linux, Open Source, Technology, Thanksgiving | 
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Posted by offthebroiler
November 17, 2008
A few weeks ago I evaluated Amazon’s Kindle. While I really liked the device, the big problem I had with it was that at its current price of $359.00 it was too expensive at this point for mass consumer adoption. I also had a number of issues with the fact that despite being based on Linux, the device is a closed book, literally.
At what point, however, do consumers start ditching their dead-tree books for e-books? And how many books do you actually have to read per year in order for the convenience factor of the Kindle — its light weight, its ability to store hundreds of books in its memory, and the instant gratification of being able to download books via the Amazon Whispernet EVDO Sprint network — to outweigh its costs?
Click here to read the rest of this article on ZDNet Tech Broiler.
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Posted by offthebroiler
November 13, 2008
In my first post, I talked a bit about the basics of Puerto Rican and Caribbean Latino cuisine, and focused particularly on the platano — the plantain fruit, and tostones, one of the most common but tasty staples you will see while while visiting the island. Today, we’re going to talk about seafood — or as Puerto Ricans like to say, MARISCOS!
Fisherman’s dock, Las Palmas, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
In the States, you don’t normally think of seafood being an integral part of Latino cuisine, but in Puerto Rico, being an island and smack right in the middle of the Caribbean, seafood and shellfish are extremely common and are amongst the most loved things to eat, although much of it unfortunately has to be imported from other countries, such as the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas. A small amount of fish and other creatures are caught locally, but the Puerto Rican fishing industry is relatively small nowadays. Still, this doesn’t stop a huge amount of the stuff from being consumed on the island itself.
Want to read more? Continue by clicking here to see the rest on Daisy Martinez’s Boriqua Blog.
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Posted by offthebroiler
November 12, 2008
The Spanish Care Package from Pedro Espinosa Silva. Click to enlarge.
Today, I received a curious package via international mail — addressed to me from Gastrovin Principano, in the town of Gijón in the Principality of Asturias, Spain.
It turned out my friend and food writer Pedro Espinosa Silva, who was formerly the Spain host and manager at eGullet, had sent me a generous present thanking me for sending him some wireless computer equipment that he had paid for in the US but needed to have sent abroad last spring.
Like Daniel Jackson, the archeologist and linguistics expert on Stargate SG-1, I tried to figure out what all of these contents meant. I could identify most of it — Extra Virgin Single Estate Olive Oil, Spicy and Sweet Spanish Paprika, White Asparagus, Sea Urchin Pate, and Mancha-grade Spanish Saffron. But sealed meats and the beans I couldn’t figure out what they were for, until I sprung this by fellow foodie Sam Kinsey, who immediately identified its contents, and I did some reading on Wikipedia. Yes, these things could be used to make Tapas, but specifically, Pedro was sending me a message… he wants me to make Fabada Asturiana.
The beans, it turns out, are Fabes de Granja, Asturian White Beans, and the sausages are Chorizo and Morcilla (blood sausage). The long pork meat is bacon, to be simmered in the dish. I’m guessing the other type of ham is a bonus, to be eaten as tapas.
Well I guess I know what I’m making this thanksgiving to go with the turkey! Fabada and tapas!
No Comments » | Food, General, Links, Recipe, eGullet | Tagged: asturias, cooking, fabada, Food, spain | Permalink
Posted by offthebroiler
November 10, 2008
No Comments » | Links, Media, Open Source, Tech Broiler, Technology | Tagged: alan kay, ebooks, kindle, mobile computing, olpc, Technology | Permalink
Posted by offthebroiler
November 8, 2008
Palmas del Mar, Puerto Rico.
I recently returned from a trip to Puerto Rico with my wife, Rachel, and we stayed in the Palmas del Mar resort near Humacao, which is on the Southeast side of the Island. The majority of the places we visited were along the Southern and Eastern side of the island, so if my report looks a little skewed for not featuring cuisine and culture on the West and Northern parts, you’ll understand. While not as large as its two other prominent Caribbean islands such as Cuba and Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles, Puerto Rico is still pretty big and is really too large to try to get a full sense of in just one week — it’s still the size of Connecticut, and despite having several autopistas it still has a lot of one lane roads which prevent fast cross-country travel. A trip from Humacao to the east to Rincon or Aguadilla in the western part of the island can easily take more than 3 hours, particularly if you need to go thru mountain roads for part of the trip.
Want to read more? You’ll need to visit Daisy Martinez’s Boriqua Blog for the rest.
No Comments » | Blogroll, Boriqua Blog, Food, General, Links | Tagged: Boriqua Blog, caribbean food, Daisy Martinez, latino cuisine, puerto rico | Permalink
Posted by offthebroiler
November 2, 2008
Well, it’s the beginning of November, and Rachel and I just got back from a week’s trip to Puerto Rico (which you’ll be reading about shortly). The weather is now approaching the 50’s, and I still had a ton of bird peppers left on the hot pepper plants. What to do? Pick ‘em all off and make hot vinegar peppers.
This was today’s yield after stripping all my plants. As you can see, there’s a lot of green ones, but that’s just fine.
Got too many hot peppers? Here’s a quick and easy project. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
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6 Comments | Food, General | Tagged: chiles, hot peppers, pickling, vinegar | Permalink
Posted by offthebroiler
October 31, 2008
Bill Pitcher’s post on the upcoming Mitsuwa Tuna Cut in early November prompted me to put this 2006 OTB post back into the foreground. Don’t miss this great event on Saturday, November 8 and Sunday, November 9. — Jason
Mitsuwa Marketplace
595 River Rd, Edgewater, NJ
(201) 941-9113
web site: http://www.mitsuwanj.com
In a previous post, I spoke a bit about Mitsuwa Marketplace, a Japanese shopping center in Edgewater, New Jersey. This weekend was the re-Grand Opening of the shopping center since it underwent an extensive reservation in Mid-2006, and some new stores and restaurants were added. Among the things that were going on was a Tuna Cut, where an entire 400lb Bluefin tuna, caught by a Japanese fishing boat, is reduced to sashimi for a huge crowd of onlookers.
Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for some serious Bluefin Tuna devastation.
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Posted by offthebroiler
October 19, 2008
Full Kee Restaurant
6400 Horsepen Rd, Richmond, VA 23226
(804) 673-2233
I’ve been spending the last couple of weeks in Richmond, Virginia. While not as ethnically diverse as Washington DC, its nearest major city, there are still some dining gems to be found. One of these is Full Kee, probably one of the best Cantonese restaurants I have ever been to outside of the New York Metropolitan or San Francisco Bay areas. This place is so outstanding that I’ve taken to eating there as much as twice a week in the month I’ve been traveling back and forth to Richmond.
Full Kee literally translated from Cantonese means “Magical” or “Prosperous” Place. From what I’ve experienced of this restaurant so far, it is indeed.
Full Kee has branches in the Washington DC area as well, which are apparently even more impressive. But there’s no doubt that this is the most serious Chinese restaurant in the Richmond area.
The taste of Hong Kong delights at Full Kee. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
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4 Comments | Food, General | Tagged: cantonese, chinese, restaurants, richmond, virginia | Permalink
Posted by offthebroiler
